Natural
and Artificial Vitamins
There has always been much debate
in the medical world that
the body cannot tell the difference between natural vitamins
found in the foods we eat and synthetic vitamins grown
in a lab. However, lately, there has been increasing evidence that
prove otherwise.
One of the main reasons that
natural vitamins are heralded over their synthetic counterparts
is the fact that the entire
vitamin is not replicated in the synthetic
process. For example, Vitamin C is mostly composed of a compound known as
ascorbic acid. This ascorbic acid has been synthesized in
labs and is now trumpeted as
a source for Vitamin C.
However, ascorbic acid only accounts
for a fraction of the entire Vitamin C compound, so it is therefore
sub-standard
when compared
to its natural counterpart. Ascorbic acid is manufactured in laboratories
by extracting it from glucose found in corn. This allows
the synthetic vitamin manufacturers
to promote their product as organic and natural, which can truly lead people
in the wrong direction when it comes to choosing a supplement. It is not
a substitute for natural Vitamin C, as it is merely a percentage
of the full
Vitamin C compound.
Studies have shown that the efficiency
of synthetic vitamins may be lacking. A test was conducted in which
500 pregnant
women were given Vitamin D; half
of them were given synthetic Vitamin D while the other half received natural
sources
of Vitamin D.
Many of the women who ingested
the synthetic Vitamin D ended up with diseased kidneys while their
natural counterparts experienced no
such side
effects. There were numerous other studies conducted on animals regarding
natural and synthetic vitamins.
One notable study that occurred
included the effects
of different types of Vitamin B on pigs. All of the pigs that were
given twice the daily recommended value of Vitamin B. Half of them
were fed
the synthetic
vitamin and the other half was given the natural vitamin. The pigs
that ate the natural vitamins were fine, and their offspring
were normal. The pigs
who received
the synthetic vitamins, however, experienced full sterility in all
of their offspring.
Yet another research study incorporated
the testing
of synthetic
Vitamin B-complex
on Silver Foxes. As in the other experiments, a control group of
foxes was given natural sources of the B-Complex, while a test
group had nothing but
synthetic
B-Complex vitamins. The test group of subjects experienced a lack
of growth, increased fur deterioration, and died prematurely. The
control group, however,
went on to live healthy lives.
There have been plenty of studies
in this department, and the scientific consensus seems to be that
synthetic vitamins
are nowhere near an adequate
replacement
for their natural counterparts.
For this reason, it is important
to try your best to get most of your vitamin nutrition through
natural
sources.
See the next page for more on getting your daily natural vitamins
from a balanced daily food diet.
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