Most vitamins are made from non-animal or non-plant sources and are considered synthetic. Organic vitamins that are certified organic are free of man-made pesticides and fertilizers. Synthetic vitamins are made from man-made ingredients, coal tar or wood pulp and are void of phytonutrients that assist your body in absorbing and using the vitamins.
Co-factors
Co-factors are the phytonutrients available in food that aid your body in using vitamins. According to author and physician Dr. Gabriel Cousens, vitamins don't occur in nature as a single unit, but exist with co-enzymes, phytonutrients and enzymes that work together to participate in chemical reactions in your cells. These co-factors and enzymes help your body absorb and utilize vitamins and increase their potency.
Food Sources
Organic vitamins are derived from animal and plant sources. The strictest guidelines are given to organic labeling, which certifies that natural pesticides and fertilizers are used on sources of vitamins. Organic vitamins state the source for the vitamin. Synthetic vitamins contain a chemical name, while organic vitamins state brewer's yeast, lemon grass, micro-organism fermentation or the organ of the animal used to obtain the vitamin. One little-known fact about organic farming is that commercial farms that have been sold for organic farming only receive a two-year break before farming starts again. According to the Institute of Science in Society, organically grown foods' nutritional content can equal that of traditional commercial farming. Thus, organic foods, supplements and vitamins don't necessarily have a higher nutritional value or better utilization by your body.
Assimilation
Cousens says in his book that giving your body high potency synthetic vitamins overwhelms your body. He adds that B vitamins found in food are in smaller concentrations that your body utilizes better. When taking synthetic vitamins, your body is introduced to a large concentration of the vitamins, so your body learns it doesn't have to extract the vitamins from food and becomes "de-conditioned" in extracting nutrients from food. According to the "Nutrition Almanac," synthetic and organic vitamins are used equally in your body on the cellular level, and your body can't tell the difference, with the except of vitamin E.
Potency
Natural or organic vitamins contain a lower potency of vitamin concentrations compared with synthetic vitamins, which can be added to organic vitamins to increase their potency to recommended or standard doses based on nutritional recommendations. The potency of organic and synthetic vitamins can change with time, storage, exposure to the environment and other conditions that can increase oxidation of the vitamins.
Synthetic as Organic
Nutrition Search says synthetic vitamins can be labeled as organic as long as the vitamin has one carbon atom in the formula. This definition follows the organic chemistry definition of organic materials. In organic chemistry, any living or non-living entity that contains carbon-based atoms is considered organic, according to the Organic Chemistry department with Purdue University. All naturally derived ingredients are, by definition, organic because the ingredients contain carbon atoms.
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