Nutritional supplements line the shelves at grocery and health-food stores all across the country. You can choose from a variety of supplements that are naturally sourced or those that are synthetically processed. If you go the natural route, you may wonder if it is more beneficial than synthetic supplements. Although there is some debate regarding which is better, synthetic or natural, there are some distinct advantages to choosing a natural supplement.
Whole Foods
In regard to complete nutrition, whole foods are your best option, according to MayoClinic.com. They are complex, containing not only vitamins and minerals, but essential fiber and protective substances like phytochemicals and antioxidants. Although supplement companies can replicate specific vitamins and minerals, they lack the additional healthy substances found in a piece of fruit or a vegetable. An orange, for example, provides vitamin C plus some beta carotene, calcium and other nutrients. A vitamin C supplement lacks these other micronutrients.
Who Needs Nutritional Supplements?
According to MayoClinic.com, if you eat a wide variety of protein, vegetables, fruits, grains and low-fat dairy products, you probably do not need to take additional nutritional supplements. However, if you do not eat a healthy variety of foods or consume less than 1,600 calories a day, supplements are recommended. Likewise, if you are a vegetarian or vegan, are pregnant or breastfeeding, experience heavy menstrual periods, have a medical condition or have a disorder that involves your digestive tract, talk to your doctor about taking nutritional supplements.
Natural Vs. Synthetic Supplements
There is some debate in the supplement world in regards to "natural" vs."synthetic" vitamins. Natural vitamins not only come from a natural source, but also contain the co-factors the vitamin comes with in nature. They are also concentrated from a process that does not use extreme heat, chemicals or pressure. Synthetic vitamins, on the other hand, are formulated in a laboratory using coal tar derivatives. Synthetics have no co-factors present. Regardless of origin, however, a vitamin is still a chemical, and synthetically or naturally derived vitamins are treated the same way by your body.
Natural Supplement Benefits
Although your body may not be able to tell the difference between the vitamins at a chemical level, natural supplements offer many benefits. Because whole foods are the best way for your body to gain nutrition, choosing natural, whole food supplements allow you to retain as many of the nutrients in a food as possible. With minimal chemical or heat processing, you avoid ingesting potentially harmful substances, and the bioflavanoids and antioxidants that are present in the food remain for you to ingest. Not all natural supplement companies use organic ingredients, however, although this does not decrease the potency of the vitamin itself.
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