How To Determine If Vitamins & Minerals Are Natural

It is important for you to know if your vitamin or mineral supplements contain natural ingredients. Manufacturers may add synthetics to vitamin supplements to increase their potency. These synthetics, often made from known carcinogens, can do more harm than good say Earl Mindell and Hester Mundis, authors of "Earl Mindell's New Vitamin Bible." Learn how to identify natural or synthetic vitamin products before purchasing them. As a precaution, talk to your doctor before taking a new vitamin or mineral supplement. He may recommend a certain brand-name product for you to purchase.

Step 1

Look for synthetic keywords on the product label under the ingredients list. Manufacturers add salt forms to nutrient supplements to increase the stability of the vitamin or mineral. Some of the salt forms include words that end in "ate" or "ide" such as acetate, nitrate, chloride and hydrochloride. Additionally, look for words that begin with the letters "dl" in the ingredients list. These words indicate that the manufacturer used synthetics in the vitamin or mineral supplement.

Step 2

Look for products that contain 100 percent plant or animal-based food sources. Nutrient products must contain at least 10 percent natural food sources in order to claim "natural" on the product's label, according to Nutriteam.com, which provides a natural and synthetic resource list recommended by the Organic Consumers Association.

Step 3

Find the "food source" on the product label. If the product label does not contain a list of natural food sources, then the product is synthetic. Look for food sources such as yeast, fish, vegetable, and citrus. Dr. Ben Kim, a chiropractor and acupuncturist in Canada with his own radio show, says that if the ingredient list contains "vitamin C" instead of a food source that contains vitamin C such as "acerola cherry powder," then you can be certain that the product is synthetic.

Step 4

Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a recommended vitamin or mineral product. If your doctor does not provide his or her own vitamin and mineral products for you to purchase, your pharmacist can point out products that typically perform well and would best serve you. You may not even be able to tolerate a "natural" product if you are allergic to certain foods. For instance, you may find that a natural vitamin contains brewer's yeast, but if you are allergic to yeast, the supplement may not be appropriate for you. Your pharmacist can help you find a natural product that meets your needs.