Vitamins and Minerals - Are you Wasting Money? Are they actually Dangerous?

Why is the number of people purchasing vitamins and mineralsincreasing daily? Is it because they feel that they are notgetting adequate nutrition from the food they eat? If there areso many of these people using supplements why are degenerativediseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes, multiplesclerosis, fibromyalgia etc. still on the rise?It appears that we are not getting adequate nutrition from ourfood and even the vitamins and minerals that we faithfully buyand down daily don't appear to help. What is wrong???? Why arepeople wasting money on something that doesn't appear to work?Are people really getting the benefit from what they are buying?Is it possible that taking supplements can cause us harm?Commercial grade vitamin and mineral concentrates are oftensynthesized by the big pharmaceutical and chemical industries ina lab from the same starting material that drugs are made from.Some of these are coal tar, petroleum products, animalby-products / waste and fecal matter, ground rocks, stones,shells and metal. Many nutrient manufactures then purchase theseraw materials and formulate their vitamin and mineral formulaswith them. The United States Pharmacopoeia (U.S.P.) states thatif a product looks similar under a microscope, or in analysis,that it is the same regardless of what it is made out of. Commercially available vitamins are in forms that are not foundin nature. For example B-6 never appears in food ashydrochloride. Additionally, it is phosphorylated pyridoxil andpridoxamine (not synthetic pyridoxine hydrochloride) which arethe coenzymes necessary for many of the enzymes of amino acidmetabolism. It is no longer a matter of how many milligrams youtake of a particular nutrient but how much of what you aretaking is actually getting into your bloodstream, and the organsthat need it. "Pure" vitamins have less efficient absorbtionbecause in nature, no vitamin or mineral will be absorbed intothe blood of any animal or human, or be transported through anyplant unless it is combined with many other constituents such asessential fatty acids, active soluble phenols, trace minerals,proteins, carbohydrate and enzymes. Since "natural" (synthetic)nutritents can be produced in higher yields for less cost andhave a longer shelf life, they are the nutritents of choice bydietary supplement manufacturers.Some manufacturers grow food and then extract what they feel arethe active ingredients to put into a liquid, tablet or pillform. This process of extraction always leaves important carrierco-factors behind.  Some believe that natural vitamins arebetter than synthetic ones. The unfounded claim is made that thenatural vitamins are better absorbed. The "natural" or "organic"vitamins are not only more expensive but are in fact largelysynthetic. For example, "Rose Hip Vitamin C" tables are largelysynthetic ascorbic acid containing a small amount of vitamin Cconcentrated form rose hips.We can absorb some of the synthetic chemical nutrients becauseour bodies will supply the missing co-factors from other areasas long as possible. Long-term use of isolated nutrients,however, can cause critical shortages of these co-factors withinour bodies. If the body robs our DNA for the raw materials itneeds, it can cause all sorts of degenerative problems.Vitamin A toxicity (symptoms include headache, hair loss, lossof appetite, dry skin, joint pains, and vomiting) has been seenin young people who have been taking relatively low megadoses ofthis vitamin over a period of two years for skin disorders.Large doses of synthesized vitamin A or vitamin A analogs (suchas Accutane and Tegison) are particularly detrimental for womenduring early pregnancy due to the risk of serious birth defectsor spontaneous abortions. While large amounts of vitamin A istoxic, beta-carotene (the plant pigment found in abundance indark-green leafy vegetables and yellow-orange fruits andvegetables) is not toxic. Persons who consume an ample supply offoods that are rich in beta-carotene have lower rates of cancer. What can we do about it?We can become informed consumers. You may not be aware thatthere's a revolution going on in the nutrition industry. Aunique new process exists that makes supplements much moreeffective and safer. This patented process actually growspowerful concentrated food source nutrients complete with theessential carrier co-factors to insure optimal cellular deliveryand benefit. This new technology has literally unlocked thehealing power of vitamins and minerals. Dr. Vinson a Professorof Chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania said"Our research group had been involved in the investigation ofvitamins and minerals in animals and humans. Of course vitaminsC, E, and beta carotene are the well-known antioxidants. Welooked at a citrus extract containing polyphenols and ascorbicacid and found it provided more protection from lipidperoxidation in vivo than did the vitamin C alone. ... We haveunequivocally demonstrated that many polyphenols (naturalingredients in plants including fruits and vegetables) aresuperior antioxidants compared to vitamins. The best antioxidantcompound in our model was epigallocatechin gallate, a majorpolyphenol in green tea, which has been shown in epidemiologicalstudies to be protective for heart disease. Polyphenols areantioxidants in our model at physiological levels, i.e., 1micromolar. This corroborates epidemiological studies indicatingthat consumption of fruits and vegetables, which contain bothvitamins and polyphenols, may be protective for chronic diseasessuch as heart disease and cancer due to the presence of thepolyphenols as well as the vitamins. In other words, the activeingredients in fruits and vegetables are not simply thevitamins. As further evidence, taking single purified vitaminshas not been proven to be very successful in clinical studies.It appears that the whole food, containing both the vitamins andpolyphenols, is the best way to consume these antioxidants forhealth benefits."Is it possible then to have concentrated vitamins and mineralsfrom food? From a production point of view, the challenge washow to concentrate vitamins and minerals in true food complexes.Foodstate nutrients are the product of years of research andexperimentation, culminating in a proprietary technology whichsuccessfully concentrates vitamins and minerals in foodcomplexes. The process is costly relative to the production ofconventional, isolated nutrients.In short, the Foodstate product is in true food form. As such ithas much greater efficacy, while it is more expensive toproduce. A group of food constituents that have recently beengiven a lot of attention by the scientific comminity are foodcompounds. Over 103,000 food compounds have been identified fromvarious foods and scientists are just beginning to discover whatbenefit and role these compounds play on our health.How does this proprietary process work?Foodstate nutrition utilizes vitamins and minerals that arenaturally absorbed into a living food matrix. Rather thanattempting to extract the nutrients from normal food sources, ituses an exciting new technology to add to and fortify buddingplants with a nourishing broth enriched with bioactive peptidecarriers. As they grow, the concentrated nutrients areincorporated into the plants -- creating a super concentratedfood source. Once the plants natural capacity to store thenutrient within its cells is sucessfully achieved, the growingprocess is complete. Samples of the FoodState nutrients aretested at regular intervals in a state of the art, FDAregistered laboratory to determine the exact time when theGrowth and Activation processes are complete. Only at thispoint, when the FoodState nutrients test perfect, are theyharvested. Then, using natural plant enzymes, the cell walls are naturallybroken down and the water and fiber removed. The whole foodextract or concentrate produced is rich in a particular vitaminor mineral and is delivered in its synegistic state, with allthe plant's inherent food attachments intact. Tests are alsodone on raw material, for pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals,and well as potency.This is an excellent source of real food supplementation thatincludes carrier co-factors to feed your body at the cellularlevel where it's needed most. No amount of man-made vitamins andminerals can compare. Unlike most other vitamin or mineralsupplements, these nutrients are not the result of mixingvitamins and minerals with proteins and other substances in thelaboratory.Research done?To get an idea of how well these nutrients work in the livingsystem, researchers at Scranton University tested theireffectiveness compared with typical isolated nutrients on babymammals.After feeding them nutrient deficient food for two weeks theresearchers fed one group isolates and the other foodmatrixtmnutrients. Over the next four weeks the researchers carefullyweighed them and charted their progress.The result was shocking. These babies whose cells were literallyscreaming for nutrition, received no benefit at all from theisolated nutrients. The results in this group were so bad thattheir weight quickly declined as illustrated by the dotted linein the chart at the right. Worst of all was the fact that 25% ofthis group was so poorly nourished that they died during thetesting period. Those that survived were sluggish, their hairfell out and their vitality was so low they could barely opentheir eyes! The study clearly demonstrated that isolatednutrients provided virtually no nutritional support to thegrowing cells!In stark contrast, when the necessary protein chaperones andother carrier co-factors are present the results wereastounding. This group thrived, gaining almost double theirinitial body weight in only four weeks. Their vibrant growth andgood health were living proof that real food nutrients nourishthe body at a cellular level. Finally there is a proven andeffective supplemental source of the critical vitamins andminerals our bodies crave, in a form we can really use. Examples of how these "grown" nutrients can impact our healthWhen FoodState® Vitamin B12 bioavailability was tested againstCyanocobalamin in animal studies it was found to be 9.1 timesgreater than the B12 USP grade Cyanocobalamin.What is the bottom line?Food concentrate nutrients provide mega-benefits withoutmega-doses. The high potency products you see in stores are morea result of label wars among manufacturers than scientificallyproven need. Food concentrate nutrients are conservative amountsbecause they are rapidly absorbed, stay active in the body muchlonger and they are delivered into the cells where they canimpact your health.In addition, the living process that produces these nutrientsalso results in some incredible additional benefits. Eachcomplex has many different nutrients that are simply a part ofthe sophisticated proprietary growing process including:§ B-complex vitamins - B1, B3, B5, B6, B12 as well as Biotin andFolic Acid that support the circulatory, nervous, digestive,hormonal and immune systems.§ Trace Minerals - many of which are no longer available in farmgrown produce.§ Beta-1,3-Glucan - an immune system stimulant that can killtumor cells and increase bone marrow production as well ascounteract many bacterial, viral and fungal diseases.§ Glutathione - one of nature's most potent antioxidantsbelieved to have anti-aging effects along with powerfulprotection against free radical damage to the cells.§ SOD or Super Oxide Dismutase - the body's primary defenseagainst the most common and possibly most dangerous free radicalsuperoxide radical.How do you know if you are getting foodstatevitamins or not? Supplements in this category will list thenutritent names like vitamin C, folate, calcium, etc., and themg dosage of each, but the label will not denote a fractionatedchemical name. eg (Calcium Ascorbate). Nutrients in food cannotbe listed as one identifiable organic compound in this way. Thisis because they always exhist with a host of other organiccompounds, and never as one isolated element. Nutrients in awhole food state will be listed with their food source in thesupplement facts panel, for example vitamin C (Citrus spp.).FOODSTATE Summary- The isolated mineral is enriched into various media such ascarrots, yeast, soybean meal, citrus pulp, alfalfa, corn mealand is not an amino acid chelate- Foodstate does contain live yeast but it is totally inert andno does not encourage candidiasis or dysbiosis- It is extremely well absorbed and utilized by the body andconsiderably less is required- Absorption is not dependent on stomach acidity and is anenergy efficient process.- Fortunately, the mineral occupies the whole mass of thefood-complex completely bound to the fats, proteins andcarbohydrates (unlike mineral chelates), resulting in an idealdose, without large quantities being consumed, it is totallypossible to obtain optimal health dosages.- Batch to batch variation in mineral concentration and qualitynever occurs because of stringent quality control from themanufacturers in the USA, and they are carefully tabletted atlow temperature to prevent any degrading of its unique Foodstatedelivery system. It is not dependent on plant growing conditions(soils, fertilizers, root quality etc.) because the proprietaryprocess of Foodstate occurs in a modern quality controlled USAbased manufacturing plant.