How to Choose a Vitamin Formula

You might not know that most vitamins on store shelves today, even at the health food stores, are created from man-made chemicals that are nutritionally useless to your body. So learn how to choose a vitamin supplement with nutrition your body can really use!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Understand that the United States Department of Agriculture has created and set the recommended daily allowances of each of the vitamins and minerals necessary for optimal human nutrition. You can read these recommendations on the Department's website along with recommendations for nutrient intakes from food like fiber, fat, carbohydrates, protein and phytonutrients, the newest plant compounds scientists are studying.

2. Learn why the standard American diet of soda and fast food does not support our basic nutritional needs. Highly processed foods do not contain any of the recommended vitamins, minerals or other nutrients. They are basically empty calories laden with fats and sugars.

3. Replace vitamins missing from your diet. But beware the cheap bottle of multivitamins from the grocery store. They are chemical, man-made, isolated complexes that the human body does not recognize as something it needs, so it flushes them right out again as waste. These isolated vitamins have been stripped of their supportive compounds and may not provide the biological activity necessary for them to be absorbed by your body.

4. Look for quality vitamins made from whole foods, if your budget permits. Real food sources of these vitamins contain necessary cofactors your body recognizes and absorbs readily, including all the amino acids, antioxidants, probiotics, prebiotics and organic acids to provide the nutrition our bodies need. All these nutrients support your immune health and help your body deal with outside pollutants.

5. Compare the supplement facts on the back of the bottle of whole food vitamins to the cheaper chemical vitamins. You will notice that the percentage of the daily value is very high on the chemical brand, providing as much as 4,000 percent more of a vitamin. That's because these manufacturers know these chemical vitamins are not absorbed by your body. The whole foods listing will show exactly 100 percent of the daily value for the most important recommended daily allowances.

6. Upgrade your vitamins even further by choosing a women's or men's special formula. Each will contain different levels of certain nutrients, as well as herbal compounds found to support the different needs of men and women. Compare the levels of B vitamins, calcium, iron and folic acid, and look for different herbal additions like Saw Palmetto for men's prostate health.

Tips & Warnings

• If you've chosen to commit to a high quality, whole food vitamin formula, you will notice the effects rather quickly, especially in your hair, nails and skin!
• Whole food vitamins can be taken on an empty stomach, and they do not cause stomach upset because your body sees them as food--because they are.
• Look for whole food brands that are taken once daily if you don't like swallowing pills. Many require two or three pills a day for time release purposes. Some brands offer formulas with tiny pills for those that have problems swallowing.
• Vitamin quality is directly related to its price. The whole food versions simply cost more to create. Always check the supplement facts and compare with others to be exactly sure of what's in the bottle.

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Resources

• Learn about recommended daily allowances from the USDA.