Welcome to another night in Carol's Corner. I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by. There were reader's from 7 different countries. That is just so exciting. For the past two days I have had a visitor from a new country each of those two days. Quite heady stuff for this 64 year old senior from Central New York . Another casual summer outfit with the same black shorts. Today's blouse contains one of my favorite color combinations. Calling this “Purple Tropics”.

Wore a sterling and amethyst pendant and then earrings and bracelet that I made. My purple floral ring ties in well with the flowers in the blouse.

And my FitBit combo works well also.

For this issue of Carol's Corner I am going to try and inform you on what choices you have when choosing a multi vitamin, which one of my reader's said they needed to do after having had to take prenatal vitamins for sometime.

I'm taking some information from a vitamin company blog that explains the difference between types of vitamins.

The post is titled:

TYPES OF VITAMINS: SYNTHETIC, WHOLE-FOOD, FOOD-BASED

The blog starts out with the following introduction:

If you've ever been in the market and tried to choose from one from the dizzying array of options available, you know that choosing the one that is best suited to your purposes for taking a multi can sometimes be more nerve-wracking, anxiety-provoking, and overwhelming than choosing the man you are going to marry. This is because of the lack of clarity and consensus with regard to how the different multivitamin products are formulated and marketed. This post will provide a quick review of the different forms of vitamins in multivitamin products and, hopefully providing tips for choosing the one that is right for you.

Once you get past all the pretty packaging and marketing hype, you'll find that most multivitamin products contain nutrients that are primarily in one of these three forms:

1.) Synthetic, isolated, fractionated vitamins created in a lab from industrial chemicals and solvents.

2.) Synthetic, isolated, fractionated vitamins created in a lab from cultured yeast and probiotics and in whole-food form.

3.) Food-sourced, full spectrum, concentrated vitamins sourced from foods (e.g. fruits, vegetables, grains, spices)

Synthetic vitamin isolates: you get less than what you pay for with them .

These are nutrients that are synthesized in a lab using industrial chemicals and solvents. Their chemical structure doesn't resemble anything you would find in nature and suffer from poor bioavailability and even poorer assimilation because they lack the co-factors necessary for their optimal utilization by the body.

Advantage of synthetic vitamin isolates include:

1. Mass produced/inexpensive

2. High potencies; lower dosages

Disadvantages of synthetic vitamin isolates include:

1. Fractionated, isolated-NO co-factors

2. Synthesized from industrial chemicals and solvents

3. Poor bioavailability and assimilation

4. Can cause nutrient depletion

5. Metallic aftertaste

6. Digestive discomfort

How to tell if a vitamin is synthetic: Check the supplements fact panel. If the source of the nutrient is NOT listed in the panel or in other ingredients, than the vitamins are synthetic. It does not matter if the product contain probiotics, enzymes, food powders, or any other ingredients-IF the source of the vitamin is NOT listed, it IS synthetic.

Popular brands with synthetic Multivitamin products ( in alphabetical order): Bluebonnet Nutrition, Centrum, Jarrow, Kirkland, Natural Factors, Nature's Way Alive Multis, NOW Foods, One-a Day, Optimum Nutrition, {entire line of} Rainbow Light Multivitamins, Solaray, Solgar, and Source Naturals Life Force Multis.

Whole-Food Vitamins: Better than synthetic isolates, but less effective than food-sourced vitamins.

Contrary to popular belief, whole food vitamins are NOT from traditional food sources. Whole-food vitamins are synthetic,isolated vitamins that are cultured in medias that contains yeast, probiotics, and other synergistic nutrients to transform them into a whole-food form.

The culturing process does render these nutrients more bioavailable and enhance their absorption / assimilation in the gut, and in this sense they are an improvement over synthetic vitamin isolates. However, the claim that these nutrients are just as good as getting vitamins from food is nothing but marketing hype and the premium that companies charge for this form does not always justify the range of therapeutic benefits you get from taking them.

Advantages of cultured, whole-food vitamins include:

1. More bioavailable than synthetic vitamin isolates.

2. Better absorbed than synthetic vitamin isolates.

3. No metallic aftertaste

4. No digestive discomfort

Disadvantages:

1. Can be expensive ( depends on the brand)

2. Lower potencies; higher dosages

How to tell if a vitamin is whole-food: Check the supplements fact panel. If the label lists S.cerevisiae, than the vitamins are cultured. It does not matter if the product also contains probiotics, enzymes, food powders, or any other ingredients-IF yeast ( S.cerevisiae) is on the label, then the vitamin is cultured / whole food.

Popular brands with cultured, Whole-food Multivitamin products ( in alphabetical order): Garden of Life, MegaFood, New Chapter, and NutriGold.

Food-sourced, Full-spectrum Concentrated Vitamins: the best of what nature has to offer.

Full-spectrum concentrated vitamins are the TRUE food-sourced vitamins in that the vitamins are extracted from traditional food sources like fruits, vegetables, grains, spices, among others. Some companies deliberately misbrand their products as food-sourced even though the product contains synthetic vitamin isolates in a base of fruit and vegetable powders;”food-based”( sourced FROM food) is NOT the same as ” base of food ” ( synthetic vitamins mixed with food powders ), so be sure to check the supplement panel to determine whether the vitamins in a product are truly food-based or just a bunch of synthetic vitamins blended together with some food powders.

Advantages of full-spectrum concentrated Vitamins include:

1. True food source ( 100% natural)

2. Complete with all necessary co-factors

3. Highest bioavailability and absorption

4. No metallic aftertaste

5. No digestive discomfort

Disadvantages of full-spectrum concentrated vitamins include:

1. Can be expensive ( depends on the brand)

2. Lower potencies; higher dosages (depends on the brand)

How to tell if a vitamin is full-spectrum concentrated / food -sourced: Check the supplements facts panel. The source of the nutrient MUST be listed next to the nutrient and should be a source you recognize as food. It does not matter if the product also contains probiotics, enzymes, food powders, or any other ingredients-IF the source of the nutrient is NOT a food and is NOT listed on the label, then the vitamin is either a synthetic isolate or a cultured whole-food vitamin.

It is worth noting that a lot of companies take advantage of the inherent lack of clarity in the word,'natural,' to project a wholesome marketing image, even when the product does little to merit the ” natural” claim. The word, “natural” has been overused and abused so much that it no longer holds any value. So, rather than relying on any of these “buzz” words when making a purchasing decision, it is always reccomended to review the supplements facts panel for information on whether or not the vitamin is in a natural-occurring form.

Popular Brands with Food-sourced,Full-Spectrum Concentrated Multivitamin Products: NutriGold

So there you have some of the vital information on the types of vitamins you have to choose from, and now it's up to you to decide what you think is best for you and your needs. I hope you found this to be useful and enlightening. Till next time, God Bless.