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What's in Your Vitamins?
From Dr. Robert Thiel, Ph.D., N.H.D.
articles "The Truth About Minerals in Nutritional Supplements" and "The Truth About Vitamins in Nutritional Supplements"
For decades the ‘natural’ health industry has been touting thousands of vitamin supplements. The truth is that most vitamins in
supplements are made or processed with petroleum derivatives or hydrogenated sugars [1-5]. Even though they are often called
natural, most non-food vitamins are isolated substances which are crystalline in structure [1]. Vitamins naturally in food are not
crystalline and never isolated. Vitamins found in any real food are chemically and structurally different from those commonly found in
‘natural vitamin’ formulas. Since they are different they should be considered vitamin analogues (imitations) and not actually
vitamins.
Most vitamins in supplements are petroleum extracts, coal tar derivatives, and chemically processed sugar (plus sometimes
industrially processed fish oils), with other acids and industrial chemicals (such as formaldehyde) used to process them [1-5].
Synthetic vitamins were originally developed because they cost less [7]. Assuming the non-food product does not contain fish oils,
most synthetic, petroleum-derived, supplements will call their products ‘vegetarian’, not because they are from plants, but because
they are not from animals. Most vitamins in vitamin supplements made from food are in foods such as acerola cherries, broccoli,
cabbage, carrots, lemons, limes, nutritional yeast, oranges, and rice bran (some companies also use animal products).
Table 1. Composition of Food and Non-Food Vitamins [1-10]
Vitamin Food Nutrient* ‘Natural’ Vitamin Analogue & Some Process Chemicals
Vitamin A/Betacarotene Carrots Methanol, benzene, petroleum esters; acetylene; refined oils
Vitamin B-1 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Coal tar derivatives, hydrochloric acid; acetonitrole with ammonia
Vitamin B-2 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Synthetically produced with 2N acetic acid
Vitamin B-3 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Coal tar derivatives, 3-cyanopyridine; ammonia and acid
Vitamin B-5 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Condensing isobutyraldehyde with formaldehyde
Vitamin B-6 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Petroleum ester & hydrochloric acid with formaldehyde
Vitamin B-8 Rice Phytin hydrolyzed with calcium hydroxide and sulfuric acid
Vitamin B-9 Broccoli, rice bran Processed with petroleum derivatives and acids; acetylene
Vitamin B-12 Nutritional yeast Cobalamins reacted with cyanide
Vitamin ‘B-x’ PABA Nutritional yeast Coal tar oxidized with nitric acid (from ammonia)
Choline Nutritional yeast, rice bran Ethylene and ammonia with HCL or tartaric acid
Vitamin C Acerola cherries, citrus fruits Hydrogenated sugar processed with acetone
Vitamin D Nutritional yeast Irradiated animal fat/cattle brains or solvently extracted
Vitamin E Rice, vegetable oils Trimethylhydroquinone with isophytol; refined oils
Vitamin H Nutritional yeast, rice bran Biosynthetically produced
Vitamin K Cabbage Coal tar derivative; produced with p-allelic-nickel
Although many doctors have been taught that food and non-food vitamins have the same chemical composition, this is simply
untrue for most vitamins. The chemical forms of food and synthetic nutrients are normally different. Health professionals and the
public need to understand that since there is no mandated definition of the term ‘natural," just seeing that term on a label does not
mean that the supplement contains only natural food substances.
It is well known among nutrition researchers that most essential minerals are not well absorbed; for some minerals, absorption is
less than 1% [27]. "Bioavailability of orally administered vitamins, minerals, and trace elements is subject to a complex set of
influences...In nutrition science the term 'bioavailability' encompasses the sum of impacts that may reduce or foster the metabolic
utilization of a nutrient" [28]. Research demonstrates that the bioavailability and/or effectiveness of mineral containing foods is
greater than that of isolated inorganic mineral salts or mineral chelates [e.g. 28-43]. These studies have concluded that natural food
minerals may be better absorbed, utilized, and/or retained than mineral salts.
Furthermore, minerals used in most supplements do not contain protein chaperones or other food factors needed for absorption
into the cell. In 1999, the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Guenter Blobel who discovered that minerals need protein
chaperones to be absorbed into cellular receptors. When mineral salts without protein chaperones are consumed, "It is after
digestion when other mineral forms {mineral salts} have their mineral cleaved from their carriers. In this situation, these minerals
become charged ions, and their absorbability becomes in jeopardy. These charged free minerals are known to block the absorption
of one another, or to combine with other dietary factors to form compounds that are unabsorbable" [44]. The body must discard the
residual chemicals.
Foods used in supplements that commonly provide significant quantities of essential minerals include dulse, horsetail herb, kelp,
nutritional yeast, rice bran, and water thyme. These types of foods have been shown to contain not only minerals in natural food
forms, but also important protein chaperones such as ATX1 and ceruplasmin [45,46]. Industrial mineral salts do not contain the
protein chaperones or other food factors needed for proper mineral absorption. Furthermore, some foods also contain factors
which reduce the probability of certain minerals to be toxic to the body [32,33,46]; industrial mineral salts and chelates are simply
not that complete.
There are quantitative and qualitative differences in food vs. non-food minerals. Table 2 lists some of them by mineral.
Table 2 Quantitative and Qualitative Differences
Food Mineral Compared to Mineral Salt/Chelate
Calcium 7 times as effective in raising serum ionic calcium levels [30].
Chromium Up to 25 times more bioavailable [31].
Copper Contains substances that reduce potential toxicity [32,46].
Iron Safer, non-constipating, better absorbed [33, 34].
Magnesium Better absorbed and retained [35].
Manganese Not as likely to contribute to toxicity as mined forms [36,47].
Phosphorus Less likely to cause diarrhea or electrolyte disorders [37].
Selenium Nearly 2 times better retained [29,38].
Vanadium Safer and 50% more effective [39].
Zinc Better absorption, better form [40,41].
Foods, almost by definition, are not toxic, and as mentioned earlier, can have protective factors to prevent certain potential mineral
toxicities, such as those sometimes associated with copper, iron, manganese, or other minerals [32,33,46,47].
Conclusion
Most vitamins sold are not food--they are synthetically processed petroleum and/or hydrogenated sugar extracts--even if they say
“natural” on the label. They are not in the same chemical form or structural form as real vitamins are in foods; thus they are not
natural for the human body. True natural food vitamins are superior to synthetic ones [8,16,41]. Food vitamins are functionally
superior to non-food vitamins as they tend to be preferentially absorbed and/or retained by the body. Isolated, non-food vitamins,
even when not chemically different are only fractionated nutrients.
Studies cited throughout this paper suggest that the bioavailability of food vitamins is better than that of most isolated USP vitamins,
that they may have better effects on maintaining aspects of human health beyond traditional vitamin deficiency syndromes, and at
least some seem to be preferentially retained by the human body. It is not always clear if these advantages are due to the
physiochemical form of the vitamin, with the other food constituents that are naturally found with them, or some combination.
Regardless, it seems logical to conclude that for purposes of maintaining normal health, natural vitamins are superior to synthetic
ones [8,16,41]. Unlike some synthetic vitamins, no natural vitamin has been found to not perform all of its natural functions.
No matter how many industrially produced mineral supplements one takes orally, they will:
1) Never be a truly complete nutrient source.
2) Never replace all the functions of food minerals.
3) Always be unnatural substances to the body.
4) Always strain the body by requiring that it detoxify or somehow dispose of their unnatural structures/chemicals.
5) Never be utilized, absorbed, and retained the same as food nutrients.
6) Not be able to prevent advanced protein glycation end-product formation the same as food nutrients.
7) Never be able to have the antioxidant effects the same as food nutrients.
8) Always be industrial products.
9) Always be composed of petroleum-derivatives, hydrogenated sugars, acids, and/or industrially-processed rocks.
10) Never build optimal health the same as food nutrients.
Industrially processed minerals can have some positive nutritional effects, yet they are not food for humans. Unlike humans, plants
have roots or hyphae which aid in the absorption of minerals. Plants actually have the ability to decrease the toxicity of compounds
by changing their biochemical forms [14]. Plants are naturally intended to ingest rocks; humans are not [1].
The truth is that plants, or supplements only made from plants, are the best form of mineral supplement for humans, yet most
people who take nutritional mineral support consume some type of industrially processed rock.
For full articles and references visit Dr. Thiel's website below:
http://www.doctorsresearch.com/articles4.html
articles "The Truth About Minerals in Nutritional Supplements" and "The Truth About Vitamins in Nutritional Supplements"
For decades the ‘natural’ health industry has been touting thousands of vitamin supplements. The truth is that most vitamins in
supplements are made or processed with petroleum derivatives or hydrogenated sugars [1-5]. Even though they are often called
natural, most non-food vitamins are isolated substances which are crystalline in structure [1]. Vitamins naturally in food are not
crystalline and never isolated. Vitamins found in any real food are chemically and structurally different from those commonly found in
‘natural vitamin’ formulas. Since they are different they should be considered vitamin analogues (imitations) and not actually
vitamins.
Most vitamins in supplements are petroleum extracts, coal tar derivatives, and chemically processed sugar (plus sometimes
industrially processed fish oils), with other acids and industrial chemicals (such as formaldehyde) used to process them [1-5].
Synthetic vitamins were originally developed because they cost less [7]. Assuming the non-food product does not contain fish oils,
most synthetic, petroleum-derived, supplements will call their products ‘vegetarian’, not because they are from plants, but because
they are not from animals. Most vitamins in vitamin supplements made from food are in foods such as acerola cherries, broccoli,
cabbage, carrots, lemons, limes, nutritional yeast, oranges, and rice bran (some companies also use animal products).
Table 1. Composition of Food and Non-Food Vitamins [1-10]
Vitamin Food Nutrient* ‘Natural’ Vitamin Analogue & Some Process Chemicals
Vitamin A/Betacarotene Carrots Methanol, benzene, petroleum esters; acetylene; refined oils
Vitamin B-1 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Coal tar derivatives, hydrochloric acid; acetonitrole with ammonia
Vitamin B-2 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Synthetically produced with 2N acetic acid
Vitamin B-3 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Coal tar derivatives, 3-cyanopyridine; ammonia and acid
Vitamin B-5 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Condensing isobutyraldehyde with formaldehyde
Vitamin B-6 Nutritional yeast, rice bran Petroleum ester & hydrochloric acid with formaldehyde
Vitamin B-8 Rice Phytin hydrolyzed with calcium hydroxide and sulfuric acid
Vitamin B-9 Broccoli, rice bran Processed with petroleum derivatives and acids; acetylene
Vitamin B-12 Nutritional yeast Cobalamins reacted with cyanide
Vitamin ‘B-x’ PABA Nutritional yeast Coal tar oxidized with nitric acid (from ammonia)
Choline Nutritional yeast, rice bran Ethylene and ammonia with HCL or tartaric acid
Vitamin C Acerola cherries, citrus fruits Hydrogenated sugar processed with acetone
Vitamin D Nutritional yeast Irradiated animal fat/cattle brains or solvently extracted
Vitamin E Rice, vegetable oils Trimethylhydroquinone with isophytol; refined oils
Vitamin H Nutritional yeast, rice bran Biosynthetically produced
Vitamin K Cabbage Coal tar derivative; produced with p-allelic-nickel
Although many doctors have been taught that food and non-food vitamins have the same chemical composition, this is simply
untrue for most vitamins. The chemical forms of food and synthetic nutrients are normally different. Health professionals and the
public need to understand that since there is no mandated definition of the term ‘natural," just seeing that term on a label does not
mean that the supplement contains only natural food substances.
It is well known among nutrition researchers that most essential minerals are not well absorbed; for some minerals, absorption is
less than 1% [27]. "Bioavailability of orally administered vitamins, minerals, and trace elements is subject to a complex set of
influences...In nutrition science the term 'bioavailability' encompasses the sum of impacts that may reduce or foster the metabolic
utilization of a nutrient" [28]. Research demonstrates that the bioavailability and/or effectiveness of mineral containing foods is
greater than that of isolated inorganic mineral salts or mineral chelates [e.g. 28-43]. These studies have concluded that natural food
minerals may be better absorbed, utilized, and/or retained than mineral salts.
Furthermore, minerals used in most supplements do not contain protein chaperones or other food factors needed for absorption
into the cell. In 1999, the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Guenter Blobel who discovered that minerals need protein
chaperones to be absorbed into cellular receptors. When mineral salts without protein chaperones are consumed, "It is after
digestion when other mineral forms {mineral salts} have their mineral cleaved from their carriers. In this situation, these minerals
become charged ions, and their absorbability becomes in jeopardy. These charged free minerals are known to block the absorption
of one another, or to combine with other dietary factors to form compounds that are unabsorbable" [44]. The body must discard the
residual chemicals.
Foods used in supplements that commonly provide significant quantities of essential minerals include dulse, horsetail herb, kelp,
nutritional yeast, rice bran, and water thyme. These types of foods have been shown to contain not only minerals in natural food
forms, but also important protein chaperones such as ATX1 and ceruplasmin [45,46]. Industrial mineral salts do not contain the
protein chaperones or other food factors needed for proper mineral absorption. Furthermore, some foods also contain factors
which reduce the probability of certain minerals to be toxic to the body [32,33,46]; industrial mineral salts and chelates are simply
not that complete.
There are quantitative and qualitative differences in food vs. non-food minerals. Table 2 lists some of them by mineral.
Table 2 Quantitative and Qualitative Differences
Food Mineral Compared to Mineral Salt/Chelate
Calcium 7 times as effective in raising serum ionic calcium levels [30].
Chromium Up to 25 times more bioavailable [31].
Copper Contains substances that reduce potential toxicity [32,46].
Iron Safer, non-constipating, better absorbed [33, 34].
Magnesium Better absorbed and retained [35].
Manganese Not as likely to contribute to toxicity as mined forms [36,47].
Phosphorus Less likely to cause diarrhea or electrolyte disorders [37].
Selenium Nearly 2 times better retained [29,38].
Vanadium Safer and 50% more effective [39].
Zinc Better absorption, better form [40,41].
Foods, almost by definition, are not toxic, and as mentioned earlier, can have protective factors to prevent certain potential mineral
toxicities, such as those sometimes associated with copper, iron, manganese, or other minerals [32,33,46,47].
Conclusion
Most vitamins sold are not food--they are synthetically processed petroleum and/or hydrogenated sugar extracts--even if they say
“natural” on the label. They are not in the same chemical form or structural form as real vitamins are in foods; thus they are not
natural for the human body. True natural food vitamins are superior to synthetic ones [8,16,41]. Food vitamins are functionally
superior to non-food vitamins as they tend to be preferentially absorbed and/or retained by the body. Isolated, non-food vitamins,
even when not chemically different are only fractionated nutrients.
Studies cited throughout this paper suggest that the bioavailability of food vitamins is better than that of most isolated USP vitamins,
that they may have better effects on maintaining aspects of human health beyond traditional vitamin deficiency syndromes, and at
least some seem to be preferentially retained by the human body. It is not always clear if these advantages are due to the
physiochemical form of the vitamin, with the other food constituents that are naturally found with them, or some combination.
Regardless, it seems logical to conclude that for purposes of maintaining normal health, natural vitamins are superior to synthetic
ones [8,16,41]. Unlike some synthetic vitamins, no natural vitamin has been found to not perform all of its natural functions.
No matter how many industrially produced mineral supplements one takes orally, they will:
1) Never be a truly complete nutrient source.
2) Never replace all the functions of food minerals.
3) Always be unnatural substances to the body.
4) Always strain the body by requiring that it detoxify or somehow dispose of their unnatural structures/chemicals.
5) Never be utilized, absorbed, and retained the same as food nutrients.
6) Not be able to prevent advanced protein glycation end-product formation the same as food nutrients.
7) Never be able to have the antioxidant effects the same as food nutrients.
8) Always be industrial products.
9) Always be composed of petroleum-derivatives, hydrogenated sugars, acids, and/or industrially-processed rocks.
10) Never build optimal health the same as food nutrients.
Industrially processed minerals can have some positive nutritional effects, yet they are not food for humans. Unlike humans, plants
have roots or hyphae which aid in the absorption of minerals. Plants actually have the ability to decrease the toxicity of compounds
by changing their biochemical forms [14]. Plants are naturally intended to ingest rocks; humans are not [1].
The truth is that plants, or supplements only made from plants, are the best form of mineral supplement for humans, yet most
people who take nutritional mineral support consume some type of industrially processed rock.
For full articles and references visit Dr. Thiel's website below:
http://www.doctorsresearch.com/articles4.html
