Why Many Vitamin Studies are Absolutely Worthless
Does vitamin E naturally help protect against the effects of aging, or does it lead to liver damage and complications associated with lung cancer? Well, it depends on what the study authors want to tell you. The synthetic version of vitamin E is a petrochemically derived analogue of natural vitamin E that is capable of disrupting the endocrine system, whereas the natural form of vitamin E is effective against aging, oxidative stress, and hundreds of other conditions. The truth of the matter is that many — if not most — of vitamin studies are completely worthless, as they use isolated synthetic vitamins or low quality multivitamin supplements loaded with toxic fillers and synthetic ingredients.
Study authors could use high quality food-based multivitamins without any fillers or harmful ingredients, but they generally do not. Whether this is due to nutritional ignorance regarding the true nature of the pharmaceutical company-dominated supplement industry (think highly-popular Centrum, which we will soon discuss) or the fact that these researchers truly think that essential nutrients are damaging to your health, the fact of the matter is that very few studies utilize the right form of vitamins.
Synthetic and Carcinogenic Ingredients, Not Real Vitamins
When analyzing the ingredients within Centrum, the number one top selling vitamin brand, it is easy to see how studies can so easily tote the dangers of ‘vitamins’ when in reality they are actually exposing the dangers of synthetic ingredients and fillers that are known to damage your body. It should be no surprise to you that Centrum is produced by the Wyeth company, which is now a part of Pfizer. Here are some of the ingredients contained in the top selling multivitamin Centrum, along with their adverse effects:
- BHT – A fat soluble compound used in jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products, electrical transformer oil, and embalming fluid. Research has linked BHT to lung cancer, bladder cancer, DNA damage, and gastric cancer.
- Boric Acid – A chemical oftentimes used as an antiseptic, insecticide, or flame retardant. Found to cause DNA damage.
- Synthetic Vitamin A Acetate –Â AÂ petrochemically produced byproduct that is capable of causing birth defects.
- Cupric Sulfate – Used as an herbicide, fungicide and pesticide, copper sulfate is produced by treating copper metal with hot concentrated sulfuric acid or its oxides with sulfuric acid.
These are only some of the toxic ingredients contained in Centrum, ingested by countless consumers worldwide who think they are improving their health. Is it any wonder why any scientific studies conducted using this health-wrecking multivitamin would produce scary results?
The most concerning fact of the matter is that Centrum is held in high regard by many traditional doctors and health officials, who not only recommend it to their patients but would most likely consider it the ‘gold standard’ of the multivitamin industry. This means that scientists looking to examine the effects of multivitamin use would be more inclined to choose this brand.
Even if it isn’t Centrum, the vast majority of multivitamin supplements contain synthetic ingredients, toxic fillers, and other unwanted ingredients.
The result of all of these studies using low quality supplements is simple: bad press on vitamins as a whole, as the authors fail to correctly distinguish the difference between low quality and high quality supplements. As a response, people are scared to take legitimately healthy multivitamins or health supplements, or think that all vitamins are the same or threaten their health with products like Centrum.
There is a large difference between synthetic and natural vitamins, and there is a large difference between high quality and low quality supplements. Ideally you want to avoid fillers, synthetic ingredients, and toxic additives. In addition to the harmful ingredients listed, look out for sodium benzoate, sodium molybdate, titanium dioxide, hydrogenated palm oil, citric acid, calcium stearate, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, and other unnecessary and potentially damaging ingredients.Taking a high quality food-based multivitamin is optimal, preferably made with 100% organic ingredients or superfoods.
It’s time that the truth be told concerning vitamin studies and the deception that goes along with them.
Synthetic vitamins DESTROY your health. Great article I am sharing this.
Centrum is crap. Plain and simple.
Buy quality supplements.
Agreed, I mean it's made by Pfizer.
Great story. Thanks so much for reminding me to avoid synthetic vitamins and fillers, Anthony.
Much appreciated, I have been taking a vitamin brand that contains one of these fillers and I had no idea.
Great, Jessica. Glad to help you optimize your health and congratulations on the initiative.
Thanks so much, Anthony!
Can you list some quality supplements? or alternatively, list synthetic substitutes and fillers which should be avoided? Also, this is the first time I've read that fillers are toxic. What I do know about them is that they actually block nutrient absorption into the body, and that is actually why we need to take them multiple times a day, every single day.
i really like new chapter, oregon's wild harvest, and emerald laboratories supplements. blue bonnet isn't bad, either.
check my web site to learn of a great quality real food vitamin
What do you think of USANA vitamins?
they also use synthetic vitamins although they at least use GMP's, hats off for that.
In my professional opinion, the top line Vitamins are New Chapter and Garden of Life. Then Nature's Way, Nature's Path and a few others. Do your research, shop only in specialty health supplement and health food stores…and stay away from anything found in WalMart or your local dollar stores.
these too are synthetic, perhaps a good quality but…check my web site please for your healths sake
Great piece, very much appreciated advice from all of you…thanks
Thanks alot. I learnt so much reading your articles. Is so enlightening and revealing
As Hippocrates said "let your medicine be your food, let your food be your medicine". Eat Certified Organic, your health is your diet & lifestyle, & get off your duff & go for a walk.
Is this why so many people are getting sick and we don't know whats wrong with them -who will sue these companies for our poor health
Excellent information, thank-you. I used to buy mainstream vitamins (hopefully the years now of "cleaning up" has rid my body of the synthetic garbage. I buy only from my local health food store that I trust.
95% of vitamins are sythetic, even in health food stores. Please check my web site for the only real food (harmless) on the market.
Tom, what is your site?
This "study" was done by the pharmaceutical industry to sway people away from using minerals and vitamins. They (the pharmaceutical industry) want you to use what THEY say is good for you. People who use healthy vitamins and minerals do not get sick as often since their bodies are better able to fight off illness.
Anything done in excess can be toxic. When used as directed, they are beneficial. Overdosing with the hope of correcting years of bad habits is the wrong thing to do.
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater! Natural vitamins and minerals are the way to go.
i have never touched i tablet vitamin in my life. it was just instinct even at 4 years old. i tried one no way.
The other stealth ingredient in lots of vitamin supplements is soy in some for or another. Usually soy oil, but not always that plainly visible.
Tom keeps referring to his web site, yet doesn't produce the link. Very helpful. Then he also mentions emailing him – but give no email addy. Again, very helpful. Sheesh.
Take no multivitamin. If you need to take individual vitamins, choose well by reading ingredient lists before purchasing. For instance, I take D3 because I live in the northern great plains and we have a lot of days with no sun at all. Not to mention I work indoors. So I had to search a long time to find a decent one not containing nasty stuff in the d3 or the capsule. I usually use cod liver oil for my D and A requirements, but I need a break from that sometimes. It's awful. But it's very good for you, especially the fermented kind from Green Pastures. I also like their Skate oil because it's high quality.
I drink raw milk so I like to depend on that for most of my good fats and necessary EFA's. But I also take dolomite (from KAL) for calcium because I'm afraid of too much calcium going to the wrong places in my body and causing hardening of the arteries, etc. So I always take my dolomite, D3 and K with raw milk.
Sayer Ji, at Greenmedinfo.com had all kinds of good articles, well researched and referenced, concerning health and food. Check it out.
lets hope new chapter does,nt go through any major changes,now that new chapter was bought by,none other than MONSANTO a while back !!!
Have you heard of the Ariix Vitamins? What do you think about their products
Thank you for such a great article. I use new chapter as well as AOR. What do you think of the AOR brand?
What brands of vitamins are not synthetic?