What’s In Your Vitamins?
What does nail polish and a multivitamin have in common? Depending on the quality of the multivitamin, it will contain the same chemicals that are found in the nail polish. Umm…yes, you guessed it right…this is NOT a good thing! It is a given fact that there are laws in place requiring labels for the ingredients of a given product and such, however this is not always straightforward. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the safety of consumer products, like supplements and medication. However, the rigor of examining a medication versus a dietary supplement is radically different. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the FDA, evidence (scientific studies) concerning the safety and efficacy of the supplement is not required and it is the responsibility of the company (!) marketing the supplement to decide that said supplement is safe. I don’t know about that…It is only after an incident, that the FDA can take action against said company.
Issues
Common issues with supplements include: contamination, variable potency (aka strength), and interactions with prescription medications. Always tell me what supplements you take! Some, especially herbal, can have significant interactions with medications (eg. Rhodiola and SSRIs can cause serotonin syndrome)
Unknown composition of a dietary supplement is an issue in the industry. A recent study involving the use of DNA to identify the components used in herbal supplements found that, of those tested, over half contained undisclosed plants (think interactions!), fillers and other contaminants not listed on the label. The study also shed light on the practice of substitution. For example, one product that was labeled and marketed as St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum, SJW), an herbal supplement, used to treat among other things, depression, contained no SJW and instead contained senna (Senna alexandrina), an herbal laxative. That must have been a bad day for anyone who purchased it! Common fillers, among the group tested, included: rice, soybean and wheat. The presence of wheat is particularly troubling due to the rise of gluten intolerance and that some people really have significant reactions to it. Unknown composition of a supplement leads to hosts of other problems such as variable potency (aka strength). With fillers and additives present, one is not consuming the full amount of the intended product. In other words you have to take a million pills to reach an effect which will lead to “pill fatigue“ (it is only a matter of time for you to stop them altogether).
The presence of heavy metals in supplements is an issue to consider. Studies show that, of the samples studied, products marketed as vitamin and mineral supplements, contain high levels of lead and mercury, while ginseng extracts were found to contain excess levels of zinc. A study found that, of the products tested, some supplements are contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are noteworthy as they are a carcinogenic, meaning they have been found to cause cancer. Other examples of contaminants include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Dioxin like compounds (DLCs) and furans.
Other problematic additives include silicon dioxide (shown to increase respiratory problems), titanium oxide (high doses of titanium dioxide have been implicated in cancers, lung, skin, kidney and liver complications), magnesium stearate (has been associated with drowsiness, kidney and gastrointestinal complications), hydrogenated or trans- fats (increase inflammation in the body). Besides considering the effects of each individual additive mentioned, one should consider the cumulative effects of the additives together. And you may say Oh it’s a tiny capsule only however, you take it daily! That adds up!
Also do not forget the coating. You do not need your vitamins to be shiny and colorful. Those usually contain chemicals to make them look like that! We are not kids needing to be enticed to take them like that (in fact, keep them out of reach from children! They love shiny colorful stuff)
Acceptable additives
Cellulose is a plant based product used for stabilization. Collagen does not show adverse effects to humans. Gelatin is an animal product that is harmless to humans.
The Ideal Supplement
The Ideal supplement should be hypoallergenic, meaning it contains no allergens and free of superfluous matter such as fillers, colorants, preservatives, and contain only harmless additives. My recommendations are usually not the cheapest but again, this is not something you want to save on. I work with Pure Encapsulations because on top of meeting all these criteria they also produce pharmaceutical grade products you can trust. The best of all? They contain all vitamins in an already activated form. So if you have a genetic polymorphism making it harder for you to activate - hence utilize - vitamins, they are readily available for your body to use them.
Check out my online store under this link. Contact me for specific recommendations. Send me your 23&me results for your complete, personalized supplement recommendation list.
