Food nutrients vs. supplements

[Pat Robinson]

I recall a study where an apple with about 25mg of "Vitamin C" was eaten and measurable blood levels of vitamin C change were HIGHER than when someone consumed 1000mg of "Vitamin C" supplement.

Synthetic "nutrient" supplements are not utilized by the body the same as nature's real nutrients. Additionally, many synthetic, chemistry-laboratory derived "nutrients" are actually "mirror-image" chemical combinations and do not function in the body the same as the natural chemical.

From Tory M. Hagen, Ph.D., Linus Pauling Institute:

"When we make lipoic acid in our body we make the right-handed or R form of the molecule, which is the one that the body utilizes. The R form is used biologically in energy production from raw fuel sources.

The left-handed or S form of the molecule seems to be much less able to be reduced to the very powerful antioxidant form. It also doesn't seem to be absorbed in the body in the same way.

If you take a commercial supplement of lipoic acid, you may not be getting as much usable lipoic acid into the body as you would with the natural form of the molecule. "
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html

"Thalidomide is a good example of how different forms of the same molecule can have disastrous consequences. One of the enantiomers was calming and eased nausea in pregnant women, while the other caused serious damage to the fetus. The thalidomide catastrophe is one of the reasons that a lot of research is devoted to chirality, as it is absolutely vital to be able to control which form of the molecule that is produced."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110614122202.htm

Because of the necessary co-nutrients, many plant nutrients are much more bio-available than synthetic supplements. Additionally, measurable blood levels of a nutrient or exogenous hormone does not equate to bioavailability.

For instance, saliva measurement of some hormones are different than the blood measurement value as "high" or "low", based upon bioavailability.

Pat

[Pat Robinson]

Co-nutrients are all interconnected. When we supplement an isolated, synthetic vitamin (or hormone) we create *imbalances*. Whole foods sources of nutrients are in natural balance --- if we consume a broad, nutrient-dense diet.

So often I see people on restricted diets which lead to more and more food intolerances *due to* nutrient-deficiencies and an inability to digest and detox food byproducts. Long-term diet restrictions create a cascade of nutrient deficiencies, per my observations. And more and more foods are "lost".

Overwhelmed? http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/overwhelmed-where-to-start

I'm just not a supplement gal. I trust that the natural forms of nutrients (food) are more useful to our body in their natural state.

Pat