Natural News article tweaks me

Well, I got up this morning and, as is my habit, I checked my email first thing to see what's going on in the world. One of the highlights is always Mike Adams' NaturalNews newsletter, and I was interested to see an article there titled "Top Whole Food Multivitamin Supplements." Cool, I thought, I wonder what Mike has to say? Turns out his excellent staff writer, Ethan Huff, wrote the article, so I got right into it (http://www.naturalnews.com/029021_multivitamins_whole_foods.html).

I was dismayed, but not surprised, to find that NaturalNews is endorsing Megafood, New Chapter, and Garden of Life multivitamins. We do carry some items from these companies in our store (shop.nha4u.com), but only as "starter" brands for those who are just making the transition to whole-food supplements. Here's why:

I agree that these are better products than what you might get at Costco or Walmart, and definitely a step in the right direction in terms of getting whole food nutrition. However, as we become more aware of what we're putting into our bodies and as our health improves as a result, it's important to continue refining that awareness.

Although I respect these companies and their products, reading their labels' "Other Ingredients" reveals that they often use such products as "magnesium stearate," "vegetable lubricant," "stearic acid," "lac resin," "microcrystalline cellulose," and gelatin--just like the cheap drugstore brands!

Those of us on the path to health are aware that magnesium stearate, a commonly used excipient (also known as a "flow agent") in cheap supplements that keeps ingredients from sticking to pill-making machinery, is hydrogenated, free radical-laden oil. It's in the supplements as a machine lube, not for your health! The MSDS even lists it as dangerous for factory workers to be exposed to, and yet they want you to eat it every time you take your vitamin? Also, you may not be aware that the innocuous- (and even healthy-) sounding "vegetable lubricant" and "stearic acid," while not as noxious, impede the dissipation and absorption of the very nutrients you just paid a lot of money for. Lac resin, or shellac, is the excretion of a beetle and is used to make a shiny coat on vitamin tablets. Gelatin is the gooey substance left over from boiling down animal hooves, noses, and ears and is used to make capsules. Microcrystalline cellulose is a polymer or plastic for coating the pills, and likewise inhibits absorption.

So while I applaud the companies mentioned in this article for using whole foods in their formulas, it's very important to continue refining our knowledge and awareness of what we're ingesting and to encourage these companies to find ways to deliver their great formulas in ways that will allow our bodies actually to absorb them.

You might want to look at the Synergy Company, Health Force, Gaia, Paradise, and Ultra Laboratories if you're ready to move to the next level of health. Believe me, it makes a huge difference when your body is able to fully use all the nutrition you're paying good money for! I personally have switched from the Megafood Women Over 40 One Daily, which uses "vegetable lubricant," to the Synergy Company's VitaSynergy for Women. Synergy and the other companies I mentioned are absolutely committed to using no excipients or artificial ingredients at all and are at the cutting edge of nutritional supplements in our world today.

My feeling is that if you're going to pay more for a good supplement, you ought to find one that your body can actually absorb! New Chapter, Garden of Life, and Megafood are aware of these "Other Ingredient" issues, but I know for a fact that they are resistant to changing them because of cost and mechanical considerations.

Educate yourself about the "Other Ingredients" and put pressure on your favorite supplement makers to update their manufacturing processes. If Health Force, Synergy, Ultra Labs, Gaia, Paradise, and others can do it, so can Megafood, New Chapter, and Garden of Life. The excipient-free brands I mention here don't even charge more (in fact, sometimes less), so there's really no excuse to continue using (or ingesting) excipients. Take back your health!