An important principle in nutrition is synergy. This means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When we eat food provided by nature we are consuming a wide array of vitamins, minerals, protein, fats, carbohydrates and thousands of other chemicals besides.

When we swallow supplements, we are usually only taking into our bodies a very tiny percentage of the substances found in foods. High doses of a small number of nutrients is drug nutrition, not synergy and not a food supplement.

A high percentage of pharmaceuticals are derived from plants. The pharmacologist takes the most powerful portion of the plant and uses this to make the drug. On the other hand, a herbalist will use all of the plant. This is much safer and includes all the synergistic factors contained in the whole plant.

In the same way, to make a nutritional supplement, the chemist will take out the most active element in the nutrient complex. This is what is used to make the supplement. This is now not a food supplement but a weak drug.

Ascorbic Acid Is Not Vitamin C

If the label on your supplement bottle states that vitamin C is provided only as ascorbic acid, then you are not getting vitamin C, but only a fraction of the vitamin C complex. To get the complex requires the bioflavonoids that always come with ascorbic acid in nature.

Is Alpha Tocopherol Vitamin E?

Is vitamin E only provided as alpha tocopherol? But this is not vitamin E. This is only part of the vitamin E complex. There are three other tocopherols and four tocotrienols that are also part of the vitamin E complex. Taking alpha tocopherol alone is not just unbalanced, it can deplete the other parts of the vitamin E complex, reducing their potential health benefits.

Is Beta Carotene Vitamin A?

Many supplements provide pro vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. While this does convert into vitamin A, it is only one fraction of the carotenoid complex which comprises 600 or more other pigments.

One of the great early pioneers of nutritional healing was Royal Lee. In 1940 he pointed out that synthetic, chemically purified vitamins are not vitamins in the true meaning of the word. They are simply fragments of vitamins. Whole foods provided by nature contain these vitamin complexes. Supplements need to be derived from whole foods.

So the next time you look for a nutritional supplement to take, ask yourself whether you are ingesting food or swallowing a drug.

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