Most nutritional supplements are very delicate formulas. Their effectiveness varies a great deal according to the way they are manufactured, transported and stored. Although the laboratories that manufacture them are not required to disclose this information, the FDA classifies supplements into three broad categories:
* Animal Grade/Feed Grade
* Food Grade
* USP Pharmaceutical Grade
Most of the supplements that you buy in the supermarket, or even a health food store, fall into the first two categories. Pharmaceutical grade supplements are usually available only through the prescription of a health care professional.
The secret to pharmaceutical grade supplements is that they are formulated to yield a much higher degree of bio-availability. In other words, your body can absorb them more easily, and this makes a big difference in how they improve your health and enhance the quality of your life.
Cost versus Quality: is there really a difference in Nutritional Supplements?
Let’s take a look at one example of cost verses quality, in the case of amino acids. Most amino acid supplements are manufactured in tablet form, held together by binders and fillers that inhibit digestion. Others contain protein fragments that must be broken down (metabolized) by the body before absorption into a useful form. The real cost of these supplements is the relationship between the dollars spent on them to the effective catabolization of those amino acids into proteins for the body.
For example, an amino acid supplement may cost $.25 per capsule, but contain fillers and predigested amino acids that are limited due to the absence of a proper proportion of other nutrients that are essential for their bio-availability. Your body may be able to effectively catabolize only 10% of the product. This product would have a real cost of $2.50 per capsule. That is to say, it would take 10 capsules to get the equivalent effectiveness of one capsule that was completely metabolized.
Synthetic versus Natural:
Most vitamin supplements found in drug and health food stores do not contain vitamins that are truly natural, but are synthesized predominantly from petrochemicals and less frequently from plants.
There is much controversy concerning the body’s reaction to synthetic vs. natural vitamin supplements. Many believe that the small differences between synthetic and natural are of no consequence. However, clinical evidence and several studies indicate that the body detects the difference and that natural forms of vitamins including A, B-complex, C, D, and E are more easily absorbed by the body and have a more profound effect on deficiencies and disease than synthetics.
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