Multivitamin Supplements

Lots of differing views given to you in the answers above. I worked in the supplement industry so I know how it all works.

The latest buzz word in the industry is "whole food" supplements. You don't need whole food supplements - just eat 'whole foods'- then you'll get all those extra phtyonutrients that scientists haven't yet discovered. Whole food supplements are a way for manufacturers to charge more and make more profit!

Most supplements including the very best in the market use synthetic vitamins and minerals and the supplement you take should (mostly) consist of these.

The facts regarding synthetics versus natural are as follows:

鈥淣atural鈥?means substances in their indigenous, unaltered state and coming directly from a plant, food or animal.

* Fact: Sourcing vitamins in this way is extremely expensive and requires significant chemical processing.

* Fact: Many natural ingredients are biologically unstable 鈥?especially when they are removed from the food source - they must be stabilized with materials such as hydrochloride, sulphates, KCl, or incorporated into stabilizing matrices etc.

They are much more susceptible to contamination during manufacture and properties such as color, appearance and potency can vary considerably from one batch to the next - as can the macronutrient chemical composition.

* 鈥淪ynthetic鈥?means substances that begin either as a natural source (natural precursors) or as inorganic chemicals, and have been chemically synthesized in a laboratory.