Research shows that people often choose supplements solely on how the package looks. I have seen expensive supplements that were worthless and cheap supplements that were very good. The reverse is also true and we all are influenced by visual aspects in everything we do. Unfortunately in the United States supplements are not regulated to any degree. The European Union and some other countries require herbs and supplements to be of medicinal quality if sold for health reasons.
If you make a rhubarb pie from the stems you have a delicious dessert, however, the leaves are poisonous and dangerous to consume. In the same regard, when buying a supplement, the plant parts used are very important. Often the parts used are missing from the product labels. For echinacea to be beneficial you must use the root. Different supplements and natural medicines use different parts. Whether the fruit, leaves, stalks, or roots are used makes a big difference.
Many vitamins are simply chemicals and are synthetic replicas of naturally occurring substances. Vitamins C and E have eight parts. Most often only one eighth of a molecule of these vitamins are present in commonly sold supplements.
Whole food substances made from plants, not chemicals , heal the body. The way a plant is grown and harvested, the type of soil used and many other things influence the quality of nutritional products. Think of how a tomato tastes that is vine ripened in your back yard in the summer. Then think of how one from the supermarket tastes in February. It is not hard to imagine that plants can have differences in quality that affect how the supplement works. The manufacturing process is important too. Heat destroys proteins, and all enzymes are proteins. Just think of the differences between a raw egg, a boiled egg, a fried egg, and a scrambled egg. How a plant is produced can have many variations as well and have an effect on the usefulness of the product. Some supplements have special coating that prevent them from being dissolved in the stomach and dissolve instead into the intestine. These and many other things are important to consider when choosing a supplement. We are always here to help. For a free systems survey that identifies nutritional needs, contact our office.
