Choosing
Brands of Herbs & Vitamins
by Ron Stock, R.Ph.
Many people often ask, "Can you
explain what the difference is between all the different brands of
vitamins and herbs on the market?
Lets start with herbs. Herbs are grown all
over the world in different climates, with different amounts of rainfall,
different nutrients in the soil, as well as different levels of toxins.
They can be grown organically or with chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
If they are imported herbs they may go through irradiation and gassing to
kill bacteria, mold and other potential contaminants.
Some herbs are wild crafted and some are
farmed. Wild crafted herbs are grown and harvested naturally in the wild
which accounts for the wide variations in potency and quality you find
with these herbs. If you've ever grown a backyard garden you should
understand what I mean. Sometimes the corn grows six feet high and other
times it grows only three feet tall. Sometimes the watermelon is sweet,
and sometimes it is nothing special. Much depends on your starting raw
materials.
Companies that are interested in providing
the best quality products will test the raw materials extensively to make
sure they meet their specifications. They will check to make sure the herb
is what it is supposed to be, whether it has any microbial, mold or fungal
contamination. They will also test it for heavy metals, chemicals and
pesticide residue. Companies more interested in profits will purchase the
cheapest raw material. Often, this is the same raw material that was
rejected by more reputable manufacturers because of poor quality or
contamination.
There are few regulations on the food
supplement industry. It is assumed that GMPs (good manufacturing
procedures) are being followed, but there is nothing stopping your
neighbor from making food supplements in their bathroom or garage. There
are several companies that produce products that "pharmaceutical
grade,"
meaning the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) inspects their production
plants. They must also follow guidelines that would be the same as if they
were manufacturing drugs. This is not to say that products which are not
pharmaceutical grade do not meet or exceed those standards anyway.
Once the raw materials are purchased, they
must be converted into a finished product. In producing whole foods and
certain supplements, care must be taken to prevent the manufacturing
processes from causing degradation to the products. For example, if you do
not cold press flaxseed, or the equipment gets too hot, the oil will
become denatured and destroy most or all of the health benefits. If the
tableting machines get too hot in the processing of
plant material, the enzymes could be destroyed. But the active raw
materials are not the only factor to consider. In the manufacturing
process it is necessary to use fillers, binders and excipients. Without
them you would not be able to make a tablet or capsule. What are the
fillers made of? What kinds of additives are in them? Make sure that
products do not contain any unnecessary and allergenic chemicals, colors,
fillers or binders.
In choosing vitamins there are at least four levels that
differentiate multivitamins. The first level is synthetic. Synthetic
vitamins are the cheapest, most easily manufactured vitamins available.
They are the ones most commonly found on the market and are most often
byproducts of other industries. For example, most synthetic vitamin E
(dl-alpha) comes from Eastman Kodak. The vitamin is a byproduct of the
emulsification process used to manufacture film. It is then purified and
sold to the supplement industry.
Synthetic vitamins are not very well utilized by the
body. This is because vitamins do not exist in nature as an isolate. They
are a complex matrix of co-factors, co-enzymes and co-vitamins that assist
in the assimilation of the vitamin itself. Assimilation is a term which
describes the body's ability to utilize the supplement which is different
from absorption. Absorption describes the body's ability to get the
vitamin from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood stream. It is not a
measure of its biological activity.
The next level of vitamins is a natural isolate. This
means it is isolated from a natural source, like extracting vitamin C from
rosehips or an orange. A natural isolate is better absorbed and will often
yield higher blood levels than its synthetic counterpart, but it too, is
lacking the benefits of the co-factors, co-enzymes, and co-vitamins. This
is one of the reasons why vitamins should be taken with food, preferably a
good healthy meal.
The third level is a food-based vitamin. These vitamins are either
synthetic or natural and are mixed into a base of whole foods that makes
up the tablet. These foods provide the co-factors and co-enzymes that help
in the absorption and assimilation of these vitamins. Often times, whole
food concentrates are added to further enhance the vitamin's efficacy.
The last level of vitamins is a food-grown vitamin. These vitamins are
manufactured by several different processes. The companies that I am
familiar with feed USP (United States Pharmacopoeia) grade vitamins to
nutritional yeast cultures. The vitamins are then fermented and grown into
the whole food structure of the organism. The whole mix is then digested
with food enzymes to produce a vitamin that is not only highly absorbable,
but also extremely biologically active. They are more costly than
synthetic vitamins, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
____________________
Ron Stock R.Ph.
has been involved in the pharmaceutical
profession for over 15 years and holds a certificate from the British
Institute of Homeopathy. He is the owner of The Herbal Path, 839
Central Ave., Dover, NH 03820. Contact him via email at ronstock@aol.com
or call 603-740-8400. You can also visit Ron's website at: www.herbalpath.com.
