Vitamins of the Future will be Rediscovered in Mother Nature's Pharmacy
Vitamins of the Future will be rediscovered in Mother
Nature's Pharmacy ...a three person debate about dietary
supplements and grandmother may just have been right all
along..
The dietary supplementation business has never been bigger.
Consumers are looking for specialized supplements hoping
for their active role in preventing disease. Consumers
understand that one of the most important decisions we can
make for long term health is our choice of proper vitamins
and minerals. The word "supplements" can be interpreted
in multiple ways and therein lays the first problem. In
this boom mentality, in this maze of products, one needs to
be extremely knowledgeable about the total picture of
dietary supplementation, the main players, and the best
value of vitamins for our human biology, not just our
pocketbooks.
Let's set up a little debate with the top three players in
this business presenting their different points of view.
One of the players is an imaginary figure and therein lies
the second problem. Her voice is not heard on media
commercials, splashed in ads or read on the side of bottles
or boxes. But she originated vitamins and with imagination
let's give her a speaking platform.
First, there is Mr. Pops...he is a successful owner of a
vitamin manufacturing company and produces colorfully
labeled Optimum MultiVitamin Pills. He advertises copiously
and people buy what sounds familiar and doesn't cost too
much per item. Second, is Dr. Smith who is a bioscientist
in the newly emerging field of nutritional science only a
few seconds old on a 24 hour medical timeline. Third is our
mystery guest, old, grand and venerable.
Mr. Pops gives us a quick overview of the vitamin industry.
"The word vitamin was first coined in the early 1900's by a
scientist recognizing this "vital amine" as important to
proper cell functions. To make our pills, we first bulk
order 20 kinds of vitamin and mineral raw ingredients from
a GMP registered facility. The mass production is
automated on conveyor belts and starts with high speed
tableting machines on paddles or ribbon blenders to allow
for separation of particles based on density. The carefully
measured ingredients (as per label) are combined with other
fillers, flavors, and colorants. The tablets are pressed
and spray coated to help withstand the packaging and
shipping process. We're pleased to say we use hydrolyzed
vegetable protein which we believe allows for better
absorption by the intestines than the cheaper mineral salts
used by the majority of brands. We bottle the pills, label
with a full disclosure of ingredients, stamp expiry date
and ship.
We spend a lot of money on branding and advertising market
recognition. It was a coup for us to get a multimillion
dollar endorsement from a great sports star with a great
likeable personality.
The mystery guest only smiles acknowledging silently that
there are thousands of competitive companies like Mr. Pops,
but most get their supplies from only 12 main manufacturers
with the laboratory ability to extract raw ingredients.
Second is Dr. Smith, a nutritional bioscientist.
"I'll begin by first saying some exciting news that relates
to grandma... Remember when grandma first use to tell you
to eat all your vegetables...she may have been right after
all. She may not have told you that when you eat just one
serving of vegetables you're ingesting at least 100
different phytochemicals or phytonutrients. But science is
now validating this health connection to a whole base of
ethno-botanical knowledge and plant pharmacology! Plant
constituents are variously called phytonutrients,
bioflavanoids or polyphenols and are found in seeds, bark,
flowers, and fruit skin. In fact, nutritional sciences have
advanced in the same way as pharmaceutical science through
molecular cell cultures and long term reviews to show a
multitude of benefits in our plant food. Who would have
imagined? Real food compounds have been proven to reduce
allergic responses, prevent formation of carcinogens,
control inflammatory conditions, lessen coronary heart
conditions, reduce liver disease, and protect against
cataracts and macular degeneration. These bioflavanoids
also scavenge free radicals that cause oxidative damage
implicated in long term inflammatory and degenerative
diseases. For example...blueberries by virtue of plant
pigments (the known 40 anthocyanins and 300 other
compounds) have 2400 times the antioxidant power of Vitamin
E by itself. No wonder the USDA (US Department of
Agriculture) has pointed out that "it appears that an
effective strategy of supporting health is to increase
consumption of phytonutrient rich food." It is with just
cause that the Cancer Institute and the Heart Institute
recommend eating a variety of vegetables and fruit 5 to 7
times daily or more if possible. Statistics show that most
people do not, but even for those who do, there is the
overriding question of how nutrient-dense supermarket
vegetables are because of mineral depleted soils and mass
production. So many consumers subscribe to supplementing
their diets as we've heard. Lately, the market trend is
towards whole food extracts, super food formulas as liquid
nutrition to provide the holistic synergy of total
vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients rather
than an array of pills. The question consumers need to
answer in their own minds...do we trust what comes out
laboratories more than what is already provided naturally?
Both look towards the mystery guest...it is her turn to
speak. Her voice is low and liquid.
"Thank you for your comments and I appreciate your efforts.
I am particularly delighted to see how scientific studies
are now validating our ancient wisdom. Science is now
corroborating what people have known that food from plants
is our best source of natural biochemicals that support
levels of biochemicals found in human metabolism. Health
and disease begin in the single cell and each cell needs
one hundred plus nutrients on a daily basis. Depriving even
a few proper nutrients will cause cellular degeneration
over many years which evolve into a disease.
You see I am known as Mother Nature and my provisions are
the foundation of human biology from time immemorial. My
language is the physical world and my physical elements
became part of your physical structure...no formulas, no
programs, no theories. My plant micronutrients become your
cellular micronutrients and they are programmed to be part
of your inborn potential for growth, repair and protection
from disease.
In trying to understand the breadth and volume of my world,
scientists have managed to delineate and classify me into
"specialists" sections many with names that only linguists
can pronounce. Currently scientists are struggling to
classify at least 20,000 phytonutrients, of which only 4000
have been analyzed or tested. To appreciate my complexity,
there are about 500,000 plant species in existence. Only a
mere 10% have been investigated from a phytochemical and
pharmacological point of view.
More sadly, food manufacturers have over processed,
preserved and de-nutriented my natural foods with
thousands of artificial man-made chemicals. People can be
compared to being "hunters" in supermarkets... loading
their buggies with bottles, boxes and cans full of refined,
reconstituted and fortified unnatural food stuffs. Yet our
genetic biology has not changed that much from the earliest
times when our diets were based on gathering foods, such as
whole grains, seeds, fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately,
my lack of formal language has placed me in the back of the
room, drowned out by louder more persistent voices carrying
the debate, often based on profit margins. However, it is
no longer reasonable to assume that a single substance
whether nutrient, pill or drug, can aid or fix all of the
body's interdependent systems. In my world, vitamins,
antioxidants, phytonutrients, amino acids, essential fatty
acids, enzymes and minerals work together.
In fact, I find myself in a strange place of having my
natural plants, herbs and spices tested for their
nutritional value and questioned in terms of "preventing,
curing, mitigating or treating diseases." Drug companies
especially cannot patent a natural plant and make no
profits unless they can sell an exclusive "discovery" or a
new and improved facsimile.
My hope for you is to begin to use the word phytonutrition
in every day language...I am absolutely amazed that this
word isn't even found in the dictionary but it should be
heralded as the word of the century. Phytonutrition is all
about using whole plant foods and supplementation to
provide the essential micronutrients for metabolic energy,
body building and protection against cellular diseases.
My last warning is if you're confused or lack knowledge
about the endless studies and claims, then draw your
nutritional and supplementation needs from the natural
world. In my world, my foods are not designed as 'optimal
daily recommended intakes' or bioengineering some
co-factor activity combination. Trust the Divine Mastery of
Nature. Be awe inspired that you can trace the course of
nutrients through the ocean, the air, the soil, your
plants, your body and back to the ocean again. You are of
the earth. Protect and embrace it as you protect and
embrace yourself."
----------------------------------------------------
Anne-Marie Berukoff is a certified Nutritional Supplement
Distributor. She took early retirement from a 24 year
teaching career to pursue her interest in WELLNESS based on
using natural whole foods for preventative health. She has
compiled two workshops with CD's and an e-booklet: 101
Reasons to Plug Into Powerful Phytonutrients for Powerful
Health. Currently, she is an independent distributor for
The Limu Company (www.limufriend.originallimu.com)
She welcomes all questions and comments.
annemarie7@telus.net 1 866 866 3611
Check out http://www.4healthlimu.com
