Multivitamins 101

I'm back! Had a lovely trip back home to visit my family during March break and had an amazing time working at my family's store, drinking fresh, organic juices daily from the juice bar, eating a salad from the salad bar whenever I wanted, and creating some fun new promotional items our very own Healthway Pure Juice Cleanse!

So multivitamins:

Why do we need them? Can't we just get all of our nutrients from food? 

Times have really changed since back in the day when it was a farm to table system. Back then agriculture was a completely different than what it is now, and farmers practiced traditional techniques such as crop rotation, used real fertilizer, and used no pesticides or chemicals. The  food they grew would reach your home within a day or two, or immediately, with most nutrients intact. With a growing population, growing demand and growing greed for money, farming has basically become a catastrophe. All of the traditional techniques which ensured that the food was as nutritious as possible have gone out the window. There is no such thing as seasonal foods and crop rotation,   which basically means that the soil is not nearly as fertile as it should be. Add in the insane amounts of chemicals sprayed on our crops and you have a fruit or vegetable that is virtually tasteless (ever taste a giant strawberry bought in the middle of winter?) and depleted of almost all beneficial nutrients. Organic farming practices are different but I will get to that in a future post. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are extremely difficult to avoid in this day and age, even when eating a completely wholesome nutritious diet. It's important to take a multivitamin to replenish the body's stores of these nutrients, or to avoid deficiencies from happening in the first place.

What should you look for in a multivitamin? 

Look for Food Based Multivitamins that are certified organic and do not contain any additives.

•Food based brands:

-Vitamins and minerals extracted from real foods, ex: vitamin C taken from oranges

-Recognized and utilized by body more efficiently- more bioavailable 

-Easier on the digestive system, can even be taken without food 

-Leading brands:

1. MegaFood 

My favorite! I have many supplements from this line. They have one a day formulas for both men and women, and along with the vitamins and minerals, include an immune strengthening blend and body balance/strengthening blend. There are also multivitamins for men & women ver 40 and now a new over 55, as well as a children's multi.

2. Garden of Life Raw Code

This is another amazing multivitamin which actually has vitamins and minerals from 100% raw sources, so all nutrients such as enzymes, amino acids, probiotics and antioxidants are intact and not destroyed. There are formulas designed for men, women, children,  men  and women over 50 and a liquid multi. 

3. New Chapter 

New Chapter has a few different formulations for men's and women's multivitamins depending on age and also has a one a day for men and women. All ingredients are certified organic and from whole foods.

•Synthetic brands

These are your common multivitamins such as Bayer's One A Day Multivitaimin and Centrum. Instead of taking vitamins and minerals from food sources, they are produced synthetically from unnatural sources, such as coal tar or petroleum for example. Many times they are in forms that are not natural and recognized by our body,  and many times just disposes of them. If you look on the back of any of these brands you will find a laundry list of dangerous additives, including BHT, talc, titanium dioxide, artificial color and artificial sweeteners all of which are completely unnecessary and most importantly carcinogenic - cancer causing. Now look at the back of Megafoods and you will find 2 ingredients which are basically plant cellulose, silica which is what the pill itself is made out of. No additives whatsoever. It's common sense- nutrients from food or nutrients from unknown, potentially hazardous sources? 

Additives in a bottle of Centrum One Daily Vitamin (source)

What if  I can't swallow pills?

-Garden of Life has a liquid Raw Code multivitamin

-Nature's Plus Source of Life Liquid Vitamin is not whole food based but does have extremely high quality ingredients.

Where can I buy a whole food based multivitamin?

All three brands I mentioned above can be found in the USA and Canada at local health food stores, some grocery store chains with natural foods sections and Whole Foods. 

At the end of the day the whole food based vitamins do cost more but in the long run I personally think it is important to make an investment in healthy, wholesome supplements that can really benefit you instead of harm you. 

Hope I've inspired some of you to switch your multivitamins or begin taking one- it really does make a huge difference!

-Sara