The fact that vitamins and minerals in certain amounts are necessary for normal human life, no one doubts. However, disputes about the source of these substances do not subside to this day: which is better - pharmacological preparations or natural food?
Why do we need extra vitamins?
There was a time when it was almost impossible to convince people of the need for additional intake of vitamin and mineral complexes. Today, we know that food from the supermarket is much less rich in vitamins than it was half a century ago, and therefore it cannot cover the daily human need for these nutrients.
For example, 80 grams of spinach contains the same amount of iron as 1 gram just 50 years ago. According to research by British scientists, 1 ear of corn grown in 1940 contained as many nutrients as 19 modern ears. The same is true for other products:Wheat today contains half the protein of just 50 years ago.
This is due to the fact that the soils are depleted, and the crops grown on them are extremely poor in nutrients and completely dependent on chemical fertilizers. As a result, we eat food that is practically devoid of vitamins and minerals. Soil depletion is caused by a sharp increase in the population of the Earth and, as a result, a food crisis. So we traded quality for quantity.
As a result, we regularly lose a lot of nutrients and vitamins from food, therefore, their chronic deficiency is formed in the body, which eventually leads to the formation of various diseases.
Thus, if you are a resident of any industrially and socially developed country of the modern world, you are forced to at least periodically take mineral-vitamin complexes.
Views
It may seem that there is nothing easier than to compensate for the lack of one or another vitamin in the body. All you have to do is figure out exactly which substance is missing, then make a pill containing it, stick the appropriate label on it, and you're done!
Actually, things are a bit more complicated. Here are some of the most prominent problems:
- Natural and synthetic vitamins are still different.
- Vitamins and minerals do not occur in isolation in nature. They are linked to other components by complex molecularconnections.
- The cells of our body have specific receptors that react not to vitamins themselves, but to those substances with which their molecule is associated.
Today, mineral-vitamin complexes are divided into three main types: natural, synthetic and hybrid.
Natural vitamin complexes
Almost none of the drugs you buy at the pharmacy is completely natural. Why? Yes, because natural vitamins are not produced! First, it's incredibly expensive. For example, cherries, one of the best sources of vitamin C, contain only 1% of this vitamin. Most products labeled as "contains vitamin C from cherries" contain just 1% natural "cherry" vitamin and 99% synthetic ascorbic acid. And secondly, it is almost impossible - we would have to destroy the entire crop of the same cherry in the country in order to get at least any significant amount of this vitamin.
Hybrid drugs
These pharmacological mineral-vitamin complexes contain vitamins of plant and animal origin. They are obtained from biomaterial by solvent extraction, distillation, hydrolysis and subsequent crystallization. But from the point of view of chemistry, vitamins do not undergo any chemical changes. Nevertheless, the results of the analyzes show significant impurities of hexane (the solvent with which the extraction of vitamins from biological raw materials was carried out), preservatives and all kinds ofadditional chemical components. And none of them are listed on the packaging!
Synthetic vitamins
Synthetic vitamins are obtained both from natural raw materials and by chemical synthesis. It should be understood that the body absorbs at best 50% of synthetic vitamins. In addition, regular intake of chemically derived vitamins can inhibit the body's ability to absorb natural vitamins from food.
Synthetic vitamins are easily recognizable by the prefix L in front of the name, which means levorotatory (they rotate polarizing light to the left), while natural vitamins always have the prefix D (right-rotary). Natural vitamin E is called D-alpha-tocopherol, while synthetic vitamin E is called L-alpha-tocopherol. By the way, the L-form of vitamin E is not absorbed by the human body, and in some cases it can inhibit the absorption of natural D-alpha-tocopherol.
What do we really get when we buy vitamins in a pharmacy
Practically all mineral-vitamin complexes are produced by large pharmaceutical or chemical companies from the same raw materials from which they make their other drugs (coal tar, wood pulp, petroleum products, animal waste, etc.). So, vitamin D is produced mainly from irradiated oil, vitamin E is a by-product of the chemical synthesis of other compounds, vitamin P is obtained by boiling sulfur with asbestos, calcium compounds are obtained from animal bones or shellfish shells.
Regarding the word "organic" inthe name of the drug, then you should not delude yourself: organic is not a synonym for the words “natural, natural”, it is chemically organic, that is, it has a tetravalent carbon atom in its composition. And no more!
In addition to vitamins, all pharmacological preparations always contain fillers, preservatives and other chemicals (hydrochlorides, nitrates, acetates, gluconates, etc.).
The biggest problem
Modern medicine refuses to perceive the human body as an integral mechanism, but considers it as the sum of individual parts and details. The same paradigm applies to nutrition. In other words, modern nutrition is based on the concept that key nutrients can be identified and isolated. In reality, everything, unfortunately, is a little different.
Fifteen years ago it was very fashionable to take vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Then, unexpectedly for consumers, scientists published data that ascorbic acid is rather poorly absorbed by the human body without combination with rutin (vitamin P), bioflavonoids and hesperedin. All of a sudden, all vitamin preparations of ascorbic acid were urgently “understaffed”. Then it was found that even in the presence of bioflavonoids, rutin and hesperidin, vitamin C is poorly absorbed if there is no calcium. Immediately there was a modernization of pharmaceuticals again.
The question arises: did all the people who took ascorbic acid before the publication of these studies do it completely senselessly?Not certainly in that way! After all, we still get a large portion of vitamins along with food. And nature initially “packages” everything correctly. Pomegranate, grapefruit, cherry contain vitamin C in combination with all the substances necessary for its absorption.
Beta-carotene was discovered a few years later. And he immediately received the widest popularity! It was also advertised as a universal remedy for all types of cancer, then scientists proved that beta-carotene does not cure or prevent oncology. Considering that this substance on the modern market is made from acetylene, there are more and more questions.
Now forget the beta-carotene! Scientists have discovered another healing carotenoid - lycopene. It prevents prostate cancer, so any self-respecting vitamin and mineral complex for men simply must have lycopene in its composition. Then lutein entered the arena, preventing macular degeneration on the retina. But if we turn to nature again, we will see that she “packed” all the carotenoids together. The seaweed Dunaliella salina, for example, contains all of the "popular" carotenoids and a few lesser-known ones, alpha-carotene and zeaxanthin. The well-known carrot contains, in addition to beta-carotene, about 400 more carotenoids. Once again, nature “packs” everything in a complex!
Examples could go on and on, such as the B vitamins and vitamin E, where science has consistently failed to identify the key factors that determine effectiveness. The point, however, is that inIn nature, vitamins do not exist in isolation - they exist in molecularly related complexes.
Some manufacturers are trying to solve the problem of molecular interactions of vitamins by their specific "packaging" - separate granulation. So, antagonist vitamins can be consumed in one go. One of these drugs is Complivit, a vitamin and mineral complex designed for long-term prevention of beriberi.
And in conclusion, we note: given the level and pace of development of science, it is possible that one day scientists will finally open the entire list of substances necessary for the full functioning and he alth of the human body. And this list will contain several tens of thousands of items. But it is impossible to define all types of molecular relationships between these substances!
How to rank vitamin-mineral complexes?
Among the modern assortment of the pharmaceutical market, it is easy to get lost even for a professional, not like an ordinary consumer. In addition, there are also biologically active additives. And concentrates of natural products. So how to choose vitamin and mineral complexes? Reviews about the same drugs are often very contradictory. You can, of course, conduct an experiment and try everything on yourself, but the range is too large. The pricing policy and brand of the manufacturer also do not always guarantee product quality.
In addition, the following question remains open: "The best vitamin-mineral complex is natural food or their chemical analogues frompharmacies?" Let's break this question into three conditional categories: "optimal", "acceptable" and "avoid at all costs".
Avoid at all costs
Vitamin-mineral complexes, the composition of which is replete with fully synthetic compounds, is not an option. At best, they have very low efficiency, at worst, they also have a lot of side effects.
Almost acceptable
You can find good vitamin-mineral complexes in organic food stores. They include a combination of natural vitamins and no "synthetics" at all. The problem with such preparations is the interaction of vitamins and minerals with each other, which cannot be fully taken into account. Such products include the vitamin-mineral complex "From A to Zinc", containing vitamins of natural origin, as well as macro- and microelements, enzymes, antioxidants.
Good
A good choice is to use concentrated food-based vitamin-mineral complexes. Such preparations may contain, for example, a concentrated liver, yeast or wheat germ extract (Vitamax, Doppelherz Ginseng Active).
Best
The best alternative is a combination of food concentrates, including spirulina, chlorella, pollen, wheat, yeast, barley, beets and so on. The actual amount of vitamins and minerals,you get will be less, but bioavailability will be higher ("Comfrey with Vitamin E").
When choosing a drug, follow the fillers. Quality ones are expensive, and manufacturers often try to replace them with lecithin and the like.
Perfect Choice
Topping the list of vitamin-mineral complexes is a home-grown vitamin. In Europe, specially bred strains of microorganisms (bacteria - probiotics or microscopic yeast fungi) have become popular. They are grown on a specially designed nutrient medium and eaten. So you get not only vitamins and minerals, but also enzymes, amino acids and other undoubtedly useful substances. In addition, you can be sure of their origin - no "synthetics".
What for whom
Depending on age, gender, lifestyle, the need for vitamins also changes. Therefore, scientists have developed a vitamin-mineral complex for men, which exceeds its female counterpart in terms of the amount of useful substances ("Alphavit", "Duovit", "Parity", "Velmen", etc.). Again, there are specially designed complexes for athletes, pregnant women ("Pregnavit F") and other categories of the population. All of them are created taking into account the specifics of each category of consumers. So, vitamin-mineral complexes for children do not contain dyes and fragrances that can cause allergies in young patients, but they are supplementedflavorings and sweeteners ("Multi-tabs Kid", "Multi-tabs Junior", etc.). Among the best vitamins for women are Centrum, Vitrum, Complivit.
