It would be lovely if we, as consumers, could assume that vitamin and mineral supplement companies had only our best interest and health in mind when designing their products, but unfortunately this is not true. The supplement industry is a huge business, after all, and often what really matters is the bottom line on cost versus selling price, not how effective and safe a product will be for those taking it.
Because the reality is that not all supplements are made the same at all, and finding the purest nutritional supplements on the market can be a daunting task (especially since most companies don’t work towards transparency and honesty in the way one would hope!). Vitamins and minerals in supplement form can have drastically different effects in our bodies depending on what chemical form they are found in, one type creating health and balance while another form may actually cause imbalance.
Calcium, as one example, is often found in the form of Calcium Carbonate in supplement form, marketed as an excellent nutritional supplement for the maintenance of bones, hormonal health, and overall well-being. Calcium carbonate, however, is actually just chalk in its natural form, and (as you can likely imagine) isn’t really well absorbed in the human body! In fact, the percentage of usable calcium in a calcium carbonate supplement is so low it seems almost criminal that nutritional companies can sell these products.
And then it’s not only the form of the vitamins and minerals involved that influences the choice on the ‘purest nutritional supplements’, but also the fillers and binders and ‘flow agents’ added to the product in the production process. Some of these added chemicals are known to cause cancerous (!) changes in our bodies, at the worst, or at the very least may lead to digestive upset and/or allergic response. And yet companies continue to add them (and synthetic dyes and colors, also associated with ill health) without guilt because they allow the supplements to created in the cheapest and fastest manner.
The purest nutritional supplements on the market today are those that take both vitamin and mineral form and added ingredient content into mind, and make scientifically sound (and morally sound) decisions to include only the known safest and most effective ingredients in their formulas. And even within that, the purest nutritional supplements will also be open to changing their formulas as science presents us with greater information regarding the efficacy of nutritional supplementation.
The issue of compatibility is such a new (and yet old!) concept that is now being applied to nutritional supplementation. Through paying attention to the interactions that occur between vitamins and minerals in supplement form, there is the possibility to create not only the purest nutritional supplements (through including highly bioavailable and safe ingredients only) but also the most effective and beneficial, allowing the full spectrum of nutrients to be absorbed at all times.
