Most food supplements come in bottles. But there is a vast difference between the contents and value of products that for example is presented as Vitamin X or Mineral Y. Vitamins and minerals are essential nutritional supplements and your body deserves the right choice.

To be an informed consumer who buys what is best for you, make sure you can distinguish between the different

Types of food supplements

There are 3 types of supplements:

Food Supplements

As the name implies this supplement is taken directly from a food source. The word natural truly applies, as these are vitamins, co-factors, enzymes and other synergistic micronutrients taken from a raw food. The only thing removed from the food is moisture and fiber – nothing is added or extracted that can destroy or change the molecular, biological or biochemical combinations or actions.

Fractionated vitamins (crystalline)

This type of product has a food as its original source (and is therefore not considered a synthetic vitamin) but the extraction process has eliminated all of the synergistic co-factors, leaving only the pure organic nutrient. The motivation behind this is to concentrate the organic nutrient and thus increase the milligram levels for marketing purposes. These types of vitamin are also referred to as crystalline in that they are but a portion of the complete and original complex from which they are derived. The problem with this type of vitamin is that they are only of value to the body if all the associated synergistic micronutrients are intact, which make it bioavailable to the cells of the body.

Synthetic vitamins (not a food supplement)

Here the organic nutrient (sometimes called the crystalline vitamin molecule) is constructed or synthesized primarily from corn sugar and non-food compounds such as coal tar. While the exact molecular formula of the organic nutrient is replicated there are at least 2 problems with this type of vitamin:

These synthetic products contain absolutely none of the co-factors, trace elements, enzymes etc. that are vital for the body to effectively utilize the vitamin. Without the necessary micronutrients required to make the vitamin bioavailable, these synthetic vitamins will be of no value to the body. You may be thinking that the body is capable of supplementing these nutrients from its own reserves but the body is already deficient – where would it obtain these synergists? Even if it could, there is a second concern.

When these vitamins are synthesized under laboratory conditions, the vitamin is actually a mirror image of its natural counterpart and this therefore leaves the synthetic vitamin having a problem with spin. In other words the natural molecules have a right hand spin whereas the synthetic vitamin has a left hand spin. Unfortunately, for some reason, the proper rotation cannot be mastered in the laboratory. This is significant in that the attachment sites for the synergistic micronutrients are not available. Gilbert Levin, Ph.D., has the following to say on the subject: “Because its structure is reversed, a left-handed molecule cannot take part in chemical reactions meant for a right-handed molecule any more than a left hand can fit into a right-handed glove. It’s odd geometry would prevent it from being metabolized by the body.

A key factor to keep in mind when it comes to vitamin supplementation is that of bioavailability i.e. how available and useable is the vitamin to the body. Consuming fractionated vitamins or synthetic vitamins where the co-factors are not present or the spin is incorrect is paramount to handing someone a steering wheel of a car and telling them they are now the owner of a car able to transport them to wherever they want to go – it’s absurd!

Camdeboo Health Products provide you with real FOOD SUPPLEMENTS from a natural food source. Several products contain powdered sprouts and/or flax. Other products are produced from unique plants (from nature itself) with specific qualities related to the prevention of or curing of various ailments and conditions.

Important ingredients used by Camdeboo Health Products with unique qualities like Milk Thistle and Sutherlandia are in the second category discussed above. But in all of them (in products like Sterolandia 50 and Livade are included essential plant nutrients (including vitamins, minerals, enzymes, co-enzymes and other micronutrients) that replaces the elements that could have been lost during the extraction process.