Whole Food vs. Synthetic Vitamins: What's the Difference?

A vitamin is more than one molecule

In food, vitamin C doesn't come alone. It comes with bioflavonoids, enzymes, minerals and cofactors that work together. Ascorbic acid, the usual synthetic form, is one piece of that complex.

Whole food supplements are made from concentrated foods and plants, so the nutrients come with the companions they come with in nature.

Reading a label

Look at the ingredient list, not just the vitamin panel. If you see real foods and plants listed, like carrot, alfalfa, beet or nutritional yeast, it's whole food based. If you see ascorbic acid, cyanocobalamin or dl-alpha tocopherol, those are synthetic or isolated forms.

Higher numbers on the label don't mean more benefit. More isn't better if the body can't use it.

How I use them

I use Standard Process and MediHerb because they grow much of their own crops, control the process from soil to tablet, and have been doing this for nearly a century. Every product I mention links to our supplement store below.