The fact that vitamins and minerals in certain quantities are necessary for normal human life, no one doubts. However, disputes about the source of these substances do not subside to this day: what 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 a supermarket is much less rich in vitamins than it was half a century ago, and therefore it can not cover a person’s daily needs for these useful substances.
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 of corn. The same is true for other products: current wheat contains half as much protein as it was 50 years ago.
This is due to the fact that the soil is depleted, and the crops grown on them are extremely poor in nutrients and are completely dependent on chemical fertilizers. As a result, we eat food that is almost devoid of vitamins and minerals. Soil depletion is caused by a sharp increase in the population of the Earth and, as a consequence, by the food crisis. It turns out that we exchanged quality for quantity.
As a result, we regularly miss a lot of nutrients and vitamins with food, therefore, their body forms a chronic deficiency, which over time leads to the formation of various diseases.
Thus, if you are a resident of any industrial and socially developed country in the modern world, you are forced to take mineral and vitamin complexes at least periodically.
Kinds
It may seem that there is nothing easier than to compensate for the lack of a particular vitamin in the body. It is enough to find out exactly what substance is missing, then make a tablet containing it, stick the appropriate label, and you're done!
In fact, everything is a little more complicated. Here are some of the most common problems:
- Natural and synthetic vitamins are still different.
- In nature, vitamins and minerals are not found in isolation. They are linked to other components by complex molecular bonds.
- The cells of our body have specific receptors that respond not to the vitamins themselves, but to those substances that their molecule is associated with.
To date, mineral-vitamin complexes are divided into three main types: natural, synthetic and hybrid.
Natural Vitamin Complexes
Almost no drug purchased by you in a pharmacy is completely natural. Why? Yes, because natural vitamins do not produce! Firstly, it is incredibly expensive. For example, the fruits of cherries - one of the best sources of vitamin C, contain only 1% of this vitamin. Most drugs labeled “contain vitamin C from cherry fruits” include only 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 cherries 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 used to extract vitamins from biological raw materials), preservatives, and various additional chemical components. And not one of them is indicated on the package!
Synthetic vitamins
Synthetic vitamins are obtained both from natural, natural raw materials, and by chemical synthesis. It should be understood that, at best, 50% of synthetic vitamins are absorbed by the body. In addition, the regular consumption of vitamins of chemical origin in food can inhibit the body's ability to absorb natural vitamins from food.
Synthetic vitamins are easily recognized by the prefix L in front of the name, which means left-handed (they rotate the polarizing light to the left), and natural vitamins always have the prefix D (right-handed). Natural vitamin E is called D-alpha-tocopherol, and synthetic - L-alpha-tocopherol. By the way, the L-form of vitamin E is not absorbed by the human body, and in some cases can inhibit the absorption of natural D-alpha tocopherol.
What we actually get when we buy vitamins in a pharmacy
Almost all mineral and vitamin complexes are produced by large pharmaceutical or chemical companies from the same raw materials from which they make their other preparations (coal tar, wood pulp, petroleum products, livestock 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 from animal bones or mollusk shells.
As for the word “organic” in the name of the drug, do not flatter yourself: organic is not a synonym for the words “natural, natural”, it is chemically organic, that is, it has a tetravalent carbon atom. And no more!
In addition to vitamins, excipients, preservatives, and other chemicals (hydrochlorides, nitrates, acetates, gluconates, etc.) are always present in all pharmacological preparations.
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, unfortunately, everything is a little different.
Fifteen years ago, it was very fashionable to take vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Then, scientists unexpectedly for consumers published data that ascorbic acid is absorbed rather poorly by the human body without a combination with rutin (vitamin P), bioflavonoids, and hesperidin. Suddenly, 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 again the modernization of pharmaceuticals.
The question arises: did all people who took ascorbic acid before the publication of these studies did this completely pointless? Not certainly in that way! After all, we still get a large portion of vitamins along with food. And nature initially "packs" everything correctly. In pomegranate, grapefruit, cherry, vitamin C is contained in a complex with all the substances necessary for its absorption.
Beta carotene was discovered several years later. And he immediately gained the widest popularity! It was also advertised as a universal remedy for all types of oncological diseases, then scientists proved that beta-carotene does not treat and prevent oncology. Given that this substance is made from acetylene in the modern market, there are more and more questions.
Now forget about beta carotene! Scientists have discovered another healing carotenoid - lycopene. It prevents prostate cancer, so any self-respecting vitamin and mineral complex for men is simply required to 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 the “popular” carotenoids and several more less well-known alpha-carotene and zeaxanthin. Well-known carrots contain, in addition to beta-carotene, another 400 carotenoids. Once again we repeat: nature “packs” everything together!
Examples can be continued and continued, such as group B vitamins and vitamin E, for which science has constantly failed to identify key factors that determine effectiveness. The bottom line, however, is that vitamins are not in isolation in nature - they exist in molecularly coupled 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-mineral complex designed for the long-term prevention of vitamin deficiencies.
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 of the human body. And this list will contain several tens of thousands of items. But it is impossible to determine all types of molecular relationships between these substances!
How to make a rating of vitamin-mineral complexes?
Among the modern assortment of the pharmaceutical market, it is easy to get lost even to a professional, not like an ordinary consumer. In addition, there are dietary supplements. And concentrates of natural products. So how to choose vitamin and mineral complexes? Reviews about the same drugs are often very controversial. You can, of course, conduct an experiment and try everything on yourself, but the assortment 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 are their chemical analogues from pharmacies?" We will divide 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 efficacy; at worst, they also have a lot of side effects.
"Almost acceptable"
You can find some good vitamin and mineral complexes in organic food stores. They include a combination of natural vitamins and no synthetics at all. The problem with such drugs is the interaction of vitamins and minerals with each other, which cannot be fully considered. Such products include the A-Zinc vitamin and mineral complex, which contains vitamins of natural origin, as well as macro- and microelements, enzymes, and antioxidants.
"Good"
A good choice is the use of concentrated vitamin-mineral complexes based on food. Such preparations may contain, for example, a concentrated extract of the liver, yeast or wheat germ (Vitamax, Doppelgerz Ginseng Active).
The best
An optimal alternative is a combination of product 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, watch out for excipients. Quality ones are expensive, and manufacturers often try to replace them with lecithin and the like.
Perfect choice
Tops the list of vitamin-mineral complexes is a self-grown vitamin. In Europe, specially derived strains of microorganisms (bacteria - probiotics or microscopic yeast) have gained popularity. They are grown on a specially developed 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 who
Depending on age, gender, lifestyle, the need for vitamins also changes. Therefore, scientists have developed a vitamin-mineral complex for men, which exceeds the female counterpart in terms of the number of nutrients (Alphabet, 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 small patients, but they are supplemented with flavors and sweeteners (Multi-Tabs Kid, Multi-Tabs Junior, etc.). Among the best vitamins for women are Centrum, Vitrum, Complivit.