Jan 24th

Harmful Ingredients in Vitamins & Supplements

[<a href="http://www.bordercenter.org/chem/images/chemicals.jpg">image source</a>]
Those of use who take vitamins, herbal supplements and superfoods do so for a common goal: to be as healthy as possible by gaining nutrients that we may be lacking in our diets.  Vitamins are available everywhere; not only are they sold at nutrition stores and health food stores but at pharmacies, Costco, grocery stores, convenience stores and even some gas stations.

As manufacturers grow, it's hard to tell which product is actually beneficial. As there are so many factors to good food, the same applies to supplements.  The key word to remember is quality. Just because a product contains the alphabet soup of nutrients doesn't mean that the product is going to help you.  Also, just because a product boasts the benefits of 10,000 flowers doesn't mean that they didn't spray the crop with pesticides. It's really hard to know what to take and what to avoid.

The following ingredients are commonly found in supplements. Read labels and start by avoiding product that contain these excipients (fillers to speed up production and binders used to "glue" the nutrients together).

  • Magnesium Stearate
  • Methyl Paraben (Propyl Paraben)
  • Microcrystalline Cellulose
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Titanium Dioxide
  • Talcum Powder
  • Natural Flavors
  • Colors like D&C red #33
  • Pharmaceutical Glaze aka Shellac
  • Povidone (polyvinylpyrrolidone or PVP)

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