Natural Is Not a Trendy Word: The Importance of Quality

 

“It is nature that makes the magic happen. Everything else is only an illusion.”

 

We enter the world in a state of fantasy as everything seems real, and to an infant that is their reality. Some of our most popular entertainment is based on things outside of the daily routine of life—we are drawn to this escapism for our own sanity a temporary release from the daily grind. As a kid I loved Disneyland and I still do today. I like the magic kingdom: once you enter the grounds, the best thing you can do is leave the world behind, get your kid on and have fun. The reason it is so easy is because nothing is real…well, except the lineups.

In society a large percentage of people live in a fairy tale illusion. Deep down some might know there are differences—a cause and effect—but they seem to override these reality checks because they do not want the hassle. They are taking the quickest route for peace of mind thinking everything is the same, and because they think this way, they feel justified when they are only buying what is on sale. Not sure why they would not want to take a closer inspection, perhaps out of sight out of mind reality. Take for instance food: we have genetically modified organism (GMO) food and food that is not GMO. The first difference most people notice is the higher prices of non-GMOs—this for most is the decision breaker. To justify their decision, the rational they use—and I hear it all the time—is that “how do we know  they are really non-GMO” and  “GMOs cannot be that bad for you if they are sold everywhere, our government would not allow that.”

As far as propaganda goes, the New Your Times recently posted an article by Jennifer Kahn, leader of the narrative program at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, where she reports that “overblown fears have turned the public against genetically modified food” even though the “potential benefits have never been greater.”[1] She concludes that we should all just learn to love GMOs. I read that article with distain but also knowing people must be waking up and the chemical companies are trying to turn the tide. And then I read the rebuttal from Children’s Health Defence Why We Shouldn’t ‘Learn to Love GMOs’ as NY Times Journalist Suggests—it is nice to see the matter set straight but still some damage was done as it supports the theory everything is the same or equal.

A similar problem occurs when we talk about food supplements as many still believe that having the “right” ingredients listed on the packaging automatically assures the product is good quality and actually working. Unfortunately, this is really not the case. We have spoken about quality many times because we know how important it is to understand the information given and to question everything questionable. As you may know by now, many vitamin supplements are formulated using precursors of vitamins, which need several metabolic transformations in the body to be active. Synthetic vitamins lack the transporters and co-factors associated with naturally-occurring vitamins because they have been “isolated.” Some experts even argue that vitamins in general are not isolated substances, but, in fact, a synergistic complex of nutrients. The worst case is that many vitamin precursors are artificial substances totally non-existent in nature. That is why, in some cases, taking an artificially isolated molecule (or vitamin) can be ineffective and often harmful to the body. Synthetic vitamins are also deficient in the necessary oligo minerals (trace minerals) and enzymes and must use the body’s own reserves instead, which may lead to dangerous mineral and enzyme deficiencies. This means that if you are looking for e.g. a multivitamin, seeing the list of all the vitamins you need is not enough. You need to know the source of those vitamins first.

Then there are the so called non-active ingredients that can actually do more harm than good because of all the binding agents and colorants used to make a pill. Here is a list of the non-active ingredients in one of the most marketed food supplements.[2] Do you really think they do not matter?

  • Pregelatinized Corn Starch: This is used as a binder to hold all of the ingredients together. It most likely a genetically modified corn, which presents a number of problems for sensitive people.
  • Talc: Has been implicated with increased risk of cancer.
  • Gelatin: Though not inherently a bad product, most is manufactured from feed lot animal waste. Vegans and vegetarians best to be beware.
  • BHT: Butylated hydroxyanisole has been shown to be toxic to the liver, thyroid, kidney, lungs, and affecting blood coagulation. BHT can act as a tumour promoter.
  • Yellow 6 Lake:   Why is there food colouring in a health supplement? Also known as tartrazine or FD&C Yellow #6, this chemical is banned in some European countries. Side effects of ingestion can include gastric upset, diarrhea, vomiting, nettle rash (urticaria), swelling of the skin (angioedema) and migraines, it’s also linked to hyperactivity in young children.
  • Red 40 Lake: Contains chemical compounds, including benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl, that research has linked with cancer.
  • Hydrogenated Palm Oil: Hydrogenating any oil converts the fat into an unnatural structure that has shown to be toxic to the body. It forms strong free radicals associated with increased risk of cancer and heart disease.
  • Maltodextrin: Several studies have linked maltodextrin consumption to the suppression of “good bacteria” in the digestive system increasing risk of gastro symptoms and intestinal inflammation.
  • Crospovidone: There is an abundance of documented cases of serious allergenic response.
  • Sodium Benzoate: Especially dangerous because of its destructive effect on DNA. This means that the sodium benzoate consumed today may still be causing problems in future generations. Sodium benzoate is known to specifically attack the mitochondria of DNA.
  • Sodium Aluminosilicate Used as a food additive for its anti caking effect.

High concentrations of synthetic vitamins can be dangerous because they can build up in your tissues and cause toxicity. The reason that the synthetic form is more dangerous is because you get a high, concentrated serving of the vitamin rather than the amount that you would get from a food-based form. Fantasy is a great diversion from reality but when it comes to your health the decisions made should only be for your benefit and not your detriment. This includes your food and supplement choices—among others—in reality it is nature that makes the magic happen. Everything else is only an illusion.

 

Next Generation Super Multi Vitamin: https://lifechoice.net/super-multi-vitamin-report-white-paper/

 

References:

  • Kahn, Jennifer. 2021. Learning to Love G.M.O.s.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/magazine/gmos.html

 

 

[1] Kahn, Jennifer. 2021.

[2] Telpner, Meghan. 2017.