At the start of college my mom bought me a big bottle of multivitamins because she was afraid I would not get my essential vitamins and minerals since I was eating "college food", and she would not be the one cooking for me. She bought me Centrum multivitamins, but I wanted the all natural multivitamins since I try to be as nature friendly as possible. It was too late though because 1) my mom was not going back to the store just so I could have natural vitamins, 2) she is not willing to pay that much for vitamins, and 3) she is not convinced that natural supplements are any different from generic ones. So, I conducted a little research on one of my favorite vitamins, Vitamin e, to find if there is a difference between natural and synthetically made vitamin e.
A brief background about vitamin e is that it is a compound that is soluble in fat and has eight different chemical forms. It can be found in a range of items from food (i.e. almonds, oil and spinach) to skincare (i.e. night creams and serums). The popularity of this vitamin is due to its many health benefits. It is thought to prevent several diseases such as Alzheimer's, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer and is highly regarded for being an antioxidant, which protects against free radicals. Vitamin e not only has numerous benefits for internal health but also external health. It is especially popular among skincare products as it can heal scars, reduce wrinkles, and moisturize skin. Vitamin e contains several wonderful benefits, but do natural and synthetically made vitamin e produce the same benefits?
The vitamin e that humans typically ingest is called alpha-tocopherol, and the natural version is identified with the prefix d-, making the chemical name d-alpha-tocopherol. Natural vitamin e originates from oils, particularly vegetable oils such as canola and soybean oil. The compound of natural vitamin e contains only one isomer, which is what makes the structure of natural vitamin e unique.
In comparison, synthetic vitamin e comes from petroleum products and is classified as dl-alpha-tocopherol. Because synthetic vitamin e is manufactured, it has a different chemical structure than that of natural vitamin e due to it being processed multiple times. The structure of synthetic vitamin e is comprised of eight isomers, and only one of the eight isomers is identical to the isomer of natural vitamin e.
The isomers have an influence on the effectiveness of natural vitamin e versus synthetic vitamin e. When vitamin e is ingested, it is absorbed and your body automatically recognizes it and sends proteins to process the vitamin. This happens automatically for natural vitamin e but not for synthetic. Because synthetic only has one matching isomer to that of natural vitamin e, it does not recognize the other seven isomers. These isomers are foreign to the body because they are processed, so they are removed along with the one unique and genuine vitamin e isomer. The vitamin e is not kept, therefore, the benefits are no longer reaped because it is not being retained by the body.
It is only logical that natural is the way to go when taking multivitamins as proven by vitamin e. My mom wants me to remain healthy during college, but how can I when I am taking synthetic multivitamins that my body will end up expelling? If this is what occurs when taking synthetic vitamin e, then it is highly likely for other synthetic vitamins as well. Hopefully by showing this post to my mom she will change her mind, but I have to finish my bottle of synthetic vitamins first!
References
"Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamin E." Natural Health Research Institute. N.p., 02 July 2008. Web. . <http://www.naturalhealthresearch.org/natural-vs-synthetic-vitamin-e/>.
"Vitamin E." — Health Professional Fact Sheet. N.p., n.d. Web. <https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminE-HealthProfessional/#h3>.
"Vitamin E: Natural vs. Synthetic." SmartyPants Vitamins. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://smartypantsvitamins.com/natural-vitamin-e-vs-synthetic-vitamin-e/>.
Vs, Atural. N ATURAL VS . S YNTHETIC V ITAMIN E (n.d.): n. pag. Web. <http://www.gpsdairy.com/ServiceDocs/Nat_vs_Syn_Vit_E_4-09%20LOWRES.pdf>.
No comments:
Post a Comment