Does it Matter? Does it really matter if you have artificial sweeteners or artificial colors in your multivitamins? Can you truly have the best multivitamin with artificial ingredients?
When you start adding artificial anything - colors, additives, and especially sweeteners you are making it tougher for your body to decipher what it should be doing with the multivitamin or protein powder or anything (even just standard food). You make it harder for your body to fully utilize the ingredients. Plus you make your kidneys and liver among other organs work harder to filter out the 'junk'.
When it comes the
best multivitamins and best protein powders, there are many myths floating around for years now.
- Myth #1: The more the better: This is not always true. When it comes to the best multivitamin or best supplements it is critical that the ingredients are balanced for what YOUR BODY NEEDS. Sometimes we have a surplus in our food intake so our bodies don't require as much to be supplemented.
Also this is common with protein powders, too much protein can 1. not be effective because your body can't utilize all of it at once nor can it store it and 2. it can actually be harmful for your kidneys to consume excessive protein without proper filtration (typically sufficient amounts of purified water will help filter the kidneys).
- Myth #2: The Less the better: This pertains to carbs. Yes, we want our net carbs (carbs-fiber=net carbs) to be lower; however, balance is the key here also. Guess the number one way a product reduces its carbs???? By adding artificial sweeteners. That's right, if I make a product with Splenda or Nutrasweet then there are no carbs from sugars.
However, this has not shown to reduce fat, in fact, it may even increase a person's weight. How you might ask? By using these artificial sweeteners that are much more sugar intense than just plain white sugar, your body begins to reset its requirements of 'sweet tasting' to a new unhealthy level. Many times, the person is no longer happy with the typical sweet taste and now requires more not just in 1 product but in everything. Furthermore, products like Nutrasweet are a form of formaldehyde which is a carcinogenic. With cancer as high as it is right now, we'd highly recommend staying away from all carcinogenics.
Some acceptable forms of healthy sweeteners are Stevia, Truvia, Sorbitol, and Fructose. We'll discuss the differences is these at a later time.
- Myth #3: Organic is Best Organic is only best if the product is safest and most effective in the organic state. Sometimes, a product will not be organic because 1. the organic ingredients can't be found in sufficient quantities to make it. 2. Organic is not the safest or 3. Organic is not bioavailable for your body.
Best example I can think of for this is when my family and I checked into natural lawn care. Immediately, the companies sent us to "organic" lawn care. After checking into what was used, we discovered that it was Wisconsin sewage. I certainly don't want my dog or children playing in that no matter how organic it may be.
- Myth #4: Reading is Everything The old rule of thumb was to be able to read the ingredients and have no more than 5 ingredients on a label. This used to be a good rule of thumb but as science has evolved and so have the best multivitamins and best natural food supplements, it is no longer the case. Many times when a product is listing the ingredients the wellness industry is now looking for the exact terms so instead of listing Folate (a B vitamin), the company is required to list the scientific name for it. Does it make it a bad product? On the contrary, it is actually a better product because even though the FDA doesn't control the supplement world, this company is following their stringent rules to offer people the best.
Bottom line is to find a company you can trust, that has been time tested, that doesn't follow every fad out there but follows research, and go with them We chose Shaklee because they aren't just time tested for over 55 years but they also are the #1 Natural nutritional company in the US because they use science as their guide, not society.
Whatever you decided to use, make sure you do your homework because 97% of the supplement labels on the market are incorrect. That is why I am happy to know that what I use is not only tested for purity but also absorption: what is on the label is in the bottle.