Organic dietary supplements: because even greenies get lazy
Why can't you just take a normal vitamin or supplement, you ask? Well, Real Food Organics claims that those typical pills tend to contain dangerous synthetic materials, and they came up with nutritional supplements derived from organic fruits and veggies. In addition, the company has pledged to be green: the vitamins are packaged in a glass bottle within a biodegradable box, which is made from mineral powder. And its paper marketing materials are made from food by-products.
And groups like the Organic Consumers' Association are touting organic vitamins, and even launched a campaign, NutriCon, to get the word out that Big Pharma is giving people unhealthy supplements.
It's great to see an organic vitamin company, especially one that uses green packaging. But is this just another way to get us to buy something we don't need? The Center for Disease Control says that, on average, we consume fewer than four servings of fruits and veggies a day, instead of the recommended six to ten.
But we've all heard that excess Vitamin C just gets flushed out of our body, and taking too much of certain vitamins, like Vitamin E or iron, can be bad for us. For vegetarians or vegans, like myself, a vitamin is an important part of our daily regimen. But what about people who are getting a decent amount of iron, B12, folate, and the like? Will they really benefit from a supplement? Or are they simply wasting their money on these products, organic or not?
via [the alternative consumer]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-06-2008 @ 8:19PM
Zach said...
As a consumer, I wouldn't buy a dietary supplement because the company uses biodegradable packaging. Or just because they company uses organic ingredients.
I realize "goin' green" is important to many people, but a dietary supplement is a long-term investement in your health. You should be more savvy in choosing one.
I took a brief look at the ingredient list of Real Food Organics and immediately saw a huge red flag....
It's all vitamins and minerals. Nothing else.
No herbal extracts.
No amino acids.
No enzymes.
No co-factors.
I don't want to get long-winded here, but this is a poorly formulated supplement. And it was produced cheap. Vitamins and minerals are the cheapest ingredients to use in a supplement.
Good rule of thumb:
Industry-leading supplements and multivitamins only contain 10-15 % vitamins and minerals.
Visit http://www.dietary-supplements-guide.com for more info.
Hope this helps.
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