Are you concerned about the nutritional value of the foods you eat? Do you consume mainly an organic diet in the hopes of getting more nutritional bang for your buck? If so,
a whole food vitamin supplement could be the perfect compliment to your healthy diet.
Unlike the majority of vitamin supplements on the market today, a whole food vitamin supplement provides nutrients in their natural, complex form.
Nutrients are not isolated or synthetically produced and packaged.
Instead, whole foods and super foods provide concentrated doses of vitamins.
Phytochemicals, trace minerals and other substances contained within whole foods are also consumed when whole food supplements are taken.
What’s in a Whole Food Supplement?
Whole food supplements come in liquid, powdered, and tablet varieties.
Unlike isolated vitamins or multi-vitamin formulations, whole food vitamin supplements do not list vitamins and minerals as the main ingredients.
Rather, the food source of the vitamins is listed since that is what the product contains.
A whole food vitamin supplement might contain highly nutritious land vegetable foods such as:
- Whole leaf barley grass
- Burdock root
- Parsley juice
- Nopal cactus
- Soy beans
- Alfalfa
Sea vegetables such as Icelandic kelp and Nova Scotia dulse and algae such as Spirulina are other typical ingredients.
How Nutritious Are Whole Food Supplements?
With a whole food vitamin supplement, it is usually left to the consumer to decide the nutritional value of each ingredient.
In some cases, the amounts of vitamins and minerals contained within the whole food ingredients appear on the label in milligrams.
For individuals who are unfamiliar with the vitamin content of many super foods or vegetables,
it makes sense to look for this information on the label of the product you choose to consume.
Alternatively, you could familiarize yourself with the vitamin content of common whole food vitamin supplement ingredients.
There a multitude of books that provide precise information on foods that naturally contain high sources of vitamins.
Books about nutrition and nutritious eating are great places to start your research.
A nutritionist is another option for obtaining information about whole foods’ nutritional values.
Your Personalized Whole Food Supplement
Once you are familiar with a few of the common ingredients of whole food supplements,
you can choose products that contain those foods you most favor or find beneficial.
For example, if you are interested in consuming additional soy products as an antidote to menopausal symptoms,
you may wish to select a whole food vitamin supplement that contains soy for its nutritional value.
Many individuals swear by whole food supplements, just as some prefer organic foods.
It is up to us to decide how we wish to consume our vitamins.
A balanced diet in combination with any vitamin supplement is almost always likely to do more good than harm.
Undoubtedly, providing our bodies with the nutrients they need from a variety of food sources crucial to maintaining our health.
