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Your first trip to the local natural health store’s supplements aisle can be overwhelming. The myriad of nutrient and herbal helpers that populate the shelves can make it difficult to navigate your way to just the right supplements for your own good health.

You’ve read and heard all manner of good things about the benefits of B vitamins, antioxidants for heart health, calcium and vitamin D for bone health, and the list goes on. But how do you make the decision about exactly what supplements you and your family need to maintain optimum health? Let’s take a look at the main categories of supplements: vitamins, minerals, fats, and proteins.

Vitamins

Needed for a number of processes in our bodies, such as growth, digestion, mental alertness, and resistance to infection, vitamins are also necessary for our bodies to synthesize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and act as catalysts to speed up chemical reactions.

Natural or synthetic First, try to avoid all synthetic vitamins such as beta-carotene made from acetylene gas, as they are the least bioactive of forms. Second, when choosing supplements made from naturally derived isolates, use the most active form. The most effective forms of B₁₂ include hydroxocobalamin, adenosylcobalamin, and methylcobalamin.

Organic Next, you should understand the term “organic” and its use in the world of supplements. When applied to supplements, organic means that the molecule contains at least one carbon atom (as in organic chemistry). A supplement, therefore, can be labeled 100-percent organic and not be natural. Check with your natural health store for the most natural brands of supplements.

Complex or isolate Overall, the best vitamin supplements are full complexes that mimic their natural origins; these full complex vitamins are best absorbed into the body. Vitamin E is usually sold as d-alpha-tocopherol, but vitamin E naturally exists as a complex of at least eight components–four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Likewise, vitamin C exists not as ascorbic acid, but as a complex that includes bioflavonoids and calcium. What this means is that much of the value of vitamins is in the complex, not the isolate, so make sure your vitamins are part of complex supplements.

Minerals

The main components of teeth and bones, minerals serve as building blocks for other cells and enzymes. They also help in regulating our bodies’ balance of fluids and control the movement of nerve impulses. Major minerals are required in larger amounts–more than 250 mg per day–than trace minerals, which are required in fewer than 20 mg.

Calcium or magnesium When we think of major minerals, we often think of calcium, which is not surprising since we often hear health reminders to “Get your daily calcium!”

But although we need calcium, the true deficiency may be magnesium, which balances the calcium. Magnesium is the activating mineral for close to 400 different enzyme reactions in the body–more than any other mineral. Too little magnesium negatively impacts your body in
literally hundreds of ways, including hardening of the arteries, arthritis, diabetes, and dementia.

Magnesium is much harder for your body to absorb and utilize than calcium. Based on absorption, the ratio provided by most supplements is much closer to 6:1 or even 8:1 in favour of calcium. To make sure you get enough magnesium, look for at least 200 to 600 mg of elemental magnesium per day in the form of water-soluble magnesium citrate.

Trace minerals Traditionally, eating fresh grains, fruits, and vegetables grown in nutrient-rich soil and drinking mineral-rich water have been the primary sources for the full spectrum of ionically charged trace minerals. Naturally occurring, nutrient-rich soil is becoming less available on high-output commercial farms; however, eating local organic produce can help alleviate this deficiency.

Recently, science has shown interest in minerals such as selenium for preventing cancer, boron for preventing osteoporosis, and chromium for regulating blood sugar levels.

Mineral absorption How do you decide which form of minerals your body can best utilize? Keep in mind that you benefit from minerals when two things happen:

Jon Barron is a nutraceutical researcher and author of Lessons from the Miracle Doctors (Baseline of Health, 2002). His Baseline of Health Newsletter and Barron Report at jonbarron.org are read in more than 100 countries.

Source: alive #286, August 2006

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