We interviewed Dr. John Ghuneim to help us understand how nutraceuticals are superior to ordinary vitamins and how they can benefit your overall health. His responses are summarized below.
Is Nutraceuticals just a fancy name for the same vitamins you can buy at the discount stores? No—and let me explain why.
Your body uses vitamins for a variety of biological processes, including growth, digestion and nerve function. There are 13 vitamins that the body absolutely needs: vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate).
There are two categories of vitamins.
- Water-soluble vitamins are easily absorbed by the body, which doesn’t store large amounts. The kidneys remove those vitamins that are not needed.
- Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed into the body with the use of bile acids, which are fluids used to absorb fat. The body stores these for use as needed.
Let’s talk about the word vitamin. Derived from the Latin word for life, vitamins are vital for our bodies to function properly—that’s what the term essential vitamins and minerals means. Many people believe that all the vitamins we need can be obtained in food. While this could theoretically happen, most meals we eat would have to be altered dramatically by adding many, many more healthy vegetables, fruits and fiber and many fewer poor food choices, like sugar in any form, trans-fats, empty-calorie foods, etc.
With the evolution of agriculture, many studies have proven that the vitamin and mineral content in our food chain has decreased. The veggies we have today are not of the same quality that our great-grandparents enjoyed.
So now that our bodies need supplements for better health, we need to figure out how the body can best use the tools we give it to maximize its function.
Fox example, there’s iron:
And then there’s iron:
Which form will be the highest and best for the body to assimilate? Your body has to recognize what it takes in as food. Minerals are particularly hard to absorb, so the intestine must know that what you are consuming is actually a usable form of food. This is the definition of Nutraceuticals, vitamins developed under the guidelines of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices as defined by the FDA) and designed to be used most effectively by the body, with no fillers or additives that the body can’t process.
You are not only getting the highest pharmaceutical grade of dietary supplements, but you know that the body is getting to use every bit of the essential vitamin or mineral that you are taking. In the long run, this can be the most cost effective way to help you reach your health and wellness goals. Hope this helps.