Here at Evity, we’re health fanatics. We live and breath your health, and we’re constantly thinking of new ways that we can bring you the very best multivitamin not just for you, but most importantly, for yourbody. That’s why, we’re always alarmed to see the sheer volume of multivitamins out there that contain cheap, synthetic, inferior nutrient forms. Not only are you getting significantly less bang for your buck, but these nutrient forms can be pretty damaging for your body too...
Perhaps we should start off by explaining why many brands choose to use these inferior nutrient forms. Well in short, it comes down tocost. The thing is, these types of nutrients arecheap - and they’re cheap for a reason. If you’ve invested in a multivitamin and you’re taking it everyday - you want it towork. The trouble is, if you’re taking a multivitamin that contains these inferior nutrient forms there is really not much point. The reason being, these forms of nutrients are very poorly absorbed, put unnecessary strain on the body and quite frankly, are a waste of both your time and money.
The mechanics of the body are harmonious - every detail ismeticulously planned; even down to the types of nutrients it will use and absorb. It’s really important to give your body nutrients that it canuse. Often these inferior nutrients are just too far removed from nutrients that are naturally present in food. Ultimately you need to determine howabsorbablethey are.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
B12 - cyanocobalamin vs methylcobalamin
Cyanocobalamin is synthetic - our body doesn’t like it. It’s been used for years - you guessed it, because it’s cheap! It’s also stable and very easy to get hold of. The problem is because it’s not how our body expects to receive vitamin B12, it doesn’t store it very well and studies actually show that most of it is excreted in our urine. So not only is it not very useful for the body, 9 times out of 10, you’ll find most of it in your pee.
That’s not all though - the small amount that it does retain, it finds difficult to use. That’s because it's not naturally geared up to use vitamin B12 in this way. You may have heard the magic ‘methyl’ word before. Methylation is a process that occurs naturally in the body and studies have shown that methylated nutrients can boast superior absorption, as they’re already ready to use. As the name suggests methylcobalamin contains a magic ‘methyl’ group, cyanocobalamin on the other hand is not so magic and contains a cyanide group. Although not in a large enough volume to cause harm, the body immediately breaks this cyanide group down, eliminates it and begins converting what's left into methylcobalamin. Your body already has enough to do - it doesn’t need to do any more. As methylcobalamin is the most biologically active form for the body, that’s what we want to give it, simple.
Iron - Iron glycinate vs iron sulphate
Iron can be a tricky nutrient, especially when it comes to multivitamins. There are lots of different types of iron, and as you can imagine - they aren’t all equal. The problem with iron is there are a number of forms including iron sulphate and fumarate, that can cause much more harm than good. If not taken under medical supervision they can cause some horrible side effects including nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and stomach irritation. They’re also prettypoorly absorbed by the body too - not what you signed up for.
Iron glycinate on the other hand is thankfully a very different story. You may have heard ofchelated iron. It’s a supplemental form of iron that allows the iron to pass through the digestive tract without causing those nasty side effects that we mentioned earlier. Supplementing with iron in this way allows the iron to be delivered to the body’s cells much more efficiently - which also boosts bioavailability and absorption, win win!
Copper: copper citrate vs copper bisglycinate
You’ll find copper citrate in the majority of multivitamins of the market today. But, you guessed it - our body isn’t a huge fan. Naturally, copper can be a little tricky to absorb. All the more reason to make sure you’re giving your body a superior form that it can actually use. Like the other inferior nutrient culprits, copper citrate is easy to get hold off, cheap and stable.
The good news is that there is an alternative and it comes in the form of copper bisglycinate! Studies show that this form of copper is absorbed directly into the bloodstream meaning that it is much more easily utilised by the body and doesn’t cause additional strain. It's a no-brainer really!
In our mind, far too many corners are cut when it comes to making multivitamins. Here at Evity, we are always led by science and always include the most superior forms of nutrients in our multivitamin. Weurge you to triple check the nutrient forms in your supplement before purchasing or buying into a brand; it couldn’t be more important to pick one that’s always championing the verybest for your body.
