The Answer: Bioidentical NutrientsNutrients that occur in nature, from plants and animals, are in specific forms that are optimally bioactive (having an effect on living tissue) when ingested…such as when foods are eaten or when supplements containing these bioactive forms are taken. In fact, it is often the form of the nutrient that determines both its effectiveness and its safety. However, many nutrients found in nutritional supplements are not in the exact bioidentical form found in nature. This occurs for various reasons, including cost, availability, stability, and practicality. Sometimes the bioidentical form of a nutrient is simply not stable enough to include in a supplement, or it is simply not possible or practical to derive a therapeutic quantity of a specific nutrient directly from a food or animal source. While the bioidentical forms of nutrients are often optimal, synthetic forms made in a commercial laboratory process which are often not identical to the forms that occur naturally, can be used safely and economically in many cases. However, one’s body generally must first convert the synthetic forms into their active bioidentical forms before the therapeutic effects can be realized. While this often happens easily and quickly in most individuals, some people can have biochemical and metabolic uniqueness which makes this initial conversion more difficult. Recently, there has been information in the general media regarding potential safety issues with synthetic folic acid due partly to these conversion issues in some people. So, amidst the myriad of choices you are confronted with, what do you look for when searching for quality supplements? You look for a company who is committed to identifying, sourcing, and utilizing bioidentical forms of nutrients whenever possible and practical.
Bioidentical nutrients – a Designs for Health commitment
At DFH, we are committed to producing the highest quality, safe and effective nutritional products at realistic prices for health care practitioners and their patients. We are further committed to identifying, sourcing, and utilizing bioidentical forms of nutrients whenever possible and practical. This is illustrated by our decision to remove all synthetic folic acid from our professional nutritional supplement line years ago, and replace it with a bioidentical mixture of natural folates called NatureFolate.™
Bioidentical vs Food Based
Bioidentical nutrients should not be confused with so called “food-form” based nutritional products. Upon close inspection many of these types of products are nothing more than the addition of certain synthetic USP (United States Pharmacopeia) nutrients (i.e., pyridoxyl hydrochloride), added to a relatively non-potent food mash. Understand that achieving therapeutic potency for most of the nutrients required in a full spectrum professional line of supplements cannot be realized with this strategy.
Summing Up the Bioidentical Story
What “bioidentical” basically refers to is this: we should consume a form of a particular vitamin in the same form as it exists in the human body and as it performs in our biochemistry. According to Linda Lizotte, RD, CDN, President and Cofounder of Designs for Health, “Vitamins should be therapeutic. They should be amounts that are absolutely going to have an effect. [People] should feel energy, for example, when taking a multivitamin. One of the most important ingredients in a multivitamin, for example, is the B vitamins. It’s very easy to under-dose B vitamins. So I’d rather put more money into the capsule and have it actually work.” So, educate yourself on what supplements you choose to consume, because their source, their foundation, their form, will most definitely make a difference.
by Dr. Michael Fuhrman
Related links: DFH Response to Folic Acid Concerns
April 2010 Prevention magazine article – Is Your Breakfast Giving You Cancer?
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