Food Based Vitamins vs. Traditional Supplements: Understanding the Differences

There is a lot of debate about which source of a vitamin or mineral is best, food based vitamins or traditional vitamins and minerals. One important point to remember is that whatever the source of the vitamin included in the product it’s the same. All vitamins and minerals have a chemical formula and the formula is always the same, so the source does not change the vitamin or mineral that you will obtain.

Another argument that is often used is that food-based vitamins are easier to absorb. All vitamins are in general very easy to absorb and so again the source is less important, however with traditional food supplement sources of vitamins it is much easier to obtain an ethical dose of a vitamin by consuming a smaller amount of product. However, food source products tend to be much lower strength.

It is slightly different with minerals, as some minerals are difficult to absorb, Iron is difficult to absorb and our bodies have made it difficult to absorb as too much Iron is not good for us. Food source minerals in this case may well be easier to absorb but this effect is usually negated because the concentration of the mineral is much lower.

Foods source vitamins also tend to be much more expensive that traditional sources. Whichever source you prefer is good and it is better to take a supplement and ensure you are getting some nutrients rather than not taking a supplement at all.

At Solo Nutrition we use the best of the traditional vitamin and minerals forms which enables us to provide doses of vitamins and minerals that are ethical and our customers find are very effective.