14 replies to this topic

[jeff495caldwell]

I was hoping I could gain some feedback. At the moment I take the Life Extension Mix and Super Booster but I was contemplating switching to a whole food supplement such as the one below. Reasons being as stated on the website, whole foods are assimilated better and have constituents not found in isolation.

http://www.skyisland...oncentrate.html

http://www.skyisland...oncentrate.html

What are the experts opinions?

Thanks.

Jeff C

[Bghead8che]

Hi Jeff,

Wholefood based supplments are 100% safe and non-toxic at any reasonable amounts. So if you want to play it safe whole foods are a viable option.

-Brian

[niner]

Wholefood based supplments are 100% safe and non-toxic at any reasonable amounts. So if you want to play it safe whole foods are a viable option.

Brian, is there any unbiased evidence to this effect?

[spaceistheplace]

that looks like a pretty sweet multi. i may try it out when my green vibrance is empty.

[Bghead8che]

Wholefood based supplments are 100% safe and non-toxic at any reasonable amounts. So if you want to play it safe whole foods are a viable option.

Brian, is there any unbiased evidence to this effect?

I should clarify. 100% whole foods are safe. The product he linked to contains only food, no man made chemicals. I'm not aware of any study that suggests foods are toxic.

-Brian

[Bghead8che]

I have no opinion on the product in particular but according to their ingredients list the only ingredients are food.

http://www.skyisland...ngredients.html

-Brian

[Bghead8che]

I was hoping I could gain some feedback. At the moment I take the Life Extension Mix and Super Booster but I was contemplating switching to a whole food supplement such as the one below. Reasons being as stated on the website, whole foods are assimilated better and have constituents not found in isolation.

http://www.skyisland...oncentrate.html

http://www.skyisland...oncentrate.html

What are the experts opinions?

Thanks.

Jeff C

I am not an expert by any means but here is my two cents.

A whole food concentrate and multi-vitamin are two completely different products designed to address different problems. A whole food concentrate like the one you mentioned can never provide meaningful amounts of most vitamins and minerals. Specifically they will be lacking in:

1. Vitamin D:
A very critical vitamin which is not found in fruits or vegetables.

2. Vitamin E Complex:
Mostly found only in vegetable oils and nuts.

3. Vitamin B12:
Not found in fruits/vegetables.

4. Selenium/Chromium:
Highly dependent on the where the fruits and vegetables were grown.

5. Zinc:
Not found in significant quantities in fruits/vegetables.

So no way in hell is it going to function as a replacement for a multivitamin. On the other hand a whole food concentrate if it is well designed and uses high quality ingredients and processing like Berry Green for example, will be rich in phytonutrients which are typically absent in multivitamins.

So to summarize:

MultiVitamins - for vitamins and minerals
Whole food concentrate - for phytonutrients

I don't see how one can be a substitute for other. They are complementary products.

The serving size is decent size. How do you know most vitamins and minerals would not be found in meaningful amounts? I would think a lab analysis would need to be done to determine the vitamin and mineral content. Probably low on minerals in general but I bet a good portion of vitamins would be covered and there would be hundreds of nutrients missing from a standard multi. Probably a good complementary product as you suggest.

[niner]

I have no opinion on the product in particular but according to their ingredients list the only ingredients are food.

http://www.skyisland...ngredients.html

The first two products were all food or spices, but some of the other products move pretty far outside the realm of food. Even with food extracts, you can get substances in concentrations much higher than you would be exposed to from just eating the food in a normal serving. I spotted two things on the linked page that I've had undesirable side effects from; insomnia from a blueberry extract and high blood pressure from ginkgo biloba. This doesn't even take possible allergens into account. There's no way that you can make a blanket statement that these products are 100% safe. We don't know anything about how they are processed, what kind of reactions may have taken place between the components, or what kinds of impurities they contain. Despite the fact that these are sourced from food and food-like substances, they are being presented and used as drugs and should be treated as such. The "Wellness Coach" who is advertising these pills is very likely a sales agent for this product line, so there's probably a conflict of interest there.

[Bghead8che]

I bet a good portion of vitamins would be covered

Bghead8che,

There is no need for a lab test. You can make a good conclusion using the ingredients list. Using the ingredients list please explain me which one of them will provide the following vitamins:

1. Vitamin B12
2. Niacin
2. Vitamin D
3. Tocopherols/Tocotrienols

If those guys are touting thier product as mulivitamin replacement then the burden of proof is on them to prove that it can function as a multi replacement.

That's four ingredients (some of which are covered in small amounts). I did not say it was 100% complete, or you could drop all vitamins, or it replaces food. I said it would provide "most" vitamins/minerals. I also never endorsed their claim it was a multi-vitamin replacment. You said it was missing "many" vitamins and minerals, I disagree. Also, there are hundreds of additional nutrients that a multi would never be able to touch.

You guys sure are opposed the concept of food supplements.

[Bghead8che]

I have no opinion on the product in particular but according to their ingredients list the only ingredients are food.

http://www.skyisland...ngredients.html

The first two products were all food or spices, but some of the other products move pretty far outside the realm of food. Even with food extracts, you can get substances in concentrations much higher than you would be exposed to from just eating the food in a normal serving. I spotted two things on the linked page that I've had undesirable side effects from; insomnia from a blueberry extract and high blood pressure from ginkgo biloba. This doesn't even take possible allergens into account. There's no way that you can make a blanket statement that these products are 100% safe. We don't know anything about how they are processed, what kind of reactions may have taken place between the components, or what kinds of impurities they contain. Despite the fact that these are sourced from food and food-like substances, they are being presented and used as drugs and should be treated as such. The "Wellness Coach" who is advertising these pills is very likely a sales agent for this product line, so there's probably a conflict of interest there.

I gotcha. Obviously if a product contains impurities or a person is allergic to an ingredient that supplmenet would best avoided.

[ajnast4r]

that supplement is far from a 'multi-vitamin' and would provide you with nearly as much nutrition as the life extension multi...

if you want to add that in ADDITION to your LEF multi that would be great, but it is FAR from a replacement...

[Bghead8che]

Here is one of my favorites that I took for 4 months a while back. The ingredients are top notch for the most part and there is plenty of whole food AND vitamins/minerals. The product can be a meal replacement or used as a supplement. I talked to the owner once (and read his book) and his company goes through great lengths to make sure the ingredients are balanced, organically grown and properly processed. Also, many powders are highly glycemic while this one is not.

I felt great on the product. The stuff does taste awfull though! I hated taking it daily but I liked the results. An ORAC value of 11K it not half bad either. If you were to buy all the ingredients off the shelf you would easily be looking at $200.00 a container. If you are interested in good all-in-one I think they offer a decent solution.

http://www.livingfuel.com/LFP_01.htm

-Brian