Many people are discovering the health benefits of berberine, since it can help to lower blood sugar, and is used for inflammatory conditions and a hyper-reactive immune system. Lots of people have also found out about caprylic acid and how it helps to kill off a candida albicans yeast infection. And health food stores are carrying butyrate as the public finds out the benefits of this amazing compound. And a large segment of the population consumes synthetic vitamins on a regular basis.
But if you’ve been following me and listening to my videos, reading my books or hear me speak in classes and podcasts, you’ll know by now that in Ayurveda we don’t recommend taking the remedies in this way, where you isolate the active ingredient out of the remedy and synthetically make it in a lab. The reason we don’t recommend taking these types of supplements is because they are lacking the prana, or the life energy they receive which is found from the sun and the moon hitting the herb or the food as it’s growing outside.
There are even more reasons not to take the synthetic versions. Let’s take a look at what some of the pioneers in the field of nutrition had to say about these man-made nutraceuticals.
Dr. Royal Lee, Founder of Standard Process Labs was a prominent figure in the field of nutrition and a strong advocate for whole, natural foods. In fact his supplements were made out of food and not isolated ingredients.
He spoke out often against the synthetic production of vitamins and other nutrients and the idea that isolated nutrients could replace the complex nutrition found in whole foods.
Here is a quote taken from his early writings, several decades ago: “Synthetic vitamins are not true vitamins at all. They are chemical compounds that are created in laboratories and are not capable of performing the complex biological functions of natural vitamins. The body cannot utilize synthetic vitamins in the same way it can utilize the vitamins from food.”
He argued that synthetic vitamins are usually isolated from their original complex matrix in food, which means that they lack the co-factors and other compounds that help the body absorb and use them effectively.
He further stated, “Whole food concentrates contain all the factors necessary for the utilization of nutrients. They have an inherent wisdom, a synergy, that is lost in isolated or synthetic products.”
This inherent wisdom he speaks of is the prana which we recognize in Ayurveda. This pranic energy gives intelligence to our cells, so if the remedy coming in is lacking in intelligence, the cells get confused and don’t know how to function properly.
Dr. Lee often emphasized that food is more than just a collection of vitamins, minerals, and calories. Whole Foods come with a host of supportive nutrients, enzymes, and trace elements that help the body absorb and process the nutrients efficiently.
He spoke out against the dangers of isolated nutrients, stating, “The body doesn’t recognize isolated synthetic vitamins as food. It treats them as foreign substances, which can result in imbalance and toxic buildup.”
When I hear this statement I think of all the patients I have seen through the years who took so many tablets each day of synthetic vitamins, creating lots of liver toxicity and I even saw many patients who developed high liver enzymes, indicating that the liver was under stress from too many toxins going through it. The enzymes came down after they discontinued their nutraceuticals. I even saw patients develop kidney damage from all the supplements they took over their lifetime.
Dr. Lee also spoke out about the synergy contained in foods:
He said, “The vitamins in food work together as part of a complex biological system, where each nutrient influences the absorption and function of the others. Synthetic vitamins, however, are separate, unconnected entities that fail to participate in the natural nutrient synergy.”
I would add here that the same thing can be said about herbs (as in the case of berberine) and food (as in the case of caprylic acid and butyrate).
He went on to say that whole foods are far superior to synthetic isolates as they contain the full spectrum of nutrients that nature intended, in the right balance, and in a form the body can utilize.”
His stance on synthetic vitamins was ahead of its time, especially considering how common synthetic vitamin supplementation is today. His writings date back to the research he was actively involved in around the 1930’s to the 1960’s but many of his ideas were published in the 1940’s and 1950’s.
There were other pioneers in nutrition who also recommended eating whole foods vs taking synthetic supplements. One of those was Dr. Weston Price, a dentist and nutritionist who studied traditional diets and their relationship to health. He traveled around the world in the 1930’s and studied various indigenous populations and found time and again that those populations who ate whole foods had far superior health than those living on processed foods.
Dr. Edward Howell, an American biochemist and nutritionist who studied enzymes and their role in human health was highly critical of the synthetic vitamins that began to flood the market in the mid-20th century. He argued that synthetic vitamins were not biologically active in the same way that natural vitamins in whole foods were, and he also warned that they could lead to imbalances in the body.
He emphatically stated, “Enzymes are the catalyst for every chemical reaction in the body, and synthetic vitamins cannot replace the natural vitamins found in living foods.”
Dr. Bernard Jensen was another pioneer in holistic health and was skeptical of synthetic vitamins, believing that they were often harmful or at best ineffective. He was quoted as saying, “Synthetic vitamins are poor substitutes for the real, naturally occurring vitamins found in whole foods. They lack the supporting factors that help the body absorb and utilize them.”
Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp was a German biophysicist and researcher credited with pioneering the field of biophotonics. He discovered that living cells emit light (biophotons) which play a crucial role in the regulation of cellular function. He too was highly critical of synthetic nutrients, particularly because he said they lacked the energetic quality of food grown in natural, healthy environments. He argued that synthetic vitamins could disrupt the balance of the body’s bioenergetic field.
This also parallels our thinking in Ayurveda since prana is just that – it’s light – the light from the sun and moon charging and absorbing into the food and herbs as they are growing out in the fields. And it’s this vibration of nature that gets absorbed into our cells, imparting vibrant life energy to the whole cellular system.
He stated, “The energetic qualities of food are as important as its biochemical properties. Synthetic nutrients lack the subtle energies that nature provides.”
Dr. Francis M. Pottenger was an American physician best known for his studies on the effects of diet on health. His work was influential in the natural health community, showing the importance of whole, unprocessed foods for maintaining health across generations. He was a critic of modern processed foods and synthetic supplements. He observed that when animals were fed processed foods or synthetic nutrients they developed various health problems such as infertility, bone deformities and immune dysfunction.
Here is a quote from Dr. Pottenger, “The health of animals, as well as humans, depends on the quality of the whole food consumed, not isolated nutrients in synthetic form.”
And there are others. But I think you get the idea. These pioneers of the previous century were able to cognize what the ancient rishis of India always understood – that our health was dependent on the pranic energy found in nature. Once we stray from this foundational truth our health may suffer. Yes, we might get some initial benefit from taking a synthetic supplement, but in the long run our health may deteriorate if too many are taken for too long.
So it is best to get your vitamins, minerals and amino acids from whole foods. Get your berberine from herbs such as barberry or daruharidra, get butyrate from eating fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, raw honey and ghee, and get your caprylic acid from goat’s milk. Don’t be tempted to rush out and buy the synthetic isolated synthetic versions of these foods. You will be much healthier if you don’t.
I hope this information helps you as you strive to eat the healthiest diet possible in order to regain and maintain radiant health.