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Happy Halloween 🎃
With everything turning a bit pumpkin spice and all things nice, we thought we’d actually tell you a true horror story. Not all vitamin companies care for your health!!
These six scary things that big pharma companies do to your vitamins will have you quivering in your seat.
1. The spooky sweetener that will give your gut nightmares
Sucralose is an extremely popular artificial sweetener used to make food products low in sugar or have no sugar in it at all. Almost all the effervescent tablets on the market use sucralose but what most people don’t know is its destructive effect on your gut microbiome which could potentially lead to infection.
A recent 2021 study found that various artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame and saccharin can cause beneficial bacteria such as E. coli (Escherichia coli) and E. faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis) to become pathogenic aka disease causing. Changes to gut bacteria like this can become incredibly harmful as it can lead to pathogenic bacteria invading our own good bacteria, causing intestinal damage which can lead to infection, and sepsis.
We understand the harmful effects of sugar which is why sweeteners are used but using natural sweeteners such as stevia is a much safer solution that doesn’t lead to the destruction of your gut microbiome.
2. Vitamin tablets or daylight robbery?
Did you ever wonder how much of a vitamin pill is actually absorbed by your body? Only a maximum of 30% to 40%. That's it! Because of the tablet form and chemicals and fillers often found in tablets it is impossible for your body to properly digest and absorb. Whereas consuming vitamins in a drink has up to a 90-98% absorption rate. This is why you will only find Tonic in a delicious drink.
RIP to all the unabsorbed vitamins being flushed down the toilet.
3. Vitamin gummies are just sweets in fancy dress
Just like gummy bears and wine gums that create a delicious chew with sugar and gelatine, vitamin gummies are exactly the same with a little bit of added vitamin. Next time you are in a store, look at the ingredients list of a vitamin gummy, most of them will have sugar and/or glucose syrup listed as the first ingredient. That means they are more sugar than vitamins and sugar is an immunosuppressant that can also block the absorption of Vitamin C.
4. Double, double toil and trouble; the chemical caldron bubble
When the ingredients list of an immunity supplement has more E numbers than it does vitamins, that's a big red flag! In addition, there are vitamin brands out there who are using chemicals such as polyethylene glycol in their effervescent tablets and this chemical is a derivative of petrol and is also used in anti freeze. How terrifying!!
This begs the question, why are health supplements putting derivatives of petrol in their products? And what other horrific things are they getting away with?
5. The rise of the dead. Why 100% of your RDA is only good for zombies
At Tonic, we are proud to say that we are an immunity brand that has the highest dose of vitamins on the market. Even the Telegraph says so in their most recent article on how to get through the cold and flu season. The reason why we use a high dose is because 74% of the UK are deficient in vitamins and when in winter you need much higher does to fuel your immune system for the fight. The scary thing is that most of the vitamins on the market are so low in dose they won’t do anything for your health.
Think you’re okay if you’re meeting the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamins? The answer is a horrifying no because the RDA’s on vitamins were established in 1968 where vitamin C recommendations were only to prevent diseases such as scurvy, not for optimal health. Scary to think they haven’t updated them since the 60s.
6. The scary thing about most Vitamin D
There are 2 kinds of vitamin D, vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 and the one you want to be taking is vitamin D3.
D3 is the active form, known as calciferol. We can get this through dietary sources like mushrooms and oily fish, and the body produces this in response to sunshine. D2, sometimes called ergocalciferol, is not produced in the human body, but is created by exposing certain plant-derived materials to ultraviolet light. Complex processes must take place in the body which can make it difficult to use D2. Research even suggests that vitamin D2 is less effective than vitamin D3 at raising blood levels of vitamin D, even when the body does make use of it.
In addition, there are different sources of vitamin D3, the most common source is made from the grease on lamb’s wool, gross! So of course we fixed that too by using, Lichen D3, which is not just animal-free vegan certified, it’s also a more sustainable way to produce the important hormone.
Spooky stuff, so next time you head down the vitamin aisle, please read the labels and avoid some of these common cons that aren't helpful to your health.
