Are all Vitamins Created Equal?

I came across this article written on Dr Oz Fans…

Doctor Oz did a test on the his segment on Vitamins & Supplements to test if a vitamin and supplement is effective by heating the pill in a vinegar bath.  Dr Oz said since most Vitamins and Supplements are not supposed to be slow release, you can do this test at home to check to see if your body can actually absorb the Vitamins and Supplements that you take.  The reason Dr. Oz’s vinegar test works is because the vinegar mimics the acid in our stomachs, so if the vitamin and supplement do not dissolve in the vinegar, then they will not dissolve in our stomach either. 

Dr. Oz’s Vinegar Test for Vitamins & Supplements

1.  Warm a small pot of vinegar until it is 98 degrees.

2.  Add your Vitamin or Supplement to the warm vinegar.

3.  Let the Vitamin or Supplement sit for 30 minutes – if it dissolves, then your body has a chance to absorb it, otherwise time to buy some new Vitamins and Supplements!

Well, that intrigued me and I set about to do the same test with 5 different brands with my son for his science research project.

We used vinegar, too, and heat in the microwave to get as close to 98 degrees as possible.

This picture below is just a few minutes are the multivitamins were dropped in.

Notice the ‘stuff’ floating on top of some?  They never dissolved fully.  Yuck!  Centrum was actually bubbling and fizzing.  Notice also the coloring of the water.  This is coloring additives.

There are two basic kinds of vitamins;  synthetic and natural.  Synthetic means developed and natural is as it sounds…from phytonutrients. 

BUT be careful of the ‘natural’ label.  Many are not using 100% phytonutrients and also may be heat processed and will greatly diminish the nutrients.

The Shaklee brand is the only one my home uses due to the purity of the vitamin.  Chemicals and fillers are not something I would pay to put directly in my body. 

Give this a try at home.  Test your multivitamin and let us know the results here in the comments or on facebook.

To your health,

Claire