By Timm Stein

It wasn’t until about 15 years ago when I noticed an exponential growth of products that are commonly referred to as supplements showing up in grocery stores, pharmacies and organic food stores. Rather quickly, entire aisles full of every product imaginable popped up, and suddenly there was a competition among people to boast about which supplements they take, which brand is the best, and where to get the best deals. By now, every letter of the alphabet is thoroughly represented, sometimes in various sub-variations, and in addition you’ll find countless amounts of boxes and bottles that are labelled with fancy, often hard to pronounce terms, which are full of liquids, powders, caplets, tablets, or liquid gel capsules. Many physicians, but also naturopathic practitioners and others in the alternative health scene quickly became vivid supporters of all kinds of supplements and a billion-dollar industry was born. But are these supplements really needed? Are they safe to consume? What are these products made of? Why do they often make us feel better? Who is behind the manufacturers of these products? Who really benefits? These questions will be answered in this article.

What is a Vitamin?

I recall having been told throughout most of my life that my body needs vitamins, and that the best source of vitamins is eating fresh fruits and vegetables. It never occurred to me to wonder if that is actually true, and to ask what a vitamin even is. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a vitamin as “any of a group of organic compounds which are essential for normal growth and nutrition and are required in small quantities in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the body.”[1] You will find similar descriptions in medical journals, health publications, and in simplified versions in nutritional information circulated by government institutions, school boards, etc. However, what all of them have in common is the assumption that they exist in the first place. This is, similar to virology and their alleged viruses, the starting point that is never questioned. It is simply assumed that they exist. It turns out that the concept of vitamins is a purely human invention, because there are no publications or experiments that prove their natural existence, or which would show evidence that vitamins have been directly observed in food. Similar to the alleged viruses of the virologists, these assumed compounds are only found at the bottom of laboratory test tubes after centrifugation of a mixture that includes various toxic chemicals. The scientists at NEXT LEVEL describe it well: It is a common misconception that the end product is a single, pure molecule. This molecule, so the misconception goes, was isolated from a food source through extensive purification procedures and its effects have been unequivocally proven in randomized controlled trials (RCT). In reality, the final product is a completely new substance that has never existed in natural food, and is the result of a complex, multi-stage manufacturing process. There is no single study that documents the clean isolation and biochemical characterization of a vitamin molecule to establish it as a pure, isolated standard for comparison. Instead, the sediment of a byproduct of food is analyzed that has been broken down by numerous harsh and toxic chemicals. This is further described below. Real food like fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, etc. always functions as a whole and not through isolated molecules such as assumed “vitamins”. So, what is a vitamin? It is a theoretical construct that has never been observed in nature.

The History of Vitamin C

The concept of vitamins seems to have originated around the time that the hypothesis of scurvy was first postulated. Historically, symptoms of scurvy, such as fatigue, soreness and joint stiffness, among others, were observed among people, predominantly sailors, that experienced malnutrition, meaning that these people either did not have access to proper and healthy foods, or they consumed foods that were unnatural, rotten, or lacking nutrients. When it was observed that the symptoms disappeared after improving the nutrition, a new hypothesis was formed: the symptoms of scurvy must have occurred because of a lack of a molecule called vitamin C. This, however, was a false conclusion, because too many variables were changed, and no control experiments were performed to rule out that it was not simply the improvement in nutrition that caused the symptoms to disappear. Meanwhile, the hunt for the hypothesized molecule vitamin C continued. Around the 1930s, a researcher by the name of Albert Szent-Györgyi performed experiments on guinea pigs with a synthetically derived compound that he called ascorbic acid. Without proper control experiments, he concluded that since those guinea pigs that were fed the ascorbic acid thrived compared to the other guinea pigs, and based on the assumption that guinea pigs need the assumed vitamin C to survive (a hypothesis that has not been proven true), the synthetically derived ascorbic acid must therefore be the long-sought miracle molecule vitamin C. A new industry was born! Ascorbic acid would be synthetically derived and mass produced. However, there was a problem: how could people be convinced that they need this new miracle substance? If a simple improvement of nutrition led to better health and the disappearance of the symptoms, there would be no need for a synthetic product to be ingested. The solution: first, you educate (indoctrinate) physicians in controlled environments (such as Rockefeller-funded medical universities) about this historic miracle without allowing them to question the science. Then, you mass-produce “research studies” that not only repeat the same lie over and over, but you convince people at the same time that they are allegedly deficient in vitamin C. How do you achieve that? By inventing a theoretical minimum blood level for ascorbic acid, and then testing blood samples to compare the measured level to the theoretical level. At the time, hardly anyone had the newly synthesized product ascorbic acid in their blood, so the myth of vitamin C deficiency was born. People were ultimately deceived and led to believe that vitamins exist, that their bodies are deficient because the “trustworthy” doctor says so, and that they need to consume ascorbic acid to live a healthy life. The billion-dollar vitamin and supplement industry was off to a great start!

How is Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) Derived?

People may think when they read the phrase “vitamin C derived from natural sources” that someone takes fresh lemons, squeezes the juice out of them, and then dehydrates that juice to a powdery substance, which is then pressed into pills. That is as far from the truth as it could be. What is sold as “vitamin C” is in fact a newly created synthetic product. It is created through a complex manufacturing process that uses numerous toxic and aggressive chemicals.

A process called the Reichstein process is used, which involves several steps:

1. D-glucose, obtained from genetically modified corn, is converted into D-sorbitol using nickel as a catalyst.


2. D-sorbitol is converted into L-sorbose with the help of the bacterium Acetobacter.


3. L-sorbose is then converted into diacetone-L-sorbose using acetone and an acid.


4. Potassium permanganate then converts the diacetone-L-sorbose into diprogulic acid.


5. The diprogulic acid is converted into gulonic acid by heating and adding water.


6. The gulonic acid is ultimately converted into ascorbic acid via a reaction catalyzed by platinum.


7. The resulting ascorbic acid is then mixed with other pharmaceutical agents to produce vitamin C powder and tablets.

It is obvious that the final product does not represent the pure isolation of individual molecules – for example the seeds or pulp of a lemon – but is in fact a completely new product that does not exist in nature. The final product is a substance that is created from a raw material through numerous processing steps with toxic and aggressive chemicals.

The Toxic Ingredients of Vitamin Supplements

In 2015, a publication exposed some of the ingredients in commercially available vitamin supplements:[3]

• Vitamin A = methanol, benzene, petroleum sulfonates; acetylene; refined oils;


• Beta-carotene = methanol, benzene, petroleum sulfonates; acetylene; refined oils;


• Vitamin B1 = coal tar derivatives, hydrochloric acid; acetonitrile with ammonia;


• Vitamin B6 = petroleum esters & hydrochloric acid mixed with formaldehyde;


• Vitamin B12 = cobalamin reacting with cyanide (salt of hydrogen cyanide);


• Vitamin D = Irradiated animal fat/bovine brain or solvent extracted.

Vitamin D3 has been praised and vigorously pushed by many physicians within the allopathic medicine over the years, but also by naturopaths and members of the alternative health scene. Since the p(l)andemic of 2020, this substance has risen to even bigger fame. It has been praised to allegedly “relieve symptoms of covid” or to even “cure covid”, and it is ingested by many who believe that it “strengthens their immune system”. However, the next time you reach for that vitamin D3 bottle, turn it over and read the list of ingredients where you will find the term cholecalciferol. A search on the internet for “cholecalciferol MSDS” (MSDS: material safety data sheet) will yield numerous results. Upon reviewing these safety data sheets, you may come across the following statements (in this case from the company Thermo Fisher Scientific):

• Recommended Use: Laboratory chemicals;


• Uses advised against: Food, drug, pesticide or biocidal product use;


• Hazard statements: Causes damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure; fatal if swallowed, in contact with skin or if inhaled.

To put it in perspective: For a rat, a dose of just 8 drops of a “vitamin D3 supplement” containing 10,000 IU (0.25mg) per drop can be fatal. In humans, 30 drops, i.e. just 1.5 ml (7.5mg), can lead to dangerous toxicity. In comparison, when it comes to the drug ibuprofen, which is a painkiller that no one would claim to be good for the human body when taken in small amounts on a daily basis, it requires more than 2,400 mg to be potentially dangerous, which is 320 times more than the equivalent dose of vitamin D3! In addition, the European Union has officially legalized cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) as rat poison since 2019.

Similar to ascorbic acid (vitamin C), vitamin D3 is a synthetic product that is derived from a natural source (animal fat or lanolin) through an extensive process that involves toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, cyanide, sulfuric acid, ammonia, hexane, acetone, ethanol and palladium. This statement can be made about the majority of the synthetic products that are referred to as supplements.

Cochrane Study: No Positive Effect

In 2012, the renowned Cochrane Collaboration performed an extensive study on “Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases.”[4] This study deserves special attention, not only because of its size, but also because of the quality and methodology of the research. With 78 randomized clinical trials (RCT) and a total of 296,707 participants, it is one of the most comprehensive analyses on this topic. Its particular value lies in the exclusive consideration of RCT, the gold standard of clinical research, all conducted with control groups. This guarantees high reliability and accuracy of the results.

A rather notable highlight of this study is the finding that antioxidant supplements, including beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium, had no positive effect on health. On the contrary, the results actually suggested that certain antioxidants such as beta-carotene and vitamin E may even significantly increase mortality. These findings are particularly important because they contradict the common assumption that antioxidants are beneficial to our health.

The authors’ conclusions are quite clear:

“We found no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention. Beta-carotene and vitamin E seem to increase mortality, and so may higher doses of vitamin A. Antioxidant supplements need to be considered as medicinal products and should undergo sufficient evaluation before marketing.”

Why do People Feel Better?

What is the reason that some people may experience positive effects when taking vitamin supplements? One reason is the placebo effect, which is reinforced by the expectation of a positive effect. Another reason is the misinterpretation of the body’s reaction when these products are consumed. The chemicals that are used in the manufacturing process of these products result in a new product that does not exist in natural food. This mixture contains harsh chemicals and byproducts that the body must neutralize, because it recognizes these as foreign, toxic and harmful. This leads to a state of high alert, which is often accompanied by an increased heart rate, increased breathing, increased awareness and increased levels of adrenalin. In Universal Biology, this is called the sympathicotonic state. This state can in fact interrupt current regenerative processes, in which symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion, inflammation, fever, etc. are present and normal during the recovery phase. Therefore, taking vitamin supplements can lead to a short-term feeling of improvement, similar to taking antibiotics or other pharmaceutical medications, but this feeling is a misinterpretation of the body’s reaction to poisoning through harmful substances.

Can We Trust Supplement Manufacturers?

Public mistrust in the pharmaceutical industry has grown, and rightfully so. However, is it safe to turn to alternative health products? There seems to be a belief that just because a product is labeled “natural” or “organic” it is automatically better or healthier. The reality of the manufacturing processes, some of which are highlighted above, is often overlooked in the purchasing behaviour. However, these products are often manufactured in the same laboratories that also work for pharmaceutical companies. The following examples show that large corporations and pharmaceutical companies may have a significant influence on the nutritional supplements market:

• Jamieson, a well-known Canadian brand of vitamin supplements, was sold to the private equity firm CCMP Capital in 2014, which was founded as Chemical Venture Partners in 1984, to serve as the private equity and venture capital arm of Chemical Bank. Chemical Bank’s roots, in turn, lie in the 1823 foundation of the New York Chemical Manufacturing Company.[6]


• Through the acquisition of Cognis, BASF specializes in specialty chemicals for health products, including nutritional supplements.


• With the acquisition of Wyeth, Pfizer has expanded its portfolio to include the Centrum brand, a leading multivitamin brand. Pfizer also owns the Emergen-C[7]


• Nestlé has invested in the medical nutrition and nutritional supplements market through its Nestlé Health Science division, including the acquisition of Atrium Innovations, whose brands include Garden of Life and Pure Encapsulations.


• Schwabe Pharmaceuticals acquired the Nature’s Way brand in 1999.

These examples illustrate how closely chemical companies and pharmaceutical companies are involved in the nutritional supplement market. More often than not, the search for a more “natural” alternative leads to the same corporations from whom many want to distance themselves.

Who Ultimately Benefits?

It should be clear that the human body does not benefit from ingesting products that are labelled as supplements. Pharmaceutical companies clearly benefit, which means that physicians and alternative health practitioners benefit, by means of propaganda based on unscientific research and through financial incentives. However, consuming natural food in its most natural state is clearly the better choice. Nature combines the nutrients and elementary substances into a complex form that cannot be imitated with synthetic products that do more harm than good.

I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional and this article is not intended to be medical advice.

References:

1. Oxford English Dictionary


2. Clinical manifestations of ascorbic acid deficiency in man, Robert E. Hodges, M.D., James Hood, M.D., John E. Canham, M.D., Howerde E. Sauberlich, Ph.D., and Eugene M. Baker, Ph.D., The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 24, April 1971.


3. MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS AND MODERN DISEASES, Goran Nikolic, Dragana Markovic, 2015.


4. Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases, Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, and Gluud C, Cochrane Collaboration, March 14, 2012.


5. NEXT LEVEL – Wissen Neu Gedacht, www.wissen-neu-gedacht.de, Telegram @NextLevelOriginal


6. Wikipedia


7. https://drnealsmoller.com/rant/the-14-mega-corporations-that-own-your-supplement-brand/

Image: Pixabay

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