Food-Based Supplements – Bridging your ‘Nutrition Gap’

This year Cytoplan celebrates it’s 25th Anniversary in the field of food-based supplementation and throughout this time we have remained unmoved in our nutritional philosophy; ‘improving the health of the nation’. Our thinking at Cytoplan is catalysed by the rationale that there is a ‘nutrition gap’ in our diets by virtue of several factors (on which we elaborate further later in this article) and that most people today, even in the developed world, have significant nutritional shortfalls.

This ‘nutrition gap’ is leading to an increase in chronic degenerative diseases, obesity and Dementia etc. It also heavily contributes to a  reduction in general health and well-being. The best way bridge this ‘nutrition gap’ in your diet is to adhere to a good, nutritious diet, regularly exercise and on top of this take a food-based supplement.

A vitamin and mineral supplement provides an alternative method of optimising your daily nutritional intake where your diet may be leaving you short. But it is essential to understand the different ‘forms’ of supplements available and how the ‘form’ of the nutrient impacts on it’s metabolic activity, absorption rate and utilisation.

In this article we will discuss the genuinely unique range of supplements that Cytoplan have formulated; Food State and Wholefood. We look at how these supplements differ from the chemical ‘isolates’ that are the most common ‘form’ of supplement on the market and the action that should be taken to ‘bridge’ your own ‘nutrition gap’.

Why do we need Supplements?

The way our food is grown and processed has changed dramatically over the last 50 plus years. Our basic diet, no matter how well we eat and how balanced it is, no longer provides us with the level of nutrients that we require to function at optimum health. Our demanding modern lifestyles are, in most cases, creating imbalances so that we need additional support from supplements to help us maintain our homeostatic environment.

Supplementation has provided us with an alternative method of getting the extra nutrients that we require to reach ‘optimal’ health. But it is important to choose the correct supplement with optimal rates of absorption and utilisation.

In our opinion, Food State and Wholefood nutrients are the most bio-effective nutrients available on the market; providing optimal absorption and utilisation, they are the only forms of supplementation that, in our opinion, can guarantee you are getting the required level of nutrition that your body needs on a daily basis.

 Food State Nutrients

Food State nutrients are combined in a variety of appropriate food bases to ensure they come complete with the phytonutrients and associated food factors that are necessary for optimal absorption and use in the body. This includes carrot concentrate for beta carotene, citrus pulp for vitamin C, and lactobacillus bulgaricus for B vitamins, as each base would naturally contain levels of the same nutrient.

All of these nutrients are gentle and effective. Most are suitable for vegans and vegetarians, but those that use lactobacillus bulgaricus are not suitable for vegans (only vegetarians) as the original strains of the live native bacteria were isolated from yoghurt.

Wholefood Nutrients

Wholefood products are unique in that they are made from hydroponically grown brassica, a member of the broccoli family of vegetables. This plant is an edible species which has a great capacity to bio-accumulate high levels of minerals to enable good levels to be achieved in small doses of supplementation. These are the only genuine Wholefood supplement products on the market, and research testifies to their superb bio-efficacy. All Wholefood products use food metabolic pathways and are suitable for vegans.

Benefits of Food State and Wholefood

The formulations in Food State and Wholefood supplements contain levels of nutrients that are designed to make up for the known shortfalls in our diets. They are designed to elevate the level of nutritional intake in most people to ‘optimal’ in terms of essential protective and health-promoting nutrients. At these levels, and by virtue of their ‘metabolic fate’, they are wholly safe for all, with no risks or contraindications.

Food State and Wholefood versus ‘Chemical Isolates’

Food State and Wholefood are the most bio-effective food supplements available. These contain vitamins and minerals complete with the associated food factors and other food nutrients with which they occur in whole foods. This total food complex ensures that these products are recognisable as food by the human body and optimally utilised. Often it is the associated food components in the complex which are responsible for the retention and utilisation of the primary nutrient, and this ensures a beneficial ‘metabolic fate’.

Conversely, most supplements on the market contain isolated nutrients which, as the name suggests, are without the other food factors that ensure recognition as beneficial by the body. These are most often seen as ‘foreign’ substances by the body and usually rapidly excreted. This is witnessed particularly in the metabolic difference between Food State vitamin C and ‘isolated’ ascorbic acid. The former is absorbed, retained and used optimally whilst the latter is excreted within 2 hours of ingestion.

It is important to mention that all substances will (eventually) get into the body through a concentration gradient – but this does not mean that they will be beneficially utilised. This is, of course, why one often sees very high doses of isolated nutrients being sold, simply because a huge dose is necessary to get the nutrients into the body, as the body does not have the mechanisms in place to easily uptake these substances. In contrast this is also the reason why, when using a nutrient in a form that fits into normal metabolic pathways, small (physiological) levels will be sufficient for bio-efficacy.

It is our opinion that the only supplements appropriate and safe for human ingestion are those in which the nutrients are presented in the same form as those in food – as the nutrients are in Food State and Wholefood supplements. These are bio-active nutrient complexes containing all the associated food factors in which they occur in nature. If a substance is appropriate to metabolic activity, you do not need high levels.

In most instances, bridging the ‘nutrition gap’ with the appropriate levels of nutrients in a bio-effective form, adhering to the right diet, taking regular exercise and living both a healthy emotional and environmental lifestyle will address many of the factors that predispose us all to illness.

The importance of a Well Formulated Supplement

Do you consider yourself to be a healthy individual? If so, you may be surprised to hear that in almost every instance the average Western diet is leaving us short of metabolically essential nutrients that are required for optimal health. This is down to a ‘nutrition gap’ in our diets.

The Nutrition Gap

The ‘nutrition gap’ is the phrase we use at Cytoplan to describe the difference between the levels of nutrients the average person in the Western world is getting on a daily basis and the nutrient levels identified by research as being needed for optimal health in the population.

Nutrient shortfalls are caused by a number of different factors, including dietary intake, and this means that most people are not getting the level of essential nutrients needed for health and protection on a daily basis. This deficit impacts adversely on both immediate and long-term health.

The nutritional status of our bodies is dependent on six factors:

• Our food choices
• Food growing, processing and preparation methods
• The nutrient content of the food we eat
• The ability of our bodies to assimilate these nutrients
• Lifestyle factors, such as smoking or alcohol intake, which give rise to extra nutrient needs

If you are eating a typically Western diet, all of the above are relevant to the ‘nutrition gap’ in your life.

Food Choices

One of the biggest factors in the ‘nutrition gap’ is the food choices that most of us make, and the shift of foods consumed now when compared to 80 years ago (and beyond). In those days our diets were primarily vegetable based, whereas now they are mainly meat based. The plant-based diet was high in antioxidants and nourishment, whilst the meat-based diet is high in cholesterol, saturated fat and low in the nutrients we need for health.

Since 1950 we have seen huge increases in:

• Obesity
• Dementia
• ARMD
• Coronary artery disease
• Asthma
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Non-tobacco-related cancers

Another significant and compounding factor this nutritional shortfall is highlighted by is the current UK Government ‘5 A Day’ message. An initiative wholly laudable however one which is not being adopted by most of the population as we can see below.

Each portion of fruit and vegetables eaten a day gives you 20% of our daily needs of antioxidant and protective nutrients. As you can see, none of the groups is eating the recommended 5 a day. The young are the worst off and their shortfall means they will be storing up huge problems for the future. As a comparison, the Victorians had a minimum of 10 portions of locally grown fruit and vegetables per day, and in that era there was almost a nil incidence of the chronic diseases that prevail today.

Conclusion

To conclude, the presence of a ‘nutrition gap’ in our diet further fuels the importance of taking a well-formulated supplement in the correct food-based form. We simply are not getting the level of nutrients that are bodies require on a daily basis and this leads progressively towards the onset of chronic diseases.

The only supplements appropriate and safe for human ingestion are those in which the nutrients are presented in the same form as those in food – as the nutrients are in Food State and Wholefood supplements. These are bio-active nutrient complexes containing all the associated food factors in which they occur in nature. If a substance is appropriate to metabolic activity, you do not need high levels as the absorption rate is up to 100% and three times higher than that of a chemical isolate.

There is no substitute for a well rounded and healthy diet – but a Food State or Wholefood supplement can certainly go a long way to helping you ‘bridge’ your ‘nutrition gap’.

If you have any questions regarding any of the health topics raised in this article, or any other health matters please do contact me (Amanda) by phone or email at any time.

Amanda Williams, Cytoplan Ltd

amanda@cytoplan.co.uk, 01684 310099

Relevant Cytoplan Blogs

Cytoplan & ‘The Nutrition Gap’

Soil – The Foundations of Nutrition

Bioavailability and Bioefficacy

Last updated on 14th May 2015 by cytoffice