Xtend-Your-Life Newsletter
Issue - 23 September 2005
Vitamin B12 from Sewage? What nonsense!
Please read this...
"Vitamin B-12 comes from one of two sources # ground up cows liver which has been overloaded with steroids, antibiotics and the herbicides/pesticides in the feed the cow eats. The second source is activated sewage sludge and fecal matter. It's high in B-12 and inexpensive to obtain. All such manufacturers and their lab people consider that a vitamin is a vitamin. Where it comes from is irrelevant as long as the public doesn't know and form an emotional aversion to it.
The rest of the B vitamins are processed from coal tar and petroleum chemicals."
Wow... that's enough to put you off taking these ingredients isn't it? These statements were published in a newsletter put out by Health Freedom Resources, Inc. http://www.healthfree.com. Their article was entitled 'Vitamin Scandal' and was obviously designed to help promote their product called Vital Nutrition Plus.
We had quite a number of emails from customers and subscribers who are obviously on their mailing list expressing concern (and quite rightly so) that they may be ingesting substances that have been derived from sewage etc... This is what prompted me to deal with this matter in today's issue. I should mention that we have seen this article repeated in many newsletters and websites over the last few years.
But, that is not all! They advise their subscribers how the minerals in supplements are made... I quote:
"Nutrient manufacturers take mineral ore and pulverize it into a fine powder. These are known as metallic minerals. 98% of it cannot be assimilated by the digestive system."
My word, I am learning a lot today! :)
It would be quite funny if it was not so serious. We all know that there is a lot of drivel published on the internet and a lot of misleading claims... but this article is as bad as it gets because it is so full of blatant lies. I am not going to comment on the product they are promoting, and the claims that they make... but, should you be interested in assessing their product Vital Nutrition Plus, just bear in mind the statements they have made about vitamins and minerals and then decide if they are credible.
OK... now, let me give you the facts...
Vitamins... where do they come from?
In order to keep this newsletter within our length parameters, I am not going to go through the full spectrum of vitamins and tell you how every one of them is produced but rather target the one they specifically refer to... Vitamin B12. (A similar process of manufacture applies to the other B vitamins as well... )
Firstly, I can confirm that Vitamin B12 does not come from any animal source such as cow's liver! Nor, do the vitamin manufacturers go around the sewage treatments plants picking up buckets of fecal matter to turn into B12! Where on earth the authors get this information from I have no idea! Obviously someone... somewhere has a very fertile imagination!
Could you imagine the FDA or any other regulatory body throughout the world allowing a vitamin to be manufactured from these sources? Remember that all these vitamins are also supplied to mainstream medicine for intravenous injection. Purity has to be paramount.
So, how is Vitamin B12 manufactured? One word answers this... "Biotechnology".
OK... so how does Biotechnology work for Vitamin B12?
Well there are a number of steps involved, but the starting point is from a bacteria culture.
Here is the process in the simplest possible form used for the B vitamins:
Step 1: Grow yeast culture in large scale fermenter vessel for optimum B12 production;
Step2: Yeast cells destroyed to release B12 into liquid;
Step 3: Concentration and purification of B12 liquid;
Step 4: Crystallization of B12 and drying of crystals;
To better understand the process you may wish to look at a typical production flow chart for the manufacture of Vitamin B12...
I have also attached a typical specification for the Vitamin B12 that we use. You can see that by clicking here. Note: Natural Products (NZ) Ltd is part of the Xtend-Life group of Companies and is the name of our own manufacturing company.
The manufacture of B12 as with other vitamins and minerals is carried out under similar conditions as those imposed on the pharmaceutical industry.
Hopefully this explanation now clears up that bit of nonsense. (Maybe you could pass on this newsletter to friends and family who may have heard about this 'vitamin scandal'... thank you.)
Now... what about Minerals... are they really ground up rocks?
Minerals as we commonly perceive them are indeed in rock form and I would concur with the author of the 'vitamin scandal' article, that pulverized rocks cannot be assimilated by the human body. In fact, I would suggest that they could be seriously harmful.
The only mineral that I know of which is used in supplements and is collected and crushed in this manner is calcium carbonate. However, calcium carbonate also known as limestone is well known to break down in water with a portion of it being dissolved and the rest going into suspension. Unlike other minerals, limestone is high in elemental calcium and is in a salt form not a metal form. Many people throughout the world drink water that is naturally high in calcium carbonate.
All minerals contained in supplements are in a salt form not a metallic form.
So, how are they made? Let me give you a typical example.
Let's take copper gluconate which we use in a number of supplements. Now everyone knows what copper looks like and the distinct color of it. As a point of interest copper gluconate is blue!
This is how it is made:
Step 1: Yeast fermentation of glucose solution to produce gluconic acid;
Step 2: React gluconic acid with copper salt (e.g. copper hydroxide);
Step 3: Concentration of resulting solution containing copper gluconate
Step 4: Drying of solid copper gluconate;
For a typical specification of this ingredient please click here.
I hope that today's article will help you be better informed with regard to the truth about supplements and nutrients and in particular about vitamins and minerals. It's a pity that companies and/or individuals find it necessary to circulate such blatant untruths to help 'push their own barrow!' They are doing everyone a disservice and ultimately themselves, because contrary to the attitude of many marketers the consumer is not dumb...
Maybe they can be fooled once?
Maybe even twice, but... they eventually catch on.
Perhaps you may be asking yourself, why do they do it? I have certainly asked myself that same question many times... and the only answer I can come up with is, 'a quick buck'... in the short term, as they see no long term future for themselves in the industry.
Why should I think that? Well that's a long story and will take a full article to try to explain, but in a nutshell, based on future planned legislation which is occurring throughout the world at the moment they simply will not be able to get away with what they are doing at the moment, so maybe they are making 'hay whilst the sun shines'.
Here's a typical example of what I mean. This is an 'anonymous' company/individual that has been hoodwinking consumers for years. I first wrote about them in an Xtend-Your-Life issue over three years ago (3 July 2002). You can access this newsletter by going back to our archive page. They are still at it under a different name and URL. I am aware of them changing their URL at least 4 times in the last three years. This is the email which is widely circulated.
"Discover...in the next few minutes... regardless of your age, sex, or current health status, how this common element can change the way you experience the next half of your life."
Learn how to increase your quality of life "We really have something here which may be able to reverse some of the problems associated with aging."
-Dr. Anthony Karpos, M.D."
It then takes you to http://www.producedtohelp.com/s/ (Note: They change the URL frequently so it is always possible that you may get a page not found)
The website is very well written, and to the novice it is very convincing. But... be careful, it is full of misleading information. They are selling an HGH precursor.
The bottom line and underlying theme of today's newsletter is... Don't believe everything that you read on the internet. Hmmm... maybe you are thinking why should you believe me... or, info that we publish on our website? The answer is that if you ever have doubts about anything I say, or info which is published on our website, contact us and question us and we will provide you with supporting data, or our rationale behind any statements.
At least you will get an answer :)
Good luck and good health,
Info about the editor
Important notice: All material provided within the newsletter XTEND-YOUR-LIFE is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this publication. Consult your physician or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing or on any opinions expressed within this newsletter. The information provided in this newsletter is believed to be accurate based on the best judgment of the editor but the reader is responsible for consulting with their own health professional on any matters raised within.
