Have you ever seen a “Vitamin” in the human body?

Have you ever seen a “Vitamin” other than on an ingredients list?

In my ever ongoing journey into the world of natural health, I have come to the following conclusion, after much research and thinking.

It is not something I came to easily, or quickly - however the evidence and logic behind the position are there.

I used to be someone that took lots of these chemical supplements.

And now, in the best physical health and strength of my life, I don’t take any of them.

Synthetic supplements are not natural. 

Therefore, they aren’t recognized by the human system.

When we put something in the body that is not recognized or usable, with contaminations of other substances, this can lead to some dysfunction.

I would argue that the vast majority of people - if natural health is your goal (and thus performance) it would do best to not take these synthetic abominations.

There is nothing made by a lab that is the same as what is in the human body, despite what tests or labels may say.

Now, you may think “SOL BRAH, Vitamin C is in oranges - it prevents scurvy!”

And it may be true that we need something from fresh fruits in order to prevent certain expressions of disease, I agree with that.

Do we NEED an isolated chemical powder that someone says is the same as what’s in an Orange? Of course not.

In 1928, Albert Szent-Györgyi allegedly “isolated” a reducing substance (hexuronic acid) from adrenal glands and later from paprika and citrus; by 1932 it was recognised as the antiscorbutic factor and renamed ascorbic acid (vitamin C). 

Mr Albert is just making compounds from repeated mixing of acidic solutions and precipitation with chemicals and naming it something.

If “Isolation” includes adding chemicals to get to it, you’re not isolating, you’re creating something entirely new!

I am arguing that “Vitamin C” as people define it, and by extension all “Vitamins” and most supplements including isolated amino acids, powders - as they are produced in labs are NOT similar to what exists in the whole food or natural form.

An orange is an orange. And oranges benefit us.

But it is not the lab made “Vitamin C” that we have a deficiency in - and this is the principle for all Vitamins and pretty much all supplements on the market.

To analyze “Vitamin C” count in something, most people have the idea that they microscopically zoom in to orange juice and can see vitamin C molecules in it.

But here’s what really happens: They homogenize the citrus with ice-cold metaphosphoric or acetic acid solution.

They then centrifuge it, stabilize it by adding Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or more acetic acid.

They then add a dye, and based on how much of that dye is needed, that measures the “Vitamin C” aka Ascorbic Acid.

The fundamental issue with processes such as these is that you are introducing reagents and acids and other chemicals to get a result, which asks the question - do those compounds that you end up with even exist without them?

They don’t!

And because these chemicals are involved in the process, some remain in the final product - with no need for them to be listed on the Supplement Facts table or ingredients list. Which you are then consuming, usually daily which can have cumulative toxic effects.

And the Vitamin C is just one example.

Let's look at the origins of Vitamin A.

Researchers McCollum and Davis showed that rats on a fat-stripped diet stopped growing and developed eye problems; and then adding back butter fat or cod-liver oil fixed it. That led to the concept of a “fat-soluble A” factor.

In reality, is it a fat soluble factor that they then attempted to isolate, or was it just the fat itself that our bodies need?

We need nutrients - we don’t need chemical, isolated approximations of nutrients that don’t do the same thing and also have additional toxic compounds too, some of which we KNOW are toxic, and some of which we don't know the effects.

I err to stay on the natural side.

Here is a list of some chemical reagents, acids, derivatives, precursors and other compounds used in the process of supplement creation:

And those ingredients themselves are likely contaminated with other things that aren’t mentioned also!

The vast majority of vitamins are also made with kerosene. Do you want to eat kerosene?

Creatine is another sacred cow in the supplement space. Huge names are saying you should have megadoses of it (30g or more daily!).

It is derived from cyanamide fertilizer derivatives like cyanamide and sarcosine - zero equivalence to nourishment.

Here’s how Michel Eugène Chevreul “found” Creatine in 1832:

1. Boiled muscle meat into an extract
2. Added potassium hydroxide and filtered it
3. Added lead acetate to make a white crystalline powder
4. Added sulfuric acid, made “pure creatine crystals”

Does this seem like a process that is extracting “Creatine”?

Or are you simply getting a white powder mix of chemicals that doesn’t exist in meat at all?

I hope that these points have begun the process in your mind of analyzing and thinking about what actually is in the pills you’re taking.

So what then are my acceptable “supplements”?

Well firstly - of course it would be remiss of me not to mention that a raw whole food diet is where you should be getting the bulk of your nutrition. If you have access to organic high quality farm food in abundance, then there is hardly a need for supplementation. Try not taking any supplements, and spending the money on more raw milk or raw egg yolks instead.

I do believe in the value of supplements featuring compounds and substances that are as nature found them, or very simply processed or concentrated. Perhaps they’re a bit hard to get where you are, so it makes sense to take them as supplements.

• Natural foods freeze-dried: liver, oyster, organs, fruits - no additional ingredients or chemicals added to what is found in nature other than dehydration of the water
• Mineral Concentrations: Ocean water, salts, shilajit - What exists in nature, in concentrated form
• Herbal/Mushroom Preparations: Teas, tinctures - Utilizing infusions of natural products in simple heated water or alcohol soaks.

You can see the common thread here. None require additional chemicals or multi-step processing to get to a random white powder that is called “Vitamin” or some “amino acid”.

And there are also supplement companies that claim to be natural - but don’t mention where their products are made, what's in them, the precursors involved - so you must do your own research.

This is why I turned by back on the industry and founded Aurum.

A commitment to naturally occurring supplements with minimal if any processing, concentrated offerings from the Earth. We will be 100% transparent with everything we release, because I believe Its important and you deserve to know what is going into your body.

Aurum is soon releasing a mineral electrolyte supplement, a Lion's Mane Extract and a Natural Liquid Magnesium.

Stay tuned for more.

- Sol Brah