Let’s take a Step Back: What do Vitamins Do For Us?
Vitamins are nutrients that are essential for our health and since out bodies cannot manufacture vitamins on it?s own, we get them through diet or supplements. If, for some genetic reason, our bodies either don?t utilize vitamins properly or have genetic variance that impedes proper gene function, the types, amounts and formulations of vitamins very much matter. B-Vitamin Supplements are critical for bodily function and should be taken in precisely the correct formulation.
Now: Do We Really Need Vitamin Supplements?
You might be wondering why we need Vitamin Supplements if we lead a healthy lifestyle that includes eating lots of fruits and veggies, foregoing junk food and exercising. Well, studies are showing that our fruits and veggies may not be as vitamin rich as they were when our parents or even when we were children (depending on your age). First, modern farming practices have stripped our soil of nutrients, which means fewer nutrients end up in our food. Scientific American has a really interesting article here that I encourage you to read. Next, it takes anywhere from a few days to several weeks for food to travel from the farm to your local grocer. Plus, there is the additional time it sits in the store (1-3 days), and the time it sits in your fridge (up to seven more days). This lag from farm to plate means that there will be a significant degradation in key micronutrients.
Sad but true, so much for getting everything we need from food alone anymore. What’s worse we need to navigate the very busy world of vitamin supplements. I’m not a Doctor or Naturopath so I’ve had to endure getting advice from some vitamin store employee that in my experience hasn?t been very well trained. In many cases I’ve known more about supplements than he or she did. This worries me very much! If you haven’t done your research and you are banking on the store employee for advice, it’s a crap shoot as to whether they’ve taken more than the basic level of training offered (if training is offered). You could end up using something your body doesn’t need or can’t process and in the mean time you’ll end up feeling worse!
For simplicity sake, I’m going to choose only the B-Vitamins to discuss in this piece. There are many B-Vitamins that play a major role in our bodies from B1 up to B12 plus Folate. I’ll focus here on B12 and Folate.
What The B-Vitamins Do
The Cycle known as methylation in our bodies helps us to operate both physically and mentally though functions that include nervous and immune system, cardiovascular activity, energy production, heavy metal detoxification and more. The various B-Vitamins are critical for healthy methylation and our bodies need them in proper amounts.
Before you head out to your local Vitamin store to pick up a B-complex there are factors you might want to know about these important vitamins.
- B-Vitamins come in methylated and unmethylated forms. You best know what you are taking.
- Research is showing that a significant percentage of the population may have genetic variants or SNPs that inhibit conversion of folic acid (from diet or supplements) to reduced folate (useable by our bodies). There are also those that cannot metabolize unmethylated Folate and Vitamin B12 at all.
- The B Vitamins and the genes involved help manage homocysteine levels, support immune function, gut health and overall cardiovascular health.
There are a number of gene variants or SNPs that will benefit from B Supplementation such as the MTRR, MTHFR, FUT2 genes. These genes and the variants will all benefit from supplementation with activated, methylated Vitamin B12 as well as components that support the gene the enhance it?s activity.Â Knowing if you have the variants or SNPs would be a very helpful analysis to have before you start popping back B complex of getting expensive Vitamin B12 shots that may or may not be helpful. More on the genetics and analysis below.
What Are The Key B-Vitamins Your Body Requires?
- Quatrefolic (Reduced Folate): Biologically Active 5-Methylfolate; to effectively normalize the foliate status. In those with a MTHFR variant, it bypasses the damaged MTHFR conversion and delivers a folate the body can immediately use.
- Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12): readily digestible methylated form.
Genetic Testing and Getting The Correct Vitamin Supplements In The Correct Amounts
Genetic testing in the field of Nutrigenomics has come a long way in the last 20 years. Once an expensive and not readily available test and analysis, now it?s a simple as a cheek swab sent to a lab. The guesswork is taken out of the picture for your vitamins too; now you can have supplements custom made for your genetic profile and unique to your DNA variants and requirements.
Heading off to the store to have a stranger guess at what you need for vitamins, wondering if you’re using the right formulation for your body doesn’t have to happen anymore. The downside of not supplementing properly is in the articles I’ve linked to on the first page and I’ve blogged about it. No point covering it all over again.
Quatrefolic and Methylcobalamin along with all the other bio-available B-Vitamins are available as part of custom supplementation with Uforia Science. The DNA analysis of 18 Genetic SNPs or variants coupled with a customized Precision Supplement based on what your body needs to function optimally. The programming, analysis and manufacturing of your final precision formula is like nothing else out there today and to you benefit to have a look at. Your DNA and your Nutritional health fingerprint is in your hand waiting for you to look deep enough to see it.
Blind Vs Designer Nutrition
I’ll summarize with this video. I hope this writing explained to you the importance of doing nutritional supplements correctly rather than by guess and by golly. Your health is too important and your money is too important to be wasted on the wrong potentially harming ingredients.
I’d love to answer any questions about this one of a kind product. Simply drop me a comment and I’ll help in any way I can.
In good health,