Vitamins

I have never really taken vitamins...terrible, I know.  I didn't even take prenatals cause of how they made me feel.  Being a mom of three little ones, most days I am functioning on little sleep and I am required to be patient, hardworking and energized.  I started thinking about maybe taking some vitamins to supplement what I wasn't getting from food.  I went to the local health food store, spent about $50 and went on my way.  A few weeks into it and I was happy to be taking the vitamins but I honestly didn't feel any different.  I thought that was normal, that you weren't supposed to *feel* the vitamins.  When I started distributing for Shaklee I was really excited to start taking their vitamins.  It's been about 3 weeks and I can truly say that I am seeing a difference in how I feel.  I haven't changed anything else and since the past few weeks have been especially low in the sleep department (umm like 4-5 hours a night-ick!!!) I can only assume it's the vitamins that are helping!!!
 Shaklee vitamins are made from whole foods.  This is an important concept to understand.  Synthetic vitamins are TOXIC to our bodies! They are made through chemical processes, rather than derived directly from plants. If your vitamins don't say "made from whole foods" they are no good for you! You are better off not taking any. 
I found this great article that really helped me to understand the importance of taking a "good" vitamin:

3 Types of Vitamin Supplements

Posted on 04 August 2010 by admin

Aren’t All Vitamins the Same?

Why can’t I just get the cheap ones?

Don’t they all do the same thing?

There is such a huge difference between buying a synthetic vitamin and a whole-food vitamin. The biggest difference is the way you feel. So many times I hear people say that they don’t feel different on the vitamins they are taking. There IS a reason. This is because usually the vitamin they are taking is synthetic and potentially toxic to the body. The live enzyme in the synthetic vitamin never existed, therefore your body does not benefit from the vitamin.

I truly believe that you “get what you pay for.” I also believe that what you put into your body needs to be the highest quality that is available. So many times, we miss the mark of where to spend our money. We will pay $5.00 for a cup of Starbucks coffee, but will complain about spending an extra $1.00 on organic food.  It is the same for vitamins. If you truly want to feel different and put a supplement that is going to feed and improve your cell’s health, it needs to be an organic, whole food vitamin.

Below is a list of the 3 types of vitamins and where you would find them:

1. Test Tube or Synthetic (Usual drug storeor discount store vitamins)–made in a test tube in a lab, to resemble the real thing. This is toxic to the body and does more harm than good.

**Imagine a Plastic Lemon from the store with juice in it. This type is the Plastic lemon with NO juice. That is basically what you are eating if you take this type of vitamin.

• No enzymes
• Man-made
• Inorganic substances
• Stimulant
• Side effects
• Can actually be more harmful to your health to take!

2. Crystalline or Extracted (**Usually a  health food store variety)–These start out natural, but are heated through the processing, so all live enzymes are killed. You end up with a partially live vitamin, if live at all. Most of these have harsh binders and fillers, plastic coatings, and some contain tar.

**This is the Plastic Lemon with juice. IF you can get past the plastic coating, there is a little bit of real stuff in there. However, the juice has been heated so it’s not really like drinking it fresh squeezed.

• Weak enzymes
• Uses chemical and heat extraction
• Organic substances (low quality raw materials)
• Stimulant
• Imbalanced
• Harsh binder and fillers

3. Natural / Unaltered (**Shaklee food supplementsand other whole food supplements)–Cold pressed to extract the vitamins, all enzymes remain alive so you get something as close to nature as possible

**This is the REAL lemon…unaltered and fresh. What’s inside is alive and natural.

• Strong enzymatic action
• Low heat, low pressure process
• Organic substances
• Feeds and improves cell’s health
• Balanced
• Contains essential unknown nutrients

**X brands need only 10% natural ingredients to legally be classified as “All-Natural.”  Shaklee food supplements are 100% natural!

So I am not a vitamin expert, I can only tell you how I feel...

For information on the vitamins that I take, click here!