Synthetic Vitamins: The Industry's Dirty Secret
An article that will wake you up to a new truth!
Why do vitamin bottles have a list of ingredients that reads like a chemistry textbook? While nutrients are extremely important to our well-being, their source matters more than you might think.
There's a crucial distinction between lab-created synthetic vitamins and those we ingest from actual foods. Many synthetic vitamins lack the transporters and cofactors associated with naturally occurring vitamins because they’ve been "isolated." The Organic Consumers Association emphasizes that isolated vitamins can’t be used or recognized by the body in the same way as the natural version.
The reason for this is that the synthetic versions are more like a photocopy of just one piece of the body’s complex system. It's similar to trying to build a house with just nails but no wood, insulation, drywall, or other materials—you're missing crucial pieces that make the whole system work. Food is the natural form, with all its complementary components, and it’s what our bodies recognize and know how to use best.
What Are Synthetic Vitamins?
Not all vitamins you see on store shelves are what they seem. Many supplement companies quietly use artificial chemical isolates rather than natural ingredients and/or slip in low-quality synthetic substitutes to cut costs.
Starting materials for strictly synthetic supplements can be anything from coal tar to petroleum to acetylene gas. These products are produced in facilities via chemical manipulations with the goal of duplicating the structure of the isolated vitamin. Specific formulas for the process aren’t usually made available to the public.
Unfortunately, vitamins can be labelled as natural if they contain as little as 10% of the natural form of the vitamin. This means that your "natural" vitamin could contain 90% of synthetically produced chemicals!
Did You Know? More than 95% of all the vitamin supplements sold today fall in to the synthetic category?
Natural Versus Synthetic Comparisons
Vitamin A
Natural: Listed as beta carotene from food sources like carrots or palm oil
Synthetic: If it says "acetate" or "palmitate" (Vitamin A Palmitate, Retinyl Acetate/Palmitate or Vitamin A Acetate), it’s fully synthetic and will cause health issues.
Vitamin B Complex
Natural: These B vitamins might be listed with their food sources, such as "thiamin from brewer's yeast" or "riboflavin from milk.
Synthetic: Look for chemical names on supplement labels, such as "thiamin hydrochloride" (B1), "riboflavin" (B2), or "cyanocobalamin" (B12).
Vitamin C
Natural: Listed as "ascorbic acid with bioflavonoids" or from sources like acerola cherries. Real vitamin C (from whole foods) contains rutin, bioflavonoids (vitamin P), factor K, J, P, tyrosinase, ascorbinogen, and ascorbic acid combinations.
Synthetic: "Ascorbic acid" or "calcium ascorbate." This is NOT vitamin C, but only represents the outer ring—a protective shell for the entire vitamin C complex.
Vitamin D
When your skin soaks up sunlight, it kicks off a natural process that turns cholesterol into vitamin D3. Synthetic manufacturing starts with 7-dehydrocholesterol (usually from wool oil), which turns into cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) when exposed to ultraviolet light. D2 (ergocalciferol) is also not natural.
While supplement companies claim their synthetic D3 works the same way in your body as sunlight, it really doesn't capture the full complexity of this biological process. Sunlight exposure regulates circadian rhythms, improves sleep quality, boosts serotonin levels, and supports immune function. It may also have protective effects against certain autoimmune diseases, cancers, and mental health disorders, independent of vitamin D levels.
These effects are not replicated by taking a supplement. In fact, one study here and another give us the opposite results—increased fracture and fall risks. Both studies found that patients receiving vitamin D doses resulting in "optimal" vitamin D blood levels experienced a 20-30% increase in fractures and falls when compared to patients who didn’t reach the "optimal" range.
This is the opposite of what we’ve been told and it tells us that trying to force everyone into a standardized "optimal" range could be harmful to health.
Vitamin E
Natural: "d-alpha tocopherol" or "mixed tocopherols"
Synthetic: When you spot "dl" before an ingredient name, that's a red flag for the synthetic version of vitamin E.
Source Materials
Another concern about vitamins is raw source materials. I trusted the process for years.
Every professional I’ve met, every course I’ve taken, has drilled into me the importance of vitamins for health while ignoring source materials.
There are still authors today that decry this process being pointed out, but usually there are either some financial considerations at stake or the author is not willing to step out of their “educational” bubble and accept truth.
The raw source materials for dietary supplements can originate from a variety of places around the world, with no credible oversight of quality.
In the USA, the FDA treats supplements as food, not drugs, meaning they require no pre-market approval. Think about that and let it sink in. Manufacturers self-certify compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). This is a practice considered entirely inadequate because:
Companies consistently refuse to disclose sourcing information.
There are no standardized testing protocols across manufacturers.
Companies can choose their own third-party certifiers.
NSF certification represents voluntary participation.
This all means that there are no universal standards for acceptable contamination levels, a fact that doesn’t inspire product confidence.
The Best Way To Get Your Nutrients?
A healthy, organic diet should provide a good amount of nutrients that the body needs. Natural foods contain complex networks of nutrients, as well as a host of co-factors including flavonoids and polyphenols, healthy fats and fiber, trace minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals, and plant sterols. This interconnected system is why whole foods tend to be more beneficial than isolated supplements.
My own personal preference as a supplement is comprehensive green powder with many ingredients, combining for a myriad of health benefits. These are actually a richer, fuller food source of nutrients and are extremely alkaline, one of the best defences against most diseases, even cancer.
Think twice about synthetic nutrients making you healthier. Randomized trials—the gold standard of medical research—find that most supplements offer no meaningful benefits for healthy people who aren't severely deficient.
Even when it seemed connections were made, the British Medical Journal published an analysis showing that most of these weren't supported by solid evidence.
So the question is: Can a chemical really achieve what wholesome food does? Is a chemical really wholesome for us like real food is? Have they made a real difference in your life, or are you just buying into the hype? Think about it!
I'm grateful you're here! I want to make my articles available to everyone, which is why they're free. But if you find them helpful, please consider a small paid subscription. It helps cover the costs of running this site and allows me to continue independent, unbiased research and journalism. Thanks for your support!
If shy about commitments, feel free to leave a one-time (coffee) tip through a Ko-fi contribution! Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
© 2025 (C) Jorg Mardian; "StrongHealth" on Substack.com