What are plant-based supplements?
Plant-based supplements are made from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, bark, flowers, leaves, and other botanical ingredients. The exact source depends on which vitamin or mineral is needed. Typically, the process starts with a plant that is already naturally high in the desired nutrient. From there, supplement manufacturers use a variety of methods to extract the desired nutrient and create a plant-based supplement that can provide the full Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.1
What Are the Benefits of Plant-Based Supplements?
Minimally-processed, plant-based supplements offer several advantages over synthetic vitamins and minerals. Here are the top benefits of plant-based supplements.
Better Bioavailability
Bioavailability is how easily your body can absorb a given nutrient. An overwhelming amount of evidence indicates that healthy, whole plant foods are the foundation of a nutritionally complete diet. This includes the supplements you use to maintain your health. The best supplements are those that your body is equipped to handle, in other words—they’re plant-based. This is because your body evolved to recognize and use nutrients that come from the plant sources that our ancestors found in nature.
Lower Toxicity Risk
Proper absorption is not just about getting more. In some cases, taking too much of a particular mineral can be toxic. Plant-based supplements typically carry a lower risk of mineral toxicity than their synthetic or animal-sourced counterparts. For example, the risk of toxicity from a plant-based iron supplement is less than that of animal-sourced iron supplements.
Additional Cofactors & Conutrients
Plants contain a complete spectrum of vitamins, minerals, aromatic oils, and phytonutrients. In many cases, these nutrients work together. When you isolate specific compounds, you may get the star of the team, but you leave all the supporting players behind. These supporting players are the cofactors and conutrients that are only available in plant-based supplements.
Natural Smell & Taste
One of the most desirable traits of plant-based supplements is that you know what you are getting. Plant-based supplements typically don’t have the synthetic fillers, toxic chemicals, and artificial sweeteners that are far too common in other supplements. Plants include oils and other constituents that provide the natural smells and tastes absent in lab-grown vitamins. If you want to check the quality of a plant-based supplement, open it up and check the smell and taste. You should be able to recognize some of the natural odors of the organic ingredients.
1 https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/plant-based-supplements/
2 https://www.flickr.com/photos/61259075@N08/16737872816/sizes/l