Big Box Vitamins

Do you buy your vitamins in bulk to try to save money?  Bulk grocery stores like Costco and Sam's Club offer you huge bottles of vitamins at a great price, right!? Take a better look at the ingredients and you'll see why you could be wasting your hard earned cash!

If your goal of taking a daily vitamin is for improved health, choosing a pharmaceutical grade supplement is necessary.  If you're unknowingly ingesting food dyes, modified food starch, soy and more on a daily basis to improve your health, you must research the products that you are purchasing. Is it really worth the savings? You get what you pay for!  Maybe you're continuing to have gastrointestinal issues, breakouts, headaches, etc., and they may be from your vitamins ingredients.  If you check the labels on your food, also check the ones on your vitamins.

I'll compare popular vitamins I found at Costco this past weekend, show you the harmful ingredients, and a superior alternative that your body can actually use!  Synthetic vitamins often contain harmful chemicals and essential nutrients in inabsorbable forms.

While you can essentially get more "vitamins" for your dollar with the big box brands, that is because they are of lower quality, and use cheap preservatives, chemicals, dyes, etc., to bring the cost down.  For example, this is the same reason why real peanut/almond butters cost more than their cheaper alternatives, that have added sugars and hydrogenated oils.  Corn syrup is cheap, genetically modified, and easily added to foods, beverages and vitamins as a filler!

Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Fish Oil:

• ~$.10 cents per capsule
• Contains SOY (GMO)

• Better option is Integrative Therapeutics Pure Omega HP; ~$.37 per capsule

• Does not contain any of the following!

  • artificial coloring

  • artificial flavoring

  • corn

  • dairy products

  • gluten

  • preservatives

  • salt

  • soy

  • sugar

  • wheat

  • yeast

Nature Made Coenyzme Q 10:

• ~$.25 cents per capsule
• Contains artificial coloring, soy
• Synthetic, chemically made.  Contains a different chemical other than the natural form

• Better option is Integrative Therapeutics Vitaline CoQ10; ~$2.00 per capsule

• Contains only the NATURAL form of CoEnzyme Q10 and is identical to the form produced by the human body

• The natural form can cross the cell membrane and does increase serum CoQ10 levels

• Does not contain any of the following!

  • artificial coloring

  • artificial flavoring

  • corn

  • dairy products

  • gluten

  • ingredients of animal origin

  • preservatives

  • salt

  • soy

  • wheat

  • yeast

Centrum Silver Women's 50+

• ~$.08 cents per capsule
• Contains modified corn starch, Red 40 Lake, hydrogenated palm oil, maltodextrin

• Better option is Integrative Therapeutics Clinical Nutrients 45 Plus Women; ~$.19 per capsule

• Does not contain any of the following!

  • artificial coloring

  • artificial flavoring

  • dairy products

  • gluten

  • preservatives

  • soy

  • sugar

  • wheat

  • yeast

*Main image source: http://sincitycrossfitsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Health-Benefits-of-Fish-Oil-For-Kids.jpg

Pumpkin Spice

Fall is here, and people are going crazy for their yearly "pumpkin" flavored drinks and treats.  Sadly, most don't contain real pumpkin, but artificial flavoring and tons of sugar to give you that "fall in a cup" flavor you crave every autumn.

Many people aren't fond of the "Food Babe", stating she has no educational background to question and enforce what goes into our food.  But, these ingredients speak for themselves.  I even stopped going to Starbucks recently when I found out that their coconut milk contains corn dextrin, and a long list of other ingredients, besides coconut milk. [Water, coconut cream, cane sugar, tricalcium phosphate, coconut water concentrate, natural flavors, sea salt, carrageenan, gellan gum, corn dextrin, xanthan gum, guar gum, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin d2. Ingredients in most legit coconut milk: Coconut milk, water.] Read more about Starbucks "coconut milk" here

For the 2015 season, Starbucks has claimed to eliminate the caramel coloring in its' pumpkin spice drinks and use real pumpkin.

Starbucks has a "My Starbucks Idea" site, where you can submit ideas to bring back old products or create new ones.  Here you can log in and vote to bring CLEAN almond/coconut milk to their stores!

I have not had a PSL in over a year, since I went dairy free after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's.  I have however, made my own at home using some of these delicious, natural recipes!

A better alternative to commercialized pumpkin spiced drinks:

You have the option to choose your own ingredients!  Fair-trade organic coffee, organic pumpkin, non-gmo spices, etc.

• Choose your milk! (cashew, almond, coconut, hemp)
• Add your choice of coffee or espresso
• Add pumpkin puree
• Add pumpkin pie spice
• Add cinnamon
• Add vanilla
• Add maple syrup or coconut sugar to taste for added sweetness

Here are some links to recipes that I really enjoy and think you will too!

Pumpkin Spice Latte from Make It Paleo 2

Dairy Free Pumpkin Spice Latte

Dairy Free and Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

Iced Pumpkin Thai Bubble Tea (With Dairy Free and Dye Free Directions)

*Main image source: http://www.pugetsound.edu/files/pages/pumpkinlatte-1.jpg