Are those products labeled "natural" really a waste of money?

Recently I saw a hot search "Are black sesame pills really a tax on IQ?" The so-called black sesame pills are honey pills made from black sesame as the main raw material, which are ground into fine powder. In addition to growing hair, it also has the effects of nourishing the liver and kidneys, strengthening the brain and body, replenishing essence, and delaying aging. This reminds me of many products that are now labeled as "natural" and are considered to be a tax on IQ. Why is it considered a tax on IQ? Let's talk about it today.

01. Defining “natural” is a key concept

In fact, I think defining "natural" is a very critical content.

For example, some people think that natural means things that exist in nature, so things that do not exist originally but are artificially produced are unnatural, such as sugar substitutes.

From the classic saccharin to the current sugar alcohols and other sweeteners, many of them do not exist in nature. However, in this case, if you think natural is better, it may not be appropriate. In fact, from the perspective of sweetness alone, the sweetness of artificially synthesized sugars far exceeds that of natural sugars. For example, the sweetness of saccharin can be hundreds of times that of sucrose, and because it is not digested and absorbed by the human body, it can also reduce calorie intake.

Compared with the natural type mentioned above, there is actually another type of natural, which means that the ingredient itself exists in nature, but as for its specific source, it may come from nature or through artificial synthesis, such as natural VC.

Natural VC is obtained directly from nature, such as our vegetables and fruits, which are rich in VC. Since humans lost the ability to synthesize VC in the early stages of evolution, they must obtain VC from nature, otherwise they will suffer from scurvy, which appeared in the Age of Discovery. Therefore, nature can be said to be the main source of VC for humans. The food we consume daily is also rich in VC. It is also recommended to obtain vitamins from daily diet. If the diet cannot meet the nutritional intake, vitamin C supplements can be used as a supplement. If you experience physical discomfort or related diseases, please follow the doctor's advice and use medication reasonably.

The corresponding one is synthetic VC, which is synthesized gradually through chemical reactions in chemical plants. Synthetic VC is currently widely used in medicines, health foods, and as a food additive. However, it is mostly used for medicinal purposes.

02. Natural VC VS Synthetic VC

The question of which VC product is good is a perennial topic. Some people insist that chemically synthesized VC products are the purest and the best, and look down on those who take natural VC products, regarding them as IQ tax.

I have some thoughts on this point. I will not discuss the strange concept of IQ tax here. Maybe in the eyes of some people, Rolls-Royce is an IQ tax and is not as good as a 28-bar.

Simply speaking, why natural VC products have always been an important factor in many people's choice, I think it is definitely not because everyone is stupid, but there are certain facts and reasons.

First of all, natural VC products often have more diverse ingredients. For those who specifically want to supplement vitamin C, synthetic vitamin C products can directly meet their needs. However, for many people, supplementing vitamin C is only part of nutritional supplements. In addition to VC, there are often other vitamins. For example, the following are the most common types of vitamins.

Many people even need to supplement various trace elements such as calcium and iron.

These ingredients will be retained during the extraction process of natural VC, so when supplementing VC, you can also supplement other vitamins at the same time, which is a win-win situation for many people.

The second is dependence. This is a medical concept and a phenomenon observed during medication treatment. Doctors have noticed that many patients are unable to follow the doctor's orders to take medication, which results in the treatment effect not meeting expectations. Factors that can cause this phenomenon include the experience of the medication itself, personal understanding of the medication, and the complexity of the medication regimen [1].

03. VC Dependence

In fact, dependence also applies to VC. Let us introduce them one by one.

1. Complexity of the solution

The more complicated the plan, the lower the execution efficiency. Just imagine that a natural vitamin C can supplement multiple vitamins and trace elements, while synthetic ones often require several large and small ones. This is why there are more and more all-in-one supplements in recent years.

2. VC product experience

I believe you all had this experience when you were young. You were very resistant to medication. Why? Because the medication tasted too bitter. The same is true for vitamin C. Natural vitamin C products often come from fruits, etc., so they also have the aroma of fruits.

Some VC products are bitter, so for many people, it is not easy to get used to it. After all, do you have to "sleep on straw and taste gall" to supplement your daily nutrition? Some synthetic VC products are also sweet and sour after adding sugar alcohol, flavors, and sweeteners. However, the products of this high-intensity chemical processing inevitably taste unpleasant.

3. Psychological effects

In fact, this is also the experience of many people. Many people are actually resistant to "medicine". For example, synthetic vitamin C products have standard drug packaging, which gives people a psychological feeling of taking medicine. In contrast, natural vitamin C products often have relatively sophisticated packaging, so many people can take them as nutritional foods.

As for the effect, since the core ingredients of natural VC and synthetic VC are both vitamin C, their molecular formulas are the same, and there will not be much difference in their effects.

04. Synergistic Theory of Vitamin C

However, in recent years, some researchers have proposed the synergistic theory of vitamin C, which holds that natural vitamin C products often include many other ingredients, and these ingredients will to a certain extent synergize with vitamin C itself, thereby enabling vitamin C to work well.

For example, VC can produce synergistic effects with carotenoids, flavonoids, tea polyphenols, VE and even Zn [2]. Natural VC contains phenolic compounds (flavonoids, anthocyanins), carotenoids and other phytonutrients.

Of course, these studies are still being promoted and may eventually change our cognition academically. Therefore, it is somewhat unreasonable to blindly believe that natural vitamin C is an IQ tax. For those who buy it, whether to choose natural or synthetic VC depends on personal preference.

However, since natural vitamin C is often more expensive, some people may pass it off as genuine product. Therefore, if you take vitamin C, it is recommended that you carefully read the ingredient list to see where the ingredients come from.

For example, natural vitamin C means that there is no artificial vitamin C added. And if L-ascorbic acid is mentioned, it must be artificial vitamin C.

Finally, I have to point out that "IQ tax" is not a good word. You should choose according to your own needs, rather than simply judging a certain content with binary thinking.

[1] Tang Jingbo, Yuan Jin. Basic medicines-basic medical and health services-practice and dependence of rational drug use[J]. Chinese Pharmacy, 2010, 21(12): 1065-1069.

[2] Ding Jian, Xu Juan, Zhang Hongyan. Study on the synergistic antioxidant activity of carotenoids, VC and VE in citrus peel in acetone system [J]. Biotechnology, 2004(06):30-32. DOI:10.16519/j.cnki.1004-311x.2004.06.015.