w > T * t 3 by Lauranca M. Hursh, M.D. Consultant, National Dairy Council VITAMINS: NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC Is there a difference between so-called “natural” or "organic” vitamins and synthetic vitamins? The question is a legitimate one and it is important, par ticularly with regard to the current “back-to-nature” trends which abound in our society. As an item in the Journal of the American Medical Association said: “The labeling of vitamins as W^ , any farmer can get One of the friendly people at the Friendly First is Bob Badger - President of the Friendly First Farm Loan Corporation. Bob’s a native of the area - lives on State Street in Quarryville with his wife and two children talks farm lingo and understands the problems that beset today’s farmer. He’s a Vice President of our Installment Loan Department and is a long-time expert at solving money needs for farm maintenance .. . new equipment and stock ... plus all the other requirements that keep your farm a profitable operation. Funds are now available for any and all agricultural needs. If you need help, come in and talk things over with Bob - the best helper any farmer can get! Give him a call at 687-8611. The Friendly First' FARM LOAN CORPORATION THE BANK THAT ALWAYS STRASBURG EAST KING STREET WILLOW STREET 687-8611 LANCASTER 464-3421 397-4732 , < ' \h i Doctor in the Kitchen 9 ‘natural’ implies that they have been extracted from a substance found in nature.” Examples given include vitamins A and D extracted from codfish liver, vitamin E from wheat germ oil, Vitamin 812 from liver, vitamins B 1 and B 2 from yeast, and vitamin C from rose hips. But because of the cost of such extracting, most vitamins sold today (with the exception of vitamin E) probably are synthetic the best helper a subsidiary of Hke. First ( yiQtu>nofi. (&LMoh oft StnoAbun^. HAD NO-SERVICE-CHARGE CHECKING ACCOUNTS ,xil! <»»»>(I /iW l'» "I'd l o <»•'*» y<% *-«■ ** • { vitamins. So what is the difference? According to Margarita Nagy, M.S., of the AMA’s Dept, of Foods and Nutrition, and author of the Journal article: "Synthetic vitamins are those that have been manufactured by a phar maceutical company. Biochemically, a vitamin has only one molecular structure; thus, whether a vitamin is extracted from a natural product or syn thesized by the- manufac turer, its structure is identical in either case, and possesses, consequently, the same biochemical activity.” But there’s more to the story. One would suppose as a Berkeley, California pharmacist did, that vitamins sold as “natural” had, in fact, come from natural sources. But when he BUCK 284-41 15 MEMBER F D I C j .V’Vi'<'• .VI .V»V visited two manufacturers of “natural” vitamins he ob served that many of the products so-labeled con tained "synthetic vitamins added to the natural base.” "Rose Hips Vitamin C Tablets” had been adjusted from the original 2 percent to 50 percent by adding chemical ascorbic acid. The pharmacist, Adolph Kamil, said he was told that if no vitamin C were added the tablet “would have to be as big as a golf ball.” Similarly, he found that B vitamins labeled “natural” or “organic” turned out to be “mostly synthetic chemicals added to yeast and other natural bases.” What’s my point? It’s not to run down vitamins in anv ♦«* • * If you have the trees but the neighbor gets the leaves help him to clean them up. ♦** * * Share pick-up chores pick up your friends’ kids as well as your own at school Sending flowers to someone you know who is confined in a hospital shows you care. Be sure to ask the florist to "please FTD it” for the best form of delivery. The initials stand for the Florists’ Trans world Delivery Association network ♦** » * Progress No. 9 Peas - Ford hook No. 242 Bush Limas - As Low As *1.70 per lb. Silver Queen Sweet Corn - As Low As *2.15 per lb. We also stock a Complete Selection of Garden Tools, Fertilizer and In secticides For the Lawn, Old English Grass Mixtures and Turf Foods RED ROSE FEED A FARM SUPPLY DIVISION OF CARNATION 27 N. CHURCH ST. QUARRYVILLE, PA 786-7361 I lI.IIM/I *»»' rl* • Lancaster Farming, Saturday. March 15,1975—51 form, natural or synthetic. But we should know what we are buying. Listen to what Pharmacist Kamil (who is in charge of consumer in formation and quality control for the pharmacies of the Consumers Cooperative idiot Check our low prices before you purchase your requirements . Red Rose ANIMAL FEEDS ot Berkeley, Calif.) says: “As for me, I'm going to put my money on good food, fresh and wholesome, from a wide variety of sources, and thereby get all my nutritional needs the most natural way." As Low As *l.OO per lb. # BUCK, PA 284-4464 lON