If you look at the ingredients label on your favorite vitamin bottle, 99.9% of the time you will find something called Magnesium Stearate (aka Stearic Acid). According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's TOXNET website, Magnesium Stearate is considered "slightly toxic by ingestion."
Since most of us do in fact "ingest" our vitamins, this may be something to avoid.
After learning this little tidbit a couple of years ago, I was disturbed to find that nearly all of my supplements contained Magnesium Stearate. There are a few vitamin companies that don't use it, but you have to search a little.
By the way, HSDB stands for "Hazardous Substance Data Bank"...Nobody is even trying to hide the fact that Magnesium Stearate is "hazardous"...Just food for thought
If you look at the ingredients label on your favorite vitamin bottle, 99.9% of the time you will find something called Magnesium Stearate (aka Stearic Acid). According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's TOXNET website, Magnesium Stearate is considered "slightly toxic by ingestion."
Since most of us do in fact "ingest" our vitamins, this may be something to avoid.
After learning this little tidbit a couple of years ago, I was disturbed to find that nearly all of my supplements contained Magnesium Stearate. There are a few vitamin companies that don't use it, but you have to search a little.
Just scanned my med chest and my Selenium, Glucosamine, Resveratrol, Calcium Citrate, Magnesium Malate, L-Glutamine and L-Lysine ALL have Magnesium Stearate.
When I discovered that Mag Stearate was in my "All Natural" supplements that I had purchased from Whole Foods (not cheap mind you), I was ticked off! I know it sounds silly, but I felt a little betrayed. I was feeding that stuff to my two toddlers for heaven's sake!
For the past couple years, during the research phase of writing my book, I uncovered all kinds of disturbing things, like Propylene Glycol for example. This chemical is another one of the free "goodies" that companies put into our food and personal care products.
What does car antifreeze and deodorant have in common? Propylene Glycol!!
This delightful chemical can be found in almost ALL deodorants, shampoos, lotions, etc.... and it is linked to Allergic Contact Dermatitis (ACD) which is a fancy term form skin rash, welts, reddened or weeping skin, etc..
The worst part is that I was using Tom's of Maine All Natural deodorant (twice the price) for many years before I discovered this! I guess it's better to know things late than never, though...
For your viewing pleasure, here is a link to the U.S. Haz-Map website (Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents):
Propylene Glycol is used as a laxative in hospice work when folks are taking a lot of narcotics for pain. I have never seen a reaction from it and they get 17 grams of it in a dose, sometimes twice a day....none the less, I would not take it, unless I was already on my death bed.
You got to watch out when you shop in Whole Foods, after all, they do sell Canola oil and some claim to be organic. I just feel the canola business has been so shady the truth will never be known to the public. Some canola oil is genetically modified to be resistant to some pests, but most is not, so they say. The riscen was taken out by cross breeding so they say but there are many who think there is a cover up.
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"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." Marcus Aurelius
I'd bet any money that if there is a difference between synthetic and natural vitamin K as carcinogens that it would be the synthetic form that was most likely to be implicated.
Went to the site of a vitamin company I've been using for years now, and just for the halibut, put Magnesium Stearate in the search box, came back with 757 items!
I had a hard time finding supplements that don't have magnesium stearate...As far as I can tell, the only place I can find stearic acid-free vitamins is online (no disrespect to Whole Foods )
I had a hard time finding supplements that don't have magnesium stearate...As far as I can tell, the only place I can find stearic acid-free vitamins is online (no disrespect to Whole Foods )
Fit4LifeDoc,
I can understand how you felt giving supplements with Magnesium Stearate to your children. I don't have kids, but one of my "furkids" started to have seizures in February, and I've been giving her only natural supplements for treatment.
Unfortunately, her Cholodin supplement has MS in it, and for now I'll continue that tablet. I was also giving Taurine and Magnesium Malate to her, both have MS.
Happily, today I found a Magnesium Taurate supplement from Cardiovascular Research Ltd. (no mag stear), at my local Vitamin Cottage. This item is new, and I was glad to see it there. Now me and hubby can take the rest of the Mag Malate and Taurine with the toxic ingredient, to be kind to our furbaby
When we use up the Magnesium Stearate items we have, we'll read labels and make sure we don't buy that junk again, thanks for the important info!
I also have "furkids" and I feel the same way as you do when it comes to giving them healthy food, supplements, etc... after all, they rely on us to take care of them.
It's a shame that we live in such a toxic world, but thanks to sites like this, we have a chance to protect ourselves and family members (furry or not)
Titanium dioxide is another common ingredient in vitamins. The bad part about this is that it strengthens biofilms that bacteria use to protect themselves from the immune system.
Or at least that is what has been claimed.
Today I couldn't find one brand of L-Glutamine capsules at my local vitamin store, without Magnesium Stearate in it. I was able to get the powder form in the Now brand, which lists L-Glutamine free-form as the ONLY ingredient
Here's a list of some toxic supplement ingredients:
That is an awesome list! I just printed it out to show my patients. There are several ingredients that I didn't know about (the best part is that my wife always calls me a "know-it-all," so now I have proof that I'm not )
Are vitamins toxic?
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