Extraordinary Health Magazine Extraordinary Health Vol 22 | Page 41

Taking Nutrition to the “Superhero” Level by Alicia Silverstone ’ve always thought a lot about vitamins—probably more than most normal people do! Because here’s the thing: I want to get all my nutrition directly from the whole foods I eat, right? And I know that eating like a superhero is giving me everything I need and then some (except for B12—which almost nobody is getting enough of—and vitamin D—which is really only when I hole up in front of a computer instead of getting out in the sunshine). But, my mind always comes back to this: What if you need a little safety net? Something to make 100% sure that you’re getting all the nutrients you need when life happens and you find yourself without access to greens and other goodness every day. This first came to mind when I was pregnant with Bear. My midwife confirmed that I was pumping all kinds of healthy awesomeness to my baby, but she recommended taking a prenatal as an “insurance policy.” After all, sometimes I’d be traveling or working crazy hours, and even though I’d be eating kind, I wasn’t always able to take it to that supercharged, superhero next level. So, I set out to find the perfect vitamin— one that was vegan, whole food† (as in derived entirely and naturally from foods), GMO-free and certified organic. Turns out that was no simple task! I could find vegan-friendly options, but they wouldn’t be whole food-based. Some vitamins claimed to be nothing but whole foods, but in reality they included binders, fillers and other synthetics. What?! That’s like saying your broccoli is nothing but broccoli and then sneaking in some hydrogenated soybean oil. Gross! Unfortunately, as I found time and time again, the vitamin market is just like the processed food racket: producers can market themselves as “natural” without meeting any major criteria. Seriously—they can make that claim even though the “natural” sources come from GMOs, include artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and on and on. They can also pile a whole bunch of chemical isolates and synthetic fillers in there, put a pretty green leaf on the label and call it a day. Some companies have tried their best to keep it as natural as possible, but I’ve learned the process of making vitamins from organic fruits, veggies and herbs is slow and expensive. Kind Organics is really an important innovation for these reasons. This is the first multivitamin to achieve the Certified USDA Organic and Non-GMO Verified seals of approval, and the first to use patentpending Clean Tablet Technology™! † These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.