We receive many inquiries regarding Endo-met products. A common question is whether they are natural or synthetic products.

What Is Natural?
Today there is much emphasis on natural health and natural health products. However, the words can be deceptive and misleading. As an extreme example, Socrates died from drinking a natural herbal tea. Natural does not mean better. Nor does it mean better absorbed or better utilized.

Minerals
All minerals are natural in that they are never man-made. But eating rocks is not advised. Mineral supplements attempt to provide a mineral in a form that is most usable or absorbable.

The body absorbs minerals in a chelated form. This means bound to an amino acid. Minerals found in plant and particularly animal tissues are already chelated. This is why eating liver is the best way to absorb iron - better even than dark green vegetables.

Less expensive supplements use mineral oxides, phosphates, sulfates or gluconates. These are sometimes called weak chelates. These are not as well absorbed as true chelates. Endo-met Laboratories uses only true chelated minerals. That is, the mineral is 'cooked' and bound to amino acids derived from rice protein.

Rice is used in Endo-met products so that the supplements contain no gluten, a commonly allergic protein found in barley, wheat and rye protein. Endo-met products do not contain natural source minerals such as bone meal and rock or sea bed minerals as they are usually contaminated with heavy metals.

Minerals supplements may also be in the form of colloids. Colloids are larger, solid particles that are suspended but not dissolved in a liquid. Contrary to popular literature, colloids are not well absorbed. This is why one can safely take silver, which is toxic, when it is in a colloidal form.

Endo-met sells a colloidal silver, an excellent antibiotic and antiviral agent. However, Endo-met does not sell colloidal minerals from ancient sea beds. We have tested a number of these products, and all are high in toxic metals.

Vitamins
Vitamins vary in their preparation depending upon which vitamin one is considering, and the dosage desired. Endo-met uses only natural source vitamins A, D and E in all products. B vitamins are synthetic, or produced by bacterial fermentation. Natural source B is only available in low doses, and is often derived from yeast to which many people are allergic.

Vitamin C is natural source derived from glucose, which usually comes from corn syrup. Some companies sell vitamin C from green peppers or some other source that is not converted from glucose. It is much more expensive and not available in high doses. Those who are allergic to corn may have to buy vitamin C derived from sugar beets or other sources from another manufacturer.

Glandulars
Endo-met glandular products are from all-natural bovine sources. They are prepared by defatting the gland and freeze-drying. This is considered an excellent method of preparation that produces a pure and biologically active product.

Digestive Aids
Betaine hydrochloride is a natural product derived from beets. Pepsin is an enzyme derived from animal sources. Enz-aid and GB-3 are mainly natural source products containing enzymes derived from animal pancreas and liver sources. Dehydrocholic acid in GB-3 is a synthetic bile acid known to enhance bile flow. Several herbs are also present.

Specialty Products
Specialty products sold by Endo-met labs vary as to their source. All mineral products such as Spartan MK are prepared through a process similar to chelation. Spartan MK contains magnesium and potassium bound to aspartic acid. Burnout Formula additionally contains a natural source glutathione.

Some products such as Ginkgo Biloba are 100% herbal products. ICMN contains synthetic B vitamins and a natural source methionine. Endo-met Melatonin is synthetic. Melatonin is a pineal gland hormone. The reason synthetic is used is that eating raw animal brains carries some risk of disease.

Essential Fatty Acids
Several new Endo-met products containing essential fatty acids are Flax Oil, Super GLA 260 and EPA-DHA 300. All of these are exclusively natural products.

Binders and Fillers
All tablets use binders and fillers to produce the tablet. Endo-met uses calcium carbonate, cellulose, guar gum, silicon dioxide and magnesium stearate as fillers and binders in its tablets. All these are natural vegetable and mineral source products. The coating on Spartan MK and ICMN is a water-soluble cellulose.

Endo-met avoids the use of dicalcium phosphate, a cheap filler that binds other minerals and impairs their absorption.

Conclusion
There is exciting research underway in nutrient absorption and transport mechanisms and how to enhance them. However, beware of 'nutritional fundamentalists' who have simplistic notions about which supplements are best. Natural does not mean better. What matters is whether a supplement delivers what the body needs in a form it can readily utilize.

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