Steven's Herbaweb News ● Volume 1 Number 2

Welcome

Featured Product

Formula 2 Multivitamin, Mineral, and Herb

Poor eating habits, stressful lifestyles and pollutants can rob your body of vital nutrients, making it even more difficult to reach your ideal weight. Protect yourself with Formula 2 Multivitamin-Mineral & Herbal Tablets, which include vitamins and minerals plus herbs that work synergistically to create a foundation for long-term good health.

Standing Offer - Get Free Herbalife Products

If you are a customer of mine, then this is your opportunity to get free products! If you bring me three new customers, then your next order is free!

Welcome!

Okay - welcome back! While I haven't decided on the frequency of this publication as yet, I have decided to keep on publishing it as long as folks keep subscribing to it. And, in fact, I figure that since folks have continued to subscribe well beyond the publication of the first issue, there must be some interest. That's great for my ego, of course!

Now I have to figure out what to share. I mean, there is just so much information and so many topics of interest. So I decided to continue with what I think of as "the fundamentals". Since I covered soy last time, which is a primary ingredient in Formula 1, I'm going to cover vitamins since they're what Formula 2 is about.

First, some definitions...

Dietary Supplements

Quick Definition

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act defines dietary supplements as a:

product (other than tobacco) intended to supplement the diet that bears or contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients: a vitamin, mineral, amino acid, herb or other botanical;
OR

	a dietary substance for use to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake; OR
	a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any ingredient described above; AND
	intended for ingestion in the form of a capsule, powder, softgel, or gelcap, and not represented as a conventional food or as a sole item of a meal or the diet.

Complete definition here.

Now that we know what a "Dietary Supplement" is, let's find out what a "vitamin" is.

Vitamins (and Minerals)

What are vitamins and minerals? What do they do?

Vitamins are organic compounds that you must have to maintain normal body functions. They are usually available in the foods that you eat. They are needed for growth, health, and reproduction.

Some vitamins also can be produced synthetically. Synthetic vitamins are generally considered to work in the body just like vitamins from natural sources.

Minerals are sources of elements that also are necessary for the maintenance of normal body functions. Enzymes need minerals to perform their functions and to aid reactions that take place in the body. Just as vitamins, minerals occur naturally in foods and are essential to many basic tasks the body must perform. Minerals are especially important in bone structure and growth. Some of the major elements that occur naturally in foods are calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. In nutritional supplements, minerals are not available as single elements, but rather are available as compounds; for example, calcium may be presented as calcium carbonate and iron may be presented as ferrous sulfate.

Complete definition here.

And that leads us to the big question...

So What?

Many of us were already taking some kind of multiple vitamin ("multivitamin"), generally in a one- or two-tablet, once-a-day kind of form. And there's nothing wrong with that. But Formula 2 is specially formulated, of course, to work synergistically with Formula 1 and Formula 3 to provide both complete cellular nutrition and complete dietary nutrition. Why three times a day instead of once a day? So that we are getting a constant stream of nutrition rather than periodic bursts.

And, of course, Formula 2 also includes a balanced mix of herbs that are not generally found in other vitamin supplements.

Formula 2 is certainly at least as good as anything else on the market. If your plan is to lose some weight, then it just makes sense to use the products that work best together ("synergistically").

But whatever you're doing, I'd suggest you be sure that you are getting proper and complete nutrition.

Here's a nice little article on the value of vitamins. And here's another one that also addresses nutrition in general, including vitamins. As you can see from both of these, you don't have to take vitamin supplements. But really, these days, who among us is confident that we're getting everything we need from the food we're eating?

	Dietary Supplements: http://ods.od.nih.gov/whatare/whatare.html
	Vitamins & Minerals: http://www.usp.org/frameset.htm?http://www.usp.org/information/just_ask/vitamin1.htm

	Value of Vitamins: http://www.wellness.gatech.edu/nutrition/vitamin.htm
	Nutritional needs: http://www.wellness.gatech.edu/nutrition/supplement.htm