What does pharmaceutical grade mean?
Pharmaceutical grade means as close to synthetic as possible. The goal in creating a pharmaceutical drug is to make it as pure as possible, down to the molecular level, to be able to manage the beneficial effects and side effects of the drug. When the pharmaceutical drug is produced in the lab, all source material and production processes can be controlled to synthesize just the right formula. Then they add from a long list of pharmaceutical excepients – fillers, synthetic colors, stabilizers, synthetic flavors, flow agents, anti-caking agents, preservatives, coating agents, time release agents, and more to try to control drug delivery.
Generally, the cheapest multivitamins are pharmaceutical grade – made by prescription drug companies such as Centrum by Pfizer (formerly Wyeth), One-A-Day from Bayer Corp (formerly Miles Laboratories), Nature Made by Pharmavite, a division of Otsuka Pharmaceutical. If you believe that processed food and synthetic nutrition is best for you, then this is what you should look for.
We believe pharmaceutical grade is the antithesis (opposite) of what you want with nutritional supplements. With nutritional supplements, you want nutrients that are as close as possible to what nature created. Often cofactors (other nutrients) in the source (plant or animal) are highly desirable to help the primary nutrient(s) work best in the body.
Cofactors is why, for example, we have doctors who keep coming back to our CuraFlame™ Curcumin. They will try the newest synthetically bonded curcumin, which has shown to yield a higher blood level of curcumin. But they come back to our full spectrum formulation which combines concentrated, standardized curcumin with whole turmeric rhizome (underground plant stem) because it provides the best results for their patients.
So, the next time you’re looking for a nutritional supplement and see “pharmaceutical grade,” just keep on walking. We recommend trying natural supplements instead—you may be surprised at how much better they work. Thanks for reading!
