Isn’t it better to take 500 mg of calcium 3 times a day than taking the 1,125 mg all at once that is in the Active Senior powdered multi vitamin?

Also, is D3 1,000 IU too much to take daily and is that absorbable in such a high quantity?

The Vitamin Professor Responds

Dear Ellen,

If you were taking your supplements in a compressed tablet then spacing the calcium out throughout the day would make sense. This does not apply to a powder in a base of protein. The protein digestion, because it replicates food, suspends the calcium absorption unlike a hard compressed tablet.

There has been tons of research in the past ten years indicating that most Americans are vitamin D deficient.  I believe this is primarily due to spending most of our day inside and smearing sun block on our skin for the few minutes a day we are outside. Vitamin D is created when the sun hits the derma (Skin).  That, and the fact it greatly improves ones mood, is why vitamin D is been often referred to as “the sunshine vitamin.”

It was a result of this current research on vitamin D that we increased the amount of vitamin D in our formulas.

All the best,

Doug Ingoldsby
Founder – ALL ON

See also

How long will the ALL ONE Multiple Vitamins & Minerals Original Formula last after opening? Because it’s a powder, it doesn’t seem like it would go “bad”, but I’m wondering if the vitamins would lose their potency over time.

The Vitamin Professor Responds

Dear Rachel,

Thanks for your interest in ALL ONE.

Actually the powder form of supplements is very stable. Because it is never exposed to moisture during the processing like tablets are (a process called wet granulation) there is no need for coating agents. Also, because it is a dry powder (until you mix it with your favorite juice just before consuming it) it does not need preservatives (like Sodium benzoate) found in all pre-made liquids.

ALL ONE has a “shelf life” of 3 years from the date of production if the container is kept unopened.

After you open the container keep in mind that the things that degrade nutrients are moisture, light and heat. So always replace the over-lid after each opening and store it in a cool dark place. Cool, like a pantry, not cold like a refrigerator. Storing it in a refrigerator can create condensation and the collection of moisture in the can.

The largest container we have is a 66 day size. Once opened if stored properly this very stable powder will be fine for at least a year. Most likely the product will be consumed way before that amount of time.

I hope this answers your question.

All the best,

Doug Ingoldsby
AKA, “The Vitamin Professor”

My chiropractor who is also a nutritionist swears by the vitamins made by this company called Standard Process. He claims this company has its own fields of plants and vegetables and is completely free from any synthetic materials.  Their labels will not have the usual Thiamine, Riboflavin, etc but only food based like carrot, ginger etc. He says these products from standard are very easy on the stomach and are absorbed very easily by the body compared to others like synthetics and blends. Their website is standardprocess.com and their flagship product multivitamin called CATALYN costs $31 for 360 tablets (twice a day).

What is this brand called ALL ONE which you recommend and how does it compare to this CATALYN from Standard Process?

The Vitamin Professor Responds

Standard Process products are sold exclusively through chiropractors and are one of their “profit centers”. Also, many health professionals sincerely but mistakenly believe the marketing hype regarding “whole food vitamins”.  See also my recent blog post on the “whole food vitamin myth”

I will try to address your question, but it is like comparing apples to oranges.

In broad strokes here are the differences:

Potencies:
- CATALYN from Standard Process contains only 4 mg of Vitamin C per recommended serving.
- ALL ONE is much higher potency. ALL ONE contains 1,000 mg of Vitamin C per recommended serving.

Completeness:
- CATALYN contains only six (6) vitamins. Vitamin A, vitamin C), vitamin D, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 & vitamin B6. There are no minerals and no protein (amino acids).
- ALL ONE is a complete vitamin / mineral & amino acids (protein) supplement with over fifty one (51) nutrients.

Excipients (inactive substances used in tablet production):
- CATALYN contains binders, flow agents, lubricants and disintegrating agents: glycerin, arabic gum, calcium stearate, starch.
- ALL ONE powder contains no non-nutritive excipients.

Sugar:
- CATALYN contains sucrose (sugar).
- ALL ONE contains no added sugar.

Suitable for vegetarians?
- CATALYN contains animal by-products; bovine adrenal, bovine liver, bovine spleen, ovine spleen, bovine kidney etc.
- ALL ONE multiple powders: 2 are vegetarian (contain milk proteins) and 6 multiple formulas are certified vegan.

Plant based?
- CATALYN does contain “plant based” materials (ginger, carrot etc), however, the potencies for the six (6) vitamins they list are from synthetic sources listed right there on their label: Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6), Thiamin (vitamin B1), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), cholecalciferol (vitamin D), vitamin A palmitate (vitamin A) and riboflavin (vitamin B2.)

- ALL ONE powders, multiples and weight loss formulas, are in whole food bases. For example, our Green Phyto Base formula is in a base of high quality California grown rice protein and contains 2 grams of concentrated ORGANIC greens: green kamut (non hybridized wheat grass), barley, alfalfa, oats, Cruciferous vegetable juice powder including green cabbage, kale, parsley and broccoli – all grown in fertile, unpolluted soil and combined with dulse, sea vegetables, kelp and the potent micro-algae spirulina. Now THAT is more like whole foods than any hard compressed tablet, including CATALYN.

For more on the myth of whole food vitamins, see: http://www.all-one.com/professor/whole-foods-vitamins/

I hope this addresses your questions.

All the best,

Doug Ingoldsby
AKA, “The Vitamin Professor”

So what do you think of this English guy Jamie Oliver who claims our diet of junk food is killing America and is on a mission to change our eating habits? And how does ALL ONE fit in?

The Vitamin Professor Responds

I love his energy and everything he is attempting to do.  I saw his presentation at the TED conference and think he is right on.

How does ALL ONE fit into all this?  ALL ONE is the perfect nutritional supplement.  A holistic antidote to the rampant obesity and frightening array of diseases resulting from diets that do not meet the bodies exacting requirements.  Food manufacturers have been dragged kicking and screaming to this debate and are evolving ever-so-slowly when it comes to modifying their products and the misleading way they are marketed.  A root cause of America’s collective state of obesity and poor diet is the food we eat contains tons of empty calories, plenty of preservatives but little in the way of the critical vitamins, nutrients, amino acids, and healthy protein the body requires for survival.

Are We Junk Food Junkies?

Scripps Institute in Florida recently released a study that basically shows that junk food is as addictive as drugs.  When rats were fed a continual diet of junk food they would eat it until there was no more.  They became obese and ill as well.  Even more scary when the junk food was removed and the rats were offered nutritious food they chose to STARVE rather than eat the good food.  This study was so shocking even CBS’s Katey Couric was stunned.

The “food” we are eating these days (I use quotation marks around the word food intentionally) is not really food.  Real food contains vitamins minerals, amino acids … you know … nutrition. The pre-made, processed, packaged “foods” most people eat these days contain very little in the way of vitamins minerals, amino acids.  What they do contain are colorings, dyes, preservatives, chemical flavorings and hollow calories.

Back in the early 70′s food additives were mostly limited to salt, sugar and a little MSG.  These days, foods are loaded with materials that if revealed on the label would scare the average human half to death.

Any Milk In This Milk Shake?

Here is an example of what I am talking about.  This is the breakdown of the chemicals used in a Burger King-style strawberry milk shake published in the book, “Fast Food Nation:”   Amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.”

Keep in mind that the above list appears on the package simply as: “natural flavors.”

ALL ONE Provides REAL Nutrition

While I am a giant supporter of Jamie Oliver’s educational push to redirect the eating patterns of the American consumer, it is a big ship to turn around.  Until then, ALL ONE can go a long way to providing the nutrition we all need as well as the nutrients that will help cut the “cravings” for junk food.

So, next time someone says: “I don’t need supplements, I get my vitamins from the foods I eat.”  Gently remind them that they are not always eating “food.”  They are eating hollow calories that has been flavored to taste like food.

The answer is simple.  Feed the body what it needs most:  A simple, once-a-day nutrient can create a foundation of good health and strong immune systems.  Young or old, vegan or carnivore, fast food junky or health nut, we all need a viable solution to this existential problem, one that fits easily in our busy lives.  Our bodies need – demand – pure, healthy nutrition to thrive.

A diet of processed, fast and junk foods does the body lots of harm without satisfying key requirements we all need to live robust, long lives.  All the expensive marketing and seductive packaging of the lousy food we consume does nothing to build and sustain real health and wellness.  We are living in a time where attention spans are measured in nanoseconds and the sacred act of feeding ourselves is often relegated to eating fast, processed, empty foods, substances that are targeted for our brains’ momentary pleasure centers but at the end of the day leave us sluggish, undernourished and rotund.

All the best,

Doug Ingoldsby
aka “The Vitamin Professor”

PS. Listen also to my recent interview on the Mark and Brian nationally syndicated radio show.

Thank you for your email and comment regarding  Vitamin D2 and D3.

Before I continue I would like to share this quote from The Science and Practice of Pharmacy:

“Both Vitamin D2 and D3 are precursors (pro-vitamins) and are converted to THE SAME active metabolites, which are responsible for the absorption of calcium.”
- Kemington; The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, 19th Edition ,1995 pg. 1111 (emphasis added)

As far as your body is concerned the two different forms of Vitamin D are identical.

Now I will address your comments.

The most “natural” form is the vitamin D is the one your body creates when your skin is exposed to sunlight.

It has been a family tradition to create formulas that are suitable for vegetarians.  We also make formulas that are suitable for vegans.  Until recently the most common source of Vitamin D3 has been fish oil which is unsuitable for vegetarians.  This is the reason we selected vitamin D2.

Our ALL ONE Rice Base, ALL ONE Fruit Antioxidant, ALL ONE Green Phyto Base formulas are all “certified vegan.”  Therefore, Ergocalciferol (D2) is the ONLY suitable vegan form of vitamin D available to us as a manufacturer.

Our ALL ONE Original and ALL ONE for Active Senior formulas, while suitable for vegetarians are not “certified vegan” because they contain (dairy) milk proteins.  Lactose and fat free casein in the Original and Whey protein in the Active Senior formula.

There is now available a Vitamin D3 which is synthesized from lanolin (lambs wool).  This lambs wool source of vitamin D is fine for vegetarians.

Therefore, in a few months, our ALL ONE Active Senior and ALL ONE Original formulas will contain vitamin D3.

Also, at that time we are switching to vitamin D3 in these two formulas, we will also be increasing the amount of vitamin D in ALL our formulas from 500 IU to 800 IU.  ALL ONE for Active Seniors will be increased to 1,000 International Units.

As a side note we will also be changing the source of our vitamin B12 from Cyanocobaliamin to Methylcobalamin in all of our formulas.

Hope this addresses your question.

Can I mix ALL ONE Powder into my morning oatmeal? Since I already add chopped nuts, molasses, raisins and ground flax seed, it would be really handy.

The Vitamin Professor Responds

Dear Donna,

Interesting question. There is nothing wrong with mixing ALL ONE powder into your morning Oatmeal.

Oatmeal, Applesauce, Yogurt these are all fine mediums to mix ALL ONE as an alternative to drinking it in juice.

Two things to keep in mind:

1)  you don’t want to expose the ALL ONE powder to high heat for very long as that can compromise the potencies of various nutrients.

2) you will probably want to start with a half dose (7.5 grams) as a full dose may effect the taste a bit.

Actually, your concoction of oatmeal, chopped nuts, molasses, raisins and ground flax seed and some ALL ONE sounds like a darn good way to start your day!

I am a little confused about vitamin E supplements. I have very dry skin on my face that lotions do not help so I want to take vitamin E. I know I need to take the gamma vitamin E with tocopherols and tocotrienols but my question is: should I get the lower dose instead of the usual 400 IU which I read is too much to take?

The Vitamin Professor Responds:

Dear Erin,

400 IU (International Units) of Vitamin E is a very common dosage and is certainly very safe level to take on a daily basis.

Keep in mind that Vitamin E is only one of the nutrients that effect the skin.

I would recommend a multiple formula, like ALL ONE, which contains not only Vitamin E but a whole host of additional vitamins, minerals, naturally occurring amino acids and other nutritious food factors.

We feel that nutrients taken in a more complex, and multiple, formulation increase the overall effectiveness on each specific vitamin and/or mineral.

ALL ONE contains 400 IU of natural Vitamin E as d-Alpha Tocopherol Succinate (the only water dispersible Vitamin E) along with these complex / complete multiple formulations.

I would suggest giving ALL ONE a try for a month and see how it effects your condition.

Check back and let us know how it’s going.

I have been reading about the value of alpha lipoic acid. Is there a reason that your Senior powder does not contain it? Also, new research seems to show that we need more Vitamin D – 4-5,000IU/day. Do you agree with this? Why is there not a higher % of Vitamin D in your Senior formula?

The Vitamin Professor Responds:

Dear Dan,

Thank you for your questions and your interest in ALL ONE.

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is plentiful in foods and also produces by the human body. Therefore, we do not feel it is nessesary for a supplement like ALL ONE which is designed to be taken on a daily basis. While additional ALA supplementation is sometimes warranted it is usually when during acute situations like treating liver damage.

There are no toxic aspects to ALA to speak of, so if you wish to add it to your daily regime there is certainly not a problem there.

Vitamin D is fast becoming the most popular Vitamin out there … in fact I believe this year it overtook Vitamin C for the # 1 position … ;o)

Vitamin D is produced naturally by the body when your skin (derma) is exposed to natural sunlight. Vitamin D deficiencies have increased of late because of a number of factors and lifestyle changes. Children (and adults) are spending much more time indoors these days. Kids come home from school and head for the computer or gaming console in the darkened room instead of outdoors into the sunshine to play with their bike etc. Also, the fear of skin cancer has motivated folks to cover their skin with sun blocks before going outside. Sunblocks while protecting from skin cancer interfere dramatically with the natural production of Vitamin D.

For many years we, as a supplement manufacturer, were warned to keep the levels of Vitamin D low because it is a fat soluble vitamin that is stored by the body and amounts more than 500 IU can be toxic.

As more and more research comes out supporting the need for increased Vitamin D supplementation, and higher levels have been deemed safe we here at ALL ONE are responding accordingly. In the next few months you will notice that we are increasing the Vitamin D in our multiple powders to 800 International Units from the current 500 IU and to 1,000 IU in our ALL ONE for Active Seniors.

Tweaking our formulas is something we do from time to time as research warrants a change.

In the meantime make sure to spend time outdoors each day in shirtsleeves. The natural Vitamin D your body makes when the skin is exposed to the sun is the BEST form of Vitamin D available!

Do I need to take an additional mineral supplement since ALL ONE does not contain 100% of the requirements for copper (10%), potassium (3%), biotin (10%), Chromium (40%), Selenium (70%) etc.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the product…just a little concerned about the percentages above.

The Vitamin Professor Responds:

Dear Sue,

Thank you for your question and interest in ALL ONE.

The percentages you refer to in your question reflect the “Daily Value” or “DV” as set by the government based upon a daily diet that contains 2,000 calories.

To best answer your question it is good to first review how DV’s came about.

Back during WWII when the government was creating K-Rations, to feed to our troops fighting abroad, they wanted to come up with the “minimum daily requirement” (MDR) for various nutrients.  They wanted to insure that the food our soldiers were eating was not insufficient in certain important nutrients.  In other words they wanted to establish the “minimum” amount of each specific nutrient so that eating  K-Rations alone would not create any vitamin deficiency diseases.

Keep in mind the word here is “minimum.”

Over the years the name has changed but the amounts (with a few exceptions) have not.

The name went from “Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) to Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) to Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) to now what it is called the Daily Value (DV).

Even though the name changed the amounts still reflect “minimum” levels.

A political point here is that large food processors lobby to keep these amounts low.  Then they can claim 100%  nutrition from their cereal.

So while it is true that you need to consume 60 mg of Vitamin C a day to prevent scurvy (a Vitamin C deficiency disease) our supplements are formulated for optimal health not simply to keep you from becoming scorbutic.

Labeling laws require us to list the Daily Value (DV) but it has very little to do with the research we reference when formulating ALL ONE.

Some nutrients in ALL ONE are  greater than the DI like Vitamin C (1,667%) because research indicates 1,000 mg is a more optimal level for than nutrient.

In some cases it will be lower, like copper (10%) because we get enough copper in our diet and too much copper is not a good thing.  Then again, some nutrients like potassium are lower because the government actually restricts us from exceeding 99 mg per daily dose.

If the amounts are below 100% it is because we feel we get enough of these nutrients in our diet and do not need additional supplementation.

Some very important nutrients like Lemon Bioflavonoids (Vitamin P) while important in the absorption of Vitamin C have yet to be deemed necessary or essential by the government and therefore there is no set Daily value (DV) for Bioflavonoids.

I hope this answers your question and addresses your concerns.

I just read your suggestions to the fellow wanting to detox (original post here) You suggest separating the fiber and green phyto product.  My shake includes the fiber and powder, hopefully this works for general use.  It would be very challenging to figure out how to use both separated.

The Vitamin Professor Responds:

Dear Stephen,

Thank you for your interest in ALL ONE and this blog.

Certainly no harm will come from mixing a shake that contains one of our ALL ONE Multiple powders and our ALL ONE Totally Fiber at the same time.

However, keep in mind the particular functions of the two different supplements.  ALL ONE Multiple powders are designed to add, infuse and supplement various nutrients into the body whereas ALL ONE Totally Fiber is designed to assist in the elimination of various toxins from the body. That is why I recommended to take the ALL ONE Multiple in the morning before the rigors of the day.  The vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other food factors in ALL ONE will help provide greater energy at a time when it is needed.

The same logic follows as to why I recommend taking ALL ONE Totally Fiber in the evening before retiring.  The blend of organic flax along with various soluble and in soluble fibers from date fiber, prune fiber, barley fiber, rice fiber, beet fiber and psyllium husks help a more thorough elimination upon arising in the morning.

I will reiterate here as I did in the post you referred to in your question:

I believe that taking psyllium husks by themselves is far to harsh on the system.  They are inexpensive but, it is my feeling, they should be buffered with other more gentle fibers like organic flax, date fiber, prune fiber, barley fiber, rice fiber, beet fiber.

Does it make sense?

Think of it as: Good goes in … bad goes out.

Hope this addresses you question.