Whole-food based vitamins use ingredient generally obtained from whole foods without using synthetics or additives, but does that make them healthier?
Whole-food based vitamins are gently processed without using excess heat, chemicals or harsh refining methods and are thought by many to hold the same nutrients as the whole foods used to make them. According to an article in U.S. News & World Report, along with the actual vitamins, these supplements contain other substances that manufacturers say make them more effective and better absorbed by the body.
The article says New Chapter takes isolated nutrients and cultures them in a medium (soy, for example) with probiotic organisms. A representative from New Chapter says this process allows those compounds to be more easily recognized and absorbed by the body. They report a similar process is used by Garden of Life.
However, U.S. News & World Report says there is no evidence that whole-food vitamins provide more health benefits than conventional products. They do note, some studies suggests New Chapter's products are more bioavailable and in some cases have more antioxidant activity than conventional, and that New Chapter has hired a former M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researcher to figure out how to test the products' efficacy.
Another negative the article states is that whole-food vitamins cost more, sometime twice as much, as conventional.
Even if no scientific studies show more health benefits, the article says some prefer whole-food supplements because they are easier on digestion.