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Today, our veterinary practitioner will tell you all about artificial and natural vitamins, their differences and which one is best for your pet.
Vitamins are vital substances that are largely absorbed through food. If the intake of vitamins is insufficient, deficiency symptoms are the result. They cause various symptoms and can also promote illness.
Natural & synthetic vitamins - what are the differences?
Natural vitamins are found in fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, among other things. They consist of different building blocks and stages (co-factors and co-enzymes), which all belong to a vitamin as a complex. Only this natural combination of substances enables the organism to make optimum use of the vitamin and thus develop its natural effect in the body.
Synthetic vitamins, on the other hand, are "recreated" in the laboratory. They differ chemically and structurally from their natural counterparts because they consist of only one building block of the natural vitamin. If one of the natural components is missing, the vitamin can no longer be utilized and processed as well. The best example of this is vitamin C:
Natural vitamin C consists of ascorbic acid, bioflavonoid complex, P-factor, K-factor, J-factor and tyrosinase (enzyme). Synthetic vitamin C, on the other hand, consists only of pure ascorbic acid. In order to make this ascorbic acid usable for the organism, the body must first provide the missing components from its own tissue and convert them. Otherwise, the synthetic vitamin C is simply excreted unused. For example, the body uses tyrosinase from the skin, which weakens the skin's own sun protection and can therefore increase the risk of changes to the skin.
The benefits of natural vitamins
Synthetic vitamins remove valuable substances from the system they are supposed to support. The effect of natural vitamins is completely different - these are their benefits:
➠ hardly any overdosing possible
Natural vitamins are difficult to overdose on, whereas synthetic vitamins are dosed higher from the outset.
➠ higher bioavailability
Vitamins always need partners in the form of enzymes, minerals and co-factors in order to develop their full effect. The body recognizes the complexes as necessary and can utilize them better. Natural vitamin C, for example, has a 35% higher bioavailability than pure ascorbic acid.
➠ No need for such a high dosage
Natural substances have a higher bioavailability and can therefore be better utilized by the body.
Dog and cat food - why natural is so healthy!
Artificial vitamins are often added to dog and cat food to ensure that the food has a long shelf life. This is because synthetic vitamins are more stable and are not destroyed by long-term storage, unlike natural vitamins, which break down over time. In addition, the values do not fluctuate when synthetic vitamins are used, as their quality is always consistent. As a result, many pet food manufacturers rely on synthetic vitamins.
Food with natural vitamins may have to be fed a little more quickly, but it will benefit your pet much more. Unfortunately, it is sometimes not allowed to be declared as a complete feed because the law does not guarantee that enough vitamins can be retained in sufficient quantities over a long period of time.
As natural raw materials do not always provide the same nutritional requirements, you can switch between different types of food to compensate for natural fluctuations. This ensures a varied diet.
Which vitamins are contained in our dog and cat food?
We do not use any artificial vitamins in our products. The vitamin requirements in our dry and wet food varieties are covered by high-quality meat, fruit and vegetables, as well as natural supplements such as spirulina.
Our popular multivitamin product AniForte® MultiVETAL can be fed as an additional supplement. It contains natural brewer's yeast, valuable barley grass, seaweed meal, acerola, acai and salmon meal and provides your four-legged friend with a balanced mix of natural vitamins.
