Last week, I did a short review on vitamins and questioned whether we should take vitamins or get our key nutrients from whole organic foods.

The answer can be yes to both questions. Eating whole nutritious foods should be our first and foremost choice with vitamin supplement use when needed either for health reasons or due to poor nutrition.

That brings us back to a very important question: Are all vitamin supplements created equal? And of course the answer to that is 'no.' Where is the best place to get a good understanding on what vitamins to take and which vitamin manufacturers have the best products?

We all have exposure to vitamins in one form or another every day, so having a basic understanding is a good idea. The vitamin and supplement industry has grown rapidly over the past eight years. It is estimated that Americans spend close to $20 billion a year on vitamins and nutritional supplements. This number is growing each year as healthy lifestyles become more of a priority with a greater number of our population.

One of the more important aspects to understand regarding vitamins is the difference between synthetic vitamins and natural vitamin supplements. Since synthetic vitamins can be called "all-natural," it gets murky pretty quickly. There is a good chance you will never know if you're taking natural or synthetic vitamins, which can clearly be an issue.

One interesting point to make is the fact that most highly processed foods have synthetic vitamins added to them. For example, ascorbic acid or vitamin C is an effective food preservative. Most vitamin additives are synthetic so they do not come from a whole food sources and extracting all vitamins from plants or natural sources is not economically practical either. It is very expensive to extract vitamins from natural sources, so synthetic vitamin have a makeup that is based on isolated molecules. What does this mean?

Synthetic vitamin supplements are not made up of naturally-occurring molecules - their molecules are isolated, causing them to be processed more like a drug in your body. This can be good and bad. Let's take synthetic folic acid, for example, one which is often used to justify synthetic nutrients. The body does absorb synthetic folic acid far better than from natural food sources, which is one reason why it is commonly prescribed to pregnant women to help avoid birth defects and help the baby's nervous system development.

It is fair to say that synthetic vitamins can be effective, and in some cases better for absorption. It should also be noted that synthetic vitamins tend to be highly concentrated - and in some cases, toxic if over-consumed, leading to health risks. Some people are very opposed to putting synthetic vitamins and minerals in their bodies, feeling they are better off with food-source vitamins and minerals.

A valid concern is around how they are processed with petroleum derivatives and hydrogenated sugar. The issue is the use of cheap ingredients and poor manufacturing processes in creating synthetic supplements - there have been a few high profile cases of contamination by heavy metals and other substances.

A great reference book that can be very helpful with selecting quality vitamins and supplements is the "Nutrisearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements" by Lyle MacWilliam. I had borrowed a copy and found a lot of very good information in the guide which is updated I believe every year. What I was looking for was a breakdown on grading products and manufacturers so I could recommend a good multivitamin based on tangible information.

I am always concerned at the large number of vitamin and supplement products on the market that have poor manufacturing quality and substandard ingredients. Most of the time, these products get on the market and are consumed, then are found to be harmful or ineffective, which is when the FDA takes action for public safety reasons.

As I did research for this column, I was able to find a small number of highly rated vitamin supplements that best covered the most critical key factors. Keep in mind these factors are foundational and there are many more areas to consider such as vitamin profiles for men v. women, bone health, heart health, etc.

* Most complete range of nutrients

* Potency

* Mineral content

* Antioxidant support

From the hundreds of vitamin and mineral supplements on the market, rating and choosing the right one can become a daunting endeavor. It is impossible to truly know just how effective any of these products actually perform in each person's body, so selecting from the very top group becomes your best bet.

I selected USANA Health Sciences Multivitamin for test driving to do this column and I was very happy that it was easy on my stomach. Honestly, taking USANA made me feel pretty good with no adverse effects. Primarily I liked USANA's approach to use raw, naturally produced ingredients where it makes sense and balance the rest with high-quality synthetic ingredients that have good absorption rates.

Vitamins continued

In a world where eating a balanced diet of whole organic foods can be challenging and busy schedules lead to the consumption of quick processed foods, an excellent multivitamin can be a good thing. I, for one, still believe eating nutrient-dense foods is always your first best choice to get your nutritional sources of vitamins and minerals. I think many people can benefit from the use of a top quality multivitamin due to medical reasons, advanced age or a poor diet. If you would like more information on USANA supplements, here are two websites to check out. The first website is a local contact www.amandpm4health.usana.com. The second is the USANA's main site, www.usana.com.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.