When it comes to supplements, you have two basic options, natural or synthetic ones. There are critics and proponents of both types, so it’s important to decide which type is better for you and for your lifestyle. The best way to do it is to learn more about both kind of supplements.
The synthetic supplements are usually produced in the lab using different physical or chemical processes, while natural supplements are directly obtained from nature. Although synthetic molecules are chemically almost identical to the ones in the nature, the industrial production processes are very different to the way in which animals and plants produce them. A natural product is always built up of more than a single molecule, in fact there are additional compounds together such as minerals, vitamins, enzymes or co-factors that makes the product more usable by the body. The synthetic products are single molecules that despite having a similar structure to the natural ones, due to the lack of the abovementioned additional compounds, they are unlikely to be used by the body in the same way as their natural counterparts.
Most supplements in the market are synthetic, it means that are made artificially. To detect a natural or artificial supplement, you only have to read the label carefully, natural supplements list food sources, however the artificial ones use to list chemical names, or very scientific molecule names.
In this post developed by Eggnovo, a nutraceutical company specialized in egg membrane based ingredients, we explain what are considered natural supplements, where they come from and why egg membrane is one of them.
What are natural supplements?
According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), food supplements are concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect that are marketed in “dose” form (pills, tablets, capsules, liquids in measured doses).
Food supplements are intended to correct nutritional deficiencies, maintain an adequate intake of certain nutrients, or to support specific physiological functions. Their use is not intended to treat or prevent diseases in humans. In the EU, food supplements are regulated as foods. Similar definitions are used by official bodies in other geographies such as the FDA in the US, here, these products are known as Dietary supplements rather than food supplements.
Types of natural health supplements
All those supplements that include intact sources or extracts from plants, animals, algae, fungi or lichens are considered natural health supplements. Most of these products have a long history of use in herbalism and traditional medicine. Not all natural supplements are safe, like conventional medicines, natural dietary supplements may cause side effects, trigger allergic reactions, or interact with other medicines or supplements you might be taking. The way natural food supplements are manufactured may not be standardized, because of this, how well they work or any side effects they cause may differ among brands. At Eggnovo we produce natural eggshell membrane supplement ingredients through a patented method and comply with the most demanding legislation in different geographies around all the word, guaranteeing the total safety and quality of all the products that leave our facilities.
Why the eggshell membrane produced by Eggnovo is a natural supplement
Eggshell membrane is natural matrix which contains collagen type I, V and X, but also, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, hyaluronic acid among other glycosaminoglycans, and more than 400 different proteins, some of them rich in sulfur bearing amino acids.
At Eggnovo we obtain our branded ingredients from the eggshells maintaining its native structure and composition, using only water, without any chemicals. According to the legislation and taking into account the industrial process used by Eggnovo, our eggshell membrane can be considered a natural ingredient for the formulation of natural supplements.
Not all the eggshell membranes in the market can be considered natural food supplement ingredients because there are companies using different chemical processes in order to alter the native structure of eggshell proteins trying to make the product more usable, transforming the product into hydrolyzed or partially hydrolyzed eggshell membrane.
If you want to know more about our innovative ingredients derived from eggshell membrane, you can discover our innovative, natural and highly effective products. Or learn more about what is egg membrane good for.
