What is Food State?

Here we will explain the difference between "food state" and "free state".

In whole foods, the essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals are not isolated. Instead, they are combined with a whole host of other factors within an overall food matrix. This is known as "food state". In contrast to this, the vast majority of available vitamin and mineral supplements are chemically isolated from the other elements which would be present in food, and are instead found in a "free state" form.

Because of this different form, the body handles the synthetic supplements in a different way than it would handle the nutrients in whole foods. The body finds it much easier to process and use the vitamins and minerals in food state than those in free state. However, with the development of the innovative Food State process, there are now supplements available which offer the same benefits as whole foods.

The process was developed six decades ago and is designed to transform minerals, vitamins and other elements in supplements back to the form and structure they would ordinarily have in whole foods. It involves feeding hydroponically-grown living plant cells with the desired nutrient, resulting in an intense concentration in the plant, which is then dried and turned into tablets. This technique means the body finds it much easier to recognise the nutrients, making them more beneficial than standard chemical isolates. Research has shown that they are far more effective than other types of supplements, as they are more easily absorbed by the body. As the process does not use high temperatures, none of the essential nutrients are lost.

The vitamins and minerals in Food State supplements are combined with elements found in natural foods, such as yeast. However, this does not mean that people with yeast intolerance are unable to take them. When the yeast is combined with other food components, the outer cell wall is taken away, the yeast cell is punctured, and long chain proteins are broken down by natural enzymes. This means that the long chain molecules associated with yeast allergy are not present. Although no product can be said to be completely free from the risk of allergy, clinical evidence in allergy clinics have shown that the supplements are safe to be taken by people and animals who are usually sensitive to yeast.

Other food components used in the supplements include vegetable oil (Flax seed and Sunflower oils), which provides vitamin E; the pulp of whole citrus fruits for vitamin C; and carrot concentrate which provides a host of nutrients including beta-carotene. The finished product is a supplement which contains the important components found in whole foods, making these products completely different to the standard products containing isolated chemical nutrients.

The Food State process also defends the vital nutrients from being adversely affected by unwanted chemical reactions, which can happen with other kinds of supplements. For example, if iron and vitamin E are taken close together in their free state form, they cancel each other out, which means the body cannot use them. Research has indicated that people taking these two kinds of free state supplements should leave a gap of at least eight hours in between. However, when you are taking Food State supplements, you do not have to worry about this, as the nutrients are in the form that would be found in whole foods, meaning they can be taken at any time without the risk of chemical interchange.