Fulvic Acid – The Lowdown
25th October 2021. Written by Emily Birch for VitalOrganico
Read time: 3 minutes
So, you’ve heard about fulvic acid, the new nutraceutical kid on the block and you want to know more about it?
The first thing you should probably know is that whilst it may seem new to the nutritional world, this powerful supplement is actually very, very old. So old in fact, that it’s been around for as long as plants and soil have!
Fulvic acid has actually been well understood and utilised in Ayurvedic medicine (traditional Indian medicine) for more than 3,000 years. Ancient texts noted that a medicinal substance called Shilajit, a tar-like exudate from the Himalayas containing around 20% fulvic acid, could be used as an immune modulator, a diuretic, could help to lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels and could also be used topically as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic. In Ayurvedic medicine today, Shilajit, and the fulvic acid within it, remains widely known and trusted as a potent and very safe dietary supplement, with the ability to restore energetic balance and prevent several diseases.
What is fulvic acid?
Fulvic acid is a completely natural substance which is found in soil, peat, streams and lakes. Formed by millions of beneficial microbes as they organically break down decaying plants, fulvic acid is found in the humus, which is the highly nutritious layer of earth that feeds existing plants, ensuring that they grow strong and healthy. Humus is like compost; a great natural fertiliser, full of minerals and nutritionally dense. And just as the minerals within it are required for optimum plant health, they’re also required for optimum human health.
Fulvic acid contains more than 70+ bioavailable minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, amino acids and electrolytes. It is soluble in water under different pH conditions, is well absorbed in the intestinal tract and is eliminated within hours from the body.
In the years gone by, we consumed optimum levels of fulvic acid without even realising it, and without the need for additional supplementation. It was present in the fresh fruits and vegetables that we consumed regularly. Sadly, modern farming methods and industrial agriculture mean that this is no longer possible, as by placing maximum crop yield above maximum nutrient yield over many decades, we’ve almost depleted our soils of their nutrients. In turn, we’ve depleted our foods and our bodies of many of the very substances that we need in order to thrive.
Did you know that it’s estimated that you would have to eat more than 36 apples today, to get the same amount of iron as one apple supplied in the 1950s? At the same time, the standard western diet is moving further and further away from the consumption of fresh whole food produce, lowering daily mineral consumption still further.
It comes as no surprise that mineral depletion in our food supply is directly related to mineral deficiency diseases. Indeed, Linus Pauling, Biochemist and two-time Nobel Prize winner once said "You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency."
So, what does fulvic acid do?
Quality is important
It’s important to note that the quality and mineral content of fulvic acid can change with the geographic location from which it was sourced. At VitalOrganico we only source the highest quality, pure fulvic acid and are very careful to ensure that it contains no nasties or unnecessary added extras.
When introducing fulvic acid to your diet, it’s a good idea to start slowly and not exceed the dosage listed on the packaging, as you may experience some symptoms of detoxification at first.
As fulvic acid has shown some potential to increase absorption of certain medications, we also recommend letting your Doctor know if you intend to supplement with fulvic acid.
VitalOrganico is the official distributor for Ireland and Northern Ireland of Mother Earth Fulvic Acid
by Emily Westwood
It's highly probable that if you're reading this article, you already know that vitamin C is an essential nutrient; required by every single one of us on a daily basis in order to maintain good health and vitality. If you didn’t know that, don’t worry - you can find out more by reading our last blog ‘Why is Vitamin C so important”.
Despite being absolutely critical for our general wellbeing, our bodies aren’t capable of making their own vitamin C, so it’s imperative that we top up our vitamin C levels daily, via good quality, vitamin C rich foods and/or supplements.
If you’ve ever looked at purchasing a vitamin C supplement you’ve probably seen that there are several different types of vitamin C available; including liposomal vitamin C powdered ascorbic acid (another name for Vitamin C), capsules, tablets and even IV Vitamin C drips. But the chances are that
you don’t know the difference between them; more specifically why you might choose one type over another, how to decide which is the right supplement for you, at what point, and why. Not to mention how you can make sure you that don’t waste your hard-earned money on something that may not be
as effective as you hope!
At VitalOrganico we’re happy to guide you on the answer to this question, any time. Simply call or email us and we’ll guide you towards the right supplement for you. In the meantime, as most of us know what a powder is by definition, let’s get down to talking about liposomal vitamin C.
W H A T I S A L I P O S O M E ?
Liposomes are microscopic phospholipid bubbles that mimic the body’s own cell membranes. That might sound complicated, but they’re basically little spheres that can carry a substance into the body very effectively.
So tiny that they’re invisible to the naked eye, for many years liposomes were primarily used in pharmaceutical medicine for the targeted delivery of certain drugs. However, in recent times they’ve been utilised in cosmetics, botanicals, agriculture and nutritional supplementation.
Liposomes are specifically designed to protect substances from damage as they travel through the body, and they’re very good at this job. If formulated correctly, liposomes can facilitate the absorption of the nutrients they carry as soon as they land on your tongue; helping to protect the nutrients from breakdown by your digestive acids and enzymes, and optimizing delivery into your cells. In fact, the efficacy of these tiny spheres is well documented - they're the subject of more than 50,000 peer reviewed published studies to date.
W H Y I S L I P O S O M A L V I T A M I N C A N I M P O R T A N T O P T I O N ?
Because your digestive system is incredible! At more than 20 feet long and containing more than 100 million neurons, all communicating continually with your brain (that’s more than in your spinal cord),
your digestive system is designed to chemically and mechanically digest your food incredibly effectively, delivering maximum nutrition into your blood and your cells, so that you can turn most of what you eat into energy.
Your stomach is one of the major players in this process. This wonderful organ acts as a temporary store for your food, churning and breaking it down into much smaller particles before moving it on to your small intestine for absorption. As well as breaking down your food mechanically in this way, your stomach also breaks your food down chemically, by mixing what you’ve eaten with hydrochloric acid, otherwise known as your stomach acid. In fact, your stomach is so acidic (pH 2-3) that the juices within it could burn through wood and even some metals!
Once you know this, and understand that everything you ingest travels via your stomach, it becomes easy to see how some medications, vitamins and supplements could be damaged and/or compromised by this naturally acidic environment. Add to this the fact that many of us in the Western world have compromised digestion to varying degrees (due to high stress levels, high toxin exposure and low nutritional value dietary choices), and so we don't generally absorb all of the nutrients we consume anyway, you can see how we quickly end up with much lower absorption rates of the vitamins that we’re so diligently taking; including vitamin C. This is precisely where liposomal encapsulation comes in.
H O W D O E S I T W O R K ?
Simply put, by wrapping our Vital C Liposomal vitamin C in a protective liposome bubble, we protect it from the acid and other digestive enzymes in your stomach. This gives it a really good chance of reaching your tissues and bloodstream as effectively and as fully as possible; optimising the absorption of vitamin C in your cells.
G E N T L E O N Y O U R S T O M A C H
OK, we're getting into the science a little bit here but the reason liposomal vitamin C can be easier on the stomach for some of us, is this: In order to transport vitamin C from your small intestine into your bloodstream (“absorption”) your body has to instigate the help of "transporter proteins". Once these handy little transporter proteins have assisted in moving the vitamin C in to your bloodstream, you then need more of them to then carry the vitamin C out of the bloodstream and into your cells. This process requires energy, and it's also dependent on the presence of sufficient transporter proteins at each step of the way.
If you have more vitamin C molecules than you have transporter protein capacity, the excess vitamin C can't be absorbed into your bloodstream and instead, is excreted in your urine. This excess can also cause an upset stomach.
Due to their composition nearly matching that of the cell membrane, liposomes can assimilate into the cell and drop off the vitamin C where it is fully absorbed and where it is needed, without the need for transporter proteins. In other words, liposomal vitamin C cuts out the middle man!
T H E P U R E S T F O R M U L A
When you take VitalOrganico liposomal vitamin C on a daily basis, you can rest assured that you’re getting the highest quality vitamin C, supported by only the purest ingredients.
Our Vital C liposomal vitamin C is encapsulated with organic non-GMO sunflower lecithin, Seabuckthorn extract, Xylitol (a sweetener derived from the birch tree) and natural orange flavouring.
That’s it. No alcohol, no potassium sorbate, no artificial flavourings, no soya and no citric acid.
Super clean ingredients and no nasties. This is the foundation stone of VitalOrganico.
