Vitamin & Herb Guide
How do these vitamins, herbs and supplements benefit me?
We know that some of these vitamins, herbs & supplements may appear foreign and you may be unsure of what the benefits exactly are. We've pulled together the guides below to help shed light on exactly why we've included these ingredients in our proprietary formulas.
Vitamins & Minerals Guide
Herbs & Supplements Guide
The SureMeal™ suite of products each have a different proprietary blend of key vitamins, herbs, and minerals that are targeted for specific wellness & lifestyle goals. Summarized below is information on how these vitamins, minerals, and herbs work to benefit you.
Refer to the NUTRITION FACTS page for full details on the nutrition and ingredient profiles of our SureMeal™ products.
Vitamins & Minerals
(Source: Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, "Listing of vitamins", https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/listing_of_vitamins)
VITAMIN |
BENEFITS |
RETINOIDS AND CAROTENE (vitamin A; includes retinol, retinal, retinyl esters, and retinoic acid and are also referred to as "preformed" vitamin A. Beta carotene can easily be converted to vitamin A as needed.) |
Essential for vision Lycopene may lower prostate cancer risk. Keeps tissues and skin healthy. Plays an important role in bone growth and in the immune system. Diets rich in the carotenoids alpha carotene and lycopene seem to lower lung cancer risk. Carotenoids act as antioxidants. Foods rich in the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin may protect against cataracts |
THIAMIN (vitamin B1) |
Helps convert food into energy. Needed for healthy skin, hair, muscles, and brain and is critical for nerve function. |
RIBOFLAVIN(vitamin B2) |
Helps convert food into energy. Needed for healthy skin, hair, blood, and brain |
NIACIN (vitamin B3, nicotinic acid) |
Helps convert food into energy. Essential for healthy skin, blood cells, brain, and nervous system |
PANTOTHENIC ACID (vitamin B5) |
Helps convert food into energy. Helps make lipids (fats), neurotransmitters, steroid hormones, and hemoglobin |
PYRIDOXINE (vitamin B6, pyridoxal, pyridoxine, pyridoxamine) |
Aids in lowering homocysteine levels and may reduce the risk of heart disease. Helps convert tryptophan to niacin and serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays key roles in sleep, appetite, and moods. Helps make red blood cells Influences cognitive abilities and immune function |
COBALAMIN (vitamin B12) |
Aids in lowering homocysteine levels and may lower the risk of heart disease. Assists in making new cells and breaking down some fatty acids and amino acids. Protects nerve cells and encourages their normal growth Helps make red blood cells and DNA |
BIOTIN |
Helps convert food into energy and synthesize glucose. Helps make and break down some fatty acids. Needed for healthy bones and hair |
ASCORBIC ACID (vitamin C) |
Foods rich in vitamin C may lower the risk for some cancers, including those of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and breast. Long-term use of supplemental vitamin C may protect against cataracts. Helps make collagen, a connective tissue that knits together wounds and supports blood vessel walls. Helps make the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine Acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing unstable molecules that can damage cells. Bolsters the immune system |
CHOLINE |
Helps make and release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which aids in many nerve and brain activities. Plays a role in metabolizing and transporting fats |
CALCIFEROL (vitamin D) |
Helps maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus, which strengthen bones. Helps form teeth and bones. Supplements can reduce the number of non-spinal fractures |
ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL (vitamin E) |
Acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing unstable molecules that can damage cells. Protects vitamin A and certain lipids from damage. Diets rich in vitamin E may help prevent Alzheimer's disease. |
FOLIC ACID(vitamin B9, folate, folacin) |
Vital for new cell creation. Helps prevent brain and spine birth defects when taken early in pregnancy; should be taken regularly by all women of child-bearing age since women may not know they are pregnant in the first weeks of pregnancy. Can lower levels of homocysteine and may reduce heart disease risk May reduce risk for colon cancer. Offsets breast cancer risk among women who consume alcohol |
PHYLLOQUINONE, MENADIONE (vitamin K) |
Activates proteins and calcium essential to blood clotting. May help prevent hip fractures |
CALCIUM |
Builds and protects bones and teeth. Helps with muscle contractions and relaxation, blood clotting, and nerve impulse transmission. Plays a role in hormone secretion and enzyme activation. Helps maintain healthy blood pressure |
CHLORIDE |
Balances fluids in the body. A component of stomach acid, essential to digestion |
CHROMIUM |
Enhances the activity of insulin, helps maintain normal blood glucose levels, and is needed to free energy from glucose |
COPPER |
Plays an important role in iron metabolism and immune system. Helps make red blood cells |
FLUORIDE |
Encourages strong bone formation. Keeps dental cavities from starting or worsening |
IODINE |
Part of thyroid hormone, which helps set body temperature and influences nerve and muscle function, reproduction, and growth. Prevents goiter and a congenital thyroid disorder |
IRON |
Helps hemoglobin in red blood cells and myoglobin in muscle cells ferry oxygen throughout the body. Needed for chemical reactions in the body and for making amino acids, collagen, neurotransmitters, and hormones |
MAGNESIUM |
Needed for many chemical reactions in the body Works with calcium in muscle contraction, blood clotting, and regulation of blood pressure. Helps build bones and teeth |
MANGANESE |
Helps form bones. Helps metabolize amino acids, cholesterol, and carbohydrates |
MOLYBDENUM |
Part of several enzymes, one of which helps ward off a form of severe neurological damage in infants that can lead to early death |
PHOSPHORUS |
Helps build and protect bones and teeth. Part of DNA and RNA. Helps convert food into energy. Part of phospholipids, which carry lipids in blood and help shuttle nutrients into and out of cells |
POTASSIUM |
Balances fluids in the body. Helps maintain steady heartbeat and send nerve impulses. Needed for muscle contractions. A diet rich in potassium seems to lower blood pressure. Getting enough potassium from your diet may benefit bones |
SELENIUM |
Acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing unstable molecules that can damage cells. Helps regulate thyroid hormone activity |
SODIUM |
Balances fluids in the body. Helps send nerve impulses. Needed for muscle contractions. Impacts blood pressure; even modest reductions in salt consumption can lower blood pressure |
SULFUR |
Helps form bridges that shape and stabilize some protein structures. Needed for healthy hair, skin, and nails |
ZINC |
Helps form many enzymes and proteins and create new cells. Frees vitamin A from storage in the liver. Needed for immune system, taste, smell, and wound healing. When taken with certain antioxidants, zinc may delay the progression of age-related macular degeneration |
Adapted from "Listing of vitamins," by Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/listing_of_vitamins.
Herbs & Supplements
HERB / SUPPLEMENT |
BENEFITS |
SureMeal™ Beauty |
SureMeal™ Vital |
SureMeal™ Complete |
AGARICUS MUSHROOM |
Used for cancer, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, "hardening of the arteries" (atherosclerosis), hepatitis B, digestive problems such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and to reduce side effects due to cancer chemotherapy. Other uses include prevention of heart disease, weakened bones (osteoporosis), and stomach ulcers. |
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BILBERRY |
Used for improving eyesight, improving circulation in people with diabetes, reducing swelling (inflammation) in the mouth or throat, Other uses include helping to lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. |
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COLLAGEN |
Naturally occurring protein, used to promote skin elasticity |
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COLOSTRUM |
Milky fluid that comes before true milk occurs - contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and proteins (antibodies) that fight disease-causing agents such as bacteria and viruses. Antibody levels in colostrums can be 100 times higher than levels in regular cow’s milk. |
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CoQ10 |
A nutrient that occurs naturally in the body and acts as an antioxidant. Used to help lower blood pressure, treat heart failure and other heart conditions, possibly helping to improve some symptoms and lessen future cardiac risks |
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CORDYCEPS |
Most commonly used for kidney disorders, after a kidney transplant. It is also used for liver problems, improving athletic performance, and helping fight cancer, particularly lung or skin. |
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FUCOIDAN |
A complex sulfated polysaccharide derived from rich sources such as bladderwrack, other brown algae, echinoderms, and seagrasses. It is used primarily to prevent the growth of cancer cells and has antiviral, neuroprotective, and immune-modulating effects. |
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GINGER |
Gingerol is the main bioactive compound in ginger, which is used for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, treatment of nausea, morning sickness, lowering blood sugars, and improving heart disease factors. |
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GINGKO BILOBA |
Used primarily for memory disorders including Alzheimer's disease. It is also used for conditions that seem to be due to reduced blood flow in the brain, especially in older people. These conditions include memory loss, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, and mood disturbances. Some people use it for leg pain when walking related to poor blood flow (claudication). |
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GLUCOSAMINE |
A natural chemical compound in your body used to help keep up the health of your cartilage, battle inflammation of the joints, particularly in arthritis patients or other sports injuries and back pain. |
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GYMNEMA SYLVESTRE | A woody shrub native to India & Africa, it is used primarily in the treatment of Diabetes. It contains substances that decrease the absorption of sugar from the intestine. | ✔ | ||
HYALURONIC ACID |
A natural chemical compound in your body used for joint disorders including osteoarthritis. It is also used for healing of skin wounds and to help fight the effects of aging. |
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L-GLUTATHIONE |
An antioxidant produced in cells, is used to help improve insulin resistance, battle autoimmune disease, reduce the impact of uncontrolled diabetes, and treat respiratory disease symptoms. |
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MILK THISTLE |
Used as a natural treatment for liver problems. It is also used as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant to help lower cholesterol. |
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PHYTO CURCUMIN (Turmeric) |
An antioxidant used to help alleviate pain, joint swelling, cancer-prevention, or other inflammatory disorders. |
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REISHI MUSHROOM |
Used for boosting the immune system; viral infections such as the flu (influenza), lung conditions including asthma and bronchitis. |
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