Nutrient basics package – vitamins, cultures, iodine and amino acids

The package consists of five products that are also sold individually:

• Vitacell: 180 capsules; six capsules provide 80 mg vitamin C, 12 mg vitamin E, 10 µg vitamin D and 82.5 mg choline plus mushroom and plant extracts, amino acids, coenzyme Q10 and enzymes
• Flora Plus: 60 capsules with nine bacterial strains, L-glutamine, L-carnosine, acacia fibre and 10 mg zinc per two capsules
• Iodine: 110 capsules from kelp, each with 200 µg iodine
• Essential amino acids: 60 capsules; two capsules provide eight essential amino acids at 100 mg each
• liver tea: 60 g herbal blend of milk thistle, dandelion, chamomile, yarrow, peppermint and wormwood

The full composition is on each product page.

Each product is taken according to its own label; there is no shared package dosage.

• Vitacell: six capsules daily with plenty of fluid, not on an empty stomach because of the green tea extract. The tub lasts 30 days.
• Flora Plus: two capsules daily with plenty of fluid, 30 days.
• Iodine: one capsule daily, the tub lasts about three and a half months.
• Essential amino acids: one capsule twice a day, 30 days.
• Liver tea: one to two teaspoons per cup with water at 80 °C, leave to steep for five to eight minutes.

The package is therefore put together for one month; iodine lasts longer.

Bought individually, the five products cost €180.30 in total: Vitacell €69.90, Flora Plus €49.50, iodine €21.90, essential amino acids €29.50 and liver tea €9.50. The package costs €171.30, so you save €9.00, about 5 %.

Authorised claims exist only for vitamins and minerals contained in sufficient amounts. A selection:

• Vitamin C and vitamin E contribute to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.
• Vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
• Choline contributes to normal lipid metabolism.
• Iodine contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
• Iodine contributes to the normal production of thyroid hormones and normal thyroid function.
• Zinc contributes to the normal function of the immune system.

There are no authorised claims for the bacterial cultures, the amino acids, the mushroom and plant extracts or the liver tea. No weight-loss claim is authorised for any component.

No effect on body weight is authorised for any product in the package. The fact that iodine contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism does not mean that it helps you lose weight. The research on individual components is sobering: a meta-analysis found an average weight loss of only about half a kilogram with probiotics (PubMed 29047207), and a Cochrane review found a small, clinically unimportant loss with green tea preparations (PubMed 23235664). The amounts in this package are not directly comparable with these studies.

What demonstrably matters for weight loss is diet, physical activity and sleep over a longer period. With marked overweight or unintended weight gain, your GP practice is a good first place to go.

If you eat a varied diet, you are adequately supplied with most nutrients. A multi-nutrient supplement combined with bacterial cultures is therefore not a general standard, but can make sense if a lab report shows a gap or your diet is restricted.

Which nutrients are low for you is shown better by a measurement than by a ready-made package. Whether you supplement, and with what, is something to discuss with the ORY expert team or with your doctor or naturopath.

For two nutrients, yes. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) proposes no more than 100 µg iodine per day for food supplements, 150 µg for pregnant and breastfeeding women; one iodine capsule contains 200 µg. For zinc, the proposal is 6.5 mg; two Flora Plus capsules contain 10 mg.

The EFSA upper levels for total intake are 600 µg iodine and 25 mg zinc per day. Vitacell is below the BfR proposals for vitamins C, E and D. If you take other supplements or eat a lot of sea fish and seaweed, add up the amounts and talk with the ORY expert team or with your doctor or naturopath.

No interactions between the products are known that would speak against taking them together. Vitacell contains green tea extract: not on the same day as other green tea products, not on an empty stomach and not during pregnancy and breastfeeding. For the resveratrol it contains: if you take medicines, only under medical supervision. Vitacell also contains soy and sulphite.

Iodine should be discussed with a doctor beforehand if you have a thyroid condition. The amino acids contain phenylalanine and are not suitable with phenylketonuria; because of the tryptophan, care is needed with antidepressants. Flora Plus contains live bacteria; with a severely weakened immune system, only after medical advice. If you take medicines, talk with the ORY expert team or with your doctor or naturopath beforehand.

At ORY, measuring comes before supplementing. Prevent 360 is a basic check from capillary blood and shows your general nutrient status; exactly which values are included is on the product page. A second measurement after a few months shows whether anything has changed.

A lab report on its own is not a recommendation. Whether you supplement, and which products you take, is something you decide with the ORY expert team or with your doctor or naturopath.