On the surface, the way to tell the difference is simple. A whole-food vitamin is just that – a food, like a carrot, spinach or broccoli. The label will list the foods. On the other hand, synthetic and crystalline vitamins are listed on the label by their chemical names, such as vitamin A palmitate, d-alpha tocopherol, ascorbic acid, etc. Unfortunately it is not always that easy to tell the difference. An important consideration when choosing a whole-food product concerns spiking. For example, acerola cherry is a good source of vitamin C, but most companies that supply it have been influenced by customer demand for mega doses. In response to this misunderstanding about how vitamins work, synthetic vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has been added to the acerola cherry to boost its potency. The maximum potency of vitamin C naturally occurring in acerola cherry is about 17%. Pure acerola provides vitamin C in its natural form, ascorbic palmitate which is alkaline rather than acid. Because it is alkaline rather than acid, it is compatible with the human digestive system and has been found to be usable even by people with digestive and stomach disorders. Because it is alkaline it is many times more bio-available and health promoting than ascorbic acid, which is of course acidic. Whole-istic Solutions Vitamin C Plus uses pure whole-food vitamins which have not been spiked with synthetics.