Liquid Vitamins or Tablet? Is there a Difference?

I get a lot of questions about which is better to take Liquid Vitamins or Tablets? There is a lot of "hype" and new products that promote liquid vitamins as being "better absorbed" getting into you system faster, and a lot more. Well, think about it... Does the nutrients in chicken soup get into you system faster than eating a steak? Vitamins are not absorbed in your stomach. They are absorbed in the small intestine. So, what does this mean? It means that everything has to first go through your stomach before it can make it to the small intestine and by that time everything is in the same form. Read on and I will try to explain in more detail

The scientific definition of bioavailable is: the degree and rate at which a substance (as a drug) is absorbed into a living system or is made available at the site of physiological activity. Different vitamins and minerals have different absorption rates no matter if they come from tablet, liquid, powder, or food. For example Calcium has a pretty standard absorption rate around 25-35%. The form does not generally make a significant difference.

The bottom line is - a well made tablet provides a very effective delivery system for pharmaceutical medications. Most medications come in a tablet form. This is because they have been found to be the easiest and most efficient delivery system for medications. Why would vitamin supplements be any different? Does anybody doubt that an aspirin tablet is less effective because it comes in a tablet? Tableted products can be more advantageous to take, simply because more active ingredients can be taken in one tablet(almost 3 times as much as a capsule and much more than liquid or spray). So what this means is that you can get much more nutrients in a tablet vitamin than you can in a liquid. Do the label test. Compare the amount of nutrients and dosages in the liquid vitamins compared to the tablet. Big difference. I've done it with many different liquid brands and you will see the same results.

The stability is also much better. The good quality vitamin tablets are formulated to meet USP standards requiring full disintegration within30-45 min. Tablets are also formulated to meet USP standards for dissolution. Because of the disintegration time, the vitamins and minerals found in our supplements are fully available for absorption into the body. Innovative formulations have been developed to optimize nutrient bioavailability. Each lot of a quality tablet should be tested against finished product specifications to ensure that it meets standards for: identity, target weight, hardness, thickness, disintegration, potency, purity, and (microbial counts). A quality company should be committed to providing its customers with the best nutritionals that money can buy. Formulas should be carefully designed with quality and safety in mind.

In addition, there are many factors which can affect the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body. Some of these factors are a function of the person taking the nutrient and are dependent on the age of the person, the integrity of their digestive system, the state of their health, the time of day, the person's gender, and if they were taken on a full or empty stomach.

People whose nutrient needs are greater, such as growing children and pregnant and lactating women, or those who are currently deficient, may have significantly enhanced absorption rates for certain nutrients. Recently, some individuals and companies have made claims that their products are superior because they are"98-percent absorbed" or some similar number. This is a misleading statement because there are simply too many variables to say that absorption is a certain percent of the material consumed. Even absorption of minerals from food sources vary greatly. Boron, molybdenum, and iodine can be absorbed at over 90 percent while the average absorption rates of zinc, copper, and selenium can range from 30to 80 percent.

It should seem reasonable, then, that stating an average absorption rate does not make much sense. A quality company provides its vitamins and minerals in amounts and forms so that, in conjunction with a healthy diet, you will receive maximum bioavailability, full effectiveness, and uncompromised safety.

A couple of questions to ask are: The very reason we have an industry is due to large published studies in the medical and nutritional literature that have given us the knowledge and insight into these nutritional elements. With the hundreds of studies on calcium and vitamin D and bone health, it is hardly in dispute that these nutrients can prevent bone loss. If tablets weren't any good, where did we get all these positive results? If liquid or spray minerals are so much better, why are they almost never used in any legitimate studies? I would challenge anyone to go through the medical and scientific literature and provide ANY substantial evidence that spray or liquid multivitamin supplements are superior to well-made tablets. I wonder if the people promoting liquid nutritionals liquefy or puree their food into a liquid for better absorption? Keep in mind that I am speaking of multiminerals and multivitamin formulations. There may be certain products that may be appropriate in a liquid (just as some medications are liquid). However, these are the exceptions, not the rule.

One more thing. People often contend that liquids are better because they don't contain fillers (excipients used in tablets for disintegration, form, binding, coating, etc). That is a ridiculous argument since liquids can require even more "other" ingredients such as emulsifiers, solvents, preservatives, stabilizing agents, coloring, flavoring, etc. The more ingredients in a liquid supplement, the more of these are required.

Give me your feedback, I would love to hear your comments!

Pam Dunwald, R.N.
http://www.pamdunwald.com/
Email: pamdunwald@yahoo.com