Here is the final installment of the series.  I hope that these give you a better picture of how to be sure that the supplements that you take are actually doing their work in your body so you can have more optimal levels of health.   If you have not read Part one and Part two, please click on them to read what came first.

► Is the nutrient available for absorption at the right place in your digestive tract?  This is an important question that few labels or product catalogs answer.  Some liquid supplements claim to be absorbed better than a tablet, however, some vitamins and nutrients are best absorbed in specific and different parts of the intestinal tract  Although a liquid vitamin would be digested all at once, it may not actually provide for the absorption of some of the nutrients at the right place.

SUBLINGUAL OR LIQUID?

There are sublingual vitamins and here again, some of the nutrients will be absorbed right into the blood stream. That may not be the optimal place for them to be utilized properly.  Some nutrients require the normal action of digestion to be properly absorbed and some, as I noted above are only best absorbed in certain parts of the digestive tract

Specific nutrients are most effectively absorbed at specific locations as the vitamins travel from the mouth, to the stomach, to the upper intestine and finally to the colon. For example, folic acid is best absorbed in the stomach while other parts of the B complex are best absorbed further down in the intestine.  An interesting case is Probiotics, which are quite popular now.

To be most effective the friendly acidophilus and bifidus bacteria must be released in the colon, where they encounter toxic bacteria. The number of bacteria listed on the label is not as important as whether a sufficient number of the bacteria reach the colon.  With many Probiotics on the market, most of the friendly bacteria are destroyed by acids in the stomach and never reach the colon.

RESEARCH

I know of one company, and there may be others, who have performed the research on their own product to prove optimal absorption, and they provide the information in their product catalog.  We don’t expect any company to do the clinical testing on every product that they sell, but there certainly should be a good body of published research on many of their own products. I would expect no less than 25 – 30.

The reason for this is that the way a product is formulated can determine how well it is utilized in the body, and while the claims for what a particular nutrient does in the body may be well documented, if it is not formulated properly in the end product, there could be little to no benefit in the body.

You may be asking yourself, how do I find this out.  I know of no better source of this information than the manufacturer or controlled research performed with the specific product.  For this information we must go beyond the label and the TV commercial and get a specific answer to this specific question.

► Which vitamins and mineral are affected by your age?  As you get older, your body utilizes calcium less effectively; therefore it is more important that you use a calcium source that is easily absorbed.  While vegetables do provide calcium, it is unusual for people to eat sufficient quantities of vegetables to get an adequate amount of calcium.  Is it almost always necessary to supplement.

My calcium tablets disintegrate within 10 minutes just in water.  That is important with not only calcium, but with a multivitamin and a B complex because if you don’t have sufficient hydrochloric acid in your stomach at that time and they don’t break down in water, they will not be utilized.  The outside time limit for this is thirty minutes.

►Is your multivitamin/multimineral balanced, that is, does it have every nutrient recognized as being needed by the body in the recommended percentages?   Is there at least 100% of every single vitamin present and is there at least 40% of the recommended minerals.  It shouldn’t have low percentages of some and extremely high percentages of other nutrients.   Certain nutrients should be close to the same percentages such as vitamin B2 and vitamin B6  and copper and zinc.

If any nutrients are at less than 100%, such as Biotin, it is not for health, but for the economics.  Some vitamins are really inexpensive so they put more in to look good, and others, like Biotin, run about the same cost per oz as silver so they put little to none in.  That doesn’t help your health, just the health of the companies bottom line.

How to get important information Scientific from the manufacturer?  Unfortunately if you are shopping various brands, there are times that you need to ask the right person a most important question and persist until you get an answer to that question.  We know that all vitamins are not the same.  They differ in source, how they are processed, how they are formulated, and adequacy of labeling.  You need not become an expert in sources and manufacturing processes.  Just ask the right question.

SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK

Question #1 - Have you conducted research on your product to support any claims of assimilation and effectiveness?  (Here are what I consider 3 common inadequate responses.)

-Response a -
You will often receive a piece of literature or be referred to a web site that is replete with hype that doesn’t answer the question.  You may also be told of: (1) endorsements from medical doctors or scientists (who are often paid for the endorsement), (2) results of unpublished research or (3) “research results” in a “pseudo” journal that was published by the manufacturer.

-Response b -
Sometimes the response will be that the research is not necessary because it is well known that vitamin B, C, E – or whatever – have positive health effects. This response also doesn’t answer your question.  Remember all brands of Vitamin Cs, Ds etc. are not the same. You want proof that brand x works.

-Response c -
This response relies on anecdotal evidence.  For example, people are reporting that their arthritis is gone, or we have had 500 customers write in to tell us that the product works.  Anecdotal evidence can be a reason to perform more detailed and controlled scientific research, but it doesn’t answer your question.

Given a well documented placebo effect, if I give 1000 people sugar water and tell them that it will stop their headache, about 300 will report that it worked.  This is probably a function of expectation and the power of our minds.  It does not mean that the Brand x vitamin or mineral was either absorbed or had any other effects beyond the users’ expectations.

There is more info on this, but I think this series should equip you to find the best supplements for  yourself.  If you are using supplements that don’t meet the requirements or just looking at some, feel free to get back to me to help you evaluate them honestly.

If you like this and find it helpful, why not share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and any other place you think someone might like to learn about these topics.

I’d love to have your comments as well and to have a conversation with you about them.

Sandy