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by Warren Matthews
If you live in the USA it is
likely that you have been exposed to advertising suggesting that 90% of
the vitamin tablets that you are taking are going down the toilet.
Because these claims are so wide-spread I feel that is appropriate to
address the issue of bio-availability and sort out the fact from the
fiction.
Is this claim true or not? The
answer is not a definitive yes or no because there is no benchmark
given in which to base the claim on. I'll try to explain.
Supplements are a bit like
cars. For example, at one end of the spectrum you may have a Russian
built Lada which are cheap, utilitarian and very unreliable (at least
they used to be) and cost a few thousand dollars or you may have a
Rolls Royce which is the ultimate in luxury motoring and reliability
and will set you back around a half million dollars. There is no
comparison between the two vehicles.
The same principle applies to supplements
You can buy cheap supplements
at the supermarket and what you get is a product which is manufactured
to a price. This means that the cheapest possible ingredients are used
as well as the cheapest excipients which bind the ingredients together.
To give you an idea of just how big the difference of ingredient costs
can be I will quote an example of one nutrient... Beta Carotene.
The overwhelming majority of manufacturers use synthetic beta carotene (even those producing the more expensive brands). The cost of synthetic beta carotene to a manufacturer is around $60 per kilo.
However, the 98% pure natural
crystalline beta carotene that we use in our Total Balance costs over
$2,400 per kilo.
The same differences can apply
with Vitamin B12 which is generally 3% pure and costs $340 per kilo
versus the 99% pure that we use at $12,000 per kg. The differences do
not stop at the active ingredient level but can also apply to the
excipients as well. Some cheaper excipients bind the ingredients
together so well that after swallowing the tablet a large proportion of
it passes right through your system and does indeed end up in the
toilet.
To make matters worse those
ingredients that are released are done so in the stomach and are
largely destroyed by your stomach acids. When using these types of
cheap supplements as the 'yard stick' the statement of 90% of the
supplement ending up down the toilet is indeed true...
But, that is like trying to compare apples with oranges...
The difference between some
supplements are as great as the example given earlier about the motor
vehicles, not only in the quality of the ingredients used but also the
delivery system employed or in most cases the lack of it. When I am
talking about a delivery system I am referring to how the active
ingredients get into your blood stream where they are needed to do
their work.
There are only four effective ways in which nutrients can get into your blood stream.
1. By injection.
2. Through the mucous membranes of the mouth. (Only some nutrients)
3. Via the lining of the walls of the upper intestine.
4. Via the lining of the walls of the colon.
The methods which are used are as follows:
1. Injection with a hypodermic syringe... only practical via a clinic or physician. B12 injections for example.
2. Through the mucous membranes of the mouth by a sublingual tablet or liquid. Note: This has limitations because many nutrients cannot be absorbed through these membranes. (However, for those ingredients that can be absorbed it is a very good method which is why we use it for our male and female sex rejuvenator products.)
3. Via the lining of the walls of the upper intestine. This is how our Total Balance is absorbed through the use of a special delivery system within the excipients.
4. Via the lining of the
colon walls using suppositories which are prescription items and do not
apply to supplements.
Sadly the overwhelming majority of supplements do not have any 'delivery' system. They are simply made into a tablet or capsule and if they dissolve within a reasonable time in water that's OK... but, because of this solubility the majority of the active ingredients are destroyed by the stomach acids. As a result only about 10 - 15% of the active ingredients actually get into the blood stream.
This percentage number is what
is considered to be the bio-availability of the product as is quite
standard for average supplements. In comparison the bio-availability of
our Total Balance is around 80%.
Why don't all supplements have higher bio-availability?
This can be summed up in two words... cost and know how. It is surprising how few supplement companies have the technical know how to incorporate effective delivery systems into their products. And, often the will to spend the extra money in production costs.
OK, so you may now be thinking to yourself�what about these companies that are 'knocking' ordinary supplements�are their products as bio-available as they claim?
The short answer is NO! I'll
expand on this:
The companies that are making
these claims are generally those that are selling liquid supplements.
Not sublingual liquids because as I mentioned earlier that is not
practical for many nutrients and certainly not for a general health
supplement. The liquid products that are being sold are taken by
drinking straight or mixing with water. Many of the companies selling
these products are multi level marketing companies and rely more on
hype than good science to sell their products.
So, what happens when you drink these products?
Very simply the greatest bulk
of the nutrients are destroyed by the stomach acids which mean that the
bio-availability of these liquids is no greater than an ordinary
capsule which dissolves quickly in the stomach. Granted there are no
tablet remains to pass through your digestive system intact but the
greatest percentage of the active ingredients of the liquids are
destroyed in the stomach.
Unfortunately these companies
take advantage of the fact that people do not understand the principles
behind the bio-availability and as such can manipulate their
presentation to make it appear that the efficacy of their product is
much higher than it is in reality.
Just a final comment on these
liquid products! Many of them are very weak. If you are currently using
them or considering doing so, make sure you find out the amount of
ACTIVE ingredient per dose and what the ingredients are. As a consumer
you are entitled to know that, so ask for it and if you don't get the
information you can be sure that the potency is very low and you should
avoid it as your money is better spent elsewhere. Some of these
products are little more than water with a few nutrients thrown in.
Warren Matthews
Chairman
Xtend-Life Natural products
