How much benefit from that multivitamin?
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:35 am
Do you suppose this vinegar method works for all the water soluble vitamins????
How much benefit from that multivitamin?
Q: A physician told my daughter that 80 percent of vitamins in solid form are unabsorbed and lost through digestion. My pharmacist says it's more like 50 percent. I am taking 600 mg of calcium carbonate plus Vitamin D twice a day. Can you tell me how to know how much I'm actually receiving?
A: It's true that many solid tablet multivitamins have difficulty with absorption, to the extent that what is stated on the label correlates poorly with what your body actually receives.
"Bioavailability" is the term used to describe the extent to which a drug that's consumed gets into the bloodstream. Although liquid forms of multivitamins generally have the highest bioavailability, that doesn't necessarily mean that solid tablets or encapsulated multivitamins have poor bioavailability. In fact, the physician and pharmacist you mention are both wrong: The extent of bioavailability of different multivitamins varies greatly.
To find a multivitamin of the highest bioavailability, you'll have to review the product reports. An excellent multivitamin/mineral product that I use is Added Protection III by Douglas Laboratories (www.douglaslabs.com). It's taken as four tablets twice daily, and they rapidly disintegrate in the stomach within 30 minutes.
If you want to see whether your calcium supplement will readily disintegrate in your stomach, place it in a cup of vinegar (a weak acid) for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it dissolves completely, it will do the same in your stomach.
By the way, the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends 1,200 to 1,500 mg a day of calcium carbonate for postmenopausal women.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... 939058.htm
How much benefit from that multivitamin?
Q: A physician told my daughter that 80 percent of vitamins in solid form are unabsorbed and lost through digestion. My pharmacist says it's more like 50 percent. I am taking 600 mg of calcium carbonate plus Vitamin D twice a day. Can you tell me how to know how much I'm actually receiving?
A: It's true that many solid tablet multivitamins have difficulty with absorption, to the extent that what is stated on the label correlates poorly with what your body actually receives.
"Bioavailability" is the term used to describe the extent to which a drug that's consumed gets into the bloodstream. Although liquid forms of multivitamins generally have the highest bioavailability, that doesn't necessarily mean that solid tablets or encapsulated multivitamins have poor bioavailability. In fact, the physician and pharmacist you mention are both wrong: The extent of bioavailability of different multivitamins varies greatly.
To find a multivitamin of the highest bioavailability, you'll have to review the product reports. An excellent multivitamin/mineral product that I use is Added Protection III by Douglas Laboratories (www.douglaslabs.com). It's taken as four tablets twice daily, and they rapidly disintegrate in the stomach within 30 minutes.
If you want to see whether your calcium supplement will readily disintegrate in your stomach, place it in a cup of vinegar (a weak acid) for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it dissolves completely, it will do the same in your stomach.
By the way, the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends 1,200 to 1,500 mg a day of calcium carbonate for postmenopausal women.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... 939058.htm