The jury still seems to be out on the general health aspect of downing a handful of pills to satisfy your daily need of vitamins and minerals, but that hasn’t stopped the American public from dishing out $30 billion a year for supplements.
The efficacy of the pills has been called into question for decades, and though there have been a number of studies, not much changes. A report in the Annals of Internal Medicine published in April concludes that for some people they are a help, those with deficiencies, but it’s rare. “…for the majority of adults supplements likely provide little, if any, benefit,” says author Dr. Pieter Cohen of Harvard Medical School.
Margie Adelman has been studying nutrition for decades, and advocates for a new type of “bioactive gel” form that allows for more effective absorption. “They now put all these nutrients into a bioactive gel technology that assures the absorption we’re looking for and can bypass the acidic environment of the upper stomach area,” she tells KTRH News.
She says the solid pills aren’t optimally digested to provide the benefits people are hoping to get from them. “First of all their going to hit an environment that is very acidic, and a big percentage of the nutrients are denatured, which means they are deactivated,” Adelman explains. She says the micro-sized nutrients are encased in protective gel until they reach the small intestine where they are released and absorbed into the bloodstream.
It’s not a debate to be resolved soon. Adelman says technology is racing to catch up with science. The Mayo clinic advises eating a well-balanced diet if you think you may be nutritionally deprived.
logy that assures the absorption we’re looking for and can bypass the acidic environment of the upper stomach area,” she tells KTRH News.
She says the solid pills aren’t optimally digested to provide the benefits people are hoping to get from them. “First of all their going to hit an environment that is very acidic, and a big percentage of the nutrients are denatured, which means they are deactivated,” Adelman explains.
It’s not a debate to be resolved soon. Adelman says technology is racing to catch up with science. The Mayo Clinic advises eating a well-balanced diet if you think you may be nutritionally deprived.