I was watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory the other day when Sheldon was chastising Penny for buying supplements at the local drug store. His comment was along the lines of – don’t you realise most of that stuff ends up in the toilet?
Turns out Sheldon is right when it comes to regular supplements. It does vary by which supplement, what else you are taking at the same time (as some supplements taken in regular form compete with each other for absorption), and your age. Some supplements such as calcium are only 33% absorbed, and CoQ10 can be as low as 5%. Here is a link that goes into great detail regarding absorption rates of various vitamins when taken in regular form.
Recently there has been an interest in Liposomal vitamins as the absorption rates can be up to 3x higher than normal supplements.
Liposomes are very small (nano-sized) spheres made up of fatty substances called phospholipids (from either sunflower lecithin or soy lecithin). See the picture in this blog for an example of the nano-sized liposomal sphere.
Already used for decades in pharmacy, they ensure a more targeted and complete absorption of medicines, vitamins and minerals. The basic premise behind Liposomal supplements is that (like a trojan horse) the supplement is contained within a small liposomal sphere that survives your stomach acids and deliveres the supplement directly into your cells (who strip the phospholipid layer away for energy use revealing the supplement inside that enters the cell directly).
You may wonder what exactly makes Liposomes so special compared to your average vitamin pill? There are 4 ways in which liposomal supplements are better:
I used to take several different Liposomal products but the costs can add up as most are made in the US and after import duties etc they can be quite costly in the UK. I decided to develop a multivitamin that contained 100% RDA across many differen vitamins and minerals including – C, Zinc, D3, K2, E, all the B Vitamins, Selenium, Chromium, Iodine and Glutathione (the body’s master antioxidant). All in a convenient 5ml dose per day. I also didn’t want any nasties in the formula (no alcohol, no sweeteners or sugar, no GMO ingredients) and preferred Sunflower lecithin over Soy Lecithin. The product I finally came up with is a mighty powerhouse in a glass bottle. If you are interested – you can purchase on Amazon via this link.
If you do like it as much as I love it – would you mind leaving a review?