Taking vitamins is vital in boosting one’s health. However, deciding whether to use liquid or pill vitamins can be challenging.
To benefit from a given vitamin form, you need to understand how it functions, its advantages, and the disadvantages of each type.
With the knowledge of how each type works, you could be able to make an informed decision on which type to use.
As you might know, I am a bestselling wellness author who founded a groundbreaking video course called Stop Emotional Eating.
I love sharing insights and strategies to help people to live their healthiest live.
With this in mind I put together this quick guide on Liquid Vitamins vs. Pills.
What’s The Difference Between Liquid And Pill Vitamins?
Besides the obvious physical difference, liquid and pill vitamins differ in many ways – which I will be sharing below.
1. Structure
Pills vitamins come in different sizes, rigidity, and shapes. The first thing to consider when choosing the structure of vitamins supplements to use is age.
For instance, babies and children under the age of 12 should take liquid vitamins for safety reasons and swallowing capability. With this in mind, you should use a dropper or small cup to deliver the supplements. Keep it a habit to check the supplement manufacturer and see if they’re US based and using top-quality ingredients.
Because of the coating of some vitamin capsules and tablets, it may leave a distinct and unfavorable after taste.
This might be unpleasant for kids compared to liquid vitamins.
Also, some vitamins come in flavors such as orange or strawberry. On the other hand, pills can be chewable and come in various shapes, such as animals or cartoon characters. This could entice some kids to take their tablet vitamins.
While liquid vitamins are ideal for babies and children, some adults have trouble swallowing pills.
Some adults can’t tolerate the pills entering their esophagus especially the elderly. Thus, it’s more advisable for them to take the liquid form
Additionally, people suffering from pathogenic conditions, like those who had previous gastric surgery, and are prohibited from swallowing pills. They should aleays use liquid vitamins. Liquid vitamins are also prescribed when a faster and higher dosage is needed.
On the other hand, liquid supplements are easily accessible from leading companies such as Tropical Oasis and other firms to help you boost your health instantly.
2. Absorption
The rate of absorption of vitamins depends on their structure too. Unfortunately, not all vitamins are absorbed by your body due to the low absorbing rate. Meaning? It’s a waste of money on the consumer’s part.
Liquid vitamins have an absorption rate of 98%, while pills’ absorption rates range from three to 20%.
When it comes to the absorption of pill vitamins, it takes quite a while since the outer structure has to be first digested in the stomach. As with any food particle, the digestive system has to grind and liquefy pill vitamins before the intestinal villi absorb them.
Liquid vitamins don’t only get digested first compared to pill vitamins, but they’re absorbed more. Since liquid vitamins don’t have outer coatings or films, they don’t require a physical breakdown. Thus, making them ready for absorption.
Although, if you want to sustain levels of vitamins throughout the day, pill vitamins are ideal for you. Pill vitamins are suitable for the intake of Zinc, Vitamin B, and magnesium. Also, pills are ideal for people who require regular dosage, are well, and only want to improve their health. This form of vitamin is also suitable for persons who experience stomach upset due to the faster absorption rate of liquid vitamins.
On the other hand, some healthcare providers might suggest pill vitamins that are suitable for delaying the absorption process when taking medication such as timed-release melatonin.
3. Shelf Life
Shelf life refers to the total amount of time the vitamins could still take their effect once it is opened and considering other factors. These factors include storage place and temperature among others. Usually, pills have a longer shelf-life due to the stabilizers added to them, which are the basic form of the pills.
Vitamin capsules are manufactured with cellulose materials, while hard tablets come with fillers.
However, though these stabilizers prolong the shelf life of vitamins, the question about their general safety remains. Before deciding on using pill vitamins, you should first determine whether they’re synthetic or plant-derived.
On the other hand, the liquid vitamin may pose stability issues for certain ingredients. As time goes by, key components in liquid vitamins may lose their effectiveness, especially due to exposure to air when opening the bottle. This is a concern for certain vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin C, and creatine supplements.
4. Cost-Effective
In most cases, the whole family uses the same supplements. Rather than buying different vitamins supplements for each family member, liquid supplements allow you to use a single product. Hence, you’ll only modify the dose to suit each person.
For instance, if grown-ups take two tablespoons of vitamin D supplements, children can get one tablespoon of the same.
Also, some pills, such as vitamin capsules, could not be divided according to a certain dosage.
However, you should ensure you have a professional’s prescription for a suitable dosage for each member of your family. Moreover, using one type of liquid vitamin is more cost-effective than using different types of pills to fit the needs of each member of your family.
5. Portability
Another factor to consider is portability, especially since some liquid vitamins require refrigeration. In such a case, liquid vitamins may not be the ideal form of vitamins for frequent travelers as they could be kept in small storage space. The bottle container of a liquid vitamin could be fragile during transport.
Conclusion on Liquid Vitamins vs. Pills
Liquid vitamins are absorbed easily and are suitable for managing different illnesses and conditions that require fast results. Due to their liquid form, they aren’t hard to swallow hence suitable for small children and adults with swallowing problems.
However, as with anything good, liquid vitamins have their negative side. Liquid vitamins experience issues on portability, stability, price, and stronger after-taste. Although most manufacturers have addressed these issues, they might still be a concern to individuals who prioritize such preferences.
On the other hand, pill vitamins are cheaper, easily portable, and suitable. However, absorption, swallowing, and disintegration issues are still a concern for this form of the vitamin. (Pssst… I also wrote a helpful article about Whole Food Supplements here!)
Whether you choose to use liquid or pill vitamins, the choice depends on your tolerance to swallowing, budget, and purpose. With these considerations, you could be able to make the right decision on which form of vitamin is suitable for you.
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