To put it simply:
RX drugs go thru an expensive process to make them BIOavailable...meaning they have to be absorbed a certain amount in each person, reliably. This is part of the new drug application evaluated by the FDA. Generics have to match this data within certain statistical limits.
But supplements do not go thru this process unless the maker
chooses to. So therefore, people taking supplements, vitamins and minerals, may not absorb what the label claims is in it.
A case in point is magnesium OXIDE...which for decades was the only supplement of magnesium out there. But it is very poorly absorbed we know now when recent studies compared various salts of magnesium and found OXIDE the worst in this regard. But doctors still prescribe it...unknowing. The NIH website has this information on it now, but of course doctors don't read it.
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/
Quote:
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Oral magnesium supplements combine magnesium with another substance such as a salt. Examples of magnesium supplements include magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate, and magnesium carbonate. Elemental magnesium refers to the amount of magnesium in each compound. Figure 1 compares the amount of elemental magnesium in different types of magnesium supplements [28]. The amount of elemental magnesium in a compound and its bioavailability influence the effectiveness of the magnesium supplement. Bioavailability refers to the amount of magnesium in food, medications, and supplements that is absorbed in the intestines and ultimately available for biological activity in your cells and tissues. Enteric coating (the outer layer of a tablet or capsule that allows it to pass through the stomach and be dissolved in the small intestine) of a magnesium compound can decrease bioavailability [29]. In a study that compared four forms of magnesium preparations, results suggested lower bioavailability of magnesium oxide, with significantly higher and equal absorption and bioavailability of magnesium chloride and magnesium lactate [30]. This supports the belief that both the magnesium content of a dietary supplement and its bioavailability contribute to its ability to restore deficient levels of magnesium.
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This is only one example. Other supplements have solubility and BIOavailability issues also. CoQ-10, Lipoic acid, curcumin,
zinc, B12, to name a few. Sometimes it is as easy as taking on an empty stomach, but other times the supplement has to be modified to be absorbed better. R-lipoic is one that when solubilized with sodium, is better absorbed, and hence works better at lower doses. Alpha lipoic therefore has 3 issues.
1) the old racemic mix...is not all useful to the body
2) focusing on R-lipoic sounds good, and is out there...BUT....
3) Sodium RALA (NaRALA) is most soluble in the stomach and hence thought to be the best one we have now. (this one is called STABILIZED on the label.)
Some new technologies are coming for liposomal nano-emulsions of various vitamins and supplements, and we will see more of these soon. Vit C and curcumin are examples available now in liposomal forms to enhance absorption further.
So far they tend to cost more money, but that will probably change as time passes and demand accelerates for them.
And in the future what we say now, will most likely be obsolete.
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All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.-- Galileo Galilei
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Weezie looking at petunias 8.25.2017
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