Oral vitamin sprays
I have been told that taking vitamins in the form of oral sprays allows a purer form of the nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream via the blood vessels lining inside of the mouth. Is this true and are all the other versions a waste of money?
Taking vitamins and minerals should be as simple as doing your homework to figure out which nutrients you need and then following the directions on the label to get the correct therapeutic dosage. Anyone who has recently visited a high street health store or even one of the big supermarket chains can testify that sadly, this is not the case.
Faced with shelves groaning with capsules, tablets, tinctures, creams, dried herbs, powdered extracts, nasal gels, sublingual lozenges, herbal teas, and, as you have discovered, oral sprays - how do you determine which version is best?
I am not aware of any convincing evidence that sprays perform better, overall, than capsules or tablets and so prefer, myself, to follow some simple guidelines that will help you to maximise the benefits you derive from any supplements that you do ingest.
For example, if you are one of the estimated 10 million Britons now taking a daily dose of vitamin C, you may already be aware this is one of the water-soluble nutrients that does not take too long (104 minutes to be exact) to get flushed out of the body again. The solution with this nutrient, (and the B vitamins, which are also water soluble), is to split your daily dose into three equal dosages.
The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E need to be taken with food that will facilitate their absorption. Also, try to take these in a natural rather than a synthetic form. A decade ago, researchers reported that the natural form of vitamin E, taken from soybean or wheatgerm oil, was 36% more active than the synthetic versions. Thanks to new research, even this figure has now been amended to show the natural form is 100% more active.
Powdered and liquid forms of nutrients may be more appealing for those who find it hard to swallow horse pills but some of these products will have been adulterated with artificial sweeteners and other chemicals to improve the taste and smell. If you are not following a regimen devised by a qualified health practitioner, make sure you are buying quality supplements from a reputable manufacturer who is happy to be made accountable.