Liquid vs. Other Forms of Supplements

Supplements come in many forms: liquid, tablet, capsule, and dermal. What’s the difference? Liquids provide a straight nutrient, or the nutrient suspended in water or another carrier; tablets are tightly compacted substances usually held together with some kind of binder or filler; capsules consist of a dissolvable outer container that holds a liquid or powder form of the supplement; some supplements are now available in liquids, creams and patches that are absorbed through the skin.

There are differences in terms of the body’s ability to assimilate supplements. The dermal delivery system is considered quite effective for some things such as hormones, joint pain relievers, and certain vitamins such as C and E for problems in a specific external area, such as a cut or burn. For internal assimilation, liquids are generally the most directly absorbable form, as well as being easiest to swallow, followed by capsules and then tablets. Capsules are made of substances that are easily dissolved when ingested. Tablets require the disintegration of the solid form before any of the nutrients become available. Sometimes the whole tablet moves through the digestive system without being dissolved. In any case, utilization depends on an individual’s system, what it is able to break down and absorb, and various other circumstances such as the presence of enzymes or other facilitators required to release particular nutrients.

A nutrient’s ability to be absorbed by the body is called bio-availability. The body is made to utilize whole foods; therefore, it is more able to use whole food supplements, made from concentrated foods, than laboratory-created chemical facsimiles of a particular nutrient. The more available the substance is, the more likely it will benefit us.

Sounds like juices might be a perfect food, doesn’t it? Natural Cures highly recommends juicing, a whole foods diet, and high-quality supplementation, including whole food, liquid and encapsulated supplements.