Food supplements: How can you recognize good quality? | Bioavailability

Veröffentlicht am: October 29, 2024

Product purchasing and management

Have you ever wondered what is really important when taking dietary supplements? What should you pay attention to?

We always do our best to provide you with the best quality and highest value products. There is one point in particular that makes our products better than most other food supplements on the market. The so-called bioavailability.

Bioavailability ... but what exactly does that mean?

The bioavailability of a nutrient indicates how well it can be absorbed and utilized by the body. High bioavailability is extremely important for a balanced and healthy diet.

In nutrition, for example, cooked tomatoes are considered to be more available to the body than raw ones, as the important nutrient lycopene is only utilized through cooking. Digestion also determines how well nutrients can be absorbed. Good intestinal flora helps to improve the absorption of nutrients.

Unfortunately, there are also factors that make the absorption of certain nutrients more difficult, such as iron inhibitors, which ensure that iron from food is not available to the body.

But bioavailability is not only relevant for nutrition, it is also of great importance in the medical sector, as medicines also work better if they are bioavailable.

Why are certain products not available from us as pure products?

There are nutrients that our body can use as a pure product. However, there are also those that only become interesting for our health in combination with other nutrients. It is precisely this combination that leads to significantly improved absorption - we can make better use of the substance.

Our top 3 combinations with maximum bioavailability

1) Turmeric with piperine

Turmeric is primarily known for its valuable secondary plant substances, known as curcuminoids. This effective anti-inflammatory is one of the most powerful antioxidants and, according to studies, has antiviral, antibacterial and anticarcinogenic effects. Unfortunately, turmeric is not always optimally absorbed by the body. This is where piperine comes into play. We offer our turmeric capsules with natural black pepper extract, which studies have shown can increase the bioavailability of turmeric by 2000%.

2) Iron with vitamin C

Iron deficiency is considered the most common nutrient deficiency worldwide, which is mainly due to the low bioavailability of the nutrient. For example, iron inhibitors, i.e. nutrients that directly prevent the absorption of iron, ensure that the nutrient cannot be processed by the body in sufficient quantities. These include coffee, black or green tea and dairy products. To increase bioavailability, iron should always be taken in combination with vitamin C. We always offer our iron products with vitamin C. For example, our iron capsules and iron juice contain natural vitamin C from acerola, rosehip and co.

3) Resveratrol in combination with OPC and piperine

Resveratrol is particularly known for its supportive ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In order to benefit from the effect, we already use the bioactive trans-resveratrol for our resveratrol capsules, which has a high bioavailability in itself. We were also able to supplement the formula with valuable OPC and piperine, which makes the product extremely bioavailable. In combination with OPC, the resveratrol formula has an even broader polyphenol spectrum. And piperine ensures that the resveratrol is not broken down so quickly by the liver and is available to the body for longer. You absorb the maximum amount of nutrients.

Our top 3 products at their best

But it is not only the right combination with other nutrients that can increase bioavailability. The actual form of the nutrient can also determine whether a nutrient can be utilized well or not.

1) R-alpha lipoic acid

Alpha lipoic acid has been gaining popularity for some time as a powerful antioxidant, particularly in the field of diabetes and polyneuropathy. The acid is available on the market as R-alpha lipoic acid, S-alpha lipoic acid or as a mixed product. For our R-alpha lipoic acid capsules, we use exclusively and 100 % the R-form. This is because only this is considered to be the body's own natural form and as such is correspondingly effective. It has a much higher bioavailability and should therefore always be the preferred choice.

2) Vitamin K2 MK7

Vitamin K2 helps to protect against arteriosclerosis. Especially in combination with vitamin D3, it plays a decisive role in the correct processing of calcium in the body. The vitamin can be divided into two forms, which have different bioavailability. As a dietary supplement, the form K2 MK-7 is more suitable than K2 MK-4, as it has a much longer half-life and is therefore available to the body for longer. And not only that, vitamin K2 MK-7 can also be divided into all-trans and cis, whereby the trans form corresponds to the natural form and is considered the most effective form with the best bioavailability. We only use the best form for our vitamin K2 capsules - vitamin K2 MK7 all-trans.

3) Coenzyme Q10 Ubiquinol

Coenzyme Q10 is mainly used in energy production and as an antioxidant in the body. A distinction is made between ubiquinol and ubiquinone. Until 2007, only the form ubiquinone was known, but this must first be converted into ubiquinol by the body. Ubiquinol is therefore 8 times more bioavailable than conventional coenzyme Q10 ubiquinone, as it is immediately available to the body. We only use the more readily available form for our ubiquinol capsules.

Conclusion:

Bioavailability determines how valuable a nutrient is for us and our health and whether the nutrient is of any benefit to us at all. Care should therefore be taken to select the right form of a nutrient and, in certain cases, the right combinations of nutrients.

Sources (in English):

Prasad, S., Tyagi, A. K., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2014). Recent developments in delivery, bioavailability, absorption and metabolism of curcumin: the golden pigment from golden spice. Cancer research and treatment, 46(1), 2–18. https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2014.46.1.2

Shoba, G., Joy, D., Joseph, T., Majeed, M., Rajendran, R., & Srinivas, P. S. (1998). Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta medica, 64(4), 353–356. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2006-957450

Heffernan, A., Evans, C., Holmes, M., & Moore, J. (2017). The Regulation of Dietary Iron Bioavailability by Vitamin C: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(OCE4), E182. doi:10.1017/S0029665117003445

Kuršvietienė, L., Stanevičienė, I., Mongirdienė, A., & Bernatonienė, J. (2016). Multiplicity of effects and health benefits of resveratrol. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 52(3), 148–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medici.2016.03.003

Packer, L., Witt, E. H., & Tritschler, H. J. (1995). alpha-Lipoic acid as a biological antioxidant. Free radical biology & medicine, 19(2), 227–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/0891-5849(95)00017-r

Møller, M., Gjelstad, I., Baksaas, I., Grande, T., Aukrust, I. R., & Drevon, C. A. (2017). Bioavailability and Chemical/Functional Aspects of Synthetic MK-7 vs Fermentation-Derived MK-7 in Randomised Controlled Trials. International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition, 87(5-6), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831/a000258

Failla, M. L., Chitchumroonchokchai, C., & Aoki, F. (2014). Increased bioavailability of ubiquinol compared to that of ubiquinone is due to more efficient micellarization during digestion and greater GSH-dependent uptake and basolateral secretion by Caco-2 cells. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 62(29), 7174–7182. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf5017829

Mein Warenkorb

Das könnte Sie auch interessieren