Quality and Absorption of Supplements

Quality and Absorption of Supplements

by Gary F. Zeolla

Not all supplements are created equal. The quality and absorbability of supplements vary widely for several reasons:

1. Quality: Since there is no regulation of the supplement industry, quite frankly you can never be sure that a supplement actually contains what the label says it does. Independent studies have shown that some supplements actually contain little of the substance it is supposed to. So it is important to look for supplements that third party testing has shown to be of high quality and/ or which are labeled as being "pharmaceutical grade."

2. Dissolvability: Before nutrients from a supplement can be absorbed, the supplement itself must be dissolved in the gut. Generally speaking, capsules dissolve more easily than tablets. However, some brands indicate that their tablets are “quick-dissolve,” and these usually will dissolve in time for the nutrients to be absorbed. And a way to avoid the dissolubility issue altogether would be to use supplements in powder form and dissolve them in some form of liquid.

Supplements sold in liquid form are also often promoted as a highly absorbable form, but it is difficult to dissolve a significant amount of nutrients in a small amount of liquid. So usually the amount of the nutrients are rather insignificant.

3. Absorbability: Once the supplement has been dissolved the nutrients in it must be absorbed. And some products contain highly absorbable forms of nutrients while others might use less absorbable forms.

4. Artificial ingredients: Some products contain artificial ingredients, like colorings and flavorings. These are best avoided in both foods and supplements as I discuss in my book God-given Foods Eating Plan. So as much as possible, look for supplements without such ingredients.

After much experimentation, I have found Twinlab products meets all of these criteria and are of higher quality than most other brands. Moreover, most Twinlab products are "Packaged in a glass bottle for maximum stability, quality and freshness." (quoting from a label). So most of the products I use are by Twinlab. Ultimate Nutrition also produces quality supplements, especially their CreaPure and Glutapure.

Testimony

As evidence that the quality of supplements is important, I present the following "testimony." One of my health problems is stiff person syndrome (SPS). Yes, that is the actual name of the disorder. It is a very rare auto-immune disorder that often leaves people completely and permanently paralyzed. And that was the direction I was heading. I was virtually paralyzed 24/7, and I began having episodes of being completely paralyzed for hours or even days at a time. And these flare-ups were occurring almost weekly. But then I underwent a long series of NAET treatments (an alternative health care method).

The main factor in SPS is the body "attacking" glutamine as if it were an invading organism. Glutamine is a semi-essential amino acid and is the most abundant amino acid in muscle cells. So with glutamine being so abundant in the muscles, and with the body attacking the glutamine, the muscles "freeze up" and hence the stiffness. But the NAET treatments were able to stop this over-reaction to glutamine. But at that point, my doctor recommended I supplement with glutamine to restore my now low levels of glutamine.

The product I used was Jarrow's Pharmaceutical grade L-Glutamine. I also used high-grade protein powders that were all high in glutamine content. The use of the supplemental glutamine and protein powders aided greatly in my recovery. Over time, the daily stiffness gradually lessened to the point that I actually became rather flexible, and the flare-ups became less and less common. I began doing so well that I even began powerlifting again. And I made steady progress in my training for quite some time.

After using the glutamine for several months, my doctor determined that I was getting enough glutamine from the protein powders and other protein sources, so the use of the glutamine was not necessary. So I used just the protein powders for some time. But after a while, in an effort to try to save some money, I switched to cheaper brands of protein powders. And after using these lower quality products for a few months, I began having some set-backs health-wise, and for the first time in almost a year, I had a flare-up of being complete paralyzed for a day and a half. Meanwhile, my training stagnated. Over a several months period I basically made no progress.

I figured that glutamine might be a factor in the problems, so I began supplementing with it. But again, trying to save some money, I used a different brand than the Jarrow, which was not pharmaceutical grade. And so I saw no improvement from it.

At this point, in discussions with my doctor, we figured that the problem was due to a lack of glutamine, but that the lack of glutamine was due to the low-grade products. So I switched back to supplementing with the Jarrow glutamine and using the high grade protein powders. And within a few weeks, my health began improving and I began making progress in my training again.

The point of this whole story is that quality is important when it comes to supplements. Yes, you can find cheaper versions of the products recommended on these supplement pages. But as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for." I really regret having used the lower grade products. I lost several months of training and had to suffer health-wise. When it comes to your health, and if you are serious about an athletic endeavor, it pays to purchase high-quality products.

But to keep the cost reasonable, I would recommend purchasing supplements from Bodybuilding.com, WebVitamins, or MuscleSurf. . I have found these sites to be the least expensive places to purchase Twinlab, Jarrow, Ultimate Nutrition, and other supplements.

The above article was posted on this site May 7, 2004
and last updated April 19, 2008.

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