Are gummy vitamins as effective as traditional supplements? The answer may surprise you

With their candy-like taste and easy chewability, gummy vitamins have caught the fancy of young children and those who find swallowing pills difficult. An easy way to overcome vitamin deficiency and add desired nutrients, gummy vitamins can also double up as a dessert for those with a sweet tooth. But are they as effective as your regular vitamin pills? Do they have any downsides? Let's understand.

What are gummy vitamins?Gummy vitamins are prepared similarly to gummies and even taste like them. They are made from gelatin, cornstarch, water, sugar, and added colourings. Lemon, raspberry, cherry, and orange are some of the popular flavours. They may have specific nutrients like Vitamin D and calcium or a mix of several nutrients. They are available at supplement stores or online and cost similar to regular vitamin pills.

Gummy vitamins, available in attractive shapes and delicious flavours seem like a tasty way to overcome vitamin deficiencies or add missing nutrients to the daily diet. Children, who are more often than not picky eaters, may find these colourful candy-like gummy vitamins irresistible.

Do they work?
While gummy vitamins do deliver the vitamin and mineral content they promise on their labels, these chewable vitamins may also have ingredients like added sugar, gelatin, artificial colouring, and cornstarch, which may not have a desirable effect on health, especially in large quantities. They are designed and marketed to appeal to the tastebuds of people. Even those that have sugar-free labels in their packaging may have sugar alcohols and food colourings. These common ingredients can raise risk of obesity, heart disease, and dental cavities.

Who should have them?
It's clear that if you consume gummy vitamins in large quantities and exceed your daily recommended sugar intake, it's sure to disrupt your wellness routine and put you at risk of a range of deadly diseases. However, those who are not comfortable swallowing pills or find regular vitamin pills highly unappealing, can take them as per dose recommended by their physician.

Precaution for storage
Gummy vitamins need to be stored properly in a cool and dark place. Hot and humid conditions can make them lose their efficacy, considering unlike the hard coating of vitamin pills or tablets, their covering and texture is soft which can make them susceptible to getting spoiled by moisture.

Registered Dietitian Shyla Davis-Cadogan told PBS News that it could be difficult for manufacturers to include the same amount of vitamins and nutrients in a gummy vitamin as they would in a traditional pill or tablet.

She also added that the efficacy can go quickly down in case of gummy vitamins because they are more susceptible to moisture versus a pill or a tablet supplement.

"If you are storing it (gummy vitamins) in your medicine cabinet in your bathroom that has very moisture filled environment versus dark cabinet in your work, the efficacy of those vitamins can reduce as they can most easily degrade in the environments that are not suitable," she says.

They aren't as healthy as they claim to be
Gummy vitamins are not regulated by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as drug but as food. They may interact with certain medications. They also may have fewer vitamins than people may believe because as compared to the traditional pills, they may have lesser room for vitamins and minerals, as they also have sugar, colourings, and other compounds that take up some space.

Thanks to the tempting taste, people may overeat them without realizing and this could lead to harmful consequences. Having more than the recommended amounts of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K may especially spell trouble since they can be stored in body fat and tissues.

Do you really need gummy vitamins or any kind of vitamins?
Before consuming gummy vitamins or any sort of supplements, it's important to get the relevant blood test done to know if you really are deficient in certain nutrients. A balanced diet with all important food groups is sufficient to meet your daily nutrient requirements. However, in the case of certain populations like vegans, vegetarians, older adults, and pregnant women, vitamins need to be taken externally.

People who overdose on vitamins may get affected by vitamin toxicity, or hypervitaminosis which could cause a range of symptoms. In the case of Vitamin A toxicity, some common symptoms are - muscle pain, dizziness, nausea, vision changes, hair loss, to mental confusion.

(Picture courtesy: iStock)
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