You hear a lot about delivery systems these days. People make a lot of claims that their product is better because it contains some ‘farcified’ version of an original compound or a modified way of getting it into the body.
What has become an old trick for Big Pharma, designed to extend the patent, is now used by the supplement industry to boost “perceived benefits” even when there are none.
To wit, none of the studies done ever use effectiveness in people, as an outcome. They always use some blood, urinary or other chemical measurement that sounds impressive, but often does not translate into the person feeling any better, or being in any better health as a result.
So for most of my “fat soluble” items like CO Q10 and Fish Oil, as well as a few other things I make, I use sofgels as the delivery system of choice.
Sofgels are actually still relatively new to the industry but “old” enough to have a real track record of effectiveness, not just fancy sounding hollow claims.
Here is a list of some of the known benefits:
– One piece, not two pieces glued or banded together, insures the contents stay where they belong until they get where they need to go!
– Easy to swallow
– Tamper resistant
– Uniform appearance so you know what you are getting and who it’s from
– No odors and no taste
– Improved bioavailability, faster disintegration and better pharmacokinetics
– Better stability with protection from oxidation photosensitivity (light) and environmental contaminants
– Protection from melting and evaporation
– No need to add fillers or agents to improve texture
– Enteric coated to prevent dissolution in the stomach, but open up releasing its contents in the small intestine, which is good for taste, smell or pH issues
– Dosing uniformity allows for Pharmaceutical Grade supplements
There are of course many more that would make sense only to doctors and pharmacists but you get the picture.
The sofgel remains the premiere way to deliver what’s good for you that would otherwise not get into your system.
So the next time you read a fancy claim that smells a little fishy, you’ll know it is!
Doc