Bioavailability & Effectiveness

The different forms of vitamins and minerals

Bioavailability & Effectiveness

The different forms of vitamins and minerals

Liposomal

In many of our products, the vitamins and minerals are encapsulated in liposomes (otherwise known as lipospheres). Liposomes are small spherical particles that have walls similar to the walls of of your body's cells. The liposomes bind and merge with cell walls to deliver the vitamins and minerals that they carry into the cells. The vitamins and minerals encapsulated by the liposomes are protected by the liposomes on the way to the cells and then highly absorbed by the cells.

Even more importantly in our view, the liposomes (which are made of fat) and their vitamin and mineral contents are well absorbed in the small intestine rather than passing through to the large intestine, where vitamins and minerals are typically absorbed but far less efficiently. In the case of liposomal vitamin C, far more vitamin C can be absorbed through the small intestine than through the large intestine, allowing us to flood the body with vitamin C to fight infection.

It is highly beneficial that vitamin C, zinc and other minerals that the body needs to fight infection are carried by the fat of the liposomes because this means that they flow from the digestive tract directly into the lymphatic system rather than into the cardiovascular system. The lymphatic system is the main battleground between your body's leukocytes (white blood cells) and infectious invaders such as bacteria. A liposomal medicine such as Vitamin C Liposomal or Treatment 10 thus works remarkably effectively and quickly.

The lipid bilayer walls of liposomes are in themselves naturally forming and nutritionally beneficial. They comprise phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine derived from sunflower lecithin. The choline in phosphatidylcholine is itself an essential nutrient that the body requires but does not make in sufficient quantities.

We are not the first company to use liposomes. However, most liposomal products taste terrible. Our point of difference is that we make palatable liposomal products that do not get left unused at the back of the cupboard.

Sulphur

We use methylsulfonylmethane in many products, to deliver sulphur to the body for a wide range of therapeutic effects. However, in addition to the therapeutic effects, methylsulfonylmethane improves the permeability and fluidity of cell membranes and thus enhances the ability of cells to absorb other nutrients. This increases the effectiveness the additional nutrients in our methylsulfonylmethane products.

Chelated minerals

The chelated minerals in our supplements are bound to amino acids, usually glycine. This is similar to how minerals are found naturally in food. A chelated mineral is therefore better absorbed than an inorganic (unchelated) mineral. The amino acids of the chelated mineral are bound strongly enough to the mineral to assist absorption in the digestive tract yet loosely enough to allow the mineral to pass through the walls of cells. We use zinc, iron, selenium and copper glycinates as chelated minerals in many of our products.

Active forms of B vitamins

Active forms of B vitamins are particularly useful to some people. Ideally, we would all convert the B vitamins that we consume in our food into their active forms, which the body would then use in its physiological processes. However, many people, particularly because of their genetics, have trouble converting certain vitamins into their active forms, and these people can therefore benefit from taking the activated forms of some vitamins. Examples of activated B vitamins are P5P (as the activated form of vitamin B6), methylfoalte (as the activated form of vitamin B9) and methylcobalamin (as the activated form of vitamin B12). In addition, benfotiamine is a fat-soluble version of vitamin B1 that is much better absorbed than regular vitamin B1 and can pass the brain–blood barrier to benefit mental clarity/health. All these vitamin forms are included in our Vitaimin B Liposomal complex.

Should We Not Get our Nutrition from Food?

Absolutely we should get our nutrition from food as much as possible. There may be co-factors in the food that help the absorption of the nutrients in food. However, let's consider the following.

(1) Food does not contain the nutrition that it once did. An apple bought at the supermarket today is not the same as an apple our parents picked from a tree.
(2) Food does not contain the levels of vitamins or minerals needed for therapeutic effects. You cannot consume enough lemons to get the vitamin C that a single vitamin C tablet provides.
(3) For many nutrients, there is no demonstrable difference in bioavailability between taking a supplement and eating a food. For example, one study found no differences in bioavailability in the plasma, urine, semen, leukocytes, or muscle tissue following six weeks of supplementation versus six weeks of eating kiwifruit for the same amounts of vitamin C. Another pharmacokinetic study showed comparable changes in plasma vitamin C and the excretion of vitamin C over an 8-hour period following the oral consumption of supplements and kiwifruit for the same amounts of vitamin C.
(4) Modern methods of ensuring nutrient absorption, such as using liposomes and adopting chelation as described above, are highly effective.
(5) The products that we make at Cellular Medicines are food-like in any event, in that they are not tablets or capsules but contain elderberry concentrate, blackcurrant and apple extracts, orange and lemon oils, and sunflower lecithin, all of which have health benefits.