How do you know if your body is absorbing the vitamins that you are taking?
Nutrient absorption can sound complicated, and oftentimes you really don't know if your body is absorbing the vitamins you are taking, but there are methods that promise maximum absorption, as opposed to minimal.
Absorption begins with the process of digestion in the stomach. When food is chewed and swollen, the saliva enzymes break down the food as it makes its way to the stomach. Once the food reaches the stomach, the nutrients break down and pass through the small intestine. This includes all nutrients from carbohydrates, to proteins, vitamins, and even the water content. Once they pass through the small intestine, the nutrients enter the bloodstream. The same goes for supplements and vitamins that you take orally.
This is where things can get complicated.
The small intestine has a layer that determines what enters the bloodstream through active and passive transport, two processes that regulate nutrients. The process of passive transport facilitates easy absorption of nutrients, while active transport requires a carrier molecule to help nutrients pass through the intestinal wall barrier.
This can be problematic if you are consuming vitamins in pill form, which is why we use a liquid vitamin method instead. The controlled-release properties of Microgels guarantee more success when it comes to the absorption of vitamins when compared to vitamins in pill form.
One of the reasons Microgels are growing in popularity is because of the benefits liquid supplement absorption provides for a consumer's body. Alongside Microgels, a variety of other supplements are also on the rise.
Colloidal, micellar, and liposomal technologies are all improving the way we take and digest vitamins. Our Microgel formulas use microscopic vitamin and mineral particles that are capable of being released at set points within the GI tract. These particles resemble the same size and shape of colloidal supplements, but the viscosity of the gel provides unique characteristics that differentiate the two technologies.
Microgel by Healthycell addresses the issue of poor-solubility and insufficient micronutrient absorption of standard supplements, which contain micronutrient particles that are over ten times the appropriate size for proper cellular uptake.
What Is MICROGEL™ and What Are the Benefits of This New Gel Supplement?
MICROGEL™ is the next-generation ultra-bioavailability nutrient delivery technology that replaces tablets, capsules, and powders. It is delivered in convenient, single-serve, easy to swallow gel packs (otherwise known as gel sachets). Formulated by world-leading nutritional scientists, this unique gel matrix ensures maximum absorption of the suspended active nutrients into the bloodstream, and then into cells, where they have a biological effect. MICROGEL™ includes the following advantages:
(1) Protects nutrients inside the gel structure from becoming denatured (made inactive) in the acidic environment of the stomach, preserving them in an active form to be released for absorption in the small intestine, which is where the body absorbs most nutrients.
(2) Releases extremely small, soluble micro-sized nutrient particles at specific locations in the digestive tract for rapid and effective absorption.
Why Was MICROGEL Created?
Over 200 million Americans take dietary supplements daily to fill the nutrition gaps they have in their diets. These gaps are missing essential micronutrients — water and fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients and phytonutrients like antioxidants, polyphenols, and anti-inflammatories.
The most common method of supplementing the diet is with tablets, capsules, and powders, but these delivery systems have issues that MICROGEL solves:
- Many people have pill fatigue or physical difficulty swallowing pills.
- Tablets, capsules, and powders often contain relatively large, dense, poorly-soluble, and difficult-to-absorb particles (10 to 100 times too big for absorption).
- Most tablets, capsules, and powders contain undesired synthetic binding glues, fillers, coatings, and anti-caking agents listed as “other ingredients.”
- Many supplement companies resort to “mega-dosing” with over 10 times the recommended daily allowance of certain nutrients, which may be more harmful than helpful.
How Do You Take Microgel?
Unlike tablets, capsules, and powders, you can take MICROGEL in many ways. You can consume it directly from the gel pack, mix it with a drink or add it to a meal, or even add it to smoothies. People are creatively finding other ways to take it as well, including blending it in yogurt to give it a probiotic boost.
As a pill-free experience designed to drive maximum absorption of active nutrients, MICROGEL may be especially helpful for older adults who have less efficient GI tracts, those who have difficulty swallowing pills, or those with sensitive stomachs or GI conditions.
How Does MICROGEL Increase Absorption?
MICROGEL maximizes nutrient absorption in two primary ways:
- Particle size: Extremely small, soft, micro-sized nutrient particles are created using emulsification and high-sheering processes. These particles are small enough for our small intestine to absorb into the bloodstream.
- These nutrients are then infused into a gel matrix to create a protective suspension. When ingested, this gel matrix protects nutrients from the acid in our stomachs that denature them (converts them from active to inactive forms). The gel matrix then releases the ultra-bioavailable nutrient particles in the small intestine for absorption.
A More Natural Way to Supplement the Diet
The gel matrix that makes up MICROGEL includes gut-healthy natural ingredients such as soluble fiber, citrus pectin, and acacia gum (which are also prebiotics) that assist in improving micronutrient absorption. The few other nutrition gel supplements on the market use gel-forming ingredients like guar gum that may actually reduce the absorption of nutrients, having the opposite of the intended effect.[i]
Produced exclusively in the USA from natural ingredients, MICROGEL also offers a more natural way to supplement the diet by eliminating the need for synthetic binding glues, fillers, coatings, and anti-caking agents listed as “other ingredients” in many supplements.
A Safer Way to Supplement
Lab data shows us that most supplements contain nutrients in the form of solid particles that are 10 to 100 times too big to absorb — like little grains of sand. In an attempt to compensate, many supplements contain more than 10 times the recommended daily allowance of nutrients, potentially doing more harm than good. Even worse, there are some scientists who believe these hard, solid particles, the same size as sandpaper, may be scratching the lining of our gut, and possibly causing inflammation. More studies should be done to determine if this is really happening.
What Science Exists to Support the Efficacy of MICROGEL?
There is a growing body of research that increasingly supports the ability of microgels to boost the bioavailability of nutraceuticals compared to traditional tablet and capsule supplements.[ii] [iii]
Healthycell has sponsored an independent clinical study comparing the active nutrient absorption from tablets to MICROGEL. Results are expected in December 2019.
Who Created MICROGEL?
Numerous scientific studies have shown that tablets, powders and even many capsules are poorly absorbed by the human body and disliked by many consumers. After years of working in the supplement industry, Healthycell co-founder, Douglas Giampapa knew there had to be a better way, and set out on a quest to find it.
He partnered with Ph.D. scientists working at the University of New England, known as some of the world's foremost experts on nutrient absorption. Decades of lab work show that many supplement makers were using solids with particle sizes that were up to 200x too big to be digested properly. In nature, the most nutritious foods are structured quite differently -- they contain water and nutrient particles that are much smaller.
Working together they successfully developed a new delivery technology to mimic nature – a natural gel that releases tiny nutrient particles at specific locations in the digestive tract, where they can be easily absorbed. He successfully created MICROGEL, which is now the gold standard in nutrition gels — a growing category within dietary supplements.
Where Can You Find MICROGEL™?
Currently, Healthycell is the only company producing MICROGEL™. The first product produced with this technology is the Bioactive Multi, a daily nutrient foundation for optimal health. The second product was Vegan Essentials, 30+ daily essentials for plant-based eaters. Other microgel products include Healthycell's REM Sleep and Focus+Recall.
