Vitamin and mineral aisles offer an abundance of choices, from multivitamins to gummies. Gummies may be particularly suitable for people who find swallowing pills difficult or who prefer a more enjoyable form of delivery, like kids.
Some gummies contain ingredients known as chelated minerals, which make vitamins and minerals more easily accessible to the body.
Calcium/Magnesium
Calcium and magnesium are both widely known for their beneficial effects on bone health, but they’re also crucial in supporting other body systems – from muscles, nerves and heart functioning properly, to keeping nerve endings functioning effectively.
Most experts advise getting minerals through a healthy, well-balanced diet of whole foods – such as dairy products, leafy greens, beans, nuts and seeds, fish and whole grains – but gummy vitamins may be an easy and convenient way to meet nutritional requirements on a calorie restricted diet or have difficulty meeting your requirements from food alone.
If you’re taking a calcium-magnesium supplement, be sure it contains vitamin D to aid with absorption. Without it, your body won’t use calcium properly and may absorb too much of it into soft tissues instead of where it belongs – bones. Magnesium helps regulate calcium levels as part of its role in enzymes responsible for absorption, metabolism and utilization – this makes magnesium essential not only to bone health but also nerve function, heart rhythm regulation and glucose regulation as well as relieving muscle cramps or spasms.
Zinc
Zinc is an essential trace mineral required as an enzyme cofactor in hundreds of enzyme reactions, such as protein and DNA synthesis, cell division and repair, immune function and more. Zinc can be found naturally in certain foods while added to others or sold as dietary supplements; its recommended daily allowance (RDA) for adults 19+ is 11 mg per day for men and 8 mg for women; you’ll find it in meat, beans, seafood fortified products as well as cold lozenges/nasal sprays with zinc ingredients as well as sold as stand-alone supplements.
Zinc can help to alleviate oxidative stress and enhance insulin secretion to maintain stable blood sugar levels. Furthermore, studies have revealed that zinc helps slow age-related macular degeneration (AMD), providing essential nutrient flow in the eye that helps protect against vision loss or blindness.
Recent research suggests that zinc supplements could help children suffering from ADHD by decreasing hyperactivity and impulsivity, but more research needs to be conducted before this claim can be confirmed. Zinc is also often prescribed as an acute diarrhea treatment as its research shows it reduces both duration and severity. Lifeable’s zinc gummies make taking your daily dose simple!
Vitamin D
Vitamin D (or calciferol) aids the body’s absorption of calcium and phosphate, two essential building blocks for bone strength and health. Additionally, it supports immunity as well as helping prevent inflammation-based diseases; plus being fat soluble means your body stores it away until needed.
Though many can get their vitamin D needs fulfilled through multivitamins and food sources, certain populations — including infants, pregnant women or postmenopausal women — may require supplements of vitamin D. Gummies provide an easy way of providing this essential nutrient, especially those who may struggle to swallow pills and tablets.
Gummies typically have a shorter shelf life than traditional supplements and may lose some of their effectiveness over time, so it is essential to check their expiration date and look out for signs of degradation such as soft or mushy textures, color changes or any reduction in potency.
Gummies contain iron, which should be avoided by young children and pregnant women as it can lead to iron deficiency anemia. Check labels carefully for ingredients as taking any medication (especially bile acid sequestrants such as cholestyramine and colestipol) can hinder vitamin D absorption. Also discuss this matter with your physician if taking cholesterol-reducing statins).
