When Is The Pill Better Than The Real

Mainstream doctors often advocate obtaining nutrients from foods rather than supplements. A problem with certain nutrients, however, is that they are bound so tightly to food that less-than-optimal amounts of the active constituents are absorbed into the bloodstream. Examples of nutrients that are better absorbed from supplements than from food include vitamin K, folic acid, and chlorophyll.

Lypocene, on the other hand, may be better absorbed from cooked tomato products than from supplements. In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists sought to determine whether the active ingredients in green tea were better absorbed from green tea extract capsules or by drinking green tea itself. Thirty healthy test subjects were recruited and given either a specially prepared green tea beverage standardized for green tea's most active constituents (such as EGCG and ECG) or equally standardize a. green tea extract capsules.

The results showed that subjects who received the green tea extract caps had a 60% greater increase in EGCG and a 90% greater increase in compared to those who drank the identical amounts of these green tea constituents in standardized beverage form. The antioxidant effects in those who swallowed the green tea capsules were also greater than in the green tea drinkers. The conclusions were that when administered in the form of a green tea supplement, the active constituents (polyphenols) showed enhanced bioavailability compared to when identical amounts of polyphenols were provided in a green tea beverage