Liquid vitamins vs. pill form can be asked from several different positions, some of which are inter-related. The most notable consideration is quality followed by absorption ratio. Not unimportant is the cost of each. We view these variables all important but in my opinion nothing is more important than quality so the discuss that first.
From a quality standpoint concerning liquid vitamins vs. pill vitamins the winner in this arena is “liquid vitamins”. Vitamins in pill form, to preserve the nutrients for shelf life, must be dried in a way that requires heating which is often times detrimental to the preservation of nutrients. The heating process is always a challenging aspect of preserving nutrients for shelf life of nutritional supplements. In 2000 I attended a conference where a keynote speech was given by the economist Paul Zane Pilzer who was giving a speech on the soon to be trillion dollar wellness industry. In his speech he cited the dismal quality record of vitamin manufactures with only 6 of the top 18 companies actually providing the nutrients that they claim on their packaging. These vitamin producers are rated by the NSF and 2/3 of the top 18 failed to measure up. We have had, until recently, few choices outside of pill form vitamins as they are easier to produce.
It is, obviously, much easier to produce vitamins in pill form than liquid vitamins. The problem is, again, the drying process, which destroys important nutrients. Nutrient potency almost always suffers from the transportation process, whether by rail or truck, both of which expose the product to decay and environmental pollution. One of the down sides of farming and production is the time required to transport the raw form product to the manufacturer and this has a direct impact of the preservation of the important compounds used in nutritional supplements. A manufacturer also owns the fields where plants are harvested and has an onsite manufacturing facility this can minimize this problem with the “field to factory” system.
One of the most notable challenges with pill form nutritional supplements is that their absorption rates are greatly affected by the amount of fillers in the product. The absence of fillers in liquid vitamins or nutraceuticals make them a more appealing choice over pill vitamins. In liquid vitamins vs. pill form debate there is no question that the liquid nutrients are much more easily absorbed by the stomach and intestinal tract and assimilated more rapidly as these products are often in their natural and raw states. My suggestion is that you seriously investigate liquid nutrients or nutraceuticals and come to you own conclusion. I highly recommend liquid vitamins to those on weight loss programs due to the lack of nutrient dense foods and poor absorption rates of pill vitamins.
