Are gummy vitamins as effective?
How do you get your daily dose of vitamins? Whether from a multi-vitamin, a gummy vitamin or a balanced diet, there are some key differences.
As chewable, sweet vitamins continue to rise in popularity for both adults and kids, the real question is: Do they work the same? And is the gummy vitamin an adequate substitute to a standard multi-vitamin?
Experts advise to proceed with caution.
“There are two main issues with gummy vitamins,” says Dr. Yasser Said, an internal medicine physician at Advocate Health Care. “First, with gummy vitamins, it’s harder to control the appropriate vitamin content given the manufacturing process. This means that content is more variable, and sometimes the portions that are stated on the labels are inaccurate. Second, these vitamins contain sugar. While the amount is modest for a healthy adult, accustoming a child to receiving a sugary ‘snack’ every day could be problematic.”
Gummy vitamins have one gram or more of simple sugar per vitamin, says Dr. Said. That can add up.
Dr. Said recommends avoiding gummy vitamins for kids and sticking to only what is required for adults.
But are there benefits?
“Gummy vitamins are still a good alternative if someone can’t take other vitamins either because they have trouble swallowing them or can’t tolerate the taste,” he explains. “They can be useful if someone has been diagnosed with a vitamin deficiency and has no other viable way of taking vitamins. Still, it’s important to note that since the dosage can be inaccurate, these types of vitamins should be avoided if someone has a severe deficiency and requires a specific daily dosage.”
Are there other groups that should steer clear of the gummy vitamin?
“Patients with severe diabetes should avoid them as well as younger children,” says Dr. Said. “While they may taste good, it’s important to note that all that tastes good is NOT good for you!”
Want to learn more about your risk for diabetes? Take a free online quiz.
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health enews staff is a group of experienced writers from our Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care sites, which also includes freelance or intern writers.
What if you can’t swallow pills? What is a good alternative?
I’m just seeing this now but still wanted to say thank you for the isotonic vitamin suggestion. Yes, people are in great need of this kind of info from medical professionals so I’m happy you spoke up. I will search for the things I need in isotonic form now. I juice my own veggie drinks so, as a senior, I can easily get the veggie amount of servings that provide excellent health for the same reason. Thank you again.
Not all gummy vitamins are coated in sugar.
Which vitamin is good for teenager? I am still giving them gummy vitamins. One son is 14 and other one is 18th. Let me know which vitamin is good for them.
Isotonic vitamins are more expensive. What do you suggest when someone can barely afford the gummy vitamins?
I have been taking a very good quality ladies over 50 gummy vitamin twice a day for the past two years and have never had a cold nor any upper respiratory infections which I used to get quite frequently before taking them. I wholeheartedly would recommend Nature Made gummy vitamins.
Another group that may want to avoid gummy vitamins: vegetarians/vegans. Not all, but many, gummy vitamins contain gelatin.
I haven’t yet found a gummy vitamin that contains the minerals that regular vitamins do. Isn’t that an important fact to consider? I take the gummies because I’m more likely to take them, but wish they had the minerals.
What brand of isotonic vitamins are recommended for the best results