On a regular basis we are asked “why is it best we take the supplement intraorally (sprayed under the tongue)?
We reply: “because this enables almost all of the nutrients to hit the bloodstream quickly, which is extremely effective. The absorption rate for an intraoral spray delivery (referred to as sublingual in certain contexts) enables up to 95% of the nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream, whereas pills and capsules have an absorption rate of only 10% to 20% at best.”
So Why Is This?
When certain molecules are placed under the tongue, they are absorbed through the sub-mucosal membrane (a layer of connective tissue that sits beneath your tongue), that has a direct route into the bloodstream. This enables almost all of the nutrients to get into the bloodstream in their entirety and get to work straight away. There are no road blocks, no waiting – just straight into the bloodstream (the body’s principal carrier of nutrients throughout the entire body) and off to work they go.
So What About When You Swallow a Pill or Capsule?
Good question. When you swallow a pill or capsule it must go through your entire gastrointestinal tract. This means the stomach (which has acid and bile), and the intestines (where most of the absorption takes place), and then off to the liver, where more filtering is done. THEN finally what is left of the nutrients is delivered to where it is needed. If you have a healthy gastrointestinal tract, healthy stomach and liver, the absorption rate of nutrients that finally get into your bloodstream and the intended destination point will be 20%. The problem is over 70% of the American population suffer from digestive and/or gastrointestinal tract issues. This results in very poor absorption through the intestines and liver (i.e. leaky gut syndrome is common), and these issues reduce the absorption rate when taking a pill or capsule to less than 10%.
Speed is also an important factor. Not only is the absorption rate of nutrients far superior with intraoral delivery, the speed via this route is fast and direct, and because the potency of the formulation stays intact, less nutrients are needed making this delivery very cost effective.
The digestive tract is one incredibly harsh route and it is set up this way for a purpose. It is how our food is broken down. The nutrients get stripped out, the waste gets filtered. This is why pills are getting so large, as many companies try to squeeze more nutrients into them. Many people cut a pill or capsule in half and then put the contents under the tongue, but the problem is often the compressed manufacturing processes of a pill have already destroyed many of its nutrients. Another big negative with a pill and capsule is its coating and fillers.
Coatings and fillers are used in most pills and capsules to bind the ingredients together, fill and/or lubricate the contents, and accelerate manufacturing through the equipment so they don’t stick together. This is not the case for liquid health supplements. Fillers and binders are not nearly so common in liquid supplements because they are not needed.
Pills and capsules generally contain a lot more low grade ingredients than liquid supplements.
Never buy proprietary blends. Most proprietary blends contain a bunch of low grade ingredients that are grouped together so you don’t have a clue of the purity or source of each ingredient. Always look on the label for the individual ingredients to be noted separately with their actual percentage of purity displayed.
Yes, quality supplements are more expensive, but when the ingredients are stated individually on the label, with a high percentage of purity noted, you are receiving quality. Also look for the ingredients to be stated in milligrams (mgs) or grams. Mcgs (watch for that little c) and IUs equate to zilch. If you see IUs, Mcgs or Ng measurements, do the math using an online conversion calculator.
Liquid intraoral / sublingual formulations are the way of the future. You want to ensure you spray the formulation under your tongue, hold for at least 7 seconds, then swallow the remainder of the formulation. If you look around in the Health Stores today, you will find a good range of liquid and spray health supplements but ensure when taking any liquid supplement you don’t just chug-a-lug it down so it all runs down your throat. The spray under the tongue method is by far the best delivery method for health supplements as stated in the Physicians Desk Reference. Pharmaceutical companies are moving quickly to develop many sublingual and intraoral applications (including diabetic medications).
For more information on intraoral health supplements click here: www.stemcellworx.com