How to Choose a Nutritional Supplement and Why Formulations Matter

Are you wondering how to choose an effective nutritional supplement for your health goals? 

When considering including a nutritional supplement in your diet, you should remember that nutritional supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health condition or disease. Multiple commercially available nutritional supplements are being marketed as nutritional supplements. Determining the best supplement formulation that achieves the health and wellness benefits of the supplement’s active nutrients can be a challenge. Therefore, in this post, we will explain how to choose the right nutritional supplement, the factors that make the supplement effective, and why you should always consider choosing an advanced supplement formulation. Use the links below to jump ahead to a topic of interest.

The Balance Between Food and Dietary Supplements 

What is the role of nutritional supplements? Do nutritional supplements compensate for the lack of nutrients in your diet? Nutritional supplements are not intended to replace the variety of foods that constitute a balanced diet. A balanced diet, an active lifestyle consisting of moderate-intensity exercising, and adequate sleep are the keys to good health and wellness. You cannot resolve unhealthy dietary patterns and lifestyles with nutritional supplements. 

The role supplements can play is to assist with filling any nutritional shortcomings that can arise from specific health conditions, dietary restrictions, or a busy schedule. The appropriate nutritional supplement can provide targeted support for specific health functions and help address any gaps in the diet to achieve a a greater level of health and wellness.  

Determining the Right Supplements for Your Body

Determining which ones are the right nutritional supplements for you depends on your nutritional requirements, health and fitness goals, and the need, if any, to manage symptoms associated with certain health conditions that are not otherwise being resolved using conventional approaches. 

Your healthcare provider can best determine the appropriate nutritional supplements for your individual situation. Whether you are focusing on achieving a specific fitness goal or trying to alleviate certain health condition-related symptoms, it is always recommended to consult your health-care provider before adding any nutritional supplement to your diet.

After your healthcare provider advises you on which supplements you should be taking, how to choose a supplement that delivers meaningful benefits is your next challenge. A supplement cannot help you achieve the health benefits of the supplement’s active nutrients if: 

• It is of questionable quality. 
• It does not contain the ingredients as listed on the labeled. 
• It is not formulated in a way that enables the body to absorb and utilize its ingredients effectively. 

Before you begin your search for the right nutritional supplement, it is critical to understand the fundamentals of effective supplements and how supplements work in the body.  

The Basics of Bioavailability

Bioavailability is the proportion of a nutrient that is digested, absorbed, and metabolized through normal body pathways. So, when you are looking at the label of a nutritional supplement, it is not enough to just know how much of a particular ingredient is present in the formulation. Instead, how much of each ingredient present is bioavailable makes the difference. 

The bioavailability of a nutrient depends on several factors, including: 

• Its route of administration. 
• Chemical properties of the nutrient.  
• The type of formulation. 

For example, curcumin has poor oral bioavailability because of its low molecular stability. So, when you are taking a standard curcumin supplement, you might experience only minimal meaningful benefits. On the other hand, if you take a highly bioavailable curcumin supplement, then you can experience significant health-promoting benefits even with a comparatively smaller amount. 

Iron is another example of poor nutrient absorption and low bioavailability, which can also cause unpleasant side effects. When taking an iron supplement, individuals with an inflamed gut can experience constipation, bloating, abdominal pain, and other gastrointestinal side effects. Unabsorbed iron remains in the gut, which can result in gastrointestinal disturbances. A truly bioavailable form of iron can prevent these adverse gastrointestinal side effects. 

So, why aren’t all nutritional supplements highly bioavailable? Enhancing nutrient bioavailability is expensive. The manufacturing cost of creating nutritional supplements with bioavailable nutrients that can retain their integrity while passing through the gastrointestinal tract is high. Unfortunately, many manufacturers keep their costs down while formulating supplements, leading to formulations with poor nutrient bioavailability.  

Avoiding Ineffective Bioavailability Enhancements

Ineffective bioavailability enhancements refer to improving the bioavailability of nutrients while sacrificing the tolerability and safety of the formulation. 

For example, piperine, an alkaloid found in black pepper, has been found to significantly enhance the bioavailability of curcumin.¹ Piperine inhibits the liver’s metabolic processes that break down curcumin molecules, thereby maintaining the molecule’s integrity. However, intake of an excessive amount of piperine can cause gut inflammation and loose stools. The potential side effects of piperine can impact the health benefits of curcumin-piperine co-supplementation. 

To avoid ineffective bioavailability enhancements, several advanced pharmacological approaches are being used, including:

• Microcapsules: The active nutrient is packaged within a second material (lipids, proteins, polysaccharides) to protect the nutrient’s integrity during transit through the stomach. 

• Solid dispersion systems: The solubility of a nutrient that is poorly soluble in water is enhanced by enveloping it in a hydrophilic carrier to increase its surface area, solubility, and dissolution rate.  

• Nanoparticles: Nanoparticles can be tailored to carry multiple nutrients in a single formulation, enhancing their bioavailability, solubility, and retention time.

• Nano-liposomes: Lipid-based nanocarriers enhance the bioavailability and enable the controlled release of the encapsulated hydrophobic nutrients.  

• Cyclodextrin inclusion compounds: Cyclic oligosaccharides produced from starch or starch derivatives achieve nutrient delivery with optimal solubility, stability, and bioavailability.   

How to Choose A Nutritional Supplement? 

When you are choosing a nutritional supplement, the objective is to experience the health-promoting benefits of the active ingredients in the formulation. The efficacy of a supplement formulation – its ability to achieve the desired benefits – depends on the following:

• Bioavailability: Because nutritional supplements are not formulated alike, it is essential to select a supplement that is formulated to optimize both bioavailability and localized absorption in the required areas of the gut. Look for formulations that utilize advanced an nutrient-delivery technology, such as nano-delivery of nutrient molecules through cyclodextrins, that enhances nutrient bioavailability.    

• Palatability: A supplement’s palatability is critical for masking the unpleasant taste and odor of the nutrients, such as curcumin, and making them tolerable for oral intake.

Additionally, you should choose nutritional supplements from a trusted manufacturer who adheres to high quality manufacturing standards and develops quality formulations that make nutrients a therapeutic reality.  

Selecting an Advanced Supplement Formulation

The nutritional supplements manufactured by Tesseract Medical Research have long been recognized as being among the best in the supplement industry because of their advanced nutrient delivery technology. Tesseract has formulated a wide range of nutritional supplements with proven nutrients that promote various health and wellness functions. Tesseract’s proprietary CyLoc® – DexKey® nutrient delivery nanotechnology enables the delivery of active nutrient molecules through the gastrointestinal tract — one palatable molecule at a time. CyLoc® technology encases each molecule and creates nano-sized particles, thereby protecting the molecule from breaking down during transit through the stomach. The accompanying DexKey® reactors release the CyLoc®-enclosed molecules at the desired point in the intestinal tract for maximum absorption, bioavailability, and effectiveness. 

This revolutionary technology has enhanced the bioavailability of conventionally difficult-to-absorb molecules, such as curcumin and glutathione. And the unprecedented absorption of nutrient molecules in the gastrointestinal tract also enables micro-dosing, which means using a lower amount of the active ingredient in a supplement formulation than previously required.

At Tesseract Medical Research, we are committed to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). We utilize the most appropriate and scientifically advanced analytical techniques, as well as a well-designed quality control system, to develop the finest quality nutritional supplements.

Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing Nutritional Supplements

Here are some frequently asked questions about how to choose a nutritional supplement. 

What should I look for on a supplement’s product label? 

The Supplement Facts panel on the product label provides important information about active ingredients, the amount per serving, and the presence of “Other Ingredients,” such as binders, fillers, and flavorings. Consult your healthcare provider before deciding on your individual serving size of the supplement.  

How can I assess the side effects associated with a nutritional supplement? 

Always find as much information as possible beforehand about the potential side effects of the active ingredients in a supplement formulation. Consult your healthcare provider before including any new nutritional supplement in your diet. They can assess any potential contraindications of the active ingredient(s) with any prescription medication you might be taking.  

How can I determine a nutritional supplement’s quality? 

Determine whether the supplement manufacturer follows GMP practices established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which will ensure the identity, purity, strength, and composition of the supplement. Following GMPs prevents the addition of any wrong ingredient to the formulation, reduces the chance of contamination, and ensures the proper packaging/ labeling of the supplement.   

Reference: 

¹Shoba G, et al. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Medica vol. 64,4 (1998):353-356. doi:10.1055/s-2006-957450