Gummies 101: What are vitamin gummies?

Vitamins in a gummy? This sounds too good to be true!

Have you heard all the fuss about gummy vitamins lately?! But what on earth are they? Do they work?  And how do they work?

The questions just keep on coming…

Well it’s a good thing here at Nature’s Bounty we’re the experts in this new vitamin format which is creating a wave of excitement and intrigue for supplement lovers everywhere.

Gummies are basically (and just like you guessed) jelly sweets with dietary vitamins and nutrients added.

Tasty, chewy, easy!

Not only do gummies taste great (well ours do anyway), but they offer a convenient and easy to swallow way to help you get your daily vitamin boost. We like to call them your daily bite-sized vitamin treat!

Tablets can often be large and hard to swallow (urgh). But gummies are an easy, chewable way to get the vitamins and minerals you need, without the fuss - just chew, no water required!

And because they taste great, this also makes it so much easier to remember to take your vitamins each day. Just pop them in an accessible place like on your kitchen counter, bathroom vanity, or office desk, and chew a couple each day with food. It really is that easy!

What’s that taste?

Various vitamins and minerals can often take on rather strong, and not so appealing tastes. If you’ve ever opened a bottle of vitamins (like B vitamins for example) and found a strong, unpleasant smell, it is not because the pills have gone off, but rather this is the natural smell of the raw nutrients within the bottle. Other nutrients, like minerals for example, can leave a metallic taste. Minerals like zinc and iron in particular have strong flavours to mask. But we like a challenge here at Nature’s Bounty, and with the addition of a small amount of sugar, plus natural flavours taken from fruits, we can help make these nutrients taste oh so good!

Vitamins and minerals are naturally occurring compounds so taste, smell and colour variations are always inevitable from product to product, but our dedicated quality controllers ensure consistency is followed from batch to batch, so variations in these should be limited. Nutritional values as stated on label always meet the claim at date of expiry on each batch, so potency is always guaranteed.

Are gummies as effective as tablets?

Since gummies are a relatively new way to consume vitamins, specific research around how they work vs traditional formats like capsules and tablets forms is limited.

But in terms of effectiveness and absorbability, the research currently shows that gummies are equal to tablets and capsules - that’s what we like to hear!  In fact our stomach acid will do a good job of breaking down all three forms of supplements fairly well, and all our products are tested to make sure they break down within 45 minutes in acidic conditions.

To be or not to be… plant based?

Most gummies in the market are gelatin based (derived from animals). However our gummies range is pectin based (derived from plants).

Pectin is a starch based substance that occurs naturally in the cell walls of fruits and vegetables. They’re what scientists refer to as ‘soluble polysaccharides’, which are a form of soluble fiber.  They naturally occur in foods such as apples, plums and grapefruit, and help to keep them firm.

Another key ingredient you’ll notice in our gummies is tapioca. Tapioca syrup is a natural sweetener that is derived from Cassava, which is a large tuber vegetable grown in tropical areas.  The starch from the plant is used as a gelling agent to literally make everything stick together.

Because cleaner is better.

We like to keep our gummies as clean as possible – that’s why all our gummies are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives, as well as being gluten and dairy free.

So there you have it.

You can check out our full range of gummies here.