Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Wednesday, 17 February 2021.
Tagged: health, healthy eating, nutrition, vitamins
Chewable vitamins such as Vita Gummies are very ‘on-trend’. So, should you opt for chewing rather than swallowing? We take a look at their pros and cons so you can make an informed choice.
Some are soft, chewable pastilles which look and taste just like lollies. Some are harder tablets that you need to chew before swallowing. Even though they’re hard, you don’t swallow these whole.
You can buy chewables for kids and for adults. They have a texture and taste similar to lollies (confectionery) which is a negative - see Cons later - and come in a variety of flavours and colours.
They are commonly made from gelatine, maize starch, water, food acids, sugar substitutes, natural flavours and colours, along with glazing agents such as carnauba wax or beeswax. Popular flavours are orange, lemon, raspberry and cherry.
Chewables may include several vitamins and minerals or just a few select nutrients, such as vitamin C or calcium. Some contain vegetable powders to appeal to parents of fussy eaters but at very low levels, such as 1 per cent of spinach leaf powder which won’t make much of a difference.
The Magnesium Vita Gummies are sold as “99% sugar-free” with natural colour and flavour. They’re supposed to taste of orange but we couldn’t taste much at all. They were slightly gritty and the ‘gummy’ texture wasn’t pleasant. These are useful if you can’t swallow tablets as many magnesium tablets are very large, though you can buy dissolvable powders. However, such powders aren’t completely successful either as you usually get a white sludge left in the bottom of your glass. This gives you 22 per cent of the recommended day’s intake of magnesium per serving which is defined as two gummies per day.
Its ingredients are:
Maltitol, magnesium phosphate dibasic (10%), gelatine, maize starch, sodium citrate, citric acid, natural flavour, natural colour, glazing agents (coconut oil, carnauba wax, beeswax).
These come in a bottle of 50 chewable tablets that start off with an elderberry flavour (a bit like chewing gum) and then become acidic in your saliva. Again, they are sugar-free and are sweetened with sucralose and maltitol. They contain vitamins A, C, D and E along with zinc. Instructions clearly say to chew and to not swallow whole.
With 500 mg fish oil per fish capsule, the entire capsule is shaped like a fish and is chewable and suitable to be eaten. Inside is a liquid oil which leaves a fish-oil taste in your mouth. Yes, it was cute but did it deliver? I think there are better ways to ensure you’re getting the right amount into your children.
You get 65 orange-flavoured pastilles each giving you 100 mg ascorbic acid (vitamin C). As before, they are sugar-free and sweetened with sucralose and maltitol.
For the majority of people who eat a well-balanced diet, chewable vitamins are unnecessary. However, taking these vitamins may be beneficial for certain groups, including those who have trouble swallowing pills. Beware of taking too many of them because of their fruity flavour and lolly-like taste.
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