By Dr. Linda J. Dobberstein, DC, Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition
Article Highlights:
• Added Sugar: Gummy vitamins often contain high amounts of sugar and artificial ingredients, making them less beneficial than they appear.
• Low-Quality Nutrients: Labels may emphasize positive attributes, but a closer look reveals minimal nutrient content and junk additives.
• Vitamin Quality Matters: Choosing high-quality vitamins without added sugars and synthetic ingredients is crucial for optimal health.
Gummy vitamins may look like a tasty and easy way to take your vitamins. Perhaps you have tried them. The colorful labels and the sweet, sugary taste are appealing and leave you hopeful that they provide you with all that you need. As promising as gummy vitamins may seem, you need a closer discerning eye. Don’t be fooled by the marketing. Be a savvy consumer because you and your family’s health are at stake!
Label Descriptions
Gummy supplement labels draw your attention to many important features. They state, “product is delicious” “provides key nutrients”, “provides 100% Daily Value of 7 essential nutrients”, or GMO-free, no artificial flavors or sweeteners, gluten free, and other focal points. These are important features to know, but there is much more to review.
Check the Supplement Facts Label
Here is a brief review of some commonly available products.
Centrum Women MultiGummies first two ingredients are glucose syrup and sugar with two grams of added sugar per serving.
One A Day VitaCraves for men or women lists glucose syrup and sugar as the first two ingredients with three and two grams of sugar per serving respectively.
VitaFusion Women’s Multiple Vitamin Gummy includes 3 grams of sugar per serving with glucose syrup and sugar as the first two ingredients.
Smartypants Women’s Multivitamin Gummies contain 7 grams added sugar per serving as organic tapioca syrup and organic cane sugar.
Another brand of gummy vitamin lists its other ingredients as glucose syrup, sugar, and glucose as the first three ingredients. This amounts to 4 grams of added sugar per serving.
A popular “chew” product for heart health lists tapioca syrup, raw cane sugar, and stevia along with other “inactive” ingredients. It has 4 grams of added sugar per serving.
Other gummy or chew products may use sugar alcohol in place of glucose or other forms of sugar to avoid sugar.
Other Ingredients
Gummies commonly contain other ingredients. In the products reviewed above, other ingredients included carnauba wax, invert sugar, sucralose, sodium, vegetable oil (palm), wheat, FD&C Blue #1, Red #40, Yellow #5 and more.
As you read the labels more carefully, you may even see some that state “less than 2% of the product” is a listing of the actual vitamins. This reveals that more than 98% of the product is sugar and other ingredients to make the gummy, not the nutrients that you desired.
Junk Vitamins
The poor quality of gummy vitamins is also reflected in their ingredients. Mass produced vitamins and supplements largely contain junk vitamins. This refers to petroleum derived or synthetic vitamins that stress your body. Common junk vitamin forms include folic acid, cyanocobalamin, dl tocopherol, pyridoxine HCl/hydrochloride, and others.
In addition, some of the products reviewed above did not list the form of the nutrient instead listing the general nutrient name without identifying the form. These are clues that the company is cutting corners with quality and using cheap ingredients.
For example, the label says vitamin B12 or calcium, but fails to provide the form of the nutrient.
Clarifying information would say vitamin B12 as cyanocobalamin. Calcium would be listed as calcium carbonate, gluconate, or low quality forms.
Furthermore, the amounts of nutrients present in the multiple vitamins are minimal. Some may provide the 100% Daily Value (DV), but this level is still quite insufficient to address the deficits of the American diet. Many of the nutrient levels are below 100% of the DV.
Your need for nutrients and health is far more than the Daily Value. A gummy vitamin unfortunately will fail to provide all that you need with any diet. More in-depth information may be found in the article: National Nutrition Month: How Nutritious Is Your Diet?
The form and amount of each nutrient are critical for health and aging well. Natural, highly bioavailable, bioactive forms of nutrients include nutrients like vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, calcium as coral calcium, microcrystalline hydroxyapatite, and folic acid as methyl folate.
Check out the Wellness Resources quality page to learn more about what to look for in quality nutrition. This information applies across the industry.
Added Sugar
The FDA labels sugar as cholesterol free, fat free, sodium free, no artificial ingredients, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial preservatives, vegan, and vegetarian among other labels. A quick glance at these descriptions sounds like this is a wonderful compound but added sugar is not.
Three or four grams of added sugar per serving of a gummy vitamin may not seem like a lot. It’s a small amount relative to many other foods and beverages on the market. However, put this in context of other things. Are you taking other gummy vitamin products or multiple servings per day? Then add it to your other foods and beverages with added sugar that you consume throughout the same day.
According to the CDC, men consume on average 19 teaspoons of added sugar per day. Women consume 15 teaspoons per day. The current recommendation for added sugar consumption is less than 25 grams per day for health.
Four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon. That means that eating one serving size of gummy multivitamin for many products is a teaspoon of sugar!
If you have a couple servings of gummy vitamins per day, i.e. a multi and a specialty product plus your latte, iced tea or lemonade, a cookie or two or a Coke, you have exceeded the maximum added sugar intake. Added sugar in other common foods like fruit drinks, sweetened yogurts, mayonnaise, breakfast cereals, granola bars, condiments, peanut butter, and much more. It all adds up!
Sugar is Pro-Inflammatory
Added sugar is a key factor in causing chronic low-grade inflammation, autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancers, nerve and brain inflammation, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, gout, fatty liver/NAFLD, fatty muscle, hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, depression, ADD/ADHD, asthma, all-cause mortality, kidney disease, near-sightedness, retinal/eye disease, tooth decay and candida, etc.
Sugar causes increased release of pro-inflammatory compounds like TNF-a, C-Reactive Protein, IL-B, Il-6, CD4+ cells, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. Furthermore, sugar changes your gut microbiome with fewer beneficial flora and causes depleted levels of short chain fatty acids. This makes your gut lining at high risk for increased intestinal permeability/leaky gut syndrome and the passage of toxins and microbial substances into the circulatory system eventually inflaming your body.
Gummy vitamins are popular and easy, but you must be smart and realistic. When a product contains than 2% of the actual vitamins that you desire and the rest of the product is sugar, food colorings, vegetable oil, and wax, resist the urge. It is too good to be true.
Great Choices without the Junk
Wellness Resources has formulated outstanding quality vitamins since 1985. We do not cut corners, add sugars, food colorings, or provide junk vitamins. We provide you with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and more that truly make a difference for your health. Our product labels are full disclosure. What is on the label is exactly what is in the product.
We formulate superior quality multiple vitamins for various ages. These include:
• Super Mini Multi for children and adults who desire a very small, easy to swallow capsule.
• Daily Prenatal Multiple Vitamin for women in family planning stages or adults who desire a multiple vitamin with iron.
• Daily Energy Multiple Vitamin for 12 years of age and older. It is a customer favorite and one of our flagship products.
If you have trouble swallowing, the capsules may be pulled apart and mixed in apple sauce or yogurt. You can even put the capsule into a blender with your smoothie.
Gummies may bring back childhood memories or be easy to ingest, but are they really all that great for you? Make wise decisions for your health and your children’s! Choose nutraceutical grade quality products that can make a true difference in your health.
