Liquid Vitamin A: What is the Most Bioavailable Form of Vitamin A?

Many people still think about vitamins as the candy-like treats marketed in the Flintstones ads of the 80s and 90s. However, these ads rarely delved into the specifics of the vitamins included or their exact dosages. As we advance our understanding of nutrition, the importance of precise vitamin intake and bioavailability becomes an increasingly critical consideration.

This is particularly true for professionals in the fields of food formulation and consumer packaged goods (CPG). It's not just about incorporating a dose of vitamin A into your ingredient list; it's crucial to consider daily nutrition requirements, solubility challenges, and bioavailability issues.

If you are considering fortifying your products with liquid vitamin A, you’ll need to approach the formulation with a science-backed strategy. Here is a starting point to better understand the challenges of creating bioavailable vitamin A and how innovations from Spoke Sciences are addressing them.

Vitamin A and the Human Body

Vitamin A is one of the most important vitamins humans can ingest for good health. Vitamin A is essential to strong immune function and organ health. Preformed vitamin A that is naturally occurring is most commonly found in foods like salmon, leafy green vegetables, and organ meats. 

Vitamin A comes in two forms for human ingestion: preformed vitamin A (retinol) found in the foods listed above, and provitamin A carotenoids, such as beta-carotene. Provitamin A carotenoids are then converted into retinol in the intestine. For example, one molecule of beta-carotene produces two molecules of retinol or two “vitamin A equivalents.”

Benefits of Liquid Vitamin A

Liquids containing provitamin A are a great way for those light on vitamin A in their natural diet to boost their intake. Advantages of taking vitamin A include:

• Protects your body from molecules that create oxidative stress

• Can protect eye health including the health of the macula

• Benefits reproductive health in both sexes

• May improve your skin by stimulating collagen production

What Is the Best Form of Vitamin A?

While there are different ways to ingest vitamin A, the quantity of vitamin A that is actually absorbed requires additional research. There are multiple factors to consider when measuring the results. Those factors include everything from dietary restrictions to age, alcohol intake, and current diet. It’s an area where more research is needed. 

For those who are able to ingest vitamin A in its natural form, it is easily found in many common food products. Some of the greatest sources of natural vitamin A come from foods like organ meats (liver packs a tremendous amount of vitamin A — a three-ounce portion can give you over 700 percent of your daily value of vitamin A).

Vitamin A supplements were developed to support those who need more vitamin A in their diet. But, it’s important to be careful as ingesting large amounts of preformed vitamin A may actually be harmful, leading to a range of symptoms such as vertigo, liver damage, and joint pain.  The same is not true of provitamin A carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, which can be consumed in large quantities without ill effect.

The Challenge of Making A Bioavailable Vitamin A Supplement

Not all vitamins are created equally. This is especially true with vitamin A. Preformed vitamin A that comes from foods like salmon and liver offers efficient absorption (75-100 percent) when compared to beta-carotenes that come from plant-based foods (10 to 30 percent).

Other factors play into the absorption of beta-carotene, including the rest of a person’s diet and the method of food preparation. For example, cooked carrots have more beta-carotene available than raw carrots because the cooking process changes the cell structure of the carrot. 

Given that there is such a disparity in nutrient absorption amongst sources of vitamin A, it’s only natural that the supplement scientists would target solutions to overcome this disparity. 

A Solution to Nutritional Disparities

While not all vitamins have the same nutritional disparity as vitamin A, the disparity in bioavailability demands a solution to allow for greater equity in vitamin A absorption. This is especially true for products that are composed mainly of water, such as beverages and shots, which traditionally cannot incorporate vitamin A and other fat-soluble vitamins because oil and water do not mix.

A solution for this exists through Spoke Sciences. Say hello to IsoCaps VIT100. One milliliter of IsoCaps VIT100 provides 100 percent of the recommended dietary allowance for each of four vitamins, including vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene. IsoCaps VIT100 can easily be incorporated into a variety of product formulations, from beverages to topicals.

Spoke Sciences can solve the bioavailability problem to help producers deliver wellness products that overcome the limits of naturally insoluble and poorly-bioavailable materials. Contact us to overcome those limitations and deliver a functional product that helps people…buy your product instead of your competitor’s.