Chewing gum can be an effective mode of delivery of vitamins, demonstrate these scientists from the University of Pennsylvania. While nearly 15% of all varieties of chewing gum promise to provide users with health-enhancing supplements, researchers show that vitamin-enriched products are quite effective in delivering vitamins to the body. Their results validate the concept of gum as an effective delivery system.
Surprisingly, lead author Joshua Lambert, professor of nutrition, is the first with his team to take a close look at the delivery of vitamins from chewing gum. “Chewing,” he says, “an enjoyable habit for many could be a strategy to reduce vitamin deficiencies globally.” In the United States alone, the researchers add in their statement, vitamin insufficiency is a serious problem, with nearly one in 10 people over the age of one having a deficiency in vitamins B6 and C .
To find out if such products can bring vitamins to the body, the researchers invited 15 volunteers to chew enriched gums, vs placebo and then measured the levels of 8 vitamins released in their saliva and in their plasma. These analyzes reveal that:
- retinol (A1), thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacinamide (B3), pyridoxine (B6), folic acid, cyanocobalamin (B12), ascorbic acid (C) and l alpha-tocopherol (E) are released in the saliva of participants who chewed the supplemented gummies;
- plasma vitamin concentrations in participants' blood, depending on the supplemented chewing gum, are also increased vs. placebo:
- for retinol, from 75 to 96%;
- pyridoxine, 906 to 1.077%;
- ascorbic acid, 64 to 141%;
- alpha-tocopherol, 418-502%.
Positive results for water-soluble vitamins and partially for fat-soluble vitamins: research shows that the plasma level of water-soluble vitamins such as vitamins B6 and C can thus be increased in the plasma of participants chewing supplemented chewing gum. Same but to a lesser extent for several other fat-soluble vitamins, such as retinol, derived from vitamin A, and alpha-tocopherol, derived from vitamin E. Water-soluble vitamins are almost completely extracted from the gum during the process chewing. Fat-soluble vitamins are not completely.
