It’s strange to think that until the 20th century, nobody knew what vitamin C was. There were vague notions that certain citrus fruits could prevent scurvy, but even that didn’t occur to most people until the 19th century. Until that time, people routinely died from a lack of this essential nutrient. Now we know that vitamin C is not only important for the health of our teeth and gums but is an essential part of our overall health and immune system.
Unfortunately, vitamin C has one major drawback. As strange as it may sound, the human body has a hard time digesting this essential nutrient, whether it’s in supplement form, or is consumed naturally in food. Only about 20% of it is properly absorbed by our bodies. The rest is flushed out through your digestive tract, and what little remains often has a pretty short half-life in your body.
This means that when you’re sick, attempting to consume larger doses of the vitamin has uncomfortable side effects such as cramping, gas, and diarrhea. Fortunately, modern advances have created new forms of vitamin C that are capable of extraordinary levels of bioavailability.
It’s called liposomal (or fat-soluble) vitamin C, and it has an absorption rate of roughly 90%. So not only are you receiving much higher doses but more importantly, it’s much harder to experience an overdose. Because the vitamin is encapsulated in a layer of lipids, your body digests it differently. Instead of being flushed out of your system, it’s stored in your fat and liver, where it can then be utilized on an as-needed basis.
The most popular, and arguably the most effective brand of this supplement is called Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C, which is produced by LivOn Laboratories. If you had any lingering doubts about the efficacy of fat-soluble vitamins, I suggest you read any of the hundreds of reviews left on their Amazon page I linked above. They’re impressive, to say the least.
The only drawback to LivOn’s product, is that it’s pretty expensive, at one dollar per gram of vitamin C. Plus, if you ever needed an immediate dose, this product isn’t sold in any brick and mortar store to my knowledge, so you’d have to wait for it to ship to your residence.
Fortunately, it is possible to make this fat-soluble vitamin at home, and it isn’t as difficult as you might think. The ingredients are pretty straightforward, and there are only a few hours of prep time, which largely involves refrigeration.
I’ve posted a quick video below which teaches the step by step process for producing liposomal vitamin C. Keep in mind that the homemade version probably won’t be as effective as the LivOn version, but it will still have a much higher absorption rate than ordinary vitamin C and should be more cost-effective than either of those choices.
I’d also like to note that the only appliance needed for this process that most people don’t already own, is an ultrasonic cleaner
This article was originally published at Ready Nutrition™ on June 6th, 2015
