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Liquids vs Pills



  • Liquids are prepared utilizing fresh elements
  • Liquids are far simpler to swallow, particularly for seniors


  • Pills can be hard to swallow for certain individuals
  • The absorption rate of pills is usually less than in liquids
  • The digestion rate for pills takes (literally) hours, with a minimal effect
  • Pill ingredients can end up being powdered as long as one year after being collected or harvested
  • Powdered pill ingredients are compressed into pills using buffers, binders and fillers; these binders and fillers require additional digestion by the body to either break down the capsules or the ingredients
  • Buffers, binders and fillers affect the bioavailability, which can reduce the absorption rate and effectiveness of the ingredient(s)



It’s not how much you take but how much your body absorbs that is the most important issue with digestion. With a higher level of absorption, more nutrients reach their intended destination thereby allowing the intended ingredients to treat the issue. What is important is how we can best insure the uptake of desired minerals, vitamins and ingredients. 

One way around this problem is to take nutritional supplements using the most efficient delivery system available. More nutrients in a pill or capsule is not necessarily better. Your ability to absorb nutrients from the food you eat and the supplements you take may decrease significantly by as much as 70-90% as you age. Research on senior absorption characteristics indicates that reduced levels of digestive enzymes, coupled with reduced hydrochloric acid production in your stomach are culprits contributing to this condition. Much of this absorption can equally be attributed to the use of antacids and the use of prescriptions that lower the level of hydrochloric acid that the body produces. These are readily prescribed when a hypo or lack of acids are produced by the body rather than a hyper, or too much acid being produced by the digestive system.  It is sometimes this misdiagnosis that creates much of the digestive issues for those with slow metabolic issues in turn causing additional digestive related health issues.

When you can't fully digest your food, your body can't absorb the vitamins and minerals they contain. Vitamin and mineral rich solid, raw foods and supplements that require additional digestion are thus harder to digest and are passed through the digestive system without the benefit of proper absorption. The vitamins and minerals that would normally be absorbed into the bloodstream are "locked up" and passed from the body unused adding little to no benefit to the body and to one’s health.

As shown in the following chart, the rate of absorption is directly related to the delivery system with the inherent nature of liquids being much higher than pills or tablets that require by their physical nature the need to be broken down to a liquid state before being able to be absorbed in the body. Liquids simply eliminate part of the processes that need to be taken by the stomach in processing a solid into a liquid.

Delivery System   /  Rate of Absorption *(5)

Pill or tablet - 10%
Capsule - 20%
Gel Cap - 30%
Transdermal Patch - 45%
Sublingual Liquid - 50%
Intramuscular Injection - 90%
Oral or Sublingual Spray - 95%
Intravenous Injection - 100%

Stomach acid is responsible for the activation of the specific enzymes needed for digestion as nutrients travels into the small intestine and large intestine. Low levels of stomach acid may allow undigested nutrients to travel farther along the digestive tract hindering efficient absorption. As we age, the acid in your stomach is a key player in the thorough breakdown of food. Those who don't have enough stomach acid often can't digest fiber rich food, whole foods or vitamin pills, and end up having long term issues such as weight gain, gallbladder issues and issues of fatigue and energy loss associated with proper digestion. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies often already exist because of poor food choices, processed foods, high protein diets, diets high in sugar and salts and lead directly to the poor digestion and the additional issues as sited.

Often times we know the therapeutic dosage for a specific condition, but we do not know how much of the prescribed nutrient is absorbed into the bloodstream via the gastrointestinal system when taken orally by tablet, capsule or gel cap. We do know that after age 40 and continuing on as we age, our gastrointestinal absorption rate reduces significantly. (1-4) This problem becomes even more serious when combined with health conditions or digestive disorders that further reduce absorption such as ulcers, diverticulitis, acid reflux, gallstones, sludge or debris, liver enzyme imbalance, and other significantly related issues.

Again, it’s not how much you take but how much your body tissues absorb that is important. With a higher level of absorption, more nutrients reach their intended destination thereby requiring a lower dosage intake. What is important is how we can best insure the uptake of the desired “ingredients”. One way around this problem is to take nutritional supplements using the most efficient delivery system available. More nutrients in a pill or capsule is not necessarily better. 



4. Baker, Jaslow & Frank, Severe impairment of dietary folate utilization in the elderly, J Am Geriatr Soc, 26
(5):218-21, 1978 May.
5. Physicians’ Desk Reference, NPPDR No. 18:676, 1997.
6. Liposomes a practical approach. RRC New Editor, IRL press at oxford university press. 1990.
7. Liposome technology, Gregodadis Ed. Vol 1, 11, 111. 2nd Edition, CRC Press, 1993.
8. Elias Fattal, Technological aspects of liposomes preparation, University of Paris-Sud, School of 
Pharmacy, URA CNRS 1218, Chatenay-Malabry, France.
9. Weiner, Dietze & Laue, Age-dependent alterations of intestinal absorption. Arch Gerontol Geriatr, 3(2):97-
108, 1984 Jul.
10. Scientific American, 256 (1):103-111, 1987.


