The Supplement Industry is Behind: You Need to Know About Better Choices

Key Takeaways

1. Traditional supplements like pills and gummies often lack absorption and contain fillers.
2. Microencapsulation improves nutrient delivery and absorption.
3. The supplement industry is slow to adopt these better technologies.
4. Understanding these advancements helps you make informed supplement choices.
5. Microencapsulation offers cleaner, more efficient supplements.

It’s 2024—are you still using a fax machine to send messages or renting DVDs to watch movies? Just like these outdated practices, the supplement industry is holding onto traditional methods like pills, gummies, and capsules that simply aren’t delivering the results consumers need. If you’ve been taking these forms and wondering why you’re not seeing a difference, you’re not alone. The truth is, many of these formats fail to efficiently deliver the nutrients your body requires.

What most people don’t realize is that the supplement industry, like any other, should be adapting to the latest technologies. Unfortunately, much of it isn’t keeping up. Better, cleaner, and more efficient options powered by advanced technology—such as microencapsulation—are available. This approach ensures you receive the nutrients your body needs without the unnecessary fillers that have bogged down traditional formats.

In this blog, we’ll explore the shortcomings of current delivery formats, introduce the technology that’s set to redefine supplementation, and inform you of the choices you now have as a consumer.

Introducing the Different Delivery Formats and Their Effectiveness

When you walk down the supplement aisle, you’ll find a range of options—from pills and capsules to gummies and powders. But do these formats actually deliver the benefits they promise? Let’s break down the most common delivery formats and examine their effectiveness.

1. Pills and Capsules

Overview: Pills and capsules are among the most widely used supplement delivery formats, known for their convenience and long shelf life. These formats encapsulate the active ingredients within a shell, usually made from gelatin or plant-based materials.

Effectiveness:

• Absorption Issues: One of the main problems with pills and capsules is that they rely on the digestive system to break down and absorb the ingredients. This process is highly inefficient, with much of the active ingredient being lost or degraded before it reaches the bloodstream.
• Slow Release: Pills often have slow release rates, meaning it can take hours for the body to absorb the active ingredients, and in many cases, the nutrients may never reach optimal levels in the body.
• Fillers and Additives: Many capsules contain unnecessary fillers, binders, and additives that don’t contribute to the supplement’s efficacy. These can also lead to digestive discomfort for some individuals.

2. Gummies

Overview: Gummies have surged in popularity in recent years due to their appealing taste and chewable format. They are often marketed as a fun and convenient way to take supplements, particularly for children or those who dislike swallowing pills.

Effectiveness:

• Low Potency: The pleasant taste of gummies comes at a cost. To achieve their flavor, they often contain high levels of sugar and artificial ingredients, which limit the space for actual active ingredients. This means you’re getting less of the supplement you need.
• Stability Issues: Gummies are also prone to degradation due to heat and moisture. As a result, they often lose their potency before you’ve even opened the bottle.
• Unnecessary Additives: Like pills, gummies frequently contain additives, preservatives, and coloring agents, many of which provide no benefit and may even contribute to inflammation or other health issues.

3. Powders

Overview: Powders are another common delivery format and are typically mixed into water, juice, or smoothies. This format allows for a higher concentration of ingredients compared to pills or gummies, but there are still limitations.

Effectiveness:

• Digestive Burden: Like pills, powders rely on the digestive system to process and absorb the active ingredients. For people with sensitive stomachs or compromised digestion, this format may not be ideal.
• Taste and Texture: Powders can be difficult to consume due to unpleasant tastes or gritty textures, which may lead to inconsistent use and reduced overall effectiveness.
• Dissolution Issues: Powders must fully dissolve to be effective, but sometimes, they don’t mix well, leading to uneven dosing.

4. Skin Patches

Overview: Skin patches are a newer delivery method that allows supplements to be absorbed transdermally, meaning they pass through the skin into the bloodstream. This method bypasses the digestive system entirely.

Effectiveness:

• Limited Absorption: While skin patches avoid the digestive system, their effectiveness is limited by the size of the molecules being absorbed. Large molecules, such as many vitamins and minerals, cannot pass through the skin barrier efficiently.
• Inconsistent Delivery: Absorption rates can vary depending on where the patch is applied, skin type, and duration of wear, making it difficult to achieve consistent dosing.

Why Traditional Delivery Formats Are Ineffective

Across all these traditional delivery methods, the common problem is poor absorption. Whether the supplement is broken down too slowly, lost in the digestive process, or not absorbed effectively through the skin, the end result is the same—you’re not getting the full benefit of the active ingredients.

This is where newer technologies like microencapsulation come into play, offering more efficient ways to deliver nutrients to the body without relying on outdated methods that simply aren’t delivering.

Current Technologies Available for Supplement Brands to Adopt

As the supplement industry evolves, so too do the technologies designed to deliver nutrients more effectively. Many traditional formats, like pills and capsules, are outdated, but newer innovations such as microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation are emerging as more effective ways to ensure supplements reach their full potential. Let’s explore these technologies and how they compare to older methods.

The Game-Changer in Supplement Delivery

What is Microencapsulation?

Microencapsulation is a process that coats or surrounds tiny particles of an active ingredient in a protective layer. This protective coating helps preserve the ingredient during its journey through the body, ensuring that it reaches the intended area for maximum absorption.

• How It Works: The active ingredient is "encapsulated" in microscopic layers of protective material, which shields it from stomach acid, digestive enzymes, and other factors that can degrade it before absorption.
• Controlled Release: Microencapsulation allows for a targeted release of ingredients, meaning they are delivered to the body at the right time and place. This prevents nutrient loss and ensures better bioavailability compared to traditional methods.

Advantages of Microencapsulation:

• Enhanced Bioavailability: Because the active ingredient is protected from the harsh environment of the digestive tract, more of it survives and reaches the bloodstream intact.
• Stable Ingredients: Encapsulation protects sensitive ingredients from degradation caused by exposure to air, moisture, or heat, ensuring longer shelf life and potency.
• Less Need for Fillers: Unlike pills or gummies, microencapsulation allows for more active ingredients and fewer unnecessary fillers or additives.

Nanoencapsulation: A Step Further

What is Nanoencapsulation?

Nanoencapsulation is a more advanced form of microencapsulation, where the particles are even smaller—often at the nanoscale level. This enables them to pass through cell membranes more easily, leading to more efficient absorption.

• How It Works: Nanoencapsulation involves coating active ingredients in an even finer protective layer, allowing for faster absorption and more precise delivery to cells.
• Precision Delivery: This technology is particularly useful for ingredients that need to reach specific areas of the body, making it ideal for supplements that target particular health concerns.

Advantages of Nanoencapsulation:

• Superior Absorption: Because nanoencapsulated ingredients are much smaller, they can pass through biological barriers (like the gut lining) more easily than larger particles.
• Faster Action: Nanoencapsulated supplements can be absorbed and utilized by the body more quickly than traditional supplements.

Why Traditional Formats Are Lagging Behind

• Poor Absorption: As discussed in Section 1, traditional pills, capsules, and gummies are often ineffective due to poor absorption in the digestive tract. Without the protection offered by encapsulation, many active ingredients are broken down before they can be used by the body.
• Inconsistent Delivery: Traditional methods don’t offer the same precision as microencapsulation or nanoencapsulation. With pills or powders, for example, the body may absorb varying amounts of the active ingredient depending on factors like metabolism or digestive health.

Liposomal Delivery: Another Emerging Technology

Though not as widely adopted as microencapsulation, liposomal delivery is another method that improves absorption. In this system, active ingredients are encased in a liposome—a tiny spherical structure made of fats that mimic cell membranes. Liposomes are useful for delivering fat-soluble ingredients directly into cells.

However, microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation offer several advantages over liposomal delivery:

• Better Stability: Liposomes are sensitive to environmental factors like heat and oxidation, while microencapsulated ingredients tend to be more stable and longer-lasting.
• Broader Application: Microencapsulation can be used for both fat-soluble and water-soluble ingredients, whereas liposomes are primarily suited to fat-soluble compounds.

As the supplement industry progresses, microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation are proving to be more efficient and reliable delivery systems, ensuring that consumers get the full benefit of the nutrients they take. These technologies represent the future of supplementation, providing better absorption, targeted delivery, and cleaner products with fewer fillers.

In the next section, we’ll explore how some brands are adopting these technologies and why this shift is essential for consumers seeking higher-quality, more effective supplements.

How BIOSTRIPS is Adopting Microencapsulation – The Founder’s Story

At the heart of BIOSTRIPS is a desire to strip away the unnecessary and focus on what truly matters—delivering high-quality, effective supplements in the simplest way possible. When our founder, Joanna Bacchus, first entered the supplement industry, she was struck by a common problem: products filled with too many fillers, binders, and additives, but not enough of the active ingredients that actually provide benefits.

Joanna’s concern was that the supplement industry had become too complicated and too focused on marketing flash rather than actual substance. Consumers were getting products loaded with fillers and fancy packaging, but with only a fraction of the nutrients they thought they were paying for. Pills, gummies, and capsules were packed with ingredients that didn’t serve any real purpose other than making the product look or taste better.

The Search for a Better Way

Determined to change this, Joanna began searching for an alternative— That’s when she discovered microencapsulation, an advanced technology that ensures active ingredients are protected, stable, and effectively absorbed by the body.

For Joanna, this was a breakthrough. Here was a technology that allowed for the maximum absorption of nutrients, delivered in a simple and convenient oral strip format. Microencapsulation ensures that the active ingredients in BIOSTRIPS are:

• Protected from degradation in the digestive system.
• Released at the right time and place for optimal effectiveness.
• Free of unnecessary additives that can dilute the potency of the supplement.

Simplicity at Its Core

BIOSTRIPS’ mission is simple: to provide you with high-quality ingredients, delivered through the latest, most efficient technology available. This approach strips back all the unnecessary complexities of the traditional supplement industry, making sure that you get exactly what you need and nothing that you don’t.

This commitment to quality and innovation is what sets BIOSTRIPS apart from brands that continue to rely on outdated delivery methods. Joanna’s vision was to make supplements more effective, cleaner, and easier to use—and that’s exactly what BIOSTRIPS delivers.

How BIOSTRIPS Stands Against Outdated Industry Practices

The supplement industry is slow to adapt, but BIOSTRIPS has taken the step forward by embracing microencapsulation technology. While many brands still rely on traditional formats that are prone to poor absorption and unnecessary fillers, BIOSTRIPS’ oral strips deliver a higher concentration of active ingredients with better efficiency.

At the end of the day, the goal is to give consumers more power over their health choices—by offering transparency, simplicity, and supplements that work with your body, not against it.

In this section, we’ve explored how BIOSTRIPS, driven by the vision of its founder, is leading the way in adopting microencapsulation to create a more efficient, cleaner supplement experience. In the next section, we’ll summarize your choices and why understanding these technologies matters.

Making Informed Choices – A Summary

As a consumer in today’s supplement market, you have more options than ever before. But with all the choices available, it’s important to understand the technology behind what you’re putting into your body. In this guide, we’ve explored how traditional supplement formats—like pills, gummies, and capsules—often fall short when it comes to delivering the nutrients your body needs.

Here’s a recap of what you need to know:

• Traditional Delivery Formats Have Limitations: Pills, gummies, and powders often come with poor absorption rates, fillers, and additives that prevent you from getting the full benefits of the active ingredients.
• Emerging Technologies Offer Better Solutions: Microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation are advanced technologies that allow nutrients to be delivered more efficiently, ensuring that your body absorbs more of what you need without unnecessary fillers or additives.
• Microencapsulation Provides Real Benefits: By protecting ingredients during digestion and releasing them at the optimal time, microencapsulation offers superior bioavailability and stability, leading to better outcomes for consumers.
• BIOSTRIPS Embraces This Technology: While much of the supplement industry is slow to adapt, brands that adopt these innovations stand out by offering cleaner, more effective supplements that are easier to absorb.

At the end of the day, it’s about making informed choices. Understanding how supplements are delivered—and choosing those that prioritize effective delivery and clean ingredients—can make a huge difference in your overall health and wellness. As the industry continues to evolve, make sure you’re choosing products that keep up with the latest advancements in technology and put your health first.

The Future of Supplementation Is Here

The supplement industry is at a turning point. As consumers become more aware of the limitations of traditional formats like pills, gummies, and capsules, it’s clear that newer, more advanced technologies are needed to deliver nutrients effectively. Microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation represent the future of supplementation, offering better absorption, stability, and potency without the unnecessary fillers that have long plagued the industry.

As we’ve explored, these technologies ensure that you get more from your supplements by protecting and delivering the active ingredients where they’re needed most. Brands that embrace these advancements are prioritizing your health, delivering cleaner and more effective products.

Ultimately, the choice is in your hands. By understanding how supplements are delivered, you can make informed decisions that support your wellness journey. As the supplement industry evolves, make sure you’re choosing products that adapt to the latest technologies, giving you the best possible outcomes for your health.