Nutrition Interview Preparation Guide

It depends. Some excipients, binders or fillers are bad, because they can contribute to unwanted reactions in some people. Others are neutral (meaning they are neither digested nor absorbed), but they improve tablet function by ensuring it breaks down when it supposed to. The highest quality ingredients in a nutritional supplement could be useless if the tablet doesn't disintegrate properly, or crumbles in the bottle. It is also important to remember that excipients can be made of natural, vegetable materials that are unlikely to contribute to any health problems of the patient, or they can be made from other chemicals that may cause problems for some people. Artificial colors, dyes, preservatives or coating agents have been implicated for years as possible concerns. A reputable company producing high quality nutritional supplements will exercise great care in the selection of tableting agents to ensure consistent quality throughout the product, not just in the raw material selection.

Binders and fillers are used during the tableting process to ensure that the tablet sticks together properly rather than crumbling in the bottle. For example, some vitamins are oils and others are powders. Binders, fillers and excipients help ensure the bulk powder flows smoothly through the equipment without caking or gumming, and helps make sure the tablet size and hardness are consistent.

Tablet excipients are agents used during the tableting process to help the powder flow through the equipment without sticking, or to improve the tablets' consistency, compressibility, or other desired characteristics.

Tableting agents and excipients are required to ensure quality control in the tablet-manufacturing process. Tableting is part art and part science. Knowing how even small differences in temperature and humidity will affect the tableting process requires years of experience to develop. Tablet excipients help ensure that the bulk powder flows smoothly through the equipment, and that the tablets are of the right consistency so they will break down in your body as predicted.

Capsules have some advantages in certain uses, but tablets have proven advantageous in others. For example, capsules increase the cost to the end user, it generally takes more capsules to contain the nutrients found in tablets, if the bottle is allowed to get too warm the capsules can melt or stick together, and the capsules have to be digested (broken down) before the nutrients inside can be released. On the "plus" side, capsules are generally easier to swallow, you can't tablet a liquid (which thus MUST be in capsules), and capsules can be made opaque to protect delicate and easily-lost nutrients (such as CQ 10). A reputable company will not be tied exclusively to capsules OR tablets, but will select the delivery method that is most appropriate to the nutrient and the marketplace, considering all variables in the selection process.

Stearic acid is an essential saturated fatty acid that is found in all vegetable, seed, nut and animal oils. Although stearic acid can be from several sources, the most common source in better quality nutritional supplements is vegetable stearic acid.

During tablet manufacturing certain substance such as stearic acid are use to help powders flow smoothly through the tableting machines and to help the tablets hold their shape. Stearic acid is an ideal fatty acid to use because it is naturally occurring in food, is inert and therefore does not interfere with the proper utilization or absorption of the active ingredients in the tablet.

No. There is no evidence that stearic acid, in the levels used in tablet manufacturing, in any way interferes with or blocks breakdown and absorption of nutrients. Remember that the amount of stearic acid used in a tablet is much less than would be obtained from a salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing. (Olive oil is a source of stearic acid).

Bioavailability refers to the potential a product has to be absorbed into the bloodstream and have the desired impact on the consumer. In other words, a product with very high quality raw materials but is made in such a way that the tablet doesn't break down properly would have low bioavailability and would thus not do the patient any good. Disintegration time is an example of a test that measures aspects of bioavailability; it is the time it takes under controlled conditions for a tablet to break down completely. If a supplement breaks down when it is supposed to, there is a greater likelihood that it will be absorbed into the

Simply looking at the ingredients does not necessarily provide enough information to assess value. For example, the same amount of elemental calcium can be found as, among others, citrate or carbonate, but have significantly different absorption dynamics. Carbonates are much cheaper, and so are often used by supplement manufacturers, even though the more expensive citrates are better absorbed. Frequently, higher quality comes with a higher price.