The Science Behind: Vitamin Gummies
Do you remember those sugary, sweet vitamin gummies that we all ate as kids? All the different flavors? The taste?
We were told that they were healthy. Good for us. They would make us grow big and strong.
Recently, I read an article about a woman in the New York Times. She started taking her 10-year old daughter's gummies and ended up being addicted to them.
So now that we know that, let's find out if gummies were ever healthy? Or even useful?
Gummy vitamins were originally made for kids who had difficulty swallowing pills, however, that is different now. Millions of people now rely on gummy multivitamins as a health supplement. The gummy vitamin industry accounts for 7.5% of the multi-vitamin industry.
In 2012, this industry expanded further when a company in Ireland decided to produce adult gummies as well.
A 2005 AARP study proved that an average adult takes four medical prescriptions a day. This causes something called "pill fatigue." Taking gummies makes people think that they aren't taking pills. It is scientifically proven that humans love chewing. If you've ever opened a pack of gum and made 20 new best friends, that is why. Also, gummies taste better than regular pills. They don't smell horrible, they don't look terrifying and most importantly they ACTUALLY taste like fruit.
However, human beings have gone overboard and started overdosing on gummies. People think that those tiny gummies cannot be harmful, but...
An average gummy contains 2-3 grams of sugar. Though many companies have started producing sugar-free versions, they are still more or less glorified candy.
However, gummies are not easy to make. Even after they're made they sometimes have. the tendency to lose the vitamins stored inside. So the manufacturers decided to add extra nutrients to preserve the healthiness of the gummy.
Actually, that makes it worse. Eating too many of those nutrients actually increases the risk of certain types of cancer.
However, not all gummies are bad and are dangerous, but addicting. Vitamin gummies contain about the same amount of sugar as Sour Patch Kids gummy. Kids who rely on vitamin gummies often end up becoming addicted to medicine in sugary form.
Eating gummy multivitamins every day is like eating Halloween candy all year round. It sounds fun, but you know it's bad for you.
Until next time...
Stay Curious ;)
Love,
Sarah
https://time.com/5549874/do-gummy-vitamins-work/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/well/eat/vitamins-gone-gummy.html