Disclaimer: I’m in Australia and here vitamins must comply with certain regulations. Feel free to read about it: https://www.tga.gov.au/news/blog/how-are-vitamins-regulated-australia
I bought vitamin D the other day, and couldn’t help but to notice the price differences, such as:
Brand A: $8 x 300 pills Brand B: $30, x 250 capsules Brand C: $40, x 300 capsules
All had the same amount of vitamin per dose (1000 u). They all had the AUST L label which means they undergo controls to ensure that they have what they claim to have, and that they are made under certain safety standards.
I also buy iron supplements but there is nowhere near this much difference between brands. The only obvious difference was the type of pill, the more expensive ones were gel capsules while the cheap ones were hard pills.
So, are gel capsules really that much better? Is the price difference justified? Are there other issues that could explain the price difference in terms of quality?
Capsules are considered more advanced drug packaging because none of the drug dissolves in your mouth when you swallow capsules. Unlike pills, 100% of the drug goes straight to your stomach, so there’s no variation in the drug dosage, and the patient won’t complain if the drug is bitter.
Also because you can open the capsule and pour it into the glass of water, if you have trouble swallowing pills. Which defeats the first advantage, and you can simply order powdered drug instead of pills, but it won’t come pre-packaged as pills so it will be more expensive.
None of that matters for vitamins, you generally need more than 1000% of the daily dose for it to become harmful, so each pill contains more than your body really needs, because there are no side effects, so you can buy a pill and lick it, chew it, crush it, and add it to your coffee, and it will still work just fine.