Vitamins are essential in making sure we receive the necessary amount of nutrients to stay healthy amidst our day-to-day activities and especially during a pandemic. If you have vitamins at home, properly maximize their benefits by learning how to ingest and store them properly.
Proper Intake of Vitamins
To make sure you are properly taking your vitamins, here are two things you can do:
Check the “best before” date.
Although most vitamin packages indicate an expiry or “best before” date, vitamins do not expire in the same sense that food does. Rather, the expiry date pertains to the period until which the full potency of the vitamin supplements can be assured. Taking vitamins past their expiry date may render the vitamins ineffective and may no longer serve its intended purpose of providing an additional nutrient source for you. When your stash of vitamins exceeds its “best before” date, it is probably time to dispose of it and replenish your stock.
Check the proper dosage and interval.
The purpose of vitamins is to supplement our needs for nutrients, but taking more than what is recommended can be toxic, too. This is why most vitamin supplements come with a recommended amount of dosage for each intake, as well as the ideal amount of interval before your next dose. Otherwise, it is best to consult with your doctor regarding the proper dosage of a supplement you are taking.
Proper Storage of Vitamins
Vitamins are essential and valuable, so proper storage must be observed to make sure their potency does not diminish before their “best before” date. Many often have misconceptions regarding vitamin storage, leading to common storage mistakes and unwanted waste in resources. Read on for the usual errors people make when storing their vitamins at home.
Common mistakes in storing vitamins
One common mistake is assuming that all vitamin supplements can be stored in the same way. Certain vitamins are more prone to losing their potency faster than others and may therefore require added care. Studies suggest that vitamins in liquid form have a shorter shelf life than solid supplements because they are less able to resist moisture. Similarly, water-soluble vitamins like Vitamin B12 and C tend to lose potency faster than other types of vitamins.
Another unadvisable but widely observed practice is keeping your vitamins in areas like the kitchen or the bathroom cabinet. These areas are high in moisture and may therefore affect the efficacy of your vitamins. Some experts would also argue that not all vitamins are suitable for storage in the refrigerator. While refrigerators offer cool temperature, they also tend to be high in moisture. It is best to check the product information of your vitamins to see if they need to be refrigerated.
Storage tips
Vitamins often come with instructions for proper storage, but here are a few guidelines you can observe:
• Store your vitamins in areas away from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight.
• Most vitamins must be stored at temperatures that do not exceed 30°C.
• If your vitamin packaging comes with a cotton ball, remove it immediately upon opening to prevent moisture buildup.
• Do not displace the vitamin supplements out of their original container or packaging.
• Check your vitamins first before ingesting them. If you see brown spots in your vitamins, this might be a sign that it has already undergone moisture buildup.
For more tips on proper vitamin and medicine storage, watch this Ask Your Doctor episode from Unilab’s YouTube channel:
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Sources:
How to Store Vitamins
Do Vitamins Expire? Nutritionists Weigh In
Drug expiry debate: the myth and the reality
Why you shouldn't take vitamins and supplements past their expiration date
What’s the average shelf life for vitamins?
