There is a lot of debate about which source of a vitamin or mineral is best—food-based vitamins or traditional vitamins and minerals. One important point to remember is that whatever the source of the vitamin included in the product, it’s the same. All vitamins and minerals have a chemical formula, and the formula is always the same, so the source does not change the vitamin or mineral that you will obtain (Blumberg et al., 2024).

Are Food-Based Vitamins Easier to Absorb?

Another argument that is often used is that food-based vitamins are easier to absorb. All vitamins are, in general, very easy to absorb, and so again the source is less important (Lee et al., 2021). However, with traditional food supplement sources of vitamins, it is much easier to obtain an effective dose of a vitamin by consuming a smaller amount of product. Food-source products tend to be much lower in strength (Blumberg et al., 2024).

Minerals: A Slightly Different Story

It is slightly different with minerals, as some minerals are difficult to absorb. Iron is difficult to absorb, and our bodies have made it difficult to absorb because too much iron is not good for us (BCcampus, 2024). Food-source minerals in this case may well be easier to absorb, but this effect is usually negated because the concentration of the mineral is much lower. In general, minerals are better absorbed from animal-based foods, and the chemical form of the mineral significantly impacts bioavailability (Stachowska et al., 2025).

Cost Considerations

Food-source vitamins also tend to be much more expensive than traditional sources (Mitek et al., 2021). Whichever source you prefer is good, and it is better to take a supplement and ensure you are getting some nutrients rather than not taking a supplement at all.

At Solo Nutrition, we use the best of the traditional vitamin and mineral forms, which enables us to provide doses of vitamins and minerals that are effective and that our customers find are very effective.

References

Blumberg, J.B., Frei, B., & Fulgoni, V.L. (2024). Vitamins and minerals added to foods or taken as supplements generally are at least as bioavailable as those endogenously in foods, and often more so. Frontiers in Nutrition. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1460283
Lee, H.J., Shin, C., Chun, Y.S., et al. (2021). Physicochemical properties and bioavailability of naturally formulated fat-soluble vitamins extracted from agricultural products. Food Science and Nutrition, 8(10), 5660-5672. doi:10.1002/fsn3.1888
Mitek, M., & Hoac, T. (2021). Revisiting food-sourced vitamins for consumer diet and health needs: A perspective review. PubMed. PMID: 34557342
BCcampus. (2024). Nutrient Bioavailability: Minerals are not as efficiently absorbed as most vitamins. Human Nutrition. pressbooks.bccampus.ca
Stachowska, E., et al. (2025). In Vitro Evaluation of Bioavailability of Mg from Daily Food Rations, Dietary Supplements and Medicinal Products. PubMed. PMID: 40077618

Nigel Grosse

Nigel came into the natural products industry in 1980 working for a small vitamin/herbal company, Power Health, specialising in the food supplement side of the natural products industry. After gaining a number of years’ experience and expertise, Nigel joined Solgar Vitamins as one of their first recruits in 1989. He gained a vast array of knowledge in manufacturing and the production side of the business with Solgar. Nigel was commissioned to start two companies; Vega Nutritionals and Kudos Vitamins. This experience was invaluable when Nigel started Solo Nutrition – quality, purity, never compromised, never equalled.