Liposomal Vitamin C 1000mg

Description

Liposomal vitamin c as a liquid, 1,000 mg of ascorbic acid per 5 ml, 30 servings at about $1.13 each. The ascorbic acid is encapsulated in phosphatidylcholine liposomes, which are microscopic bubbles of the same sort of phospholipid that makes up a cell membrane. Liposomal vitamin c tastes of the lecithin those liposomes are made from, which is why most people take it in a mouthful of juice rather than neat.

On the label

What liposomal vitamin c costs against a plain tablet

A great deal more, and the figure is worth seeing. Plain ascorbic acid at 1,000 mg costs a few cents a serving. This is roughly twenty times that per milligram. The premium buys the encapsulation, the phospholipid and a liquid format, not more vitamin C.

Whether that trade is worth making is a question the published evidence does not settle cleanly, and we would rather print the price comparison than imply it does. The method behind the per milligram figure under every price here is in why price per milligram beats the price on the bottle.

What the absorption studies on liposomal vitamin c measured

Small pharmacokinetic studies have compared liposomal preparations against plain ascorbic acid at doses around 4 grams, sampling plasma ascorbate over several hours and reporting a higher area under the curve for the encapsulated form. The studies are small, few in number and several were funded by manufacturers.

That is a description of the literature, including its limitations, and not a claim about this bottle. Absorption arguments are exactly where supplement marketing gets loudest and the data gets thinnest, which is the subject of our note on choosing a format when the absorption data is thin.

Phospholipid source, and the soy question

Phosphatidylcholine for liposomes comes from either soy or sunflower lecithin. Both are purified to the point where protein is not detectable, and both are named on the panel rather than hidden under lecithin as one word. Anyone avoiding soy strictly should read that line instead of assuming, which is the rule across every allergen derived ingredient here.

The phospholipid is also a meaningful share of what you are buying. A 5 ml serving of liposomal vitamin c is mostly water, glycerol and phospholipid by weight, carrying 1,000 mg of ascorbic acid. That is the nature of the format rather than a complaint about it.

Why liposomal vitamin c is sold as a liquid

Liposomes are suspended in water. Drying them into a powder either destroys the structure or needs a cryoprotectant and a process few manufacturers run, so a liposomal powder in a capsule deserves more scepticism than a liquid does.

The cost of the liquid format is refrigeration after opening, a dosing cup to measure with, and the lecithin taste. A liposomal vitamin c bottle is less convenient than a tablet, and some of the price premium is buying that convenience back.

The word liposomal is not a regulated term

Nothing requires a product calling itself liposomal to demonstrate that liposomes formed, how many, or how much of the ascorbic acid sits inside them. Encapsulation efficiency and particle size are the figures that would answer it, and they are rarely published by anyone. Ours states the phospholipid and its source on the panel, which is the part we can measure and prove.

Reference intakes

Adult recommended intakes are 75 mg a day for women and 90 mg for men, with the tolerable upper level at 2,000 mg, all of it tabulated on the NIH vitamin C fact sheet. A 1,000 mg serving is above the first figure and under the second, which is useful scale to hold before choosing a format.

Testing

Every lot of liposomal vitamin c is assayed for ascorbic acid content by an independent laboratory, with heavy metals and microbials screened and the phospholipid identity confirmed. A liquid also gets a microbial limit test that a dry powder does not need. Under strength lots are withdrawn and their reports stay public, and the rest of the range sits on the vitamins page.