CODE LAB™
YOU SWALLOWED 500 MG.
DOES THAT MEAN YOUR BODY GOT 500 MG?
Bioavailability describes the extent to which an administered substance becomes available to the body.
For orally consumed supplements, what happens after swallowing can be influenced by the ingredient's chemical properties, dosage form, dissolution or dispersion, gastrointestinal conditions, intestinal absorption and metabolism.
That's why the amount listed on a Supplement Facts panel and the amount ultimately available to the body aren't necessarily the same thing.
Three words to know
01 · Dissolution
Before many ingredients can be absorbed, they need to dissolve—or become suitably dispersed—in the fluids of your digestive system. Think of sugar disappearing into tea: it is still there, but no longer sitting as visible crystals.
02 · Absorption
Absorption is the step where some of an ingredient moves across the intestinal wall and into the body. Dissolving can help make that possible, but dissolved does not automatically mean absorbed.
03 · Bioavailability
Bioavailability looks at the bigger result: how much of what you took becomes available in circulation after absorption and early metabolism. It is not simply the number printed on the label.
DISSOLUTION HELPS PREPARE. ABSORPTION MOVES. BIOAVAILABILITY DESCRIBES THE RESULT.
These steps depend on the specific ingredient and formulation. A liquid, gummy, capsule, tablet or jelly cannot be declared “more bioavailable” from format alone.
CODE in 30 seconds
The label tells you how much is in a serving—not necessarily how much ultimately becomes systemically available.
An ingredient generally has to become available for absorption before it can reach systemic circulation.
Water solubility, fat solubility, chemical form and metabolism can all matter.
How an ingredient is formulated can influence its behavior in the gastrointestinal environment.
Quick question
First distinction
DOSE
How much you consume.
BIOAVAILABILITY
How much becomes available to the body following administration.
When a Supplement Facts panel says 500 mg, it identifies the amount provided in the serving. It does not mean 500 mg automatically enters systemic circulation unchanged. Oral compounds encounter the gastrointestinal system first.
From label to body
Step 01
You take the supplement.
Step 02
The dosage form releases its ingredients into the gastrointestinal environment.
Step 03
Depending on the ingredient and formulation, compounds must become appropriately dissolved or dispersed.
Step 04
Some of the ingredient may cross the intestinal barrier.
Step 05
Certain compounds can be transformed by intestinal or hepatic metabolism.
Step 06
A portion may ultimately become available in systemic circulation.
THAT JOURNEY HELPS EXPLAIN BIOAVAILABILITY.
Quick question
Know your CODE
Interactive factor map
Different compounds have very different physical and chemical characteristics. There is no single bioavailability rule for every nutrient.
Quick question
Format is a starting point
No. Neither does gummy, powder, capsule, tablet or jelly. Dosage form can influence steps preceding absorption, but physical format alone does not prove superior bioavailability. What ultimately happens depends on the complete formulation and ingredient.
| FORMAT | STARTING PHYSICAL STATE | INITIAL CONSIDERATION |
|---|---|---|
| Tablet | Compressed solid | Must generally disintegrate |
| Capsule | Encapsulated contents | Shell releases contents |
| Powder | Particulate | Often mixed or dispersed |
| Liquid | Fluid | May be dissolved, suspended or emulsified |
| Gummy | Chewable matrix | Broken down during chewing and digestion |
| Jelly | Hydrated semi-solid | Already exists within a hydrated matrix |
THIS TABLE DOES NOT RANK ABSORPTION.
Physical starting state is only one part of a much larger formulation story.
Different routes
Many B vitamins · Vitamin C
Water solubility influences behavior in aqueous environments, but absorption mechanisms differ among individual nutrients.
Vitamins A · D · E · K
Dietary fat, bile and intestinal processing play important roles in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
“ABSORPTION” ISN'T ONE PROCESS.
Different nutrients take different routes.
Important context
NOT NECESSARILY.
The objective is not to maximize every possible compound entering circulation regardless of context. Appropriate intake, evidence, safety, physiological regulation and intended purpose all matter. Supplement science cannot be reduced to “more absorption = better product.”
Myth or reality
Why formulation matters
The formulation determines the environment in which ingredients are delivered. Ask more than “What's in it?” Ask: how much, what form and how is it delivered?
The CODE connection
CODE Nutraceuticals™ was built around the belief that the delivery system deserves attention alongside the ingredient list. That is one reason CODE uses a nutraceutical jelly shot format.
Our jelly begins as a hydrated, semi-solid matrix rather than a compressed tablet. That changes the physical starting point of the formulation.
What it does not allow us to responsibly say without appropriate finished-product evidence is: “Jelly automatically absorbs better.”
CODE considers ingredient, dose, formulation, delivery and consistency. The goal is not to create a bigger absorption claim. It is to create a smarter nutraceutical delivery system.
Doctor Formulated. Clinically Dosed. Powered by NanoPlex™ Delivery Technology.
What
Ingredient
How much
Dose
How
Delivery
What happens next
Bioavailability
Will you take it?
Consistency
= A BETTER WAY TO THINK ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS
Before you buy
0 / 8
One question to take with you
DON'T JUST ASK: “HOW MUCH IS IN IT?”
KNOW YOUR CODE.™
Think you know your CODE?
Questions people ask
Bioavailability describes the extent to which an administered substance becomes available to the body. For oral supplements, ingredient properties, formulation, gastrointestinal conditions, absorption and metabolism can all matter.
Not exactly. Absorption is movement from the site of administration into the body. Bioavailability is the broader extent to which the administered substance becomes systemically available.
Not necessarily. Dose and bioavailability are related in ingredient-specific ways, and the relationship may not be linear.
The physical format alone cannot establish better absorption or bioavailability. The ingredient, chemical form, formulation, solubility, gastrointestinal conditions and metabolism also matter.
It can. Food may increase, decrease or otherwise alter absorption depending on the nutrient. Dietary fat and bile are important in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
A jelly begins in a hydrated semi-solid matrix, but that physical starting state alone does not prove superior bioavailability. Evidence must be specific to the ingredient and finished formulation.
Keep learning
ENERGY CODE™
CODE CLUB $72