Out of the many vitamin and supplement forms available, capsules and tablets are perhaps the most popular. This is the reason why most of the supplement brand owners find themselves comparing capsules vs tablets for their formulas. If you are still stuck on which delivery format to choose for your supplements, we’ll break down the differences to help you reach a final decision.
What is a Capsule?
Capsules are one of the most convenient and widely consumed delivery formats for dietary supplements and medicines. Hard-shelled capsules are made up of two pieces that encapsulate mostly powdered ingredients and are carefully sealed to avoid spilling. Capsule shells are usually made up of gelatin, but vegan options- made up of cellulose- are also available.
What is a Tablet?
Tablets have been around for ages. They are convenient, safe, and effective for delivering medication and nutrients. Tablets are formed by compressing ingredients in powdered form. Tablets are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They often contain certain excipients to bind the active ingredients together and special coatings to delay disintegration in the digestive tract.
Which one to choose: Capsules vs Tablets?
There are quite a few deciding factors that supplement sellers must take into account before choosing a delivery format for their product. Each one of capsules vs tablets has its own benefits depending on the type of ingredients, recommended dosage, taste and odor, and absorption rate.
When are capsules the right choice?
Capsules are the most convenient of the two because of their small size and shape making them optimal for quick swallowing. The hard shells quickly dissolve in the stomach acid so that the nutrients packed inside can be rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. Capsules are also great for masking the unwanted taste and bad odor of certain ingredients like fish oil.
Recommended dosage also plays a vital role in choosing between capsules vs tablets. Capsules, due to their smaller/standard size, cannot encapsulate a high dosage in a single unit. And consumers are often not interested in taking multiple capsules for a single supplement dose.
When are tablets the right choice?
Needless to say, for supplements that must be consumed in higher quantities, tablets are the obvious choice. Some supplement ingredients need to be slowly released in the digestive tract for optimal efficacy; tablets with specialized coatings are the right choice for time-released products or vitamins that must disintegrate in the intestines and not the stomach.
Although tablets come in a range of shapes and sizes, supplement brand owners must choose a shape and size that is easy to swallow. Adding excipients and coatings can give tablets an attractive color or a pleasant flavor, but some people may not respond as well to the unnecessary additives.
Beyond Standard Capsules and Tablets
Capsules and tablets come in a variety of forms. In addition to the typically compressed tablets, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities like BL Bio Lab also offer chewable, sublingual, and effervescent tablets. Traditionally, capsules come in vegan, non-vegan, hard-shelled, and soft gel varieties. But several supplement business owners are expanding their catalog with groundbreaking capsule-in-capsule technology to combine liquid and dry powdered ingredients that may not mix well but can deliver optimal benefits when consumed together.
Capsules vs Tablets: Misconceptions
When supplement sellers are figuring out what to choose between capsules vs tablets, It’s easier to fall down the rabbit hole and end up with misleading information. It is believed that tablets are hard to digest and often pass through the digestive tract intact. However, this is a misconception because correctly manufactured tablets are as readily disintegrated in the stomach as capsules. Their dissolution rate depends on the outer film coating. At BL Bio Lab, tablets are manufactured keeping in mind the bioavailability factor. The tablets are closely monitored and each batch is thoroughly tested to ensure that they disintegrate as expected.
BL Bio Lab also manufactures both vegan and non-vegan capsules with minimum excipients to avoid potential adverse reactions. Supplement sellers can attract a wider customer base by offering capsules that are of plant-based origin and easy to swallow. BL Bio Lab’s R&D department will help you in figuring out the better option- capsules vs tablets- for your particular product. With the right manufacturing partner on your side, your supplements can be a hit among consumers regardless of the delivery format.
