We all know them—the Flintstones gummy vitamins that we’ve been taking well beyond our childhoods where Pebbles and Fred Flinstone fed us our daily dosages of Vitamin A, B, X, Y, and Z every day, or twice a day, or every time we pass by the big container of sugary, chewy, irresistible gummies and just can’t resist to give into our sweet tooth, right?
Wrong.
This may ruin a part of your childhood, or change the way you look at your doctor, but the reality is that gummy vitamins aren’t as effective as we think or hope they are, and eating 45 in one day is not the same as eating 45 skittles.
Though we’ve all found our favorite brand of gummy vitamins, developed a clear opinion on whether we like the sugar-coated ones or the sour ones, and even got to know the characters of Scooby Doo or Frozen all too well, over-indulging in these so-called “vitamins” can cause some serious medical concerns.
Unfortunately, you’re only supposed to take one to two gummy vitamins per day, you know, like a real vitamin. Eating a whole bottle of gummy vitamins can cause toxic levels of minerals such as zinc, magnesium, and manganese, or water- and fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, D ,E, etc.
Studies have also shown that standard multivitamins contain nearly twice the amount of vitamin content than gummy vitamins. And if you thought eating gummy vitamins was harmless, they contain nearly seven times the sugar and four times the calories per serving versus standard multivitamins.
Gummy vitamins often contain glucose syrup, sucrose, and gelatin, which are all ingredients that are bound to stick to teeth and discolor them as well. So if you’re one of those people who cringe at the thought of swallowing a pill, make sure you’re brushing right after.
On average, there are about three grams of sugar for a serving size of two gummy vitamins. And if you compare One A Day VitaCraves Gummies with Haribo Gold-Bears, two gummy vitamins have the same amount of sugar as two gummy bears—about 2-3 grams. And at CVS, a 5-oz. bag of Haribo Gold-Bears is sold for $1.77, whereas One A Day Gummies are sold for $18.49.
The wise move here would be if you want your daily dose of vitamins, take the standard multi-vitamin tablets that will allow you to stray away from gummy overdoses. And if you really need to satisfy your sweet tooth, eat some Haribo gummy bears. They’re only $1.77, after all.