Shaklee Canada Inc.

952 Century Drive Tel. 905/681-1422

Burlington, ON L7L 5P2 Fax 905/681-0569
Technical Services Dept. Information Sheet Page 1 of 1

ABSORPTION OF NUTRIENTS FROM SUPPLEMENTS

We’re often asked about absorption levels of the various nutrients in our products. We’ve never
said “our vitamins are 98% absorbed by the body,” for instance. However, some of our
competitors, either in e-mails or faxes or by word of mouth, do make claims to the effect that
their products are absorbed to a significantly greater degree than the rest of the competition!

We believe there’s very little—if any—sound science behind claims of this nature. There are too
many variables involved to give a quantitative number for the percentage absorption, or
bioavailability, of the various nutrients in multiple-ingredient products. For example, Health
Canada’s 1990 report Nutrition Recommendations – The Report of the Scientific Review
Committee states the following for calcium absorption:

The amount of calcium absorbed by adults is a curvilinear function of intake, responding

actively to intakes up to about 10 mg/kg of body weight per day but only moderately to
higher intakes (Wilkinson 1976). Conversely, the percentage true absorption (intake
minus fecal excretion corrected for calcium of endogenous origin expressed as a percent
of intake) decreases rapidly up to 10 mg/kg per day, then slowly at greater intakes. At an
intake of 15 mg/kg per day, about 11 mg of calcium are excreted in the feces (2 mg of
endogenous origin) and 4 mg in the urine. Approximately 7 mg/kg are absorbed, of
which 3 mg represent reabsorbed digestive juice calcium (Wilkinson 1976). The true
absorption of dietary calcium by adults at this intake is approximately 40%. The
efficiency of calcium absorption is enhanced during growth, pregnancy and lactation and
declines during aging.

Therefore, you can see that it would be very difficult to state a quantitative number for
absorption of each of the nutrients in a particular Shaklee nutritional product. Instead, we prefer
to say that supplementation with our products has been shown to increase the serum levels of
certain nutrients, while at the same time no significant negative effects on hematological or other
blood chemistries were observed. One of our published clinical studies, entitled Multivitamin-
Mineral Supplementation: Effects on Blood Chemistries of College-Age Women, Acta
Vitaminologica et Enzymologica 1985; 7:217-22, deals with this kind of study.

If competitive companies make seemingly incredible claims about the percentage absorption of
nutrients from their products, ask the representative for a copy of the peer-reviewed journal
article that substantiates those claims. Don’t be surprised if the hard proof doesn’t exist!

Last updated: June 6, 2008