Vitamin pills 'are useless within a week of opening'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:22 AM on 04th March 2010
High levels of humidity can cause vitamin supplements to degrade (file picture)
高度度的濕度能導致維他命補給品降解（檔案照片)
Vitamin supplements stored in a kitchen cupboard could become useless in just one week because of the humid environment, experts said yesterday.
維他命補充劑儲存在廚櫃內，剛只一星期就可變成無用，由於潮濕的環境，專家昨天說。
Even keeping products in bottles with lids might not stop the pills degrading.
即使保持產品在有蓋的樽內，可能不會停止藥片降解。
Food scientists found that crystalline substances - including vitamin C, some forms of vitamin B and other dietary supplements - are prone to an irreversible process called deliquescence.
食品科學家發現，結晶物質 - 包括維他命 C，某些形式的維他命 B和其他膳食補充劑 - 都傾向一個不可逆轉的過程稱為潮解。
It means that at levels of high humidity found in kitchens and bathrooms, essential nutrients can simply dissolve into the air.
它意味發現在廚房和浴室有高水平的濕度，必需的營養素能簡單地溶解到空氣中。
Lisa Mauer, associate professor of food science at Purdue University, Indiana, advised storing powdered supplements in very dry areas.
印第安納州普渡大學食品科學副教授麗莎莫爾建議，儲存補充品在非常乾燥的地方。
She said: 'You might see salt or sugar start to form clumps, and that's a sign of deliquescence.'
她說：'你可能會看到鹽或糖開始形成團塊，這是一個潮解的跡象。
The process can cause chemical instabilities in products, the professor said, adding: 'If ingredients dissolve they will decrease the quality and shelf life of the product and decrease the nutrient delivery.'
過程能會導致產品內的化學不穩定，教授補充：'如果成分溶解，它們將減低質素和產品的保質期，減少營養的傳遞。
And containers with lids don't always prevent deterioration.
和有蓋的容器，並不時常防止惡化。
Professor Mauer said: 'Opening and closing a package will change the atmosphere in it.
莫爾教授說：'打開和關閉包裝盒改變它內裡的空氣。
'If you open and close a package in a bathroom, you add a little bit of humidity and moisture each time.
'It depends on the conditions. It depends on the formulations. Within a very short time - in a week - you can get complete loss of vitamin C in some products.'
She published her research in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and said signs of supplements going off include liquid in their containers or brown spots on capsules.
'They're not necessarily unsafe , ' Professor Mauer added, 'but why take a vitamin if it doesn't have the vitamin content you're hoping to get?'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1255328/Vitamin-pills-useless-week-opening.html
沒有留言:
發佈留言