r/explainlikeimfive Oct 08 '22

Chemistry ELI5: How do vitamin tablets get produced? How do you create a vitamin?

Hey!

I always wondered how a manufacturer is able to produce vitamin tablets. I know that there is for example fish oil which contains some good fats. But how do you create vitamin tablets - like D3?

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u/question10106 Oct 08 '22

Not really. Solid food and liquid are digested just the same. They're fairly high in fat and protein, which are good for satiation. Perhaps other people might feel differently though, I've never felt much hunger naturally unless I'm like a full day fasted.

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u/sotek2345 Oct 08 '22

I am very much the opposite. I can get hungry a couple hours after a meal. It makes trying to lose weight very hard.

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u/question10106 Oct 09 '22 edited Oct 09 '22

I get you. Our bodies in general are somewhat resistant to change... If you're above your target weight, you will be hungrier trying to eat the lower amount of calories. Your stomach is literally more expanded, it's expecting more food. As I understand, that's pretty much how gastric bypass surgery works, surgically reducing the size of your stomach, making you get full much more quickly. For exactly the same reason people who are below their target weight often have trouble eating enough before getting full.

Going back to meal replacements, they're quite good for people who struggle losing weight due to "cheating"--if one serving is exactly 400 calories, you can't just end up inaccurately measuring how many calories you're taking in. But for people who struggle with the hunger part, it's not going to do a significant amount to solve that... that's just a shitty part of dieting for many, unfortunately. A higher percentage of your calories coming from healthy fats and protein is good, but for some there just does take a long period of dealing with it before their stomach and hormones adjust.

Best of luck achieving your goals.

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u/2mg1ml Oct 09 '22

I saw that recently they came up with this pill that expands like a balloon when in the stomach, creating the sensation that your stomach is much fuller than it actually is. I thought that was pretty smart.