Morning or evening? With or without food? Answers to your questions about taking food supplements.

A balanced diet is crucial to meet essential nutritional needs.

However, our lifestyles often lead to a risk of insufficient nutrient intake which, when combined, can cause deficiencies, or even, in some cases, pathologies. It is therefore preferable to supplement one’s diet with appropriate nutrients before deficiencies appear and become problematic.

If you are taking a supplement due to such a deficiency, you should try to take it in a way that promotes optimal absorption. The timing of taking a supplement can seem complicated, so let’s simplify when to take some of the most common food supplements and why.

When to take food supplements?

The question of whether it is better to take your vitamins in the morning or in the evening is debated.

First, you should know that the best time to take your vitamins is when your body’s absorption is maximal and truly depends on the type of vitamin you are taking.

Some vitamins should be taken in the morning for maximum absorption. Others, especially those that promote relaxation, should be taken before going to bed.

Without food / on an empty stomach

Water-soluble vitamins – B vitamins and vitamin C, in particular – are best absorbed on an empty stomach. Ideally, they should be taken before a meal, such as breakfast.

We also consume many foods and inhibitory compounds such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, unfermented soy, and alcohol, which decrease the absorption of certain nutrients.

For this reason, breakfast, consisting of coffee or tea among other things, can hinder the absorption of active ingredients contained in food supplements.

For example, we recommend taking our REVISCIENCE LABS HNS 250 food supplement on an empty stomach, away from meals and especially away from coffee and tea, to maximize absorption.

Certain types of minerals, such as chelated mineral supplements, can be taken without food. Chelation occurs when a mineral has been bound to an acid, so it does not depend on your stomach acid to break it down. Calcium citrate and magnesium glycinate are prime examples.

In the evening

According to the theory, since food provides you with nutrients throughout the day, taking your food supplements in the evening allows your body to nourish itself while you sleep.

However, the question remains debated, and some scientists suggest that taking certain food supplements in the evening is not advisable, as digestion slows down during sleep, and therefore taking your food supplement late at night would not be associated with effective absorption.

For some food supplements, however, there is a consensus, and it seems very relevant to take them in the evening or before going to bed. Vitamin E, in particular, is an antioxidant that offers many benefits for people who have sleep problems. As vitamin E has a neuroprotective effect, it may be preferable in some cases to take it in the evening or just before going to bed. We can also mention the case of melatonin. Before deciding on the best time to take melatonin, you must make a clear distinction: whether or not you suffer from a circadian rhythm disorder will determine the time you should take this supplement.

For people who have a problem with their internal clock, if they suffer from a circadian rhythm disorder, we recommend taking melatonin about an hour or two before they wish to go to bed. But most people do not have a circadian disorder, and those who take melatonin-based supplements solely to fall asleep can take them at bedtime or just 15 minutes before.

This is also the case for our REVISCIENCE LABS Complexe 3 Minceur de Nuit food supplement, which helps increase the feeling of satiety during the night, improves the symptoms of occasional insomnia, and helps significantly reduce cortisol, a key stress marker, and CRP, a marker of the body’s natural immune response.

With food

Some vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, are best absorbed when you take them with a meal or snack containing at least one teaspoon of fat (about 5 grams of fat). For example, if you take this type of fat-soluble vitamin at breakfast, you can eat almond butter with your oatmeal or avocado with your eggs and toast.

Vitamin D should ideally be taken with the largest meal of the day.

Furthermore, for people suffering from gastric disorders, it is advisable to take food supplements such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and fish oil with meals or a snack, as they can upset your stomach if taken on an empty stomach.

Regarding probiotics, preliminary research suggests that it would be better to take them during a meal or 30 minutes before rather than taking them after the meal.

Hydration also plays an important role

Fluid intake is particularly important for the disintegration of the supplement tablet or capsule and for the dissolution of water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C and B vitamins. So be sure to wash down all supplements with a large glass of water.

Better together

Dynamic nutrient duos include vitamin D, which promotes calcium absorption, and vitamin C, which promotes iron absorption. Therefore, the ideal is to take these nutrients simultaneously through supplements or by reinforcing them with food sources. A classic example is taking your iron supplements with a small glass of orange juice to benefit from vitamin C’s absorption-boosting effects.

Better separated

Calcium, on the other hand, can affect your body’s absorption of iron, zinc, and magnesium. I recommend taking calcium supplements at a different meal than iron supplements. Also note that your body absorbs calcium more effectively when you take 600 milligrams or less at a time. If you take more than 600 milligrams per day, it is best to split the dose between morning and evening.

Fiber is another nutrient you should take separately from other supplements and medications, as it interferes with absorption. It is recommended to take it before bed if you are not taking anything else at that time.