Kind of depends on two things: one, which are you more likely to take on a consistent basis and two, how much of a certain vitamin, mineral, nutrient are you looking for?

Gummies are all the rage. What was once for kids is now for anyone who enjoys a convenient, candy-like experience to take their Vitamin C, Collagen, Apple Cider Vinegar, and the hundreds of other nutrients gummy manufacturers have packed into these tasty treats.

Studies show that vitamins (they only tested vitamins) are equally absorbed into the bloodstream no matter if they were consumed via a gummy or pill. They had the same bioavailability (the amount a substance can be absorbed by the digestive system). So that’s a great thing, you’re not losing anything.

But here is where it gets sticky. When you formulate a gummy, you must take a lot of inactive ingredients into account. The gelatin or pectin, the sweetener, colors, flavors, stabilizers, etc., and all this “stuff” reduces the amount of actives (nutrients) you can put into a gummy.

So most of the time, you’ll see gummies have a LOT less of certain nutrients than their pill partners. With pills, you can smash (remember, they get pressed in tons of pressure) a large dose of nutrients in a small tablet/pill.

Some ingredients, like CBD, you don’t need a lot to be effective, so they work great for gummies, but if you want multiple ingredients in one gummy or nutrients like Collagen (where you need grams), you won’t find enough in a gummy. So be aware of how much of a nutrient the gummy actually contains.

Gummies are also more sensitive to degradation. So you’ll want to use them quickly as they can lose their potency rather quickly, and manufacturing testing (for shelf life) is not as reliable as tablets, capsules, or soft gels.

With pills, you don’t have to worry about taste, color, smell, or “chewiness”, so there aren’t any added sugars, artificial ingredients, or fillers. The more nutrients or nasty-tasting (like B-vitamins), the more you need to use these non-actives to have a tasty experience.

Most of the time, between pills and gummies, pills will be a more effective choice. You’ll get more of the nutrient and/or combination of nutrients, less added “stuff”, and more variety of ingredients (so hard to make optimal doses of herbs taste good!).

BUT, gummies are great for kids, if you hate swallowing pills, and for single ingredients that don’t have a lot of taste issues with optimal dosages that are not high – CBD, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Calcium, etc.

Last note, I don’t think you’ll get much health benefit from these popular gummies – Collagen, Apple Cider Vinegar, Greens or Veggie, and Multi-Nutrient formulations.