What Are Filler Ingredients And Are They Bad For You?
Oct 02, 2024
Have you ever looked at an ingredients label and seen a word you don’t recognise? Maybe you wonder why supplements contain “unnecessary” filler ingredients… Surely a vitamin D supplement should only have “Vitamin D” in the ingredients list, right? Let’s have a closer look at some fillers you might find in your MOBU supplements and why we use them!
Why Do Supplements Contain Bulking Agents?
Certain active ingredients in supplements are only added in incredibly small amounts, for instance some vitamins and minerals are only taken in milligrams or even micrograms at a time! Bulking agents are therefore needed to make a tablet that is reasonably sized - otherwise your tablets would be the size of small grains of sand! Some fillers such as magnesium stearate and microcrystalline cellulose are used for this purpose, these also work as binding ingredients which are essential to hold tablets together - they are only added to supplements in minimal amounts, and without them, your tablet would just crumble.
Why Do Supplements Contain Anti-Caking Agents?
Anti-caking agents and flow agents are often added during the manufacturing of a supplement. Our supplements normally contain magnesium stearate, dicalcium phosphate and silicon dioxide. These are used to keep powdered ingredients flowing smoothly during manufacturing by keeping water away from the powder and preventing it from caking or clumping together, or sticking to the machinery during manufacturing. This can also help increase the product's shelf life and make sure the product maintains a higher quality for longer!
What Are Filler Ingredients Made Of?
A lot of consumers worry about what certain ingredients are made up of, especially if it has a funny or complicated name, so let’s break it down:
- Magnesium stearate is a salt made up of a magnesium and stearic acid - which is a fatty acid
- Dicalcium Phosphate is made of the minerals calcium and phosphate, and two water molecules
- Silicone dioxide is a natural compound made of silicon and oxygen - it is found naturally in water, plants, and animals
- Microcrystalline Cellulose is made by hydrolyzing cellulose, which is generally derived from plant based materials such as wood pulp and cotton linters
Although these are often synthetically made, most of them contain compounds that are naturally found in our bodies already! In addition to being used in supplements, you can find anti-caking agents such as dicalcium phosphate in things like table salt, sugar and flour, and microcrystalline cellulose is often found in shredded cheese to avoid clumping, or even in foods like bread to add fibre!
What Is HPMC?
You may also be wondering, what about capsules? Our capsules generally made of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose aka HPMC, however capsules can also be made from gelatine. Gelatine is animal based, and you may find it in some of your favourite jellies and candies, whereas HPMC is a modified cellulose made from plant fibre, similar to microcrystalline cellulose, and it is a plant based alternative to gelatine capsules.
Risks Of Filler Ingredients
Now that we have a better idea of what these ingredients are, the next question is: are they safe? The answer is: yes! Although some people may have a sensitivity to certain filling ingredients, this is generally a minority, and the filling ingredients we use are safe and well tolerated by the majority of people and should therefore not cause any side effects in healthy individuals. Some ingredients like Microcrystalline Cellulose and Magnesium Stearate in large doses may have a laxative effect, but this is when ingested amounts much greater than those found in supplements, and is not something that should have any effect by taking your daily vits!
The Bottom Line
So if you see any of these ingredients on your supplement label, don’t worry! Unless you’re sensitive to a filler ingredient, you should be able to have these in small amounts without any problems. Just because a word on an ingredients label is unfamiliar does not mean it is harmful, it is always best to do your research, and hey, if you are low in vitamin D and you’re in need of a supplement, the fillers in the tablet are a less likely to cause any harm than the actual deficiency will!
