The World’s Most Advanced
Nutraceuticals
Isotonic
Broken down to its roots, iso means 'the same' and tonic means
'pressure or tone.' When used to describe solutions that are meant for
consumption, isotonic means having the same fluid pressure as body fluids. Tears,
blood plasma, lymph and other body fluids are all isotonic. When we ingest food,
gastric (stomach) juice is secreted onto the food, and muscular contractions of
the stomach mix the contents until a reasonably uniform solution is achieved.
The solutions of food (chyme) that enter the small intestine for absorption are
made isotonic by the action of the stomach in a time-consuming process. The
fluid pressure of food or isotonic solutions across semipermeable membranes,
such as the walls of the small intestine, is generally referred to as having a
particular osmolality or tonicity. Osmolality is measured in units referred to
as milliosmoles/kilogram of water (mOsm/kg). It can be said that when solutions
on opposite sides of a membrane have the same osmolality, they are iso-osmotic
or isotonic. Normal human blood serum (the fluid portion without cells and
platelets) has an osmolality of 288 mOsm/kg, as do most other fluids in the
body. Therefore, in physiological terms, when a solution's osmolality is the
same, or nearly the same, as that of normal human blood serum, it is referred
to as isotonic.
Concentration and
absorption
Concentration and absorption are factors that go hand in hand
for the proper use of nutritional supplements. Concentration - the amount of
nutrient dissolved in a given amount of a solvent such as water or stomach fluid
- is usually directly related to the efficiency of nutrient absorption. This is
especially true in the process of passive diffusion. Passive diffusion works
when the concentration of nutrients in the lumen of the small intestine is
higher than the concentration inside the intestinal cells.
The nutrients "flow"down from the gradient from high
to low concentration. Since Isotonix products experience little dilution in the
gastrointestinal tract, they arrive at the absorption sites in high
concentration and ensure efficient absorption.
Because of their physiological character, Isotonix solutions
undergo very little dilution in the body before they reach the absorption
sites. They are the ideal vehicle for rapid nutrient utilization. Isotonix are
the world's most advanced nutraceuticals.
Why is gastric (stomach)
emptying time so important?
The longer a supplement stays in the stomach, the longer the
time before absorption can begin, because no appreciable absorption occurs from
the stomach. Often the rate-limiting step in the absorption process is the time
it takes for the tablet or capsule to disintegrate, and the nutrients to
dissolve and equilibrate to the proper (isotonic) state to leave the stomach.
When all this has been completed — up to 40 minutes after ingestion — the
diluted, acid-attacked nutrients can enter the small intestine for absorption.
Why is gastric emptying
time stressed when talking about Isotonix?
