Whichever name you best know them by – gummies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets – the popularity of these sweet, soft, and squishy chewable confectionaries have expanded into the healthcare industry in upgraded forms that pack a potent punch with nutrients or medicines. What once was strictly confined to the candy category has now taken over quite a number of shelves at pharmacies and drugstores around the world.
These days, the number of medicinal and therapeutic gummies available on the market might match the variety of gummy candies. So, no matter whether you are looking for a cure for your sweet tooth or a remedy for a host of other conditions, there is a pretty good chance that you can find it in gummy form. There is a wealth of information available to learn more about over-the-counter remedies in the form of gummies if you want some extra energy after a post-workout crash or want an extra boost of vitamin C.
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An exciting assortment of shapes and colors
Gummi candies and gummy vitamins can look just about identical to one another. Both are chewy, gelatin-based sweets with a distinctive texture. Since gelatin is an animal product, vegan or vegetarian alternatives to conventional gummy candies and vitamin gummies use plant-based alternatives to gelatin such as soluble tapioca fiber, starch and pectin, or agar-agar powder. Gelatin – as well as the plant-based substitute – is what gives gummies their unique, squishy, and chewy texture.
Gummies come in a variety of bright colors and shapes. Probably the most well known type of gummy candy is gummy bears, which has become a genericized noun for gummy candies. As you might have guessed, these small, colorful chewable goodies come in the shape of cute little bears. Gummy candies are known for being produced in a host of different forms by well-known brands. Many shapes are based on animals and some anthropomorphic forms as well, such as Sour Patch Kids or Jelly Babies. In its original form, Jelly Babies was the first molded gelatin-based candy, sold in 1864 by Fryers of Lancashire under the name Unclaimed Babies. According to the BBC documentary, Sweet success: Unravelling the Jelly Baby’s dark past, the story behind this rather bizarre name reveals that the candies were originally intended to be small bears, but the result instead came out to be more formless and less defined than planned. For this reason, the rounded forms of the candies reportedly resembled infants more than bears.
Dietary supplements and vitamin gummies
Vitamin gummies fall under the larger category of gummy supplements which are dietary supplements that are almost the same as gummy candies except they also have added medicinal or therapeutic ingredients. Vitamin gummies are the most popular form of gummy supplements and are marketed both specifically for children as well as for adults. It is likely that gummy vitamins were initially designed to make taking vitamins more palatable and attractive for young children, but the product also interested adults, and companies started branching out in the market of gummy vitamins.
Indeed, the market has proliferated to an enormous degree, with many different types of supplements now available in gummy form. Just to name a few, the list includes magnesium, vitamin C, zinc, multivitamins, apple cider vinegar, ashwagandha, CBD, and serotonin alternatives.
Just an excuse to have something sweet under the guise of being healthy?
In an ever larger context, some doctors and experts question whether it is necessary to take vitamins at all since they can be potentially harmful to your health and might hurt more than they help. Gummy vitamins typically contain sugar or sugar substitutes, which can make it easy to exceed the dosage. Eating a bit too much candy can make you sick, but overdosing on vitamins or supplements can be a more serious matter, especially depending on what supplement it is and how strong the dosage is.
