Individuals who take vitamin supplements in order to maintain a positive sense of well-being make take heart from recent scientific news, which suggests that a simple substance may be used to help nutrients make it intact through the digestive tract to the intestines.

A study published in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers announced that vitamin tablets made with cornstarch were better able to transport vitamins A and C through the body.

Researchers from Pennsylvania State University said that what is at work here is a specific form of cornstarch called high amylose maize starch. When exposed to fatty acid esters, this substance coils around certain oil-soluble molecules, like these vitamins.

Thus protected from the heat and acidity of the stomach, these nutrients were found to pass through the stomach with greater regularity, ultimately ending up in the intestinal tract, where they were digested.

The Penn State team noted that this simple delivery device might also be utilized to increase the uptake of certain prescription medications.

The science website Wisegeek states that dietary supplements that contain cornstarch instead of sugars may be healthier, since the corn-based material takes longer to be digested, which allows the body to absorb the sugar content gradually, rather than all at once.