Vitamin vape juice is not a new thing. The idea of vaping vitamins popped up early in the evolution of vaping. One of the early e-cig companies offered disposable cigalikes with vitamins. Some offer vape juice with caffeine. Back in 2012, researchers were interested in vaporization technology as a new means of delivering medications and nutrients.
Today, as vaping has become a target for special interest groups, there is less talk about benefits of vaping and more media attention on vaping being the spawn of Satan! Of course that is about as far from the truth as you can get but those of us in the industry need to understand the viewpoint and work with the critics to make improvements. Naturally, the critics are not fond of the idea of vitamin vape juice.
But this is not about the critics or picking a side. We just want to know, is vitamin vape juice something that could be useful to people. We know that it is very unlikely that any calories in vape juice are absorbed into the system. But a lot of botanical ingredients are absorbed through inhalation. Could that include vitamins?
Can You Vape Vitamins?
Can you vape vitamins? We don't know at this time. I wish I had a better answer. Some research indicates that vaping may be an excellent way to get micro-nutrients. Yet other experts insist that the idea is preposterous. According to the science, there are just not enough studies to make a conclusion right now.
But here is what we do know, vaporization and inhalation is an effective way to get some medications. It also works for nicotine, as we all well know. So is it really a stretch to wonder about other micro nutrients? The notion of vaping nutrients may turn out to be an unexpected benefit of vapor technology. We shall see.
Vaping B12 Studies
While we don't have a lot of data or study about vaping vitamin vape juice, there is some scientific history about vaping B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common problem. In fact, it is estimated that up to 26% of the population has mild B12 deficiency. Studies have shown that taking sublingual B12, under the tongue, absorbs better than oral B12 supplements. The same research found that inhaling B12 was more effective than sublingual by orders of magnitude. In fact, the scientific study involving vaping B12 found that inhalation led to 100 times the absorption of oral supplementation.
That sounds amazing but we should proceed with caution. The fact of the matter is that our daily B12 requirement is very small. The website Healthline says that the recommended daily intake of vitamin B12 is 85 mcg, micrograms. Because the amount of vitamin B12 needed is so small, 85 mcg can be inhaled in about 20 puffs of vaping. Contrast that with vitamin C with a daily recommended intake of 90 grams. Basically, the amount of vitamin C required is 1000 times more than B12. That would mean 20,000 puffs! Which is totally unreasonable.
Purely speculating, I would suggest that there is some potential for vaping small amounts of nutrients very effectively. But vitamins with larger daily volumes required may not be good candidates for vitamin vape juice.
Vaping Essential Oils
Vaping essential oils is a different matter than vitamin vape juice. There are many types of essential oils with many purported benefits. Essential oils are concentrated active botanical ingredients. Examples of essential oils include:
- Lavender
- Sandalwood
- Lemon
- Oregano
The list goes on but you get the idea. Essential oil can be extracted from almost anything that grows in the ground. In concentrated form, the active ingredients are especially potent. As a result, vaping essential oils may be an effective means of accessing those ingredients.
Vaping Cannabis
Vaping cannabis is potent. When you vaporize any material, the vapor will contain very high amounts of the active ingredients. Vaping is a major contrast to smoking. Smoke does contain some of the active ingredients, although often chemically altered, but it also contains the byproducts of combustion.
Vitamin Vape Juice
Is vitamin vape juice really a thing? I cannot say for certain. But I can say that the current state of research makes me lean toward maybe. And it is definitely worthy of additional research as soon as possible because vaping vitamins may turn out to be beneficial for many people.
There is a history of research into vaping vitamin B12. The evidence indicates that B12 inhalation is very effective. Vitamin vape juice with B12 could be a thing! As for other vitamins, I would speculate that only vitamins or nutrients with an RDI under 100 mcg would be candidates for inhalation. Total speculation on my part.
Ultimately, only time will tell. There needs to be some quality research done here. We have some science which looks positive toward vaping. The people who are pro vapor are very positive. The anti-vaping folks are very negative. But until we have some actual research, we won't know the answers.
