Sea buckthorn capsules and tablets

Capsules alongside juice, not instead of it

A capsule gives you the fat-soluble fraction — the berry or seed oil — concentrated, with no taste, no measuring and nothing to keep in a fridge. What it leaves out is the water-soluble half: the vitamin C and the organic acids that come with the juice.

Which is why the two are best read as complementary. Juice plus capsule covers the full spectrum — the berry and the seed oil extract — and that is the combination people who take this seriously end up on. Taken alone, a capsule costs more per day and covers less; it is still the form that gets taken by anyone who will not realistically keep drinking something this sour.

Oil capsules and herb capsules are different things

Two quite different products sit under this heading. Oil capsules — berry oil and seed oil — are pure sea buckthorn, concentrated. Herb capsules and tablets are Ayurvedic formulations where sea buckthorn is one ingredient among several, or sometimes not present at all.

Read the ingredient list rather than the category. Spirusash, for instance, is spirulina rather than sea buckthorn.

Berry oil or seed oil

Pulp or berry oil carries the omega 7 and the carotenoids, and is the one behind the skin claims. Seed oil is lighter, higher in omega 3 and 6 and in vitamin E, and low in omega 7. They are not interchangeable.

How to take them

With food. Omega 7, vitamin E and the carotenoids are all fat-soluble, and a meal containing some fat helps absorption. Dosage differs by product, so follow the pack rather than generalising from the juice.