# Preserve vitamins??



## TrackerRat (Mar 24, 2011)

I was wondering if its possible to prolong the life of vitamins and medication by sealing them properly long term style. Will they just go bad regardless or is it possible to prolong the life. I would like to stock pile different vitamins and meds but most only have a year to expiration life.


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## yingyang (Mar 28, 2011)

I would suggest vacuum-sealing them. I would also suggest that if you have different types of meds or vitamins you will be stockpiling you shouldn't put all of one kind together in a package. Example: If there are several types of vitamins you will be using on a regular basis then seal a month's worth of each together (one bottle of women's vitamins, one bottle of men's vitamins, and one bottle of children's vitamins). That way you aren't breaking the seal on a package of say 6 of the same thing just to get one bottle out. Then find a dry, dark, cool place to store them. Think variety packs. This is the way I am organizing my meds, vitamins, and spices for cooking. I think this should greatly increase the shelf life and I hope that helps!


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

My understanding is that vitamins from the store are packed with an inert-gas (nitrogen) to keep them fresh. The only way to extend the expiry-date (the date when the vitamin-pills have lost ~1/4 of their food-value) is to keep the pills hiding in a deep-freezer from the original date of manufacture. 

From the time that the pills are made till the time that you may purchase them to bring them home, they will have been subjected to many temperature extremes (very hot to cold back to very hot, etc) through shipping, warehouses, store-shelves, etc. Those temperature changes are what kills the vitamin's ability to do what they are designed to do.

So, the next best thing to do is to purchase vitamins by the case-lot and when they are getting close to expiry-date, start to do doubles instead of singles.


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## yingyang (Mar 28, 2011)

That's very good to know! My problem with the freezing/keeping in a cool, dark place thing is that I don't have a basement and I'm running out of that sort of storage space. Guess I'll have to have the boys dig a root cellar this summer. Sorry for giving you not so good info, TrackerRat 

:thankyou:


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