Eli5: Why do so-called vegetable-powder pills not work as well as eating whole vegetables?

Question

Curious on behalf of my inner 5-year-old…

I’ve read that there is something about whole vegetables that make them more beneficial for your health, compared to eating ‘powdered’ vegetables in pills or shakes.

I’ve seen things like, “pills are unlikely to replicate the powerful, nutritional effects of whole food”, or… “supplements can help, but are not intended as a replacement for real veggies.”

But I’m confused: the (albeit not that trustworthy) marketing for powdered vegetable pills always sounds like they are literally just mashed-up and super dehydrated vegetables or something. So… if true, wouldn’t that have the same effect? Or is that a total misrepresentation of what the pills really are?

Thanks!

In: Biology

Answer 1

Whole vegetables have a lot of vitamins, minerals, fibers, antioxidants, etc. that work together to make you absorb the nutrients as much as possible.

Powders and other supplements lose a lot of these nutrients when being processed and reduce how well your body absorbs and uses the ones that are left.