Making Your Own Plant-Based Supplements: An In-Depth Guide to Vegan Empty Capsules

Updated March 30th, 2024

With the growth of plant based lifestyles, more and more health-conscious people are looking for supplements that align with their diets. Choosing vegan empty capsules and bulk, all-natural ingredients, you can make personalized plant-based supplements that both support your health goals and align with your values.

This guide is designed to provide the knowledge and inspiration you need to make your own custom vegan supplements.

We’ll go over the factors to consider when selecting your empty capsules, explaining the different characteristics of the common types of plant-based capsules. Then we’ll discuss sourcing natural ingredients for your supplements, focusing on quality, potency, and sustainability.

Lastly, we'll touch on how to properly use these vegan capsules and ingredients when making your custom supplements, so that you know how to do it right the first time.\

Choosing The Right Empty Vegan Capsules

The first piece of any plant-based supplement lies in the vegan capsule. Selection involves looking at a variety of factors, including:

BlateCo Empty Capsules in the Pro-Op 100

1. Material Composition: Vegan capsules are made from plant-based materials like hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) or pullulan gum. Most companies only offer capsules made of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and they claim they’re vegan. But this is highly debated because HPMC undergoes a significant series of artificial processing to reach its final form… which cannot be found in nature. [1]

   They’re even most often labeled as “vegetable cellulose,” which is very misleading, in our opinion.

   Meanwhile, pullulan gum is found naturally occurring and it has a much stronger barrier of protection against oxygen versus other capsule ingredients; 300 times stronger than HPMC and 8 times stronger than gelatin. [2,3]

   Because oxygen causes substance degradation over time, empty pullulan gum capsules are optimal for your final product’s longevity.

2. Size & Capacity: Vegan empty capsules are available in various sizes, ranging from smaller capsules for precision dosing (size 5) to larger ones for accommodating higher ingredient volumes (size 000). Be sure to choose a capsule size that best meets the needs of your custom supplement formulations.*
   *To find out exactly how much powder you’ll need to fill your capsules correctly, you can use our capsule ingredient weight calculator.

3. Dissolve Time & Stability: Different vegan capsule materials may have different dissolve times and stability properties. Depending on your desired release delay, and perhaps even shelf-life requirements, choose a vegan empty capsule that will work best for each specific supplement you’re making.

   For example, you may wish to choose a delayed-release capsule for a supplement ingredient that isn’t absorbed well in the upper intestinal track. This provides a higher likelihood of the supplement being released later in the digestion process and hence, being absorbed more readily.

Sourcing High-Quality All-Natural Ingredients

Selecting unflavored, bulk, all-natural ingredients is crucial for ensuring the efficacy, quality, and safety of your plant-based supplements. When sourcing ingredients, consider the following:

Pure & Raw Botanical Powder with the BlateCo Powder Spoon

1. Ingredient Purity & Potency: Source ingredients that have been tested and verified for purity and potency, ensuring your supplements deliver the desired health benefits.

2. Organic and Non-GMO Certifications: To uphold the highest ethical and quality standards, opt for ingredients that are certified organic and non-GMO whenever possible.

   However, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Many people don’t realize that these certifications cost a decent sum of money, and require they be renewed annually for every product!

   For this reason, some small businesses that can provide the best quality raw ingredients don’t buy the certifications that allow them to use such labels. This doesn’t mean that the product is not Organic or Non-GMO, it may just mean the company didn’t have the money or want to pay a yearly fee for that.

   So if there’s something you’d like but aren’t sure of the source, reach out and ask the company!

3. Traceability & Sustainability: Investigate the origins and production methods of your ingredients, prioritizing options with healthy business practices and environmental commitments, such as environmentally friendly farming practices.

4. Storage & Shelf-Life: Ensure proper storage conditions for your natural ingredients to maintain their effectiveness over time. Be mindful of factors like temperature, humidity, and light exposure when selecting and storing ingredients. We recommend using air-tight and amber glass vials or jars to ensure optimal longevity.

   For an even deeper dive on each of these topics, read our article, The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Own Supplements.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Perfect Plant-Based Supplements: Best Practices and Tips for Vegans

Creating your perfect plant-based supplements requires a little more than just combining vegan capsules with your all-natural ingredients. Follow these best practices for the results you’re hoping for:

1. Carefully measure and mix ingredients: To ensure efficacy and potency, use accurate measuring tools like digital scales to measure your ingredients. Be meticulous when blending your ingredients to achieve a homogeneous mixture, ensuring consistency in each capsule.

2. Select the right capsule filling machine: Choose a machine that will work flawlessly with your chosen vegan capsules, and follow the manufacturer's guidelines for machine setup and operation. Learn about the types of capsule filling machines (manual, semi-automatic, or fully automatic) and their capacity to handle your production volume.

3. Clean and maintain your capsule filling equipment: Regularly clean and maintain your equipment to ensure optimal performance and longevity, and to prevent contamination between different supplement formulations.

   Our downloadable instructions on each capsule filling machine’s page explain how to do this properly.

Incorporating Edible Gel Films into Plant-Based Supplement Regimens

Putting herbal powder into a gel film pouch (Blate Papes®)

Beyond vegan capsules, edible gel films are a new frontier in the world of making your own vegan supplements. This new powder delivery system offers many benefits for the plant-based community, including:

1. Superior Bioavailability: Edible gel films dissolve quickly, dissolving much more rapidly into the stomach than capsules, and thus into the bloodstream. This enhances the bioavailability, ensuring maximum effectiveness.

2. Large & Variable Capacity: Once filled, shut and dipped in water, gel film pouches become a gel around the powder, quickly shrinking to the size and shape of the substance within. This lets you take much more powder at once than a capsule, while also letting you take only a little if you desire.

3. Convenient & Portable: Lightweight and compact, edible gel films are perfect for taking with you, making it easier than ever to maintain a consistent plant-based supplement routine. They can be filled and taken immediately, or pre-sealed to be taken later.

   See how edible gel films work in our instructional video on how to use Blate Papes® to take your powdered herbs and supplements

Final Thoughts

Making the perfect plant-based supplement looks different to every individual, working best with a solid understanding of vegan empty capsules, ingredient selection, and best practices for supplement creation. Stay informed of the latest in the industry and make the supplement that’s right for you.

Ready to take your plant-based supplementation to new heights? Discover our impressive range of empty vegan capsules, capsule filling machines, and edible gel films to fuel your journey toward unparalleled plant-based wellness. Begin creating your extraordinary plant-based supplements today and elevate your health journey like never before!

Sources:

1. Sarma, Phulen. “Are Your Capsules Vegetarian or Nonvegetarian: An Ethical and Scientific Justification.” Indian Journal of Pharmacology, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5830853.

2. “Petition to Add Pullulan to the National List at §205.605(a) as an Allowed Nonsynthetic Ingredient in Tablets and Capsules for Dietary Supplements Labeled “Made With Organic (Specified Ingredients or Food Group(S)).” USDA, www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/PullulanPetition18131.pdf. Accessed 30 Mar. 2024.

3. Global Research and Insights. Pullulan Capsule Market Worth ~US$ Bn by 2031 | Market Growth Reports. 4 Dec. 2023, www.linkedin.com/pulse/pullulan-capsule-market-worth-us-bn-2031-hmavf.