Real Expiration Dates

[orewashin]

There are some drugs and supplements that expire quicker than others. Companies don't benefit from far-off expiration dates, so maybe the listed dates are "for show", rather than genuinely speculated to be too long.

Vitamins are likely to degrade over time because they are volatile. I have a whole pound of seven year old thiamine powder that I forgot to consume. While it's probably broken down, I may use it topically, or better yet, put it in a foot soak. Thiamine is a funny-smelling vitamin so I wouldn't want to leave something like that on my skin.

Minerals are more questionable. The actual minerals don't degrade, but the bonds may. I have decade-old zinc gluconate. The gluconate is probably broken down into some mystery compound so I'm thinking about using it in soil to nourish plants.

Drugs and supplements are very much variable. Natural products will degrade the fastest and potentially harbor unwelcome bacteria and fungi. Antibiotics need to be tossed when they expire from what I've heard. Other drugs and supplements can probably sit there for a long time, of course it varies greatly. Aspirin can break down into salicyclic acid which may be less effective. Cyproheptadine in tablets will last longer than cyproheptadine in liquid form for obvious reasons.

Feel free to add anything about the real expiration dates of Peaty drugs and supplements.

 

[pauljacob]

I have three shelves in a cupboard for my supplement and today I found buried deep in the back of the middle shelf, which is a little above my head, an unused bottle of Niacinamide 500. The expiration date is 4/2017. My first impulse was to throw it away. Then I thought of asking here whether or not it's still good.

 

[Tristan Loscha]

Vitamin E has a shelf life if exposed to artifical light of around 4 days. So the supposed VE in your trusted plastic jug of Sunflowerseedoil did not contain much afterall.

 

[Blue Water]

Anyone know how long Haidut's Cyproheptadine will work?