GAL Fenu-C+

What Makes Fenu-C+ Different

GAL Fenu-C+ uses a patented Hybrid-FenuMAT™ technology, a combination of two advanced delivery methods that work together to achieve bioavailability that no other oral vitamin C supplement can match.

Step 1, Liposomal encapsulation: The vitamin C is encapsulated into liposomes at 95% efficiency. By comparison, even professionally produced liposomal vitamin C products typically achieve only 30–60% encapsulation efficiency.

Step 2, FenuMAT™ matrix: The vitamin C-loaded liposomes are then embedded, using ultrasound, into a matrix built from just two ingredients: sunflower lecithin and a special fibre derived from fenugreek seed (galactomannan). This creates a reversible hydrocolloid system, a next-generation colloid technology that further enhances absorption and sustains elevated blood levels over time. The resulting hydrocolloid system is then freeze-dried to produce the finished Fenu-C+ complex.

The result: a single dose of just 360 mg of Hybrid-FenuMAT™ vitamin C raises blood vitamin C levels to a degree that no conventional dose can achieve, and that would require grams of even liposomal vitamin C to replicate.

Bioavailability: The Numbers

Fenu-C+ delivers more than +600% bioavailability compared to standard vitamin C. Conventional liposomal vitamin C typically achieves only +10–79%.

A 2021 clinical trial (14 participants) compared the blood level impact of:

• 1,000 mg of calcium ascorbate (910 mg vitamin C), standard supplement
• 1,000 mg of Fenu-C+ (containing only 350 mg vitamin C)

Results: A single 1,000 mg dose of Fenu-C+ raised blood vitamin C to nearly 300 µM/L, even in participants who started from a very low baseline, sustaining levels above 250 µM/L for 4–5 hours and above 150 µM/L for approximately 8 hours. The standard supplement, at nearly 3× the vitamin C content, barely raised blood levels above 50 µM/L, and only for around 1 hour.

How Vitamin C Is Absorbed and Eliminated

Standard vitamin C (ascorbic acid) enters the bloodstream via intestinal transport proteins, which become saturated at higher doses, meaning less is absorbed as the dose increases, and most of it is eliminated by the kidneys.

When blood vitamin C exceeds 60–70 µM/L, its half-life drops to approximately 30 minutes, and the body rapidly excretes it. Below this threshold, the half-life extends to weeks.

Fenu-C+ bypasses this limitation. The liposomal delivery carries vitamin C directly into cells without triggering rapid renal excretion, enabling sustained supraphysiological blood levels even at low doses.

What Blood Levels Are Achievable

With conventional vitamin C: even 18 g/day (3 × 6 g) maintains a maximum of approximately 220 µM/L, while 10 g/day (4 × 2.5 g) maintains around 200 µM/L. At these doses, digestive issues are common, and supplements above 2 g/day are not generally recommended.

With Fenu-C+:

• 150–200 µM/L: Achieved with 0.7 g Fenu-C+ for 6–8 hours. Taking 2–3 doses daily maintains this range around the clock.
• 250 µM/L+: Achieved with doses above 1 g for approximately 4 hours.
• 400 µM/L+: Likely achievable with 2–3 g taken at once.

In vitro research shows vitamin C above 280 µM/L to be most effective against bacterial and cellular proliferation.

For comparison, matching the blood levels Fenu-C+ achieves with liposomal vitamin C alone would take between 1,000 mg and 36,000 mg per dose. One study found that participants taking 36 g (36,000 mg) of liposomal vitamin C reached around 400 µM/L, only about 30% higher than the roughly 300 µM/L reached with just 350 mg of vitamin C from Fenu-C+. It is also worth noting that the 36 g study's participants already had an elevated baseline (around 150 µM/L, from a year of taking 6 g of vitamin C daily), unlike the Fenu-C+ study's participants, who started below 50 µM/L and still reached nearly 300 µM/L. Had the Fenu-C+ participants also started from a 150 µM/L baseline, the gap between 0.35 g of vitamin C from Fenu-C+ and 36 g from liposomal vitamin C would likely have been minimal. It is also simply far more practical to take one or two capsules than the roughly 36 five-gram sachets used in that study.

Vitamin C and Immune Defence: The Evidence

Anecdotal reports from physicians using high-dose vitamin C in practice suggest that around 10 g a day can help prevent colds, while larger amounts are better suited to treating a cold that has already started; very high doses of vitamin C have also been reported to help in other conditions. Not much weight can be placed on anecdotal data alone, however.

A meta-analysis of 27 clinical trials found that 1 g/day of vitamin C reduced cold incidence by 6%, while 2 g/day reduced it by 21%. In children, 1 g reduced incidence by 17% and 2 g by 26%.

A 2018 meta-analysis (Aune et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) found that vitamin C was the only nutrient where protective effects against disease and mortality continued to increase at every measured blood level, with no upper threshold identified. Blood levels up to 100 µM/L showed consistently declining disease and mortality risk; the optimal level is likely higher still.

Reaching Supraphysiological Levels

Reaching and maintaining blood levels above 200–250 µM/L should only be a goal in special cases; this is not something we would recommend generally. We take no position on exactly which cases warrant it, but anyone planning such high levels, whether through intravenous vitamin C or otherwise, should do so in consultation with a doctor. Based on the study data above, taking 1 g or more of Fenu-C+ brings blood levels close to 250 µM/L for around 4 hours; taking 2–3 g at once likely produces levels above 400 µM/L for a similar length of time (we are planning studies to confirm this precisely).

Since conventional vitamin C is absorbed through a different mechanism, if the goal is to maximise levels it is worth also taking as much plain vitamin C daily as does not cause digestive discomfort, on top of the extra blood-level-raising effect from liposomal vitamin C or Fenu-C+. Values above 800 µM/L may be achievable this way.

It is also worth noting that some of the vitamin C enclosed in liposomes will not show up in a blood test, because it reaches the bloodstream still packaged as liposomes, the same way it reaches cells. Blood tests likely only capture the free vitamin C that liposomes have already delivered to cells and that has returned to the bloodstream, which suggests that for liposomal vitamin C (Fenu-C+™ included), even lower measured blood levels may be enough, since the real goal is delivery into cells, not the blood-level reading itself.

Ingredients

Each capsule contains:

• Fenu-C+™ (Hybrid-FenuMAT™ liposomal vitamin C): 700 mg
• Vitamin C (from calcium ascorbate): 210 mg, 263% NRV

Full ingredient list: Fenu-C+™ (calcium ascorbate, fenugreek seed galactomannan fibre, sunflower lecithin, cellulose); pullulan (Plantcaps® vegan capsule shell).