Gut Healing Jelly Bears
If your child loves sweeties (candies) and you want to avoid the refined sugar, then these little jelly bears are a cinch to make and they are only sweetened with fruit juice. You only need two ingredients and a maximum of 10 minutes to prepare them.
You can use any fruit juice you like (except pineapple), and I recommend apple and raspberry, apple and elderberry or orange and mango.
The clever part about these jelly bears is that they are made from beef gelatine (gelatin) powder which is packed with amino acids (the building blocks of protein and neurotransmitters) as well as collagen. The gelatine can also help to soothe a sore tummy and support healthy skin and joints as well as the immune system.
If your child is reluctant to take their food supplements, then you can add minerals such as liquid zinc, magnesium, iron and selenium or fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A, D or E to the mixture once it has come off the heat. You can also stir in prebiotics, probiotics, theanine and omega 3 once the mixture has cooled down to room temperature but has not quite set. These jelly bears are an ace way of making your own personalised gummie-based food supplements!
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Gut Healing Jelly Bears
Ingredients
- 150 ml Fruit Juice
- 1 tbsp Gelatine (unflavoured beef gelatine powder)
Instructions
- Put the juice into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, continuing to bubble until the liquid has reduced by half. This helps to intensify the taste of the liquid.
- Add the gelatine powder. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then put back onto a gentle heat and allow the gelatine to dissolve.
- Remove from the heat and stir well.
- Use a pipette to fill little bear moulds, then place into the fridge for a few hours to set.
Notes
- Find silicone mini gummie bear moulds online such as from Amazon. I recommend grass-fed beef gelatine powder such as from Ossa.
- You can use agar flakes which are a vegan alternative to the beef gelatine, however you will not get the benefit of the amino acids and collagen.
- If you don’t have any fruit juice you can use a smoothie mixture or smooshed up strawberries with some runny honey to sweeten.
- These store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
I’ve tried making these previously, adding in vitamins, but I can never get them equal and the bears always look cloudy…!! Which bear moulds did you use? Not sure if it’s the size of the moulds or I’m doing something wrong! Driving me nuts!!
Hi Emma
I used ‘Silicone Gummy Bear Candy Molds’ from Amazon (50 bears per mold). Zinc drops and liquid fat soluble vitamins like A, D and E still produce a clear gummy most of the time. The liquid Metabolics range of supplements we stock work well. Any powders such as Vit C, probiotics, prebiotics, theanine etc will most likely to be cloudy.
In terms of measuring them it can be very tricky. These gummies work best when it is only one or two drops of a supplement needed per bear and I would fill each bear 2/3rd full with the juice/gelatine mixture, then dropper in the supplement with a pipette, then stir gently with a cocktail stick or the end of a pipette, then carefully dropper in a little bit more of the juice/gelatine mixture so it is full. It should set just as well.
If you need to put in more than a couple of drops of minerals/vitamins, could you add more juice and turn it into a jelly? So it would be softer rather than hard like gummies. Would it still set?
Yes that is totally possible – here are my jelly recipes
Elderberry & Orange Jelly https://naturedoc.com/elderberry-orange-jelly/
Fruity Rainbow Jellies https://naturedoc.com/fruity-rainbow-jellies/
I am definitely going to give these a try. What fruit juice would you recommend using? Is there one that is better nutritionally? I’m more concerned with packing a nutritional punch than what flavour my kids prefer because to be honest, if it’s a sweet, they will eat it!
I personally like the raspberry and apple or blackcurrant and apple juices – they all work except for pineapple which will stop the gelatine from setting
Hi Lucinda, trying these out for my ADHD little veg dodger! Will zinc & magnesium work ok together in the same bear please 🙏 I can’t seem to get her to take any magnesium supplement and I’m convinced she needs it x
You can probably squeeze into some zinc and magnesium powders into these, but the texture will change a little. Try 2 cups of Epsom salts in her bath if you need another way to get magnesium in. x