We generally refer to food label & prefer buying foods containing micronutrients such as Iron, Zinc, Potassium, Magnesium & various vitamins in particular. However, it is important to note that these micronutrients do not help in anyway unless they are absorbed from your GI tract & enter into your blood steam. Even if you consume lot of fruits, vegetables & whole grains in your diet, you will not benefit from consumption of micronutrients, if your body is not absorbing & digesting them.
As shared in my previous blogs, two types of nutrients exist in food:
- Macronutrients: Proteins, fats & carbohydrates- These are our body’s energy source since they provide calories.
- Micronutrients: Equally important are vitamins & minerals. Although they do not provide calories, they help in performing various bodily functions such as cell growth & development along the human life-cycle.
Digestion begins when we consume & start chewing the food. Some food such as nuts can be easily digested if chewed for longer period. Saliva has lot of enzymes that helps begin the digestion process specifically in case of carbohydrates. Stomach acid further helps to digest & breakdown food & nutrients such as protein. Not much of food items gets digested into stomach.
Nutrients are generally absorbed in the small intestine. This is how you can improve nutrient absorption:
- Healthy fats help in absorption of Vitamin A, D, E &K. Make sure that you add healthy fat offering foods such as avocado & olive oil to your favorite dish. You should also consume fish on a regular basis
- Vitamin C helps in better absorption of iron from plants. This is really important for vegetarians since Iron from meat is easily absorbed. Make sure that you add lot of lemon squeeze to your salads
- Natural phytic acid and oxalates in plants can decrease the absorption of both calcium and magnesium. Add milk to your protein shake
- Calcium is better absorbed with Vitamin D either from food or sunlight.
- Carotenoids like lycopene, which are powerful antioxidants are better absorbed with fat and after cooking. This rare type tomato sauce or ketchup beats real tomatoes.
Nutrient absorption can vary. Amount of nutrients that your body absorbs from food varies from 10% to 90%. Therefore having mentioned of various micronutrients on food label does not make sure that the nutrients are absorbed by the body. By following the above mentioned suggestions, you can improve nutrient absorption.
