How Does Bioavailability Impact Nutrient Absorption and Overall Health?

People who maintain a healthy eating habit typically believe they only consume nutrient-rich food. Although whole foods promise plenty of health benefits, you must check if your physic can benefit from what you digest.

The growing awareness of nutrition among most people has drastically improved their dietary preferences. Moreover, you can easily identify the impact of proper nutrition and the disappointing reflections of deficiency visible in most human bodies.

However, improving your nutritional intake will not produce good numbers for peak health. The key here is to ensure bioavailability, which allows your body to absorb and reap the benefits of nutrients appropriately.

In this blog, we will explain the meaning and importance of nutrients’ bioavailability and explain the effects of bioavailability supplements and how to improve them.

What Is the Bioavailability of Nutrients?

Whenever you eat some food or supplement, your body initiates an extensive process that carries the content through your digestive system. The content will break down into tiny chunks as it moves through your stomach and digestive enzymes. The measure of its shape largely depends on the digestibility of the food.

In simple terms, the quantity of a food source that provides your body with physiological functions is the bioavailability of micronutrients or macronutrients. It is thoroughly dependent on the bioaccessibility of the nutrient. It refers to how much of a particular nutrient comes out of the food matrix during digestion for absorption.

Your small intestine absorbs bits of the digested food into the blood, distributing them to the necessary parts of the body. For instance, calcium reaches the skeletal system, and Protein-based amino acids cater to your organs, muscles, and bones.

The remaining bit of the digested food carries on through the gastrointestinal tract, eventually defecated from your body.

Understanding Nutrient Bioavailability Factors

Nutrient bioavailability is the quantity of nutrients available for use and storage in the body. The concept also involves the efficiency of those nutrients for our bodies.

A host of factors can influence bioavailability. They are as follows:

• Cell matrix and structures
• Food matrix and structures
• The chemical form of the nutrient
• Source of the nutrient
• Genetics
• Nutritional status
• Digestive issues
• Medical conditions
• Alcohol or tobacco use
• Intestinal bacteria balance

Nutrient bioavailability plays a key role in nutritional balance. If you don’t consider nutrients when recommending supplements, your physical prowess will start dwindling to a suboptimal nutritional status.

Why Is the Bioavailability of Nutrients Essential?

Human nutrition is a tricky task. To function correctly, you must provide your body with an adequate diet that includes macronutrients, micronutrients, and trace minerals.

Your body will stand in good health if you consume large amounts of macronutrients, which are:

• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Healthy fats

You will do well with a minimal amount of micronutrients, including the water-soluble vitamins:

• All the B Vitamins
• Vitamin C

Your body will stand in good health if you have fat-soluble vitamins:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K

And the must-have minerals are:

• Calcium
• Chloride
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Sodium
• Sulfur

We believe it will be enough to consume small amounts of the trace minerals:

• Copper
• Fluoride
• Iodine
• Iron
• Manganese
• Selenium
• Zinc

Lastly, you must not miss some fatty acids, including omegas-3s.

You may realize your childhood dream of devouring all the food inside the fridge like those old-school Tom & Jerry episodes. However, you won’t get your hands on the necessary macronutrients or sources of vitamins and minerals.

Eating in significant portions or frequently doesn’t promise uptake of these vitamins and minerals — the bioavailability of nutrients will determine your end goal.

What Affects the Bioavailability of Supplements?

People may find it difficult to measure nutrient bioavailability in nutrition science. Those who are unaware may confuse it with digestibility metrics. Furthermore, the complication lingers because experts use in vitro methods to measure bioavailability. In simple terms, they simulate digestion in a lab instead of in vivo methods involving animals or humans to evaluate bioavailability.

There are plenty of factors that you must consider to comprehend nutrient absorption:

Your Age

Your digestion system declines as you age. This decline is caused by a decrease in your digestive enzymes.

Your Gastrointestinal Tract Condition

Your body will struggle to digest food if you have improper GI conditions. There will be poor nutrient absorption from the food you eat.

Your Nutritional Status

This is your health condition, impacted by the nutrients in your diet. Malnourishment can be a possibility in bulk food consumption. Eating a lot doesn’t equate to consuming adequate food nutrients.

The Chemical Form of the Nutrient

You must also focus on the chemical form of the nutrient. To put it simply, your body absorbs non-heme iron from plant-based foods. However, it promises less efficiency than absorbing heme iron found in animal proteins.

The Food Structure

According to food science, certain options, such as meat or corn, present complex tissue structures. The human body takes time to break them down into tiny chunks, diminishing the nutrient bioavailability in that food.

Effective Methods for Improving the Bioavailability of Nutrients

Fortunately, there are some simple yet effective ways to boost the nutrient bioavailability of food. We have compiled some common tips that can help.

Eat More Plant-Based Food

If you strictly follow plant foods, you must ensure sufficient non-heme iron in your diet. Plus, you should consider options that provide iron fortification. You can always consider eating protein around the clock to get enough.

Reduce Anti-Nutrients

There are several ways to reduce the effect of antinutrients. For instance, you can grind grains or soak nuts and seeds in water before cooking—this will boost their absorption. Alternatively, you can sprout them for a nutritious snack.
Moreover, it is necessary to mention that cooking also cuts down some anti-nutrients.

Chopping Down Foods

Many food options boast rigid structures and require chopping before you cook them. This is a convenient approach to releasing nutrients from the food you eat. Additionally, you must chew your food before swallowing for the same reason.

Balanced Consumption of both Raw and Cooked Food

Some foods support easy digestion and absorption when you cook them. However, others offer more nutrients when you eat them raw.

Eat Foods That Yield Positive Effects Collectively

To put an example for this, Vitamin C improves iron bioavailability since it boosts iron absorption. Therefore, you must consume food that promises high Vitamin C nutrients with your protein.

Be Aware of the Nutrients that Don’t Mix

However, some foods don’t work together at all. For example, calcium lowers iron absorption, while calcium and zinc reduce magnesium absorption.

Adhere to the Manufacturer’s Directions on The Dietary Supplements Packaging

In another instance, it is advisable to consume fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids with a fat-rich meal to accelerate nutrient absorption.

Analyze the Formulations and Bioactive Ingredients of Supplements

Because of nutritional bioavailability differences, there will be varying differences in quality and impact. For example, most people opt for magnesium glycinate rather than magnesium citrate since the former promises good absorption and a low probability of diarrhea.

Pick Boosted Supplements for Improved Bioavailability

You can find excellent supplement options that are heightened for improved bioavailability. Protein is a vital macronutrient. Once you digest it and allow the essential amino acids to be released, they work on improving and sustaining your complete physiology.

Why Settle For A Business When You Can Build A Brand with PMAD?

Due to the supplement industry, consumers are becoming more aware of bioavailability. This has directly contributed to more suppliers entering the market to satisfy the ever-increasing demand. Additionally, many promise false claims with their products, relying on bioavailability as a catchphrase.

Therefore, the need for bioavailability supplements manufacturers that are as transparent is at an all-time high. Now that you have developed a sound understanding of the subject, you will find it prospective to enter the supply market.

Consider partnering with Pacific Manufacturing and Design, a reliable white-label and private-label manufacturer, to help you create a strong business identity.

Give us a glimpse into your idea and brand narrative – we will transform your vision into reality. We have developed an industry-wide reputation that promises excellent private labeling services in health care and pharmaceutical products.

We have assembled a dynamic team of experienced and dedicated professionals at PMAD to deliver premium nutrient bioavailability products. We are proud of our non-negotiable attitude towards relentless innovation and timely obligations. They have allowed us to promise outstanding values to business associates.