Why Wouldn't The Body Absorb Vitamin & Minerals?

Vitamins and minerals are separate classes of nutrients that your body needs in small amounts for good health. The proper absorption of these nutrients relies on the proper functioning of various digestive organs, including the stomach, small intestine, pancreas and liver. Anything that interferes with the proper functioning of the digestive process can cause an inability to absorb vitamins and minerals.

Damage to the Small Intestine

Most vitamin and mineral absorption occurs in the first area of the small intestine, called the duodenum. When partially digested food reaches the small intestine, digestive secretions from the small intestine break the food down into absorbable nutrients. Small finger-like projections in the small intestine, called villi and microvilli, which are connected to small blood and lymph vessels, absorb the nutrients and deposit them into the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

If these villi or microvilli are damaged, it is impossible for your body to absorb vitamins and minerals, regardless of the amount of food you eat. Damage to the villi and microvilli can occur as a result of intestinal surgery, injury or autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease.

Malabsorption Disorders

Malabsorption disorders are classified as a condition that interferes with the digestion of food or directly prevents the absorption of nutrients. According to the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library, a common cause of malabsorption is an insufficient production of pancreatic enzymes. Malabsorption disorders may also be characterized by an overproduction of stomach acid, an underproduction of bile or an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestines.

Lack of Dietary Fat

The vitamins A, D, E and K, which are classified as fat-soluble vitamins, rely on dietary fat in order to be absorbed properly. When you consume fat-soluble vitamins, they combine with fatty acids and bile, which carry them to your intestinal wall. Once they travel through the intestinal wall, fat-soluble vitamins combine with fat and other lipids that carry them through your lymph system and eventually into your bloodstream.

If your diet lacks an adequate amount of fat, it can impair the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins, leading to vitamin deficiency. According to "Nutrition and You" by Joan Salge Blake, adding just 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil to your daily diet can increase your absorption of vitamin A by 25 percent.

Smoking

Smoking accelerates the breakdown of vitamin C as well as impairs your body's ability to absorb the vitamin. Blake notes that smokers need to consume an extra 35 mg of vitamin C every day in order to make up for the loss caused by smoking. To increase your body's ability to absorb vitamin C, it is best to quit smoking. In addition to causing vitamin loss, smoking increases your risk of developing heart disease and cancer.