How To Improve The Body's Absorption Of Vitamins

Many people supplement with vitamins in order to maximize their current diets or make up for lacking nutrients. But one thing that is commonly overlooked is vitamin absorption. No matter how healthy your diet or the amount of vitamin supplements you add to your diet, if the body is not absorbing them, you will not reap the benefits they provide. The majority of vitamins are absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, specifically the small and large intestines. The role of the GI tract is to break down food and its nutrients in order to absorb them into the blood and lymph for delivery to cells. Ensuring your GI tract is in optimal health is one of the most important elements to ensure you are absorbing the highest level of nutrients from your diet.

Improving Your Absorption of Vitamins

Step 1

Supplementing with a high quality L-glutamine product will improve the health of your small intestines and increase nutrient absorption. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends a 500 milligram tablet, taken one to three times daily, with your choice of beverage for best results. Glutamine is the primary nutrient and helps to protect the cells lining the GI tract. It also increases the height of villi lining the small intestine. The villi resemble small fingers which help increase the gastrointestinal tracts absorption surface area, subsequently maximizing nutrient absorption.

Step 2

Add flaxseed to your diet. According to MedlinePlus, flaxseed is often used to treat gastrointestinal problems as it protects the small and large intestines from inflammation, heals sores in the large intestine and aids in treating colon damage. Adding 1 to 4 tbsp. per day to your diet can help maintain the greatest level of health for your intestines.

Step 3

Add live-culture yogurt to your diet as this will increase the amount of healthy bacteria in the large intestine. The large intestine is full of bacteria essential for human nutrition and normal function. Consuming certain foods such as yogurt which contain the digestive enzyme lactobacillus acidophilus may create healthy bacterial flora. This will help to destroy the amount of bad bacteria that try to populate the gut which can lead to constipation, diarrhea and an insufficient assimilation of nutrients.

Tips and Warnings

Consuming adequate amounts of water, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains will also support good digestion and a healthy functioning GI tract. Stress is also a contributing factor to gastrointestinal problems so ensuring you monitor your daily level will support the health of your digestive system.
All the information presented are simply suggestions for improving the health of your gastrointestinal system in order to optimize vitamin absorption. You should always consult with your health care physician before adding supplementation or altering your current diet.