The nutrients absorbed by your intestines provide energy to your cells, stimulate tissue repair, promote cell growth, reduce inflammation, and support essential bodily functions. By understanding what affects nutrient absorption, you can maximize the nutritional value of your food, help prevent deficiencies, and support your overall health.

In this article, you will discover practical ways to improve nutrient absorption and make the most of a healthy diet.

How to Fix Poor Nutrient Absorption? 

Consuming nutritious food does automatically guarantee physical and emotional well-being as your body may struggle to absorb essential nutrients for various reasons (e.g., intestinal disorders, medications, digestive enzyme deficiency). Luckily, there are ways to overcome poor nutrient absorption and mitigate gastrointestinal issues. Here some essential tips:

Food Combinations

There are no “superfoods” that can magically boost nutrient absorption. While an anti-inflammatory diet is a great starting point, the key lies in strategic food pairing. Some nutrients enhance absorption, while others inhibit it. By combining foods thoughtfully, you can significantly improve both nutrient absorption and overall gut health.

Follow these practical guidelines, and you may notice a difference in just a few days.

Eat Prebiotics and Probiotics Together

You can increase the nutritional benefits of your diet by combining prebiotics (non-digestible fibers that feed good bacteria) and probiotics (beneficial strains of live bacteria).

Prebiotics are commonly found in bananas, oats, onions, barley, and flaxseeds. The best probiotic sources include yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods. Together, they support digestive health, enrich gut flora, reduce intestinal inflammation, and help the body absorb more nutrients.

Note: Learn to distinguish between prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics, and explore how each affects your microbiome and overall health.

Combine Healthy Fats with Vegetables

Consuming healthy fats with vegetables enhances the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), which play essential roles in bone and muscle health, vision, immune function, and circulatory system. Studies show that these vitamins are absorbed more effectively when consumed with dietary fats.

You can increase their bioavailability by adding healthy oils and fats to vegetables rich in these nutrients, such as carrots, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, collards, and broccoli. Add extra-virgin olive oil to your salads or pair vegetables with avocados, chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts, coconut, full-fat yogurt, eggs, and fish.

Note: Read about the skin benefits of fatty acids and why to avoid consuming trans fats.

Boost Lycopene Absorption with Healthy Fats

Lycopene is a potent antioxidant, like beta-carotene and other fat-soluble vitamins, and is best absorbed when consumed with healthy fats like nuts, seeds, fatty fish, and eggs. It is found in tomatoes, grapefruit, asparagus, red cabbage, papaya, apricots, and watermelon. Research shows lycopene neutralizes free-radical damage and reduces metabolic disorders related to oxidative stress, including inflammation, obesity, and diabetes.

Optimize Nutrition with a Variety of Protein Sources

Eating a variety of protein sources ensures you get all the essential amino acids. Complete proteins come from animal products, while plant-based sources like nuts, legumes, and grains are incomplete and should be combined for full amino acid balance. For example, you can combine rice and beans or whole-wheat bread and peanut butter. Eating diverse proteins will enhance gut function, support muscle growth and repair, and boost overall health.

Note: Read about the benefits of amino acid IV therapy.

Pair Vitamin C with Iron

Iron found in animal products (“heme iron”) is easily absorbed, while plant-based iron (“non-heme iron”) requires a vitamin C boost for better absorption. It is best to combine vitamin C with non-heme iron in a single meal to enhance this mineral’s bioavailability. Pair vitamin C-rich foods like citrus fruits, bell peppers, kiwi fruits, strawberries, and broccoli with plant-based iron sources such as beans, lentils, tofu, and spinach.

Increase Calcium Intake with Vitamin D

Calcium and vitamin D keep your bones, muscles, and nerves healthy. Vitamin D also helps your body absorb calcium and is essential for getting this mineral into your bloodstream. A deficiency in vitamin D can result in a calcium deficiency, leading to weaker bones, osteoporosis, and impaired nerve signaling.

Try pairing vitamin D-rich foods like egg yolks, beef, and fatty fish with calcium-rich foods like yogurt, almonds, cheese, milk, and leafy greens. This will ensure more efficient absorption and prevent muscle wasting and bone fractures.

Our experts recommend using a dietary supplement called Vibrant D that promotes bone and arterial health and supports the immune system.

Combine Turmeric with Black Pepper

Turmeric adds flavor, color, and nutrition to food. It also has strong antioxidant power and can relieve arthritis symptoms and improve kidney function. Its active compound, a potent anti-inflammatory agent called curcumin, requires a small amount of black pepper to be readily absorbed.

Avoid Combining High-Calcium Foods with Iron, Zinc, and Magnesium

Calcium can interfere with the absorption of iron, zinc, and magnesium. To optimize absorption, avoid pairing high-calcium foods like dairy with foods rich in these minerals, such as meat, eggs, leafy greens, rice, and oats. This advice also applies to supplements, so do not take a calcium supplement during meals high in iron, zinc, and magnesium, such as beans, vegetables, lean meat, seafood, and mineral-fortified cereals.

Gut-Boosting Supplements

Probiotics, digestive enzymes, and other dietary supplements promote nutrient absorption, support digestion, and improve gut flora.

Consult a healthcare professional to find the most suitable gut-boosting supplements for your digestive health needs. Our experts recommend Vibrant Gut Support, a supplement that supports gastrointestinal health, boosts immune function, strengthens the intestinal lining, and helps prevent gut dysbiosis. 

Cooking Methods

How you cook and prepare food is equally important as what you eat. Certain cooking methods help preserve the nutritional value of vegetables, while others destroy most vitamins and minerals.

• Steaming vegetables is the most effective cooking method for retaining nutrients and preserving their antioxidant properties. This is particularly important for vitamins that are sensitive to heat, such as thiamine (B1), pantothenic acid (B5), and vitamin C.
• Stir-frying is preferable to pan or deep-frying due to shorter cooking time and lower exposure to unhealthy oils. This method is also good for digestion as it helps the food retain fiber and remain crispy.
• Oven roasting is another way to preserve nutrients and fibers in vegetables. Beware of overcooking at high temperatures, as it can significantly degrade heat-sensitive vitamins.

Boiling vegetables reduces the availability of nutrients due to leaching (the loss of nutrients into cooking water). If you choose to boil vegetables, cover the pot to reduce cooking time, use as little water as possible to minimize nutrient loss, and repurpose the leftover water as a base for soup.

Soaking Grains, Nuts, Seeds, and Legumes

You may be eating a handful of nuts and seeds every day but not getting their full nutritional content. While grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds are rich in essential minerals like zinc, iron, magnesium, and selenium, they also contain phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that can inhibit mineral absorption.

Scientific evidence shows that soaking and sprouting can reduce phytic acid and prevent it from binding to minerals. To maximize nutrient absorption, soak legumes in warm water for a few hours before cooking, soak and dry the nuts in the oven, and opt for overnight oats when possible.

Frozen Foods

Surprisingly, frozen produce can be just as nutritious and sometimes more nutrient-packed than fresh produce. Fresh fruits and vegetables are often picked before they are fully ripe to survive transport and storage, which can lead to significant nutrient loss. They are also often exposed to heat and light during transport and storage, which degrades heat-sensitive vitamins like B and C.

Frozen produce is typically picked at peak ripeness, which helps preserve its full nutrient content. Choose seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables or flash-frozen produce for maximum nutritional benefits.

Mindful Eating

Chewing breaks food into smaller pieces, making it easier to swallow and digest. Eating slowly and mindfully stimulates saliva, stomach acid, pancreatic juices, and digestive enzymes, which aid digestion and nutrient absorption. Chewing thoroughly can also alleviate digestive discomfort like bloating and ensure that all the nutrients are effectively absorbed.

Avoid distractions during meals and focus on the colors, flavors, and textures of your food. This will indirectly slow down eating and improve digestion.

Keeping the Peel

Unpeeled fruits and vegetables are highly nutritious because the outer skin contains most of the essential nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and digestive enzymes. For example, leaving the skin on a cucumber preserves 82% of its vitamin K, while an apple’s peel provides 52% of its fiber, 38% of its vitamin A, and 24% of its vitamin C. The skin of a baked potato also holds 88% of its total iron content.

Wash the produce thoroughly and keep the skin intact to maximize its nutritional benefits, stabilize blood sugar, and improve digestion.

Hydration

Drinking water helps your digestive system run smoothly by stimulating the movement of food through the digestive tract, promoting regular bowel movements, softening the stool, and preventing constipation.

Additionally, water assists with the breakdown of food, transporting nutrients across the intestinal barrier. It also helps the body flush out toxins and reduces exposure to harmful substances by speeding up stool transit through the large intestine, potentially lowering the risk of colon cancer.

Stress Management

Chronic stress can hinder nutrient absorption by impairing digestion and increasing inflammation. Prolonged mental, physical, and emotional stress can disrupt gut flora, trigger unhealthy cravings, alter appetite, and affect blood flow in the GI tract.

Prioritize your mental health with stress-relieving activities like exercise, deep breathing, journaling, meditation, and hiking. For better gastrointestinal and overall health, consider professional support. A qualified therapist will help you develop effective stress management strategies.

Checking for An Underlying Medical Condition

Nutrient absorption can be affected by various medical conditions, including malabsorption disorders, food allergy or intolerances, hormonal changes, or intestinal damage. Since about 90% of nutrient absorption occurs in the small intestine, any damage to its lining can significantly impact this process.

Malabsorption occurs when the body cannot properly absorb nutrients, leading to deficiencies, weakened immunity, and unintended weight loss. Deficiencies in micronutrients can affect skin, hair, bones, and eye health, while macronutrient deficiencies may result in muscle wasting, anemia, and overall undernutrition.

If you experience symptoms of impaired nutrient absorption, consult a healthcare professional to identify and address any underlying conditions.

Conclusion

A nutrient-dense diet can strengthen the immune system, alleviate pain, and reduce symptoms of chronic medical conditions. But understanding how to minimize nutrient loss and enhance absorption is just as important as eating healthy foods. The well-known phrase “you are what you eat” could just as fittingly be expressed as “you are what you absorb.”

Contact our Vibrant Vitality Clinic team if you have additional questions about healthy food plans, medical weight loss programs, and dietary supplements for optimal gut health.