How to Boost Your Body’s Natural Nutrient Absorption Levels

Would you like to get more goodness from your foods and improve the way your body absorbs nutrients?

It can feel frustrating that even if you try hard to eat a good balance of healthy foods every day, you could still be nutrient deficient in some areas if your body is not properly absorbing nutrients from the foods you eat.

Fear not, there are several things you can do to boost your natural nutrient absorption levels, so you gain more vital vitamins and minerals from your food. More nutrients being absorbed means your cells can regenerate better, you have more energy and you feel and look more youthful.

If we think about how our bodies digest food, we can better understand how our body absorbs nutrients from it…

As we enjoy a meal, the digestive process begins with chewing and saliva. After swallowing, our food gets further broken down by enzymes and bacteria in the gut. Once the food has been broken down into microparticles, many factors that come into play for the nutrients to be absorbed via the small intestines including the liver, pancreas, kidneys, central nervous system, and hormones.

Hormones are not often given the credit for their role in digestion, but they signal your body to produce the stomach acids and enzymes required to break down your food and pass it through the intestines. A balanced hormone system is an important factor for natural nutrient absorption and healthy digestion. This can be why you can lose appetite or have stomachache through stress or anxiety, because your body’s hormones are gearing you up for fight, flight or freeze, not digesting food.

What else can affect the way my body absorbs nutrients?

Here are some things to avoid as they may lower your natural nutrient absorption:

• Foods that affect gut health – There are certain foods that can feed the bad bacteria in your gut, giving you symptoms such as bloating, gas, cramps, diarrhea or constipation, and affecting how your small intestines absorb nutrients. These are known as FODMAPS. They are poorly digested carbohydrates and tend to affect people more who have a bacterial overgrowth in their small intestines. The overgrowth could remain unnoticed until you eat a high FODMAP food and experience the above symptoms.
  
  
• Too many foods containing phytic acid – Phytic acid has been found to impair the absorption of vital minerals such as iron, zinc and calcium, which can lead to deficiencies. Phytic acid can be found in the skins and shells of raw and unprocessed grains, seeds and some nuts, so try to eat them either soaked, cooked, toasted, or fermented where possible.
  
  
• Avoid too many lectins – Lectins are a type of indigestible protein which bind to cells in the intestines. This can disrupt the absorption of nutrients as the binding lectins can destroy the villi that line the walls of the small intestine and are responsible for absorbing nutrients. Lectins can be found in raw white beans, kidney beans legumes, dairy products and many grains such as rice and barley. Ensure you cook or soak all your beans and legumes before eating to destroy the lectins.

Diseases and conditions which affect natural nutrient absorption:

1. Chron’s disease
2. Celiac disease
3. Irritable bowel syndrome
4. Leaky gut syndrome
5. Nausea and vomiting
6. Restrictive diets
7. Stress and anxiety

Ways to boost your nutrient absorption naturally:

• Be mindful of your gut health. If you have any stomach upsets at the moment, it’s worth taking an allergy test or consulting with a registered dietician to find out if you should be avoiding any foods that upset your digestive system
• Use coconut oil. The great thing about coconut oil compared to other fats, is that more nutrients can bind to the MCTs in coconut oil and deliver them to them to the blood stream. In other words, by using coconut oil rather than other fats, your body can absorb more nutrients.
• Enjoy both probiotics and prebiotics foods. Probiotics add good bacteria to the gut and prebiotics promote the growth of that good bacteria, so it is always good to eat a combination of both. Probiotics can be found in foods such as natural yogurt, pickles, kefir, and other fermented foods. Prebiotics can be found in foods including banana, oatmeal, honey, asparagus, garlic, and artichoke.
• Take natural Indium supplements. Research has shown that supplements such as Indium Energy specifically help with natural nutrient absorption in the body. Indium supplements not only help your body to absorb vitamins and minerals from foods, they also assist with thyroid function and our natural anti-aging system. Indium energy has been proven to boost your nutrient absorption when taken with food.

We are all different, but one thing we all respond well to is nutrients. Try some of the tips above and learn more about how mineral supplements like Indium Energy are a hassle-free way to increase your nutrient absorption levels.