A significant portion of the world’s population suffers from vitamin deficiency. In the United States alone, over 88% of people suffer from a vitamin E deficiency, and over 44% are calcium deficient.
Since the 1940s, Americans have been taking supplements to account for inadequate levels of certain minerals and vitamins. But not everyone who takes a supplement is getting all the benefits of what’s inside.
When you pack everything into one pill, your body may not be absorbing it properly. Many people have no idea that vitamin absorption charts even exist. Some vitamins work better together, and some supplements work more efficiently with or without certain foods.
So how are vitamins absorbed? Keep reading to find out all about vitamin absorption and which supplements work better with what foods.
Where Are Vitamins Absorbed?
There are two kinds of vitamins – fat-soluble and water-soluble. Once you take your vitamin and it’s broken down in your stomach, and then sent to the small intestine, it is absorbed. The small intestine is where all your vitamins are absorbed.
Water-soluble vitamins, like vitamin C, are picked up in a section of the small intestine called jejunum. They are picked up by active transports that carry the molecules through the cell walls of the intestine and then deposit them into the body so they can enter the bloodstream.
Because they can dissolve in water, they leave the body every day in an individual’s urine, so you need to make sure you take them daily for continual absorption.
Fat-soluble vitamins like A, K, D, and E have to dissolve into fat before they make their way to the body. They stick around for longer, so they don’t require daily consumption. It’s essential to be careful that you don’t consume too much of these since they do build up.
What Stops Them from Being Absorbed Properly?
For pills to be absorbed properly, they must be able to disintegrate. Many commercially available vitamins, especially those in pill form, might not disintegrate in time. That means that many people are taking vitamins and spending money on them for little or no reason.
In order for vitamin absorption to work, they must be able to break down within the first 20 minutes of entering the body. Binders and fillers that are added by manufacturers to produce these vitamins more easily make it harder for those vitamins to break down inside the body.
Have you ever noticed that your vitamins are shiny? Some manufacturers add a wax coating in order to keep out moisture and give the vitamins a longer shelf life. But what this does is prolong the disintegration effect even longer, which might make it impossible for any vitamins to be absorbed.
Sugar and corn syrup may make vitamins taste better, but they only add to weight gain and further inhibit the body from absorbing nutrients.
People Hate Taking Pills
Many people either hate taking pills or have trouble taking them. This leads to them skipping days or skipping taking their vitamins altogether. It sounds simple, but if you aren’t taking them on a regular basis, they aren’t doing any good for you either.
What Should You Look for in a Vitamin?
For one thing, it’s time to move away from vitamins in pill form. And if you’ve stocked up and don’t want to throw away something you spent money on, you can crush up your pills and let them dissolve as you drink them.
That being said, when you’ve depleted your supply, look for alternatives to the pill. For example, new technology like our PatchMD is specifically designed for convenient, safe, and optimal absorption. There are no fillers, and it’s easy to use.
Other things to look for in your vitamins are fillers and binders. Check the ingredients. Make sure there aren’t fillers, artificial colors, corn syrup, sugar, binders, or preservatives.
Do your research. Who are you buying your vitamins from? Do they offer testimonials? Are they open and honest about their ingredients? Do they test on animals or make an effort to decrease their carbon footprint?
Look to buy from a manufacturer that has done their research and designs their vitamins to be used in the most efficient way possible.
What Does the Vitamin Absorption Chart Say?
If you continue to swallow your vitamins or you want to finish what you started, there are a few tips and tricks to follow in striving for optimal results.
For example, vitamin A absorption works best when taken with fats, whereas alcohol and digestive illnesses will hinder that absorption.
Magnesium absorption is increased by taking vitamin D at the same time, whereas calcium absorption can be decreased by magnesium.
If you have an autoimmune disease or digestive issues, it might be best to break up the vitamins that you take at different times of the day.
If you opt to use a verified patch, your vitamins will go directly into the bloodstream, so you don’t have to worry about what happens in the digestive process.
You Don’t Necessarily Need a Vitamin Absorption Chart
If you’re taking your supplements in the right way, you don’t necessarily need that vitamin absorption chart.
With PatchMD technology, the nutrients you pay for reach the bloodstream much faster, so you don’t have to wonder about whether or not they make it there in the first place.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about swallowing a handful of pills every day for the rest of your life. In fact, you might never have to swallow a pill again!
Check out some of our products and try them out today! They’re latex, lactose, and gluten-free! Do you have questions you want to ask before you try out the patch? Contact us today!