Bioavailability: how to improve the absorption of nutrients in the blood

The term bioavailability refers to the percentage of an active ingredient in an ingested drug dose. The bioavailability indicates in what time and to what extent an active ingredient acts where in the body after ingestion. It is determined by examining the drug in the blood. The following rule applies here: If the amount of the measured substance in the blood is high, the bioavailability is also good.

But which factors depend on bioavailability and what challenges do drugs face once they are ingested?

How much drug gets into the blood?

Let’s trace the process with an active ingredient. The “coenzyme Q10”, popularly known as Q10, we humans encounter not only in the form of capsules. It is also found in creams, soaps and many other body products. It is particularly elementary for the body’s energy production. From the age of 40, however, Q10 gradually decreases in the body, especially in the heart.

The question now is: Do Q10 capsules help to replenish this store? Only a small amount of the Q10 ingested reaches the heart muscle cell. Because Q10 has – like so many secondary plant substances – a low bioavailability. That means: We excrete around 90 to 95% of the Q10 in a capsule.

Small intestine: opponents of bioavailability?

The most important hurdle that a nutrient or drug has to overcome is the small intestine. This is an extremely demanding organ.

It is important to mention that capsules that we swallow never reach our blood 100 percent. What is administered intravenously, however, always. This is why infusions of vital substances are so popular with influenza. However, it is not clear whether these actually help to fight viruses better than pills, since our small intestine works very flexibly: If more is needed, for example vitamins, then it lets more in. The body has rapid transport systems for certain vitamins such as zinc.

So you can increase the bioavailability

For all other nutrients, the following applies: sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes a little. Fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D and E, but also Q10 and curcumin and many other secondary plant substances need fatty food in order to be well absorbed. For this reason, these vitamins should not be taken on an empty stomach. Vitamin C helps iron to pass through the intestinal wall, iron in turn competes with magnesium, calcium and zinc for the transporters: so do not take them together.

However, some phytochemicals successfully pass through the intestines and ultimately end up in the blood. The ‘good’ glucosinolates in broccoli and many types of cabbage are among these substances. The carotenoids, which we convert into vitamin A, and the lycopene in tomatoes can also be absorbed unhindered. With these, however, it is important to know that they are better absorbed when cooked and chopped up.

Many other phytochemicals have a hard time getting into our blood, such as resveratrol found in red wine and red grapes. However, many researching companies are working on breaking down certain substances in such a way that they slip through the intestinal wall – and then come together again in the blood. A number of active ingredients that are already on the market have achieved a significantly higher bioavailability with the help of new processes.

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