25 Jul Food for medicine… What to eat… How much to eat…?
Bioavailability
We are often told that a in order to stock up our bodies level of particular nutrients it best to eat plenty of a certain type of food as it is known to contain a high amount of that nutrient. Even though this may be the case, there is a key difference between how much nutrient the food may contain compared to how much our bodies can absorb from it; that value is often know as Nutrient Bioavailability.
There are many factors which can determine the bioavailability and a few could include :
- How the food is prepared
- The stage at which it is eaten
- What it is eaten with
- Environment
Being able to understand nutrient bioavailability and the factors which alter it enables you to optimise your diet to make sure that body is getting what it needs.
Ways of getting the nutrients:
From the time food enters our mouth our bodies are designed to extract and absorb the vital nutrients.
Cooking most foods is an effective way to get access to most of its nutrients however overcooking can lead to the opposite therefore with things like meat fillets and vegetables lightly pan frying or steam cooking is commonly recommended.
Another factor can be what the food is partnered with; examples of this would be eating dairy products in order to gain more Calcium, whilst milk would provide a good source of calcium, Vitamin D helps the body to absorb Calcium therefore this often added to milk and dairy products.
In contrast some foods mixed together can prevent nutrient absorption such as Iron and Calcium.
If you are found to be deficient in a particular nutrient then you may want to consider taking a supplement- don’t worry about the brand as long as they comply to Good Manufacturing Practice, which is policed by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The average UK persons diet will provide enough of the recommended nutrients. If suggested that you take a Supplement they always provide more than enough of that nutrient contained.
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