|
|
|
Happy Springtime everyone and welcome to the April edition of my quarterly newsletter.
This month we tackle the question: Do stomach acids destroy vitamins? It's a question I've heard for over 25 years in the health care business and has come up quite frequently lately. Let's look into this more closely. |
|
Most people reason that if a supplement is in a pill form, it has a special coating (enteric) or is encapsulated in a way that it will pass through the stomach, then break down and be absorbed in the small intestine. Many patients have also heard that if you take a liquid vitamin, the acids in the stomach will destroy the nutritional effect of the vitamins before they can get to where they are supposed to go. Where did this come from and is it correct?
First of all, digestion has been accused of destroying liquid vitamins for decades due the low pH or acidic environment of the stomach. Much of this propaganda started with both the pharmaceutical companies AND nutraceutical supports, i.e., those who manufacture pills, powders and capsules, and continue to claim that the simplified composition of a liquid vitamin leaves the vital nutrients susceptible to damage from strong stomach acids. However, the simple truth is that destruction of vitamins and minerals is NOT part of any digestive process. The breakdown and conversion of vitamins and minerals to usable nutrients is the only intention. Think about it...if it were true that stomach acids destroyed vitamins, wouldn't that render the vitamins in the foods we eat, such as those in fruits and vegetables, completely useless after they reach the stomach and before they enter the small intestine? The fact that you are alive and reading this is proof to the contrary.
|
|
|
Our digestive system is an amazing nutrient processing machine which is far more sophisticated than just an internal container filled with hydrochloric acid and enzymes. There are many different events that take place during digestion.
Most ingested substances require some form of digestion in order for the body to utilize their nutrients. The purpose is to increase nutrient absorption efficiency.
It begins with chewing. Obviously chewing vitamins in pill, capsule, powder or liquid form is not common nor necessary. Nevertheless, chewing food is the introductory process during digestion often referred to as "mechanical digestion". In the mouth, ingested material's surface area is increased, salivary enzymes are introduced and the food is hydrated with saliva. The presence of digestible food in the mouth actually prepares and causes the stomach to begin producing more of the acids necessary to breakdown the incoming food before it even arrives.
After the food is swallowed, it is contained in the stomach for anywhere from 2-4 hours in general, depending on the type of food. The more nutrient dense the food (such as meats), the longer the holding time. Water-abundant food, such as fruit, requires much less time and very little energy to digest. The holding time is usually necessary as the stomach introduces acids and enzymes which are regulated by many enzymatic and hormonal signals during digestion.
After this process is complete, the partially digested food is allowed to enter the duodenum (small intestine) where digestion is completed and acidic material is neutralized by pancreatic juices and bile secretion. Both of these are regulated by hormones. This process prevents damage to the intestinal track during the absorption process. If material hasn't completely digested by this time, absorption efficiency will be greatly decreased and the material will be excreted.
The small intestine is where the majority of nutrient absorption actually takes place from ingested food. Whatever is left over (usually fiber and water) continues on to the large intestine where water is still being absorbed. The remaining waste travels through the colon (large intestine) and is finally excreted since it is of no more use to the body.
|
|
The entire process is time sensitive and requires a proper sequence of events. If ingested material bypasses the mechanical digestion process, chemical digestion has to compensate and is limited to the surface area of the ingested material. In this case, a pill or capsular vitamin must be digested completely into absorbable nutrients without the increase in surface area or hydration-enzyme introduction of saliva. That's why pills, capsules and powders are absorbed so inefficiently and incompletely - usually no more than 20-30% at most.
On the other hand, liquid vitamin supplements do not depend on mechanical digestion to be absorbed properly which causes the absorption efficiency to increase to approximately 90%. This doesn't take into account carbon bonded liquid supplements where the absorption efficiency actually can reach near 100%!
After our discussion, I think we can now safely put the belief that stomach acids destroy vitamins and minerals to rest for good. Heat (from cooking or processing) is what destroys vitamins and minerals, not normal stomach acids. Rather, acid digestion is simply a method the body uses to transform nutrients into usable substances. The fewer steps required to complete this process, the higher and more efficient the absorption. With the body's need for vital nutrients, the least that can be done is supplying a more easily digested supply of vitamins and minerals as those in liquid supplements.
I hope this information has been of invaluable use to you.
Thank you once again for reading and I look forward to serving you!
Until next month, I remain yours in good health!
Sincerely,
Dr. Mike 214-707-3878 www.SomaHealth.Net |
|
|
