Have you ever wondered why we don’t get as much nutrition from vitamins as from real foods? Every so often there is a flurry of news articles talking about vitamins and how unhelpful they are for our long-term health. There are a variety of reasons for this (and some unknown reasons!)
A big one, however, is that our body rarely optimally absorbs a given nutrient on its own. For example, some vitamins and minerals are considered fat-soluble, which means that they are best absorbed with fat. It’s like a hero without their sidekick. They can do a better job together than alone.
And this makes some sense. It’s only been in the last 100 years that vitamins have existed. For the other millions of years, we got our vitamins and minerals from actual plants and animals. Plants and animals that were also made up of water, protein, fat, good bacteria, and all sorts of other things.
By understanding how to pair foods, you can get the most out of the food your eat. Additionally, if we pair foods appropriately we can create tastier food. Who doesn’t love an excuse to add a little fat to their meals, after all?
Table of Contents
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
I mentioned fat-soluble vitamins above, but it bears repeating. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in your liver and fatty tissues. They are also best absorbed into your body when you consume them with fat. Fat-soluble vitamins include Vitamins A, D, E, and K.
You probably know that those are some super important vitamins. However, if you want a reminder, Vitamin A is best known for its key role in our vision. However, it doesn’t do just that, it also helps with hair growth and skin protection, reproduction, and immunity. Vitamins D helps build up and protect our bones and immune system, Vitamin E is an antioxidant (which means it helps protect our cells from oxidative stress), and Vitamin K is important for our bone and blood health.
To get the most out of fat-soluble vitamins, try sautéing foods that are high in these nutrients (like mushrooms, carrots, and leafy green vegetables) in oil. Or you could make a salad with these ingredients and include salad dressing or avocado. Salmon, eggs, and some kinds of meat are also high in these nutrients and already contain fat to absorb them.
Water-Soluble Vitamins
Water soluble vitamins dissolve in water and are best consumed with water. Luckily that’s a pretty easy requirement to carry out. Nevertheless, there are some consequences of this that you may not have considered.
Before I get into that, the water soluble vitamins are the B vitamins (biotin, folate, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, thiamine, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C). These vitamins are important for our skin, converting nutrients into energy, brain health, blood health, immunity, reproduction, and more.
So what should you keep in mind with these nutrients? Unlike with fat-soluble vitamins, you want to be careful about cooking with them. Because they are absorbed with water, if you dry out foods by cooking them for long periods of time, the leeched out water will take some of the water soluble vitamins with them. You can avoid this by eating raw fruits and vegetables and cooking things in soups (though heat can degrade Vitamin C as well over time).
Iron and Vitamin C
Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the United States. However, low iron levels are bad news. For one thing, iron is essential for our red blood cells and our body’s ability to transport oxygen throughout our body. It is also important for our muscles, brain, energy, and reproduction.
If you’re eating a lot of iron but not noticing an increase in your iron levels, one reason may be what you’re pairing it with (though do see a doctor if this is the case, it could also be a medical issue like thyroid problems). In particular, Vitamin C helps our bodies absorb iron.
The reasons are too scientifically boring to get into, but just trust that next time you have a hamburger, try to eat that salad that comes with it. Or maybe snack on some orange slices (high in Vitamin C) and nuts (high in iron) to get the most bang for your buck. Just don’t eat dried orange slices or you won’t actually get Vitamin C (callback to the section above!)
Iron’s Frenemies
I should also mention that some nutrients can prevent your body from absorbing all the iron in foods. In particular, phytate is present in nuts, beans, and whole grains and can have a big impact on your body’s ability to absorb iron. Soaking beans can help remove it, but if you are relying on beans and nuts to get your iron, be mindful of this.
There is also some evidence that polyphenols in coffee or tea and calcium hinder iron absorption, but to a lesser degree. If you’re really struggling to get enough iron, try making sure your high-iron meals aren’t always consumed with coffee or tea.
Turmeric, Pepper, and Fat
Turmeric has been touted as a super food (or super spice?) and for good reason. It’s the Avenger of the spice world, protecting your body from inflammation, bad bacteria, fungus, and oxidative stress. However, your body doesn’t absorb it that well. You could be drinking turmeric tea every day, but your body will only get a tiny fraction of that turmeric you put in.
Unless, you add pepper. Some studies have found that pepper increases your body’s absorption of turmeric by 2000%. The reasons for this are a little fuzzy, but it seems to slow your body’s breakdown of curcumin (the key beneficial compound in turmeric). Like with fat soluble vitamins, your body also absorbs turmeric best with fat. So in case you needed another reason to get curry this week, here’s that reason!
Lycopene and Fat
I know, I know, you’re getting the picture that fat is important. But I have one more thing that you should make sure to eat with fat and that’s lycopene. If you’re unfamiliar with lycopene, it’s found in particularly high amounts in tomatoes, watermelons, grapefruit, and tropical fruits like guava.
Lycopene is best known for protecting our skin from the sun. Sidenote, my theory is that it protects us from the sun because the fruits it’s found in grow in lots of direct sunlight and so need sun protection themselves. Lycopene is also beneficial for our heart and may even prevent certain cancers.
Lycopene is also fat-soluble (though it’s not a vitamin list in the section above) and so is best absorbed with fat. Sun dried tomatoes are particularly great sources of lycopene and are packed in oil, so it’s an easy source.
Prebiotics and Probiotics
This food pairing is one you may already be quite familiar with because they’ve been quite the dietary darlings over the past 10 years. However, they’re still worth going over. Probiotics are basically good bacteria. They’re generally considered to be good for our gut health and immunity and may even help prevent certain health conditions like gum disease, yeast infections, and IBS (what a fun trifecta!) You can find probiotics in foods that have been fermented for a relatively short time—like yogurt, sauerkraut, and pickles.
Prebiotics are found in a lot of high-fiber foods. You can find prebiotics in whole grains, leafy greens, beans, and bananas.
Probiotics feast on the prebiotics you consume, growing and persisting, in part, thanks to those prebiotics. You don’t need prebiotics to benefit from probiotics, they just help. It’s like bringing trail snacks on a hike. You can survive without those snacks, but it sure does help to have them.
Summary
The take home point is that your body was not designed to absorb nutrients from a multivitamin. While that may feel like bad news, the good news is that your body was also not designed to be on a perpetual low-fat diet! You’ll get the most out of your food by eating a wide variety of foods. And if you are concerned about your intake of particular nutrients, pay attention to how you eat and cook with them. You may find that making a few tweaks can make a huge difference.
Are there other food pairings I should have included? Recipes you’d recommend to help get these combinations of foods? Let me know in the comments. And if you liked this article or think it would be helpful for others, please consider liking, subscribing, or sharing.
And if you’re interested in related health and wellness content, check out the health section of my blog to find posts on the relationship between exercise and hormones, the health impacts of fat phobia, how your chronotype impacts your productivity, and more.