Bioavailability And Nutrition

 Bioavailability and Nutrition

Nutrition goes far beyond simple consumption and is both a balancing act and some chemistry. A good example is that in eating raw broccoli the bioavailability of sulforaphane (antioxidant) is 37% whereas cooking the same Broccoli drops the bioavailability to 3.4%.
Beyond cooking, fermentation to break down plant cell walls helps us also absorb more nutrients in food; chopping rough leafy greens also increases folate (water-soluble B vitamin).

“One example of food structure influencing bioavailability or the utilization of nutrients is with plant foods. The rigid cell wall of plant cells can make the nutrients in plants less bioavailable or usable when eaten.”

“Consume foods that work together to increase absorption of certain micronutrients. Eating citrus foods or foods high in vitamin C with foods high in iron increases the absorption of both heme and non-heme iron”

Source: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/are_you_absorbing_the_nutrients_you_eat