You’re Not What You Eat, You Are What You Absorb
Written by Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach
Bradley Abbott is known for his holistic approach to personal coaching, merging fitness training with nutritional therapeutics. Author of the e-books A How-to Guide in Developing Functional Strength, Power and Adaptability, and The Cussing Coach, both published in 2024.
The absorption of nutrients, although important, appears to be misunderstood by many in the medical profession. Much information has been perpetuated about Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum and other important gut microbiome bacteria that aid digestion. These bacteria get so much “spotlight,” and yet a lot of “experts” seem to miss the very foundations of digestion. These foundations are absolutely "essential for health and longevity", and they seem to lose their significance or not get mentioned at all.
These foundations are paramount to a healthy mind, body and soul. They don’t get talked about because sometimes the truth is hard to hear, and people don’t want to, or are scared of, change, simply because fearing the unknown is hard-wired into our biology.
These essential parts of human digestion are:
Elimination of the bad foods that cause harm to our digestion.
The essential minerals required for every biological function, including digestion (remember, you cannot even utilize oxygen efficiently without mineral cofactors!).
Supplementation with betaine hydrochloride and digestive enzymes, including pancreatic enzymes (especially after age 35, when your ability to produce stomach acid begins to halt).
Hydration and sleep! Especially sleep, which is needed for your whole body, including your nervous, endocrine and muscular systems, to recover effectively.
There are also things that aren’t taught, even in some educational institutions, regarding the negative effects of consuming some foods. The negative effects of consuming certain foods have a direct impact on your absorption of certain minerals. For example, if you consume a high plant-based diet, then the likelihood of you absorbing minerals like zinc becomes a non-factor! Oats (even gluten-free oats), high plant-based diets and especially raw plants have high amounts of phytates in them. These phytates bind to minerals like zinc, iron and iodine, and vitamins like B12, rendering them unabsorbable. This is why people who consume high plant-based diets, high amounts of oats and especially this processed junk plaguing the shelves of every modern-day supermarket are likely to be zinc-deficient and deficient in other minerals. This can cause zinc-deficiency disease, especially in prenatal women, such as cleft palate, cleft lip, spina bifida, etc. This is why companies that mass-produce nutrient “whole food” drinks like “Huel” with oats in them really do not understand human absorption. Those minerals in that drink will bind with the oats in the same drink, making them unabsorbable. Though these drinks taste good and are useful calories, the “holistic nutrition” element of this drink backfires!
Avidin, a substance found in the white of raw eggs, binds with biotin, a B vitamin, making it unabsorbable. Fortunately for us, avidin is rendered useless when we cook eggs. It would take up to 25 raw eggs for the avidin to render biotin unabsorbable by the human body. Thankfully, most of us cook our eggs! If you don’t go “full-Rocky Balboa,” that is!
The above information is there to help you make an informed decision about your health choices. It is also there so you can use this information to increase the health, strength and vibrancy of your health and that of your family.
Thank you for reading!
Read more from Bradley Abbott
Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach
Bradley Abbott is a personal coach and author. Known for his holistic approach to training, merging naturopathic principles with fitness training, he has managed to reverse his clients' symptoms almost completely and raise their energy to heights they never thought possible. He is the founder of Phoenix Phorm Online and uses these platforms to educate and inspire a larger audience.
