Bioavailability of Micronutrients From Nutrient-Dense Whole Foods: Zooming in on Dairy, Vegetables, and Fruits

Abstract

In order to fully exploit the nutrient density concept, thorough understanding of the biological activity of single nutrients in their interaction with other nutrients and food components from whole foods is important. This review provides a narrative overview of recent insights into nutrient bioavailability from complex foods in humans, highlighting synergistic and antagonistic processes among food components for two different food groups, i.e., dairy, and vegetables and fruits. For dairy, bioavailability of vitamins A, B2, B12 and K, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc and iodine are discussed, whereas bioavailability of pro-vitamin A, folate, vitamin C and K, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron are discussed for vegetables and fruits. Although the bioavailability of some nutrients is fairly well-understood, for other nutrients the scientific understanding of uptake, absorption, and bioavailability in humans is still at a nascent stage. Understanding the absorption and bioavailability of nutrients from whole foods in interaction with food components that influence these processes will help to come to individual diet scores that better reflect absorbable nutrient intake in epidemiologic studies that relate dietary intake to health outcomes. Moreover, such knowledge may help in the design of foods, meals, and diets that aid in the supply of bioavailable nutrients to specific target groups.

The Role of Vitamin K in Humans: Implication in Aging and Age-Associated Diseases

“…Dark green leafy vegetables are the main sources for dietary PK (e.g., collards, turnip, broccoli, spinach, kale), 70-700 µg/100 g, as well as several fruits (e.g., dried prunes, kiwifruit, avocado, blueberries, blackberries, grapes), 15-70 µg/100 g, and some nuts (pine nuts, cashews, pistachios), 10-75 µg/100 g [7,8]. In contrast, the main sources of VK2 are fermented foods, cheeses, eggs, and meats (Table 1) [9,10]. Although dietary PK in vegetables is the major source of the VK intake (80-90%), only 5-10% is absorbed, whereas MKs from dairy products are almost completely absorbed.…”

Low Dietary Magnesium and Overweight/Obesity in a Mediterranean Population: A Detrimental Synergy for the Development of Hypertension. The SUN Project

“…It should be also considered that the absorption, hence, bioavailability of magnesium is reduced with high amounts of fiber intake [ 74 ], such as what we observed in the category of higher magnesium intake (>500 mg/d), where the significance of the association with incident hypertension was marginal.…”

Nutritional Controlled Preparation and Administration of Different Tomato Purées Indicate Increase of β-Carotene and Lycopene Isoforms, and of Antioxidant Potential in Human Blood Bioavailability: A Pilot Study

“…A fundamental aspect in nutrition is the knowledge of how the substances contained in the diet are modified and how, where, and to what extent they are absorbed by the human organism. These important aspects are known as “bioavailability” [ 44 , 45 ]. The exact knowledge about the bioavailability of each component of the diet is important for those naturally present in foods and also for those that are or should be added to the diet as supplements.…”