Over the years, people have believed that fats are bad for your health. However, they play significant roles in the body. Fats are a powerful energy source and help your body absorb vital vitamins. They also play an essential role in your body’s daily activities.
However, unlike other macronutrients that are water soluble, fats are insoluble. While in the digestive tract, fats solidify, making it challenging for the body to absorb them directly into the bloodstream. As a result, the absorption of fats and fatty acids is different. Sometimes, the absorption of fats is impaired, leading to malabsorption. This can be due to lymphatic system disorders, defective lipid processing, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, etc.
Luckily, there are numerous ways to can boost fat absorption. Below are some tips to consider:
1. Take Bile Salt Supplements
Bile, generated in the liver, contains bile salts and other elements that aid in breaking down fats in your diet. Ideally, bile salts solubilize ingested fat and fat-soluble nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamins A, E, D, &K, enabling their digestion and absorption. They break down fat globules into tiny droplets, a process called emulsification, which enhances the fats’ surface area and allows lipase enzymes to digest them.
Other roles of bile salts include:
- Promoting Gallbladder and Liver Function: Bile salts boost gallbladder function by minimizing inflammation of the bile ducts and normalizing blood flow. They also enhance liver function by helping eradicate harmful substances from the body.
- Removing Bilirubin: The accumulation of bilirubin in your body can adversely affect your health. Bile salts help eliminate this substance.
- Dissolving Gallstones: Gallstones appear when cholesterol and other components in bile bind to form a solid. Bile salts prevent the formation of gallstones and assist in dissolving them.
Bile deficiency can therefore affect the effectiveness of these roles. For this reason, take bile salt to help digestion and solve fat malabsorption.
2. Enhance Hydrochloric Acid In your Diet
Hydrochloric (HCL) acid’s primary role is to enhance the stomach’s acidity. This helps break down food for easier digestion and facilitates quicker absorption of nutrients. Additionally, HCL maintains high acidity in the digestive system killing harmful microbes and bacteria, which helps fight small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Excessive bacteria in the intestinal lumen deconjugate bile acids, affecting fat absorption.
To increase HCL levels:
- Drink Apple Cider Vinegar: Take one or two tablespoons of acid vinegar before meals. Due to its acidity properties, apple cider vinegar enhances the acidity levels in your digestive tract.
- Manage Stress: High-stress levels can limit the production of HCL in your stomach. Therefore, do your best to keep your stress levels as low as possible.
- Take HCL Supplements: Some supplements, like betaine HCL, can help increase stomach acidity. However, before using them, speak to your doctor to determine if you’re an ideal candidate.
- Reduce Processed Food: Processed foods can reduce acid activity, cause stomach inflammation, and trigger acid reflux symptoms.
High stomach acidity levels can lead to ulcers, heartburn, or acid reflux. Therefore, ensure your HCL levels are at optimum levels.
3. Enhance The Intake Of Healthy Fats
Another significant way to boost fat absorption is to increase the consumption of healthy fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, like omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, are healthy or good fats. Unhealthy fats such as trans and saturated fats can harm your health. These fats take longer to break down; thus, they can remain in your bloodstream, blocking your arteries and increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Therefore, it’s essential to cut out unhealthy fats from sources like beef, stick margarine, sausage, bacon, etc., and increase healthy ones in your diet. Some sources of good fats include the following:
- Whole eggs
- Cheese
- Avocados
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fatty acids
- Nuts
- Dark chocolate
- Yogurt
- Tofu
- Chia seeds
In addition to enabling the absorption of particular nutrients, healthy fats also aid memory and hormone function.
4. Ingest Digestive Enzymes Supplements
Digestive enzymes are responsible for breaking down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates from the food you take. This is vital as it enables nutrient absorption and maintains optimum health. Your body naturally produces these enzymes. However, some health conditions can disrupt their production.
When your body can’t naturally secrete digestive enzymes, it impacts its ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. This may result in malnutrition and symptoms like gassiness, bloating, diarrhea, etc. Therefore, it’s crucial to take supplements. For instance, lipase enzyme supplements enhance the breakdown of fats, making digestion and absorption easier.
Conclusion
Fats play a crucial role in your body. However, their absorption can be challenging. As such, any defect in your gut can result in impairment and malabsorption that can significantly impact your health. Therefore, whenever you notice any symptoms of fat malabsorption, use the solutions above for early treatment. Consider consulting your doctor for the best option for your condition.