Does taking vitamins with probiotics affect absorption? (2024)

How healing your gut with probiotics can reduce your need for vitamin supplements

• Imbalances in the gut and nutrient absorption|
• Probiotics lay the foundation|
• Does taking vitamins with probiotics affect absorption?|
• Security issues|
• Do you need vitamins?|
• Probiotic Benefits Absorption|

Eating a Whole Foods diet is a great first step to getting all the nutrients your body needs to function properly, but what if you can't digest and absorb the food you eat? Granted, nutrient deficiencies can be the result of many different factors, but what I often experience in the clinic is that poor gut health and reduced absorption often contribute to this.

While I advocate a “food first” approach, there are times when vitamins are necessary and beneficial. But if you don't absorb food properly, chances are you won't be able to absorb vitamin supplements properly either. So what's the answer? Because probiotics (healthy bacteria) can effectively treat many gut imbalances and inflammation [1] it is possible that they also improve the absorption of vitamins. And that's exactly what the current research suggests.

In this article I will discuss how taking vitamins with probiotics affects absorption, and whether you should take additional vitamins with probiotics. I will also delve into research into the special relationship between vitamin D and probiotics. But let's start with how different gut imbalances affect the way you absorb nutrients.

Imbalances in the gut and nutrient absorption

Do you suffer from dry and thin hair, dry skin, fatigue, cravings, nutrient deficiencies, bloating and/or weight gain despite a healthy diet? If so, a digestive systemimbalancecould be to blame.

Because you mainly absorb micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates and proteins) through your small intestine, disorders that affect the health of this organ or its good bacteria, such as infections, inflammation andleaky gut, can affect how well you absorb nutrients, either from food or supplements [2].

So if you don't absorb the nutrients from the healthy foods you eat, it's almost like not eating at all or eating junk food. To better understand how imbalances in the gut affect the absorption of vitamins and other nutrients, let's walk through the digestive process.

A journey through your digestive system

Most of us eat every day without thinking about it, so it's easy to take digestion for granted. But it is a very complex process with many moving parts. Everything you eat or drink needs to be broken down into smaller molecules to be absorbed, so any disruption to this process can wreak havoc on your system. Without going into extreme detail, digestion begins in your mouth, where digestive enzymes and chewing begin to break down your food into more absorbable units.

The food bolus (the small, round mass of food that forms in the mouth) then moves through the esophagus to the stomach, where it meets stomach acid (hydrochloric acid). This further breaks down the food bolus and kills any unwanted or harmful microbes that may be present in your food.

The food then passes into your small intestine, which is perhaps the most important part of your digestive tract, but also the most sensitive and prone to injury and inflammation. The vast majority of the food you eat and supplements you take is absorbed here, helped by bile secreted by your liver and enzymes secreted by your pancreas [2].

When absorption of nutrients occurs in the small intestine, the remaining food moves to the large intestine (large intestine), where a small amount of digestion and absorption occurs.

It may seem simple from this description, but there are many factors that can interrupt the digestive process, leading to malabsorption of nutrients [3]. Here are a few common ones I write about in my book:Healthy stomach, healthy you:

• Low (or insufficient) stomach acidcan lead to bacterial or parasitic infections and fungal overgrowth that alters your microbiome, which can result in malabsorption of micronutrients such as iron, calcium and magnesium [4,5].
• Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) infectioncan lead to atrophic gastritis (chronic inflammation of the stomach), which can cause malabsorption [6,7].
• Leaky gutcan occur if the thin lining of the small intestine is damaged. Leaky gut syndrome is involved in immune and autoimmune diseases, food reactivity and nutrient malabsorption.8].
• Inflammatory diseasessuch as Crohn's disease can lead to malabsorption of nutrients via damage to the intestinal mucosa [9].

If you have any of these gut health imbalances, it's important to do something about ittarmhelende protocol, which often contain probiotics. Although they are not a panaceaelkFor gut health problems, probiotics are often an important piece of the puzzle and can help improve your ability to absorb nutrients. Let's take a look at how probiotics affect nutrient absorption.

Probiotics lay the foundation for a healthy nutritional level

As I'll say in a moment, taking probiotics along with your vitamins or a nutrient-rich diet can significantly boost your nutritional levels. But if you are experiencing signs and symptoms of micronutrient deficiencies, it is important to determine the cause before simply taking a mega dose of vitamins and/or minerals.

If you are not absorbing nutrients properly, adding more nutrients (such as biotin, folic acid and vitamin C) will not solve the problem.

Instead of adding nutrients in the form of supplements, try going through a complete gut recovery program first. This will serve to reduce inflammation, calm the immune system response and restore the integrity of the intestinal barrier, which in turn allows for better nutrient absorption.

I often recommend oneprobiotic mixas part of a bowel recovery protocol. Probiotics help balance the gut bacteria responsible for nourishing your intestinal cells and maintaining a healthy intestinal barrier. They're also extremely safe, so it's definitely worth looking into probiotics if you have symptoms of nutrient malabsorption [10]. Let's take a closer look at how probiotics specifically target inflammation.

Probiotics are an important tool for intestinal inflammation

In the clinic we like to focus on gut health before trying to optimize micronutrient levels for the reasons mentioned above. Probiotics are essential when it comes to healing the gut.Probioticsare microorganisms (beneficial bacteria or yeast) that provide health benefits to their host. There are three categories of probiotics:

• Lactobacillus en Bifidobacterium
• Terrestrial (Bacillus species)
• Mushrooms (Saccharomyces boulardii)

All three categories have been shown to provide important benefits, including reducing gastrointestinal inflammation:

• Lactic acid producing probioticsIt has been shown to reduce inflammation in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [11] and to regulate the immune system and inflammation [12].
• Soil-based probioticsIt has been shown to reduce leaky gut and inflammation [13,14,15].
• Saccharomyces boulardii is found for:

o Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diarrhea, IBD, Crohn's disease andClostridium difficileinfection [15,16,17,18,19]

o Increase the clearance ofHelicobacter pyloriinfection [1]

o Corrects dysbiosis, which often leads to inflammation [20]

By improving inflammation and correcting dysbiosis, probiotics can lead to improvements in nutrient absorption, so let's take a look at what the research says.

Does taking vitamins with probiotics affect absorption?

Yes, most likely. Although little research has been done on the effects of taking vitamins in combination with probiotics, some clinical studies have shown that probiotics have a positive effect on the absorption of some vitamins and minerals, both from food and supplements. Here is a graph summarizing the results:

As you can see, the research here is limited, but it generally suggests that the healing effects of probiotics on gut health can improve nutrient absorption. Interesting enough,Some probiotic strains can help produce vitamins and prevent malnutrition, increase antioxidant levels and reduce inflammation [24,26]This suggests that vitamin supplements may be less necessary when taking probiotics.

Likewise, prebiotics, or compounds in foods that help commensal (friendly resident) microbes flourish, have been shown to increase nutrient absorption. A 2013 RCT found that participants who consumed the prebiotic galactooligosaccharide (GOS) experienced increased calcium absorption [27].

Research suggests there may be a special relationship between vitamin D and probiotics, so let's take a closer look.

Vitamin D and probiotics: a special relationship?

It appears that eating nutrient-dense foods and/or taking vitamins with probiotics can increase absorption and increase the body's nutrient stores. But can probiotics actually increase the positive health effects of some nutrients?

Vitamin D is key to overall health because it provides anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits that can provide immune support. Several studies have suggested a synergistic relationship between probiotics and vitamin D:

• Athletic recovery:A 2023 RCT found that MMA athletes taking probiotics with vitamin D had lower lactate levels during high-intensity sprinting, along with improved power compared to vitamin D supplementation alone [28].
• Disease Treatment:A 2020 meta-analysis of RCTs found that a combination of probiotics and vitamin D resulted in greater health benefits related to disease severity, inflammation, mental health and metabolic health for a wide range of participants, compared to other interventions including D - vitamin alone [29].
• Metabolic Health:A 2019 meta-analysis of RCTs showed that vitamin D-enriched yogurt (rich in probiotics)Lactobacillus acidophilus) helped improve vitamin D and cholesterol levels, metabolic function and body size compared to regular yogurt [30].

Furthermore, research suggests that takingVitamin D probiotics improve a range of mental health parameters, general health, and metabolic and inflammatory markers in people withpolycystic ovary syndrome[31]. The benefits can be even greater when you add selenium to the mix, as a 2022 study found that women with PCOS who took selenium and probiotics together experienced improved inflammation and oxidative stress [32].

Similar effects of vitamin D and probiotics on mood and cardiometabolic health were observed in people with diabetes who also have coronary heart disease [33]. However, as with the PCOS studies above, this study did not directly compare these results with using vitamin D or probiotics alone, so it's hard to ignore the benefits of these two supplements.

Either way, probiotics clearly play an important role in the absorption and effect that vitamins and minerals have on our bodies. At this point, taking vitamins with probiotics sounds like a good idea, but is it safe?

Is it safe to take vitamins with probiotics?

You may wonder if it is safe to use vitamins in combination with probiotics. While there is limited data available on this topic specifically, studies in which people took both vitamins and probiotics have shown that participants experienced only positive effects [31].

A 2023 randomized controlled trial showed that MMA fighters who took probiotics with vitamin D had no adverse side effects [28]. Another found a combination of magnesium oxide and probiotics,Lactobacillus reuteri,be safe in children with constipation [34].

Since it has been shown to be safe to take both vitamins and probiotics in the recommended amounts, it is logical to assume that combining the two would also be safe. In our clinic we have found that probiotics and reasonable doses of vitamins and other micronutrients are generally well tolerated. Although more research is needed on a wider variety of vitamins and probiotic strains, taking probiotics with nutrient-dense foods is certainly very safe.

Now let's spend some time asking whether you should routinely take vitamin supplements.

Should you take vitamins?

With all the clever marketing out there, it's tempting to think that everyone needs something differentvitamin and mineral supplements to be healthy. But think about this: a 2020 literature review found that many micronutrients were more bioavailable in their whole food form than in a concentrated supplement. This may be related to 'additive, antagonistic and synergistic processes at the level of uptake and absorption', so for the generally healthy person it is probably best to focus on eating a wide variety of whole foods before eating adds supplements [35,36].

Although a nutritious diet is likely to provide most healthy people with the micronutrients they need [35,37,38], there are certain situations in which vitamin and mineral supplements are useful or even necessary. If you fall into any of these categories, remember to focus on healthy food sources, but you may also need a supplemental form of nutrition (such as a multivitamin) [38,39,40]:

• Restrictive or nutrient-deficient diet (the standard American diet is deficient in several nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium)
• Identified malabsorption (IBD, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)
• Medicines that break down important vitamins/minerals (e.g. metformin, proton pump inhibitor)
• Pregnant and lactating women
• Babies who don't get enough iron
• Menstruating women who are at greater risk for low iron levels (heavy, frequent, or prolonged periods)

But remember: if you suffer from poor digestion and your digestive tract has difficulty absorbing nutrients,it is much more beneficial to identify and treat the underlying dysfunction before using supplements.But if you have a known, significant deficiency, addressing the cause and starting supplements once can help you get better faster.

Vitamin supplements come in many forms, from gummies to capsules and chewable tablets. If you choose to take supplements, check with your healthcare provider and look for high-quality products with third-party certification such as the Good Manufacturing Practices seal. This is a set of standards focused on safety and quality, established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Probiotics are beneficial for nutrient absorption

A daily probiotic supplement (in the form of probiotic capsules or probiotic gums) can improve the absorption of a number of vitamins and minerals from food and supplements. So depending on the situation, taking vitamins with probiotics may be right for you. Additionally, some probiotics can produce B vitamins and a synergistic relationship may exist between vitamin D and probiotics.

If you are experiencing signs and symptoms of micronutrient deficiency, it is important to look for the cause, which is often related to suboptimal gut health. Probiotics are not a miracle cure, but as part of a gut healing plan they can support immune health, provide digestive support, improve intestinal function and help restore the ability to adequately absorb nutrients, including vitamins.

For a more personalized plan,please contact us at the clinic.

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