Fat Soluble Vits that we are taking as dry

I was thinking and wondering about this.  I hope someone has the answer.

For instance, Vit E is a fat soluble vitamin.  In order for it to work better, it needs to be taken with fat.  However, we malabsorb.  Is it going to affect us either way (good or bad) to take our Fat soluble dry vits with fat or better without?

Does anyone know?

 

 

I honestly have never thought about this or read anything about it either. My levels are good but I take quite a bit of some vitamins. I usually take them with food (so I don't get an upset tummy) but never thought that the malabsorption of fat would be problematic.

I do know that taking a fish oil supplement helps with my calcium constipation and there was concern that I was just "flushing" it all out which wasn't good.

Now off to research ...

Tali,

Let me know what you find.  I have not found anything with regards to this.  Would love to know what and where you find anything?

 

It's probably a balancing act for us. Too much fat and they will go right through. I've always taken my morning vites with a protein shake or 2 and my labs are great in the fat soluble department. I take my evening vites with food. All my fat soluble labs were pretty bad pre-op but a 1 year post-op after going on Vitalady's plan, my labs were awesome. At 5 years post-op I have been able to reduce the vitamin D3 back to 50,000IUs a day and keep my labs up around 100. I've stopped my vitamin A trying to bring it down a bit. Vitamins E and K1 are pretty stable at 800IU a day for E and 2,000 mcg of K1 a day.

--gina

 

 

I haven't seen studies to back anything up, but I try to not eat fat with my A,D, E and K. I figure they may bind with the fat in my stomach, and get passed out.

It is a cut and paste as I'm being lazy and Christmassy today but basically they are describing how "meniscable" (how soluble one liquid is in another) from  these vitamins are metabolised and cross our cell walls into our portal vein transportation system where we work them through our liver circulatory system kidneys etc.  The properties of the drug bind to the proteins in our blood and these transport and activate the drug by opening and closing little channels etc.  The doctor below gives a better explanation than I.  I hope this helps! 

Fat soluble vitamins do need fat to be absorbed and it seems counter intuitive when we malabsorb them but remember the fat is effectively flicking a switch that allows that vitamin to cross the blood barrier. I would say eating fat half an hour before taking vitamins is a good idea...so stage it just after breakfast when you've downed a lovely fry up. Don't wash your E down with a pat of butter...al though that does not in any way gross me out...but I am a pervert! 

 

Vitamins are classified as either fat soluble (vitamins A, D, E and K) or water soluble (vitamins B and C). This difference between the two groups is very important. It determines how each vitamin acts within the body.

The fat soluble vitamins are soluble in lipids (fats). These vitamins are usually absorbed in fat globules (called chylomicrons) that travel through the lymphatic system of the small intestines and into the general blood circulation within the body. These fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A and E, are then stored in body tissues.

Fat soluble vitamins, once they have been stored in tissues in the body, tend to remain there. This means that if a person takes in too much of a fat soluble vitamin, over time they can have too much of that vitamin present in their body, a potentially dangerous condition called hypervitaminosis (literally, too much vitamin in the body).

Persons can be also be deficient in the fat soluble vitamins if their fat intake is too low or if their fat absorption is compromised, for example, by certain drugs (that interfere with the absorption of fat from the intestine) or by certain diseases such as cystic fibrosis (in which there is a deficiency of enzymes from the pancreas which similarly interferes with the absorption of fat from the intestine).

There is a difference between the vitamins that are naturally water soluble (such as vitamins B and C) and the "water solubilized" form of a vitamin (such as vitamin E) that is naturally a fat soluble vitamin. This form of vitamin E is "water solubilized" by the addition of certain compounds during a specific manufacturing process. It is hypothesized that this "water solubilized form" of vitamin E is more efficiently absorbed through the intestinal wall into the body.

In sum, to respond to your questions:

• "The difference (if any) between vitamins that are "water soluble" and those that are not" -- There is a big difference between the water soluble vitamins and the fat soluble vitamins and this is absolutely a critical distinction.
• "Specifically Vitamin E" -- Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin. Although it can be "water solubilized" in the lab to help its absorption through the intestinal wall, once it is absorbed into the body it would appear to behave as a fat soluble vitamin does

hi Kirmy - Thank you for this valuable information!  I may be reading it over too fast so forgive me if the answer is as plain as the nose on my face :-)  But the dry form of ADEK is still a fat soluable vitamin or have they been converted to a water solubilized form?

thanks -- Sharon

It would depend on what your taking. Dry forms are simply that...dry. They are not packaged in oil like a capsule or enteric coated to slow breakdown. They should still be fat soluable otherwise we'd just pee them out. I have never checked if my Vitalady has been converted over but I doubt it simply based on my labs and the fact that my various levels tend to get very high which would suggest fat stored accumulation to me. Good question though! I'll ask Vitalady to find out.