Stories from the Bathroom (revised after rogue code removed)

There is a mystery island that we need to explore together. It resides somewhere in between oral ingestion of food and how the nutrients we take in get delivered to your blood serum, then deeper into tissue saturation, and finally excreted. This seemingly magical mystery island is rarely discussed amongst clinicians and patients alike. Some people waste their lives alone on this island. Yet, some people devote their entire careers to exploring, discovering, and maximizing the potential of this mystery island. It is a concept as much as it is an unspoken place. This place is called ABSORPTION. We can go there together.

The story of this island begins with a tail…I mean, a tale. Once upon a time, my dad met a man in the sewage pumping industry. Gross, right? ‘Shit-pumping, Angeline. I don’t want to read this,’ you may be thinking? You’re wrong! You do want to read this. 

As a certified GI advisor with a 90-credit hour diploma in toilet talk, and years of health coaching and mentoring people who live in the can, I can tell you that this story is worth the grunting…I mean ‘grunt-work’ to read.

Here is why…back to the ‘sewage pumping man.’ When discussing the ideal form for medication and tablets, the sewage man said, ‘every septic tank that I pump is filled with floaters that destroy plumbing. You know what they always are? Pills, mostly there are tablets of all kinds, literally inches of pills floating.’

People weren’t flushing down their pills whole on purpose (although some people do that). Please don’t do that because medications get into the water table. There are better places to return unused medications.

Instead, people were pooping out their medications mostly whole because they were hardly being absorbed. That’s right. It’s big money, flushed right down the toilet. 

In another tale, in another tail, a young person recovering from cancer later suffered from chronic anemia. After treatment, doctors prescribed iron supplementation for the patient. There are many forms of nutrients, including iron, to choose from (with some forms being more bioavailable than others). The patient's serum iron levels remained low, despite having tried out various forms of iron supplements.

In this scenario, the patient was suffering from malabsorption (absorption challenges). FYI, some nutrients can boost the absorption of iron. A well-trained advisor can help to change the ending of this tale to a happy tail!

Did you know that world-wide, incidence of irritable bowel syndrome continues to rise (as well as inflammatory bowel diseases)? It is almost always associated with malabsorption. It represents a barrier to maximizing human potential, making it a place that is worthy of exploration by every pharmaceutical; nutraceutical; clinician; and patient alike!

Through the years of mentoring patients, friends, and family on their paths to wellness, I continuously observe that some things do not add up; from a clinical standpoint, patients with the same conditions try the same medications yet frequently have very different results. This phenomenon is often measured by bloodwork (assessing serum levels of vitamins, minerals, and drugs). It very often corresponds to absorption, for good or bad. 

The ability to reach adequate serum levels (and red blood cell uptake) of nutrients and drugs is complex. It also certainly is dependent upon metabolism and one’s personal genome; this is a biological concept just one step beyond absorption (not discussed here). Absorption Island is not the complete story on total nourishment or successful therapeutics. But, understanding these key concepts in absorption allows clinicians, patients, and manufacturers to better-maximize potential and healthcare spending.

Absorption occurs in different places, but primarily in the jejunum of the small intestine. Some important exceptions to jejunum absorption include vitamin B12, which is ultimately absorbed in the ileum, while iron is absorbed in the duodenum. That’s why total gastrointestinal health is important. Bowels matter, not just looks. Looks are often dependent upon bowels (and so are brains)! Gastrointestinal health is for everyone.

Nutrients and drugs are facilitated across layers of tissues in the small intestine where they enter blood vessels through various mechanisms such as active or passive transport and facilitated or passive diffusion. When any of these areas become inflamed, damaged, or begins to stretch out so that the gaps between cells widen (so that undigested food gets into the body), that’s means big trouble for overall health! Patients and clinicians alike can draw upon the evidence-based wisdom of an experienced GI advisor (and use these evidence-based tools to support GI health). 

Some patients will never be good candidates for the medications and health products found in tablet form. Manufacturers should adopt innovative tools to increase absorption, which will lower side-effects (by reducing the quantity of medication and toxic burden), improve patient out-comes, and lower healthcare costs. But, patients can reach out for innovative resources in boosting absorption too. These techniques are called ideal delivery systems (not unique to the drug or nutraceutical industry). Be in the know!

Patients should not be left to explore Absorption Island alone, should they? Patients may empower themselves to improve absorption by addressing underlying conditions; controlling systemic inflammation; purchasing bioavailable nutrients and supplements when possible; and having blood serum monitored. Experienced advisors and innovative manufacturers can be their tour guide to success (on an otherwise lonely island).