We now focus on a common issue seldom highlighted by suppliers of multivitamins and mineral supplements. It is the subject of nutrient conflicts, where nutrient absorption are impaired by one or more other nutrients. Many people would assume that a multivitamin/multimineral pill will simply deliver all the required nutrients in a simple, convenient format.
But this is not always true. Curiously, it is feasible to suffer significant deficiencies in certain nutrients even while supplementing with the same nutrients. Nutrient conflicts To comprehend why nutrients can conflict with each other, one first needs to understand the mechanisms for nutrient absorption.
Nutrients such as minerals get absorbed via various transport mechanisms from the digestive system into the blood and organs. The major transport mechanisms involved for minerals are (i) paracellular transport, (ii) transcellular transport, (iii) cellular entry, (iv) intracellular trafficking and, (v) secretory pathway transport; however, they are too complex to be explained here. The issue is that calcium and magnesium share the same transport mechanism and excessive intake of either mineral impedes the absorption of the other.
Similarly, high zinc levels will interfere with copper absorption due to competition for their common transport mechanism. Other nutrients such as vitamins can interfere with each other due to competition for metabolic pathways for various vitamins, especially in the liver. For example, the fat-so.