Aha! SIMPLE FACTS When we deal with nutrition and food, we inevitably come across specific (technical) terms again and again. We may already be familiar with some of them, but we often lack the deeper knowledge to be able to make a judgement. And sometimes the terminology itself leaves a big question mark. Today I will explain bioactivity and bioavailability to you in a short and easily digestible way and why they are not the same thing.
We at BE THE CHANGE also use this term to highlight the quality of our supplements: bioavailability. But what does that actually mean?
In nutritional science, the term “bioavailability” simply describes how quickly and to what extent nutrients from a food are absorbed by the body. reabsorbed, i.e. taken into the bloodstream . A high value therefore represents a high amount of unchanged nutrients which are obtained from a particular food or food supplement. actually on place of action, i.e. our body cells available instead of being excreted unchanged.
A high bioavailability in a food - it is expressed as a percentage - does not just mean that you really get what you pay for. A highly bioavailable food mainly ensures that you can supply your body with sufficient nutrients in the long term. A chicken egg, for example, has a sensational biological value (=bioavailability) of 100.
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The above term should not be confused with bioactivity. In the nutrition and food jungle, which is almost overrun by advertising promises like the Amazon rainforest is being bulldozed, too little attention is often paid to bioactivity. In fact, it goes hand in hand with bioavailability.
So what is it? "Bioactivity" defines the general ability of nutrients and other substances in our food to cause specific biochemical and physiological reactions in our body. Put more simply: it describes how efficiently and actively our body can use the nutrients it ingests. In other words, the more bioactive a substance, the more effective it is.
In fact, everything is bioactive in some way and reacts on a cellular or molecular level. Vitamins, for example, are highly bioactive because they are responsible for and trigger countless vital processes in our body. But ordinary water is also bioactive per se - albeit to a lesser extent. Water is often a reaction partner in various metabolic processes; for example, it makes up 90% of our blood and fulfills an important transport function for other substances.
The various nutrients and substances differ from each other in their bioactivity. However, there are also less and highly bioactive forms of certain substances. An example: The B vitamin complex Vitamin B12 comes in its natural form of methylcobalamin, which is highly bioactive in the body. In contrast, the synthetically produced vitamin B12 cyanocobalamin is hardly bioactive. This means that this artificial form is hardly active and efficient in our body.
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Conclusion
Bioavailability describes how well, effectively and quickly your body absorbs a substance. Bioactivity describes how well and efficiently the reaction of the substance in question is in the body. Even though these similar-sounding terms have completely different meanings, they are of inseparable importance in our diet.
Recommendation
Bioactive forms of nutrients and high bioavailability are always preferable.