I like it when I learn something new and today I learned about bioavailability.  Bioavailability is the amount of nutrients your body actually absorbs from the food you consume.  Your body may not always absorb everything you ingest and some foods may inhibit you from absorbing nutrients from other foods.

Here is a break down of some foods and how to increase bioavailability.

Green Tea – Green tea contains catechins which may be tied to the teas reported health benefits.  The problem is that catechins are not very stable in places like your guts.  By aing lemon to you tea, you increase the amount available for digestion.

Iron – There are haem iron and non-haem iron in foods.  Red meat contains haem iron which is easily absorbed.  Foods like spinach contain non-haem iron.  By drinking something like orange juice or another source of vitamin C with the meal, the non-haem iron are turned into haem iron.  Also calcium and phenols (found in tea and coffee) get in the way of iron absorption and should not be consumed with high iron foods if you want the iron.

Black Pepper – Black pepper contains piperine which acts an an anti-depressant, pain reliever, antacid, and can help with brain function and sleep.  It also helps increase bioavailability in foods. 

Tomatoes - Tomatoes contain lycopene which is another one of those help antioxidants.  But by cooking your tomatoes, the lycopene turns to large amounts of trans-lycopene which are absorbed more readily.  This also is the case with carrots and beta-carotene.  The one down side is the cooking process decreases the amoutn of vitamin C.

Source: http://www.wisebread.com/bioavailability-how-to-get-more-nutrients-from-your-food