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College of Naturopathic Medicine - How do we absorb food?

Thumbnail of the video “College of Naturopathic Medicine - How do we absorb food?”
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Author: College of Naturopathic Medicine
Categories: Nutrition Health Education
Tags: nutrition, health, education
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 20:36 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Food must be broken down into its simplest forms, such as single sugar units (monosaccharides), before the body can absorb it, so good digestion is a prerequisite for good absorption and nourishment. The speaker explains this using the example of a potato's starch, which is built from roughly 3 to 500 glucose units linked together. Poor digestion, the speaker says, leads to poor absorption and can contribute to symptoms such as fatigue.

Key Points

  • Starch is a carbohydrate made of about 3 to 500 glucose units bound together; the speaker compares each glucose unit to a single Lego brick.
  • Starch and double sugars (disaccharides, meaning "di" = two and "saccharide" = sugar) cannot be absorbed in their bound form; only monosaccharides (single sugar units) can be absorbed.
  • Poor digestion leads to inadequate absorption, so the body's tissues are not properly nourished.
  • Fatigue can be a presenting symptom of poor digestive function, because cells are not receiving the nutrients they need from food.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: The transcript gives no specific steps, doses, or preparation methods. The only actionable element is the practitioner's approach of taking a three- or seven-day diet diary from a client to learn what they eat, while bearing in mind that digestive processes must function well for nutrients to be extracted.
  • The potato example illustrates the chewing and breakdown process: chewing begins breaking down the potato and its sugars.
  • The speaker frames the breakdown as moving from "big block of Lego" structures into single "bricks," which is the reason absorption depends on digestion.
  • The claims are presented in an educational context by a naturopathic practitioner; the transcript does not provide clinical evidence or sources for the fatigue link.

Bottom Line

Nutrients only nourish the body if digestion breaks food down into single-sugar units that can be absorbed, so digestive health should be checked when fatigue or poor nourishment is a concern.