How does your body absorb vitamins from the food you eat?

When you eat food, digestion breaks it down so vitamins can be absorbed, primarily in the small intestine. Fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K require dietary fat to be absorbed properly. They dissolve into fat droplets, get packaged into structures called micelles, and are absorbed through intestinal cells into the lymphatic system before entering the bloodstream. Water-soluble vitamins like C and the B vitamins dissolve directly in water and are absorbed through the intestinal lining into the bloodstream more quickly. Most use specific transport proteins to cross cell membranes, though some pass through by diffusion. The liver plays a key role in processing and storing many vitamins after absorption, distributing them to tissues as needed.