Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

CLASSIFICATION OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS 441
into the bloodstream. Fat-soluble vitamins are first incorporated into chylomicrons, along
with fatty acids, and transported through the lymphatic system to the bloodstream and then
on to the liver. The bioavailability (i.e., the amount that gets absorbed) of these vitamins is
dependent on the food composition of the diet. Because fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed
along with dietary fat, if a meal is very low in fat, the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins in
that meal may be impaired.
Figure 8.2. “Absorption of Fat-Soluble and Water-Soluble Vitamins.”
Fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins also differ in how they are stored in the body.
The fat-soluble vitamins—vitamins A, D, E, and K—can be stored in the liver and the
fatty tissues of the body. The ability to store these vitamins allows the body to draw on
these stores when dietary intake is low, so deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins may take
months to develop as the body stores become depleted. On the flip side, the body’s storage