Upgrade from “I think it’s working” to “I can feel this working”: Why Absorption Matters More Than You Think

If you’ve ever taken a supplement and thought, “Is this even doing anything?”, you’re not alone. Most people swallow their vitamins like a small daily gesture of hope, and then… hope.

But here’s the part nobody talks about: Your body doesn’t absorb everything you give it. Not from supplements, and not even from food.

This is the real difference between “I think it’s working” and “I can feel this working.”

Absorption isn’t dry science. It’s everyday biology that shapes your energy, mood, sleep, immunity, skin, focus, and overall resilience.
Once you understand it, even just a little bit, everything clicks.

Part 1: Absorption isn’t a supplement issue but a human one

People assume food is always absorbed perfectly. Spoiler: it isn’t. (1a)

Your body has to break food apart, extract nutrients, present them to transporters, and hope the gut lining actually lets them through. And the everyday culprits that disrupt digestion, such as stress, caffeine, alcohol, inflammation, age, medications, gut irritation, rushing meals, even tiredness, disrupt absorption too.

Even the simplest nutrients face hurdles.

Vitamin C: why your body can only take in so much at once

Sky is not the limit, 200mg is?
You only have a certain number of these tunnels, and they can only move Vitamin C through at a fixed speed. Once they reach capacity (around 200mg at one time), the system hits its limit. Anything extra simply struggles to get through fast enough, with most of it being excreted. Similarly to waiting for the last bus home only to find when it arrives, it is too packed for anyone else to board.

That bright yellow urine you see after taking a huge 1000mg Vitamin C fizzy tablet? That’s the overflow your body couldn’t take in.

This is why the number on the label isn’t the amount your body actually receives, and it’s not just from your supplement, the same applies to your food. So, if you eat some bell peppers, broccoli and brussels, some of the highest Vitamin C vegetables, combined they might contain 300–350mg Vitamin C. Your gut, if in peak health, might absorb 60–70% of this.

High dose does not equal high delivery… unless it is in a Liposomal form.

Liposomal Vitamin C doesn’t need to use SVCT1 transport routes, because it’s wrapped in tiny fat-like droplets, allowing it to be absorbed through the fat-uptake pathways in the small intestine and via the lymphatic system instead.

This lets more Vitamin C enter the body (2b), and it’s released into the bloodstream more steadily, helping you maintain higher and more reliable levels without the big spike-and-dump effect of standard tablets, capsules and powders.

Vitamin D needs fat, and not just any fat

It bypasses mineral transport competition, avoids stomach acid and pH breakdown, and sidesteps first-pass liver regulation, meaning more magnesium reaches circulation and tissues intact. And because liposomal always includes both liposomal magnesium (4b) AND free magnesium, the body gets two absorption routes instead of one. This ensures more magnesium is delivered, utilised, and stored for when you need it, and gives you a far higher chance of feeling the benefits.

Glutathione: why your body struggles to absorb it in the first place

Glutathione, the “master antioxidant”, is another classic absorption conundrum.

When you swallow standard glutathione tablets or capsules, or even eat foods containing glutathione, your gut treats it like a small protein and instantly breaks it into three separate amino acids: cysteine, glycine and glutamate. Very little of the whole glutathione molecule survives digestion.

And here’s the key part: your body doesn’t automatically rebuild glutathione from these amino acids. They are often diverted to other jobs such as muscle repair, energy production, neurotransmitters, and immunity, meaning far less is available to reform glutathione.

This is why high-dose standard-form glutathione rarely results in meaningful increases in your actual glutathione levels.

The real goal isn’t getting glutathione into your bloodstream... it’s getting it inside your cells

Your cells use glutathione internally, behind the cell membrane. That’s where it works its magic in neutralising free radicals, supporting liver detoxification, and regenerating other antioxidants i.e. vitamins C and E.

Setria Glutathione + Liposomal: the combination that overcomes the absorption bottleneck

Two challenges need solving:

1. Protect glutathione from being broken down in the gut
2. Deliver it in a form your cells can actually take up

Setria® Glutathione is clinically shown (5a) to raise glutathione inside cells, not just in circulation, solving the “does it work once absorbed?” problem.

Liposomal Glutathione (5b) helps more glutathione survive digestion by wrapping it in tiny fat-like bubbles that shield it from digestive enzymes, use fat-uptake pathways for absorption, and deliver more intact glutathione into cells.

Together, Setria and liposomal delivery help more real, active glutathione reach the body and enter your cells, where it can actually do its job.

And there are many more examples of nutrient absorption challenges.

PART 2: Your digestion is basically border control

We imagine absorption like this:
Swallow → absorb → feel better.
Reality? Not even close.

Your digestive system works like border control:
• stomach acid checks everything aggressively
• enzymes break down what’s left
• the gut lining decides who gets through
• everything goes to the liver first
• only then does anything reach the bloodstream

Stress, coffee, alcohol, ageing, rushing, and medications can interrupt every stage. Even food sometimes gets a poor absorption score.

PART 3: First-pass metabolism, the step that quietly reduces whole-body nutrient effectiveness

When you swallow anything — food or supplements — it must go:
stomach → intestine → liver → bloodstream.

The liver naturally receives many nutrients first, as part of normal metabolism. It converts, activates, stores, or uses what it needs to support detoxification, hormone balance, fat processing, and energy production. This isn’t a drawback, it’s simply how the body is designed.

However, because the liver uses some nutrients immediately, less may be available for the rest of the body, especially during times of stress, inflammation, high toxin exposure, or low nutrient intake, when the liver’s demand increases.

Liposomal delivery can help by allowing more of a nutrient to enter circulation before significant breakdown occurs. The liver still receives what it needs, just more gradually, while other tissues, such as the brain, muscles, immune cells and skin, also gain better access. This supports more balanced availability throughout the body.

Absorption vs Bioavailability, and why people confuse the two

Most people use these two words as if they mean the same thing, but they describe two completely different stages in how nutrients work (6a)

Absorption is how much of a nutrient makes it across your gut wall and into your bloodstream. This part is influenced by things like stomach acid, gut health, digestive enzymes, transporters, fibre, and competition with other nutrients.

Bioavailability, however, is what happens after absorption. It’s how much of that nutrient reaches your cells in a usable, active form — and how long it stays circulating before being used up or broken down.

A nutrient can be absorbed perfectly well, but still have poor bioavailability if:
• the liver uses a large portion immediately,
• the nutrient breaks down quickly in the bloodstream,
• it isn’t stored properly,
• it can’t enter cells efficiently,
• it isn’t chemically active by the time it arrives,
• it’s used rapidly during stress, inflammation, or detoxification.

In other words, absorption gets the nutrient into the body; bioavailability determines whether it actually works once it’s there.

Think of absorption as opening the front door,
and bioavailability as the nutrient actually making it to the room where it’s needed, in one piece, and on time.

Why liposomal delivery improves both

Liposomal technology (7a) supports absorption because nutrients are packaged in tiny fat-like bubbles that the gut absorbs easily through fat-uptake pathways.

But where liposomes really shine is in bioavailability:
• the liposome protects fragile nutrients from being broken down too early
• more of the nutrient survives first-pass metabolism
• it circulates for longer before degrading
• more reaches target tissues
• the liposome merges with cell membranes, helping the nutrient enter cells in a targeted active form

In simple terms:
absorption = getting in
bioavailability = staying intact, travelling further, and getting used

Liposomal delivery does both — which is why people often “feel” liposomal supplements more consistently than standard tablets or powders.

FOUNDER’S NOTE

I started Well.Actually because I kept meeting people who were doing everything “right”, eating well, taking supplements, trying their best, yet still feeling tired, foggy, or flat.
It wasn’t a lack of effort. It was a lack of absorption.

As explained, things like age, stress, sleep, medications, gut health, and lifestyle can dramatically affect how well your body absorbs nutrients. I wanted to create formulas I would confidently give to my own family, knowing the nutrients would actually reach the places they’re needed.

Liposomal science isn’t new. It has been used in the medical world for decades because it’s one of the most effective oral delivery system of compounds into the body Nothing has surpassed its efficiency so far.

And what really convinced me is this: studies show that liposomes are far less affected external and internal influences. Meaning they provide a more consistent delivery of nutrients into the body (absorption), keep those nutrients circulating and active for longer (bioavailability), and support better uptake into cells where they’re actually used.

That’s why we obsess over delivery and never settle for “it’s good enough”.
It has to work, you have to feel it!

PART 4: Why liposomal nutrients behave differently, in a positive way

Liposomal supplements don’t rely on the traditional digestive route alone.
Each nutrient is wrapped in a microscopic phospholipid bubble, a structure the body recognises, accepts, and uses with ease.

This changes everything.

Liposomal delivery:
• protects nutrients from stomach acid
• helps them cross the gut barrier more easily
• allows them to enter the lymphatic system (avoiding bottlenecks)
• bypasses much of first-pass metabolism
• gives you two opportunities for absorption (regular + liposomal pathways)

This is why people consistently report better sleep, calmer evenings, fewer cramps, steadier energy, brighter skin, improved focus, and better recovery when taking liposomal supplements.

A simple analogy
Standard supplements: “Your package is stuck in customs.”

Liposomal supplements: “Your package is pre-cleared, fast-tracked, and already boarding.”

It’s not an IV drip, but it follows a similar principle: less lost, more delivered. 

PART 5: Signs you might not be absorbing nutrients well

• fatigue
• brain fog
• restless legs
• low mood
• poor sleep
• dull skin
• weak nails
• frequent colds
• slow recovery
• irritability
• feeling depleted

These are often absorption issues — not motivation issues, not age, not “just life”.

PART 6: How to support absorption naturally

A few simple habits help enormously:
• avoid caffeine around supplements
• take magnesium at night
• pair Vitamin D with healthy fats
• don’t take all minerals together
• eat slowly
• reduce stress where possible
• avoid extremely high-fibre meals around supplements
• sleep well
• stay hydrated

Your body is clever — it just needs the right environment.

PART 7: The point — feeling the difference

Most supplements rely on hope. Liposomal supplements rely on delivery.

It’s the shift from “I think it’s working…” to“ I can feel this working.”

Once you’ve felt that difference, the calm, the sleep, the clarity, the steadier energy, it’s hard to go back to old-school capsules still queueing at the border and waiting for the next, less crowded transport bus or train.

Author – Nigel Barton