The latest in a parade of troubling scientific studies on food and nutrition reveals billions of people around the world are not getting enough of 15 essential micronutrients – vitamins and minerals. And their health is at serious risk…
The latest Canada’s Food Guide recommended ‘dinner plate’: The best
way to ensure you get the micronutrients you need every day!
“How can this be happening?” you ask. The answer is simple. In under-developed cultures, folks are getting along hand-to-mouth, eating whatever they can get their hands on. In developed cultures, folks are eating too many processed and ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
By definition, UPF ‘ingredients’ have many of their micronutrients ‘milled’ out of them before being used to ‘build’ mass-market ‘food’ products.
What they did
A team of researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “used data from the Global Dietary Database, the World Bank, and dietary recall surveys in 31 countries to compare nutritional requirements with nutritional intake among the populations of 185 countries,” an abstract of the study report advises.
“They divided populations into males and females belonging to 17 age groups: zero to 80 in five-year spans, as well as an 80+ group.” They focused on fifteen key vitamins and minerals including: calcium, iodine, iron, riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, selenium, thiamine, niacin, and vitamins A, B6, B9, B12, C, and E.
What they found
The data mining analysis uncovered ‘significant intake inadequacies for nearly all of the evaluated micronutrients’. The overall finding? More than half of the world’s population is getting inadequate amounts of the most critical vitamins and minerals.
Insufficient intake was especially prevalent for iodine (68 percent of the global population), vitamin E (67 percent), calcium (66 percent), and iron (65 percent). More than half of those in the study consum-ed inadequate levels of riboflavin, folate, and vitamins C and B6. Intake of niacin was closest to suf-ficient with ‘just’ 22 percent of the global population consuming inadequate levels. Those with defici-encies of thiamine (30 percent) and selenium (37 percent) were slightly more numerous.
Overall, women were more likely than men to exhibit inadequate micronutrient intake. Calcium intake was generally low across North America, Europe, and Central Asia.
The takeaway
“These results are alarming,” said Ty Beal, Senior Technical specialist at GAIN. “Most people – even more than previously thought, across all regions and countries of all incomes – are not consuming enough of multiple essential micronutrients. These gaps compromise health outcomes and limit human potential on a global scale.”
“The public health challenge facing us is immense,” added study Senior Author Christopher Golden, of Harvard Chan School. “But practitioners and policymakers have the opportunity to identify the most effective dietary interventions and target them to the populations most in need.”
My take
We can all take the initiative to ensure we get enough micronutrients. I take a one-a-day multi-vitamin approved by my doctor. As a inhabitant of the ‘temperate’ climate zone, I take a vitamin D supplement on top of that. The doctor says it’s a good idea, considering how many new discoveries have been made recently about how important D is to so many bodily functions.
I’ve shifted away from traditional animal fats and proteins toward the plant-based end of those spectra. I make sure I get as many fresh fruits and veggies as I can afford. And my most recent lab tests confirm I’m on the right track!
Have you taken a personal nutritional inventory lately?
~ Maggie J.