How to Achieve Healthy Nutrition in Today's Nutrient-Poor World - Part 3

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY - Modern Food is Failing Us

Almost every human on earth is deficient in key micronutrients.

Modern food is no longer delivering the levels of nutrients that we expect.

It is an invisible problem that drives bad health, poor performance, and early death.


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Understanding Micronutrient Deficiency

WHAT ARE MICRONUTRIENTS?

Macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats) comprise our total caloric intake and are crucial to human health and development.

MIcronutrients are no less important for human health, but are needed in smaller quantities. Micronutrients (except vitamin D) are not produced in the body - we need to get them from our diet.

Micronutrients include water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, macrominerals, and trace minerals.

LIST OF MICRONUTRIENTS WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS

WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS
  • Vitamin B1 (thiamine): Helps convert nutrients into energy
  • Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): Necessary for energy production, cell function and fat metabolism
  • Vitamin B3 (niacin): Drives the production of energy from food
  • Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): Necessary for fatty acid synthesis
  • Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): Helps your body release sugar from stored carbohydrates for energy and create red blood cells
  • Vitamin B7 (biotin): Plays a role in the metabolism of fatty acids, amino acids and glucose
  • Vitamin B9 (folate): Important for proper cell division
  • Vitamin B12 (cobalamin): Necessary for red blood cell formation and proper nervous system and brain function
  • Vitamin C (ascorbic acid): Required for the creation of neurotransmitters and collagen, the main protein in your skin
FAT-SOLUBLE VITAMINS
  • Vitamin A: Necessary for proper vision and organ function
  • Vitamin D: Promotes proper immune function and assists in calcium absorption and bone growth
  • Vitamin E: Assists immune function and acts as an antioxidant that protects cells from damage
  • Vitamin K: Required for blood clotting and proper bone development
MACROMINERALS
  • Calcium: Necessary for proper structure and function of bones and teeth. Assists in muscle function and blood vessel contraction
  • Phosphorus: Part of bone and cell membrane structure
  • Magnesium: Assists with over 300 enzyme reactions, including regulation of blood pressure
  • Sodium: Electrolyte that aids fluid balance and maintenance of blood pressure
  • Chloride: Often found in combination with sodium. Helps maintain fluid balance and is used to make digestive juices
  • Potassium: Electrolyte that maintains fluid status in cells and helps with nerve transmission and muscle function
  • Sulfur: Part of every living tissue and contained in the amino acids methionine and cysteine
TRACE MINERALS
  • Iron: Helps provide oxygen to muscles and assists in the creation of certain hormones
  • Manganese: Assists in carbohydrate, amino acid and cholesterol metabolism
  • Copper: Required for connective tissue formation, as well as normal brain and nervous system function
  • Zinc: Necessary for normal growth, immune function and wound healing
  • Iodine: Assists in thyroid regulation
  • Fluoride: Necessary for the development of bones and teeth
  • Selenium: Important for thyroid health, reproduction and defence against oxidative damage
Learn more: MICRONUTRIENTS   | Healthline 2024


COMMON SYMPTOMS OF NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY

Common symptoms of nutrient deficiency may include obesity, food cravings, fatigue, lack of energy, anemia, hair loss, irregular heartbeat, pimples and acne, dry eyes, brittle nails, dry skin, mood changes, irritability, cramps. premature hair whitening, difficulty concentrating, night blindness, chapped lips, pins and needles, and shortness of breath.

Women are especially prone to nutrient deficiency especially iron deficiency and resulting anemia. Pregnant women are at even greater risk and need to focus on avoiding nutrient deficiency during pregnancy and breasteeding.

Children with nutrient deficiency can result in depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, delayed speech, dental problems and crowded teeth, low energy, foggy brain, obesity, slow mental and physical development, and stunted growth.

Immune health depends on complete nutrition. Nutrient deficincy has been linked by research to frequent colds and flu, viral infection, leukemia, cancer, and almost every human disease.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES


THE MOST COMMON NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES
  • More than 5 billion people do not consume enough iodine (68% of the global population), vitamin E (67%), and calcium (66%). 
  • More than 4 billion people do not consume enough iron (65%), riboflavin (55%), folate (54%), and vitamin C (53%). 
  • Women have greater deficiencies of iodine, vitamin B12, iron, and selenium.
  • Men have greater deficiencies of magnesium, vitamin B6, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamin, and niacin.
LEARN MORE: Global Dietary Micronutrient Inadequacies   | Lancet 2024

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The Three Main Causes of Modern Nutrient Deficiency

Micronutrient deficiency - often called 'hidden hunger' - is a lack of essential vitamins and minerals that are needed in small amounts by the body for proper growth and development and for general health and performance.
  • Nutrient deficiency increases your risk of illness and early death - it is among the 10 leading causes of disease in the world today
  • Lack of certain micronutrients can trigger food cravings and drive obesity even in malnourished people
  • Women, infants, children, adolescents, and seniors are at the highest risk 
  • One-in-three child deaths in South Africa is due to nutrient deficiencies
  • 27 percent of South African children under five are stunted due to chronic malnutrition
There are three main reasons that we can no longer trust our food to provide complete nutrition.

1. Modern Foods Deliver Less Nutrients 

The shocking decline in nutrient density of modern fruit and vegetables  - coupled with their reduced consumption - is causing serious and widespread nutrient malnutrition.

MODERN_FARMING

This chart shows nutrient reductions of 17 to 53 percent over 22 years ending in 1997. More recent studies are not made public - perhaps due to the immense power of big agriculture. 

Industrial farming that grows food using fertilisers in poor soil or water instead of natural nutrient-rich organic soil means that modern supermarket food does not absorb and deliver the micronutrients needed to stay healthy.

National distribution chains mean that we often buy 'fresh' food that was picked one to three weeks before we eat it - by which time many nutrients are further reduced by 50% or more.

This had led to widespread malnutrition in   
  • One in four of all humans on earth 
  • Over half of SA children under five years old 
  • Over two-thirds of non-pregnant women of reproductive age 

2. Processed & Ultra-processed Foods Promote Nutrient Deficiency  

In the US, UK and Canada more than half of adults’ total diet comes from industry-engineered ultra-processed foods. 

Almost half the food eaten by 2-year-olds in the UK is ultra-processed, increasing to sixty percent at 7 years old.

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What are Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods?


Natural whole foods in which the vitamins and nutrients are still intact are called unprocessed.

Processed food is changed from its natural state by adding salt, oil, sugar, or other substances, for example canned fish or vegetables, and freshly made breads. Most processed foods have two or three ingredients and can be healthy in moderation.

Ultra-processed foods have many added ingredients such as sugar, salt, saturated and trans fats – and often contain non-food additives including artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and stabilizers. 

Examples include soft drinks, fruit juice, most breads, processed meats, frozen meals, fast food, packaged cookies, candy, health & protein bars, instant oats, sugared cereals, cakes, and salty crisps and snacks.

Ultra-processed foods are artificially engineered to preserve shelf life and shorten human life.


How Processed and Ultra-processed Foods Promote Nutrient Deficiency
  • They have low nutrient levels (nutrients are removed to extend shelf life, or destroyed during processing) 
  • They are significantly higher in calories
  • They are low in fiber, protein, potassium, zinc, and magnesium, and vitamins A, C, D, E, B12, and niacin
  • Processing changes their natural chemical composition making them harder to digest and less bioavailable
  • Unhealthy levels of sugar, sodium, and saturated and trans fats are added to make them taste better
  • They are engineered to promote overeating by reducing fullness, and to increase eating speed so more food is consumed
  • The highly refined carbohydrate and fat content changes our reward neurocircuitry, causing addictive-like eating behaviour and over-consumption
  • Their high carbohydrates content alters our insulin response, causing our body to  shuttle excess nutrients away from oxidation towards storage as adipose tissue (fat)
  • Their low fiber content harms your gut microbiome, cause intestinal inflammation, and reduce nutrient absorption
  • Eating more processed food means eating less healthy unprocessed food

How Processed and Ultra-processed Foods Harm our Health

Research clearly shows that higher consumption of processed and ultra-processed food harms our health by significantly increasing your risk of:
  • Cancer
  • Cognitive decline and dementia
  • Dental cavities and poor oral health
  • Depression, anxiety and mental disorders
  • Diabetes
  • Early death
  • Fertility problems
  • Gut and digestive health problems
  • Health problems during pregnancy (mother and child)
  • Heart disease
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Increased oxidative stress
  • Kidney damage
  • Liver disease
  • Metabolic health problems
  • Poor mental performance in adults and children
  • Respiratory illness
  • Retarded mental & physical development in infants and children (including stunted growth)
  • Weight gain and obesity

Ultra-processed foods are artificially engineered to preserve shelf life and shorten human life.


The good news is that most of the health problems they cause can be reduced or even reversed if you reduce or simply stop eating processed and ultra-processed foods.

Why Do We Keep Eating Processed and Ultra-processed Foods?

In spite of the real and proven dangers, we keep eating ultra-processed foods because: 
  • They are engineered to be addictively delicious
  • They are presented as being inexpensive
  • They are aggressively marketed as 'trendy and cool' by some of the world's largest companies due to their very high profitability

Food companies that develop and market these foods do not care about your health - they care about shareholder profits.

BLUE_ZONES

People That Don't Eat Processed Foods Live Longer and Seldom Get Sick 


The ‘Blue Zones’ are geographic areas in  Italy, Greece, Japan, Costa Rica, and the US with amazingly lower rates of chronic diseases and a much longer life expectancy.

Blue zone residents eat a diet of natural and and minimally processed foods. 

3. Non-Food Toxins & Additives We Eat Reduce Nutritient Absorption

Eating modern food means we also ingest a steady stream of:
  • Pesticides from fruit and veg
  • Growth hormones, antibiotics and chemicals fed to farmed animals
  • More than 5000 chemical additives widely used in processed food and supplements 
  • Added sugars - regarded by scientists as addictive & healthy as cocaine

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These harmful non-foods interfere with our digestion, damage our gut microbiome, cause intestinal inflammation, and reduce nutrient absorption.

SOURCES: Research and articles about MODERN PLANT FOOD [READ MORE]

MODERN PLANT FOOD

SOURCES: Research and articles about MODERN MEAT [READ MORE]

SOURCES: Research and articles about PROCESSED & ULTRAPROCESSED FOODS [READ MORE]

SOURCES: Research and articles about MODERN PLANT FOOD [READ MORE]

MODERN PLANT FOOD


How Can Fresh Spirulina Help Counter Processed Food Malnutrition?

Adding nutrient-dense fresh spirulina to your daily diet can help replenish the nutrients you are not getting from ultra-processed foods and help counter some of the resulting health problems they cause.

If you eat ultra-processed food:
  • More than 3 times a week, increase your recommended spirulina dosage by 50% 
  • More often, than double your dose until you can start eating healthier home cooked meals.


How Can Fresh Spirulina Help Counter Processed Food Malnutrition?

Adding nutrient-dense fresh spirulina to your daily diet can help replenish the nutrients you are not getting from ultra-processed foods and help counter some of the resulting health problems they cause.

If you eat ultra-processed food:
  • More than 3 times a week, increase your recommended spirulina dosage by 50% 
  • More often, than double your dose until you can start eating healthier home cooked meals.

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The Impact of Modern Farming on Nutrition

While the human body’s nutrition needs and ability to absorb and process nutrients has not changed, the nutrients available to us have changed dramatically.

Here's an overview of pre-modern eating, modern foods, supplements, and superfoods:

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PRE-MODERN EATING

  • Plant foods were mostly grown in soil bursting with nutrients and natural biomes and were extremely nutritious 
  • Foods were consumed soon after harvest, ensuring maximal nutritional value 
  • Animals fed naturally grown plants producing healthy meat 
  • There were few toxins in the air, soil and water to transfer into our human diet through food 
  • Foods were naturally dried and/or milled in ways that maintained nutrients

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MODERN EATING:
WHY ARE WE SO UNHEALTHY?

  • Most plant foods are industrially grown In poor soil (reducing nutrient value) that is polluted by heavy metals and other toxins, and are treated with toxic pesticides that are absorbed and passed on for human consumption 
  • Most plant foods are harvested early reducing nutrient content, and are eaten 2 to 3+ weeks after harvest (storage time severely reduces many nutrients) 
  • Animals are farmed in stressful and often unsanitary conditions, fed unnatural food and growth hormones, antibiotics and other toxic chemicals to help them survive high-density farming 
  • High intake of modern meat promotes cancer, heart disease, lung disease, stroke, diabetes, infections, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease ad shortens lifespan by up to 10 years (see sources below) 
  • Most foods are processed or ultra-processed (to remove nutrients that spoil and reduce shelf life) and are high in fat, salt and sugar that disrupt our gut microbiome and contribute to bloating, constipation and indigestion 
  • Unnatural unhealthy chemicals are added to food to adjust texture and flavour and extend shelf life 
  • In many countries - including the UK and US - more than 50% of food eaten is low-nutrition ultra-processed food
  • Research shows that eating ultra-processed foods increases your risk of 32 unhealth outcomes including cancer, major heart and lung conditions, mental health disorders, and early death (see sources below) 
  • High levels of toxins in the air, soil and water (especially in South Africa) transfer into our body through our food and water 

THE IMPACT OF
MODERN FARMING

SOURCES: Research and articles about MODERN PLANT FOOD [READ MORE]

MODERN PLANT FOOD

SOURCES: Research and articles about MODERN MEAT [READ MORE]

SOURCES: Research and articles about PROCESSED & ULTRAPROCESSED FOODS [READ MORE]


FRESH NOT DRIED SPIRULINA

Don't confuse fresh spirulina – a natural living micro-algae that’s easy to digest and absorb and provides almost every nutrient your body needs to thrive – with dried spirulina powder or tablets.
Dried spirulina – some scientists regard it as fresh spirulina ash – loses much nutrient value (up to 95% of some important nutrients) during high temperature industrial drying and can lose a further 50% in a few months due to non-refrigerated storage.
Insist on fresh living spirulina that has been frozen after harvest to retain maximum nutrient levels and freshness.