The short answer is no. We are not able to get everything we need from food alone.
The biggest problem factor appears to be that our soils aren’t nutrient rich and when our soils are deplete in nutrients how can they be in our food supply?
I also skim read a document released by the Ministry of Health – NZ Food, NZ Children – which stated that NZ children weren’t deficient overall until they hit the 11 -14 female age bracket where low iron became a noted issue. Likely because this is the time menstruation starts, perhaps nutritional need around this time were not considered by the general public??? I know for one it never crossed my mind when I started my monthly and it was never discussed by my parents.
However, this document was published in 2002 which is nearly 20 years ago so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those figures have changed.
Various sources on the internet show the following nutrients are deficient. I don’t need to regurgitate all the details here but I will link to the web pages for you to read further if you want to:
Iodine, Selenium, Zinc, Chromium, Boron, Vitamin D, Omega 3, Vitamin B12, Iron – shared in articles by Dr Libby Be Pure, HFG and About Health
At the end of the day it goes back to the same old message. Eat a variety of real whole foods, cut out the processed crap and added sugars, be aware of what your bodies need to function optimally and where to find these nutrients. We don’t all need to be experts in anatomy and physiology but a basic understanding of how the body works and the key role nutrition plays is essential for everyone. In my opinion.
We also need to be massively aware of the effects of poor nutrition. There are the immediate effects such as low energy, poor sleep, poor moods etc but also the long term effects that are likely to occur over a prolonged period of time of choosing to fuel our bodies with junk. Weight (a reflection of our lifestyle choices) Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, a variety of cancers that could be largely prevented through good nutrition choices and other non communicable diseases that could be prevented through better nutrition choices, as well as stress reduction.
Keep the “treat foods” for special occasions like when we were kids, not the every day, every week occurrence that it has become. And I would strongly challenge calling it a “treat food”…are we really “treating” our bodies?
So when we understand that our bodies need vitamins, minerals, fibre, quality carbohydrates, healthy fats, proteins, amino acids, phytonutrients, and antioxidants to function optimally, (rather than the unhealthy fats, excess sugar, white flour, excess salt, preservatives, food coloring a lot of us are consuming predominantly on a regular basis) it’s easier to really take a look at our food choices and to start working out what we need to do to start shifting to a state of better health.
At the end of the day it’s up to you. Do you choose a life of health & wellness? Of great energy? Of good sleep, of good moods, of enjoying life to the fullest? Or do you choose a life of sickness, tiredness, just going through the motions of daily life?
The effect of our nutrition choices is huge and so many people just don’t get that.
Now what do we do about the fact that our foods are deficient in several vital key nutrients?
Well the first step is to really take a look at what you are consuming? Is it good real whole foods? Or is it predominantly processed and full of sugar and low in nutritional value?
The second step is to support good real whole foods with supplementation. It’s not a question of should I or shouldn’t I supplement, the real question is what supplements should I use?
Which is Why the Shakes Work. They take the question mark out of “am I getting the nutrients my body needs each day? They are quick and simple and all we need to focus on then is making sure we are eating real whole foods. We don’t need to be nutritional experts but we do need to be aware of our specific needs (don’t make the same mistake I made when cutting out meat and totally didn’t think about boosting plant based iron sources – as a side note I made sure I had two shakes a day as well as 3 multivitamins which gave me over half my RDI for iron as a non meat eating woman of child bearing age – the difference after doing that was amazing and I didn’t take an iron infusion or medical grade iron).
We can free up the time to use our new found energy to enjoy quality time with loved ones.
But don’t take my word for it. Try it out for yourself, see what happens for you in just 7 days with our low cost trial on the 7 Day Eat Clean Challenge.
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Email: helen@trilogynz.com
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