Are You at Risk of Nutrient Deficiency?

There are many reasons why you might be deficient in one or more nutrients.

• Soils are becoming more and more depleted of some nutrients with successive harvests. This is worsened when floods occur due to climate change, washing minerals from the soil. Only certain nutrients are added to traditional fertilisers, with many trace elements not replaced into the soil. Selenium, important for heart health, immunity and thyroid function, is one mineral often lacking in soil. One study found almost half of all beef cattle were deficient in selenium. This is because the grass forming their food was unable to take up enough selenium from the soil.
• Many crops nowadays are developed to grow faster for higher yields. It’s believed this can lead to fewer nutrients in the resulting plants as they have less time to make or take up nutrients. It’s difficult to measure relative nutrient values in food over the years because nutrition in crops naturally varies with climate, growth conditions, and variety. However, one study back in 2004 found significant declines in calcium, iron, and vitamins C and B2 in US crops between 1950 and 1999 ². The researchers weren’t able to check for other minerals like magnesium, zinc or vitamin E, as they weren’t measured decades ago. In other words, we don’t really know what is happening to our food crops.
• With modern food processing techniques and long food storage times, there are plenty of opportunities for nutrients to become further depleted.
• Stressful lifestyles mean certain organs such as your stress glands need to work harder. This increases the amount of nutrients they require, including vitamin C and B vitamins. Who can honestly say they aren’t affected by stress nowadays? So, you may need certain nutrients in higher quantities than your ancestors.
• Modern life is not kind to the gut, either. Stress, medications and processed foods all impair your gut’s ability to efficiently absorb nutrients from your food.

It’s worth mentioning that when the researchers looked at the nutrient levels in those preschool children and women, on average the samples examined dated from 2013. So it’s likely the percentages of people deficient in one or more nutrients will have increased, with ongoing soil nutrient depletion and increasing availability of processed foods.