Where can we start to regain control of our nutritional needs?
• Research shows that 500mg of vitamin C daily can cut death rates by 50%. The average Western intake is 58mg.
• The World Health Organisation says we need 2.5μg/kg body weight of selenium per day for health and protection from viruses – i.e. a 60kg person needs around 150μg/day.
The average UK diet supplies 39μg/day, which means that almost everyone who is not supplementing has a significant shortfall.
The recent SACN report showed that 47% of girls in the 11-18 age group had intakes of iron below the Lower Reference Nutrient.
• Vitamin D: this vitamin plays a major role in the prevention of cancers, osteoporosis and falls in the elderly, and in mental health and wellbeing.
Low intakes have been identified in all age groups, but the lowest is in those who need it most – people over 64 and pregnant and nursing women.
The most recent data suggests that intakes of up to 5’000iu – 10’000iu would be beneficial and do no harm, whereas the current RDA is 200iu
. • Oily fish: known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory conditions, and to promote mental acuity and concentration.
All groups failed to meet the recommended level of 1 portion per week – the mean intake being 0.3
Environmental influences detrimental to health
•Chemicals, environmental toxins, smoke and fumes all increase our antioxidant needs. Equally, some can impair our ability to absorb and utilise essential nutrients.
• The use of antibiotics has led to widespread probiotic imbalances in our intestines and impaired synthesis of B vitamins and vitamin K, along with decreased uptake of minerals and trace minerals.
You have only to look at the physiological activity of probiotics to realise how detrimental to health an imbalance would be.
They Support the production of B vitamins, vitamin K and biotin, promote mineral absorption, support carbohydrate and protein absorption, aid metabolism and the breakdown of toxins, maintain appropriate bowel transit time, support the immune system, produce lactic acid for support of digestive processes and colonic pH balance and maintain serum lipid and blood pressure levels within the healthy range.
One of the biggest influences on the Nutrition Gap (and hence hidden hunger) is the shift of foods we consume: 60 years ago our diets were primarily plant based.
Now they are primarily animal based.
Additional lifestyle factors that also contribute to the Nutrition Gap
- Dieters – When food intake is reduced, the intake of micronutrients is also reduced, but the body’s requirement for certain vitamins and minerals may actually increase during periods of weight loss.
- Smokers – Each cigarette uses up large amounts of vitamin C and other antioxidants, which is one reason why smokers are more susceptible to heart disease and cancers.
- Drinkers – Too much alcohol depletes the body of B vitamins, magnesium, zinc and calcium.
- Athletes – Heavy exercise burns more oxygen, and increases the requirements for antioxidants. Large quantities of zinc and other minerals are lost in sweat, and need to be replaced.
• Sun-worshippers – Too much sun uses up antioxidants. Extra intake of vitamins A, C and E, flavonoids and carotenoids help protect your skin from the ageing effects of the sun.
- Vegans and vegetarians – Need to plan their diets carefully; in particular, to ensure an adequate intake of vitamin B12 and vitamin D – often short in these diets.
- Accidents, illness and surgery – All increase the need for vitamins and minerals, including zinc, calcium, magnesium and vitamins A, B, C, D and E.
- Pregnancy and breast-feeding – The metabolic demands of providing for a growing infant increase the need for B complex vitamins, folic acid, vitamins A, D and E and minerals such as iron, calcium and magnesium.
- The Pill – Oral contraceptives are thought to increase the need for folic acid, vitamins B and C and zinc.
- Post-menopausal women – Need more calcium, magnesium and other minerals to spare their bones. Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K and plant-derived phytonutrients are also important.
- The Elderly – Digestion is less efficient in the elderly, who generally have multiple micronutrient depletion. Poor dentition, depression, other illnesses and drug ingestion may further compound the problem in this age group
What can we do to address the imbalance?
The human body needs certain levels of nutrients for optimum health; anything less and it is more susceptible to disease.
Food had the ability to supply all the nutrients we needed for optimum health.
However, over the past 50 years, the nutrient content of our diets has changed dramatically because:
• Our food choices are now predominately for nutrient depleted foods.
• Even for those who eat 3-plus-a-day portions of fruit and veg, there is mineral depletion of the soil. As a result, fewer minerals are found in plants and the animals which graze on them.
• We eat both mineral-depleted plants and mineral-depleted animals. T
here is a big gap in the nutritional status of most people today, and even a wholesome diet of organic food will not always be able to supply all our nutrient requirements.
Research compiled from well respected practitioners;
• This explains why diseases, previously seen only in the elderly, are now affecting younger people. It is due to multiple system failure caused by cumulative depletion of many micronutrients.
As most people are depleted in the majority of micronutrients, it does not make sense to take a single micronutrient.
• Unfortunately, this truth has been overlooked by many clinical scientists.
Wedded as they are to the single agent, ‘magic bullet’ approach, they find it hard to appreciate the complex relationship between multiple food ingredients and health.
• We do not have the resources to analyse millions of individual cases, but there is no need to do so. The vast majority of people are consuming sub-optimal amounts of micronutrients, most of which are safe.
So if we wish to improve the general health of the nation, a comprehensive baseline programme of micronutrient support is the best way to achieve this.
• If a nutrient programme is sufficiently comprehensive, it will remedy whatever dietary defects an individual or population may have. The nutrients needed for health provide overlapping lines of defence.
Each defence affords some protection, but unless you have all the defences in place, you remain vulnerable.
Solving the Nutrition Gap and satisfying “Hidden Hunger”
There are 2 issues that need to be addressed to satisfactorily bridge the nutrition gap:
1) The nutrient formula: which must contain the levels of nutrients that will elevate the nutritional intake of most people to optimum for health and protection.
This level is the difference between the amount of nutrients being ingested from food and the optimum level needed. Many supplements on the market do not satisfy this criterion.
2) The form of the nutrient within the formulae: nutrients in a Food State or from wholefoods are the most bio-effective and far more so than standard isolated chemical form nutrients.
1) Why should I Choose Nutrients in a Food Form?
The bio-efficacy of orally administered vitamins, minerals and trace elements is subject to a complex set of influences.
• There are multiple mechanisms that influence the absorption and utilisation of most nutrients
• Food factors are responsible for the correct absorption and utilisation of nutrients in the body. There are no food factors in chemical formulations. • Emerging evidence shows that food nutrients use different metabolic pathways in the body from laboratory-produced equivalents.
• The physiochemical form of a nutrient is a major factor in bio-efficacy.
Food form nutrients and chemical nutrients have different physiochemical forms and are likely to use different metabolic pathways.
Natural food complex vitamins and minerals are in the physiochemical form that the body recognises.
They contain many food factors which are intrinsically related to the metabolic pathways of the nutrient within the body.
Chemical isolate nutrients can have value, BUT studies have shown that vitamins in natural food complexes are significantly better absorbed, retained and utilised.
The nutrients in our products are presented to the body in the same form as the nutrients in whole food.
They are highly bioavailable in small amounts, gentle and effective, even for those who are ill.
This is the main feature that sets our products apart from other products on the market
2) Body by nature’s Programme
We have designed a range of formulae especially to address the prevailing nutrition gap.
Our formulae will elevate the nutritional status of people eating average-to-good diets to optimum levels.
They will also elevate the nutritional status of those eating poor diets to an improved level of nourishment and protection.
Our recommendation is that people take a good Food State multivitamin and mineral formula, designed specifically to address the nutrition gap. Thereafter, and dependent on individual dietary intake, the following may also be recommended:
- Antioxidant formula – containing flavonoids and carotenoids (protective nutrients from plants)
- Omega 3 supplement
- Beta glucan supplement
What You Are Likely To Notice
Depending on your nutritional status at outset, you are likely to notice one or more of the following benefits after a few weeks:
- Increased energy
- Increased libido
- Improved sleep – hours and quality
- Greater enthusiasm for life
- Improvement in physical and emotional symptoms
- Reduced BMI, weight • Fewer episodes of acute illness
- Improved visual acuity
- Improved mental acuity – memory
- Reduced blood pressure (if previously high)
- Reduced cholesterol (if previously raised.
Find our Adult Starter Packs on our website here: https://www.bodybynaturesupplements.com/product/starter-packs/adult-starter-pack