#1: Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in people of all ages, especially in those who choose to use topical sun screens (which blocks vitamin D production) or limit their outdoor activities. Researchers estimate that 50 percent of the general population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, and this percentage rises in higher-risk populations such as the elderly and those with darker skin. Signs indicating you may have a vitamin D deficiency include being over the age of 50, having darker skin, obesity, achy bones, feeling blue, head sweating, and poor immune function.
To read more on Vitamin D visit: Natural Sources of Vitamin D; Sunlight: You Should know and Therapies: Vitamin D
#2: Omega-3 Fats
Low concentrations of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA2 are associated with an increased risk of death from all causes, and omega-3 deficiency has been revealed as the sixth biggest killer of Americans.
Most people eat too many inflammatory omega-6 fats (think processed vegetable oils) and too few anti-inflammatory omega-3s, which sets the stage for a number of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes, just to name a few.
For more information on Omega-3 fats, visit: Food For Life: Fats, Oils & Omegas
#3: Vitamin K2
Vitamin K2 may be just as important as vitamin D for optimal health. It’s essential for bone strength, the health of arteries and blood vessels, and plays a role in other biological processes as well, including tissue renewal and cell growth, healthy pregnancy, and cancer prevention.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Vitamin K
#4: Magnesium
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body, yet an estimated 80 percent of Americans are deficient in it. Without sufficient amounts of magnesium your body simply cannot function at its best. Insufficient cellular magnesium levels set the stage for deterioration of proper metabolic function that typically snowballs into more significant health problems. Researchers have detected more than 3,750 magnesium-binding sites on human proteins,6 reflecting how important this mineral is to a great many biological processes.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Magnesium
#5: Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is known as the energy vitamin. Your body requires it for a number of vital functions, including energy production, blood formation, DNA synthesis, and myelin formation. The two ways you become deficient are through a lack of vitamin B12 in your diet, or through your inability to absorb it from the food you eat.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of B12
#6: Vitamin E
Vitamin E is particularly important for your brain health, but it also helps support normal cholesterol levels, and protect against free radical damage and the normal effects of aging.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Vitamin E
#7: Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an essential fat-soluble vitamin that is important for maintaining healthy skin, teeth, bones, cell membranes, and vision. Vitamin A, like vitamin D, is also essential for your immune system. It’s a precursor to active hormones that regulate the expression of your genes, and vitamin A and D work in tandem. For example, there is evidence that without vitamin D, vitamin A can be ineffective or even toxic. But if you’re deficient in vitamin A, vitamin D cannot function properly either, so a balance of these two vitamins is essential.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Vitamin A
#8: Iodine
Iodine is an important nutrient found in every organ and tissue, and many are deficient in this nutrient. Worldwide, it’s thought that up to 40 percent of the population is at risk of iodine deficiency. Along with being essential for healthy thyroid function and efficient metabolism, there is increasing evidence that low iodine is related to numerous diseases, including cancer. Iodine deficiency, or insufficiency, in any of these tissues will lead to dysfunction of that tissue. Hence the following symptoms could provide clues that you’re not getting enough iodine in your diet.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Iodine and Therapies: Iodine
#9: Calcium
Calcium is one of several nutrients required for strong, healthy bones. However, it’s important to not overdo it on calcium supplements. Calcium needs to be balanced with vitamin D, K2, and magnesium, or else it can do more harm than good. Lack of balance between these nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Calcium
#10: Iron
Iron is essential for human life, as it is a key part of various proteins and enzymes, involved in the transport of oxygen and the regulation of cell growth and differentiation, among many other uses. One of the most important roles of iron is to provide hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells), a mechanism through which it can bind to oxygen and carry it throughout your tissues, as without proper oxygenation, your cells quickly start dying.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Iron
#11: Choline
Choline15 is a B vitamin known for its role in brain development. It’s a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which plays a role in both muscle control and memory. Choline is also important for the health of your cell membranes, and has anti-inflammatory properties. An estimated 90 percent of the US population may be deficient in choline.16 Some of the symptoms associated with low levels include memory problems, lethargy, and persistent brain fog. Your body can only synthesize small amounts of this nutrient, so you need to get it from your diet.
For more information visit: Natural Sources of Choline
Tips to Supercharge Your Diet with Nutrients
As much as possible, I recommend getting the nutrients your body needs from whole foods. This means minimizing processed foods as much as possible and instead focusing on healthy fats, fresh produce, grass-fed meats and pastured poultry, raw dairy products, organic free-range eggs, nuts, and seeds, and, if you’re healthy, moderate amounts of fruit. That being said, there are a few tricks to get copious amounts of nutrients with little effort. You’ll still need to eat a variety of foods to get the wide range of nutrients your body needs, but the tips that follow will give you an excellent start:
- Vegan Bone Broth: Bone broth contains high amounts of calcium, magnesium, and other nutrients.
- Sprouts: Sprouts can contain up to 100 times more enzymes than raw fruits and vegetables, allowing your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fats from the foods you eat.
- Juicing / Juices: Juicing not only helps you to consume more nutrient-rich veggies, it also helps you absorb the nutrients they contain. Juicing will help to “pre-digest” the veggies for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet.
- Fermented foods support the beneficial bacteria in your gut, which helps with mineral absorption and plays a role in producing nutrients such as B vitamins and vitamin K2.
Adapted from Article – Source: Mercola
| DBM COMMENT |
Whilst this is valuable information that supports many researchers’ claims that a well-balanced diet, ESPECIALLY a Whole Food Plant Based diet can provide all the nutrients (Vitamin B12 being the only one that needs attention, if patient is proven to be deficient), DBM does NOT advocate supplementation through tablets / capsules, except on the rare occasion when nutrient deficiency is so severe, certain supplements might be used as an adjunct treatment.
Attend to your diet and eliminate all the foods on the “Foods to Remove From Your Diet” list, and follow our Daily Nutrition and Eat To Live information, and you will be able to restore nutrient deficiency in a relatively short space of time.
