What are the critical nutrients for a healthy diet? A recently study has identified seven of them that billions are deficient in.
Nutrients such as iron and calcium are critical for blood and bone health, respectively. But more than half the global population isn’t eating enough of these and five other nutrients also crucial for human health, according to a new study.
Critical Nutrients Study Results
The study published August 29 in the journal The Lancet Global Health made the following findings:
• More than 5 billion people don’t consume enough iodine, vitamin E or calcium, found the study
• More than 4 billion people have insufficient intake of iron, riboflavin, folate and vitamin C.
“Our study is a big step forward,” said co-lead study author Dr. Christopher Free, assistant researcher at the Marine Science Institute and the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in a news release..
That’s “not only because it is the first to estimate inadequate micronutrient intakes for 34 age-sex groups in nearly every country,” Free added, “but also because it makes these methods and results easily accessible to researchers and practitioners.”
Comparison to Existing Studies
Past studies have assessed worldwide deficiencies in micronutrients or insufficient supplies of foods containing them, but there haven’t been any global estimates of intake considered inadequate based on nutritional requirements, according to the latest study.
For these reasons, the research team estimated the prevalence of inadequate intakes of 15 micronutrients among 185 countries, or 99.3% of the population. They did so via modeling — applying a “globally harmonized set of age-specific and sex-specific nutrient requirements” to data from the 2018 Global Dietary Database, which provides intake estimates based on data from individual surveys, household surveys and national food supplies.
The authors also found differences in consumption of critical nutrients among women and men. Women were more likely than men to not consume enough iodine, vitamin B12, iron and selenium. Men, however, didn’t get enough magnesium, zinc, thiamin, niacin and vitamins A, B6 and C.
There were geographic patterns, too. In India, insufficient intakes of riboflavin, folate and vitamins B6 and B12 were especially high, while poor calcium intake was highest in south and east Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific.
“These results are alarming,” said study coauthor Ty Beal, a senior technical specialist at the Swiss-based Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, in the news release. “Most people — even more than previously thought, across all regions and countries of all incomes — are not consuming enough of multiple essential micronutrients. These gaps compromise health outcomes and limit human potential on a global scale.”
While the findings are unique, they align with what other smaller country-specific studies have found for years, said Dr. Lauren Sastre, assistant professor of nutrition science and director of the Farm to Clinic Program at East Carolina University in North Carolina. “This is a valuable study,” added Sastre, who wasn’t involved in the research.
A more nourishing diet
Dietitians and physicians can help you determine whether you’re getting enough of certain vitamins or minerals or if you have deficiencies proven by a blood test.
“Micronutrients have critical roles in cellular function, immunity (and) metabolism,” Sastre said. “However, we are not consuming fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains — where they are found. We need to follow the American Heart Association’s recommendation to ‘eat the rainbow.’”
Click here to read more about the critical nutrients you may be lacking.
