Nutritional deficiencies and health problems
For a long time, medicine spoke of deficiency only in the case of true deficiency diseases, such as:
- scurvy: vitamin C deficiency
- rickets: poor bone formation due vitamin D deficiency
- anemia: low red blood cells or hemoglobin due to a deficiency in iron, folate and/or vitamin B12
- hypothyroidism: thyroid hormone deficiency, an enlarged or underactive thyroid gland due to iodine deficiency
- beriberi: brain and nerve disorders due to vitamin B1 deficiency
- pellagra: skin and brain disorders due to vitamin B3 deficiency
We now know that low levels of nutrients can cause various health conditions and diseases, even when there is no obvious deficiency disease. In addition, many people have genetic traits that greatly increase the need for certain vitamins and/or minerals.
Why do we need to supplement?
Taking vitamin and mineral supplements is often consi- dered unnatural and unnecessary because healthy foods provide all the nutrients we need. In fact, if we lived in ideal conditions and ate only healthy, nutritious foods, we would not need additional supplements. But hardly anyone lives in ideal conditions and eats whole foods anymore. Our food, our lives, and our environment are no longer natural.
