Micronutrients Might Be The Key To Disease Prevention
by Marissa Pomerance and Steffi Victorioso
For those of us who attempt to stick to a healthy diet, we kind of know that we need to be getting some vitamins and minerals from our food, but how many of us are actively seeking them out, other than popping the occasional Vitamin C tablet?
Vitamins and minerals—or, micronutrients—are actually necessary for almost every vital physiological process. And though the amount of micronutrients we consume may be small, getting enough of these key nutrients can have huge implications for staving off disease in decades to come.
So if you want to know the basics about the benefits of eating a more micronutrient-rich diet, here’s a quick and dirty guide:
1. Micronutrients are, obviously, different than macronutrients.
Ok fine, this isn’t exactly mind-blowing, but it’s still important to mention.
Macronutrients are fats, carbs, and protein that we need to consume in large amounts. Micronutrients, however, are vitamins and minerals, which are also necessary (in smaller quantities) for every vital physiological process. Our bodies can’t always manufacture these 30-40 micronutrients in sufficient amounts, though, so we need to source them from food.
2. Micronutrients ward off diseases.
When we don’t ingest enough micronutrients, we’re more prone to disease and illness. And though we can temporarily function without them, we won’t survive for very long without the proper amount of micronutrients.
“There are a variety of micronutrients that are really important for disease prevention,” says Dr. Rhonda Patrick, an expert in micronutrients. According to Dr. Patrick, magnesium “is required to repair damage to DNA, and DNA damage is a precursor to mutations that can lead to cancer and accelerate the aging process in general.” Eating more magnesium through leafy green plants can help prevent this DNA damage.
Other important micronutrients for repairing and regenerating cells include folate and omega-3s. Folate, which creates and repairs DNA, as well as generates red blood cells, can be found in dark, leafy green vegetables.
Depression, anxiety, eye health, brain health, and autoimmune diseases are all impacted by Omega-3’s. According to Dr. Patrick, people who get plenty of omega-3’s through diet “have a 9% reduced all-cause mortality, which means they are 9% less likely to die early from cardiovascular disease or cancer or Parkinson’s disease.”
3. Even in the US, where we have an abundance of cheap food, micronutrient inadequacy and undernourishment are still big issues.
Unfortunately, 75% of Americans aren’t consuming the recommended amount of fruit, while a whopping 80% aren’t eating the recommended amount of vegetables. Calorie-dense and nutrient-poor processed foods make up half the calories of an average American’s diet.
While micronutrient inadequacies can be difficult to detect, they may cause issues like fatigue, reduced immune function, and reduced cognitive function, while potentially leading to other chronic diseases.
Iron is a particularly prevalent and problematic deficiency for women, and can result from losing iron through menstruation. This deficiency can lead to pregnancy complications, as well as impaired physical and cognitive development, reduced work productivity, and poor health overall.
According to Mascha Davis MPH, RDN, Private Practice Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, founder of NomadistaNutrition.com and author of upcoming book Eat Your Vitamins, Vitamin D is another common deficiency for women; she believes an estimated 80% of the population is vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D is necessary to absorb other nutrients like calcium and magnesium, and a lack of it encourages fatigue, depression, bone loss, hair loss, and muscle pain.
4. Recommended Daily Allowances aren’t always accurate.
“Recommended Daily Allowances” or RDA’s are considered the standard, minimum recommended daily amounts of micronutrients needed to stay healthy. The problem is that studies determining these RDA’s have typically been done on animals; researchers deprive these animals of micronutrients, and once a deficiency leads to an animal’s death, the researchers simply set the RDA only a couple of standard deviations above that.
This means that overall, RDA’s are actually just conservative estimates to prevent people from dying. But because of these animal studies, these numbers might not be entirely accurate, and more research needs to be done to determine the levels that prevent and stave off aging and diseases for humans.
5. Leafy green vegetables aren’t the only source of micronutrients.
Healthy whole foods, like the aforementioned leafy greens, are great sources of micronutrients, along with fruits, fish, and lean meats. Eating a varied diet of nutrient-dense whole foods, while limiting your intake of highly processed foods, is the best way to have a micronutrient-rich diet.
And while multivitamin supplementation might seem like a great alternative, they’re really only meant for people with inadequacies and deficiencies to bring levels back up to normal.
But leafy green vegetables and vitamins aren’t the only ways to get more micronutrients. Vitamin D, for example, comes from UVB radiation when the sun hits our skin, while vitamins B12, creatine, carnosine, vitamin D3, and certain irons come mostly from meat.
Alright, we’re sold— micronutrients are magic and possibly the key to disease prevention. Now, can anyone show us how to eat all those leafy greens, please?
Marissa Pomerance is the Managing Editor of The Candidly. She’s a Los Angeles native and lover of all things food, style, beauty, and wellness. You can find more of her articles here.
Steffi Victorioso is an LA-based food and lifestyle writer/photographer currently thinking about what to eat. You can find more of her articles here.
