Although nutritional deficiencies are believed by most to be rare in industrialized nations, research tells us that more than 80% of the population in the US is consuming less than the recommended dietary allowance in as many as 16 different crucial nutrients. In spite of being a country that over consumes calories and has an epidemic in obesity, our society is actually nutrient deficient.
What’s really frightening about this statistic is that the RDA is set very low, so even if you are ingesting the recommended daily allowance, that typically isn’t enough to promote optimal health. The RDA will keep you alive, but doesn’t prevent poor health. Therefore if you aren’t even acquiring the RDA levels, then you are seriously deficient.
Partly this is due to the fact that much of the population fills themselves up with junk food that is lacking in any nutritional value. The diet of the average person in the western society consists of approximately 75 percent processed foods, more than 8 pounds of food additives per year and more than 150 pounds of sugar per year, all of which are nutrient depleted substances that have no place in the diet and lead to degradation of health.
However, even those who are eating healthy aren’t getting adequate nutrients needed for a healthy body and mind. The nutrient values in our food supply has plummeted in the last 50 years by an average of 30 to 60 percent.
The widespread use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, soil depletion, over planting and food processing strips out all the nutrients and provides us with a food supply that doesn’t nourish the body. Although eating whole and organic foods is certainly more nutritious than not, it still does not contain the nutrient level that our food once contained, because it just isn’t present in the soil as it used to be.
- Apples down 40%
- Broccoli down 52%
- Collard greens down 42%
- Peppers down 30%
- Cauliflower down 50%
A diet that is deficient in nutrients leads to a malnourished body. A malnourished body leads to deterioration and improper functioning of important systems and organs and a whole list of degenerative health conditions, diseases and mental health disorders. The health of the mind and the body is completely dependent on the nutrients it receives. Sufficient levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants and essential fatty acids are essential for normal body and mind functioning.
Additionally, our society is exposed to an unprecedented amount of environmental toxins on a daily basis that puts an excessive burden on the organs and systems as they are forced to detox them from the body. This, too, causes deterioration of the body and mind and increases the need for even more nutrients to deal with this onslaught of toxins.
Whether you are dealing with a current health condition or focusing on promoting good health in the future, ensuring that your body is nourished with adequate levels of nutrients is of the utmost importance. To maintain optimal health, supporting your diet with nutritional supplements has become a necessity rather than a choice.
Impact of Nutritional Deficiencies on the Brain
One of the first signs of a nutritional deficiency is a disturbance in mood, emotion, thought, perception or behavior. Without adequate nutrients in the diet, the production and function of crucial neurotransmitters in the brain is disrupted, which results in symptoms like anxiety, depression, impaired memory, learning and problem solving abilities, difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, anti-social behavior, schizophrenia, aggression and violence, mood swings, paranoia, dementia and many more.
Nutritional Deficiencies Impact on Physical Health
Without the proper levels of nutrients in the body, then the liver, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, gallbladder, heart, kidneys etc., cannot perform their functions adequately. The immune system, nervous system, gastrointestinal system, detoxification system, reproductive system, vascular system, metabolic system etc. etc. become impaired. When systems and organs are impaired, then deterioration in health occurs resulting in a vast number of diseases, illnesses, conditions, syndromes, and poor health in general.
Impact of Nutritional Deficiencies on Spiritual Health
The lack of nutrients in the mind and body do not encourage feelings of well-being and harmony. It disconnects us from the Universe, others and self and erodes the quality of life. A nutrient deficient mind interferes in our quest for spiritual growth and awareness and inhibits us from reaching our highest potential as a human being. Meaning and purpose in life may be difficult to find or life is not as rich and fulfilling as it can be.
Nutrient Depletion and Future Generations
Children who are born to parents who are nutrient depleted are born with nutrient deficiencies themselves, or even worse, they are born with weak systems and organs that leaves them vulnerable to a vast array of chronic health conditions and diseases early in life. This is a primary reason we see so many young children developing mental and physical health conditions that often don’t strike until later in life. Children of today are being born without the nutrient levels needed to sustain good health right out the gate.
On top of that, they are eating diets that are nutrient depleted throughout childhood and exposed to high levels of environmental toxins on a daily basis, all of which degrades their health even more. Children of this day and age are the first generation that have a shorter life expectancy than previous generations, and this is primarily due to lack of nutrients in the diet and environmental toxins.
Common Conditions Linked to Nutritional Deficiencies
Although the list below contains some of the most common conditions related to a nutritional deficiency, it is by no means exhaustive. All health conditions, both psychological and physiologically, usually have a nutritional component. It is not always the sole factor, but is almost always a primary factor and by replenishing the nutrients, significant improvement in health can be achieved.
It is believed by most alternative, natural or integrative medicine specialists that most, if not all, of the chronic illnesses, diseases, conditions and syndromes that plague our society today are caused, or at least exacerbated by nutritional deficiencies and environmental toxins and scientific research is beginning to back this up. We now know that many medical conditions can be improved or even completely alleviated with the proper nutritional support.
If you have any health condition at all, psychological or physical, an evaluation of nutrient levels is absolutely essential. On the other hand, even if you are in fairly good health, occasional evaluation of your nutritional status is important as well to ensure continued good health in the future.
- Autism
- Parkinson’s
- Alzheimer’s and dementia
- Generalized anxiety disorders
- Anxiety attacks
- Depression
- Manic-depressive
- OCD
- Compulsive overeating
- Migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- Adrenal fatigue
- Hypoglycemia
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Osteoporosis
- High blood pressure
- Chronic fatigue
- Obesity
- Type 2 diabetes
- Chronic pain
- Chemical sensitivity
- Arthritis
- Addiction
- Hypothyroidism
- Insomnia
- Hyperactivity
- Attention deficit
- Alcoholism
- MS
- You name it, and it is on this list
For example, vitamin B12 and folic acid are common deficiencies in heart disease, Alzheimers and dementia; B complex deficiencies are related to numerous conditions like adrenal fatigue, depression, chronic fatigue and anxiety; amino acids and B complex are connected to addiction; magnesium to migraines, muscle pain and fibromyalgia; chromium and glutamine to hypoglycemia; selenium and tyrosine to hypothyroidism; vitamin D to breast cancer; amino acids and Bs to Parkinson’s to name just a few.
On the other hand, sometimes there can be too much of a particular nutrient like copper or iron in one’s body, which can be just as detrimental to physical and mental health as a deficiency. For example, too much copper can result in a host of debilitating conditions like Tourette’s, anxiety, hyperactivity, uncontrollable trembling, MS, violence, addiction, schizophrenia and much more. Too much iron, also known as Hemochromatosis or iron overload results in wide array of symptoms and conditions like fatigue, abdominal pain, weakness, weigh loss, cancer, diabetes, nervous system disorders, MS and other inflammatory conditions, kidney conditions and high blood pressure. Assessment of one’s nutritional status will reveal excess as well deficiencies.
Nutritional Deficiency Testing
Of course we always want to try and meet as many of our nutritional needs through a healthy diet plan that includes eating whole, unprocessed foods, with plenty of animal protein, adequate amounts of fat, eggs, low-starch vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruit, such as that found in the Paleolithic diet. However, as we established above, that is often not enough. Nutritional supplements help the body be stronger, healthier and more capable of protecting itself from disease and poor health.
At the very least, everyone should be taking a multivitamin/multimineral, some fish oil, extra vitamin C and probably some vitamin D3 to meet the basic nutrient needs, however this is often not enough for specific health conditions and/or does not meet the unique biochemical needs of each individual.
Many wise and enlightened individuals are aware of the need to supplement their diet and are already doing so, however here’s a problem that many are not aware of.Your body is unique metabolically and biochemically and your nutritional needs may be different from those of someone. else, even if you share the same health condition. There is not a “one size fits all” vitamin supplement. To be sure your vital metabolic processes are receiving the nutritional support they need, you need an accurate biochemical evaluation.
Yes, you will likely receive some benefit from a standard supplement that everyone takes, but for optimal effectiveness the key is to address your specific biochemical and metabolic needs. Your traditional multivitamin may have too much of some nutrients and not enough of others for your particular biochemistry. Having too much of a particular nutrient can be just as detrimental to your health as not having enough.
Therefore nutritional testing is a better way of identifying your needs. Some of the methods used for nutrient evaluation like measuring the level of a particular nutrient in the blood is not always the best method. Blood levels for some nutrients can often present as normal, but there is still a deficiency. A urine test, like an Organic Acids Test, that looks at the byproducts that occur when a deficiency is present is much more effective. Instead of looking for the deficiency in the nutrient, we look at the effects of the nutrient deficiency on your biochemical pathways by examining interruptions in metabolism.
Additionally, a test that analyses the byproducts of a deficient nutrient will not only tell you what nutrients you need, but it will identify problems in fatty acid and carbohydrate metabolism, the citric acid cycle or energy production, oxidative stress, methylation, neurotransmitters, detoxification, antioxidants, the nervous system and vascular system, bacteria and yeast and provide an indication of any further tests that made be needed to identify deeper problems. It is one of the most valuable tests you can perform to help identify the underlying causes of any and all chronic health conditions.
Contact me Today for Your Personalized Biochemical Nutritional Evaluation
I will evaluate your situation and recommend the most state of the art, cutting-edge, high quality, effective and confidential nutritional tests that you can perform in the privacy of your own home to determine exactly what nutrients you need for healing and optimal health. Get Started Today.
With a simple urine collection that you Fedex to a professional lab, you’ll receive a scientific snapshot of your unique biochemistry that will tell you not only what nutrients you need, but how well your body is utilizing the nutrients that it takes in and whether these nutrients are available to your cells.
Traditional nutrition tests identify which nutrients are found in your blood at any given time and these are useful in their own right, however, to really understand what’s happening in your body it’s vital to know if your nutrients are actually making it into your cells and how effectively are your cells at utilizing them. One of the most effective ways to acquire this information is to examine the end products of your metabolism in your urine.
This provides you with a simple, yet scientific way to identify exactly which nutrients you need for your unique biochemistry and design your nutritional supplement program accordingly. No more confusion or guessing as to what nutrients you need or how much you should be taking.
Together we will design a nutritional program that targets your unique biochemical nutritional needs to restore or maintain optimal health.
