27,575 calories!
No that’s not a typo.
That’s how many calories would be required to achieve 100% RDI sufficiency of the 27 micronutrients needed by our bodies when following current “diet” plans.
Say what? Yes… nutrient deficiency is a huge problem, so this month, let’s focus on DOT #8: Getting our Vitamins.
Nutrient Deficiency
How many times have you started a diet, felt great the first 3 or 4 days, and then started feeling sluggish from a mental fog and irritable with crazy cravings?
That’s because your body wasn’t (isn’t, if you’re currently “dieting”) being fueled with the nutrition that it needs. The study I mentioned above compared the amounts of the essential micronutrients suggested in the meal plans of four popular diets: South Beach, Atkins, DASH and Best Life.
If you were to follow those diet plans, you would only get the Recommended Daily Intake of less than half of the micronutrients on average.
(I can’t help it, I love statistics! These are the specific percentages of how many micronutrients you would indeed reach the full RDI.)
South Beach 22%
Atkins 44%
Best Life 55%
DASH Diet 52%
People are trying to do the healthy thing by “following a diet plan” – but this demonstrates how diets actually put your body at risk through nutrient deficiency, which can be connected to cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and just general immunity and resistance to infections.
If you were to follow these diets, using whole food alone, you would be deficient in 15 out of 27 micronutrients. That just blows my mind.
I’ve said, “Just eat real food” so many times. And while I still strongly believe eating real food over processed is huge – clearly JUST eating real food still isn’t enough.
Nutrient Decline
Part of this issue likely stems from the decline of the actual nutrients in our foods over time. Due to changes in farming practices, soil depletion has caused the foods we eat to have less nutrition than days long ago.
When comparing the nutrient profiles of 43 different fruits and vegetables from 1950 and 1999, a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found “reliable declines” in the amount of 6 particular nutrients:
- protein
- calcium
- phosphorus
- iron
- riboflavin (vitamin B2)
- vitamin C
If our grandparents followed one of the four diets above, they may have had a better chance of meeting nutrition guidelines, but with today’s nutrient deficient foods, it’s imperative you get your vitamins another way (unless you want to try eating 27,000 calories!)
“From Take a MultiVitamin” to “Get Your Vitamins”
As I planned out this series at the beginning of the year, DOT #7 initially was “Take a MultiVitamin.”
Funny thing is – I don’t take one anymore! I’m not being hypocritical here, I promise. I just got done telling you that you can’t get all of the nutrients your body needs from food alone, and then I admit I don’t take a multivitamin anymore.
What gives? Simple…. I drink Shakeology everyday.
When comparing the RDI percentages between my multivitamin and Shakeology, I realized I was getting just as much (if not more) for several of the micronutrients simply from my shake. And beyond the micronutrients, I’m also consuming macros helping me feel full from the protein and the fiber, rather than just swallowing a pill.
However you choose to fuel your body, just be sure you are getting your vitamins. Because, as sad as it is, “dieting” and “just eating real food” are not providing you with the recommended nutrition.
I’d love to hear! How do you get your vitamins every day?
Everyday Faith + Fitness 