I started tracking the things I eat and how much of the daily recommended amount of every nutrient I get through my diet, and I figure it’s nearly impossible to get even close to 100% of every micronutrient. It’s even hard to get to 50% for some things. If I would I would need to eat A LOT and gain weight. Some things are easier to get like vitamin C, or even A, but others such as zinc, iron, calcium and magnesium are not. Also does the body have a way of storing some vitamins or minerals or does it flush all the excess? Are all vitamins and minerals of equal importance to the body?
In: Biology
are you sure you’re accurating tracking the vitamins/minerals in everything? b/c a lot of stuff is actually fortified (ie minerals added in). so you actually don’t need to eat a very balanced diet to get everything you need. and some stuff, you actually don’t need that much of. and it would take a prolonged period for any deficiencies to show up. and a lot of the deficiencies may not actually affect your daily life, so people could be deficient without realizing.
Your body is like an engine. It could run with less the recommended oil level but if you do it for a long time it will wear out faster or worse something will break.
Some vitamins are fat-soluable and can be stored in the body for a while.
While yes, it can be hard in a modern american diet to get all your micronutrients – the modern american diet is terrible for you. If you’re tracking calories and simply eat less or exercise more, chances are your diet is still going to be crappy. Swap in a salad with spinach or a lettuce that isn’t iceberg, forgo the dressing (or add just a tiny bit), don’t be afraid to throw other veggies like onions, peppers, brocolli, etc on it. Eat raw fruits and nuts. If you’re concerned about calcium, try yogurt and otherwise don’t completely forgo dairy. While you won’t get every single micronutrient that way, just doing those things will get you almost all of them.
No two people are the same, nor are their diets/what diets work for them the same. I’ve always ate like garbage, my way of improving my diet was to swap in a salad like I described for lunch, if I worked out during the day I’d do either a protein bar or powder, then I just ate like I normally did for dinner.
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