Micronutrients: What are they and how do I know I'm getting enough?

Last week I gave a brief introduction to macronutrients and as promised, this weeks article will discuss micronutrients. This is an umbrella term used to represent vitamins and minerals which are essential to normal cellular functions including macronutrient metabolism, oxygen transfer and delivery, tissue repair and energy.

I follow flexible dieting, which is based on the idea that you can eat whatever food you desire, as long as it fits within your calorie and macronutrient target. I often face questioning about the micronutrient adequacy of my diet from bigots who disagree with this method. People tend to demonise "junk food" because the media has programmed them to categorise food as "good/healthy" and "bad/unhealthy". I don't label food in this way, I simply see food as numbers, more specifically I see food as having more or less macronutrients and micronutrients. Rather than calling food "healthy" or "unhealthy"I refer to it as micronutrient dense and micronutrient poor.

Because of my objective viewpoint and the fact that I eat doughnuts on the regular, I am often mistaken for not believing the health benefits of micronutrient dense foods, which is simply not true! As a health practitioner and an athlete, I am absolutely an advocate for getting all of your vitamins and minerals in! However I am also and advocate for enjoying food and not restricting yourself by ruling out nutrient poor food groups.

There is no doubt that vitamins and minerals are essential for the metabolic processes in our bodies, historical events have taught us this many times! Probably the most notable event in history was the effects of scurvy on fleets which is very easily prevented by adequate vitamin C intake. We face different nutrient challenges in modern times, with different indications throughout the lifespan.

Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 2015;66(suppl 2):22-33 https://doi.org/10.1159/000371618

Your micronutrient requirements will differ depending on your age, gender and lifestyle. My suggestion is that if you eat a reasonably balanced diet and don't have risk factors for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, then you most likely do not need to stress too much about the details of your micronutrient intake. If you do suspect that you are deficient in something, then it may be worth your while to have testing done with your GP. If you are diagnosed with a deficiency there are supplementation options however this is more of a bandaid fix and does not fix the route cause; diet. If your diet is sufficient, but you are still deficient in a particular nutrient, then there could be an absorption issue. In any case, it is worth investigating rather than just brushing off.

Far too often I am seeing people throw all of their money at vitamin and mineral supplements (as well as bodybuilding supplements but that's another story for another time) without even bothering to find out if they do in fact have a deficiency. Besides, if you did require some extra vitamins wouldn't it make more sense to eat the corresponding foods as nature intended?

In summary, here are my key points:

1. if you eat your vegetables and you feel pretty good, you shouldn't need to be popping pills every day.

2. On the contrary, if you genuinely do have a deficiency, this is a medically diagnosed condition which requires appropriate diet modification and/or supplementation and continuous monitoring to assess effectiveness of these interventions.

3. Pills are an expensive band-aid fix which do not fix the route cause.

4. Food is there to be enjoyed! Yes it has a very important purpose in our homeostasis however I truly believe that you can achieve a nutrient rich diet whilst being able to enjoy treats without guilt.

On that note, I'm off to enjoy some freshly baked apple crumble ;)

p.s. Next weeks topic will be about diet myths, don't forget to hit subscribe to be the first to know about my latest posts.

Yours truly

The Fit Nurse