Surveys in the U.S. and the United Kingdom since 1980 have shown that even people who say eating a balanced diet, the best, only achieve their recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals.
Many people still believe that eating the “right” foods that are getting enough essential nutrients. Of course, eating a balanced diet is a way to get vitamins and minerals you need, but in reality, few of us achieve a truly balanced diet.
In the U.S., a survey of U.S. Government than 21,000 people found that none of the respondents achieved 100% the recommended daily intake of ten vitamins and minerals.
In fact, some studies have found that up to 70% of the population is deficient in vitamin B complex and, according to a report by the Food Commission in 1992, 25% of women have income support levels so low in some nutrients that are at risk of serious deficiency diseases.
One of the main reasons for these alarming statistics is the nutritional value of foods we eat. Farming techniques, fertilizers and pesticides, along with food processing, how to transport and store food and even how to cook in addition to vitamin and mineral reduction.
For example, wheat has 25 nutrients extracted during the refining process to produce white flour – however, only a handful replaced.
The truth is that although it is possible that our diet is getting better, surveys show that the intake of vitamins and minerals, has declined steadily in recent years.
Taking into account that the recommended daily allowance (RDA) are the levels (agreed by governments and scientists) necessary for the needs minimum health and prevent diseases that are caused by deficiency – such as scurvy and beri- beri – then, indeed, all may have to take a multivitamin and mineral supplement just to maintain optimal health.
Tags: deficiency diseases, eating a balanced diet, nutritional value of foods, recommended daily allowance, recommended daily allowance rda, vitamin b complex, vitamins and minerals