Are you getting enough?
IN A TWO- PART SERIES, DR LIBBY FRONTS UP TO A QUESTION ABOUT NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES
DHere are some of the most common nutritional deficiencies in New Zealand – and the best ways to increase your intake of essential nutrients.
Iodine is needed for numerous processes and systems inside the body, including those that make thyroid hormones which help control metabolism, growth and development (including the growth and development of the brain). Iodine is also essential for healthy ovarian function, playing a role in helping to ease some of the symptoms of premenstrual tension (PMT). How common is iodine deficiency? The nutrient content of a food is a reflection of the soil it is grown in. If a nutrient is not in the soil, it cannot be in the food. Unfortunately, New Zealand soils are low in iodine, so locally grown produce reflects this. A diet low in iodine can lead to hypothyroidism, fatigue and lowered IQ in children born to mothers deficient in the nutrient. Iodine deficiency is the number one cause of preventable intellectual disability in children, and studies have shown evidence of iodine deficiency re-emerging in New Zealand. Research suggests that, on average, New Zealanders may be consuming less than 60 per cent of what is recommended. The consequences of iodine deficiency are most serious for women who are trying to fall pregnant, or who are currently pregnant or breastfeeding. The effects of low iodine in a mother can include mental disabilities in children and problems with growth, hearing and speech. ESPITE LIVING IN A COUNTRY with an abundance of food, many New Zealanders are actually under-nourished. By this, I mean low or lacking in some very important nutrients. It is even possible to be malnourished but still overweight, particularly with today’s prevalence of processed foods, some of which contain very little – if any – nutritional value. You may be eating enough (or too much) food, just not enough nutrient-dense food. Yet, even for those who eat whole, real food, there are growing concerns that the soil is becoming increasingly deficient in essential nutrients. This means that the food we eat contains fewer and fewer nutrients and if a nutrient is not in the soil, it cannot be in our food. In conventional farming practices soils are used over and over again, often without nutrient-dense replenishment. Every time a crop or vegetable – anything – is grown, it draws the nutrients out of the soil into itself. The plant uses the nutrients to grow. Then we get the benefits when we eat that food. But if the nutrients aren’t replaced, or crops rotated, the soils are stripped of their minerals. Farmers then periodically saturate their crops with unnatural chemical fertilizers. I refer to them as unnatural for many reasons, one of which is that they don’t contain the range of nutrients essential for life. Fertilizers are primarily made up of three nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This means that there are still 52 nutrients missing.