Four Key Nutrients You Are Likely Deficient In

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I want to share with you four common nutrients that I bet you are deficient in. So let’s go:

Table of Contents

Four Key Nutrients You Are Likely Deficient In

Magnesium

This is one of the most abundant minerals in your body, yet 85% of Americans are deficient in it. Why is that so? You lose much of it through urine and sweating, and the food you eat is grown in soil depleted of minerals. Fifty years ago bananas had three times more magnesium than they do today.

Another reason is that our diet is not diverse; we eat the same foods all the time. You might also drink a lot of carbonated beverages. which contain phosphates that bind with the magnesium in your body, depleting your magnesium. Maybe you drink too much coffee or consume too much sugar, which makes your body excrete more magnesium.

If you experience muscle cramping, anxiety, or eye twitching, you are probably deficient in magnesium. Without magnesium your body functions like an old car because it plays a huge role in health. Magnesium is the key player in detoxification processes.

which means it is responsible for minimizing damage from environmental chemicals, toxins, and heavy metals. Keep in mind that your body requires magnesium to produce some of its most powerful antioxidants.

The best way to beat a magnesium deficiency is to juice your vegetables, eat nuts and seeds, and add some fruits like bananas and avocados to your diet. This will get you on track.

Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio

These two fats are essential, and your body must obtain them from food because it cannot produce them on its own.

The balance between them is what you should strive to achieve. Today Americans have between a 20:1 and 50:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, when it should be 3 to 1. Inflammation is associated with heart disease, cancer, stroke, and many other maladies. Omega-3 fatty acids are ANTI-INFLAMMATORY.

What many people don’t realize is that these two fatty acids compete with each other for space in cells. This is like blocking the entrances to a shopping mall from the big-box anchor stores, thus limiting profits for the small shops.

In order to benefit from omega-3, you must reduce your intake of omega-6 and increase omega-3 consumption so the “little shops” can profit and flourish.

Omega-3 is the most important essential nutrient in today’s diet. A low concentration of omega-3 can increase your risk of death from all causes. It keeps your heart healthy and regulates cholesterol. It’s also the most common underlying factor in cancer and heart disease. It’s estimated that this deficiency is responsible for 100,000 DEATHS EACH YEAR.

Omega-6 fats dominate our diet today and encourage inflammation in our bodies. Now MANY Scientists believe that an imbalance between omega-6 and omega-3 is why there is so much heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, etc.

Here’s what you should do:

Avoid foods high in omega-6 such as sunflower oil, soy oil, corn oil, and safflower oil (these are the most abundant oils in our diet), and use olive oil instead for cooking. If you eat fried food at a restaurant, it’s a sure thing it was fried in oil containing omega-6.
Take DHA/EPA capsules.
Consume fish, fish oil, and krill oil. These are the major foods that contain animal-based omega-3 fats.
Eat more plant-based omega-3 fats in walnuts, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and wheat germ.

Vitamin D

If you stay inside most of the time and don’t expose yourself to the sun, chances are you are 99% deficient in vitamin D. It’s estimated that over 50% of the population is deficient.

A low level of vitamin D is associated with the risk of cancer, poor immunity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and neurological disorders.

We lose our ability to make vitamin D by 75% as we age, so older people especially should watch their vitamin D consumption!

If you are overweight, it can be trapped in body fat, leading to a 55% reduction in the level of vitamin D in your blood.

The best time to get vitamin D from the sun is when it is highest above the horizon in the middle of the day. Be careful, because UVB rays are most intense at this time as well. These rays are responsible for vitamin D entering your system.

Once you feel your skin taking on some initial color, take to the shade, because you won’t get any additional vitamin D after that point due to the body’s self-regulating mechanisms. Excess exposure after that point will only do you harm.

Sitting in the office in sunlight from a window does not work. Glass blocks virtually all UVB, thus preventing vitamin D from entering your system. Don’t be a smartass and use sunscreen, because that prevents 99% of vitamin D absorption.

It’s called “the sunlight vitamin” because it’s very rare to find enough of it in food. Eating foods high in vitamin D won’t do the job. Instead, take a walk in the sun for 20 minutes each day. That’s the best way to avoid a vitamin D deficiency.

Fixing these deficiencies will help your body flourish. There are other nutrients you might be deficient in, but these are the most likely ones and the most neglected.

Zinc

If you suffer from lack of appetite or moodiness or you sense that your palate has changed, you might be deficient in zinc.

It is estimated that up to 45 percent of older people are deficient in this precious mineral.

This happens because we tend to overcook our food, which “kills” zinc, and we end up being deficient in zinc.

Foods rich in zinc include spinach, beef, milk, cheese, beans, nuts, pork, chicken, and mushrooms, just to name a few.

Though these foods are rich in this powerful mineral, did you know that ? due to heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers 40 percent of nutritional value is lost before plant-based foods reach your food store?

These chemicals deplete the soil, so plants absorb fewer nutrients. So not only do you destroy vitamins and minerals through cooking, even raw plant-based foods lack nutrients because of the methods farmers use. This is why we see so many deficiencies among people.

(If you don’t remember my article on American Health Nightmare vs Tribal People , please read it because it explains how my grandfather used to grow potatoes for his pigs and potatoes for his family.)

Vegetarians are at greatest risk for zinc deficiency; next come alcoholics, people who use medications, people with digestive issues and poor stomach acid, and women on birth control pills.

I can’t remember the name of the famous strength coach who once said, “Ninety percent of the athletes I see are deficient in zinc.”

This is probably not far from the truth because exercising requires more zinc. He even said that when he added zinc to athletes’ diets, their strength increased by 30 percent!

In our current culture of prediabetic and diabetic people, it’s a good idea to add zinc to your diet.

A recent study of Spanish school children found that low zinc levels were associated with INSULIN RESISTANCE and higher body fat content.

Did you know that children with ADHD have lower levels of zinc than healthy children? Even more interesting, a study of 400 children with ADHD found that taking 150 mg/day of zinc improved social behavior and made children less hyperactive.

My advice is that if you suspect you have a zinc deficiency, purchase a red blood cell zinc test and continually monitor your level for eight weeks while taking a zinc supplement.

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