What are we like?

Firstly, do not worry; this will not be an exercise in statistics, but rather an interesting viewpoint on the nation’s current health status and how this might affect you.

Our aim is not to reel out lists of indigestible figures, but rather pick out some pertinent points and explain them to you in the context of everyday life and from a nutritionists’ standpoint. As nutritionists we see many of the same symptoms and conditions over again and through speaking with hundreds of clients, can form a good overview of common nutrient deficiencies and how these are actually affecting people. The foods from which these nutrients are obtained are also interesting; with modern processing methods, they are often not the most natural forms or sources and therefore not easily used by the body.

Looking at the aspect of the survey which reports findings on the micronutrient or vitamin and mineral intake of the UK, it generally highlighted that around one quarter of men and one third of women are iron deficient and there are also widescale deficiencies in nutrients such as selenium, magnesium, calcium and vitamins C, A and the B complex vitamins. These figures were obtained with a weighed dietary record of all food eaten over a week and urine samples to test nutrient levels, all carried out on a cross-section of the population. Vitamins and minerals from supplements were also included in the data, which gives an even more startling picture.

We will look at the findings for four nutrients that we see to have most therapeutic benefits in clients; vitamin B6, vitamin C and the minerals zinc and magnesium. In other words, they are most often missing in the diets of people with symptoms and health conditions and people tend to respond quickly when they are supplemented.

Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 (or pyridoxine) has had a lot of controversy lately as one of the vitamins that the EU directive is planning to cap the legal limit on to just 10mg a day, although many adults take 50mg a day at the moment as an optimum amount (we will report on the EU Directive in the future)2. We see many signs of deficiency of B6 which often show as PMS, bloating, gallstones, depression, irritability and fatigue; it gets used up quickly by stress and ironically helps us to cope in stressful situations. It is also one the NDNS reports that intake is up since 1986/7, but this is mainly from processed cereals, chicken and crisps, not the healthiest of diets. Many commercial cereals add B vitamins to their products, which they have to do by law, as they are removed in the processing. The survey states the quantity of vitamin B6, but not the quality, the healthiest food sources are watercress, cauliflower, peppers, bananas and lentils.

Often the problem with B6 is converting it into its active form in the body, for which magnesium is needed. Good food sources have magnesium too, but that is in short supply in the average diet. The Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) set by the government is 1.4mg per day for an adult, which the population is achieving at a population average of around 2mg a day, but these figures are based on the amount you would need to avoid the very extremes of B6 deficiency such as convulsions and severe depression3. This may not be enough for those who are showing the symptoms above and certainly goes some way to explain the incidence of stress-related conditions we see.

Interestingly, the only part of the population seen to be supplementing vitamin B6 were women in the 35-64 age groups. It has shown to be very helpful with menopausal symptoms and it seems that this information may be filtering through.

Magnesium
It has been stated by one nutritionist that 7 out of 10 people in the UK are likely to be magnesium deficient4. We carry out many Hair Mineral Analyses here at Total Being and certainly see that to be the case. Symptoms such as heart disease, anxiety, depression, constipation, fatigue and headaches are all too common. People often put these down to stress, which is true because as with vitamin B6, magnesium helps us to deal with stressful situations. It is a calming mineral and helps smooth muscle activity, which is why people can get rapid heartbeat, constipation, diarrhoea and even panic attacks and if they get stressed and use it up.

The RNI for magnesium is 270mg for women and 300mg for men, but this is a macro (or large) mineral and we have a high need. The NDNS shows that the population is falling below even the RNIs, with young women receiving the least. This is interesting given the incidence of PMS, depression and digestive problems seen by nutritionists in this age group, which responds well to magnesium supplementation of up to 500mg per day. Few people were seen to be supplementing magnesium according to the NDNS, as at an average of about 2mg, this is negligible for this macro mineral.

We tend to drink water much higher in calcium than magnesium, especially if you live in Southern England, as much of our water sources flow through chalk. Just look at the relative amounts of calcium and magnesium in a bottle of mineral water. We need to ingest an equal amount of calcium and magnesium, but not many people obtain this ideal ratio through food sources such as wholegrains, nuts and green leafy vegetables. A national obsession with obtaining calcium through milk, has also offset our balance of magnesium and our needs are often more like two parts magnesium to one part calcium. The NDNS reported that most magnesium was obtained from white bread, commercial cereals and beer for men! Unfortunately eating these foods uses up magnesium to bring down the surge of blood sugar that they create.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is also a much-discussed nutrient with hugely differing opinions about safety amounts. The RNI is just 40mg per day for both men and women, which is the amount needed to prevent you from getting scurvy. Research at the National Institutes of Health in the US, found that 1000mg a day is required to saturate blood plasma and if eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, you would ingest an average of 200mg. Far greater amounts are needed for protection against cancer and heart disease5,6.

The NDNS shows a population average of about 100mg, but if you look at the amount ingested from food only, the average is much less; around 80mg per day only. This means that many people are taking vitamin C supplements, but probably those with low dosage. Even at 100mg a day, this a worrying amount for a nutritionist as vitamin C is an important preventative nutrient for heart disease and cancer, let alone to address the various symptoms of poor circulation, lowered immune function and adrenal stress that we see.

Another part of the problem here is that vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and therefore unstable in heat and light. When a fruit or vegetable is cut, it begins to lose its vitamin C content and when it is also transported large distances by distribution, this content can go from the average 69.7mg per orange to much less, even zero.

Zinc
With zinc, the NDNS findings show more of a disparity between men and women with an average intake of around 10mg for men and nearly 8mg a day for women. Differences of only about 0.2mg a day indicate that people are choosing to supplement at least a small amount of this essential mineral, which probably accounts for those taking it in a multivitamin and mineral supplement. The RNI for zinc is 9.5mg for men and 7mg a day for women and the average high street multi contains about 7mg. Men aged 35-49 years were the highest group, taking 10% of their zinc intake from supplements; they must be listening to advice on improving sperm count and prostate health.

Most zinc intake was coming from white bread, cheese and milk, not quite the ideal sources; nuts, seeds and fish provide other nutrients and less empty calories. Zinc is one of the most active minerals in the body, being an important part of about 200 enzymes and present in every cell. It is important for the immune system and is needed for DNA and therefore all growth and healing; this is why stretch marks and poor wound healing can be deficiency signs. Difficulty fighting viruses and infections is often seen with zinc deficiency.

Nutritionists state that women’s needs go from 5mg to 25mg when pregnant, so it is surprising that the 19-34 age range of women receives the least zinc at an average of 7.1mg a day and the least amount of supplementation.


Total Being Opinion:

It would seem that the population is flirting below even the RNIs for most nutrients. Even when they are achieving this health bare minimum, the sources the vitamins and minerals come from are far from ideal and can come over-processed, loaded with sugar or fat and promote inflammation, which somewhat negates their beneficial properties. Many of these nutrients are added back in after the processing and are not the best forms for the body to use.

It is still maintained by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), that full intake of nutrients needed is achievable through the “well-balanced diet”. This does not take into consideration the fact that the RNIs are outdate benchmarks and the higher needs for nutrients that factors such as stress, pollution and less-nutrient dense foods put upon our bodies (see article in Newsletter Issue 1 “Food Just Ain’t What It Used To Be”). We feel the need here to reiterate the fact that our ancestors are estimated to have lived on about 4,500 calories of nutrient dense food7, which were burnt off with continual physical exertion, but also provided the full complement of the nutrients discussed above. They were not getting the mainstay of nutrients from empty calories such as processed cereals and white bread and they were certainly not suffering from the degenerative diseases such as heart disease, osteoporosis and arthritis that we see today. There is plenty of evidence that these diseases are linked to the deficiencies seen in the FSA National Diet and Nutrition Survey this year.

The first aim of the FSA survey was stated to “provide detailed and quantitative information on food and nutrient intakes, sources of nutrients and nutritional status of the population under study as a basis for Government policy”. Total Being has been chosen as a Preferred Partner for the Healthier Britain Initiative; for further information, please look in About Total Being under Our Partners on our website.



References

1. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: adults aged 19 to 64 years (Vitamin and mineral intake and urinary metabolites). Food Standards Authority (FSA). ISBN 0 11 621568 2
2. Holford, P. The Optimum Nutrition Bible, Piatkus, 2001.
3. Murray, M. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements, Prima Health, 1996.
4. Christie, S. Why all practitioners need to be alerted to the UK’s magnesium crisis, Lamberts Healthcare
5. Levine, Mark, et al. Determination of optimal vitamin C requirements in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 62, 1995, pp. 1347S-56S;
6. Levine, Mark, et al. Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: Evidence for a recommended dietary allowance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Vol. 93, No. 8, April 16, 1996, pp. 3704-09
7. Clayton, P. Health Defence, Accelerated Learning Systems, 2001.