Column #56

For the most part Americans generally follow the USDA recommended food groups which, when combined, provide all known essential nutrients, minerals, elements, and energy. So why are chronic diseases still ubiquitous?

For decades minimum daily requirements have been required on food labels. Apparently that information coupled with eating the recommended food groups isn’t the total answer. What’s missing is knowledge of excesses and deficiencies. Few people understand that our bodies require specific quantities and balances of essential nutrients plus many other chemicals in appropriate proportions.

A single deficiency can cause chronic disease. For instance, scurvy is a Vitamin C deficiency, rickets is a Vitamin D deficiency, goiter can be an iodine deficiency, beriberi is a Vitamin B1 deficiency, and pellagra is a Vitamin B3 deficiency. These diseases are easily identified and cured with appropriate foods and supplements. Even the medical community recognizes this.

Multiple deficiencies, excesses, and imbalances defy the simple solutions of single deficiencies. Unfortunately today there are major excesses in sugar and Omega-6 fatty acids plus a major deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids. These three discrepancies alone are tied to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, CHD, mental disorders, asthma, arthritis, osteoporosis, Parkinson's, Crohn's, etc.

Deficiencies, imbalances, and excesses will lead to broad-based negative impacts. Multiple symptoms may have more than one trigger. Drugs and operations seldom address complex intertwined issues. Therefore medical approaches for most chronic diseases usually address only symptoms, not cures.

The medical community has no problem prescribing supplements and food to cure scurvy, rickets, beriberi, etc. But to address complex chronic diseases they refuse to prescribe the balanced diet recommended by nutritional scientists. The medical community just doesn’t connect the dots between solutions for single-caused nutritional issues and those created by the cumulative impact of many nutritional deficiencies, imbalances, and excesses.

Most modern foods (grain-based foods, nuts, seeds, fruit, and even some vegetables) provide sufficient energy but not the appropriate mix of nutrients for optimum health. The foods that supply appropriate energy and all nutrients in the best balance are grass-fed meats, Omega-3 meats, wild caught seafood, and green leafy vegetables.

Compare the chemistry of different foods such as kale and iceberg lettuce. Both provide a balanced ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs). But the nutrient load in kale is approximately ten times more dense. That means it would be virtually impossible to eat enough iceberg lettuce to get the daily ration of required nutrients.

Comparisons using kale and grain are worse. Grain has an EFA balance of 15:1 which is the Omega-3 deficiency. It’s overloaded with inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids. Grain is high-glycemic (fast burning energy the body can’t handle). Grain is also deficient in many nutrients which is why cereals are often “fortified.” Grain has numerous drawbacks yet it remains the foundation food for much of the world.

So, just like the sailors of old who were victims of the first medically recognized nutritional deficiency, most Americans live in a land of plenty. They continue to stuff their faces with a cross section of foods that, even when combined, are still nutritionally deficient. The resulting diseases are so complex even modern medicine is completely flummoxed by them.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

Chronic Diseases: The Leading Causes of Death and Disability in the United States

A Nearly Complete List of Essential Nutrients

Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)

Landmark Nutrition Studies