Thank you for taking our Micronutrient Sufficiency Quiz!
First things first. We want to congratulate you again for taking the time to find out your score. Regardless of how you did there is always room for improvement. And we have a full-proof 3-step plan that we know can get you to that state of micronutrient sufficiency fast!
Introducing The Calton’s Simple 3-Step Plan To Micronutrient Sufficiency
By Mira Calton, CN and Jayson Calton, PhD
Step One: Switch To Rich
Your first step toward micronutrient sufficiency is to provide your body with the richest food sources of micronutrients that you can find. After all, it’s quality that counts, and we want you to demand it because you’re worth it.
What do we mean by Rich Food? Well, we’re not taking about expensive food or food that is high in calories. We’re talking about natural, unprocessed or minimally processed foods that are rich in micronutrient content to help you increase your micronutrient sufficiency levels. Additionally, Rich Foods are low or void of problematic ingredients that can put your health at risk such as hormones, pesticides, GMOs, artificial colors and many other common potentially dangerous ingredients found in our modern foods.
Your food is your first line of defense against micronutrient deficiency. How your food is grown or raised can greatly affect the amount of vitamins and minerals it delivers. Choosing local, organic, grass-fed or wild caught products are great ways to boost micronutrient value and to begin to incorporate Rich Foods into your lifestyle today.
Additionally, it is important to understand how irradiation, pasteurization and other modern food processes can greatly diminish micronutrients from your food. Steering clear of these micronutrient-Poor Foods can greatly increase your sufficiency score as well.
Buying high-quality, micronutrient-Rich Foods is a great first step (and one that our book, Rich Food, Poor Food, makes easy), but as with all quality purchases, we have to learn to care for them properly. Maintaining quality is just as important as choosing quality in the first place. You took the time to search out and buy quality, so why ruin it? Prepare your high-quality foods by using responsible cooking methods to maintain their beneficial micronutrients. Don’t peel your vegetables if you don’t have to (many of the vitamins and minerals in vegetable are found in the skins). Be aware of how your food is cooked (high heat and microwaving have been shown to greatly reduce certain micronutrient values). And support restaurants that go the extra mile to provide organic, local food (organic, local food is the safest and most micronutrient Rich Food you can get). You will be amazed at how much better a meal can taste when it’s prepared with organic, local ingredients that are fresh and bursting with flavorful, heath enhancing micronutrients.
Step Two: Drive Down Depletion
Choosing to eat the most micronutrient-Rich Foods is a fantastic first step, but it is really just that—a first step. Regardless of how jam-packed your foods are with micronutrients, there are still treacherous little Everyday Micronutrient Depleters (EMDs) to contend with. What is an EMD? EMDs are stealth thieves that rob you of micronutrients throughout the day. They can be hiding in the foods you eat, or your habits and lifestyle choices.
Even some of your “healthy” high-quality foods and lifestyle habits may have micronutrient leaching effects and act as EMDs. For example, the oxalic acid in your spinach and kale you put in your salads or green drinks, the tannins in your wine, coffee and tea, and the phytic acid in your whole grains and soy products all deplete the micronutrients from your food to a certain extent. Limit your intake of these foods and challenge obvious, micronutrient-depleting habits like smoking and excessive coffee and alcohol intake. Additionally, learn ways to deal with any micronutrient zapping stress you may encounter and avoid medications, both prescription and over the counter, whenever possible due to their ability to rob nutrients as well. That’s right! Even OTC meds that are supposed to make you feel better, like aspirin, Advil, Tylenol, and antacids steel away the very same vitamins and minerals you need to truly be healthy.
Driving down depletion also means that it’s time to evaluate the toxins in your life and take an active approach to switching out common, everyday products that are adding to your overall toxic load. While this includes pesticides and chemical additives in your food, it also includes numerous toxins that can be found in things like toothpaste, shampoo, sunblock, cleaning supplies and even your cookware and food storage containers. Remember toxins are EMDs too, and the more you have in your life the less likely you are to achieve a micronutrient sufficient state.
There are no more excuses. Your health depends on your willingness to make small, but strategic changes in your life. No one can do it for you. This second step allows you to take a good look at your life and decide which EMDs are acting as roadblocks on your highway to health.
Step Three: Supplement Smart using the ABCs
While step one and step two can go a long way in helping you to boost micronutrient intake and decrease micronutrient loss, step three is imperative if sufficiency is to be achieved.
Choosing to take a quality supplement is like taking out a daily health-insurance plan. And much like the complicated policies offered by life insurance and auto insurance agents, choosing which multivitamin to take can be equally as confusing.
But, have no fear. All you have to do is remember the ABCs of Optimal Supplementation Guidelines where we identified the 4 major flaws that are blocking the benefits of over 99% of all multivitamins on the market today. The A in the ABCs stands for Absorption. As it turns out, research shows that more than 50% of all the multivitamins tested, right off store shelves, can’t be absorbed due to their inability to disintegrate. The doctors were right about expensive urine all along! The B in our ABCs stands for Beneficial Quantities and Forms. Most multivitamins don't use quality ingredients and often leave out some of the most important minerals due to their bulky size and cost.
The C stands for Micronutrient Competition. This one will really blow your mind. Most multivitamin companies don’t want you to about micronutrient competition, but it just may be the biggest discovery in supplemental science over the last eighty years, and will definitely change the way you choose your multivitamin. For example, did you know that science has confirmed that many micronutrients have been shown to negatively affect the absorption and/or utilization of others micronutrient? It’s called micronutrient competition, and up to 80% of the vitamins and minerals found in the typical multivitamin may compete with one another in this way. Taking a supplement that eliminates these competitions is a must if micronutrient sufficiency is to be realized.
Finally, the S stands for micronutrient synergy. In contrast, if we think of micronutrient competition as the “villain” in our story that is plotting to decrease micronutrient absorption, then our “hero” could be the synergistic relationships between specific micronutrients that enhance absorption. They are synergistic micronutrients that work best when they work together. While micronutrient competition can reduce or completely block the benefits of competing micronutrients, micronutrient synergy can increase the absorption of certain micronutrients by as much as 200 percent! To put it metaphorically consider Lennon and McCartney. Both had iconic solo careers, but together they made history. The same is true in the case of making the right micronutrients match. Alone, micronutrients are important, but if you get the right connection, they can make nutritional magic.
