Extraordinary Health Magazine Extraordinary Health Vol 22 | Page 35

Cheaters: How the Modern Diet Cheats Us Out of Nutrition Let’s take a trip back ten years ago. In 2004, Gladys Block, a professor of epidemiology and public health nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, made a startling discovery: about one-third of the calories in the U.S. diet come from. . .wait for it . . . junk food. Then Block weighed in on how this diet is robbing us nutritionally. “It’s important to emphasize that sweets, desserts, snacks and alcohol are contributing calories without providing vitamins and minerals. In contrast, such healthy foods as vegetables and fruits make up only 10 percent of the caloric intake in the U.S. diet. A large proportion of Americans are undernourished in terms of vitamins and minerals.” AN AUGUST 2011 STUDY PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE INDICATES THAT DIETARY HABITS OF A LARGE POPULATION OF OUR NATION CONSISTENTLY FAIL TO MEET EVEN THE MINIMAL INTAKES RECOMMENDED IN THE DIETARY REFERENCE INTAKE (DRI) FOR MANY KEY NUTRIENTS. IN FACT, THE STUDY CONCLUDED THAT, WITHOUT DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION AND OTHER WAYS OF SUPPORTING PROPER NUTRIENT INTAKE, MANY AMERICANS DON’T ACHIEVE EVEN THE MINIMUM RECOMMENDED MICRONUTRIENT INTAKE LEVELS THEY NEED. The following nutrients are examples in which Americans—due to supplementation and other ways of supporting nutrient intake, not necessarily through our diets— have at least minimum intake: vitamin B6, folate, zinc, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B12, phosphorus, iron, copper and selenium. The study also revealed areas Americans are really coming up short nutrient-wise and are well below the minimum daily requirements: vitamins A, C, D and E as well as magnesium and calcium. The study indicates that 35 percent don’t get enough vitamin A; 25 percent lack enough vitamin C; 70 percent go without adequate vitamin D; 60 percent come up short on vitamin E; 45 percent fall short on magnesium, while 38 percent lack enough calcium. RAWbenefits Block observed, “What is really alarming is the major contribution