When questions such as: “”Is it true that I can get all the vitamins/minerals I need from the food that I eat?”" are answered by the nutritional professionals at nutrition.gov by stating, “”It is true that healthy individuals can get all of the vitamins and minerals they need from a well balanced diet,”" it confuses the general public. It completely disregards the findings of Drs. Fairfield and Fletcher of Harvard University and writers of the new guidelines for the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA). Dr. Fletcher states, “”Even S3I-201 people who eat five daily servings of fruits and vegetables may not

get enough of certain vitamins for optimum health. Most people, for instance, cannot get the healthiest levels of folate and vitamins D and E from recommended diets.”" According to Dr. Fletcher and this study, micronutrient deficiency may be more widespread than commonly thought and may be at the root of the August 31, 2002 urgings of the American Medical Association when it reversed their long-standing anti-vitamin policy by stating, “”The Journal of the American Medical Association

today is advising all adults to take at least one multivitamin pill each day.”" Conclusions This study shows a significant prevalence of micronutrient deficiency in popular diet plans. It is the conclusion of this researcher that an individual following a popular diet plan using food alone, has a high likelihood of becoming micronutrient deficient, a condition shown to be scientifically linked to a higher Smad inhibitor selleck chemical risk of dangerous and debilitating diseases including cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, birth defects and overweight/obesity.

Based on this study’s findings, the belief that a healthy, balanced diet can consistently deliver, to a typical dieter, all of the essential vitamins and minerals they need, through whole food alone, is in dire need of revision. It would appear that supplementation should be considered as a viable, low cost method to achieve micronutrient sufficiency and reduce the risk for some of today’s most prevalent and devastating health conditions and diseases. In conclusion, this study recommends that all individuals, particularly those following a popular diet plan, would benefit from and should take a daily multivitamin supplement to fill the nutritional gap between where their whole food diet leaves off and micronutrient sufficiency is achieved. Acknowledgements No external funding was provided for this study. I would like to thank Mira Calton, Jeanne Calton, Frances Jensen and Diana Danielson for their help and guidance. References 1. Asfaw A: Micronutrient deficiency and the prevalence of mothers’ overweight/obesity in Egypt. Economics and Human Biology 2007, 5:471–483.CrossRefPubMed 2.