Is it not possible to live optimal without supplements?

I get the whole discussion about taking supplements or not. Of course it always has to be seen in your personal context and your own body. Best way is to try out supplements and see how you feel. I went to do a micronutrient blood analysis and found I have some things near the red areas. The doc then gave me a list of things to supplement and I asked if I couldn't achieve that by eating a more conscious plant-based diet with some meat every 10-15 days. He said, because of the way our soils have changed and how we did agriculture in the last few centuries, the plants just don't provide enough nutrients anymore. Additionally, modern work- and lifestyles have higher demands than in the past, which requires higher nutrient intake. With this he concluded we need to supplement in any case. I was wondering if that is fair or true at all. As I said in the title, I am not thinking about insufficiency, I am thinking about optimal intake.

Answer

The soil depletion thing was debunked. Plants would not produce well if they lacked proper nutrients, so farmers use fertilizer. There is another argument about loss of nutrients between harvest and consumption, hence the local farm to table movement, but most dietitians recommend getting nutrients from food.

That said, were you eating the recommended servings of vegetables and fruit, and nutrient dense foods and still seeing deficits? Or do you think there is room for improvement in your diet?

If you want to research specific nutrient sources, this is a good resource: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic or ask this group

Answer

Depends.

If you’re in the many soil depleted countries, magnesium is a must.

If you’re darker skinned and live in the western climates like UK or Scandinavia area, then you should take D3.

If you, for some reason, believe vegan diets to be the future. You’ll need supplements to replace what you’re missing.

It’s about context and purpose.

Answer

For most people in this sub, the difference between just being healthy and being optimal is just splitting hairs. Humans have evolved with vastly diverse diets and we are very adaptable. So maybe for those of the population that mostly eat processed foods and not a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, supplementing would make a noticeable difference. But for people who actively seek out a diet of whole foods, supplementing will just make a small bump in improvement.But eating a nutrient deficient diet with supplements will not be as good as eating a whole food diet without supplements.

Answer

Extremely hard to get what is “optimal” strictly from a diet . For instance, creatine . Occurs in red meat , but for a bodybuilder/ weightlifter getting the effective amount without eating pounds of meat the answer is supplementation . Even a multi vitamin . Think of your overall optimal nutrition as a jigsaw puzzle . You get most of the picture with the big pieces , but then you have all these little tiny pieces that make the picture completele . Now if you think you can get all these little tiny vitamins and nutrients from your diet , more power to you . If you are training hard you have new : higher demands on certain things that supplements are just going to be much easier / cost effective/ dose appropriate.

Answer

Get what you need from food. Not sure what an ‘optimal’ diet is.

Current recommendation is to get what you need from your diet.

A well balanced meal pattern is well understood conventional advise.

> I went to

> He said

Did you go to a sales event / product pitch? If so, buyer beware.

Here’s some sources for good information:

Canada Food and Nutrition

Canada Food Guide

Canada Nutrition Science and Research