https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.806566/abstract
Priority micronutrient density in foods
Provisionally accepted The final version of the article will be published here soon pending final quality checks Notify me Ty Beal1* and Flaminia Ortenzi1 1Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Switzerland
Background: Despite concerted efforts to improve diet quality and reduce malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies remain widespread globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries and among population groups with increased needs, where diets are often inadequate in iron, zinc, folate, vitamin A, calcium, and vitamin B12. There is a need to understand the density of these micronutrients and their bioavailability across diverse foods and the suitability of these foods to help meet requirements for populations with high burdens of micronutrient malnutrition.
Objective: We aimed to identify the top food sources of these commonly lacking micronutrients, which are essential for optimal health, to support efforts to reduce micronutrient malnutrition among various populations globally.
Methods: We built an aggregated global food composition database and calculated recommended nutrient intakes for five population groups with varying requirements. An approach was developed to rate foods according to their density in each and all priority micronutrients for various population groups with different nutrient requirements.
Results: We find that the top sources of priority micronutrients are organs, small fish, dark green leafy vegetables, bivalves, crustaceans, goat, beef, eggs, milk, canned fish with bones, mutton, and lamb. Cheese, goat milk, and pork are also good sources, and to a lesser extent, yogurt, fresh fish, pulses, teff, and canned fish without bones.
Conclusions: The results provide insight into which foods to prioritize to fill common micronutrient gaps and reduce undernutrition
Is this another paper, or do they leave out some information? I found the entire article, and it specifies that the research was done on children from 6-23 months in Asia:
Background: Given their high nutrient requirements and limited gastric capacity,
young children during the complementary feeding period (6–23 months) should be fed
nutrient-dense foods. However, complementary feeding diets in low- and middle-income
countries are often inadequate in one or more essential micronutrients. In South and
Southeast Asia infants’ and young children’s diets are commonly lacking in iron, zinc,
vitamin A, folate, vitamin B12, and calcium, hereafter referred to as priority micronutrients.
Objective: This study aimed to identify the top food sources of priority micronutrients
among minimally processed foods for complementary feeding of children (6–23 months)
in South and Southeast Asia.
Methods: An aggregated regional food composition database for South and Southeast
Asia was built, and recommended nutrient intakes (RNIs) from complementary foods
were calculated for children aged 6–23 months. An approach was developed to classify
foods into one of four levels of priority micronutrient density based on the calories
and grams required to provide one-third (for individual micronutrients) or an average of
one-third (for the aggregate score) of RNIs from complementary foods.
Results: We found that the top food sources of multiple priority micronutrients are
organs, bivalves, crustaceans, fresh fish, goat, canned fish with bones, and eggs, closely
followed by beef, lamb/mutton, dark green leafy vegetables, cow milk, yogurt, and
cheese, and to a lesser extent, canned fish without bones.
Conclusions: This analysis provided insights into which foods to prioritize to fill common
micronutrient gaps and reduce undernutrition in children aged 6–23 months in South and
Southeast Asia.
Before someone reads this and concludes that red meat is good for you and plants less so: These findings do not change the general recommendations for a healthy diet. A healthy diet is high in fiber, low in sodium, simple sugars, and trans fat. A healthy diet consistent of plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet. It is too reductionistic to think we just need to consume high volumes of top sources of priority nutrients.
This is the conclusion from a holistic approach:From this recent paper they found we should opt for more legumes, whole grains, and nuts and less red meat in order to increase life expectancy. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003889
On estimated gains in life expectancy compared to a typical Western diet:
> The largest gains would be made by eating more legumes (females: 2.2 [95% UI 1.1 to 3.4]; males: 2.5 [95% UI 1.1 to 3.9]), whole grains (females: 2.0 [95% UI 1.3 to 2.7]; males: 2.3 [95% UI 1.6 to 3.0]), and nuts (females: 1.7 [95% UI 1.5 to 2.0]; males: 2.0 [95% UI 1.7 to 2.3]), and less red meat (females: 1.6 [95% UI 1.5 to 1.8]; males: 1.9 [95% UI 1.7 to 2.1]) and processed meat (females: 1.6 [95% UI 1.5 to 1.8]; males: 1.9 [95% UI 1.7 to 2.1])
But I do not mean to discredit the paper in question. It is important to improve the health of people in low to middle-income countries. From the paper:
> Discussion: Our analysis has provided ratings of inherent food sources of multiple and individual micronutrients commonly lacking in diets, especially in LMICs (low to middle income countries), for population groups with increased needs and the broader adult population
Deficiency in low-income countries and very different from that of high-income countries.
> Indeed, priority micronutrients are just one of many important aspects contributing to overall diet quality, and foods presenting low density in priority micronutrients may be rich in other essential and non-essential beneficial compounds and can contribute to overall energy and protein requirements.
> Carefully constructed vegan diets could provide adequate amounts of all six priority micronutrients for the general population, except vitamin B12, which would need to be consumed through fortified foods or supplements. However, population groups with increased nutritional requirements, such as pregnant women and children during the complementary feeding period, following a vegan diet might also need fortification or supplementation for other micronutrients, such as iron, in addition to vitamin B12.
I would like to add that all pregnant women in general are recommended to supplement folate and ofen iron too. Vegans less so with folate as their diet naturally contains more. Pregnant women should also be wary of too much vitamin A and thus be careful not to consume too much liver.https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/vitamins-supplements-and-nutrition/
> These ratings are most applicable for populations in LMICs suffering from widespread micronutrient deficiencies
In high-income countries there is more more prevalence of fiber deficiency, and excess amount of sodium, sugar, and trans fat.