Assimilating Iron… real Iron.

Fortified foods are a staple food in our society… not in my household, but in our society.  Actually, I don’t think we eat any fortified food on a regular basis other than the Almond Milk.  As you are likely aware, fortified suggests that vitamins and/or minerals have been added to a food, to insure that you are getting what you need in your daily intake of vitamins and minerals.

And on that point, do you realize that the US RDA (recommended daily allowance) was established to rid the world of rickets, scurvey, beri-beri, etc… the diseases of malnutrition.  It was not established to provide optimal function, nor was there an understanding of long term disease from less than optimal function.  If you want to acheive optimal function, you really need to be eating well beyond the RDA, and finding ways to mix up those NATURAL foods that supply those vitamins and minerals.

So where do most of these fortifying minerals come from? Our best hope would be plants, which provide the name “citrate” after a specific mineral. For example, calcium citrate, magnesium citrate, etc. If you buy a cheap one a day vitamin/mineral product, you will notice that the minerals come with the name carbonate. Carbonate, lets us know that the minerals were not harvested from plant, but rather mined from rock. Interestingly enough, there is a significant amount of research based evidence that suggests that you CANNOT assimilate minerals from rock very readily. But that plants have been designed to do this very well, allowing you to then absorb that mineral from their luscious green leaves.

So if you are sitting in my office reading this Daily Sprout, I must impress upon you the importance of getting to your computer, and watching this video. It will help you understand why FORTIFIED really means, “useless garbage with a marketing strategy attached”. We want you to consider all of the ways in which you can pursue greater nutrition in your diet. If you are interested in knowing more about growing healthy foods, let us know that you want to be placed on the aquaponics newsletter list, and we’ll be sure you get some awesome information on growing your own healthy vegetables! Be Well! Dr. E