"I believe that insidious metabolic damage occurs, even with only very slight deficiencies in micronutrients, and that they will increase the risk of cancer, cognitive dysfunction, and other aging-related diseases."
"It is known that plants directly draw from the air, water, and earth the elements necessary for sustaining life, particularly carbon and nitrogen: they take them in their mineral form. In contrast, animals can only seize these same elements if they have already been fixed for them in organic substances by plants or by animals that, directly or indirectly, owe them to plants, so that ultimately it is the plant that feeds the animal."
Vital nutrients
The vital elements we absorb through food are classified into two categories:
- Macronutrients: proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates.
- Micronutrients: minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants.
"There are about 40 vitamins or quasi-vitamins, minerals, and amino acids essential for health. If you are deprived of one or the other, you will die."
In this article, we will therefore focus on the issue of mineral and vitamin deficiencies that affect the majority of the population.
- The most common mineral deficiencies are in iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium
- The most common vitamin deficiencies are those of groups B, C, D, and E
The presence of minerals is essential to activate the many enzymes that play a key role in the body ranging from nutrient absorption to energy production, as well as controlling hormonal, muscular, nervous, and immune systems. Furthermore, minerals are antioxidants and alkalizing agents.
As for vitamins, they are also involved in many biological functions: antioxidant, body building (growth, skeleton development…), functioning and maintenance of the body (transformation and use of macronutrients, vision, blood coagulation, muscular, nervous, immune systems, DNA production, …).
Diagnosing a deficiency is not straightforward. Indeed, it is important to distinguish between extracellular minerals (those that circulate in our biological fluids like blood or interstitial fluid) and intracellular minerals (those that manage to penetrate the heart of the cells). This is why the characteristic disorders of deficiencies can manifest in individuals who, otherwise, show completely satisfactory blood test results. This is explained by the fact that not all minerals and vitamins are bioavailable (that is to say, usable by the body). If they cannot penetrate the cells or if they are not usable (which is the case when micronutrients are not organic), they will be eliminated through hepatic and urinary pathways, which will only result in adding extra work for the body.
Some micronutrients and associated deficiencies
An internet search provides the following information:
Magnesium
It is one of the most abundant body minerals. Half of the magnesium present in the body is located in the bone tissue. It is also a regulator of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in muscle, cardiac, and nervous tissues. It participates in more than 300 metabolic reactions in the body, hence its importance. The symptoms of a magnesium deficiency: physical and mental fatigue, chronic anxiety, irritability, insomnia, muscle cramps, tremors.
Calcium
The main function of calcium is the well-known one of building and renewing the skeleton. Additionally, calcium participates in muscle and cardiac contraction, blood coagulation, cellular exchanges, membrane permeability, hormone release, and nerve impulse transmission. The symptoms of a calcium deficiency: dry and scaly skin, brittle nails, and dull hair, frequent cramps in the back and leg muscles.
Vitamin C
It is an immune stimulant that activates the formation of antibodies. Its antioxidant effect protects against the acceleration of cellular aging and contributes to the healing of skin wounds and burns. It also has a significant anti-fatigue effect. The symptoms of a vitamin C deficiency: fatigue, immune fragility (recurrent infections), irritability, fragility of capillaries (bruises), healing problems.
Vitamin D
It is essential for the bone fixation of minerals (notably calcium and magnesium), hence its direct impact on bone strength. Vitamin D also acts at the muscular level (for contraction) and cerebral level (it is a protective agent for neurons). It also modulates the activity of the immune system, stimulating it in case of infection and calming it in case of autoimmune reaction. The symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency: bone disorders (notably osteoporosis), muscle weakness, immune fragility, stress sensitivity, depression.
Deficiencies are, paradoxically, one of the causes of obesity. Indeed, if our diet provides macronutrients but not enough micronutrients (as is the case with processed food), then as soon as the meal is digested, even if it was very caloric, hunger returns very quickly. A hunger not for calories but for essential vitamins and minerals. And if in response to this hunger we again provide food deficient in bioavailable micronutrients, then we enter a vicious cycle that can lead to weight gain.
Why are we deficient?
The reasons are multiple and interdependent:
- Insufficient consumption of raw fruits and vegetables, which are the best source of vitamins and minerals.
- Fruits and vegetables poor in micronutrients due to cultivation on depleted soil or off-soil (hydroponics).
- Lack of sun exposure to produce vitamin D, which has the collateral effect of disrupting the absorption of other micronutrients.
- Too high a proportion of cooked foods in the diet. Heat (beyond 42°) destroys the enzymes naturally present in raw foods that are responsible for the assimilation of minerals and vitamins.
- Increased levels of stress and pollution (pesticides, nanoparticles, waves, etc.) that raise the level of free radicals. This leads to an exaggerated consumption of micronutrients for defense.
- Excessive consumption of animal proteins and stimulants (tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, etc.) that acidify the environment and force the body to use its mineral reserves to restore acid-base balance.
- Excessive consumption of refined sugars and flours. These empty calories of micronutrients deplete mineral reserves because the use of these sugars requires minerals that are normally provided by food (as is the case with fruits).
- Mood, these 45 L of liquids in which cells are bathed, too clogged for micronutrients to reach the cells. This is why fasting is sometimes the best way to address deficiencies.
- An unbalanced gut microbiota (dysbiosis) that poorly assimilates the provided micronutrients and produces few (a healthy gut microbiota normally produces vitamin K, B8, and B12, and three essential amino acids: valine, leucine, and isoleucine.).
“The proliferation of ‘bad bacteria’ or certain fungi will favor the absence of certain nutrients that this pathogenic flora will derive to its advantage, that is to say, consume for its development.” Dr. Marc François Paya
- A weakened or dysregulated endocrine system. For example, proper calcium assimilation requires a functional thyroid and adrenal glands.
How to address your deficiencies?
If you are lacking iron, for example, the solution will not be to supplement with dietary supplements containing iron. This is for several reasons. To grasp the complexity of the human body, it is important to know the following key points:
Principle 1: Humans are classified as heterotrophs because they need to feed on pre-existing organic constituents. Unlike autotrophs (plants, algae, and certain bacteria) that can feed on mineral and inorganic matter and provide those who consume them with transformed elements that have become bioavailable. This means that one cannot assimilate, for example, the minerals from water and earth, and that any supplementation made from non-organic elements results in non-absorption or poor absorption. Example: One does not supplement with magnesium by consuming magnesium chloride because the latter is in inorganic form.
Principle 2: There is competition and interactions between different minerals. So much so that an excess or deficiency in the concentration of one mineral leads to poor absorption of other minerals. Hence the difficulty in knowing the origin of a deficiency and remedying it symptomatically.
Principle 3: The absorption of minerals, through the consumption of an autotroph (see principle 1), means that there is no competition (see principle 2) but an optimal absorption regulated by the body according to its needs. Thus, if you consume a lot of spirulina and provide more iron to your body than it needs, then it will be able to not absorb it to avoid creating imbalances between the different proportions of minerals. This is not the case with synthetic supplements containing Ligands (artificial substances that force cells to absorb the minerals they are linked to).
Principle 4: Mineral deficiencies inactivate certain vitamins. Moreover, if the mineral intake is insufficient, then the correct absorption of vitamins does not occur. The reverse is true.
Example: “Vitamin D is necessary to absorb calcium, while vitamin C influences the absorption of iron. In case of deficiencies in vitamins C and D, the absorption of calcium and iron decreases significantly. However, an excess of another vitamin like B3 can inactivate vitamin D, which is necessary for calcium absorption. An excess of B3 can therefore lead to hypocalcemia even if the levels of calcium and vitamin D provided are sufficient.” Pr. Marc Henry
Although these principles reveal some mechanisms of the human body, this is only a gross simplification of reality since some vitamins, like vitamin A, exist in more than 200 different forms. Furthermore, not all these forms have the same role or effectiveness. For example, the overloaded vitamin D that the body produces itself is about 1000 times more active than non-overloaded vitamin D. Finally, among the thousands of known biochemical reactions that can make a strong impression on the novice, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that many others remain to be discovered.
Principle 5: It is important that the liquids in which our cells are bathed are sufficiently clean so that micronutrients can be utilized by the cells.
Another principle:
There are also little-studied mechanisms called biological transmutations (see the work of scientist Louis Kervran) that would allow plants and animals to transform one element (like magnesium) into another (calcium). This adds an additional level of complexity to the mechanisms regulating minerals. Moreover, there are many other phytochemical compounds – such as acids, alkaloids, bitter principles, coumarins, essential oils, flavones, heterosides, tannins, terpenoids, phenols, salts, and saponins – that act in synergy with minerals & vitamins. These compounds regulate their assimilation and add an extra degree of complexity. There is an additional reason to resort to fresh & natural foods rather than dietary supplements.
“Fresh foods, green vegetables, healthy and natural foods, foods that have not been treated or refined, foods that have not lost their nutrients through heat, drying, cooking, canning, or other refining processes, contain all the necessary substances for ideal nutrition. We hope that one day people will recognize this fact.” Herbert Shelton
What about dietary supplements?
It is true that raw fruits and vegetables are generally less nutritious than before due to the fertilizers used and soil depletion caused by poor agricultural practices. That is why one might be tempted to be convinced by dietary supplement sellers to compensate for this decline in the nutritional quality of foods. Personally, I am rather opposed to their use for several reasons:
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- Even if fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be and are often picked before ripeness, we still have abundant access to foods from around the world in our markets.
- We have access to superfoods like spirulina, algae, sprouted seeds, lacto-fermentation, wheatgrass, etc., which are very nutritious.
- We have access to fresh vegetable & fruit juices that are also abundant sources of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and other phytochemical compounds.
- There are suppliers that offer quality foods like Biovie, Fruitstock, Jurassic Fruit, Orkos, etc.
- Our sense of smell and taste inform us about the nutritional quality of a food: if it is good, it is nourishing. We can therefore distinguish between nourishing foods and those that are less so.
- Canned, packaged, or pill foods will never have the nutritional quality of fresh food.
- Most deficiencies are due to excessive toxicity levels in the body that prevent nutrients from reaching the cells. For this reason, fasting and detox tools effectively address many deficiency issues.
In light of these considerations, I feel that the use of dietary supplements is primarily based on the fear of lacking while we are suffocating under an excess of production. This fear of lack, but also greed, which has frantically driven the West for decades has led to many economic and ecological abuses. Moreover, I find that the dietary supplement market often resorts to greenwashing (the information provided is incomplete or misleading) and the consumer is generally very poorly informed about the quality of the products they purchase. To ensure that a supplement will be beneficial and not poison us (as they are very poorly regulated, they sometimes contain anything and everything), it is important to ensure that all the ingredients it contains are:
- Organic (when there are no fibers, this is even more important).
- Of plant, bacterial, or algal origin.
- Not heated above 42°C.
- That they do not contain hormones & enzymes (except in cases of force majeure and temporarily) as this disrupts the endocrine system & weakens the glands supposed to produce said hormones & enzymes.
Most of the time, the complete list of ingredients is not provided, nor the manufacturing conditions, which is why it is important to exercise discernment and not hesitate to ask questions to the manufacturer. However, there are reliable stores like Biovie, Fungi-Natura, Nutrixeal, Transresveratrol, Sol-Semilla, Nature et Forme, etc. These stores provide interesting superfoods and dietary supplements like Pianto, Lycopene, Theanine, Acerola, Reishi, Cordyceps, Psyllium, seawater, Resveratrol, Probiotics, Rhodiola, Pollen, Royal Jelly, Spirulina, Chlorella, Barley or Wheat Grass, etc. There are also certain plant complexes (like those of Dr. Morse) that have proven their worth.
These products are of quality and beneficial for supporting and regenerating our bodies but they do not replace a predominantly plant-based and living diet associated with good hygienic practices (see this article that defines hygienism).
Conclusion
As we have just seen, the origin of deficiencies is too complex and multifaceted to be understood intellectually as it is linked to many interdependent factors. That is why, responding to a deficiency in any mineral or vitamin by consuming synthetic dietary supplements containing that element in quantity is akin to playing the sorcerer’s apprentice. Because this can lead to significant disorders without addressing the underlying problem if it is related, for example, to poor assimilation due to overly charged humors or due to deficits/imbalances with other vitamins or minerals.
“The most common cause of deficiency diseases lies in the inability to digest and assimilate.” Herbert Shelton
That is why it is vital that any remineralization and vitamin supplementation be carried out with autotrophs offering a wide spectrum of minerals and vitamins so that the body can choose what it really needs and set aside what is in sufficient quantity or in excess, without creating inhibitions or competition between minerals and vitamins. Some supplements containing judicious combinations of micronutrients can be interesting in the short term in cases of significant deficiencies.
The body gives us a desire to eat the living foods we need. So it is enough to let oneself be guided by one’s taste pleasure while playing with the diversity of raw fruits and vegetables.
In case of deficiency, one will also turn to a daily consumption of highly remineralizing foods containing a wide range of minerals such as vegetable juices and seawater, or any other food rich in micronutrients like spirulina, chlorella, wild plants, barley and wheat grass, etc. Edible wild plants, due to their unmatched richness (compared to cultivated fruits and vegetables) in micronutrients, their abundance, and their free availability, hold, like seawater, a resource of great value for humanity. Alongside the consumption of these “superfoods”, it will obviously be important to address the general causes of the deficiencies mentioned earlier, particularly the purification of humors.
Thus, the great intelligence of the living can operate and gradually fill all deficiencies.
To learn more about deficiencies:
- Read « The Detox Miracle Sourcebook: Raw Foods and Herbs for Complete Cellular Regeneration », by Robert Morse, N.D
- Read “Superior Nutrition”, by Herbert M. Shelton
- Listen https://youtu.be/-RhfAFA2hU4?si=TKpK-Sn8wxsjiVnY
Please note: this video is currently in French, but you can activate YouTube’s auto-generated subtitles in English while we work on finding an equivalent dedicated English version.
