We often hear the claim that modern science already knows almost everything there is to know about the world.
As scientific fields become increasingly specialized and focus on ever-smaller fragments of nature, we are left with the sensation that certain areas of knowledge are settled. From the movement of celestial bodies to the mapping of the human genome, the laws of nature appear to be fully decoded and documented. This is especially true in the realm of micronutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Most people are convinced that science has discovered all there is to know. We have come to believe that health is simply a matter of “plugging in” the right components to meet the requirements of the body.
However, even a brief look at our recent history proves otherwise. Every few years, scientists discover a new nutrient or factor that was previously unknown. Each discovery is followed by the claim that this is the essential component the body cannot function without, leading to a rush to synthesize it and sell it as a supplement.
Those who lived through the 1980s, for example, had never heard of Coenzyme Q10. Today, any supplement salesperson will explain that it is vital for bodily function and that most of us are deficient in it. Then there was the Vitamin C craze of the late 90s, where mega-dosing was touted as a cure-all, only for studies to emerge years later linking excessive intake to heart disease and other ailments.
The Fragmented View vs. The Whole Picture
The science we know is constantly uncovering new things. These are important discoveries, but the obsession with such narrow fields, like micronutrients, causes us to lose sight of the big picture. Science focuses on a single, tiny point within the vast complex of nutrition, while the reality is far more comprehensive.
Health is not about one vitamin or another. It is about the function of the entire system. It is about the synergy between various vitamins, minerals, and the relationships between them. Conventional science often neglects the fact that the body is a whole system that requires cooperation between many moving parts. In other words, if you have a health issue, taking CoQ10 won’t solve it, especially if that is the only change you make in your life.
My approach differs because it isn’t quantitative. I don’t look at the dose of a single vitamin in isolation, nor do I ignore the complex environmental factors that affect how the body absorbs those nutrients. I advocate for a qualitative approach. I am less concerned with the amount of a nutrient in a food and more concerned with the quality of the food itself and the efficiency of the digestive process.
The Supplement Industry and the Lobby-less Carrot
Researchers are deeply divided on the necessity and safety of supplements. Since we began commercially producing these isolated components, massive corporations, often the same ones producing pharmaceuticals, have formed to manufacture and fund the research behind them.
In contrast, natural nutrition, based on fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains, has no lobby. It has no corporate sponsors. While the media often highlights the necessity of supplements, the average person is left wandering through an endless maze of conflicting scientific data. Interestingly, even when long-term studies emerge showing the potential harm of certain supplements, they rarely seem to slow down the ever-expanding supplement market.
Many nutritionists suggest adding capsules to your daily routine, viewing these concentrated doses as essential to a healthy diet. But we must remember that a capsule is not food. It contains concentrations of nutrients far higher than anything found in nature. Manufacturers pack these capsules with high doses because they assume the body won’t absorb it all. Yet, no one truly knows how much an individual actually absorbs. Absorption is a fickle thing. Does stress affect it? Sleep? We don’t fully know. What we do know is that the body is designed to absorb the dosages found in a balanced, natural diet. These synthetic concentrations are something the body is simply not built to handle.
Healing the System, Not Just Filling a Gap
In natural medicine, the starting point is a belief in the innate ability of the body to heal itself, provided we create the right conditions. If a deficiency is found, the goal isn’t just to spoon-feed the body a supplement. Usually, a deficiency doesn’t exist in a vacuum anyway; it is part of a chain reaction within the body’s systems. Instead, we seek the root cause of the malabsorption and try to restore the conditions that allow the body to do its job.
If we simply take large doses of a missing nutrient, the body becomes lazy. It stops working to extract that nutrient from food, which actually deepens the problem rather than solving it. Over time, the body may find it even harder to process vitamins from real food. Transitioning to a fresh, balanced diet is certainly more complex than swallowing a pill, but it allows the body to activate its own healthy mechanisms.
As I mentioned, we must distinguish between quantity and quality. The quantitative mindset leads to “fortified” breakfast cereals and snacks loaded with six vitamins and iron. There is nothing healthy about these. They are essentially candy. The qualitative mindset understands that deficiencies are rarely about the amount of nutrients in our food, but rather the quality of the food and the health of our digestion.
So, What Do We Need to Know?
The central problem for modern humans is not a lack of available vitamins, but an inefficient digestive system. Our modern diet disrupts the way food moves through the intestines, harms our gut microbiome, and prevents us from utilizing the nutrients we do consume.
Three main factors interfere with these processes:
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How we eat.
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The structure of our diet.
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Food additives.
1. How We Eat: The Wisdom of Scarcity
Many parents come to me worried that their child “isn’t eating.” Usually, the child is eating; they just aren’t meeting the expectations of volume held by the parents.
Human evolution occurred during times of scarcity. Our bodies are optimized to survive and thrive when food is minimal. Abundance is a very recent historical anomaly that our digestive systems aren’t quite ready for.
The great physician Maimonides (the Rambam) identified this centuries ago. He argued that the most important rule of nutrition is never to eat until you are full. He believed that stopping before the stomach is packed is more important than what you actually eat. Overloading the system prevents it from working. The solution is to eat only when truly hungry and stop before you feel stuffed.
2. The Structure of the Diet: Balancing the Load
Our diet must match our biological structure. The modern diet is dominated by foods that create a high acid load in the blood, which drains our mineral reserves and ruins absorption.
We are eating far too much of the following:
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Animal products such as meat, milk, and eggs.
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Sugar and processed grains.
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Coffee and chocolate.
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Stress also contributes significantly to this acidity.
A balanced diet should consist of plenty of vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, sprouted legumes, moderate grains, and very little animal products, especially milk.
3. The Hidden Blockers: Additives
To absorb nutrients, we need a healthy inner garden of gut bacteria. Preservatives are designed to kill bacteria to keep food from spoiling on the shelf. Unfortunately, they don’t stop working once they enter your body. They continue to attack your beneficial gut flora. Furthermore, the body wastes precious energy trying to cleanse itself of these synthetic chemicals instead of using that energy for nourishment.
Summary: Returning to the Source
The more we eat food that fits our digestive system and avoid food that burdens it, the better we will absorb what we need. The quality of food and the way we eat it has a direct impact on our levels of Iron, B12, and every other micronutrient.
If you want to enrich your nutritional intake naturally, follow these principles:
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Freshness: The second a fruit or vegetable is picked, it begins to lose its vitality. Eat food as close to the harvest as possible.
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Eco-friendly Methods: Food grown in healthy, living soil is inherently richer in minerals.
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Seasonality: Nature provides what we need when we need it. Seasonal food is fresher, more diverse, and better suited to the needs of the body throughout the year.
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Foraging Wild Plants: This is a healthy, seasonal activity. Wild greens are nutritional powerhouses, and eating them in their season improves the function of the digestive system.
While these general guidelines are a start, years of problematic eating cannot always be fixed overnight. However, that is still not a reason to turn to supplements, except in the most extreme and specific cases. The key to health is not in a lab. It is in the quality of the life, and the food, you choose to consume.
