ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr., 07 March 2022
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 9 – 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.806566
Priority Micronutrient Density in Foods
Ty Beal1,2* and Flaminia Ortenzi3
- 1Knowledge Leadership, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Washington, DC, United States
- 2Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- 3Knowledge Leadership, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Geneva, 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.
Conclusion: The results provide insight into which foods to prioritize to fill common micronutrient gaps and reduce undernutrition.
My comment: There has been a recent rise in nutritional deficiency diseases in the UK in both adults and children. Organ meats, tinned sardines, dark green leafy vegetables, eggs, milk, pork and pulses are good value for money foods that could help.
Diabetes Diet 
Without wanting to propagate conspiracy theories, I think this reinforces the importance of history when we think about our modern context. Our diets were traditionally carnivore. We don’t have foreguts or hind guts well suited for CHO fermentation. Our guts are similar to other carnivores.
Population growth and “politics” has seen financial encouragement for grains, seeds, and other CHO-rich plant products to feed the growing populations. We should examine human history carefully and see how humans thrived with animal-based diets and now we are suffering because of misplaced beliefs that we are omnivores and therefore able to choose a plant-based lifestyle.
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I agree that for the most part humans are mainly carnivores who can also tolerate and thrive on a lot of plant foods. We should also be mindful that an animal has potentially suffered and certainly has died so we can eat it. I don’t mind left over vegetables the way I detest left over meat and dairy. It is particularly problematic for parents to put very young children on meat restricted diets. To overcome deficiencies and to reduce dependency on pasta/pizza/breakfast cereal type meals, they need to plan the family diet very carefully if they choose a plant only based lifestyle.
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