MegaFood | March 2018

Eating nutritious food is the best way to stay healthy, but even the healthiest eaters may be lacking essential nutrients in their diet. Read on for 5 reasons why your diet (and relying on food) may not be enough to find out if a daily supplement is right for you.

1. You’re not eating enough fruits and veggies.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), adults should consume 1.5-2 cups of fruit and 2-3 cups of vegetables daily. Yet a recent CDC study found that 76 percent of adults don’t eat enough fruit and 87 percent of adults don’t eat enough veggies. If you’re trying your best and still falling short, a farm fresh supplement may help you meet your daily goals.

2. Who has time to count nutrients?

Have you ever taken the time to count the amount of nutrients you’ve consumed in a day? It’s a lot more work than counting calories. Plus, even if you do count nutrients and eat a diverse diet full of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and meat, odds are you would still fall short, as our writer found.

3. You’re not getting enough variety.

Most of us aren’t eating a wide enough variety of plant foods and the parts of animals that contain the most nutrients. Beef liver, for example, contains 17 times more B12 than ground beef. But when was the last time you had liver? Rather than striving for variety, many of us eat the same types of food every day, all week long.

4. Soil quality isn’t what it used to be.

Soil quality is an important yet often overlooked issue. Studies have shown that much of the food grown has undergone a steady decline in nutrients since 1950. So even if you’re eating a wide variety of nutritious food every day, it’s not as nutritious as it used to be.

5. You may have food intolerances.

If you’re allergic to or can’t tolerate certain foods, you may be missing out some key nutrients. For example, dairy is a good source of calcium, vitamins A, D, E, and K, protein, minerals, and probiotics. And wheat is high in protein and fiber, as is soy. Yet many of us are sensitive to and avoid these foods.

Think you might be missing out on some key nutrients in your diet? Learn more by signing up for MegaFood’s newsletter.