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It's not just iron that's lacking in our diets. Magnesium is an extremely important mineral that is lacking in nearly every modern diet across the globe. it's

It's not just iron that's lacking in our diets. Magnesium is an extremely important mineral that is lacking in nearly every modern diet across the globe. it's the procressing of food that removes three crucial minerals: magnesium, potassium and iron. Back when white bread/processing was first becoming mainstream, people got all kinds of diseases because the processing removed all the B-vitamins. they actually had to pass laws to force manufacturers to re-add all the B-vitamins back into the food, after the processing. this addressed many of the most common diseases but they did'nt re-add the Magnesium and Iron, hence why everyone is deficient in Magnesium and iron. There's a pretty decent amount of research showing the connection between magnesium and diseases not typically associated with diet (and hence why this has not been addressed). Eating a whole foods diet (non processed) can definitely address it but that's a tall order for most people.

giantg2 4y ago
Magnesium is also decreasing due to produce being less nutritious than 100 years ago.
- Silverback_VII 4y ago
  I think magnesium supplementation is important also because of its connection to depression. Zink also a good idea, but iron ? I think many men have too much of it because there is not enough bleeding (insect bites, etc...) in modern society.
  - throw8383833jj 4y ago
    Absolutely. But also, consider some natural sources as well. Cashews and Pumpkin seeds are pretty dense with magnesium, as well as nuts in general. I've calculated the relative mineral density of many many foods: https://kale.world/c https://kale.world/c
    - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
      Cool site but some of the foods I don’t recognize: Waxgourd? Fireweed ? Nopales? And many others.
      - throw8383833jj 4y ago
        Well, once you really start learning about lots of healthy natural foods, you'll start to recognize these more. Waxgourd is a large melon that tastes great in smoothies with a bit of pepper and honey. Or you can turn it into a tasty soup, as done in chinese cuisine. Nopales are a bit more present in mexican cooking, you know those big spiky plate like plants. Many of the other plants on there sometimes grow freely in your backyard: like dandelion, dock, purslane. Some people use derogatory references such as "weeds" to refer to them but it's highly innaccurate. these plants are some of the most nutritious things you can eat, you just need to know how to cook them and how to adjust your taste buds to all the great foods humans used to eat on a regular basis. I've been on a journey to understand all the natural foods found in nature, and it's quite a learning process as we've been so conditioned (in the wrong direction) by industry on what food is. There's over 80,000 edible plant species in the world. I only know a few of them. But, I hope to get to know more of them over time.
    - umangsh 4y ago
      Cool site, the sliders are super intuitive for exploration. I was pleasantly surprised to see Cauliflower rank high in Choline, it's more readily available from animal sources. Do the portion sizes differ for each item? Eggs have 7.6x times Choline from Cauliflower per 100g based on USDA data: Cauliflower nutrition: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169986/nutrients https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169986/n... Eggs nutrition: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/748967/nutrients https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/748967/n...
      - throw8383833jj 4y ago
        the portion sizes are all normalized to 200 calories. The nice thing about that is it gives you a great way of comparing caloric equal portion sizes.
- zemvpferreira 4y ago
  True but this is due to selection of faster growing varietals by farms. If you buy old-school vegetables you get old-school vitamins and minerals. Buy direct, buy fresh, buy local.
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
    > If you buy old-school vegetables you get old-school vitamins and minerals. Buy direct, buy fresh, buy local. You're going to have some problems during winter.
    - asow92 4y ago
      This is why canning and food preservation was so important
    - slothtrop 4y ago
      Only for the local part, not as it pertains to the vitamins. Notwithstanding, year-round most of the produce in large grocery stores isn't local and will never be.
      - giantg2 4y ago
        Actually, the stuff in the store has usually been in warehouses for long periods of time. During that time, they lose nutrients.
        slothtrop 4y ago
        Some, probably vitamin C. But that can be recouped with produce that always has lots anyway, e.g. tomatoes.
        giantg2 4y ago
        Not just vitamin C. B vitamins can be reduced by up to 70%. There is degradation with many other nutrients as well.
hedora 4y ago
This just keeps getting worse and worse, with no end in sight. I recently looked at the school lunch ingredient lists here in California. The hamburger buns contain both corn syrup and sucralose (splenda). I really wonder what the rationale is. I guess they need to put the splenda in so that they screw up all the kids' metabolism + gut microbes, but they also need to make sure the food isn't accidentally diabetic safe? Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. This is the same bureaucracy that defunded science and art education, and attempted to defund calculus (so that only rich districts with educational foundations would have those things). I kind of suspect it's some sort of intentional long-game eugenics program. I wonder if there is some way for rich Californian parents to band together to pay extra for non-malicious school lunches (as with science and art education). (Or, better, force the state government to stop sucking so much!)
- cperciva 4y ago
  The hamburger buns contain both corn syrup and sucralose (splenda). I really wonder what the rationale is. They want to make the buns tasty but don't want too many calories. Makes sense to me.
  - ffsoftboiled 4y ago
    You don't need sugar to make bread tasty. Especially savory bread.
    - halpmeh 4y ago
      Most industrially baked breads contain sugar. Typically 2-5g per slice. I haven't really had industrial bread without sugar, but it doesn't surprise me that the sugar is required for taste. "Good" bread has long ferment periods that gives the bread a lot of time to develop flavor. It's probably much faster to cut the long ferment periods and use sugar for flavor instead.
    - eitally 4y ago
      It's a trade-off between food that's entirely healthy and food the majority of kids (who are not accustomed to a healthy diet) will actually eat. There's a huge amount of food waste in schools. If you don't have kids in US public schools, just know it's pretty common for kids to get a full school lunch just to eat the fries or drink the milk/juice, and discard the rest. Similarly for school breakfasts with things like frosted flakes. Absolutely not healthy, but if the alternative is not eating at all, it's understandable that administrators feel obligated to compromise.
laweijfmvo 4y ago
why is it that any time i read about a nutrient (iron, magnesium, etc) i check my multi-vitamin and find that it's not even there? if these are so important, why I am taking 12,000% of my daily vitamin B and C and 0% of some other ones?
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  Some essential nutrients are dangerous in excess. It's estimated that 200,000 Americans a year suffer from an iron overload which can cause all sorts of problems including damaging your heart. So it's not considered to be a good thing for a "one a day" supplement to habitually contain iron. Many Americans are deficient in potassium and you might think, "cap up some KCl and take one a day". KCl can slow down your heart rate and reduce your blood pressure which is good to some extent but if you could buy KCl supplement that gave 100% of your daily potassium need some people would be dropping dead from an overdose of potassium (a potassium is part of the usual lethal injection cocktail), not necessarily because 1 pill is dangerous but because some people are going to take 10. Also some people take pharmaceuticals that either raise or lower potassium levels so what is too small of a dose for some people would be dangerous for others. The 12,000% of your daily dose for most things is a scam with the possible exception of vitamin B₁₂ for which many people have bio-availability problems.
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
    The oral ld50 of potassium is measured in grams (Wikipedia is listing at 2.5g/kg). An overdose would be fairly intentional and there are more poisonous things you are likely consuming daily.
  - Mezzie 4y ago
    The weird thing is that potassium salt is really cheap and available. I use it with some Mio to make water drinks that have an actual appreciable amount of potassium in them.
  - scythe 4y ago
    Oral potassium is dramatically less toxic than IV potassium, because the body has to actively transport the ions and it's not terribly interested in killing itself. It could still be dangerous in very high doses, but that's unlikely to happen by accident. However, oral potassium does have other effects. The proton pump in the stomach works by exchanging K+ for H+. Excess potassium may affect its functioning. There are several reports of nausea and pain with potassium supplements [1], although I've been adding KCl/NaCl "lite salt" to my work lunches for a long time with no problems. 1: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/485434 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...
rawgabbit 4y ago
By trial and error, I am now taking this daily regimen of supplements. - Magnesium (I have problem with leg cramps while sleeping, the magnesium stopped it). - D3 (Doctor said I need it). - B12 Complex (I feel more energetic). - PreserVision for my eyes. (May be placebo but it seems to help?) - I am searching for something to reduce the amount of mucus created by allergies. I tried turmeric and other things marketed as healthy inflammation response. But so far no luck.
- notshift 4y ago
  Have you looked at your diet? I used to have a ton of mucus, and cutting out bad carbs from my diet (processed bread, waffles, store-bought muffins, etc.) pretty much eliminated the issue. Peppers / nightshades can be an issue for some people too. The purpose of mucus is so that your body can temporarily lock up some kind of inflammatory agent that it is being exposed to and limit the damage. Usually these types of things are solved by removal rather than addition (of something in your life).
  - rawgabbit 4y ago
    Thanks. I have been careful with my diet. I try to avoid as much processed food as possible. Still tinkering with it.
- TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
  In addition to the sibling comment, the number one suspect in all cases of excuses mucus production is dairy. A simple trial-avoidance challenge regime of no dairy for two weeks followed by reintroducing dairy on day 15 should give you strong indicators if dairy is a problem for you. Could be air born allergens too, so may not help at all.
  - rawgabbit 4y ago
    Thanks. I had both a skin test and a blood test for allergens. They said my main problem is dust mites. I have the allergenic/dust mite proof covers for my pillows and mattresses which helped a lot. I am in the process of removing all carpeting etc.

giantg2 4y ago

Magnesium is also decreasing due to produce being less nutritious than 100 years ago.

Silverback_VII 4y ago
I think magnesium supplementation is important also because of its connection to depression. Zink also a good idea, but iron ? I think many men have too much of it because there is not enough bleeding (insect bites, etc...) in modern society.
- throw8383833jj 4y ago
  Absolutely. But also, consider some natural sources as well. Cashews and Pumpkin seeds are pretty dense with magnesium, as well as nuts in general. I've calculated the relative mineral density of many many foods: https://kale.world/c https://kale.world/c
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    Cool site but some of the foods I don’t recognize: Waxgourd? Fireweed ? Nopales? And many others.
    - throw8383833jj 4y ago
      Well, once you really start learning about lots of healthy natural foods, you'll start to recognize these more. Waxgourd is a large melon that tastes great in smoothies with a bit of pepper and honey. Or you can turn it into a tasty soup, as done in chinese cuisine. Nopales are a bit more present in mexican cooking, you know those big spiky plate like plants. Many of the other plants on there sometimes grow freely in your backyard: like dandelion, dock, purslane. Some people use derogatory references such as "weeds" to refer to them but it's highly innaccurate. these plants are some of the most nutritious things you can eat, you just need to know how to cook them and how to adjust your taste buds to all the great foods humans used to eat on a regular basis. I've been on a journey to understand all the natural foods found in nature, and it's quite a learning process as we've been so conditioned (in the wrong direction) by industry on what food is. There's over 80,000 edible plant species in the world. I only know a few of them. But, I hope to get to know more of them over time.
  - umangsh 4y ago
    Cool site, the sliders are super intuitive for exploration. I was pleasantly surprised to see Cauliflower rank high in Choline, it's more readily available from animal sources. Do the portion sizes differ for each item? Eggs have 7.6x times Choline from Cauliflower per 100g based on USDA data: Cauliflower nutrition: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169986/nutrients https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169986/n... Eggs nutrition: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/748967/nutrients https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/748967/n...
    - throw8383833jj 4y ago
      the portion sizes are all normalized to 200 calories. The nice thing about that is it gives you a great way of comparing caloric equal portion sizes.
zemvpferreira 4y ago
True but this is due to selection of faster growing varietals by farms. If you buy old-school vegetables you get old-school vitamins and minerals. Buy direct, buy fresh, buy local.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > If you buy old-school vegetables you get old-school vitamins and minerals. Buy direct, buy fresh, buy local. You're going to have some problems during winter.
  - asow92 4y ago
    This is why canning and food preservation was so important
  - slothtrop 4y ago
    Only for the local part, not as it pertains to the vitamins. Notwithstanding, year-round most of the produce in large grocery stores isn't local and will never be.
    - giantg2 4y ago
      Actually, the stuff in the store has usually been in warehouses for long periods of time. During that time, they lose nutrients.
      - slothtrop 4y ago
        Some, probably vitamin C. But that can be recouped with produce that always has lots anyway, e.g. tomatoes.
        giantg2 4y ago
        Not just vitamin C. B vitamins can be reduced by up to 70%. There is degradation with many other nutrients as well.

hedora 4y ago

This just keeps getting worse and worse, with no end in sight. I recently looked at the school lunch ingredient lists here in California. The hamburger buns contain both corn syrup and sucralose (splenda). I really wonder what the rationale is. I guess they need to put the splenda in so that they screw up all the kids' metabolism + gut microbes, but they also need to make sure the food isn't accidentally diabetic safe? Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. This is the same bureaucracy that defunded science and art education, and attempted to defund calculus (so that only rich districts with educational foundations would have those things). I kind of suspect it's some sort of intentional long-game eugenics program. I wonder if there is some way for rich Californian parents to band together to pay extra for non-malicious school lunches (as with science and art education). (Or, better, force the state government to stop sucking so much!)

cperciva 4y ago
The hamburger buns contain both corn syrup and sucralose (splenda). I really wonder what the rationale is. They want to make the buns tasty but don't want too many calories. Makes sense to me.
- ffsoftboiled 4y ago
  You don't need sugar to make bread tasty. Especially savory bread.
  - halpmeh 4y ago
    Most industrially baked breads contain sugar. Typically 2-5g per slice. I haven't really had industrial bread without sugar, but it doesn't surprise me that the sugar is required for taste. "Good" bread has long ferment periods that gives the bread a lot of time to develop flavor. It's probably much faster to cut the long ferment periods and use sugar for flavor instead.
  - eitally 4y ago
    It's a trade-off between food that's entirely healthy and food the majority of kids (who are not accustomed to a healthy diet) will actually eat. There's a huge amount of food waste in schools. If you don't have kids in US public schools, just know it's pretty common for kids to get a full school lunch just to eat the fries or drink the milk/juice, and discard the rest. Similarly for school breakfasts with things like frosted flakes. Absolutely not healthy, but if the alternative is not eating at all, it's understandable that administrators feel obligated to compromise.

laweijfmvo 4y ago

why is it that any time i read about a nutrient (iron, magnesium, etc) i check my multi-vitamin and find that it's not even there? if these are so important, why I am taking 12,000% of my daily vitamin B and C and 0% of some other ones?

PaulHoule 4y ago
Some essential nutrients are dangerous in excess. It's estimated that 200,000 Americans a year suffer from an iron overload which can cause all sorts of problems including damaging your heart. So it's not considered to be a good thing for a "one a day" supplement to habitually contain iron. Many Americans are deficient in potassium and you might think, "cap up some KCl and take one a day". KCl can slow down your heart rate and reduce your blood pressure which is good to some extent but if you could buy KCl supplement that gave 100% of your daily potassium need some people would be dropping dead from an overdose of potassium (a potassium is part of the usual lethal injection cocktail), not necessarily because 1 pill is dangerous but because some people are going to take 10. Also some people take pharmaceuticals that either raise or lower potassium levels so what is too small of a dose for some people would be dangerous for others. The 12,000% of your daily dose for most things is a scam with the possible exception of vitamin B₁₂ for which many people have bio-availability problems.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
  The oral ld50 of potassium is measured in grams (Wikipedia is listing at 2.5g/kg). An overdose would be fairly intentional and there are more poisonous things you are likely consuming daily.
- Mezzie 4y ago
  The weird thing is that potassium salt is really cheap and available. I use it with some Mio to make water drinks that have an actual appreciable amount of potassium in them.
- scythe 4y ago
  Oral potassium is dramatically less toxic than IV potassium, because the body has to actively transport the ions and it's not terribly interested in killing itself. It could still be dangerous in very high doses, but that's unlikely to happen by accident. However, oral potassium does have other effects. The proton pump in the stomach works by exchanging K+ for H+. Excess potassium may affect its functioning. There are several reports of nausea and pain with potassium supplements [1], although I've been adding KCl/NaCl "lite salt" to my work lunches for a long time with no problems. 1: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/485434 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...

rawgabbit 4y ago

By trial and error, I am now taking this daily regimen of supplements. - Magnesium (I have problem with leg cramps while sleeping, the magnesium stopped it). - D3 (Doctor said I need it). - B12 Complex (I feel more energetic). - PreserVision for my eyes. (May be placebo but it seems to help?) - I am searching for something to reduce the amount of mucus created by allergies. I tried turmeric and other things marketed as healthy inflammation response. But so far no luck.

notshift 4y ago
Have you looked at your diet? I used to have a ton of mucus, and cutting out bad carbs from my diet (processed bread, waffles, store-bought muffins, etc.) pretty much eliminated the issue. Peppers / nightshades can be an issue for some people too. The purpose of mucus is so that your body can temporarily lock up some kind of inflammatory agent that it is being exposed to and limit the damage. Usually these types of things are solved by removal rather than addition (of something in your life).
- rawgabbit 4y ago
  Thanks. I have been careful with my diet. I try to avoid as much processed food as possible. Still tinkering with it.
TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
In addition to the sibling comment, the number one suspect in all cases of excuses mucus production is dairy. A simple trial-avoidance challenge regime of no dairy for two weeks followed by reintroducing dairy on day 15 should give you strong indicators if dairy is a problem for you. Could be air born allergens too, so may not help at all.
- rawgabbit 4y ago
  Thanks. I had both a skin test and a blood test for allergens. They said my main problem is dust mites. I have the allergenic/dust mite proof covers for my pillows and mattresses which helped a lot. I am in the process of removing all carpeting etc.