Malnutrition and the Paleolithic Diet
Malnutrition doesn’t only affect starving children in third world countries with protruding stomachs; malnutrition is extremely common in the well-fed. In-fact, malnutrition is the leading cause of disease for the simple reason that the body isn’t receiving the vital nutrients it needs to stay healthy; un-healthy cells = diseased cells. A deficiency in any one nutrient alone can cause many health issues, let alone multiple deficiencies.
One deficiency can have multiple effects on good health. For instance, a vitamin B3 deficiency impairs the body’s ability to absorb vitamin C – a vitamin C deficiency will impair the absorption of iron – a lack of iron can cause excessive copper absorption – too much copper in the blood inhibits cortisol production – low cortisol levels cause adrenal fatigue. Magnesium is one of the major deficiencies in society; magnesium deficiency will contribute to increased sodium retention and can eventually lead to a vitamin A deficiency – a vitamin A deficiency inhibits the body’s ability to fight infections. Some of the other major deficiencies in society include zinc, chromium, vitamins A, E and B6.
Often people will supplement their diets with mega-doses of a certain vitamins or minerals; however this can also cause malnutrition. For instance, consuming too much calcium can produce a phosphorus and magnesium deficiency – this can result in symptoms almost identical to that of calcium deficiency. Or consuming too much zinc which can antagonise and cause an imbalance in vitamin D – too much zinc can also produce a copper and/or iron deficiency as well as cause a sodium to potassium imbalance.
When the cells in our body are not receiving the nutrients they need to stay healthy they will eventually malfunction or die; this is where disease sets in. Everything we eat, drink or swallow will determine the quality of our blood, which will then determine the quality of our health.
Obesity is a major sign of malnutrition or malnourishment, even though a lot of food is being consumed it’s the right foods that are not being consumed to satisfy hunger, normalise metabolism, keep energy levels high and support healthy cells that is the problem. Around 90% of what most obese people consume is nutritionally dead foods; white rice, pasta, breads, cereals, dairy and sweets (these are some of the most nutritionally dead foods you can find). This is a reason why we see many obese people suffering so many different health issues, whether it is low energy levels, lack of sex drive, depression, constant illness, constipation or diarrhea, diabetes or poor sleep.
Apart from nutritionally depleted foods, another problem we are faced with in society is the quality of our foods which have been changed in ways that cause them to become low in nutritional value; processing, transporting, storing and preserving all assist in lowering the nutritional value in the foods; especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables which are more often that not grown in nutrient dead soils and sprayed with chemicals to speed up growth while repelling bugs and insects. This is not to say these fruits and vegetables don’t contain any nutritional value at all, but they have been significantly reduced with these processes.
Even people who eat a diet high in nutritional value can still easily become deficient in vital nutrients which the body needs to stay healthy and function optimally. Not only because of some of the concerns with nutritionally depleted foods mentioned above, but because our modern lifestyle is unfortunately an environment for toxins which cause cellular malfunction and disease. Each person has their own individual nutritional requirements; each person’s nutritional needs are as individual as their finger print.
Back in 2000 there was said to be 1.2 billion people within developed countries who where malnourished because they consumed too much of the wrong foods; foods which hold little to no nutritional value. Yet, we will still be told by health care professionals, food manufacturers and within ‘educational’ articles that we should consume a diet rich in these foods that are bad for our health and don’t assist in maintaining a healthy body. This could be due to misinformation, poor education, laziness or simply just good product marketing (as I’ve talked about previously in an article I wrote titled ‘Breakfast Candy’ which discusses some of the ways manufacturers managed to convince the majority of the population that sugar laden nutritionally dead cereals where healthy and nutritious for them and their children).
What we need to focus on nutritionally to avoid malnutrition and deficiencies is obtaining the correct amount of nutrition that our 75 trillion cells need in order to stay healthy; not doing this will virtually guarantee disease. A diet rich in foods full of nutritional value will provide the cells with what they need to repair and make new healthy cells.
One of the best additions we can make to our nutrition is to follow a paleolithic diet. The paleolithic diet is rich in nutrient value because it doesn’t include foods which contain little to no nutritional value; such as white bread, white rice, pasta and cereals. The paleolithic diet consists of foods our bodies where designed to eat; nutritionally rich foods including meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Because of this the paleolithic diet also eliminates the heath issues associated with consuming a diet rich in sugars and other high GI (glycemic index) foods; such as diabetes.
Keeping an eye on our lifestyle is also vitally important; a lifestyle of smoking a packet of cigarettes every day is not going to help maintain cellular health.
Being active in noticing changes in our bodies is also extremely important in over-coming any deficiencies and potential malnutrition before they impact heavily on the bodies overall function; noticing a drop in energy levels, drop in sex drive, troubles sleeping or sudden symptoms of depression can all be signs of deficiencies that if spotted and treated early can be overcome easily and effectively.
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Comments
[...] any socioeconomic background. That’s exactly what the article over at Nikki’s Blogspot, Malnutrition And The Paleolithic Diet, took a look at [...]
Hi this was a great article. I’ve signed up to your blog, it fits in perfectly well with my blog on health and the palaeolithic diet. Please do check it out. You’ll have to read it back to front though, i.e. the former articles before the latter ones. Thanks
Ross
Hey Ross, thanks for subscribing to my blog 
I checked out your site and enjoyed reading a few articles; ill be reading more when i have time
Nikki,
This is a great article. You present your case clearly, concisely and provide some very compelling evidence to back it up. Way to go!
All the Best,
Andrew R