Before the early 1900s, people didn’t know that vitamins existed or that a lack of them could contribute to disease. Once scientists made that connection, though, the food supply began to change. Beginning in the 1920s, for example, salt became fortified with iodine to prevent goiter, an enlarged thyroid causing symptoms including fatigue, weight gain and decreased body temperature. In the 1940s, milk was fortified with vitamin D to reduce the incidence of rickets, which caused children to have bowed legs and knocked knees.
Fast-forward 75 years and deficiencies still exist, just different ones for different reasons. Today, Americans are consuming foods high in calories, saturated fat, added sugar and sodium. Many of these foods are highly processed and lack an abundance of nutrients needed to grow and thrive. In particular, most Americans are lacking vitamins A, C and D, calcium, fiber, magnesium and potassium, according to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. Adolescent and premenopausal females tend to lack iron.
The goal is to get in the nutrient sweet spot — not too little and not too much. (Too much of certain nutrients can cause health problems, too.) Here are some of the most common nutrients you may be lacking and how you can get your fill:
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[See: 13 Best Fish: High in Omega-3s — and Environmentally-Friendly.]
[See: 7 Ways to Get Calcium Beyond Milk.]
[See: 9 Foods Packed With Potassium.]
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How to Tell if You’re Deficient in These 5 Nutrients originally appeared on usnews.com