The human body is an amazingly complex machine where vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients often play the role of key catalyst for the performance of our senses, our movements, and even our thoughts. Human beings evolved to derive these nutrients from the food that we eat, and we have seen that eating a nutritionally deficient diet can manifest in various ways.
We know that an iron deficiency results in the low energy and listless symptoms of anemia.
It was a lack of vitamin C that caused the dreaded bleeding gums, an early sign of the deadly scurvy that plagued sailors on long ocean voyages.
Without vitamin K, blood won’t clot, leading to excessive hemorrhaging and blood disorders.
In 1915, Dr. Joseph Goldberger identified the source of an ugly Pellegra outbreak in the southern United States that was causing terrible skin lesions and painful deaths as due to a deficiency of niacin, or vitamin B3.
And these deficiencies may not always appear as physical ailments. Modern science has learned that a deficiency in vitamin B12 can manifest in confused thought and the appearance of dementia, and that MS, Lupus, and other autoimmune patients are often low in vitamin D, an essential ingredient for nourishing nerve cells.
How can you get the nutrients you need?
Obviously, the human body cannot function effectively and efficiently – otherwise known as healthily – when it does not receive the right fuel it needs to power the engines, move the parts, and spark the senses. A clean (pesticide- and GMO-free), mostly plant-based diet based in a variety of whole foods, unfiltered sunlight, and seasoning with sea salt are the best ways to provide the nutrients a body needs.
