Trace Elements in Food - how much you have to eat in order to get your RDA

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[UPDATED JULY 2023]

Introduction - trace element deficiencies

Trace element deficiencies are common, partly as a result of Western style agriculture, food processing and food choices. See Nutritional supplements - why we all need them

See also Life Extension article - "Vegetables without Vitamins

Correcting these deficiencies

Nutritional Supplements

They can be corrected by taking the appropriate supplements - see Nutritional Supplements - what everybody should be taking all the time even if nothing is wrong

See also the Groundhog Packages which include various nutritional supplements:

Eating the right foods?

And these trace elements also subsist in certain foods. The term RDA stands for the Recommended Daily Amount.

This amounts needed to eat will differ widely from one person to another - for example, illness increases requirements. The figure after each food is how much of that food one would have to eat if the daily requirement came solely from that food.

And one must always be aware of the non negotiable status of the Paleo-ketogenic diet - see The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - this is a diet which we all should follow

But one cannot eat one's way to the full RDA of vitamins and minerals

This list illustrates the point that it is virtually impossible to eat the RDAs of vitamins and minerals living a Western lifestyle. One would have to eat large amounts of food and take large amounts of exercise to keep a balance. This of course is what primitive man would have done! As we age and become biochemically less efficient, these amounts all increase.

One also needs efficient digestion to absorb these micronutrients. See Fermentation in the gut and CFS for how to achieve this.

  • Magnesium - RDA = 350mgs
kelp 2oz
almonds 5oz
cashews 5oz
brazil nuts 6oz
brown rice 14oz
soybeans 16oz
green leafy vegetables 25oz
  • Calcium - RDA = 800mgs. Calcium is all about vitamin D. There is plenty of calcium in food, it is the absorption that is the problem. This is dependent on vitamin D and the only real source of that is sunshine. I have come to the conclusion that everyone should be supplementing with between 5000iu and 10000iu of Vitamin D3 daily - see the Groundhog regimes as linked below
kelp 3oz
almonds 8oz
corn tortillas 16oz
brazil nuts 16oz
tofu 14oz
dried figs 14oz
sunflower seeds 14oz
  • Potassium - RDA = 2,000-6,000mg (figures for 4,000mg)
kelp one teaspoonful
rice bran 8oz
nuts 10oz
parsnip 20oz, potato 20oz
banana 30oz (that's a lot of bananas and represents a high glycaemic load, so banana is not a good way to get potassium!)
leafy green vegetables 30oz
  • Zinc - RDA = 15mgs. Zinc is often low in vegetarians or people on low protein diets.
oysters half an ounce
steak/chops 9oz
pecans 11oz
brazils 12oz
egg yolk 12oz
oats
  • Copper - RDA = 2mgs
Rich in nuts, split peas, liver, meat, butter. Deficiency uncommon except junk food diets.
  • Manganese - RDA = 5mgs
pecans 5oz
brazils 8oz
oatmeal 24oz
rhubarb 30oz
  • Iodine - RDA = 75mcgms

I have issued updated recommendations on iodine - please see

  • Chromium - RDA = 200mcgms
meat/liver 16oz
potato 30oz
Chromium is poorly absorbed - it is best absorbed from yeast, black pepper, liver, cheese and wholemeal bread.
  • Selenium - RDA = 200mcgms. Levels in food very dependent on soil selenium.
herring 5oz
brazil nuts 8oz
any seafoods 10oz
milk 16oz
brown rice 16oz
meats 30oz.
  • Molybdenum - RDA = 500mcgms
lentils 9oz
liver 10oz
split peas 10oz
green leafy vegetables 12oz
brown rice 20oz
oats 24oz.

Goodies and baddies

  • Use Sunshine Salt to get all your minerals in their correct physiological doses.
  • Vitamin C improves absorption and tea/coffee blocks absortion. See Vitamin C - learn to use this vital tool well – the key is getting the dose right
  • Trace element content depends very much on soil levels and so organic foods will have lower water content and better trace element content than chemical foods.
  • Sugar, alcohol, caffeine are "anti-nutrients". They require trace elements for their metabolism in the body and increase requirements.
  • Wheat bran is rich in many trace elements but contains phytic acid which blocks their absorption and should NOT be eaten on a PK diet anyway.
  • White flour is markedly deficient in trace elements compared to wholemeal and should NOT be eaten on a PK diet anyway.

Deficiencies

Low levels of trace elements have the following disease associations:

  • magnesium/potassium with heart disease
  • selenium with cancer and heart disease
  • iodine with hypothyroidism
  • iron with anaemia
  • chromium with diabetes
  • manganese with epilepsy
  • zinc with immunity problems, infertility, behaviour problems, etc.

My family and lodgers are hopeless at taking supplements and so I put them into the cooking via Sunshine Salt.

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