We're Falling Really Short On A Ton Of Key Nutrients: Why It Matters & What To Do

In a perfect world, we'd fill our plates with a variety of whole foods and all sorts of differently colored produce at each and every meal. Then we'd sleep easy at night knowing our body is getting the nutrients it needs to both function optimally on a daily basis and continue to thrive over time.

In reality, though, an array of barriers, as diverse as the wholesome foods we'd ideally be eating, affects the eating habits of people of all backgrounds. Thanks to everything from less nutrient-replete soil, a lack of access to healthy food, to unbelievably packed schedules, limitations of various dietary patterns, nutrients not found in many foods or in high enough quantities (hello, vitamin D, calcium, etc.)—checking the boxes on our daily nutrient needs seems more challenging than ever.

Widen the scope to get a sense of how many of us are falling short on nutrients, even if not badly enough to be considered deficient, and it's even clearer that our diets just aren't cutting it. The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans identified vitamins A, D, E, and C, as well as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron (for certain populations), as "under-consumed nutrients." Of these, we fall so short on vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium that they're considered "nutrients of public health concern."

What's especially important—and concerning—is that while the EAR is the benchmark level researchers used to assess the general population's quality of diet, it's still far from the true ideal. You see, while the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is the average daily intake of a nutrient estimated to meet the needs of almost all healthy people, the EAR is the average daily intake of a nutrient estimated to get the job done for just about half of those people (again, in the general population, not the individual).

Given that hundreds of millions of Americans fail to consume adequate amounts of required nutrients through food alone, perhaps one of the quickest and simplest ways to boost nutrient intake across the board is with a well-formulated multivitamin.*

"Children, teens, and adults of all ages can benefit from taking a high-quality, comprehensive multivitamin/mineral supplement, not only for daily nutritional support for the array of vitamins and mineral needs we all have but also for the diverse health support areas we have as we grow, live, and age,"* Ferira says.

The same nationally representative data that paints a not-so-pretty picture of our nutrient intake tells us something else, too: that taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement—even when not consistently—means lower prevalence of nutrient gaps and deficiencies.* Unsurprisingly, the more consistently people take these supplements, the more the science is clear: the less likely they are to miss the mark5 on key micronutrients.*

Though this is important for all Americans, it's especially crucial for women, non-Hispanic Black people, people from low-income households, and those who are either considered underweight or who have obesity since all of these groups of people are even more likely to come up short on important vitamins and minerals6 when relying on diet alone.