I started with a brief overview of the approach. More details are in the paper. In short, this was the first ever estimate of prevalence of any micronutrient deficiency worldwide.
Here are the biomarkers, cutoffs, and inflammation details for the micronutrients assessed.
The high level finding is that 1 in 2 children and 2 in 3 women worldwide have at least one micronutrient deficiency. Many children and women have multiple deficiencies. These are wreaking havoc on immune systems, hindering growth and development, and limiting human potential.
As many as 9 in 10 women in many lower income countries are deficient. But no country is untouched. Even in the UK 1 in 2 women are deficient; in the US 1 in 3 women are deficient. Iron deficiency alone is prevalent in 1 in 5 women in the US and the UK.
Single micronutrient deficiencies in iron, zinc, folate, vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 are common. As many as 40% of children and 70% of women have multiple deficiencies at the same time. thelancet.com/journals/langl…
No region, including high-income countries, has a prevalence of one or more micronutrient deficiencies lower than 45%. This affects all of us.
Here is the final slide and the key insights. The previous estimate that 2 billion people worldwide are affected by micronutrient deficiencies is a major underestimate. It's more likely that 1 in 2 of us worldwide are affected by #HiddenHunger.
Recording:
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I got into a debate about the EAT-Lancet diet with Marco Springmann, an author of the report. Folks, this is as juicy as it gets in an academic journal 🤣
First, Marco corrected our misunderstanding of the EAT-Lancet's adequacy assessment. We had thought it was based solely on a few foods from the USDA but it was actually based on the methodology in this paper 👇 thelancet.com/journals/lanpl…
I recently gave a few lectures on micronutrients to different graduate classes, so I thought I'd post a thread with my slides.
1/27
Here's what I'll cover. Apologies if you've seen most of the slides before.
2/27
Undernutrition like stunting and anemia––which are caused in part due to micronutrient deficiencies––are widespread in low- and middle-income countries.
3/27
Animal source foods, especially ruminant livestock, typically perform poorly on environmental impact assessments.
Is this because they are inherently unsustainable?
Are crops inherently more sustainable?
Or are the metrics used to quantify the impact of livestock flawed?
First, much of the current approach to livestock production is unsustainable and urgently needs to change. The same is true for crop production. But there are ways to produce livestock sustainably, and the current metrics used to quantify their impact have important flaws.
What are the typical metrics used? Most commonly we see greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ruminants get a bad wrap because they burp methane that enters the atmosphere. But there are important nuances to understanding the impact of livestock on climate change.
What are the health and environmental benefits and risks of animal source foods? Experts with personal diets ranging from fully plant-based to vegetarian and omnivore came together to answer this question by reviewing the latest evidence. What did we find? sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
There are health benefits of animal source foods
• Dense in bioavailable nutrients commonly lacking globally
• Support healthy growth and development of infants, young children, and adolescents
• Support healthy aging of older adults
There are also health risks of animal source foods when consumed in excess
• Processed meat
• Unprocessed red meat
• Saturated fat
There is a video on @FoxNews with @JesseBWatters and @bigfatsurprise circulating about Food Compass and the scandal of the dietary guidelines. I made the Chart that is displayed and have a few clarifying comments to add context to this issue.
First, this chart was not created by Tufts researchers. I made the chart using examples where I think the system gets things wrong to highlight its flaws. The chart is used in a preprint that is under review that raises concerns about Food Compass. osf.io/preprints/soca…
All these examples are directly from the Food Compass paper. I am concerned about these because I think it gives a pass to many foods that are contributing to obesity and chronic diseases, like sugary breakfast cereals, candy and ice cream with nuts, etc. nature.com/articles/s4301…
When I first became interested in nutrition I ate a mostly paleo diet. This helped me improve my health substantially because I limited highly processed foods and shifted to whole foods. But whole grains and legumes are healthy foods for most people. I now eat these regularly.
Yes, there are exceptions. And yes, some people do better with more or less. For many people, I think going from zero to regular consumption of grains may spike blood glucose and of legumes may cause bloating and gas. But our body, including our microbiome, needs time to adjust.
And for the record, I do not mean junk food sources of whole grains like cinnamon rolls and lucky charms. I mean whole grains with an intact food matrix like plain oatmeal.