Micronutrients Goldilocks Zone, Part Two
- Dec 5, 2025
- 2 min read
For your vitamins and minerals, how little is too little, and how much is too much?
There is a U-Shaped dose response curve for most micronutrients. In the middle, there is the ideal, homeostasis supporting dose which I like to call goldilocks, just right.
To the left, there is insufficiency and to the far left, deficiency. To the right there is toxicity. The further right you go, the more likely this is.
This Scientific American diagram provides a beautiful picture of the US Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) in circles, and an Upper Limit (UL) using diamonds. Link to the full article below.
The US and UK Recommended Daily Intake (RDIs) have the same basis. They are the daily intake of a nutrient considered sufficient to meet the needs of most adults.
The Upper Limit (UL) is the highest average daily intake of a nutrient that is very unlikely to result in adverse health effects, at the population level.
These values are not however for you. Your micronutrients goldilocks zone is personal to you.
They are a very useful tool for public health and food formulation. They are very explicitly not intended to be a personalised, individual target.
Actual micronutrient needs are varied by a vast host of factors. The easy ones are things like gender, age, being pregnant, body size and some government recommendations take at least some of these into account.
Your Personal Micronutrients Goldilocks Zone Variables
🧬 Genetics and Epigenetics. Your genetic polymorphisms may create the need for more of some specific micronutrients, such as more Omega-3 fatty acids.
🤯 Chronic Stress Burden. Stress-reactions increase demands for nutrients like magnesium, B-Vitamins and Vitamin C.
⚗️ Detoxification Burden. Your exposure to toxins through air, water & food influences the resources needed, mainly by your liver, to detoxify.
🥑 Dietary Pattern. Restrictive diets of any kind for any reason raise the likelihood of shortfalls in specific micronutrients.
🩺 Medical conditions & Medications. Many medications impact on micronutrient absorption and also upon needs.
🥗 Gut Health. You may ingest it, but can you digest, absorb and assimilate it?
Whilst the Scientific American diagram is beautiful therefore, it cannot depict what is right for you.
For clients, I use a combination of simple blood chemistry testing, sometimes along with DNA and organic acid testing, supported by diet and lifestyle analysis, to move towards personalised targets.
Frankly, it is a LOT of work. It is the kind of thing which, before I became a practitioner, would have interested me greatly but would also have been over-complex for me to navigate successfully.
I like to imagine that in our near future there could be a diagram like this, but for each one of us, made fully personal. A Tricorder would also be handy. 🛸
Full Source Article Link
My clients enjoy clear, specific, actionable guidance on how to use diet, supplementation, lifestyle and functional testing to reach their personal health goals and resolve their health issues.
Why not book a free call to find out how we would enable better health for you? 📲
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