Your Micronutrients Goldilocks Zone

When it comes to micronutrients, especially in supplement form, both too much and too little can harm your health.

This comes as an unwelcome surprise to many people. Supplement marketing rarely, if ever, highlights any downside, or even the possibility, of "too much".

The really key concept to grasp is that most micro nutrients exhibit a U-Shaped Dose-Response curve.

Micronutrients, like vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, amino acids.

Both insufficient intake, or sufficient intake and poor absorption, and excessive intake can negatively impact health. In between these is a Goldilocks zone where our biological function is most effectively supported.

The Micronutrients Goldilocks Zone

📉 🤒  To the far left side of the curve is deficiency, resulting in disease or the cessation of normal function. For example, scurvy from Vitamin C deficiency. Iron-deficiency anaemia. Rickets from Vitamin D deficiency.

📉However between deficiency and goldilocks there is insufficiency. This is where status is high enough to avoid outright deficiency, but still too low to fully enable the metabolic processes that require that nutrient, potentially compromising energy, immune function, recovery, vitality. 

It is very possible to stay in this zone for extended periods since there is no disease, and the dysfunction may be modest & not prompt investigation & corrective action.

⚠️ To the right of the goldilocks zone is toxicity. This is where excess of a nutrient creates harm, with increasing excess increasing both the probability and severity. Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), iron, zinc and copper can easily reach toxicity if mega-dosed.

So the goal is to be in the goldilocks zone. Where nutrient status is supportive of healthy normal function and metabolism, including immunity, hormones, neurotransmitters, recovery, cognition and performance.

This is why MORE is not always better but also why LESS is also not always better either. It is just not that simple.

The solution?

To move close to your personal micronutrients Goldilocks zone:

✅ Assess intakes via dietary patterns, tracking and analysis

✅ Use functional testing, particularly blood and hair

✅ Personalise dietary changes

✅ Use supplementation tactically, including to close dietary gaps more swiftly, enabling time to adjust to using and preparing new foods

✅ Re-test and adjust over time

Precision, personalised nutrition is the way to go for the best possible outcomes.

Are you applying this already?

Is it surprising or familiar?

Will you do anything differently?

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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? 📲