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Americans may not eat the healthiest diets, but most get adequate levels of essential vitamins and nutrients, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For most nutrients, less than 10 percent of the population is deficient, the report showed.
However, deficiency rates vary by age, gender and ethnicity, and close to a third of African-Americans were deficient in vitamin D, the report said.
These higher deficiency rates are a concern and need more attention, said study researcher Christine Pfeiffer, of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.
The report gave the results of an analysis of blood and urine samples collected from people between 2003 and 2006, measuring levels of 58 nutrient markers.
For the U.S. as a whole, 10.5 percent of people were deficient in vitamin B6, 8.1 percent were deficient in vitamin D, 6.7 percent were deficient in iron, 6 percent were deficient in vitamin C, 2 percent were deficient in Vitamin B12, and less than 1 percent were deficient in vitamin A, E and folate.
Vitamin D deficiency was 31 percent among African-Americans, 12 percent among Mexican-Americans and 3 percent among whites. Further research is needed to explain why non-Hispanic blacks have better bone health but yet have a higher rate of vitamin D deficiency, the report noted.
Iodine levels among women ages 20 to 39 years may need improvement. This age group had iodine levels that were, on average, just above iodine insufficiency, the report said.
Iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormones, which regulate growth and development. Iodine is especially important in women during childbearing years to ensure proper brain development of the fetus during pregnancy.
The report found higher rates of iron deficiency among Mexican-American children ages 1 to 5 (11 percent), blacks (16 percent), and Mexican-American women of childbearing age (13 percent) when compared with other race/ethnic groups.
One particular public health success story has been increases in folate levels in recent years. Blood folate levels in are 50 percent higher in all ethnic groups since the country began fortifying cereal-grain products with folic acid in 1998, the report said.
The CDC plans to further analyze the data to identify the influence of socioeconomic and lifestyle factors on levels of nutrient levels, the agency said.
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In regards to "vitamin" D the level of deficiency in America is MUCH higher than a mere 31%.
The experts most familiar with vitamin D health (NOT YOUR DOCTOR) insist on a minimum of 40 ng/ml, 25 OH.
Not 1 in 100 Americans is at this level in winter without regular/daily supplementation (about 5000 i.u.)
Bear in mind that one size dosing is inappropriate for the average American. Vitamin D levels are determined by body mass index (BMI), sun exposure, and skin color.
A mere 600 i.u. /day is MUCH too little to provide a measurable boost on blood level vitamin D.
600 i.u. is essentially meaningless for everyone with the exception of infants.
Human skin (light color) generates 1000 i.u/minute of vitamin D precursor, midday, bathing suit, NEVER sunblocked.
Get a vitamin D blood test twice a year and supplement accordingly to reach AT LEAST 40 ng/ml, year round and for life.
The correct blood test is the 25 hydroxy vitamin D test, also know as the 25 OH vitamin D test.
Always remember "vitamin" D is no such thing, no vitamin at all. It is in reality the human body's most potent steroid hormone, when metabolized, billions of times more active than testosterone or estrogen, two similar molecules.
Let's consider Mean Corpuscular Volume of red blood cells. The enlargement of red cells is usually an indicator of a shortage of active folate (methylfolate) and/or active b12 (methylcobalamin). In the past 50 years the first alert size from labs havs increased from MCV > 93 to MCV > 100 or even as high at some as 102. I called a major lab in the USA and asked why. They told me because that reflects the average MCV and that they couldn't be alerting half the cases because the doctors don't pay attention to that many alerts. The enlarged blood cells would indicate that half the population is chronicly deficient in methylfolate and/or methylcobalamin regardless of what the serum level tests say. The hundreds of untreatable symptoms from 21st century mystery diseases syndrome also indicates the same thing. As folic acid only works for about half the population so folate deficiency symptoms become 21st century mystery disease symptoms and cyanocobalamin (official "b12") only works on 1/3 of b12 deficiency symptoms for 2/3 of people and not at all on 2/3 of symptoms of for 1/3 of people. 7/9 of the person-symptoms are not affected by cyanocobalamin and hence become 21st century mystery disease symptoms. So here we have hundreds of symptoms affecting half the popualtion of the USA and it is another man made deficiency disease, 21st century mystery disease syndrome, unrecognized and untreated since doctors believe that cyanocobalamin and folic acid are the real vitamins instead of the pseudo vitamins they turned out to be. Cyanocobalamin was a lab mistake awarded the Nobel prize. It is the worst possible cobalamin that has any activity at all in humans and Folic acid is the worst possible folate that has any human activity. As long as we count on these two pseudo vitamins we, as a society, will have lots of untreatable sick people.
Agree with Freddd there about the folate thing. Studies show that something like 1/3 to 1/2 of people in the US have a genetic flaw which causes them to have difficulty processing folate, and folic acid is the most useless form of folate there is. This genetic flaw results in the body's inability to produce l-methylfolate from folate (small amounts of l-methylfolate are present in some foods). This secondary form is used by the body for all sorts of things. Deficiencies in l-methylfolate have been linked to numerous metabolic disorders, including thyroid disease (and its cornucopia of symptoms), and certain types of depression. These deficiencies can also exacerbate some types of mental illness.
If you are concerned that you may have this deficiency, have a genetic test done for it. Right now the only treatment is a nutritional suppliment available only by prescription. However, some of the researchers studying this deficiency think l-methylfolate should be added to the water supply, because so many people have it!