Are We Adequately Fed?

Abstract

Much current nutrition research is devoted to the possible relation between diet and various diseases but we have never ascertained whether or not the majority of the population of a well provided country is receiving an adequate intake of nutrients.

We do not know the optimum requirements of individuals but rely on the group averages of recommended intake figures with their known and accepted drawbacks. We do not know the nutrient intake of more than a handful of experimental subjects—nothing is known of the nutrient content of the food as eaten at home. We can certainly measure nutrient content (preferably biologically available nutrients) in foods at the point of purchase, but we have no information at all of any losses that take place in home food preparation. The little information that we have on nutritional value of food eaten in institutions demonstrates the enormous differences between the commonly-used calculated values of true analysed values.

Average intakes reveal vast ranges from excessive to apparently grossly inadequate, despite a good average value. We do not know whether people would be any better in health (or worse) if they consumed more of any of the nutrients, or, in other words, whether they are already adequately fed.