Why Micronutrients Matter
In the fitness space, there is a lot of talk focusing on macronutrients. This makes plenty of sense because you need to get your protein, carbs, and fats dialed in as a guide to get you to your goal whether that be weight loss or weight gain. Macronutrients are undeniably essential and, if miscalculated, will make it impossible to reach your goal. With a little bit of help from a nutrition coach or a decent online macronutrient calculator, anyone can generally get started in the right direction and make progress. It has become very simple these days to get the macronutrient side of the equation figured out. However, the reality is that macronutrients are only a piece of that equation.
Here enters the vast and confusing world of micronutrients. Your body performs a seemingly infinite amount of functions every second just at rest. Add low to high-intensity activity in the mix and that number will skyrocket. With so many things going on in our bodies, it would be ridiculous to believe that macronutrients alone are responsible for keeping the lights on. Micronutrients are essential for all functions that occur in the body whether that be the Krebs cycle, simply you moving your eyeballs across this page, or fighting off infections from the outside world.
To give a practical example let’s look at the Krebs cycle. This is a very complex function that your body will use to turn pyruvate into acetyl-CoA which is used for energy production and a few other processes. The Krebs cycle is very important, especially during low intensity exercise. For this process to happen efficiently the main micronutrients required are vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, magnesium, manganese, and copper. There are many more but those are the main players in this cycle. Just with this example, you can see how a process that we perform unconsciously countless times a day can run into issues if we are deficient in some basic micronutrients.
Macronutrients and micronutrients work together in a beautiful way so that we can build the bodies we want or simply function in day-to-day life. That being said, there is a huge difference between having a “good enough” micronutrient status and an optimal micronutrient status. Think about the case of diagnosing clinical diabetes. If you have a fasting blood glucose of 99 mg/dL then you are in the clear, if you come in at 100 mg/dL then you have pre-diabetes and action can be taken clinically. Many people just get by with where they’re at without ever knowing what it feels like to be at that optimal level. “Optimal” doesn’t have to mean extreme dieting or rigidity either. It just means that you are setting yourself up for success when it comes to nutrition.
To address micronutrient status we HIGHLY recommend that everyone gets 1-2 servings of fruits/veggies per 1000 calories consumed (preferably 2 servings) and invest in a well-balanced, third-party tested multivitamin that isn’t found on a Walmart shelf. It is better if those fruits/veggies are diverse throughout the week as well. Doing these things will almost guarantee that you are doing all you can to set yourself up to win. This is a great place to start but if you have any medical issues that need to be addressed then comprehensive lab tests and medical guidance will be needed.
The multivitamin is always bashed because “the body just excretes all of it and doesn’t absorb it”. This is ridiculous because if you invest in a high-quality multivitamin there will be higher bioavailability. Either way, if the body is exposed to a nutrient that it is deficient in, it will absorb what it needs and excrete what it doesn’t need unless there are other pre-existing digestive issues. In my mind, it is always better to at least try to cover all your bases rather than wondering what could have been.
