The term "nutrient deprivation" appears to be primarily a scientific term at this time. In the first 18 or 20 pages of a Google search only one website was NOT a scientific research report.

Nutrient deprivation means not taking in sufficient nutrients to sustain healthy life. The research covered both plant and animal life forms.

A study done in the 1920s would not be permitted today, because they intentionally gave human subjects too little nutrition. The results showed that nutrient deprivation was related to emotional and mental health. The subjects displayed anger, irritability, depression, violence, stress, fear of going crazy, talk of suicide, crying, wild emotional fluctuation, negativity and argumentiveness. In some subjects these symptoms persisted for years after the people resumed a nutritious diet.

Other studies linked nutrient deprivation with

• unhealthy teeth
• breast cancer
• poor blood supply
• lack of control of enzymes
• problems during growing times of young people (pubesence and adolesence).

One astute writer commented that most research studies only one nutrient at a time (to learn the function of that nutrient in health and disease). Think about it. What stands alone? A forest has many types of flora. Gold has impurities that man refines out. Tomato soup has other ingredients. Even water is made of two different atoms.

No tissue is made of only one component, thus the need for multiple nutrients to avoid deficiency. The day may come when science can explain the links between nutrient deficiency and disease.

In the meantime, it is wise to eat a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Do not overlook the significance of herbs and spices. On this site there are previous posts discussing the impact of sage and oregano on health.

One physician said half a teaspoon of cinnamon each day is beneficial for health. And another physician thought a patient with a serious illness lived as long as she did because she ate the extremely hot peppers that she craved.

One possibility is to get in touch with your body. When you are hungry for or crave healthy foods, herbs and spices, eat them. You may avoid disease. If you do, you probably will never know about it. But that is the reason we do oil changes in our cars. It falls under the category of prevention.

Tags: Nutrition and Health, ...