Micronutrients & recovery
Dietary diversification, specifically increasing the number of food groups consumed, significantly improves micronutrient adequacy and reduces the prevalence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies compared to monotonous diets.
To improve your nutrient intake, aim to eat from 5 to 6 different food groups every day. This doesn't mean eating huge amounts, but rather including a variety like grains, vegetables, fruits, proteins, and fats. This approach is more sustainable than just taking pills and helps prevent hidden deficiencies, especially for children and pregnant women in resource-limited settings.
Dietary diversity was significantly associated with HAZ... Evidence links dietary diversity with child stunting... Dietary diversity has been associated with anthropometry... The best cutoff points for achieving 50 and 75% probability of adequate micronutrient intake were 5 and 6 food groups, respectively
Why this rating
Supported by multiple cross-sectional studies, DHS data, and specific intervention studies in developing countries, though causality in observational studies is harder to establish than in RCTs.
Source
Food-Based Interventions to Modify Diet Quality and Diversity to Address Multiple Micronutrient Deficiency
Madhavan K. Nair et al. · Frontiers in Public Health · 2016
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