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I am interested in gathering and crunching some numbers about the SPD - standard paleo diet. I know there really isn't one, but so much has been bandied about regarding MACROs I would be interested to hear from people about MICROS. I will collect and tally the information as best I can and repost it here (<---- not a statistician).

So, for those of you who track your foods, what are your top 3 and bottom 3 MICROnutrients. How far do you exceed or meet your RDI for your top 3 and how far do you miiss the mark on your bottom 3. (I use cronometer and these are not exact to be sure because there are always a few foods at the end of the day that just don't make it into the matrix.)

Mine are: Top 1) B12 at 119% 2) Vit A at 114% and Vit D at 111% (I take clo and count that as a food)

Bottom 1) Calcium is low (I go dairy free) at just 25% 2) B1 at like only 27% 3) my potassium was shockingly a mere 29%! (This makes me wonder about the fruitfulness of my fruit free diet.)

UPDATE:

Well, since only 9 people in total (I had some people off this board respond as well) took me up on this, I can't say any revelations are to be had. However, I will say that the top micro and lowest micro were pretty much reported high/low for each person who responded.

Highs:

1 B12 (This was high in nearly everyone)

2 A tie for A/K (I don't know about this since tracking sites also count beta carotene in A a lot also K1 and K2 are not accounted for separately)

3 Selenium

Lowest:

1 Calcium

2 B1

3 Potassium

For the time being I'll just let this stand as is, but if anyone else wants to submit their highs and lows I'll continue to crunch. It's interesting to see trends I think. Thanks for responding folks!

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 I asked a few other paleo people before posting and their lows are also calcium, b1 and vit D. Highs were A, K and selenium. – none Feb 29 2012 at 1:21
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 To have a SPD - I think we need new Paleo RDA's! I'm not sure I buy the conventional RDA's - especially not calcium; perhaps the Paleo Calcium RDA is actually a lot lower... – Suz - Paleo Oz Feb 29 2012 at 23:19
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 This is something I have been thinking on as well. Since there are a few micros that a darn near impossible to hit out of the park when eliminating grains and fortified foods - like thiamin for example, or yes calcium, I would like to look later at whether the RDI is just based on fortified foods and what the implications are for keeping these at paleo levels. – none Feb 29 2012 at 23:25
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 Mine are the same as yours, but with a vitamin E low instead of B1. – Kamal♦ Mar 6 2012 at 21:00

10 Answers

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Diet is standard paleo. Occasionally I eat rice (this exception can make life a bit easier when eating out).

Data all according to CRON-O-meter (the map is not the territory!), 7-day daily average, micronutrients only:

Top 3:

  • vitamin K: 1244% (!)
  • vitamin B12: 363%
  • vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): 343%

Bottom 3:

  • calcium: 66%
  • vitamin E: 98%
  • magnesium: 99%

Comments: It is a challenge to get sufficient B1 on a paleo diet, at least if I am not eating a lot of organ meat (getting good organ meat is not easy in my parts). Many days my B1 intake is well under 100% of the RDA, and I have only been able to get it up by eating nutritional yeast. I also think the RDA for B1 is way too low (that's another story for another PH question :) ). That's why I think these values are a bit misleading; I am going to set the minimum higher.

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Highs (from Cron-o-meter): K 692%, B12 584%, Vitamin A 436%. Lows Calcium 83%, Vitamin E 84%, Iron 95%. Data covers the most recent four weeks.

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Very much thank you dear. – none Mar 7 2012 at 0:59
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I looked back three months and mine are all the same as you have at the top except my vitamin C is much much higher than my vitamin A.

Cool cool cool.

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 Why thank you dear one. – none Mar 4 2012 at 19:51
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Top: B2 (695%), A (471%) & K (229%) shame doesn't separate K1 form K2. Oh Copper is 376%.

Bottom: Calcium (62%), Potassium (77%), Vit. E (79%). Struggle with Mg too.

Day-to-day I tend to run low also on Vit. D, but I have my dose of sunshine pretty much daily for about 30 minutes at least, so I don't worry about it, and with the occasional oily fish (Salmon) the average bumps up nicely. Also run lower on Potassium even with plenty (for my taste) of dark-green leafy greens and banana, it isn't until I get some Yams that the numbers go up.

HIH

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Thank you very much dearie. – none Mar 4 2012 at 19:50
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Based on RDA from food sources only on my stats >20 yo, 160lbs, male.

Vitamins & Minerals over 200% (highest to lowest)

  • A (this is beta carotene, see retinol on the under list)
  • Selenium
  • B12
  • B6
  • K
  • Iron
  • Phosphorus
  • B3
  • C

Vitamins & Minerals under 100% (lowest to highest)

  • Retinol (I do 59% based on 900ug minimum)
  • Calcium
  • Magnesium
  • Potassium
  • Vitamin E
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Thank you very much my dear! – none Feb 29 2012 at 23:20
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Don't have my exact numbers handy, but in no order:

Top 3: Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, Vitamin K

Bottom 3 - Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), Folate, Vitamin E

Liver and Kale are to thank for my highs; lack of grains (B1), low PUFA (E), and, uh...what has folate? ...was to blame for my lows. Calcium was low too.

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 Thank you my dear! – none Feb 29 2012 at 14:46
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Currently I'm not eating very well (I have lots of work at school) :

Top 3 : B12 (246%), Vitamin C (245%), iron (253%, mostly from plants like parsley).
Bottom 3: B1 (62%), Calcium (43% didn't count mineral water), Magnesium (75%, I supplement this).

Vitamin D is at 0% but I don't count that one. I wish my butcher had brains, stomach and kidneys but he does not have them :)

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 Thank you very much my dear! (I know lots of people who don't eat well and they aren't getting close to 100% RDI for any nutrients, so you're doing great :) – none Feb 29 2012 at 14:18
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Top 3: B12 (804%), D (799%), K (460%)

Bottom 3: B1 (65%), magnesium (77%), potassium (83%)

(Not sure where to put Vitamin A on my list. I get 426%, but that includes beta carotene. I get 32,192 mcg beta carotene, 1060 mcg retinol, 3,836 mcg retinol activity equivalent.)

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Thank you very much my dear - HOLY B12! – none Feb 29 2012 at 2:31
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High = B12, Selenium, and A.

Lows = C 37%, Manganese 41%, and Magnesium 47%.

Percents on top three are all a bit more than 3x the RDA.

I only supplement D and don't plan on changing anytime soon. I don't consider it "missing the mark"....I think whoever put the mark there misplaced it :P.

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Just realized though that I don't include many of my herbs and spices when putting this together.....and I use A LOT of them. – JayJay Feb 29 2012 at 2:04
I got mine on a freebie by FitDay also, so I'm sure it doesn't take into account differences for pastured meat and eggs and so forth. – JayJay Feb 29 2012 at 2:14
Thank you very much my dear! – none Feb 29 2012 at 2:24
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The last 3 weeks average:

I consider the zinc and b6 to be low, as I take 30mg of zinc at bedtime, meaning my average "from whole foods" amount is under 20mg. I do not take a multi - I take a K complex in the morning, and 400mg mag cit, 30mg zinc every night, and sometimes (maybe twice a week) b6 with that as well (10mg).

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Impressive. Can you tell me what the main foods are you're eating to get such high B1, B3, B6, retinol, copper, and magnesium? Those are areas where I'm a bit low. I'm guessing chicken or pork for the B1, liver for the retinol...? – shtoink Feb 29 2012 at 2:12
Thank you very much my dear! – none Feb 29 2012 at 2:23
I hate B1 and potassium : there isn't really a food that contains lots of those. Brewer's yeast is a great source of B1, chromium and other B vitamins. – Korion Feb 29 2012 at 11:43
copper, retinol come from beef liver. I supplement b6 and magnesium. As far as B1 and B3, no clue. I eat a lot of grassfed beef, bacon, and pastured eggs. – Joshua Feb 29 2012 at 12:27
VEggies are almost always spring mix salads (arugula, red leaf, etc), radishes, carrots, tons of kale, and of course onions/garlic. – Joshua Feb 29 2012 at 12:28

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