The Importance of Supplements in the Modern Day Mono Diet
Mono diets are a modern day issue and one which can affect the supplements you take. In this article, our Head of Nutrition, Lorna Driver-Davies, is going to be talking about the problem of the mono diet and why it makes it important to be consistent about taking your supplements.
What is a mono diet?
By ‘mono diet’, I mean that you're eating a lot of the same things. This doesn't just apply to those who consider themselves to not have the best diet ever. Often people who would put themselves in the bracket of eating really well, fall into the category of having a mono diet.
Am I eating a mono diet?
A significant proportion of modern diets could be classified as mono diets. In my experience as a nutritional therapist for over a decade, I have looked at thousands and thousands of food diaries. What you often see if you analyse the diary over several weeks is a pattern of a lot of the same meals appearing. This is totally fair because we're all busy with long days and we've got other things on our plates to juggle. As a result, it makes sense to roll out meals that you're used to making or grabbing your usual snacks. However, this can mean you might be eating a mono diet without realising it.
What are the problems with a mono diet?
The issue with a mono diet is that it doesn't always give us consistent access to all the nutrients that we need. In fact, many people can end up being excessively heavy in some nutrient intake but then missing out on others. For our bodies to function well, diversity of nutrient intake is really essential. Supplementing a mono diet can help in many ways. For example, it can help us:
- Feel great
- Feel strong
- Feel clear-brained
- Feel balanced
- Have energy
Why mono diets are prevalent in modern day
Unfortunately, these days food isn't always as fantastic in terms of nutrition as it used to be 100 years ago for example. The places that we obtain food from have changed and that changes the nutrient content of food. For example many minerals are not that highly present in soil these days due to changes in farming methods. This then means that if you're buying vegetables from the same place all the time and eating those same vegetables every week, then your access to a variation of nutrients is a little bit slimmer. As a consequence, you may be on a mono diet despite eating lots of healthy vegetables.
How to help the issue of a mono diet
To solve problems related to a mono diet, I’m not suggesting that you should be slaving away in the kitchen making elaborate meals and changing your meal plans every single week. We all need to also focus on de-stressing, rest and sleep and not spend hours in front of the oven. What I am suggesting is that we can help bridge the nutrition gaps in a mono diet by making sure that we are consistent with taking supplements such as multivitamins. It also helps if you make sure that you're changing up your meal routines to make sure that you are minimising those gaps. This is going to give you the best chance of feeling your best, healthy self. For more advice, why not book a consultation with one of our nutritional therapists.
