Supplements could make a big difference for individuals who have certain vitamin deficiencies or food allergies.

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Since many important nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine, patients can suffer problems related to malnutrition: osteoporosis, anemia, vitamin deficiencies.

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Paleontological evidence shows that, compared with hunter-gatherers, early farmers had more anemia and vitamin deficiencies, died younger, had worse teeth, were more prone to spinal deformity, and caught more infectious diseases, as a result of living close to other humans and to livestock.

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The average hemoglobin A1C level was higher (meaning less than optimal control) in patients with the most severe vitamin D deficiencies.

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And anyone cutting out entire food groups is likely to suffer vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

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For example, about 10% of our developing market revenue comes from products that offer affordable nutrition to address the most pressing vitamin and mineral deficiencies in a given market.

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People who eat no animal foods run the risk of nutritional deficiencies such as a lack of vitamin B-12, iron and zinc and the powerful Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, she said.

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In addition, vitamin D has numerous other roles in the body, and a growing body of research is finding that deficiencies may be associated with an increased risk of certain types of cancer (especially colon cancer), type 2 diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.

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