Importance of making dietary recommendations for elements designated as nutritionally beneficial, pharmacologically beneficial, or conditioinally essential
✍ Scribed by Forrest H. Nielsen
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2000
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 70 KB
- Volume
- 13
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0896-548X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Reported findings suggest that at least 15 elements could be added to the list of essential nutrients. Some of these possibly essential elements also are receiving attention because of their toxicological or pharmacological properties that can affect health and well-being. During the process of updating dietary guidance standards in various parts of the world including the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) in North America, the question as to what extent should these elements be considered most likely will occur. In this review, terms used to describe these elements-conditionally essential, pharmacologically beneficial, and nutritionally beneficial-are defined. The four types of circumstantial evidence to support essentiality are also presented and used to conclude that there is strong circumstantial evidence for the essentiality of arsenic, boron, chromium, nickel, silicon, and vanadium; some of this evidence is described. The evidence is more than circumstantial for two of these six elements and therefore they may be soon generally accepted as established essential elements; they are boron because its deficiency has been shown to interrupt the life cycle of some higher animals, and chromium because of the recent discovery of a specific biochemical function. Regardless of whether they meet the strict definition of essentiality, findings have been described to suggest that these six elements have effects at physiological or pharmacological amounts that can promote health and reduce risks leading to disease. Because a new paradigm is emerging in which the dominating role of the concept of deficiency in the setting of dietary intake recommendations is being complemented by the concern for the total health effects of dietary constituents, the argument is made for the setting of recommendations for these possibly essential elements. The end result would be the enabling of people to make appropriate intake decisions that will help them achieve the often stated goal of "living longer and better."