Nutrition & Disease
Your cells can't defend what they can't build. Deficiency is the silent saboteur of the terrain.
Nutrients build the terrain.
Every defense your body mounts requires raw materials. Antibodies need amino acids. Immune cells need zinc. Antioxidants need selenium. Energy production needs magnesium.
When nutrients are missing, the terrain weakens. Not because germs attack, but because the body can't maintain its defenses.
The terrain view: Pathogens don't create disease—they exploit deficiency. Fill the gaps, and opportunists have no opportunity.
Critical terrain nutrients.
Zinc
Essential for immune cell function, wound healing, and over 300 enzymatic reactions. Deficiency impairs every aspect of immunity.
~2 billion people worldwide are zinc deficient.
Vitamin D
Activates antimicrobial peptides, regulates immune response, controls inflammation. Low levels correlate with nearly every chronic disease.
~1 billion people have insufficient vitamin D.
Magnesium
Required for ATP production, DNA repair, and nervous system function. Deficiency creates cellular energy crisis.
~50% of Americans don't meet daily requirements.
Selenium
Powers glutathione—your master antioxidant. Essential for thyroid function and viral defense.
Soil depletion has reduced selenium in food globally.
Vitamin C
Supports immune cells, neutralizes free radicals, required for collagen. Humans can't make it—must consume it.
Stress rapidly depletes vitamin C stores.
Iodine
Beyond thyroid—iodine is antimicrobial and essential for every cell. Deficiency weakens natural defenses.
Most people get far less than ancestral intake.
Why modern humans are deficient.
Depleted soils. Industrial farming has stripped minerals from soil. Food grown today has fewer nutrients than 50 years ago.
Processed food. Refining strips nutrients. White flour has lost most of its minerals. Sugar provides calories without cofactors.
Indoor living. No sun means no vitamin D. Disconnection from earth means no electron transfer. Artificial everything.
Chronic stress. Stress burns through magnesium, zinc, B vitamins, and vitamin C at accelerated rates.
Gut dysfunction. Even good food is useless if you can't absorb it. Modern gut issues impair nutrient uptake.
Toxin burden. Detoxification requires nutrients. The more toxins you encounter, the more nutrients you burn neutralizing them.
Deficiency mimics disease.
Many “diseases” are simply deficiency states with medical names:
Scurvy = Vitamin C deficiency
Rickets = Vitamin D deficiency
Beriberi = B1 deficiency
Pellagra = B3 deficiency
Goiter = Iodine deficiency
Anemia = Iron/B12 deficiency
How many modern “diseases” would disappear if we simply gave the body what it needs to function?
Feed the terrain.
Your body isn't broken—it's starving. Give it raw materials, and watch what it can build.