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II. What we need to eat

What is an essential nutrient? What makes a nutrient essential? Different species have different requirements Nutrients essential for man Conditional requirements     Previous Page Next Page

Conditional requirements

Some substances are not generally considered essential to man, but might become so under specific circumstances (that is, conditional deficiencies are possible). Here are some examples:

The existence of conditional deficiency states may give rise to exaggerated claims of the importance of certain substances in normal individuals' diets, leading to recommendation of unnecessary routine supplementation, etc.

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