There were also 2,630 admissions in 2023-24 where B vitamin deficiency (other than folate) was the main reason, up 15% on the previous year and more than triple the 833 in 1998-99, according to the NHS data.
Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia resulted in 3,490 hospital admissions in 2023-24, similar to the previous year but up fourfold from 836 in 1998-99, analysis by the PA Media news agency found.
My uncle got diagnosed with neuropathy last year (he was sent to be tested for Parkinson’s) due to his terrible diet (vitamin B12 deficiency is a cause) and his brother and sister had Wernicke-Korsakoff’s (vitamin B1 deficiency from boozing, my auntie died a month back from it) I am definitely considering a B complex supplement. Might get them to run a panel on my vitamin levels in my end of year blood test this year.
Everyone in the UK should be on vitamin D as we don’t get enough sunlight half the year.
Just to chime in, about everyone working in an office has D vitamin deficiency.
Leads to dementia and some other nice problems.
I do wonder whether there is more to it than just fast food.
Of course, bad diets are going to be a big portion of this, but I do hear repeatedly of reduced nutritional values in our food overall due to farming for colours over health. How much does this make an impact?
I also do wonder about the relationship with some of the alternative diets, I personally know one person who is “vegan” but doesn’t actually “like vegetables”, so their diet mostly consists of potato products and processed bean curds.
All this reporting is going to ignore the deeper societal questions because the obvious lead they are pushing is “too many people live off fast food” without actually saying that.
Would all of this be solved by over the counter multivitamins or is there more nutritionally missing in a poor diet.
The issues with multivitamins are well documented.
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Binding agents to make the pills easier to manufacture, make them harder to digest
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Protective shells so they last longer, means you can’t digest them as well
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Sugar mixtures to make them more appealing, such as gummies, can prevent you from digesting vitamins correctly
Over the counter pills only help somewhat, my grandmother had calcium pills to help with her weaking bones, but in the end had to have surgery as the pills she was on didn’t digest and just accumulated in her stomach. Especially as you get older your digestive tract weakens.
I don’t know what the solution is, perhaps having multivitamin drinks? But while we have “news stories” that are mostly scare stores, and no leadership with solutions, it’s going to be hard.
The solution is a varied diet.
We need to be eating random things, not the same protein, carbs, and veggies that we know we like and buy on routine.
How much of the fruit and vegetable aisle do you actually purchase from? I think many of us get in a routine of buying the same things over and over because we know what we like or we’re on autopilot from work burnout. But, for example, if instead of buying apples each week, we buy a different random fruit. Or, if the budget can stretch it, buy apples and a random fruit. Then our nutritional variety has just increased.
I’m being a bit of a hypocrite here because I myself like to buy the same things over and over. I like chicken, I like apples, I like the same granola I always get. But during each shop, I try to add at least something random that I don’t normally get. A vegetable I don’t normally cook with or tofu instead of chicken, whatever. We need variety.
There’s also the talk of nutritional content reducing in supermarket goods as they’re produced for profit. So growth speed and shelf appearance are prioritised, a way to combat that is to start growing some of your own. Obviously, this is highly dependent upon living situations, but even some herbs in a windowsill will help. Personally, I think vegetable gardeners are some of the most punk people out there, sustaining themselves, entertaining themselves, and learning new skills all for the price of a bag of dirt and some seeds. Be punk!
We need to be eating random things, not the same protein, carbs, and veggies that we know we like and buy on routine.
That’s pretty advanced level stuff. A lot of the issues in the article would be addressed by people working to cut down UPFs and eating more fruit and veg. I can’t say I eat a wide variety of food but I’ve turned my health around in the last few years.
Thanks frazorth and Zombie for your full replies, I should have guessed that what was common to both your answers would be the idea of manufacturers prioritising profit through saleable appearance and ease of production rather than nutritional benefit. The world we have made for ourselves seems to have profit and unchecked greed at the root of every problem.
With such high hospital admissions it surely would be more economic if not basic good governance for the government itself to add key vitamins to the food supply in a digestible form in the way fluoride is added to tap water. I suppose there would be complaints of ulterior motives, maybe something added to calm the population. And to be fair the thought of pacification might pass through a politician’s mind from time to time - with some historic attempts.
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Wouldn’t address the importance of fibre, micronutrients and other benefits accrued from getting your vitamins from food. They say multivitamins just give you expensive wee. You are better off taking specific vitamins to cover any shortfalls. So with this article in mind, a Vitamin B complex pill would probably be a better idea. We Brits also need to be on Vitamin D at least through the darker months. I tale the latter all year, I am considering the former and would recommend something like a high strength cod liver oil tablet for Omega 3. Those three would cover a lot of the bases (to the point you wonder about the NHS banging them out at scale) but aren’t a substitute for a balanced diet.
JFC, eat some goddamn veg!
Grim
