New Paradigm

Major nutritional problems =chronic diseases. Micronutrients also function as antioxidants, regulators of genes and cell to cell communications, hormones, and pharmacological agents.
Nutrient needs (not yet distilled into consensus recommendations) determined by amounts required to provide optimal function and health and prevent chronic disease, are affected by individuals genetic makeup and environmental exposures. Micronutrient deficiencies may be localized, and affect the functions of specific tissues. Specific effects of nutrient subtypes e.g. individual fatty acid, amino acids, and particular forms of Micronutrients.
Many non-nutritive components of food; e.g. fiber, pigments, protease inhibitors, flavonoids and others, have important effects; even if some become available through supplements, many undetected ones may exist in foods.
Today we have a health care system treating sickness with an unparalleled technical, pharmacological development, yet illness rates and degenerative disease continue to increase, costing astronomical sums. This huge economic burden along with the accompanying personal and social deterioration, is forcing the public and their politicians to the recognition that a new approach, based on a predictive model is necessary.
There is a growing body of evidence that effective nutrition and mineral metabolism plays a significant role in reducing and preventing the major killers of today. Coupling this with the newer improvements in detection and analysis, it seems that the assessment of body minerals has an important role to play in this much needed and more enlightened approach to health care.
People always have been exposed to heavy metals in the environment. In areas with high metallic concentrations in food and/or water, probably led to the first mass poisoning. Metals leached from eating utensils and cookware, have contributed also to inadvertent poisonings. The emergence of the industrial age and large-scale mining brought occupational diseases caused by various toxic metals. Metallic constituents of pesticides and therapeutics agents (e.g. antimicrobials), were additional sources of hazardous exposure. The burning of fossil fuels containing heavy metals, the addition of tetraethyl-lead to gasoline and the increase in industrial application of metals, have now made environmental pollution the major source of heavy-metal poisoning.