Can you get everything from food alone? An honest nutrient by nutrient answer

Short answer: for most nutrients, yes. A varied mixed diet in Europe covers the large majority of vitamins and minerals for the large majority of adults, and for those nutrients a supplement corrects nothing. The honest exceptions are few, specific and predictable: vitamin D at northern latitudes in winter, vitamin B12 on a plant based diet, iodine once dairy and iodised salt drop out of your week, iron for people who lose blood every month, and the long chain omega 3 fats EPA and DHA if you never eat oily fish. This article walks nutrient by nutrient through where food genuinely wins, where it usually does not, and where the correct answer is to buy nothing at all.

Food first is a physiological fact, not a slogan

Food arrives as a matrix. A handful of pumpkin seeds carries magnesium, zinc, protein, fibre and fat in one package, and those components change how each other behave in the gut. No capsule reproduces that. So the useful question is never "food or supplements". It is narrower: for this specific nutrient, in my specific situation, does what I eat plausibly reach what my body needs?

That question has a different answer for vitamin C than for vitamin D, and a different answer for a 25 year old man who eats fish twice a week than for a 34 year old woman with heavy periods who does not. Population averages hide exactly the cases that matter.

What the European intake data can and cannot tell you

Start with the least flattering number available. A review of 39 national dietary surveys covering 20 European countries found that, across all macronutrients and micronutrients examined, no country met more than 39% of the WHO reference nutrient intakes across all age and gender groups [5]. Read carelessly, that sounds like everyone in Europe is deficient in everything.

Read carefully, it says something more modest. Three cautions apply to every intake statistic you will ever see.

• Intake is not status. Dietary surveys estimate what went into the mouth, usually from self reported recall, which people systematically under report. Blood markers measure what is actually in the body, and the two disagree often.
• Below a reference value is not deficiency. Reference values are set with a safety margin for a population, not a personal threshold you fall below and get symptoms.
• Some reference values are partly circular. Magnesium is the clean example: EFSA could not derive a requirement from the evidence, so it set the adult Adequate Intake at 350 mg per day for men and 300 mg for women based on observed intakes in healthy European populations [4]. If a value is drawn from what people already eat, sitting slightly under it cannot logically mean a deficiency has been demonstrated.

None of this makes the data useless. It means the data is good at flagging which nutrients deserve suspicion, and bad at telling you whether you personally have a gap. For that, see the checklist near the end.

Vitamin D: the one where geography beats diet

Vitamin D is the strongest case in the whole discussion, because the problem is not your food. Very few foods carry meaningful amounts (oily fish, egg yolk, fortified products), and skin synthesis stops being useful at northern latitudes for months at a time because the sun sits too low.

The best European dataset applied a single standardised laboratory method to blood samples from 55,844 people. Across the year, 13.0% had serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D below 30 nmol/L, rising to 17.7% in the extended winter against 8.3% in summer, and 40.4% fell below 50 nmol/L [1]. Dark skinned subgroups showed 3 to 71 times higher prevalence below 30 nmol/L than the rest of the population in the same countries [1]. A 2025 review of micronutrient inadequacy in Europe puts the same conclusion plainly: vitamin D inadequacy affects up to 40% of the population [8].

Verdict: food alone does not solve this for most people living north of roughly 40 degrees latitude between autumn and spring. This is the one gap in our own catalogue that maps onto a documented, population wide European shortfall. Our Vitamin D3 + K2 drops deliver 125 µg of vitamin D3 with 120 µg of vitamin K2 as MK-7 per 0.25 ml serving, taken once every three days rather than daily, because vitamin D is fat soluble and stored. Vitamin D contributes to the maintenance of normal bones and to the normal function of the immune system, and vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones. For the seasonal reasoning in detail, see how much vitamin D you need in summer versus winter.

Vitamin B12: entirely decided by whether you eat animal foods

Here the data cuts both ways, which is why it is worth stating honestly. EFSA set the adult Adequate Intake for B12 at 4 µg per day, and noted that observed mean intakes in adults across several EU countries range between 4.2 and 8.6 µg per day [2]. In other words, the average European omnivore already meets the reference from food. If you eat meat, fish, eggs or dairy regularly and your digestion is normal, B12 is not your problem.

Change the diet and the picture inverts. A review of 40 studies measuring serum B12 in vegetarians found deficiency prevalence reaching 45% in infants, 0 to 33.3% in children and adolescents, 17 to 39% in pregnant women and 0 to 86.5% in adults and older adults, with higher prevalence in vegans than in other vegetarians and the highest risk in vegans not taking a supplement [6].

Verdict: omnivores can skip it. Vegans cannot. For a plant based eater, B12 is not optional supplementation, it is the replacement of a nutrient the diet no longer contains. Our Bioactive Vitamin B-Complex supplies 500 µg of methylcobalamin and 400 µg of L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate per capsule, far above the 4 µg reference, which is a deliberate absorption strategy rather than a bigger promise. Vitamin B12 contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Why the form is written out on the label is covered in methylcobalamin versus cyanocobalamin.

Iodine: the gap that is widening because diets changed

Iodine is the most underdiscussed item on this list. EFSA sets the adult Adequate Intake at 150 µg per day, derived from the urinary iodine concentration at which goitre prevalence is lowest [3]. Iodine contributes to the normal production of thyroid hormones and to normal thyroid function.

The practical problem is where iodine comes from: iodised salt, milk and dairy, fish and eggs. A systematic review of iodine intake across Europe found intake below recommendations for adult men in 7 of 15 national surveys (47%) and adult women in 12 of 15 surveys (80%), and noted that only 17 of 45 European countries had national intake data at all [7]. The authors flag the direction of travel explicitly: lower salt intake and more plant based eating both remove iodine sources [7]. Most plant milks are not iodine fortified, and the salt in restaurant meals and processed food is usually not iodised.

Verdict: this is a real and growing gap, and we do not sell a product for it. If you have cut dairy, use non iodised sea salt and rarely eat white fish or eggs, the sensible move is food (a portion of white fish, eggs, dairy, or a documented iodine fortified plant milk) or a plain iodine supplement from someone else. We would rather say that than pretend a magnesium capsule helps.

Iron: sex and blood loss decide this, not diet quality

Iron is where blanket advice does the most damage, because the same food can be plenty for one person and insufficient for another sitting at the same table.

A review of 39 national studies from 20 countries found that median or mean dietary iron intake in men ranged from 10.5 mg per day in Northern Ireland to 22.7 mg per day in Slovakia, and was above the applied common reference intake of 9 mg per day in every single country [9]. Iron intakes in European men are, in the title's words, distinctly above the recommendations. Men supplementing iron without a measured reason are adding a mineral their body has no efficient route to excrete.

For premenopausal women the same food supply meets a much larger loss. Menstrual blood loss is now identified as a key contributor to iron deficiency in premenopausal females, and iron deficiency is particularly prevalent in physically active females at roughly 15 to 50% [10]. Iron contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

Verdict: do not guess in either direction. Ask for ferritin. We do not sell iron either. If your ferritin is low, the product you need is an iron preparation and a conversation with your doctor, not anything on our shelf. If you do end up taking one, the co ingestion rules matter more for iron than for almost anything else, and they are set out in with food or on an empty stomach.

Omega 3 EPA and DHA: fish, algae, or not much

The plant omega 3 (ALA, in walnuts, flax and rapeseed) is not the same molecule as the long chain forms EPA and DHA, and conversion in the body is limited. So intake of EPA and DHA tracks almost entirely with oily fish and algae consumption. The European survey review found that 60% of countries reporting n-3 intakes fell inside the WHO intake band, while four countries did not reach the lower reference [5].

Verdict: two portions of oily fish a week makes this a non question. Zero portions a week makes it a real one, and again we sell nothing for it.

Where food genuinely wins, so keep your money

This is the part most supplement companies leave out.

• Vitamin C. Widely distributed across fruit and vegetables and stable enough in a normal European diet that clinical deficiency is rare. Our Magnesium 7 in 1 contains 28.1 mg of vitamin C per two capsule serving, and that is there as a companion to the magnesium forms, not because we think you are short of it.
• Most B vitamins, for omnivores. Widespread insufficiencies in Europe have been reported for folate and B12 in particular, and mainly in vulnerable groups rather than the general adult population [8]. If you eat a mixed diet, a B-complex is a considered choice, not a correction.
• Magnesium. Present in wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds and green vegetables, with a reference value that was itself derived from observed intakes [4]. Magnesium contributes to normal muscle function, to the normal functioning of the nervous system and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. That is a reason someone might choose 251 mg of elemental magnesium across seven forms. It is not evidence that your diet has failed.
• Zinc. Meat, shellfish, dairy, legumes and seeds carry it, and adult intakes in Europe are usually adequate. A 30 mg zinc picolinate capsule is a targeted decision (zinc contributes to the normal function of the immune system), not a repair job.
• Creatine. Roughly 1 to 2 g a day comes from meat and fish, and no one is deficient in creatine. The authorised claim applies at 3 g a day: creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short term, high intensity exercise. That is a performance intervention you either want or do not, and it belongs in a completely different mental category from filling a dietary gap.

The same honesty applies to the rest of what we make. Shilajit, molecular hydrogen and a caffeine plus L-theanine lozenge are not answers to nutrient shortfalls in the European diet, and we do not claim they are.

A five question test you can run on yourself

1. Where do you live, and what month is it? North of roughly 40 degrees latitude between October and March, assume vitamin D synthesis is close to nothing [1].
2. Do you eat animal foods? If no, B12 is mandatory and iodine, iron and EPA plus DHA all move onto the watch list [6][7].
3. Where does your iodine come from? No dairy, no eggs, no white fish and non iodised salt together make an intake gap likely [7].
4. Do you lose blood monthly, or donate regularly? If yes, iron becomes a measurement question rather than an assumption [10].
5. How often do you eat oily fish? Twice a week and EPA plus DHA is handled. Never, and it is not [5].

Then measure rather than guess. The markers that answer these questions are 25 hydroxyvitamin D, ferritin, and serum B12 or holotranscobalamin. Your doctor orders them, interprets them in your context, and that interpretation is medical care, not something a supplement label can do for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a supplement replace a healthy diet?

No. Food delivers nutrients inside a matrix of fibre, fat, protein and other compounds, and no capsule reconstructs that. A supplement can fill one identified gap. It cannot substitute for the diet around it.

If European intake data looks this bad, should everyone supplement?

No, and the reason is in the method. The 39% figure for unmet WHO reference intakes [5] comes from self reported dietary surveys, which under report intake, and reference values carry a population safety margin. The data tells you which nutrients to suspect. Blood markers tell you whether you personally have a gap.

I eat meat and fish. Do I need a B12 supplement?

Probably not. EFSA sets the adult Adequate Intake at 4 µg per day and observed mean intakes across several EU countries run from 4.2 to 8.6 µg per day [2]. Absorption can decline with age or with certain medications, which is a reason to test rather than to assume.

Which nutrients do you not sell, and why does that matter?

We do not sell iron, iodine or fish and algae oil, and those are three of the most credible dietary gaps in Europe. Saying so is the only way our recommendations on the products we do sell mean anything.

Is a multivitamin a reasonable insurance policy?

It can be, for someone with several plausible gaps at once, such as a plant based eater who also avoids fortified foods. It is a poor tool if you have one specific gap, because you get a small dose of the nutrient you actually need alongside twenty you do not.

Does taking more of a nutrient help once the gap is filled?

No. Repletion of a deficit and stimulation beyond it are different things, and for most nutrients there is no benefit above the point of adequacy, only an upper limit to respect. What a label percentage does and does not mean is explained in what %NRV actually means.

The Bottom Line

A mixed European diet covers most micronutrients for most adults, and for those nutrients supplementation corrects nothing. Five gaps are real and predictable: vitamin D by latitude and season, B12 on a plant based diet, iodine as dairy and iodised salt disappear, iron for people who lose blood monthly, and EPA plus DHA without fish. Of those five, we sell products relevant to two. For the other three the honest answer is food, a doctor, or a different company. Everything else we make is a considered choice made on top of an adequate diet, and that is exactly how it should be described.

This article is information, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a diagnosed condition, decisions about supplements belong with your doctor.

Sources

1. Cashman KD, Dowling KG, Skrabakova Z, et al. Vitamin D deficiency in Europe: pandemic? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016.
2. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for cobalamin (vitamin B12). EFSA Journal, 2015.
3. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for iodine. EFSA Journal, 2014.
4. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for magnesium. EFSA Journal, 2015.
5. Rippin HL, Hutchinson J, Jewell J, Breda JJ, Cade JE. Adult Nutrient Intakes from Current National Dietary Surveys of European Populations. Nutrients, 2017.
6. Pawlak R, Lester SE, Babatunde T. The prevalence of cobalamin deficiency among vegetarians assessed by serum vitamin B12: a review of literature. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2014.
7. Bath SC, Verkaik-Kloosterman J, Sabatier M, et al. A systematic review of iodine intake in children, adults, and pregnant women in Europe: comparison against dietary recommendations and evaluation of dietary iodine sources. Nutrition Reviews, 2022.
8. Christie S, Crooks D, Thomson-Selibowitz R, et al. Micronutrient inadequacy in Europe: the overlooked role of food supplements in health resilience. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025.
9. Milman NT. Dietary Iron Intakes in Men in Europe Are Distinctly Above the Recommendations: A Review of 39 National Studies From 20 Countries in the Period 1995 to 2016. Gastroenterology Research, 2020.
10. Badenhorst CE, Forsyth AK, Govus AD. A contemporary understanding of iron metabolism in active premenopausal females. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2022.