Join Sina McCullough on her quest to uncover truths about food and health. A scientist by training and journalist by nature, Sina offers facts and insights about how to live healthy, happy, and free.

Despite our food-rich nation, many Americans still lack nutrients. Soil depletion, overfarming, and food processing have eroded the nutritional quality of our foods, resulting in fewer micronutrients in our diets.

According to a 2021 article, many Americans don’t meet the recommended micronutrient intake through food alone.

These micronutrient inadequacies can lead to subtle yet persistent health issues—fatigue, lowered immunity, and brain fog—that we might shrug off as “just life” or “getting older.” Over time, these nutrient gaps can contribute to chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and even colon cancer.

Enter Supplements

By 2024, 75 percent of Americans had turned to supplements to help bridge nutrient gaps. However, relying on supplements comes with challenges: They’re often synthetic, expensive, and—like some food and water—commonly contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, dioxins, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

What if there were another way to bridge the nutrient gap?

A Vitamin Factory Inside You

Imagine a hidden vitamin factory inside your gastrointestinal tract, with trillions of microscopic “workers” producing critical vitamins.

As early as 1997, researchers realized that certain gut microbes produce vitamins—including all of the B and K vitamins. More recently, vitamin C was added to the list.

Yet scientists still classify these vitamins as “essential” because we don’t produce enough to meet our nutritional needs.

As a result, we’ve been taught that we must get them from food—or supplements.

Although we all know eating nutrient-rich food can give us more vitamins, fewer people know we can also increase levels by feeding and supporting the “vitamin factory workers” in the microbiome.

A 2007 study reported an increase in blood folate (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12 levels following intermittent fasting for one month—even though none of the participants took vitamin supplements or changed their intake of B-vitamin-rich foods. This suggests that the increase in these vitamins cannot be explained by diet alone.

In 2017, another study reported increased folate in the blood, but this time, the increase followed a non-energy-restricted ketogenic diet for six weeks. This finding was perplexing because foods rich in folate include vegetables and grains, which were restricted. So why did the folate levels in the blood increase?

The answer arrived in a 2018 clinical trial in which two weeks of a low-carbohydrate diet increased serum folate concentration in obese people. The increase in folate was not a result of eating more folate. According to the researchers, the increase in folate was caused by a rapid increase in the gastrointestinal bacteria, Streptococcus and Lactococcus, responsible for making folate.

These findings suggest we can increase the production of certain vitamins by increasing the quantity of microbes that produce those vitamins.

If that’s true, why aren’t we making enough of these vitamins to close the nutrient gap without supplements?

We Are Losing Our Internal Vitamin Factories

A modern lifestyle consisting of processed foods, antibiotics, sterilized food, chronic stress, and environmental toxins can diminish the diversity of your gut microbiota. Some estimates suggest that Westerners have lost up to half of their microbial diversity.

When beneficial microbes decrease, we’re not just losing gut bacteria—we’re losing our vitamin factory workers responsible for producing key nutrients. Without them, we may become more vulnerable to chronic diseases.

“Loss of microbes is the culprit of disease,” Dr. Sabine Hazan, a physician specializing in gastroenterology, microbiome expert, and CEO of Progenabiome, told The Epoch Times in a phone conversation.

For example, a loss of Bifidobacteria—a type of probiotic capable of making vitamins—has been observed in people with autism, Lyme disease, invasive cancer, and COVID-19, said Hazan.

The loss of microbes that make vitamins has also been demonstrated in the context of mental health.

For example, microbes responsible for producing vitamins B2, B5, and B9 were more abundant in healthy people than in those with bipolar disorder, according to a 2022 study. Similarly, the expression of microbial genes involved in vitamin metabolism was lower in people with major depressive disorder than in healthy controls, according to a second 2022 study.

Together, these findings suggest that a rising prevalence of certain diseases could be connected to a reduced capacity to make vitamins in our gut. Building a more diverse, robust microbiome may help close those nutrient gaps naturally—perhaps even aiding in recovery from chronic conditions.

But can our microbes make enough vitamins to eliminate our need for specific vitamin supplements?

Can a Healthy Microbiome Replace Supplements?

According to Hazan, the answer is yes—with a caveat.

“In my humble opinion, vitamins are helpful initially to supplement lost microbes,” she said.

For instance, a 2022 study led by Hazan reported that vitamin C supplementation increased levels of Bifidobacteria, a key player in optimal gut health. This suggests that certain nutrients can help restore the microbiome.

However, the ultimate goal is resilience. Although you may need vitamins to help rebuild a robust microbiome, you can maintain it without supplements.

“A robust microbiome just needs good natural foods. The key to health, in my opinion, is to reach that resilience where you are not dependent on products to survive but just good food, air, and water,“ Hazan said. ”The problem is we live in a toxic environment that constantly weakens our microbiome, so we have to adapt. Adaptation changes the microbiome.”

Harnessing Your Body’s Natural Design

Although supplements have their place, the idea that your gut microbiome could fill many nutrient gaps is exciting and empowering.

We’re still uncovering how to fully harness this potential, but one thing seems clear: A thriving gut microbiome lays the foundation. Modern diets and lifestyles may have made it harder to meet our nutritional needs, but they haven’t taken away our innate resilience.

By working with our body’s natural design, we may be able to close the nutritional gap.

Wouldn’t that be something?

Join the Conversation

Have you noticed positive changes in your health after focusing on your gut? What changes did you make?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and reflects the opinion of Sina McCullough, a scientist, not a medical doctor. It is not intended as medical advice or a substitute for guidance from your health care provider. Always consult your health care provider before making changes to your diet, medications, or lifestyle. Use this information at your own risk.