Are Fortified Foods Nutritious?
Everyday foods with pumped-up nutritional profiles–breakfast cereal with 100 percent of eight essential vitamins and minerals, orange juice with bone-building calcium, milk with added vitamin D, bread with folic acid–look like health superstars, but do you need them? The answer: yes and no. While fortified and enriched foods may help fill nutritional gaps, such as bringing a pregnant woman’s intake of folic acid up to par to protect her baby from birth defects, they aren’t better than a healthy, balanced diet, nutrition experts maintain. (In the United States, food fortification began in the 1920s with the addition of iodine to table salt to prevent goiter.) Here’s what you need to know: • Fortified foods should still be nutritious in their own right. Look for natural nutrients first and consider fortification a bonus. Choose calcium-rich low-fat milk (it will be fortified with vitamins A and D to help your body absorb calcium); naturally vitamin C-packed, 100 percent orange juice fo
