Nutritional Cofactors - What They Are and Why They Matter! with Keren Dolan
One of my favorite movies to watch with my kids was the movie Ice Age. I love the scene where the characters (a mammoth, sloth and tiger) realize that they are a herd. They need to cooperate to survive! (I start tearing up every time.) This, my friends, is how it is with nutritional cofactors.
Nutritionists and CNS candidates often overlook nutritional cofactors. This is an important part of your client's nutritional puzzle. Nutrition interns use their client's diet recall to note deficient macronutrients and micronutrients. They craft thoughtful meal plans and supplement protocols to fill those nutritional gaps.
But sometimes after a few visits, their clients are not making progress.
Not all nutrient needs reflect in dietary deficiencies. Sometimes the body needs more of a nutrient to aid a process. These are supportive nutrients or cofactors. Like the characters in ice age, these nutrients support each other in the herd.
Let’s explore an example. People with methylate defects have increased needs for folate and cobalamin. In these cases, interns will recommend those micronutrients in supplement form. We use supplementation here because the amount needed exceeds what we can get in food. However, these nutrients don’t occur in isolation in nature. Our food contains many micronutrients that work together. Nutrients that are critical to supporting the body's ability to use the B9 and B12.
In the one carbon metabolism cycle, riboflavin is a much needed cofactor. Giving more B9 and B12 to try to fix the problem without enough B2, can sometimes compound the problem. We also see this in our citric acid cycle. Take a look at the biochemical pathways illustrated on an organic acid test. Magnesium is essential for making pyruvate. In intermediate steps of the cycle, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, and magnesium, are essential cofactors. These are only two pathways among the many at play in our bodies every day.
In functional nutrition, we evaluate overt nutritional deficiencies. But, we ALSO want to consider supportive nutrients & cofactors. Nutrients that are members of that person’s “nutritional herd.”
This is personalized and functional nutrition. This is considering the unique needs of the person.
Dr. Keren Dolan is a Nutritionist, Herbalist, CNS Supervisor, & Mentor. Like all of our CNS Supervisors, Dr. Dolan conducts her own clinical practice. She is an expert in nutrigenomics, functional nutrition and herbal medicine. Dr. Dolan assists CNS candidates to achieve their 1,000 supervised hours, while deepening their understanding of functional nutrition. Check out Dr. Dolan’s other blog posts on nutrigenomics and supporting patients with trauma.
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