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wedrifid comments on Announcing the Quantified Health Prize - Less Wrong
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It might turn out that for all or most micronutrients there is no advantage at all in consuming more than a certain minimum requirement, and hence that the "optimal" amount of minerals is anything between the daily minimum and a toxic dose.
If that were the case then it would not be bizarre at all if it turned out that most people in the developed world were getting an optimal amount of minerals, given that our dietary staples are fortified with micronutrients for the specific purpose of preventing micronutrient deficiency and that micronutrient deficiency as a public health issue is something we've been aware of and working to reduce for quite a while now. If you eat breakfast cereal with milk in the morning and a sandwich made from commercially-sold bread and meat for lunch I suspect you would have to try very hard to develop any micronutrient deficiency.
It would be a lot more interesting if there was some sort of dose/effect curve for these micronutrients where we could find all the maximum values and hit them, as opposed to a boring dose/effect plateau, but just because it would be interesting doesn't make it true.
For most part actually being true does very little to convince people that it is true either. Fortunately we are reasonably robust when it comes to adverse conditions. We can survive with sub-optimal nutrition - our perfomance just degrades gracefully. A few IQ points here, some osteoperosis there, maybe some mood imbalance or fatigue. For most it falls short of being a blatantly diagnosable condition but that doesn't make it optimal. We can also get by without exercise while subjecting ourselves to chronic stressors, being sleep deprived, smoking and binge drinking. I don't recommend those either.
The wikipedia link you provided makes it clear that micronutrient deficiency is a serious problem in the developing world but I could not see any factual support in that link for the claim that micronutrients in general have an interesting dose/response curve, or that micronutrient deficiency in the developed world is any kind of problem for the majority of people. You might want to edit that link to reflect the fact that it does not support the claim "actually being true".
There is some expert support for your view but there is also excellent reason for caution with regard to any claims you might hear about micronutrient supplementation. This is a very popular area with scammers, cranks and the deluded.
I'd be interested in seeing any properly blinded and controlled studies that show that micronutrient intake over the daily requirements has meaningful benefits - if I can gain a few IQ points by eating more fruit and vegies I'll take that deal.
On both sides.
I'll note that the caution here, as is so often the case, is with respect to people given (or who themselves decide to take) toxic levels of vitamins A and E. Yes, overdosing on most fat soluble vitamins is a terrible idea. Also, don't drink mercury.
What are these "daily requirements" that you speak of? The numbers you read on the back of the cereal packet? ... But before I get distracted by that can of worms I'll remind myself that the matter discussed was not regarding higher-than-RDA level vitamin consumption. The claim that Solvent made (then wisely recanted) was that we shouldn't consume any minerals from supplements. Your breakfast cereal and meat sandwich diet claim was along these lines too.
While I do happen to assert that for certain vitamins (most notably D and much of the B group) the RDI is poorly calibrated the potential for improvement there is comparatively small. The low hanging fruit (so to speak) is in correcting the all too common chronic but mild deficiencies that even the RDI can tell you are way off.
I have experienced cognitive gains that would almost certainly show up on IQ tests by eating better animal sources of micronutrients. Studies would be great.
What sources specifically?
How big cognitive gains are you talking about? IQ tests have poor test-retest reliability. Have you ever taken an IQ test? eg, SATs. If you did on your prior diet, you could take it again. Do you think that your peak performance has improved or just average?
I scored 1560 / 34 on SAT / ACT and 99th percentile on GMAT as well, if I recall correctly. I've never taken an IQ test. I was born in 1984, so by the time I took them the SAT's were less g-loaded.
I would say average, peak and trough performance all greatly improved, but I can't quantify it. I felt like a genius, relative to where I had been, and much quicker mentally.
I have no way of returning to my previous diet right now, so I can't rigorously test this.