By Cezary | Awake Strong Health Coaching
Most people assume deficiencies mean they're doing something obviously wrong. They're not. The system is rigged against you - in several ways.
First: the food itself
Even if your diet is really good - and most people's isn't, but let's say yours is - you can't control what's in it.
Soil quality has declined significantly over the last 50 years due to industrial farming. The same vegetable grown today contains measurably less magnesium, zinc, and B vitamins than it did in the 1970s. You're eating the same food, getting less nutrition. This isn't some conspiracy - it's documented in agricultural data.
Second: absorption
Getting nutrients in doesn't mean getting them 'in you'. Your gut has to actually absorb them. And gut health in HCMC is a particular problem - chronic low-level gut issues from food, water, stress, and antibiotics are so common here that people treat them as normal.
Bloating, irregular digestion, occasional stomach issues - that's become the background noise of expat life.
When your gut lining is inflamed or compromised, absorption drops. Someone can be eating enough B12 and still be deficient because they're not absorbing it properly. Same with iron, zinc, magnesium. The nutrition end looks fine. The absorption end doesn't.
Third: supplements are not always a simple fix
Some vitamins can't work properly without others. Classic examples:
- Vitamin D3 needs Magnesium - magnesium is required for the enzyme that converts vitamin D into its active form. If your magnesium is low (which it often is), you can supplement D3 and barely move the needle.
- Vitamin D3 needs K2 - D3 increases calcium absorption. K2 directs that calcium to your bones instead of your arteries. Supplementing D3 without K2 over time can cause calcium to deposit in the wrong places.
- Iron needs Vitamin C - vitamin C enhances iron absorption by up to 3x. Supplementing iron without it is significantly less effective.
- B12 and Folate work together - they're both involved in the methylation cycle. High-dose B12 without adequate folate can mask issues rather than fix them.
Does the supplement give you the same benefit as getting it from nature?
For some things, yes. For others, we don't fully know yet.
Vitamin D is a good example. When your skin makes vitamin D from sunlight, that's one part of what happens. Sun exposure also triggers nitric oxide production in the skin, which affects blood pressure and cardiovascular health - independent of vitamin D. There's also some evidence that natural sun exposure regulates vitamin D production better than supplementation - your body stops making it once you have enough; a pill doesn't have that feedback.
Does this mean don't supplement? No. It means be smart about it - supplement based on your actual levels, with the right co-factors, at the right dose. Not just popping a D3 pill because someone in an Expat Facebook group said it helped them.
This is the difference between supplementing based on internet trends, supplementing based on your bloodwork numbers, or supplementing based on your full health picture - integrating the newest research, your bloodwork, and your actual symptoms.
So what do you actually do?
Start with testing. Not guessing.
Most expats in HCMC have never checked their Vitamin D or B vitamin levels. And that's before we even get to the fuller picture - thyroid panels, inflammation markers, liver enzymes. You don't have to wait until something goes wrong to look at any of this.
Instead, people supplement blindly. Sometimes it helps. Often it misses the actual problem. Occasionally it makes things worse. Flying blind with your own biology is a strange choice when a blood panel costs less here than a good dinner out.
If you want to know which markers are actually worth testing before you spend another dollar on supplements - I put together a cheat sheet for exactly that.
[Sign Up for My Newsletter and Download the Expat Blood Test Cheat Sheet - free]
Or if you'd rather go through your numbers with someone who can put them in context, contact me on WhatsApp. We'll look at what you have and figure out what's worth investigating.
*Cezary is a health coach based in Ho Chi Minh City. He works with expats to understand their bloodwork, identify what's actually driving their symptoms, and build sustainable health habits that fit real life in Saigon.
*This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. If you have a medical condition, consult a qualified healthcare professional.