I tracked my diet for a week to see if I could get enough nutrients without taking supplements

Recent research hasn't found evidence dietary supplements prevent against heart disease, cancer, or fractures — and taking too many can cause serious health problems. But some supplement users say they think getting enough nutrients from food is a daunting task.

The standard American diet is generally high in red meat and processed foods and low in fiber. Experts previously told Insider the diet provides enough of vitamins like A, C, B and zinc.

To see how easy it is to get your recommended daily nutrients from food, I recorded every meal I ate for five days and used the MyFitnessPal app to log the amount of fiber, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron my meals provided. 

I reviewed my results with Kirstin Vollrath, a registered dietitian and professor at the University of Houston's Department of Health and Human Performance. 

Though I learned I consumed more than enough vitamin A and vitamin C and could use a little more calcium, Vollrath said you don't need to track the number of nutrients you eat as long as you're consuming a balanced diet — and you don't need to take supplements, either.

I began my week-long experiment by tracking all my foods, plus how much I was eating, on the MyFitnessPal app. MyFitnessPal allows you to search for foods that other users have already entered, including information on calories and nutrients. 

However, this is not always an accurate measure of nutrition, Vollrath said. The calorie and nutrition information about certain foods isn't always accurate because much of it is crowdsourced by app users.

Foods with a green checkmark have been verified by the MyFitnessPal team, the company told Insider in a statement.

"[MyFitnessPal] may have 20 different options for a particular item, say mashed potatoes," Vollrath said. "Well, depending on how you make those mashed potatoes, it's gonna make a big difference in how many calories or other nutrients are in that half a cup of mashed potatoes."

That meant my nutrient log was more of an estimate rather than a true measurement, but useful for giving me a general idea of my nutrient intake.

Breakfast: Babybel cheese, 1 clementine, 2 eggs
Lunch: Half a cup of cauliflower rice, half a cup Basmati rice, 1 salmon fillet 
Snack: Half of a whey protein scoop, .5 cup of yogurt with a plum and half an orange
Dinner: Half a cup cauliflower rice, half a cup Basmati rice, 1 chicken breast, Pico de Gallo (red onion, pepper, tomato) 

Nutrients:

• 102g fiber
• 1,499 mg potassium
• 45mg vitamin A
• 248mg vitamin C
• 51mg calcium
• 33mg iron

Breakfast: Two large eggs
Lunch: Turkey patty, one cup of rice, one cup of roasted green beans
Snack: Babybel cheese, 1 orange
Dinner: A cup and a half of biryani, half a cup of roasted eggplant curry, a tablespoon of yogurt, salad (1.5 cups of greens, half a cup of white beans, cucumber, tomato) 

Nutrition:

• 38g fiber
• 2,404mg potassium 
• 163mg vitamin A
• 225mg vitamin C
• 53mg Calcium
• 87mg iron

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 apple
Lunch: 2/3 cup  of sauteed zucchini, 1 tilapia fillet, half a cup of cauliflower rice mixed with half a cup biryani, side salad (1 cup mixed greens, tomato, orange pepper, kidney beans)
Snack: Coconut Chobani, 1 apple
Dinner: Chicken ramen (from a restaurant)

Nutrition:

• 22g fiber
• 1257mg potassium
• 107mg vitamin A
• 347mg vitamin C
• 69mg calcium
• 25mg iron

Breakfast: Nothing
Lunch: Salad (1 cup mixed greens, kidney beans, red orange yellow peppers), roasted rainbow carrots, Trader Joe's seasoned chicken breast, 1.5 cups of basmati rice
Snack: Plum
Dinner: Trader Joe's chicken tamales 

Nutrition: 

• 38g fiber
• 2,851mg potassium
• 1185mg vitamin A
• 363mg vitamin C
• 36mg calcium
• 74mg iron

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Salad (1 cup mixed greens, kidney beans, red orange yellow peppers), roasted rainbow carrots, Trader Joe's seasoned chicken breast, 1.5 cups of basmati rice 
Snack: Nothing 
Dinner: Trader Joe's chicken tamales, roasted carrots  

Nutrition: 

• 31g fiber
• 1,921mg potassium
• 90mg vitamin A
• 258mg vitamin C
• 31mg calcium
• 67mg iron

Average Daily Fiber: 46g

I was happy to learn I ate nearly double the amount of fiber recommended for women each day, which is 21 to 25 grams, according to Mayo Clinic. 

Average Daily Potassium: 1,986mg

My potassium intake this week was a bit low, as the National Institutes of Health recommends women get 2,600 mg a day and I ate just below 2,000.

Average Daily Vitamin A: 318mg

I was eating more vitamin A than I needed, likely from the peppers and eggs I ate almost everyday. The NIH recommends women get 700 micrograms of vitamin A, which is one thousanth of a milligram — meaning I was getting 45,000% more of the nutrient than I needed.

Average Daily Vitamin C: 288mg

I again ate much more vitamin C this week than I needed to. The NIH recommends adult women get 75 mg of vitamin C, meaning I consumed more than 300% of what I needed. 

Average Daily Calcium: 48mg

My calcium intake was very low compared to the other nutrients I recorded. The NIH recommends adult women get 1,200 mg, so I only consumed 4% of what I needed. I could have eaten more dairy and spinach last week to bring my intake up. 

Average Daily Iron: 57mg 

I ate more iron than I needed to last week — the NIH recommends adult women get 18 mg and I consumed about triple that amount. 

Overall, Vollrath said she was not concerned about me missing my daily nutrient recommendations because I ate enough servings of fruits and vegetables on most days, and generally tried to eat balanced meals. 

The USDA recommends eating a plate of food that's half fruits and veggies, about a quarter protein, a quarter grains, and some dairy source on the side. 

My vitamin C was high last week compared to potassium, but that might have been because I bought oranges instead of bananas at the grocery store. I regularly eat both fruits, meaning I likely consume the recommended amount of both vitamin C if I average out my daily intake for months or a year. 

"As long as you're eating a variety of foods, you're meeting more your body's needs," Vollrath said. "You don't have to track any of that stuff."