WILL WE SOON EAT 50 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES A DAY ?
Many people say they eat healthy, others say they do not need vitamins and minerals.
We respect everyone's opinion but before you flip to the final conclusion, we encourage you to ask yourself these questions:
1. Who will detoxify every minute of our lives all the toxins from your body?
Many will say that they do not know or that the liver and kidneys are responsible for this step.
2. If these vitamins and minerals are gone, then who will be responsible for detoxification?
No one . Maybe the liver and kidneys work for us, but if they do not have the tools, how will they do?
These studies are a bit shocking, because unfortunately for us today, we no longer eat fruits and vegetables from the garden of our grandmother, that is really natural and bursting with nutrients.
Our fruits and vegetables:
3. How do you think a baby will get all the essential nutrients for growth if the mother does not have them?
4. Did you know that for the past 15 years there has been more than 80 new diagnosed degenerative diseases?
5. How would you grow old, in beauty, in health?
Many people say they eat healthy, others say they do not need vitamins and minerals.
We respect everyone's opinion but before you flip to the final conclusion, we encourage you to ask yourself these questions:
1. Who will detoxify every minute of our lives all the toxins from your body?
Many will say that they do not know or that the liver and kidneys are responsible for this step.
2. If these vitamins and minerals are gone, then who will be responsible for detoxification?
No one . Maybe the liver and kidneys work for us, but if they do not have the tools, how will they do?
These studies are a bit shocking, because unfortunately for us today, we no longer eat fruits and vegetables from the garden of our grandmother, that is really natural and bursting with nutrients.
Our fruits and vegetables:
- are picked before maturity
- travel thousands of kilometers of distance
- artificially ripen in trucks, boats, are treated with thousands of kilograms of pesticides, insecticides and their nutritional value is so diminished that they are not even tastier.
3. How do you think a baby will get all the essential nutrients for growth if the mother does not have them?
4. Did you know that for the past 15 years there has been more than 80 new diagnosed degenerative diseases?
5. How would you grow old, in beauty, in health?
COMPILATION OF TENS OF STUDIES REGARDING THE NUTRIENT DEPLETION OF OUR FOOD - WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
1. THE MINERAL DEPLETION OF FOODS AVAILABLE TO US AS A NATION (1940-2002)
- Over the past 60 years there have been fundamental changes in the quality and quantity of food available to us as a nation.
- THE CHARACTER, GROWING METHOD, PREPARATION, SOURCE AND ULTIMATE PRESENTATION of basic staples have changed significantly to the extent that TRACE ELEMENTS AND MICRONUTRIENT CONTENTS HAVE BEEN SEVERLY DEPLETED.
- Concurrently there has been a precipitous change towards convenience and pre-prepared foods containing saturated fats, highly processed meats and refined carbohydrates, OFTEN DEVOID OF VITAL MICRONUTRIENTS yet packed with a COCKTAIL OF CHEMICAL ADDITIVES INCLUDING COLOURINGS, FLAVOURINGS AND PRESERVATIVES.
- It is proposed that these changes are significant contributors to rising levels of diet-induced ill health.
- ONGOING RESEARCH CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES A SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEFICIENCIES IN MICRONUTRIENTS AND PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ILL HEALTH.
The mineral depletion of foods available to us as a nation (1940-2002)--a review of the 6th Edition of McCance and Widdowson.
2. FARM LAND DEPLETION - DEPLETION OF SOILS
1992 Earth Summit statistics indicate that the mineral content of the world's farm and range soil has decreased dramatically.
Percentage of Mineral Depletion From Soil During The Past 100 Years, by Continent:
Percentage of Mineral Depletion From Soil During The Past 100 Years, by Continent:
- North America - 85%
- South America - 76%
- Asia - 76%
- Africa - 74%
- Europe - 72%
- Australia - 55%
3. DR. ZOLTAN RONA - 70,000 NEW CHEMICALS ADDED TO OUR ENVIRONMENTS SINCE THE 1940'S
''The ideal situation would be to have a preventive health care system that tested children for vitamin, mineral and amino acid deficiencies. Specific nutrient supplements could then be prescribed to promote wellness on the basis of biochemical individuality testing.
Unfortunately, we have a disease care system that ignores and attacks the value and importance of prevention, natural treatments and nutrient supplementation.
Unfortunately, we have a disease care system that ignores and attacks the value and importance of prevention, natural treatments and nutrient supplementation.
- Many doctors and dietitians even claim that supplementation is unnecessary and that a child can get all the essential nutrients from food alone. Some critics go so far as to say that all one is doing by supplementing the child's diet is creating "expensive urine." I disagree.
- The quality of our food grown in mineral depleted soils is the opposite of what the majority of the medical/dietitian system preaches.
- WITH OVER 70 000 NEW CHEMICALS ADDED TO OUR ENVIRONMENTS SINCE THE 1940's, our food supply is not what it used to be.
- Hundreds of studies indicate that our daily vitamin and mineral needs are not met by food alone.''
4. CHICAGO TRIBUNE - MORE FOOD, FEWER NUTRIENTS
''A person would have had to eat 3 apples in 1991 to supply the same iron content as 1 in 1940.''
Brian Halweil, senior researcher at The Worldwatch Institute and author of "Still No Free Lunch'': Nutrient levels in U.S. food supply eroded by pursuit of high yields."
Here are more findings Halweil cited from Thomas' study that used data between 1940 to 1991:
The double-digit declines in the nutrient quality of meat and dairy products are some of the first indications that consumption of less nutrient-dense animal feed grains and forages has a measurable impact on the animals eating them, and perhaps secondarily, on people consuming the meat and milk from such animals.
In other words, maybe we should rethink putting herbivores on an unnatural diet of grain.
WE ARE WHAT OUR FOOD EATS.
Brian Halweil, senior researcher at The Worldwatch Institute and author of "Still No Free Lunch'': Nutrient levels in U.S. food supply eroded by pursuit of high yields."
Here are more findings Halweil cited from Thomas' study that used data between 1940 to 1991:
- Spinach's potassium content dropped by 53 %, its phosphorus by 70 %, its iron by 60 % and its copper by 96 %.
- The iron content of meat products declined by an average of 54 %.
The double-digit declines in the nutrient quality of meat and dairy products are some of the first indications that consumption of less nutrient-dense animal feed grains and forages has a measurable impact on the animals eating them, and perhaps secondarily, on people consuming the meat and milk from such animals.
In other words, maybe we should rethink putting herbivores on an unnatural diet of grain.
WE ARE WHAT OUR FOOD EATS.
- "Substantial data show that in corn, wheat and soybeans, the higher the yield, the lower the protein and oil content."
- "The higher tomato yields (in terms of harvest weight), the lower the concentration of vitamin C, levels of lycopene (the key antioxidant that make tomatoes red) and beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor.)"
- "High production dairy cows produce milk that is less concentrated with fat, protein and other nutrition-enhancing components and are also more vulnerable to a range of metabolic diseases, infections and reproductive problems."
- "Tactics farms use to increase yields--including close plant spacing and the widespread use of chemical fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides--tend to create big plants that grow fast, but do not absorb a comparable quantity of many soil nutrients''
- Other nuggets from Halweil's report:
5. SOIL QUALITY IN NEW ZEELAND: POLICY AND THE SCIENCE RESPONSE
J Environ Qual.
Lilburne LR, Hewitt AE, Sparling GP, Selvarajah N.
Lilburne LR, Hewitt AE, Sparling GP, Selvarajah N.
- Epuizarea si degradarea solului au fost tot mai mult recunoscute ca fiind probleme importante de mediu in multe parti ale lumii .
- In ultimul deceniu au fost introduse o serie de masuri politice si legislative care sa incurajeze si sa puna in aplicare gestionarea durabila a solului in Noua Zeelanda
- Aplicarea noii legislatii a scos in evidenta lacunele din cunoasterea calitatii solului si lipsa metodelor stiintifice pentru evaluarea si monitorizarea acesteia
6. UP TO 80% OF THE FOOD'S VALUE IS LOST
"On its way from the garden to the gullet," as Dr. Emmanuel Cheraskin of the University of Alabama School of Medicine puts it, "the food on your table has had 50% of its nutrients removed."
Countless others echo this leading nutrition researcher's findings: up to 80% of the food's value is lost through processing, transportation, freezing, storage, cooking, spraying and chemical additives.
Countless others echo this leading nutrition researcher's findings: up to 80% of the food's value is lost through processing, transportation, freezing, storage, cooking, spraying and chemical additives.
- This also refers to organic food.
- In order to get the same amounts of vitamins and minerals your grandparents did from food alone in the early part of the 20th Century, you would have to consume 6 (six) large meals per day.
- Since this would overload you with calories, it is far better to take vitamin and mineral supplements.
- SOME HAVE ARGUED THAT ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THE EPIDEMIC OF OBESITY, FATIGUE, IMMUNE SYSTEM DISORDERS AND MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE POPULATION IS MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCY.
- Another good reason for taking supplements of vitamins and minerals is to protect our bodies against the toxic effects of polluted environment.
7. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND HUMAN HEALTH : NEW CHALLANGES TO SCIENTIST AND POLICY-MAKER
J Public Health Policy.
McMichael AJ1.
McMichael AJ1.
- Human health may not remain sustainable if damage to the global environment continues;
- The argument is simple: Earth is essentially a closed system;
- Humans are proliferating and commandeering more surface area, food and energy;
- The resultant accumulation of waste gases, depletion of soil and water, and loss of biodiversity is starting to overload Earth's carrying capacity;
- Ozone depletion may cause moderate increases in skin cancer and cataracts, and may damage crop growth and marine stocks.
- Depletion of agricultural resources, overfishing, and loss of genetic resources from species extinction all entail potentially serious consequences for human health.
8. SOIL EROSION AND RISK-ASSESSMENT FOR ON- AND OFF-FARM IMPACTS:
A test case using the Midhurst area, West Sussex, UK.
J Environ Manage.
Boardman J1, Shepheard ML, Walker E, Foster ID.
J Environ Manage.
Boardman J1, Shepheard ML, Walker E, Foster ID.
- Soil erosion on agricultural land is a growing problem in Western Europe and constitutes a threat to soil quality and to the ability of soils to provide environmental services.
- The off-site impacts of runoff and eroded soil, principally eutrophication of water bodies, sedimentation of gravel-bedded rivers, loss of reservoir capacity, muddy flooding of roads and communities, are increasingly recognised and costed.
- The increased risk of erosion in the study area is associated with certain crops: potatoes, winter cereals, maize and grazed turnips and seems unlikely to be the result of changes in rainfall which are minimal over the last 130 years.
9. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS- STUDY SUGGESTS NUTRIENT DECLINE IN GARDEN CROPS OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS
- A recent study of 43 garden crops led by a University of Texas at Austin biochemist suggests that their nutrient value has declined in recent decades while farmers have been planting crops designed to improve other traits.
- These nutrients included protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and ascorbic acid.
- The declines, which ranged from 6 % for protein to 38 % for RIBOFLAVIN (vitamin B2), raise significant questions about how modern agriculture practices are affecting food crops.
10. organic versus non-organic
In an analysis of USDA nutrient data from 1975 to 1997, the Kushi Institute of Becket, Massachusetts found that the average:
A similar analysis of British nutrient data from 1930 to 1980 published in the British Food Journal found that in 20
vegetables:
A 1999 study out of the University of Wisconsin found that three decades of the overuse of nitrogen in US farming has
destroyed much of the soil's fertility, causing it to age the equivalent of 5,000 years.
A new US Geological Survey report indicates that acid rain is depleting soil calcium levels in at least 10 eastern
states, interfering with forest growth and weakening trees' resistance to insects.
Book ''Natural Health Bible for Dog & Cats!'' - Shawn Messonnier, DVM - page 268
- calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables declined 27%
- iron levels dropped 37%
- vitamin A levels 21 %
- vitamin C levels 30 %
A similar analysis of British nutrient data from 1930 to 1980 published in the British Food Journal found that in 20
vegetables:
- the average calcium content had declined 19 %
- iron 22 %
- potassium 14 %
A 1999 study out of the University of Wisconsin found that three decades of the overuse of nitrogen in US farming has
destroyed much of the soil's fertility, causing it to age the equivalent of 5,000 years.
A new US Geological Survey report indicates that acid rain is depleting soil calcium levels in at least 10 eastern
states, interfering with forest growth and weakening trees' resistance to insects.
Book ''Natural Health Bible for Dog & Cats!'' - Shawn Messonnier, DVM - page 268
11. RECYCLING MINERAL NUTRIENTS TO FARMLAND VIA COMPOST APPLICATION
Water Sci Technol., Liu YY, Ukita M, Imai T, Higuchi T.
- Increased cultivation of farmland has resulted in nutrient deficiency and consequently fertility degradation of soils.
- Results showed that composts, especially those made from sewage sludge and livestock excrement, were richer in mineral nutrients but also contained more heavy metals than untreated soil.
- THE SOIL CONTAMINATION FROM HEAVY METALS WAS NOTICEABLE.
12. VEGETABLES WITHOUT VITAMINS - IT'S BEEN CONFIRMED
By Terri Mitchell
http://www.lifeextensionvitamins.com/vewiviitbeco.html
Researchers in Spain :
Similarly, researchers at Oregon State University who studied blackberries discovered that green ones contain 74 mg of anthocyanins, compared to 317 mg in ripe ones (per 100 grams fresh weight).
The same phenomenon occurs in other fruits as well.
http://www.lifeextensionvitamins.com/vewiviitbeco.html
- Tomatoes that resemble tennis balls, peppers that taste like small rocks, and big, red, flavorless strawberries are all a result of selective breeding for pith and water (pith is defined as the fibrous part of fruits and vegetables, such as the "netting" around orange sections that is usually discarded).
- Broccoli is a terrific source of calcium, especially for people who don't drink milk.
- But the most prized commercial version of broccoli is a heavy, calcium/magnesium-deficient hybrid called "MARATHON."
- In research conducted by the US Department of Agriculture, "Marathon" is consistently about a 30% lower in calcium and magnesium than are other hybrids.
- And the hybrids themselves are about 50% lower in calcium than the broccoli listed in the 1998 USDA nutrient database.
- THE DILLUTION EFECT is not the only thing causing problems in nutrient content.
- Most commercial fruit, including tomatoes, IS PICKED GREEN.
- Green fruit doesn't have a chance to sun-ripen; it's artificially ripened with ethylene, a natural plant hormone.
- Ethylene is what causes tomatoes to turn pinkish.
- Produce deprived of sunlight doesn't have a chance to develop sunlight-related nutrients such as anthocyanins—the flavonoids that make cherries red and grapes purple.
Researchers in Spain :
- conducted an in-depth investigation of cherries ripening and found 14 different stages, during which the fruit turned from green to red.
- concluded that for maximum nutrition, cherries should be picked at stage 12, way beyond the stage at which they're harvested green by commercial growers.
- To illustrate how important the ripening process is, if cherries are picked at stage 8, their vitamin C content is half (50% LESS) the amount it is if they're picked at stage 14.
Similarly, researchers at Oregon State University who studied blackberries discovered that green ones contain 74 mg of anthocyanins, compared to 317 mg in ripe ones (per 100 grams fresh weight).
The same phenomenon occurs in other fruits as well.
- Polyphenols likewise have no chance to fully develop when produce is picked green, which is why green-picked produce is so tasteless.
- Besides having health benefits, polyphenols give produce its flavor.
- Tomatoes deprived of UVB sunlight can be DRAINED OF CAROTENOIDS and possess little antioxidant activity.
- It's suspected that the LACK OF FOLATE in grocery store tomatoes is due to their being picked green.
- Big, green, hybrid, inbred, watery produce is not the whole story, however. There's more.
- CHANGING CLIMATES, COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS AND CHANGES IN SOIL COMPOSITION HAVE ALSO BEEN IDENTIFIED AS REASONS FOR THE VITAMIN DRAIN IN COMMERCIAL PRODUCE.
- Increasing carbon dioxide levels are known to significantly diminish important trace minerals, including zinc.
- Synthetic fertilizer is another potential source of vitamin depletion.
- THE VITAMIN C CONTENT OF 2 (TWO) TYPES OF ORGANICALLY GROWN ORANGES WAS HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE SAME ORANGES GROWN WITH SYNTHETIC FERTILIZER.
- ORGANICALLY GROWN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE ANTIOXIDANTS, POLYPHENOLS AND ENZYMES THAN COMMERCIAL PRODUCE
- According to one report, organic fruits themselves have better antioxidant defenses.
13. TODAY'S FRUITS, VEGETABLES LACK YESTERDAY'S NUTRITION
ANDRÉ PICARD
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/todays-fruits-vegetables-lack-yesterdays-nutrition/article4137315/
Modern farming methods, long-haul transportation and crop-breeding practices are all believed to be contributing to the drop in vitamins and minerals.
Phil Warman, an agronomist and professor of agricultural sciences at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, said there is no doubt the nutritional content of food is different today, due to the emphasis on producing cheap food.
"The emphasis is on appearance, storability and transportability, and there has been much less emphasis on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables," he said.
Dr. Warman said crops are bred to produce higher yields, to be resistant to disease and to produce more visually attractive fruits and vegetables, but little or no emphasis is placed on their vitamin or mineral content. While there is little evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that the changes are resulting in major nutritional deficiencies in the general population, Dr. Warman emphasized that consumers should care about the issue because it is the nutrients, not the appearance, that give food value.
"I care because I want to eat a product that is as high in nutritional value as possible. Otherwise, I would eat sawdust with nitrogen fertilizer," he said.
Tim Lang, a professor at the Centre for Food Policy in London, England, agreed. "It's an issue of consumer rights," he said. "We think of an orange as a constant, but the reality is it isn't."
In fact, you would have to eat 8 oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandparents got from a single orange. And you would need to eat 5 to get the same level of iron.
The results were almost identical to similar research conducted in the United States and Britain.
The U.K. research was published in the British Food Journal, a peer-reviewed, scientific publication, while the U.S. data have been published only in alternative-health journals.
According to the Canadian data:
PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN THE NUTRIENT CONTENT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN CANADA BETWEEN 1951-1999
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/todays-fruits-vegetables-lack-yesterdays-nutrition/article4137315/
- Fruits and vegetables sold in Canadian supermarkets today CONTAIN FAR FEWER NUTRIENTS than they did 50 years ago, according to an analysis conducted by The Globe and Mail and CTV News.
- VITAL VITAMINS AND MINERALS HAVE DRAMATICALLY DECLINED in some of our most popular foods, including potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and apples, the analysis reveals.
- HAS LOST 100 % OF ITS VITAMIN A, which is important for good eyesight
- HAS LOST 57 % OF ITS VITAMIN C and IRON , a key component of healthy blood;
- HAS LOST 28 % OF ITS CALCIUM, essential for building healthy bones and teeth.
- LOST 50 % of its RIBOFLAVIN (vitamin B2) and 18% of its THIAMINE (vitamin B1)
Modern farming methods, long-haul transportation and crop-breeding practices are all believed to be contributing to the drop in vitamins and minerals.
Phil Warman, an agronomist and professor of agricultural sciences at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, said there is no doubt the nutritional content of food is different today, due to the emphasis on producing cheap food.
"The emphasis is on appearance, storability and transportability, and there has been much less emphasis on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables," he said.
Dr. Warman said crops are bred to produce higher yields, to be resistant to disease and to produce more visually attractive fruits and vegetables, but little or no emphasis is placed on their vitamin or mineral content. While there is little evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that the changes are resulting in major nutritional deficiencies in the general population, Dr. Warman emphasized that consumers should care about the issue because it is the nutrients, not the appearance, that give food value.
"I care because I want to eat a product that is as high in nutritional value as possible. Otherwise, I would eat sawdust with nitrogen fertilizer," he said.
Tim Lang, a professor at the Centre for Food Policy in London, England, agreed. "It's an issue of consumer rights," he said. "We think of an orange as a constant, but the reality is it isn't."
In fact, you would have to eat 8 oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandparents got from a single orange. And you would need to eat 5 to get the same level of iron.
The results were almost identical to similar research conducted in the United States and Britain.
The U.K. research was published in the British Food Journal, a peer-reviewed, scientific publication, while the U.S. data have been published only in alternative-health journals.
According to the Canadian data:
- almost 80 % of foods tested showed drops in calcium and iron
- 75% saw drops in vitamin A
- 50% lost vitamin C and riboflavin
- 30% lost thiamine (vitamin b1)
- 12 %t lost niacin (vitamin B3)
- All seven of its measurable nutrients declined, notably calcium, which fell 63%, and iron, which dropped 34 %.
PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN THE NUTRIENT CONTENT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN CANADA BETWEEN 1951-1999
14. EVIDENCE OF DECREASING MINERAL DENSITY IN WHEAT GRAIN OVER THE LAST 160 YEARS
J Trace Elem Med Biol.
Fan MS, Zhao FJ, Fairweather-Tait SJ, Poulton PR, Dunham SJ, McGrath SP.
Fan MS, Zhao FJ, Fairweather-Tait SJ, Poulton PR, Dunham SJ, McGrath SP.
- Wheat is an important source of minerals such as iron, zinc, copper and magnesium in the UK diet.
- THE DIETARY INTAKE OF THESE NUTRIENTS HAS FALLEN IN RECENT YEARS because of a combination of reduced energy requirements associated with sedentary lifestyles and changes in dietary patterns associated with lower micronutrient density in the diet.
- Recent publications using data from food composition tables INDICATE A DOWNWARD TREND IN THE MINERAL CONTENT OF FOODS AND IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT INTENSIVE FARMING PRACTICES MAY RESULT IN SOIL DEPLETION OF MINERALS
- The concentrations of ZINC, IRON, COPPER AND MAGNESIUM remained stable between 1845 and the mid 1960s, but since THEY HAVE DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, which coincided with the introduction of semi-dwarf, high-yielding cultivars.
15 . A SPECULATIVE DISCUSSION OF SOME PROBLEMS ARISING FROM THE USE OF AMMONIUM NITRATE FERTILISER ON ACID SOIL
- Nutr Health. 1992;8(4):207-22.Stockdale T1.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1488214 - Some personal farming experiences are described, and attention is drawn to four anomalies associated with the use of ammonium nitrate.
- These can be explained if the changes that took place in the formulation of fertilisers around 1960 have led TO ACIDIC SOILS BECOMING DEPLETED IN CALCIUM, and if crops growing in high nitrogen conditions take up their nitrogen as ammonium.
- It is concluded that the fertiliser recommendations that have been formulated at Rothamsted are unsuitable for use upon acidic soils in wetter parts of the UK because they result in the soil becoming excessively anaerobic SO THAT THE BALANCE OF NUTRIENTS BECOMES UNSUITABLE FOR OPTIMAL PLANT AND ANIMAL GROWTH
16. DEPLETED SOIL AND COMPROMISED FOOD SOURCES: WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
By Richard Drucker, PhD
http://www.nutritionalwellness.com/archives/2006/jul/07_depleted_soil.php
Inorganic (synthetic/dead), ammonium-based fertilizers, along with herbicides and pesticides, kill the precious microorganisms in the soil that are essential to the creation of organic (carbon-based/living) mineral complexes.
We have done more than simply use up the available trace minerals in our soils (those in the form of organic complexes).
WE ALSO HAVE DESTROYED THE MEANS OF REPLENISHING THESE SOIL-BASED MICROORGANISMS.
It is also easy to understand what Linus Pauling (twice awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine) meant when he explained to the 74th Congress of the United Sates, "Every ailment, every sickness and every disease can be traced back to an organic trace mineral deficiency."
http://www.nutritionalwellness.com/archives/2006/jul/07_depleted_soil.php
- If an element is missing from our soil, it will be missing from the foods we eat; hence, we will not be properly nourished. Unfortunately, that is the reality of today's soil.
- IT'S A FACT. OUR SOILS ARE DEPLETED AND DEPLETED SOILS DO NOT PRODUCE HEALTHY, NUTRIENT-RICH PLANTS.
- The commercial applications of agriculture have not only depleted the soil of precious trace minerals but also have broken down the ability of plants to utilize those elements.
- THAT MEANS OUR FOOD IS NUTRITIONALLY DEFICIENT RIGHT FROM THE SOURCE. Then our food is refined and processed, which further degrades the nutritional value.
Inorganic (synthetic/dead), ammonium-based fertilizers, along with herbicides and pesticides, kill the precious microorganisms in the soil that are essential to the creation of organic (carbon-based/living) mineral complexes.
We have done more than simply use up the available trace minerals in our soils (those in the form of organic complexes).
WE ALSO HAVE DESTROYED THE MEANS OF REPLENISHING THESE SOIL-BASED MICROORGANISMS.
It is also easy to understand what Linus Pauling (twice awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine) meant when he explained to the 74th Congress of the United Sates, "Every ailment, every sickness and every disease can be traced back to an organic trace mineral deficiency."
17. SOIL MINERAL DEPLETION - CAN A HEALTHY DIET BE SUFFICIENT IN TODAY'S WORLD ?
By Martin Hum
http://www.ion.ac.uk/information/onarchives/soilmineraldepletion
NPK fertilisers have certainly revolutionised agriculture, but at the cost of a tragic degradation in the quality of the soil.
We now know that, under ideal circumstances, plants absorb 70 to 80 different minerals from the soil, while the number returned to it by plants grown with commercial fertilisers can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Every crop that is cut or animal that is sent to market marks a further depletion in the mineral status of the soil on which it was raised.
Pesticides and herbicides also reduce the uptake of trace minerals by plants.
The combined effect of soil mineral depletion and the reduced availability of those minerals that remain is that most of the food we eat is mineral deficient. In 1927, Dr RA McCance started a study of the nutrient content of common foods at King’s College, University of London. Together with his colleague, Dr EM Widdowson, he published the results in 1940. The analyses have been repeated at regular intervals since, providing a unique picture of the way the composition of our food has changed.
The table below summarises the reductions in the average mineral content of 27 vegetables and 17 fruits, between 1940 and 1991. The latest edition of McCance and Widdowson’s work was published in 2002, but no updated comparison of the figures has yet been published. However, it is likely that mineral values have continued to fall.
Reduction in average mineral content of fruit and vegetables between 1940 and 1991:
http://www.ion.ac.uk/information/onarchives/soilmineraldepletion
NPK fertilisers have certainly revolutionised agriculture, but at the cost of a tragic degradation in the quality of the soil.
We now know that, under ideal circumstances, plants absorb 70 to 80 different minerals from the soil, while the number returned to it by plants grown with commercial fertilisers can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Every crop that is cut or animal that is sent to market marks a further depletion in the mineral status of the soil on which it was raised.
Pesticides and herbicides also reduce the uptake of trace minerals by plants.
The combined effect of soil mineral depletion and the reduced availability of those minerals that remain is that most of the food we eat is mineral deficient. In 1927, Dr RA McCance started a study of the nutrient content of common foods at King’s College, University of London. Together with his colleague, Dr EM Widdowson, he published the results in 1940. The analyses have been repeated at regular intervals since, providing a unique picture of the way the composition of our food has changed.
The table below summarises the reductions in the average mineral content of 27 vegetables and 17 fruits, between 1940 and 1991. The latest edition of McCance and Widdowson’s work was published in 2002, but no updated comparison of the figures has yet been published. However, it is likely that mineral values have continued to fall.
Reduction in average mineral content of fruit and vegetables between 1940 and 1991:
Comparing levels measured in 2002 with those present in 1940:
RESOURCES
Food Commission . 020 7837 2250 www.foodcomm.org.uk
Soil Association . 0117 314 5000 www.soilassociation.org
- the iron content of milk was found to be 62 % less
- calcium and magnesium in Parmesan cheese had each fallen by 70 %
- copper in dairy produce had plummeted by a remarkable 90 %.
RESOURCES
Food Commission . 020 7837 2250 www.foodcomm.org.uk
Soil Association . 0117 314 5000 www.soilassociation.org
18. SOIL DEPLETION
http://www.tjclark.com.au/Library+old/Colloidal+Minerals/Soil+Depletion.html
Perhaps the best summary is by Dr. William A. Albrecht, Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, who said:
"A declining soil fertility, due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, is responsible for poor crops and in turn for pathological conditions in animals fed deficient foods from such soils, and that mankind is no exception."
Dr Albrecht goes further to unequivocally lay the blame:
"NPK formulas, as legislated and enforced by State Departments of Agriculture, mean malnutrition, attack by insects, bacteria and fungi, weed takeover, crop loss in dry weather, and general loss of mental acuity in the population, leading to degenerative metabolic disease and early death."
More Quotations
Dr. Walter Mertz, U.S. Department of Agriculture, told to congress in 1977:
"In the future, we will not be able to rely anymore on our premise that the consumption of a varied balanced diet will provide all the essential trace elements, because such a diet will be very difficult to obtain for millions of people."
Dr. Linus Pauling the two-time Nobel Prize winner states that:
"You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.
The Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia:
"Mineral insufficiency and trace elements insufficiency are more likely to occur than are vitamin insufficiency states. Because of differing geologic conditions, minerals and trace elements may be scarce in the soils of certain regions and rich in those of other regions. Thus, you can live in some areas, eat a perfectly 'balanced' diet and still develop mineral deficiencies or trace element deficiencies that can only be averted through dietary change or supplementation."
In Dr. Jensen's book, Empty Harvest, he talks about how many of our illnesses are correlated with our improper stewardship of the land. Our immunity very much parallels the immunity of the land.
Of special mention is that trace minerals are very depleted in our soils.
Veterinarians known this for very long time, which is why there are some 45 trace minerals added to dog and livestock food.
They would much rather spend a few cents everyday than hundreds of dollars on vet bills!
Dr. Charles Northen, MD researcher reports that, "In the absence of minerals, vitamins have no function. Lacking vitamins, the system can make use of the minerals, but lacking minerals vitamins are useless."
Gaylord Hauser, from his book, "Diet Does It", concurs by stating, "Minerals are certainly as important to us as vitamins, yet minerals are overlooked, neglected and their value underestimated."
If you want to read more:
Can We Remineralize the Soils it's possible to fix our depleted soils?
http://www.remineralize.org/
Perhaps the best summary is by Dr. William A. Albrecht, Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, who said:
"A declining soil fertility, due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, is responsible for poor crops and in turn for pathological conditions in animals fed deficient foods from such soils, and that mankind is no exception."
Dr Albrecht goes further to unequivocally lay the blame:
"NPK formulas, as legislated and enforced by State Departments of Agriculture, mean malnutrition, attack by insects, bacteria and fungi, weed takeover, crop loss in dry weather, and general loss of mental acuity in the population, leading to degenerative metabolic disease and early death."
- SOME US FARMS ARE 100% DEPLETED AND SOME ARE 60% DEPLETED, THE AVERAGE IS 85% DEPLETION AS COMPARED TO 100 YEARS AGO
- This is worse than in any other country in the world because of the extended use of fertilizers and "maximum yield" mass farming methods.
- According to Gary Price Todd, MD, the human body requires at least 60 minerals for optimal health and basically the same other essentials as animals.
- But, only 8 minerals are available in any kind of quantity in most of the food we eat today.
- Dr Jerome Weisner, Science Councillor to John F. Kennedy stated way back in 1963 that "The use of pesticides is more dangerous than atomic fallout."
- He said : "The damage resulting from nuclear radiation is the same as the damage resulting from the use of toxic genetic chemicals. The use of fungicides of organic syntheses annually causes the same damage to present and future generations as atomic fallout from 14,500 atomic bombs of the Hiroshima type (approximately 29 X 14 megaton hydrogen bombs)."
More Quotations
Dr. Walter Mertz, U.S. Department of Agriculture, told to congress in 1977:
"In the future, we will not be able to rely anymore on our premise that the consumption of a varied balanced diet will provide all the essential trace elements, because such a diet will be very difficult to obtain for millions of people."
Dr. Linus Pauling the two-time Nobel Prize winner states that:
"You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.
The Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia:
"Mineral insufficiency and trace elements insufficiency are more likely to occur than are vitamin insufficiency states. Because of differing geologic conditions, minerals and trace elements may be scarce in the soils of certain regions and rich in those of other regions. Thus, you can live in some areas, eat a perfectly 'balanced' diet and still develop mineral deficiencies or trace element deficiencies that can only be averted through dietary change or supplementation."
In Dr. Jensen's book, Empty Harvest, he talks about how many of our illnesses are correlated with our improper stewardship of the land. Our immunity very much parallels the immunity of the land.
Of special mention is that trace minerals are very depleted in our soils.
Veterinarians known this for very long time, which is why there are some 45 trace minerals added to dog and livestock food.
They would much rather spend a few cents everyday than hundreds of dollars on vet bills!
Dr. Charles Northen, MD researcher reports that, "In the absence of minerals, vitamins have no function. Lacking vitamins, the system can make use of the minerals, but lacking minerals vitamins are useless."
Gaylord Hauser, from his book, "Diet Does It", concurs by stating, "Minerals are certainly as important to us as vitamins, yet minerals are overlooked, neglected and their value underestimated."
If you want to read more:
Can We Remineralize the Soils it's possible to fix our depleted soils?
http://www.remineralize.org/
20. WILL WE SOON EAT 50 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES A DAY ?
By Agnès Rousseaux
http://www.bastamag.net/Faudra-t-il-bientot-manger
Vitamins A, B or C, Omega 3, trace elements, iron ...
The nutrients are essential to our body and its longevity. Several studies alert us to the weakness of fruit and vegetables "modern" nutrients.
WHILE A PEACH WAS ENOUGH IN 1950 TO ABSORB A GOOD RATIO OF VITAMIN A, TODAY WE NEED TO EAT 20!
Where are these vitamins? What the researchers say ? Does the food industry benefit?
Basta conducted the survey.
"Eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day," recommends the National Health Nutrition Program.
Perhaps we will soon need to eat 50 ...
From the nutrients side, our food seem to show some weaknesses.
Take an orange: The 2000’s one will probably look better than oranges of the 1950’s. However... THE MODERN ORANGE CONTAINS 5 TIMES LESS IRON....
The same for peaches. Several studies show that loss of "nutrient density".
The problem of nutrient density loss for fruits and vegetables began to be raised in the US, Canada and Great Britain.
Vitamin A: 1 Peache in 1950 = 26 peaches in 2010
Since 1950, researchers measure the nutritional content of food.
So in the 1950’s, eating a banana, an orange and a peach, was enough to fill the "recommended daily allowance" (RDA) of vitamin for a person.
TODAY, GIVEN NUTRIENT CONTENT, IT SHOULD BE 5 BANANAS, 10 ORANGES AND 26 PEACHES TO HAVE THE DOSE OF VITAMIN A!
http://www.bastamag.net/Faudra-t-il-bientot-manger
Vitamins A, B or C, Omega 3, trace elements, iron ...
The nutrients are essential to our body and its longevity. Several studies alert us to the weakness of fruit and vegetables "modern" nutrients.
WHILE A PEACH WAS ENOUGH IN 1950 TO ABSORB A GOOD RATIO OF VITAMIN A, TODAY WE NEED TO EAT 20!
Where are these vitamins? What the researchers say ? Does the food industry benefit?
Basta conducted the survey.
"Eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day," recommends the National Health Nutrition Program.
Perhaps we will soon need to eat 50 ...
From the nutrients side, our food seem to show some weaknesses.
Take an orange: The 2000’s one will probably look better than oranges of the 1950’s. However... THE MODERN ORANGE CONTAINS 5 TIMES LESS IRON....
The same for peaches. Several studies show that loss of "nutrient density".
The problem of nutrient density loss for fruits and vegetables began to be raised in the US, Canada and Great Britain.
Vitamin A: 1 Peache in 1950 = 26 peaches in 2010
Since 1950, researchers measure the nutritional content of food.
So in the 1950’s, eating a banana, an orange and a peach, was enough to fill the "recommended daily allowance" (RDA) of vitamin for a person.
TODAY, GIVEN NUTRIENT CONTENT, IT SHOULD BE 5 BANANAS, 10 ORANGES AND 26 PEACHES TO HAVE THE DOSE OF VITAMIN A!
19. MODERN MIRACLE MEN - SENATE DOCUMENT NR. 264
http://www.senatedocument264.com/
Presented by Mr. Fletcher June 1 1936 and Ordered to be Printed by the United States Government Printing Office Washington: 1936 During the 74th Congress, Second Session, Document No. 264
IT IS BAD NEWS TO LEARN FROM OUR LEADING AUTHORITIES THAT 99% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DEFICIENT IN THESE MINERALS, AND THAT A MARKED DEFICIENCY IN ANY ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT MINERALS ACTUALLY RESULTS IN DISEASE.
Any upset of the balance, any considerable lack of one or another element, however microscopic the body requirement may be, and we sicken, suffer, shorten our lives.
Dr. Sherman of Columbia University asserts that 50% of the American people are starving for calcium.
A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that out of 4,000 cases in New York Hospital, only 2 were not suffering from a lack of calcium.
Many States show a marked reduction in the productive capacity of the soil * * * in many districts amounting to a 25% to 50% reduction in the last 50 years * * *. Some areas show a 10 FOLD variation in calcium. Some show a 60 FOLD variation in phosphorus * * *. Authorities * * * see soil depletion, barren livestock, increased human death rate due to heart disease, deformities, arthritis, increased dental caries, all due to lack of essential minerals in plant food.
"We know that vitamins are complex chemical substances which are indispensable to nutrition, and that each of them is of importance for normal function of some special structure in the body.
DISORDERS AND DISEASE RESULT FROM ANY VITAMIN DEFICIENCY.
It is not commonly realized, however, that vitamins control the body's appropriation of minerals, and in the absence of minerals they have no function to perform. Lacking vitamins, the system can make some use of minerals, but lacking minerals, vitamins are useless."
This discovery is one of the latest and most important contributions of science to the problem of human health.
-- Senate Document No. 264, 1936!
Presented by Mr. Fletcher June 1 1936 and Ordered to be Printed by the United States Government Printing Office Washington: 1936 During the 74th Congress, Second Session, Document No. 264
- THE ALARMING FACT IS THAT FOOD--FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AND GRAINS--NOW BEING RAISED ON MILLIONS OF ACRED OF LAND NO LONGER CONTAIN NEEDED MINERALS, ARE STARVING US--NO MATTER HOW MUCH OF THEM WE EAT!
- No one of today can eat enough fruits and vegetables to supply their system with the mineral salts they require for perfect health, because their stomach isn't big enough to hold them! And we are running to big stomachs.
IT IS BAD NEWS TO LEARN FROM OUR LEADING AUTHORITIES THAT 99% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DEFICIENT IN THESE MINERALS, AND THAT A MARKED DEFICIENCY IN ANY ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT MINERALS ACTUALLY RESULTS IN DISEASE.
Any upset of the balance, any considerable lack of one or another element, however microscopic the body requirement may be, and we sicken, suffer, shorten our lives.
Dr. Sherman of Columbia University asserts that 50% of the American people are starving for calcium.
A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that out of 4,000 cases in New York Hospital, only 2 were not suffering from a lack of calcium.
Many States show a marked reduction in the productive capacity of the soil * * * in many districts amounting to a 25% to 50% reduction in the last 50 years * * *. Some areas show a 10 FOLD variation in calcium. Some show a 60 FOLD variation in phosphorus * * *. Authorities * * * see soil depletion, barren livestock, increased human death rate due to heart disease, deformities, arthritis, increased dental caries, all due to lack of essential minerals in plant food.
"We know that vitamins are complex chemical substances which are indispensable to nutrition, and that each of them is of importance for normal function of some special structure in the body.
DISORDERS AND DISEASE RESULT FROM ANY VITAMIN DEFICIENCY.
It is not commonly realized, however, that vitamins control the body's appropriation of minerals, and in the absence of minerals they have no function to perform. Lacking vitamins, the system can make some use of minerals, but lacking minerals, vitamins are useless."
This discovery is one of the latest and most important contributions of science to the problem of human health.
-- Senate Document No. 264, 1936!
21. "HISTORICAL CHANGES IN THE MINERAL CONTENT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES "
By Anne‐Marie Mayer
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/00070709710181540
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/00070709710181540
- A comparison of the mineral content of 20 fruits and 20 vegetables grown in the 1930s and the 1980s (published in the UK Government’s Composition of Foods tables) shows several marked reductions in mineral content.
- Shows that there are statistically significant reductions in the levels of Ca, Mg, Cu and Na in vegetables and Mg, Fe, Cu and K in fruit.
- The only mineral that showed no significant differences over the 50 year period was phosphorus.
- The water content increased significantly and dry matter decreased significantly in fruit.
- Indicates that a nutritional problem associated with the quality of food has developed over those 50 years.
- THE CHANGES COULD HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY ANOMALIES OF MEASUREMENT OR SAMPLING, CHANGES IN THE FOOD SYSTEM, CHANGES IN THE VARIETIES GROWN OR CHANGES IN THE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE.