One More Harvest

Back in 2014, Maria-Helena Semedo from the United Nations Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) gave a speech identifying that our topsoil’s degradation rate would cause a depletion within 60 years. The topsoil is where our crops get their nutrients from.

A perfect storm of events is believed to be causing this deterioration, including increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and additional chemicals and fertilizers killing off the microbes in the soil. Logistical shipping and storage are also identified as culprits as we store and ripen produce with gases and container heating on their way to market. So, what does this all mean for the apple in your fruit bowl?

According to Dr. August Dunning, chief science officer and co-owner of Eco Organics, the sobering fact is that it would take 26 apples going down your food hatch to reach the same nutrient quality of iron, for example, as a single apple your grandfather ate in 1950.

A 2004 study by Donald Davis and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry found “reliable declines” in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Vitamin C over the past half-century in 43 different vegetables and fruits. Davis and his research team said that the decline may be coming from the genetic changes (in addition to those above) we now breed food for. Increased size, growth rate, and pest resistance appear to arrive at the cost of nutritional content.

These studies have now been repeated by multiple research teams worldwide, and echoes of concern appear in numerous publications, from scientific research journals to medical journals.

Vegetable and fruit quality plays a vital role in human health. Alexander Stein in Plant and Soil Oct 2010 discusses deficiencies leading directly (cognitive development, metabolism, and immune system deficiencies) and indirectly (obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus) to increase chronic disease rates. Americans see the effects of malnutrition in our now majority overweight and obese population. Micronutrients like iron, Vitamin Bs and Ds are better than 50% deficient in American bodies, and some are higher than 90% deficient.

Food manufacturers have fortified foods like milk, bread, cereals, and rice with minerals like vitamins D, C, and iron to combat this well-established decline. While this fortification may work at large for isolated nutrients in the population, it does not work for all. It neglects the interaction of nutrients that assist each other in naturally occurring ratios like vitamin D3, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin D and K2. People navigating this complex food system can amend their actions to obtain healthier results in these ways:

1. Understanding Individual Needs. Converse with a Doctor can help define available micronutrients and nutrients that are critical depending on a specific population dynamic. Blood tests and, in some cases, saliva tests can help determine where deficiencies or overabundance of a nutrient may be. Targeting deficient nutrients is one way to assure longterm health and wellness.

2. Understand Nutritional Labeling. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of nutrients is identified on nutritional labels. This is an excellent way to know what healthy value food holds, but there are restrictions on this information. RDAs are US Government’s established daily nutrient allowances by percentage for seven minerals, 11 vitamins, and protein by age group, gender, and populations like pregnant women. For example, what appears on the box of most cereals is the highest category for adult men. The label is misleading for all other groups, most notably children. Even on products marketed to children, labeling can be for an adult. A child eating multiple servings can have abundant nutrients, which can be as dangerous as insufficient nutrients. This can also happen if a child or adult compounds fortified foods. As more foods become fortified, individuals must be more diligent about balancing their nutrient intake by looking at labels.

3. Vary Your Norm. Nutrients come from what your food eats or where it is grown. Soil and nutrient management techniques worldwide change the nutrients even in the same food. Food may look identical but is nutritionally different. For example, Australian grass-fed beef vs. standard American beef is fed differently, making their fat ratio different. This added variation has the potential to balance out what nutrients may be missing in one soil or one food source but is present in another.

4. Choose nutrient-dense foods. Focus on foods naturally rich in nutrients, such as leafy greens, berries, nuts, seeds, and foods packed with nutritional purposes. These foods provide a high concentration of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that your body needs to function optimally.

Nothing in this article constitutes medical advice. All medical advice should be sought from a medical professional.