Is it possible to get all the nutrients we need from the fruits and vegetables we eat?

The answer depends on how much food one can eat. The amount of nutrients found in fruits and vegetables has diminished greatly over the years. Let’s elaborate.

Many well documented studies have shown a drastic decline of vitamins and minerals in crops grown today. One study concluded that one would have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of Vitamin A as our grandparents would have gotten from one.

Why has this happened?

A sharp decline in minerals, vitamins and other nutrients in many foods can be attributed to; aggressive farming practices and environmental toxins, compounded by genetic manipulation and the corporate quest for profit.

Today’s crops are being bred for larger yields, better appearance, uniformity, larger size, disease resistance, and longer shipping and storage time, but their ability to uptake nutrients has not kept pace with their rapid growth.

Modern aggressive farming techniques have increased the amounts of nutrients stripped from the soil. Every time a crop is grown and sold, nutrients are takes away from the land leaving the roots of the next batch of plants struggling to get enough nutrients. Our ancestors rotated fields to allow soil to rest after each harvest to prevent nutrient depletion. Sadly, this is no longer the normal practice. To compounding the problem; many crops are pulled prior to being enriched with vitamins (when ripe) in order accommodate travel time required to get to the grocery store.

A sharp decline in minerals, vitamins and other nutrients in many foods can also be attributed to a steady deterioration in soil, air, and water quality. Environmental toxins such as acid rain and pesticides leach minerals out of the soil.

If used, fertilizers can replace nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium but plants require around twenty essential minerals that are not being replaced. The human body requires even more. According to Jeremy Grantham (co-chair of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment), phosphorus, and potassium “cannot be made, cannot be substituted, are necessary to grow all life forms, and are mined and depleted”.

What are the ramifications?

Dr. William A. Albrecht, Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, stated: “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.”

Studies:

• In 2004, a University of Texas research team headed by biochemist Donald Davis, Ph.D., studied U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional data from both 1950 and 1999 for 43 different vegetables and fruits, finding “reliable declines” in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the past half century.
• The Kushi Institute analyzed data from 1975 to 1997 found that average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent; iron levels 37 percent; vitamin A levels 21 percent, and vitamin C levels 30 percent.
• In a 1997 study Anne-Marie Mayer compared British data over a fifty year period and noted “significant reductions” in the levels of minerals in fruit and vegetables. and questioned if modern agriculture could be responsible for the reduction.
• The following are the soil depletion statistics from the 1992  Earth Summit Report showing the percentage of mineral depletion, by continent, during the past 100 years;

What can we do?

Just because fruits and vegetables aren’t as healthy as they used to be doesn’t mean we should avoid them, but we would need to eat HUGE quantities to get all the nutrients our body need(s). None of us can eat that much, which is why we strongly recommend a high quality, well balanced nutritional supplement. Those who want to get the most nutritious fruits and vegetables should grow their own and/or buy from local organic farmers.

Here is a great follow-up article presented by USANA: Is your food as nutritious as you think?