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Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#21
post #2

The link got that actual paper is much better than a sentence or two on LinkedIn. The paper’s title isn’t as catchy to put in nicely. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163803/ From my link: >It is important to note that the USDA mineral content of vegetables and fruits has not been updated since 2000, and perhaps even longer, given that the data for 1992 was not able to be definitively confirmed for this…

> Healthy foods and organics are more readily available now.

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that "organic" foods are more nutritious than conventionally farmed foods: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19640946

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If organic food actually had a noticeably higher mineral count than nonorganic, I would start eating it. But I don’t see why organic food would actually have more minerals. Organic doesn’t mean healthier it just means that it uses different kinds of pesticides, to my knowledge

Presumably, using natural fertilizers would make a difference, as you'd expect a wider range of minerals than in straight haber-process fertilizer. I don't know if natural fertilizers are always a requirement for organic food, though.

If this is actually a problem, I'd much rather someone figure out which minerals need to go into the fertilizer mix (plus some downstream monitoring) than to assume that putting poop on the vegetables makes them wholesome.

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#24
These are normalized mass rates, ie grams per gram of plant mass. However, the mass yield per acre of cabbage has radically increased over that time period. Is it possible that a cabbage plant is capable of absorbing an absolute amount of minerals, and this is simply being diluted by ever-larger cabbages?

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#25

Soil depletion: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an... I have a friend who refers to vitamins as "expensive pee". He means taking vitamin pills when you eat a good diet containing fruits and veg is unnecessary because your body will excrete out the excess. I like to point out to him that fruits and veg are not what they used to be.

Don't forget meat has absolutely tons of essential nutrients and vitamins, some of which can't be found in fruits and vegetables.

I wouldn't doubt that meat suffers from similar nutrient deficiencies. After all, livestock are fed from the same supply chain.

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#26
post #2

The link got that actual paper is much better than a sentence or two on LinkedIn. The paper’s title isn’t as catchy to put in nicely. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163803/ From my link: >It is important to note that the USDA mineral content of vegetables and fruits has not been updated since 2000, and perhaps even longer, given that the data for 1992 was not able to be definitively confirmed for this…

If organic food actually had a noticeably higher mineral count than nonorganic, I would start eating it. But I don’t see why organic food would actually have more minerals. Organic doesn’t mean healthier it just means that it uses different kinds of pesticides, to my knowledge

I think you’re forgetting about fertilizer. You can’t spray the common green fertilizer on Organic crops.

Some organic fertilizers I’ve used at my home garden: bone meal, blood meal, fish emulsion and egg shell.

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#27

Soil depletion: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an... I have a friend who refers to vitamins as "expensive pee". He means taking vitamin pills when you eat a good diet containing fruits and veg is unnecessary because your body will excrete out the excess. I like to point out to him that fruits and veg are not what they used to be.

It's not only expensive pee, but also potentially damages your kidneys. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi... You shouldn't take supplements unless your doctor advises you to due to some (actual and not perceived) deficiency.

Did you mean to link something else? That page doesn't appear to mention kidneys.

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#28

Soil depletion: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an... I have a friend who refers to vitamins as "expensive pee". He means taking vitamin pills when you eat a good diet containing fruits and veg is unnecessary because your body will excrete out the excess. I like to point out to him that fruits and veg are not what they used to be.

It's not only expensive pee, but also potentially damages your kidneys. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi... You shouldn't take supplements unless your doctor advises you to due to some (actual and not perceived) deficiency.

Its difficult to find out if you've got deficiencies when testing for them is almost never covered by US insurance plans. Only a few are. The tests can cost $50-$200 per type of nutrient if you want to pay cash.

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#29

Growing food has turned into an engineering problem where people think you solve it by investing the least possible resources into it. Whatever the consumer will buy and you can produce as cheaply as possible wins the day. Our tasteless vegetables are like cheap Bose (no highs, no lows, must be Bose) speakers or pressed paper furniture at Walmart. On the surface they look like a vegetable should look, but the taste,…

> Growing food has turned into an engineering problem where people think you solve it by investing the least possible resources into it. Our economic system optimizes for exactly this.

[deleted]

Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914

#30
post #8

Can we not have LinkedIn links on HN

Why do you not want to have LinkedIn links on HN?

Besides the annoying UX, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman organized several parties to introduce Jeffrey Epstein (child sex trafficker) to other rich and powerful people.

The extent of his involvement with Epstein's child sex traffic ring is still under investigation.

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