Original article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163803/
Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
181–190 of 315 posts
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I find the aversion to ... control inherently suspicious. Interesting. Could you please expand on that? Personally, I find the desire to control inherently suspicious.
I'd assume he/she means control in the engineering sense of the word: testing and inspecting. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/control Merriam Webster says that meaning (definition 1a) of the word "control" is archaic, but I still hear it used from time to time. It's commonly used in a number of European languages.
Could also be in the sense of "control theory", where a feedback loop like measure->analyze->predict->change->repeat is applied.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
I phrased it incorrectly, you are spot on "much less bio-available when compared with animal products"
We feed plant products to our animal products. If the plants are not nutritious, animal products become more expensive. I don't think animal products will prevent wealthier people from being priced out of their necessary nutrition.
It's better to think of the long-term cycle. Ruminants in regenerative management, for instance, increase the richness of the soil over time. Whereas it's very hard to do that with crops.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
Malnutrition may be a contributing factor to obesity. We crave more food when we’re not getting what we need. If it’s not there to begin with, or at best a lesser amount, then ever more never satisfies.
This. I lost multiple dress sizes while making zero effort to lose weight by working on improving my nutritional status. Or at least while working on it. (Insert some XKCD comic about cause and correlation. ) ;)
How? Like where may I find such food? Or what did you do?
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
The worst is strawberries. The huge strawberries you can buy in the store have the same flavor content as the tiny ones you can grow in your yard, but it's completely diluted with water. They're disgusting.
Is it just because they are giant? I’ve had relatively big strawberries that are sweet and flavorful in China. But in the US, they taste like cucumber plus citrus, no sweetness, no aroma, just incredibly sour and watery.
I don't know what Chinese strawberries are like, but I always figured that American strawberries are watery and sour because they're not only big, but they're also grown too quickly for flavor to develop. I think they're engineered to artificially mature early and are basically still unripe.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. I lost multiple dress sizes while making zero effort to lose weight by working on improving my nutritional status. Or at least while working on it. (Insert some XKCD comic about cause and correlation. ) ;)
How? Like where may I find such food? Or what did you do?
I was diagnosed with a specific medical condition that gave me a lot of information about where things had gone wrong.
I did a lot of research into what kinds of nutrients I was likely short on.
I started with supplements because they are far easier to deal with. This comment by me might cast a little light on that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20714419
Some things I found useful:
Celtic sea salt is the single best sea salt. But any sea salt, kosher salt or canning and pickling salt is better than table salt.
If you are on any medication whatsoever, research "nutrient depletions" for that drug. So, for example, if you take Ibuprofen a lot, it depletes a specific B vitamin. This helps you determine specific nutrients you probably need.
Keep a food journal.
Look up super foods. So, for example, when I decided to work on my selenium deficiency, I ate one or more Brazil nuts most days for about six months until I was sick of them and apparently no longer deficient because they are crazy high in selenium.
(Quick and dirty answer. Not to be mistaken for a comprehensive answer.)
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#187FYI: The iron within meat is much more bioavailable to your body
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#188This happened due to extermination of soil life through modern farming practices of heavy tilling, fertilizing and monoculture crops. Dead soil is more susceptible to erosion and requires ever increasing amounts of synthetic fertilizer to grow anything. More soil has been lost from the US than the amount of food that has been produced. Soil fertility can be returned to historical levels by changing farming practices…
Not exactly disagreeing with you, but it seems like increasing yields and inadequate fertilization focusing on macronutrients would also explain the drop. If I grow crops that preferentially absorb certain minerals and then take away most of the vegetable matter from the plot, the soil content of the absorbed minerals is going to drop without something to replenish it. Now, I'm not saying soil bacteria and mychorrhiz…
Glomalin was only discovered in 1996 and it contains up to 30% of soil carbon! Fungal cell walls degrade into a sticky product that makes the soil more loamy. Glomalin levels are strongly correlated with soil fertility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomalin
I think artificial supplementation can be greatly improved, as you suggest. However, it increasingly looking like the soil biome is directly responsible for plant productivity, rather than only indirectly assisting in nutrient transport.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#189This happened due to extermination of soil life through modern farming practices of heavy tilling, fertilizing and monoculture crops. Dead soil is more susceptible to erosion and requires ever increasing amounts of synthetic fertilizer to grow anything. More soil has been lost from the US than the amount of food that has been produced. Soil fertility can be returned to historical levels by changing farming practices…
To learn more about soil health, watch Dr. Elaine Ingham's talks available on YouTube. Also see: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#190If you understand French, you can take a look at Claude and Lydia Bourguignon’s work about soil health.