Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914 • Hacker News Board

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

#251

Post by krn » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:23 AM UTC

_xnmw wrote: post #249

I’ve been living in Ukraine for the past few months, trying to figure out why the food here, especially the vegetables, simply taste so good . The very same dishes (e.g. steak and veggies) from popular mid-range restaurants are far more enjoyable to me over here in Kiev than I ever ate in Canada. When I went back to Canada for a brief visit, my body was craving Ukrainian food. Now this study on vegetable mineral cont…

> I’ve been living in Ukraine for the past few months, trying to figure out why the food here, especially the vegetables, simply taste so good.

I had exactly the same feeling when I was living in Lviv and buying vegetables from the local Farmers Market[1] to cook at home.

It seems that Ukrainians are still growing vegetables like their grandparents did in the 1930s, as it's one of the poorest and most isolated regions of Europe.

In my own post-soviet EU country, most people living outside the big cities still grow their own vegetables in their backyard[2], but more as a rewarding hobby.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI0VnuZObjE

[2] http://imgur.com/a/3afScVR

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

#252

Post by RowanH » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:26 AM UTC

_xnmw wrote: post #249

I’ve been living in Ukraine for the past few months, trying to figure out why the food here, especially the vegetables, simply taste so good . The very same dishes (e.g. steak and veggies) from popular mid-range restaurants are far more enjoyable to me over here in Kiev than I ever ate in Canada. When I went back to Canada for a brief visit, my body was craving Ukrainian food. Now this study on vegetable mineral cont…

Same when I moved back to New Zealand after years in Canada. The first trip to the fruit and vege store I went overboard...

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

#253

Post by ijiiijji1 » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:27 AM UTC

api wrote: post #214

tmp190914pn2 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both parent and grandparent are saying something important here. Mineral availability from the microbiome via root interactions is critical. But throw nitrogen at a plant and it will rapidly grow utilizing CO2, O2 and water, leaving a mineral deficient plant. And that is true in any soil. Also, modern plants have been selected to be large and tender, which tends to be inversely coorelated to mineral density. So it's…

You get what you incentivize. Produce is typically sold by weight.

Produce is sold by weight, and bought by appearance but neither nutritional content nor taste.

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

#254

Post by newsbinator » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:28 AM UTC

_xnmw wrote: post #249

I’ve been living in Ukraine for the past few months, trying to figure out why the food here, especially the vegetables, simply taste so good . The very same dishes (e.g. steak and veggies) from popular mid-range restaurants are far more enjoyable to me over here in Kiev than I ever ate in Canada. When I went back to Canada for a brief visit, my body was craving Ukrainian food. Now this study on vegetable mineral cont…

Same thing happened to me in the south of Bulgaria, just shopping at regular grocery stores. I couldn't figure out why the tomatoes tasted amazing.

It's like I'd been eating tomato-flavored potatoes all my life until that moment, and now trying a real tomato for the first time.

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

#255

Post by atulatul » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:30 AM UTC

In India, Subhash Palekar is a name you often hear these days. He was awarded fourth highest civilian award the Padma Shri in 2016. He is a proponent of Zero Budget Natural Farming- (which some agri bodies have claimed does not work as the claims would indicate).

A few links, if interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhash_Palekar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka

http://www.palekarzerobudgetspiritualfarming.org/home.aspx

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

#256

Post by hyperpallium » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:36 AM UTC

ghouse wrote: post #240

hyperpallium wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And, higher CO2 levels.

There may be some unintended consequences with that approach...

The "perfect storm" includes the fact that CO2 levels are higher today than in 1914.

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

#257

Post by martingoodson » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 6:45 AM UTC

This is a good reason to eat organic food.

The overall strength of evidence is good or moderate that, for many parameters, organic produce is superior to conventional produce.[1]

[1] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16546628.2017.1...

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

#258

Post by jayalpha » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:20 AM UTC

Old news?

Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious? - Because of soil depletion, crops grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today

April 27, 2011

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...

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

#259

Post by taurath » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:23 AM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #43

opportune wrote: post #12

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

Adjacent: Butter/milk from grass-fed cows has a noticeably better amino acid profile https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10531600/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7905466/

The biggest difference in food I’ve ever seen is eggs from pasture raised chickens vs farmed ones - it’s night and day.

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

#260

Post by chrisco255 » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:29 AM UTC

ssijak wrote: post #236

food_eater wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've personally known of a handful of vegans and vegetarians who've all reported back after years of being on that diet of being extremely deficient in nutrients. Brain fog, lack of energy, anemia, pale skin, thinness, a ton of symptoms. Doctors recommend them to begin eating at least fish and these people got noticeably better. Have heard of dozens more of similar cases from friends of friends. I think the vegetaria…

I also know that half the population is overweight or obese and has various problems and they eat meat. Both vegans and meat eaters can have good or bad diets. I know vegans who only eat processed junk foods or who are deluded with some weird restrictive diets. But eating varied whole food plant based diet provides all the nutrients needed.

No it doesn't. B12, K2 and DHA based Omega-3s that your brain runs on are non existent in plant foods. Cholesterol, Choline, calcium, Vitamin D are difficult to come by in plant based diets. Finally, the plant based form of Vitamin A (beta carotene) is only bioavailable to humans in 0-8% of the quantities consumed depending on your individual genetics. And women can convert this better than men.