Where are our vitamins and minerals?
Does our food supply nourish us with all the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need? And if not, what happens to our bodies as a consequence? Our bodies are electro-chemical organisms so minerals are required to power the electrical impulses needed for critical bodily processes such as brain, cardiac and digestive functions. Can these essential nutrients be obtained from our food or is our soil now so depleted that supplementation is necessary?
These and many other questions are explored by Graham Harvey in ‘We Want Real Food’. The book is included on the Further Reading list as it highlights the difficulties in providing our bodies with the nutrients required to enable self-healing. For anyone with Crohn’s disease, nutrient absorption can be particularly challenging, especially when they are scarce in our food supply, so it may help determine whether supplements are right for you.
‘Mineral levels in meat and milk plummet over 60 years and We Want Real Food explains why and how it can be reversed. We are all being encouraged to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and many of us regularly spend more on organic produce in the belief that is better for our health and taste buds.
However Graham Harvey illustrates how our increasingly industrial farming techniques are denuding our soil of the essential nutrients, minerals and structures needed to produce quality produce. Everyday fruits and vegetables have significantly lower nutrient contents from those grown 30 years ago, and are set to diminish further unless action is taken now. Harvey argues that many of the illnesses that plague modern society from obesity, tooth decay, arthritis and cancer to social disorder caused by increasing numbers with Attention Deficit Disorder have their roots in our diet that is low in the essential nutrients and minerals that our bodies have evolved to need.
Far from the solution being too complex Harvey shows how the integration of small amounts of ground rock can re-mineralize the soil. This process mimics the action of the glaciers that provided us with the fertile soils we have been exploiting since the end of the last ice age. With the re-introduction of these essential minerals soil fertility is drastically improved producing bumper crops with a substantially improved flavour. This is an important book that is the next stage in the debate about the food we eat and how a simple solution can improve the nation’s health and environment.‘ Source: We Want Real Food.
Comment
It can be a difficult decision whether to outlay on Supplements as our foods should provide us with all the necessary nutrients our bodies need. What this book offers is insight into why this is rarely the case. Having read it and numerous web articles my personal choice was to include supplements and more information is provided in the Supplements blog.