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Nutrients from Fruits & Vegetables are Depleting

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Our food is losing its nutrition from vitamins and minerals. Modern intensive farming may have solved many of our malnutrition problems, but it has caused vitamin and mineral content to decrease. Why does this matter? The phytonutrients and micronutrients in fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy diet.

Nutrients Research From 1950 to 2011

Fortunately for us, biochemists around the world have been keeping tabs on the nutrient concentrations in a variety of fruits and vegetables for the past 50 years. One of those biochemists is Donald Davis from the University of Texas. In 2011, Davis found notable declines in nutrient counts in several fruits and vegetables when comparing 2009 numbers to 1950 numbers. He found a 43% decline in iron and a 12% decline in calcium, which was in-line with his 1999 study where he found a 15 % decrease in vitamin C and a 38% decrease in vitamin B2.

Another study in 2005 revealed that vegetables lost a considerable amount of copper, magnesium and sodium; fruits dropped copper, iron, and potassium when compared to fruits and vegetables grown in the 1930s.

GMOs Pose Risks Around Nutrients Depletion

Recently, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published a study comparing organic and GMO growing methods. Their study found that organic apple growing methods produce nutrients with at least a 15% increase in antioxidant properties.

 

 

 

Davis and others blame agricultural practices that emphasise quantity over quality. High-yielding crops produce more food, more rapidly, but they can’t make or absorb nutrients at the same pace, so the nutrition is diluted. “It’s like taking a glass of orange juice and adding an equal amount of water to it. If you do that, the concentration of nutrients that was in the original juice is dropped by half,” says Davis.  (WakingTimes.com)

Of course, the research around nutrients depletion has caused some controversy. Many of the objectors claim that old methods of measuring nutrients do not offer a fair comparison of the most accurate methods of today. So, fruits and vegetables have lost trace elements of some vitamins and minerals, but we have drastically increased the supply and variety of our food.

Other Causes of Nutrients Depletion in Food

Photo: epa.gov

Photo: epa.gov

In 2014, a group of Harvard University researchers tested 41 different types of grains and legumes under CO2 levels that we are likely to experience over the next 40 to 60 years. They were able to show that most of the crops would see zinc and iron decrease between 5% – 10% in the future CO2 levels. It’s alarming to see these significant reductions in nutrients, which is truly the value of fruits and vegetables. However, climate change and CO2 are not the only things causing nutrient depletion.

Transportation and Distribution Problems

Many of the methods around transporting fruits and vegetables cause them to lose a lot their nutrients in the process. For example, tomatoes are picked unripe, so they don’t bruise easily, but they miss out on some antioxidants and flavor. Many times vegetables picked off the vine early lose valuable energy from the growing process.

The Bottom Line

In today’s fast-paced world of food processing, production, and transportation may be making food less nutritious, but it is supplying us with so much more food. Overall, we need to be eating more fruit and vegetables. Our company, NutriFusion, is dedicated to helping solving this problem. We want to help companies supply natural nutrients from fruits and vegetables in many of the foods that you already eat. If you are interested in learning more about NutriFusion and our process of stabilizing micronutrients and phytonutrients, please contact us below!

Full Article: http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/10/22/fruits-and-vegetables-reaching-an-alarming-state-of-nutrient-depletion/

Most Americans Believe GMO Foods are Unsafe

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Many Americans are becoming more and more aware of the problem we are faced with, and it’s one that hits us where it hurts. The debate over the safety of genetically modified foods has put state lawmakers who favor requiring labeling of these products at odds with counterparts in Congress who oppose it. The GMO lobby is pushing congress around to keep their products from facing the scrutiny that this recent Pew Research highlights in detail.

Who-Spends-the-Most-Money-Lobbying-GMOs-2012-600The House last month passed a bill that would nullify any state laws that require labeling, dealing a blow to state lawmakers and advocates who support such a move

Vermont Connecticut and Maine passed legislation this year making GM food labeling mandatory; dozens of other states are exploring similar bills on the issue.

 

FT_15.08.10.GMODemographicsPew Research: Most Americans Believe GM Foods are Unsafe

As this issue plays out on Capitol Hill, polls show that a majority of Americans support labeling genetically modified foods, and half check for GM food labels while shopping. “More than half (57%) of U.S. adults believe that GM foods are generally unsafe to eat, while (37%) say these foods are safe”, “Women are more likely than men to view GM foods as unsafe (65% vs. 49%).” Opinions also vary by race and ethnicity; blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to say that genetically modified foods are generally unsafe to eat according to a Pew Research Center survey

The Pew Research survey also found differences in vie
ws based on education levels and science knowledge. Those with lower levels of educational attainment or science knowledge are more inclined to view GM foods as unsafe.

NutriFusion® agree with the majority of American that genetically modified foods are unsafe. We have been committed to the non-GMO movement since we started. Our concentrated, fruit and vegetable powders always come from non-GMO produce. We believe in the transparency and honesty that health conscious consumers expect in 2015.