The New Nutrient Deficiency
05/05/07
Vitamin-Less Vegetables:
The New Nutrient Deficiency
By Dr. Dana Myatt
Who Cares about Vegetables?
The National Academy of
Sciences (NAS), the FDA and the USDA all tell us that vegetables should be our
primary dietary sources of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients (the
non-vitamin, non-mineral nutrients derived from plants). Why? Because optimal
levels of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients are necessary to prevent cancer,
heart disease, neurological disease, and diabetes to name only a few. In other
words, those in science and medicine agree that humans need the nutrients
contained in vegetables and some fruits for proper nutrition and good health. In
fact, nutrient deficiencies are considered by many physicians and scientists to
be one of the primary causes of disease today. Because of this, the current USDA
recommendation is to eat 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit
per day, with many top researchers and government officials calling for twice
that.
The Sad News about Vegetables and Vitamins
You do not eat enough
vegetables and high-nutrient fruits! How do I know this even if I don’t
know you? Consider these facts:
I.) Most
Americans don't get even the minimum 5 per day servings of produce. The
current recommendations for veggie/fruit intake are 5-9 per day. A pickle,
lettuce leaf, onion ring and ketchup on your burger DOES NOT count as 4 servings
of vegetables! Commercial fruit juice counts toward little but sugar intake
because enzymes, fiber and vitamins are destroyed during processing. A side of
french fries or onion rings with your burger don't constitute a serving of
nutrient-dense vegetable due to their high trans fat content and the fact that
nutrients are destroyed during high-heat cooking. Further, for reason stated in
#2 (below), even if you DO get 5-9 legitimate servings of vegetables per day,
this current recommendation is almost surely NOT enough.
II.) Commercially
grown vegetables and fruits today do not contain as many nutrients as they once
did. According to Institute of Nutrition, recent studies of more than a
dozen fruits and vegetables demonstrate a decrease in the nutrient value of
most, and in some cases the drop is drastic. For instance, the Vitamin A content
in apples has dropped from 90 mg to 53mg. Vitamin C in sweet peppers has
decreased from 128mg to 89mg. This is why many at the NAS think the 5-9
servings recommendation should be doubled to equal 10-18 servings per day of
vegetables and fruits.
III.) Storing
and/or cooking destroy many nutrients, rendering them "less" than a serving
of the recommended daily dose.
Vitamins, minerals and
phytonutrients ("plant nutrients" including bioflavonoids, carotenoids,
proanthocyanidins, etc.) are crucial to good health, yet even a "good" Standard
American Diet (SAD) does not contain enough of these nutrients to meet the
proven standards that prevent disease. Further, surveys show that most Americans
do not obtain the lower recommendation of 5 servings per day, let alone the
upper recommendation of 9 servings per day. Nutritional Supplementation
appears both valuable and necessary in achieving the proven health-protective
doses of nutrients.
Dr. Myatt's Comment:
While the USDA, FDA and commercial agri-business assure us that vegetables and
fruits are as healthy as ever, the USDA's own records show a plummeting level of
nutrients since the 1960's. All the while, medical science keeps stacking up new
studies that demonstrate the disease-preventing effects of optimal doses of
vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Still, you'll read propaganda that
assures you that you don’t need supplements because you can obtain everything
you need from "a good diet." (And you probably could get everything you
need from diet IF you ate 5-9 servings of produce that was home-grown and eaten
fresh, meat that was grass-fed without antibiotics and hormones, and dairy from
same). But that's not the reality of the American diet. Perhaps that is why, in
spite spending more money on healthcare than any country in the world, the US
ranks only 24th in life expectancy.
Given this dismal state of our
food supply,
nutritional supplementation with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients appears
to be the safest, surest and least expensive way to stay healthy and prevent and
even reverse disease.
Here is what I personally
take and recommend to others to help achieve optimal daily nutrition:
Greens First
, a powdered, great-tasting green food supplement that has the equivalent of 10
servings of veggies in one refreshing drink.
OR
Red Alert, which has the proven antioxidant power of 10 servings of
fruits and vegetables in a great tasting red Super Food powdered drink mix.
Both these taste great - good
enough that even your kids will enjoy them and ask for more! Better yet, try
adding a scoop of either of these to your
Super Shake
for a great meal replacement drink!
And here's a handy tip from Wellness Club member JoAnne, who dries out her empty
water bottles, adds a serving of GreensFirst and takes the bottles to work. For
a quick pick-me-up, she just adds water and shakes!
References
5 a day guide
http://www.5aday.gov/what/index.html
USDA
http://www.usda.gov
Veggies w/out Vitamins
http://www.soilandhealth.org/06clipfile/0601.LEMag/LE%20Magazine,%20March%202001%20-%20Report%20Vegetables%20Without%20Vitamins.htm
Drop in minerals concerns
organic community
http://www.newstarget.com/016626.html
Organic consumer
association
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ofgu/vegies121205.cfm
New Study Shows Decreasing Nutrient Value of Certain Fruits and Vegetables –
An Increasing Need for Multivitamin and Mineral Complex Supplements
http://www.prwebdirect.com/releases/2006/2/prweb340975.htm
Population Life Expectancy
http://www.geohive.com/charts/pop_lifespan.php
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