Where have all the minerals gone?
"When I was a boy growing up in the mid-west, my parents had a good-sized garden that I helped tend as I got older. The bulk of our daily meals came from that garden. We had a small compost area to return vital minerals and other nutrients back to the soil to become part of what we would be eating next harvest. Things are not quite like that anymore.
One of the major concerns to me is the condition of the soil from which our basic food chain begins. Of primary importance is the mineral content. See, plants such as vegetables, fruits and nuts absorb the minerals from the soil. Sunlight, clean air and water combine to create vitamins, amino and fatty acids. But, they do not 'make' minerals. Minerals must come from the soil.
The soil however, can become depleted of vital minerals within five to ten years, unless properly tilled or 'worked.' Fertilizers can be of value in supplying some minerals back to the soil. But sadly, for most of the last century commercial fertilizers have been used that provide only a few of the minerals required for good health. For at least the past sixty years only one type of fertilizer has been used extensively. It is the farming industry standard fertilizer, NPK. That stands for the minerals Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous. These three minerals help grow substantial size crops, but do not address the problem of the missing eighty-seven other essential minerals we need for good health and nutrition.
As the mega farms have grown, it has become less and less cost effective to add back trace minerals like zinc, copper, selenium and so on to the soil. Then, along came NPK to the rescue. Those minerals help to make sure the crops reach an acceptable size and weight. After all, the bottom line is profit...right? The farm business is a profit center and derives its income by the pound or bushel, not by the amount of trace minerals in the product.
As far back as 1936 our government has been aware of the seriousness of soil mineral depletion and its effect on our health. The research and studies used to testify to this situation were noted in United States Senate document number 264, which stated that due to the decline of minerals in our farm soil, "foods are starving us."
Furthermore, at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, statistics were released showing U.S. soil was eighty-five percent depleted. That was 19 years ago and it was the highest amount of soil depletion in the world. To the best of my study and searches nothing substantial has ever been done to reverse the depletion of soil trace minerals. In fact, current nutrition books and journals are still showing the exact same amount of mineral content in fruits and vegetables as in reference books from the early 1970s. It seems to me that with each new edition, the figures were just copied from the previous edition. The figures are exactly the same as forty plus years ago. In reality, I find that hard to be the truth.
So, now what do we do...where do we start? As Glenda said in the Wizard of Oz, "It's always best to start at the beginning." Obviously, the quality of the soil needs to be recharged. Twentieth century concepts generally don't work too well in the twenty-first century.
Additionally, there are newer problems adding to the soil depletion problem. Some of those are extremely dangerous pesticides, GMO foods, synthetic hormones added to our animal food base as well as increasing petroleum based products leaching into our little eco-sphere here on the planet.
Consider the word 'progress.' It was General Electric's key word in their advertising program following World War II..."Progress is our most important product." However, unbridled progress has a high price tag. It comes in the form of air and water pollution, increasing levels of daily stress, reduced nutritive value in the foods we eat and new diseases related to all of the above.
New medical technologies can do little to correct the problems arising from the so-called progress we are experiencing. At best, all they can do is treat the symptoms. My, things sure have changed over time." Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031648_minerals_nutrition.html#ixzz1We89hSvi
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Our Disappearing Minerals and Their Vital Health Role (Part 1)
"In modern times, we have disrupted the natural cycle of mineral replenishment by clear-cutting the forests and trees to make crop land, removing most of the waste and dead animals, and we have over-farmed virtually all of our soil without allowing time for micro-organisms to convert the remaining minerals into usable forms for plants. Thanks to the advent of petro-chemical fertilizers in 1908, we have mostly returned to the soil only petroleum derived nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus -- which produce lush growth but nutrient-poor plants.
To make matters worse, we have applied pesticides and herbicides that have killed off vital micro-organisms which help convert remaining soil minerals to usable forms.
Thanks to the extended use of fertilizers and "maximum yield" mass farming methods, the soil in the North American continent has had an average of 85% mineral depletion over the past 100 years -- the worst of any other country in the world.
The end result is that a bowl of spinach most of us eat today contains perhaps 1/8th the nutrition of the bowl our grandparents and great grandparents ate.
The role of minerals and human health is immense, yet seldom recognized. Two times Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling went so far as to state unequivocally "You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency."
Dr. Gary Price Todd echoed this sentiment when he stated, "The lack of minerals is the root of all disease."
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/023237_minerals_health_soil.html#ixzz1WeAkbW1g
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MINERAL NUTRIENT DEPLETION IN US FARMS AND RANGE SOILS CONCLUSION:
"Mineral nutrient depletion continues to be a problem in U.S. farm, forest and range soils. This depletion is caused by natural processes, such as weathering and erosion, particularly in the sensitive soils of the southeastern United States. More significantly, throughout the United States, human accelerated depletion is caused by the production of high yield crops and livestock grazing. Those activities cause nutrients to be removed and organic matter to be depleted from the soil's natural cycling system.
Moreover, when commercial growers attempt to replenish the soils of only some mineral nutrients by fertilization they may exacerbate mineral nutrient imbalances. While methods exist to replenish the soil of its mineral nutrients there is a relative lack of knowledge on how to identify all deficiencies and to fully correct them. In addition, the lack of an economic incentive to implement long term, soil-building solutions perpetuates the relative fragility and inconsistency of US soils' nutrient supplying power." From: http://www.canadianlongevity.net/misc/mineral_depletion.php By Michael Karr, Ph.D. ARCPACS Certified Professional Soil Scientist
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Low Quality Food Causes Cancer?
Revealed: Shocking Facts About Our Food
"What we found in our unofficial report is now official. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition has published new findings from University of Texas researchers showing diminished levels of six nutrients in vegetables and fruits.
According to the new report, levels of calcium, riboflavin, vitamin C, iron, potassium, and protein in vegetables and fruits have significantly declined since 1950. This finding holds up even after making numerous statistical adjustments to account for the losses. The report covers only a few common nutrients; potential declines in lesser-known nutrients like lycopene and zeaxanthin are unknown.
When asked about the apparent drain, commercial plant breeders refuse to comment, but clues have emerged as to why today's vegetables are not what they should be. It has to do with the way commercial growers do business.
From Food to Commodity
Tomatoes that resemble tennis balls, peppers that taste like small rocks, and big, red, flavorless strawberries are all a result of selective breeding for pith and water (pith is defined as the fibrous part of fruits and vegetables, such as the - netting around orange sections that is usually discarded).
Desirable traits for commercial growers who want produce to ship well, look good, and weigh a lot, but undesirable traits for consumers who buy produce as a source of nutrition. Plant jockeys call it the dilution effect — more water and pith, less vitamin content.
The transformation of vegetables from food to commodity is well illustrated by the one people love to hate: broccoli. Broccoli is a terrific source of calcium, especially for people who don't drink milk. But the most prized commercial version of broccoli is a heavy, calcium/magnesium-deficient hybrid called Marathon.
In research conducted by the US Department of Agriculture, Marathon is consistently about a third lower in calcium and magnesium than are other hybrids. And the hybrids themselves are about 50% lower in calcium than the broccoli listed in the 1998 USDA nutrient database. It has been reported that the calcium and magnesium content in commercially grown broccoli sold in grocery stores can vary twofold."
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On This Day:
USSR established, Dec 30, 1922:
"In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.
During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent three-year Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin dominated the soviet forces, a coalition of workers' and soldiers' committees that called for the establishment of a socialist state in the former Russian Empire. In the USSR, all levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party, and the party's politburo, with its increasingly powerful general secretary, effectively ruled the country. Soviet industry was owned and managed by the state, and agricultural land was divided into state-run collective farms.
In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world's most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics--Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved following the collapse of its communist government."
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Southern U.S. border established, Dec 30, 1853:
"James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, sign the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settled the dispute over the location of the Mexican border west of El Paso, Texas, and established the final boundaries of the southern United States. For the price of $15 million, later reduced to $10 million, the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona.
Jefferson Davis, the U.S. secretary of war under President Franklin Pierce, had sent Gadsden to negotiate with Santa Anna for the land, which was deemed by a group of political and industrial leaders to be a highly strategic location for the construction of the southern transcontinental railroad. In 1861, the "big four" leaders of western railroad construction--Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker--established the Southern Pacific branch of the Central Pacific Railroad."
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Yesterday:
Jay hooked up the 'new' TV in the corner of the living room. It works fine, but as I said I am never in my living room. I just walk through it from the hall to the kitchen, my bedroom, the computer, the screen porch, or the workshop. When I have company, the TV isn't on anyway. I turned on the electric log heater, at the bottom, but the flickering logs didn't show up in the picture.
I had to go back to my old grooming table, which is a hospital table that raises and lowers. But I was using it in the computer area. That meant re-doing the computer area all over again. We moved the left side table to the right, so at least I have one workspace for now. There is not enough room to have a store-bought computer desk, so we will make one.
My last remaining fiberglass kennel cage was in the workshop with stuff stored in and on it. I needed it for a 'doggie dryer', so we took it outside, hosed the saw dust off it, let it dry, and brought it in the grooming room.
Now, I was functional again, so Jay and his mother brought Maddie up here to be groomed. Little Yorkies like her don't take very long, especially as they want her coat to grow out. A little scissoring here and there, then trim up her face, feet and tail with the clippers. Cut her nails, spray some doggie cologne, and she is done.
So I used my new clippers for the first time yesterday.
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