Our Fruit and Vegetable Supply

In 1936, a group of doctors sounded an alarm to the US Senate. It was a dire warning that the mineral content of the soil was eroding. Vegetables were losing their power and people were at risk. Congress did nothing and today we're feeling the effects.

Just look at the loss of vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables today compared to 1975.
Apples: vitamin A is down 41%
Sweet peppers: vitamin C is down 31%
Watercress: iron is down 88%
Broccoli: calcium and vitamin A are down 50%
Cauliflower: vitamin C is down 45%; vitamin B1 is down 48%; and vitamin B2 is down 47%
Collards greens: vitamin A is down 45%; potassium is down 60%; and magnesium is down 85%

These are the USDA's own numbers. The vitamin and mineral content of our fruits and vegetables has dramatically plummeted - in just 34 years!

Notice that minerals like iron and magnesium have dropped by more than 80 percent. That's from commercial farming and powerful fertilizers that practically sterilize the soil - leaving it with little to no mineral content.

If the soil doesn't have minerals, there's no way for vegetables to absorb them. And that leads to the big question…

How Can We Get the Vitamins and Minerals We Need?
It is important to purchase as many organics as you possibly can. This doesn't just mean USDA certified organic but the small local farmer in your area that you can trust when they tell you they do not add synthetic fertilizers or dangerous pesticides. Studies show that organic produce carries at least 50% more vitamins and minerals than that of conventional.

Another great way to get an abundance of nutrients is from spirulina, a "green food" with the nutritional power of 1,000 pounds of assorted vegetables! It's the oldest food on earth, arriving on this planet over 3.5 billion years ago.

Spirulina is a kind of blue-green algae. After 30 years of clinical study, researchers agree it's the world's richest source of vitamins, minerals, iron, protein and a host of other energizing and detoxifying nutrients.

It's so powerful in fact, that scientists at NASA consider it the perfect food for astronauts when they travel into space.

So don't rely on commercially grown fruits and vegetables alone. Start taking a green food supplement with spirulina to ensure you're getting all the nutrients your body needs.

Kombu
This powerful sea vegetable is a valuable mineral booster as well as gas reducer and the secret ingredient in speeding up the cooking process of your beans! I advise my clients to simmer a strip of kombu in a cup of chicken or vegetable broth for an additional mineral booster. Add to your soups, stews and chilis. Move over Beano, we have Kombu!

Spriulina The Ultimate Multi Vitamin!

There are over forty thousand–yes, someone has actually counted them–types of single-celled microalgae which need only a drop of water and a sunbeam to make them prosper. But among those forty thousand varieties of little water-loving organisms, one species is clearly making the largest nutritional splash.

Weighing in at an impressive 60% protein content, Spirulina is a fresh water algae–more specifically, a form of bacteria–which rivals both red meat, at 27%, and soy, at 34%, on the ropes in terms of muscle-building potential. While soy is a good source of protein, it is not without its problems so spirulina is perfect for the vegetarian! And it brings with it, along with all that protein, a powerful combination of minerals, including iron, calcium, and magnesium, with a backup punch of all the vitamins to which the first five letters of the alphabet have been assigned. If only Spirulina were bigger; it might have been able to fit all the vitamins in. But a single Spirulina alga measures approximately .0196850394 inches in length.

If Spirulina wanted to get bigger, however, it probably could. How? By eating its relatives. The Chinese add Spirulina to the diets of commercially produced poultry and livestock to increase their growth rates.

Another growth rate which has definitely increased because of Spirulina is that of the Spirulina commercialization industry, which began with annual harvests of around one hundred tons in the 1970s. By the year 2020, according to BioNat.net, worldwide Spirulina production is expected to reach 220,000 tons.

The most avid believers in the health benefits of Spirulina are the Japanese, who both produce and consume more of it than anyone else. Some Japanese researchers claim that Spirulina, because of the high concentration of its nutrients, is useful in helping diabetics control their food cravings and decrease their insulin intake.

And, when France started its research on Spirulina in the 1970s, global scientists were looking at it as the inexpensive answer to the ages-old question of how to feed a protein-starved Third World.

Today commercially produced Spirulina powders and pills sell at health food stores for the equivalent of about $50 per pound, or some ten times what it costs to grow and harvest. The Third World is still waiting.

Spirulina Contains
vitamin A, B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cobalamin), vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, folate, vitamin K, biotin, pantothenic acid, beta carotene (source of vitamin A), inositol.

calcium, manganese, iron, chromium, phosphorus, molybdenum, iodine, chloride, magnesium, sodium, zinc, potassium, selenium, germanium, copper, boron.
phycocyanin, chlorophyll, carotenoids.

myxoxanthophyll, zeaxanthin, cryptoxanthin, echinenone and other xanthophylls.gamma linolenic acid, glycolipids, sulfolipids, polysaccharides.

isoleucine, phenylalanine, leucine, threonine, lysine, tryptophan, methionine, valine, alanine, glycine, arginine, histidine, aspartic acid, proline, cystine, serine, glutamic acid, tyrosine.

As always, purchase clean safely farmed spirulina at your local health food store.