The Spinach Inquisition

[Hawk one]

Slightly related, this reminds me of something I did see on the news a few weeks back (I'll do the research a bit later, OK?)

Apparently, many vegetables have had a certain decline in how much of the good stuff (i.e. vitamins and minerals) they contain per kilogram.

However, it's not nowhere as scary as 99,4% decline, and the reasoning at least -seems- more plausible to me (as a complete layman): Said vegetables are simply growing faster and bigger than they used to do. And that means they get less time to for excample suck up minerals from the soil, and all that jazz.

Like I said, I'll try and check out this later, if anyone's interested to see if this story's got any truth in it.

 

[Mojo]

However, it's not nowhere as scary as 99,4% decline, and the reasoning at least -seems- more plausible to me (as a complete layman): Said vegetables are simply growing faster and bigger than they used to do. And that means they get less time to for excample suck up minerals from the soil, and all that jazz.

This was one of the things being discussed in the thread about organic foor I mentioned in the OP. It was suggested that organic vegetables may have more nutrients because organic farmers choose slower-growing varieties. Of course, this would mean that they aren't higher in nutrients because they're organic, but because they're slower growing.

 

[neil]

Likely spinach has not lost 99% of it's iron. Even a 90% loss is doubtful. There is a consensus that our food is less nutritious. Generous use of inorganic fertilizer could mean smaller root systems. Failure to rotate crops and leave the ground unplanted each 7th year has likely reduced the trace soil nutrients the plants can use. The variable unspecified amount of iron in commercial fertilizers may mostly be in compounds which most plants can't use. Someone claimed some humans do not retain any iron in the form of iron sulphate. They did not specify ferrous or ferric. Non perscription drugs and nutrients typically are poorly researched and double blind tests are very rare because of the high cost. Perhaps applicable to this discusion, several tons of iron compounds were once sprinkled in the ocean and the result was a large increase in algae = a one celled plant.
I try to eat a wide variety of foods, from a wide variety of sources and brands, and take much smaller than recommended doses of a wide variety of supplements. I avoid caffein, aspertain, alcohol, nicotine and other substances many people abuse. I cut way back on animal fat and eat mostly whole grains rather than refined and processed foods. I drink almost 3 liters of water most days. I rarely need perscription drugs and am reasonably healthy at age 73. Perhaps more important, I rarely get stressed over anything. Neil