The Food Timeline And Your Health by Paula Stone

A lot of people who struggle with their weight and have cravings they can’t control are really starving for nutrients, minerals, and plant enzymes they are not getting from food.

According to many doctors all of us are supposed to get most of the nutrients we need from the food we eat. They also maintain that taking vitamins and supplements is unnecessary for good health.

Which sounds plausible until you discover that doctors don’t study nutrition. Some take one class in all their years of medical school. Most don’t take any classes in nutrition.

But then in my own studies about nutrition and healthy eating I discovered some things that we all need to know.

Distance, cultivation and processing all take nutrients from the food you eat.

I learned something at a class at my local county agricultural extension office that that really shocked me. Did you know that fruits and vegetables lose about Ѕ of their vitamins and plant enzymes within just 6 hours after they are picked?

In fact people who are unaccustomed to fresh fruits and vegetables will get upset stomachs from plant enzymes until their bodies adjust.

Much of what Americans eat travels many thousands of miles, often Ѕ way around the world before it gets to your grocer.

But there is another aspect to good nutrition.

We need minerals for good health, too.

Most farmers put 3 types of fertilizer (minerals) on plants, phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium.

Plants actually need 16 different minerals for healthy growth according to the North Carolina Master Gardener Training Manual.

But soils that have been cultivated for many years have been gradually depleted of essential minerals that are now missing from food. Foods actually had more minerals 30 years ago than they do now.

The next part of good nutrition is processing. Each process foods go through takes out nutrients. Canned foods are cooked before canning and then cooked again before they get to your table. Each time you cook a fruit or vegetable you lose more nutrients.

Foods that are refined like sugar and white flour have all the fiber and most of the nutrients removed. I don’t even bother to eat them.

Some foods are irradiated to kill germs. No vitamins or plant enzymes survive the process. Fats, minerals and protein survive but in an altered state that may or may not be safe to eat.

Many fast food and convenience meals have very few nutrients and only fill your stomach.

If you want to get good nutrition you really only have three alternatives.

1. You can grow some of your own food.

2. You can buy food from local growers that you find through your local county extension office.

3. You can take some good supplements at times when you can’t get fresh, local foods.

Ironically, many people who are overweight and unhealthy are also technically starving for nutrients. Look around and find better food.