Be a King

“He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, & fears is more than a king.” — John Milton

Part 2 — The State of our Food Supply

Part 2 — What is Happening to Our Food Supply?

To understand where we are with our Food Supply, we need to visit the diets of our ancestors. The Human genetic constitution has changed relatively little through the years. However, what we eat and how we work have changed dramatically. Compared to post-agricultural people, hunter-gatherer societies consumed larger amounts of a greater variety of low-glycemic, high-quality, nutrient-dense foods. These foods provided a wide variety of nutrients required for health. For the most part their foods were nutrient dense because the foods grew in mineral rich soils & there were no losses from cooking or processing. Roots, beans, nuts, tubers, and fruits were the most common dietary constituents, but others, ranging from flowers to edible gums to edible mushrooms, were occasionally consumed. Variety was the key. This diet provided a variety of phytochemicals and large amounts of vitamins and minerals. In fact, our pre-agricultural ancestors would have consumed most vitamins and minerals in much greater quantities than the current recommended dietary allowances. Of course they also worked harder to find their foods then we do today – there were no grocery stores!

Once people settled into agricultural-based lives, they became dependent on just a few food staples, such as potatoes, rice and wheat. It is virtually impossible to get enough nutrition by eating the same few foods. In the transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer, we lost one key to good nutrition—variety. The difficulty of hunting and gathering food experienced by early humans required many more calories to sustain life. Thus necessitating both a nutrient and fiber intake considerably in excess of what’s common today. Our lifestyles are more sedentary. The less energy we expend, the less we need fuel in the form of calories. And the less we eat, the fewer nutrients our bodies have. It is estimated that pre-agricultural humans consumed roughly three times the vegetables and fruits that typical Westerners do today. Consequently, they would have had an intake of most vitamins and minerals much in excess of currently recommended dietary intake.

The foods we eat are different in character from the foods eaten by our ancestors. While they ate foods fresh and often uncooked, in order to feed larger and larger populations, we have resorted to mass-produced food that is held longer periods of time before consumption. Preservatives are added so that foods can be kept for longer periods of time. Food is highly processed, removing many of the important nutrients our bodies require. For example note the following charts:

Ramberg J. & McAnalley B., “From Farm to the Kitchen Table: A Review of Nutrient Losses in Foods” GlycoScience & Nutrition. 2002; 3(5) 1-12.

Souci, S.W., et al., Food Composition and Nutrition Tables. CRC Press, 2000.

To the processing loss we add the following practice:

• Green Harvest – picking produce before it’s ripe, leaving essential nutrients on the vine.

• The average fruit is picked 10-40 days early, before it is shipped to market for longer shelf life.

• Many nutrients do not develop until the last 24 to 36 hours on the vine.

Dr. Willens, “Redefining Wellness”

We have to conclude that Fruits, Veggies are Not as Nutrient-Rich as in Past. Larger Fruits and Vegetables Mean More Plentiful supplies but Less Potent Bounty. Note the following:

ABC News March 1, 2006 By MEGAN CARPENTER

Fruits and veggies aren’t what they used to be, new data suggests. of the 13 major nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, six have declined substantially, according to a study by Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas at Austin.

Using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Davis concludes that recently grown crops have shown decreases of up to 38 percent in protein, calcium, vitamin C, phosphorus, iron and riboflavin when compared with produce from past decades.

In fact, according to the 1992 Earth Summit Soil Mineral Depletion Analysis, the United States has the worst soil in the world – 85% mineral depleted.

Jeff Cronin, at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said scientists and the USDA often overlook farming practices. “Breeding plants to improve crop yield at the expense of all other things seems to be the problem, as well as depleting soil and not rotating crops properly,”

Another factor in our food supply today is found in this article “The Food, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Glenn Scherer In a warmed world, even food won’t be as good for you.

A particularly disturbing study suggests that the mechanisms of CO2 nutrient depletion may already be causing a decline in the quality of our food supply. Josep Penuelas of the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications in Barcelona, Spain, compared historical plant samples grown at pre-industrial levels of atmospheric CO2 with modern equivalents. He found that today’s plants had the lowest levels of calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, and zinc than at any time in the last three centuries.

Considering what is currently known about nutrition, a “well-balanced diet” sounds like just one more urban myth. We must pay close attention to the quality and quantity of the food and food supplements we consume.

Much of this information is gleaned from the book “Choices” by Thomas H. Gardiner, Ph.D ; Eileen Vennum, RAC ; Shayne McAnalley ; Bill H. McAnalley, PhD & the many sources that they researched.

In part 3 we will begin to explore the answers.

Laughter

“Laughter is an instant vacation.” — Melton Berle

People Builders

“The most powerful & predictable people builder’s are praise & encouragement.” — Brian Tracy

Help Others without Riches

“The greatest good you can do for others is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.” — Benjamin Disraeli

Gift to Others

“Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.” — Jim Rohn

Nutrition — the Last Natural Physician

This is the 1^st of several on a huge subject of Nutrition. I call it a huge subject because there are many different opinions about what is best, it is also a field that is changing rapidly as the quality of our food supply is changing – we will look at that thought in more detail.

A New Car comes with an owner’s manual!!! In this manual you learn the proper gas, oil, filters to be used in the regular up keep of the car. Which is more important your body or your car? Sometimes we think that our body has come without an owners manual. I’d like to suggest that we do have an owners manual that was given at Creation & that the original diet given to man by his Creator gives us a good clue as to what will keep our bodies in Optimum Health. Genesis 1:29 shows that the original diet contain fruits, grains, nuts. After sin entered the world & man must now labor to get enough to eat, growing vegetables by the sweat of his brow became mans lot (Genesis 3:18,19). At the time of the flood Noah was instructed to take 7 pairs of the clean animals & 1 pair of the unclean into the ark. Later the clean animals were defined as those that could be used for food. Today the FDA defines the food groups in the following way.

There are 6 basic Food Classes as pictured in the food pyramid:

**Protein = the building blocks of the body

**Fat = stored energy, flavors, needed in cell walls

**Carbohydrates = available energy, fiber

**Vitamins = important to metabolism; occurs in small amounts

**Minerals = inorganic chemicals many of which are necessary for life

**Fibers = non-digestible carbohydrates; provides bulk

FDA food pyramid as it used to be.

The broad base is rich in fiber, as well as vitamins & minerals although they are featured in the 2^nd level. Usually found in whole grains, vegetables, fruits – often thought of as only breads, cereals, & pastas as pictured here. This layer represents the amount of servings needed to get the optimum number of carbohydrates & fiber needed by the body. Since it is on the bottom this should be the largest contributor to our diet.

The 2^nd layer up has Fruits on the right & Vegetables on the left. Years ago 3-5 servings per day is what used to be recommended (currently this is different – we’ll look at that in the next article). This is also where the greatest amount of the vitamins & minerals are found.

Moving up the pyramid the next smaller section, or the 3^rd layer is for Proteins. Legumes (Beans, lentils, soy beans, tofu), dairy products are also included here. If you must eat meat for a balanced diet, eat only the clean meats, which we will talk more about later.   All protein foods should be eaten in moderation.

Finally, the tip represents the fats & sweets that are a part of most diets & we should eat sparingly.  Nuts & seeds are good sources of good fats for our bodies.  Butter, cheese & sweets should especially be used very sparingly.   Most of us get way too much in the sweet category!!

We need some nutrients from each group to meet the needs of our body.  No one food contains everything so we need to eat some of each.

God wants us to live happy, healthy for a long time. So He has provided everything we need.

Life

“You don’t get in life what you want. You get what you are.” — Les Brown