Why Our Food Lacks Nutrients

There are many reasons why we need vitamins or supplements these days. For one are foods are processed differently than they used to be, that is, as in our ancestor’s time.

How are our foods losing nutrients? For one, our food today is often over processed. Nutrients are lost when foods are over processed through cooking, freezing and canning fresh food. Scientists say the nutritional value decreases dramatically. For example, canned meats and vegetables experience a 50% to 100% loss in vitamin A during sterilization. In one study, after one-and-a-half-years of storage, no trace of vitamin A remained. After three and five years of storage, the vitamin E content was 20 to 60% lower after canning.

Sterilization and storage also caused a 25% drop in thiamin and niacin content and a 50% decline in pantothenic acid. Interestingly, the folic acid content in all the products was 50% higher after sterilization.

Even if folic acid survives the canning process, which includes heatingm will likely destroy it, as subjecting many fresh, frozen and canned foods to high temperatures decreases the level of this important B vitamin.

In a study that included vegetable soup, cauliflower, beefsteak, and fish, none of the dishes retained any folic acid after cooking.

Cooking initiates a destructive process called the Maillard reaction, which alters the chemical profile of a food, especially milk products. At the beginning stages, as milk and milk-based products are heated, levels of the essential amino acid lysine fall dramatically. Later in the Maillard reaction, methionine and tryptophan are reduced along with vitamins B1, B6 and B12 and zinc. Researchers have suggested that consuming products subjected to the Maillard reaction plays an important role in aging.

Another reason food loses nutritional value is due to irradiation.

Food irradiation subjects foods to gamma rays from nuclear materials, electrons from electron guns, and x-rays. By 1988, irradiated foods were already being sold in more than twenty countries. Red meat, chicken, and vegetables have since appeared on the shelves of some U.S. supermarkets.

In theory, food irradiation can preserve foods, kill parasites and bacteria, inhibit sprouting, and delay ripening. There are, however, as many studies indicate, dangers of irradiated food. Irradiation of food decreases the content of antioxidants such as vitamins A, E, C, and K, probably due to the free radicals generated. Individuals who consume raw fruits and vegetables to derive the highest vitamin content possible will essentially be consuming the nutritional equivalent of a blanched or canned vegetable.

The gradually increased availability of irradiated food--much of it poorly labeled or disguised in meals offered in restaurants, airplanes, and schools--suggests that supplements may become even more necessary to replace nutrients depleted in the food supply or to guard against potential health risks.

So should you take vitamins or supplements – if you aren’t eating enough raw vegetables, it is most likely you do.

R. Fredriksen is the Vice President of Nutrition Dome, a leading provider of Jarrow Formulas, Pioneer Nutritional Forumulas, Lipodrene and other quality supplements. For more information, please visit www.nutritiondome.com.

Why Our Food Lacks Nutrients

There are many reasons why we need vitamins or supplements these days. For one are foods are processed differently than they used to be, that is, as in our ancestor’s time.

How are our foods losing nutrients? For one, our food today is often over processed. Nutrients are lost when foods are over processed through cooking, freezing and canning fresh food. Scientists say the nutritional value decreases dramatically. For example, canned meats and vegetables experience a 50% to 100% loss in vitamin A during sterilization. In one study, after one-and-a-half-years of storage, no trace of vitamin A remained. After three and five years of storage, the vitamin E content was 20 to 60% lower after canning.

Sterilization and storage also caused a 25% drop in thiamin and niacin content and a 50% decline in pantothenic acid. Interestingly, the folic acid content in all the products was 50% higher after sterilization.

Even if folic acid survives the canning process, which includes heatingm will likely destroy it, as subjecting many fresh, frozen and canned foods to high temperatures decreases the level of this important B vitamin.

In a study that included vegetable soup, cauliflower, beefsteak, and fish, none of the dishes retained any folic acid after cooking.

Cooking initiates a destructive process called the Maillard reaction, which alters the chemical profile of a food, especially milk products. At the beginning stages, as milk and milk-based products are heated, levels of the essential amino acid lysine fall dramatically. Later in the Maillard reaction, methionine and tryptophan are reduced along with vitamins B1, B6 and B12 and zinc. Researchers have suggested that consuming products subjected to the Maillard reaction plays an important role in aging.

Another reason food loses nutritional value is due to irradiation.

Food irradiation subjects foods to gamma rays from nuclear materials, electrons from electron guns, and x-rays. By 1988, irradiated foods were already being sold in more than twenty countries. Red meat, chicken, and vegetables have since appeared on the shelves of some U.S. supermarkets.

In theory, food irradiation can preserve foods, kill parasites and bacteria, inhibit sprouting, and delay ripening. There are, however, as many studies indicate, dangers of irradiated food. Irradiation of food decreases the content of antioxidants such as vitamins A, E, C, and K, probably due to the free radicals generated. Individuals who consume raw fruits and vegetables to derive the highest vitamin content possible will essentially be consuming the nutritional equivalent of a blanched or canned vegetable.

The gradually increased availability of irradiated food--much of it poorly labeled or disguised in meals offered in restaurants, airplanes, and schools--suggests that supplements may become even more necessary to replace nutrients depleted in the food supply or to guard against potential health risks.

So should you take vitamins or supplements – if you aren’t eating enough raw vegetables, it is most likely you do.

R. Fredriksen is the Vice President of Nutrition Dome, a leading provider of Jarrow Formulas, Pioneer Nutritional Forumulas, Lipodrene and other quality supplements. For more information, please visit www.nutritiondome.com.

The Many Uses of Tea Tree Oil

If you haven’t heard of Tea Tree Oil, you are missing out. It has so many benefits that it is a must have for your home medicine chest.

What is Tea Tree Oil? Basically, it is an oil obtained by steam distillation of the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a plant native to Australia.

Historically, the leaves were used as a substitute for tea, which is how tea tree oil got its name. The part used medicinally is the oil from the leaves.

The Tea Tree has a long history of traditional use. Australian aboriginals used Tea Tree leaves for healing skin cuts, burns, and infections by crushing the leaves and applying them to the affected area. The oils work as an antiseptic and antifungal due to terpenoids found naturally within the oil.


R. Fredriksen is the Vice President of Nutrition Dome, a leading provider of Jarrow Formulas, Pioneer Nutritional Forumulas, Lipodrene and other quality supplements. For more information, please visit www.nutritiondome.com.
The first to recognize the unique qualities of the essential oil was a government chemist from Sydney, A. R. Penfold. In 1925 he announced the results of laboratory experiments that showed the oil was twelve times stronger than phenol (carbolic acid) which was then the universal standard for antiseptic substances. This led to further research and to the increasing use of the oil in medicine, dentistry and as a home remedy.

In 1930 a report in the Medical Journal of Australia' commented on its non- toxicity and lack of irritancy. The report noted enthusiastically that tea-tree oil dissolved pus and left the surfaces of infected wounds clean so that its germicidal action became more effective and without any apparent damage to the tissues. ‘Dirty wounds, such as are frequently seen as the result of street accidents, may be washed or syringed out with a 10% watery lotion; the solvent properties will loosen and bring away the dirt which is usually ground in ... healing will readily take place.'

In 1936 the same journal reported a very bad case of diabetic gangrene successfully treated with tea-tree oil. In 1937 it was pointed out that one of the outstanding features of the oil is that the presence of blood, pus or other organic matter actually increases the oil's antiseptic powers by some 10 to 12 per cent.

During the Second World War tea-tree oil was issued in first aid kits to army and navy units in the tropical regions. At one point demand so outstripped supply that synthetic antiseptics had to be substituted. This, coupled with the fervent post-war interest in antibiotic drugs, led to a decline of interest in tea-tree, which persisted right up to the 1970s.

So what are the complete benefits of Tea Tree Oil? Most notoriously, people have used it for the following conditions:

* Acne
* Athlete's foot
* Dandruff
* Vaginitis
* Thrush
* Periodontal disease
* As an antiseptic
* Boils
* Lice
* Eczema
* Psoriasis
* Yeast infection

There is dispute over whether Tea Tree Oil can be taken internally. Most packaging recommends against it, others claim in reasonable amounts it has various benefits. But taking it internally should only be by the advice of a professional.

So now you have heard of Tea Tree Oil. What are you waiting for, find some for your medicine chest.

Why We Need Supplements

Many of us think that if we eat healthy enough, we will get enough nutrients to protect ourselves from disease. The fact is, eighty percent of American children and adolescents, and 68% of adults, do not eat the recommended five portions of fruits and vegetables a day.

And what about the remaining 32% of the population, are they really receiving adequate nutrients from diet alone? Research indicates the answer to this question is a resounding no. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, while necessary for good health, may offer a false sense of security. Furthermore, in some cases, the food we consume and the water we drink are more a cause for concern than a source of nutrition, endangering rather than benefiting our health.

These facts suggest we need to look beyond our diet to obtain sufficient supplies of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

So how is it we have to take vitamins when our ancestors lived quite fine without them? The fact is that the soil in which our food is grown isn’t quite the same as it used to be. For instance, selenium, washed out from the upper layers of the soil during the ice ages, is deficient in most soils worldwide. Zinc, too, may be depleted in many soils. Dwarfism in males is frequent around the Mediterranean, where wheat, grown for 4,000 years on the same soil, has exhausted the zinc content.

Many epidemiological studies have focused on the role mineral-deficient soil plays in disease. The incidence of death from ischaemic heart disease and acute cardiac arrhythmias is increased in many regions where magnesium and/or selenium levels are reduced in soil and water. In Serbias Zlatibor district, a region with higher selenium soil content, residents have lower mortality rates from cancer and cardiovascular diseases and higher serum selenium and magnesium values compared with other Serbian regions. In Poland, the number of deaths from digestive tract and respiratory system malignancies was nearly threefold higher (27.67%) in one community with low magnesium soil content compared to a community with high magnesium soil content, where only 9.87% of deaths resulted from malignancies.

In the United States, Texas has one of the highest selenium concentrations, Florida one of the lowest. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Connecticut and Maryland also have low selenium soil content, while California is in the mid-range. Levels of selenium in test subjects from 11 states corresponded with levels in the soil.

Researchers have determined that the cancer mortality rate rises in US counties with low levels of forage selenium. The lower the level of selenium in a county, the higher the rates of death from cancers of the lung, rectum, bladder, esophagus, cervix and breast. According to the researchers, this remarkable degree of consistency strengthens the likelihood of a causal relationship between low selenium status and an increased risk of cancer mortality.

Another consideration in deciding whether we are getting enough vitamins and nutrients from our foods is to recognize whether the diet truly provides adequate amounts of each form of a particular vitamin. For instance, all of the different forms of vitamin E (tocopherols, tocotrienols) play important roles in the body, but are not found in every food that contains vitamin E. Depending on variety, the gamma-tocopherol content of pumpkin seeds is about 5-10 times as much as that of alpha-tocopherol.

Often, in order to obtain an effective dose of a certain nutrient, the required quantity is far more than even the healthiest eater probably wants to consume. A good example is indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and its metabolite diindolylmethane (DIM). I3C is a phytonutrient derived from cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts). I3C and DIM have been shown to inhibit breast, cervical-vaginal, and skin cancer. In order to eat enough cruciferous vegetables to achieve beneficial effects, a pound or more of cabbage or cauliflower daily would have to be consumed. Furthermore, the concentration of I3C varies greatly depending on the seed strain, climate and soil. Cabbage grown in Israel, for instance, has been found to contain virtually no I3C.

There are other considerations that factor into why we don’t get enough nutrients in our diet such as over cooking foods and irradiation. The fact is, things aren’t the same as when our ancestors farmed the land and our food isn’t as pure. So do eat your brussel sprouts but also remember to take your vitamins.

R. Fredriksen is the Vice President of Nutrition Dome, a leading provider of Jarrow Formulas, Pioneer Nutritional Forumulas, Lipodrene and other quality supplements. For more information, please visit www.nutritiondome.com.