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Fruits and Veggies Lower Death Rate 42% and Make Local Jobs

5/31/2014

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This story was originally published at OptimisticFuturist.org

There are three surprising facts about food that almost no one knows - and they absolutely impact the life expectancy and health of you and yours.  
Start with this:  people who ate seven portions of fruits or vegetables every day have a 42% lower death rate than those who ate just 4 or fewer servings according to british researchers who studied 65,000 people over 7 years.[1]  The Centers for Disease Control studies show that only 11% of Americans eat that many![2]  
 
The second interesting fact is that today's fruits and veggies are missing a lot of vitamins and minerals those same crops had 50 years ago. A woman eating a peach in 1951 got around 25 times more vitamin A than she would eating a modern peach!
[4]  One 2004 study done at the University of Texas found that there were "reliable declines" in "protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, B2, and vitamin C" when crops grown in 1950 were compared to those grown in 1999. [3]
 
This decline seems particularly strong in something called phytochemicals (also called phytonutrients). These substances occur naturally in food and give it color.[5]   Very important to human health, phytochemicals fight prostate cancer, cataracts, macular degeneration, asthma, heart disease and a host of other awfuls. There are less of them now.
[6]
 
Researchers theorized that these reductions in health supporting ingredients were due to creation of plant breeds developed for fast growth, storage during shipping, pest resistance, and size of product, all of which sacrificed nutritional content.[7]
 
The third fact is that from the time the food is picked until the time it is eaten, a lot of the nutrition vanishes. [11]The vitamin C in spinach is reduced by three quarters when refrigerated for 7 days, for example.
 
For supermarket "fresh" vegetables, the average distance traveled is around 1500 miles, [8] and the time from farm to fork in the United States is 14 days! [9]Add to that the fact that around 40% of all fruits and vegetable we eat are imported from other countries with the chance of even longer travel time.[10]
 
You can shape the future now.
 
Start to help both your family and your community by increasing the number of servings of fruits and vegetables up to the recommended 7 per day.   Slice some bananas or apples into the cereal, add some chopped greens into the morning omelet....It is just not that hard.   Pack some carrots with school lunches, and some fresh fruit. For dinner, adding broccoli or sweet potato alongside the meat, and set a salad along side, and you are there. Our family life expectancy would soar.
 
We would move away from being the country with the 42nd life expectancy in the world (behind Japan #3, or Sweden #12, France #15 or Ireland #27). [12]
 
As you plant the spring garden, buy older strains of fruits and vegetables, grown from "heirloom" seeds.   While they don't travel or store as well as modern hybrids, they are a lot healthier.
 
You could get your food from something called Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA. These small local food producers run their own agricultural business - which is to grow food for specific named customers who contract ahead to buy frequent (often weekly) shipments of food when it is at optimal nutritional content.    The customer knows who grew their food, where, and the exact breed, and how much if any chemicals and pesticides are used. The nutritional content of the food can easily be double that of the supermarket because of varieties planted, and time from farm to fork.
 
You can locate local food producers by going to www.localharvest.org, which will show you area local farmers on a map, and introduce you to CSA's who want your business. In North Carolina, you can go to the Center for Environmental Farming Systems site at www.cefs.ncsu.edu for help locating a source of healthy food.
 
We can lengthen lives, save money, create jobs, and become less dependent on the behavior of other nations.   As you lay awake at night fretting about the world we are going to hand our children and grandchildren, you can at least plan to set your table with food that not only brings comfort, but health. Will you step to the plate? 
   

[1] "Eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day to lower death" - http://medicalnewstoday.com/articles/274841.php
[2] http://www.cncahealth.com/explore/learn/nutrition-food/declining-nutrition-of-fruits-and-vegetables#.UzsWP1faHKd
[3] Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious? Scientific American April 27, 2011
[4] http://mannatechscience.org/files/file/Farm_to_Table.pdf
[5] http://www.webmd.com/diet/phytonutrients-faq
[6] http://www.ars.usda.gov/aboutus/docs.htm?docid=4142
[7] Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious? Scientific American April 27, 2011
[8] http://source.southuniversity.edu/farm-to-table-and-the-local-food-movement-49961.aspx
[9] http://resourcespotlight.farmaid.org/2014/01/from-farm-to-fork-the-journey-of-food/
[10] http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/healthy-farmland-diet.pdf, page 6 and
[11] http://www.healwithfood.org/nutritional-differences/frozen-fresh-vegetables.php
[12] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html


http://theoptimisticfuturist.org/

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How our food policy is increasing disease, and what to do about it

5/19/2014

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This article was originally published at www.TheOptimisticFuturist.org

As I scan the trends that will shape our future, several  pose unique moral issues which create a tension between some definitions of "progress".  These issues   challenge us to examine basic assumptions about the society we have created and what kind we want in the future.  

In the healthcare arena, doctors are pointing us toward some statistics which show several unusual epidemics are underway.  Our current path is not sustainable. 

When one hears the word "epidemic", one often thinks of a communicable disease, like measles, polio, HIV or cholera.   People get sick because they connect to a germ that takes root in their bodies.  When re sick, they pass the disease germs along to others.  We eliminate these diseases by quarantining the patient, widespread vaccination, etc.

There is another definition of epidemic - when a disease is spreading rapidly through the society, but not by spreading germs to one another.  Examples include obesity (up 200% since 1990[1]), autism (up 600% over the last 20 years[2]), diabetes (up 400% since 1980[3], expected to double again by 2025[4]). These are all very expensive epidemics.   These diseases are growing not because of contact with germs, but because some underlying circumstance has changed.  

Part of the cause of these explosions in illness can be traced to changes in our food supply - which we can fix if we have the political will.

It used to be that cattle grazed on pastures eating grass, which has a lot of good nutrients in it.  The meat fed our families incorporated  that good stuff, and increased human health.  

Over the years, farmers realized that cattle would grow faster, and more profitably, if they ate grass for nine or ten months, and then were penned up for the last three or four months of their life.  During this time the cows were fed  (pay attention - this is important) 95% of their diet grains like corn and soy instead of grass.[5]  This process started around the late 1970's, and became know as "concentrated animal feeding operations". .   They gained even more weight, faster, and more profitably.

Some very important nutrients are lost when cows are fed grain instead of grass.   The bottom line is that our meat production system is contributing to the epidemics.

Look at these four charts with particular attention to the period after 1980:   
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
What has changed is something called the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.  Think of it like the amount of salt and pepper you put on a steak.   Too much of one or the other is not a good thing - you want the right proportions.

   

Omega-3s are special kinds of fats that are helpful to you.   The list of good things they do is astonishing:  lower cholesterol, moderate sympoms of autism, reduce rheumatoid arthritis, reduce depression, reduce ADHD in some people, and protect against Alzheimer's and dementia.[6].In addition, they are thought to reduce inflammation, increase brain activity, and protect against stroke.[7]    Omega 6s, on the other hand, is good for you only up to some point, after which it is harmful.  The key to a healthy diet is for you to eat one "6" for every one "3"[8].

 

Our modern America diet contains around 16 "6's" for every "3"![9]    

Corn and soy help the cow create a lot of omega-6, and very little omega-3.  Corn and soy fed  beef has a ratio of 14 omega-6 for every one omega-3.   Grass-fed beef has a ratio of 2:1 - much better for you.[10] 

So here is the dilemma:  If we use "modern" methods to raise meat, we contribute to a decline in public health.    

This plays out in public policy.  Under current law , farmers who raise corn and soy will get federal subsidies of around 45 billion dollars over the next 10 years.[11]  Farmers who raise grass-fed beef get nothing.  So taxpayers are subsidizing a food system that increases illness.

 Solving this problem will not be easy, because it lives in the zone were "profit" and "common good" collide.   Perhaps those favoring lowering healthcare costs can share a cup of coffee with those trying to lower taxes, and find common ground.   It is a place to start.

 

You can help your own family by reducing the amount of omega-6 they eat.  The main culprit is soybean and corn oil, often used in salad dressing and baked goods, as well as most "junk food".[12]  Cut back on those, and you will make your family healthier.   

To see the sources of facts used in this article, and learn of other successful money and life saving programs that can be implemented locally to create a better future for our country, go to www.TheOptimisticFuturist.org 


[1] http://www.americashealthrankings.org/all/obesity

[2] http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2010/10/22/got-questions-answers-to-your-questions-from-the-autism-speaks%E2%80%99-science-staff-2/

[3] http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/images/2011/new-cases-diabetes-adults-chart.gif

[4] http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=502&action=detail&ref=22

[5] http://www.factory-farming.com/beef_production.html

[6] http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/omega-3-fatty-acids-fact-sheet

[7] http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/omega-3/

[8] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909

[9] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909

[10] http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/grass-fed-vs-feedlot-beef-difference.html

[11] http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/farm-bill-why-dont-taxpayers-subsidize-the-foods-that-are-better-for-us/2014/02/14/d7642a3c-9434-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html

[12] http://authoritynutrition.com/optimize-omega-6-omega-3-ratio/

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