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Misleading research on vitamins; Cynthia Mulrow one of the authors

A.B.

Senior Member
Messages
3,780
Messages
15,786
And never mind that a large chunk of the population produces inadequate levels of folate, or require additional B12 to produce sufficient levels of methionine. Or that vegans absolutely need to supplement vitamins, and likely some minerals as well.
 

Snowdrop

Rebel without a biscuit
Messages
2,933
And thanks to monoculture, our soils are depleted and the foods actually have fewer vitamins and minerals naturally than at any other time.

Yes. I sometimes wonder if there is any research happening along the lines of what nutritional value there is in current food yields.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
Yes, there is some research but not enough!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss

A landmark study on the topic by Donald Davis and his team of researchers from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry was published in December 2004 in theJournal of the American College of Nutrition. They studied U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional data from both 1950 and 1999 for 43 different vegetables and fruits, finding “reliable declines” in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the past half century. Davis and his colleagues chalk up this declining nutritional content to the preponderance of agricultural practices designed to improve traits (size, growth rate, pest resistance) other than nutrition.

“Efforts to breed new varieties of crops that provide greater yield, pest resistance and climate adaptability have allowed crops to grow bigger and more rapidly,” reported Davis, “but their ability to manufacture or uptake nutrients has not kept pace with their rapid growth.” There have likely been declines in other nutrients, too, he said, such as magnesium, zinc and vitamins B-6 and E, but they were not studied in 1950 and more research is needed to find out how much less we are getting of these key vitamins and minerals.