Depleted soil: Another reason to supplement your nutrition.

How many times do I hear people say that you can get everything you need from the food you eat? I agree to a point but let’s be honest, did you eat 10 servings of brightly coloured fruits and vegetables yesterday or today? Were they as nutritious as you thought? Were they grown on fertile soil, picked when ripe and eaten raw or cooked properly shortly after being harvested or were they grown on depleted soil, picked green and artificially ripened, stored for an extended period while being transported over great distances and then have the water soluble nutrients boiled out of them?

The oral environment is a harsh place. In order to maintain optimal dental health, your body’s defense system needs optimum nutrition. Of all the factors mentioned above, probably depleted soil is the least understood. Let me give you a brief explanation that you will be able to remember.

Does anyone remember Timothy McVeigh? Yes, he is the one who blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City killing many people. What did he use? A truck load of fertilizer. Why am I telling you this? Because it highlights the beginning of the depleted soil story.

In the early part of the twentieth century, farmers used to rotate crops. They also mulched, composted and spread manure on their fields to nourish them. After the Second World War, there was no longer a need for explosives made from nitrogen and phosphorus. What were we to do with this military surplus? Lo and behold, they found that feeding plants a blend of three minerals, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) provided healthy looking plants and colourful fruit. So started the NPK fertilizer revolution to use up the surplus from explosives production. So what’s the catch?

It seems that like our own bodies, the plant also needs a host of other minerals like calcium, magnesium, sulphur, chlorine, boron, silenium and other micronutrients. Each year at harvest time, the plants would give up micronutrients in their fruits and vegetables and would get fertilized with only NPK in return. Eventually, the soil is depleted of these other minerals so that a green pepper or carrot today, while it may look good, isn't as nourishing as one grown 70 years ago.

I hope this simple explanation of depleted soil gives you a better perspective on the question of whether you can get everything you need from the food you eat. Why take a chance with your heath? I encourage you insure your nutrition by taking the highest quality, complete and balanced nutritional supplement you can afford. You can find a couple suggestions at the bottom of the “Products” page of our web site if you need them, or e-mail us for help. Here is the link www.dentalhealth.ca/pages/products.html

You are what you eat!

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P.S. My daughter, Briana, has started a very informative and entertaining blog on nutrition. It is called The Naked Label where she undresses food labels to see what really lies inside. I encourage you to visit and sign up. www.thenakedlabel.com