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<br />Source: <a href="https://www.onlinemastersinpublichealth.com/">Online Masters In Public Health</a></br>

Breeding the nutrition out of food

Our foods have lost many of the illness-fighting properties they once had. That’s where the nutriterians come in.

Vegetarians= don’t eat meat.

Vegans= don’t eat animal derived products.

Flexitarians= eat some meat.

Pescatarians= eat seafood but not other meats.

Raw foodists= don’t eat cooked food.

Nutriterians=choose foods based on their nutrient content, particularly phytonutrients.

–Phytonutrients–[1]

Compounds in our foods with the potential to reduce chances of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia.

To put that into perspective:

That’s four of the top seven leading causes of death[2]

(1) Cardiovascular disease

(2) Cancer

(6) Alzheimer’s

(7) Diabetes

[if you want to highlight these against the entire list. Missing runs (3)lower respiratory disease;(4) Stroke;(5)Accidents;(8)nephritis;(9)Influenze and Pnumonia; (10)Suicide]

That we can prevent.

Not through rocket science.

Or invasive surgeries.

Or crazy exercise or dieting.

Just by eating well.

In the past, people didn’t live as long.

But they also didn’t die as regularly of degenerative illnesses. [comment# a background of over the top Eden like/peaceful native american scenes would be a nice touch to begin this story of the decline of phytonutrients.]

The problem: our supermarkets don’t stock phytonutrient-rich food. In fact, we don’t even farm many of the foods at all.

10,000 years ago foraging for food was common.

Over time we’ve weeded out varients that don’t taste good. Leaving us with sweet but phytonutrient-poor foods.

We’ve literally bred the nutrients out of our foods.

Case study: corn

Teosinte: 2% sugar, 30% protein. Hard to eat, only 4-5 kernals in a hard shell.[3][1]

Natural/heirloom varieties:

[mg’s of phytonutrients per 100 grams of dried product]

Blue corn: 99.5

Purple corn: 93.2

Red:85.2

Canned/in stores

Yellow: 70.2

White/sweet: 1.54

Case study: apples

[number is total milligrams of phylonutrients per liter of juice]

Natural varieties:

Sikkim crab apple: 7,181

Siberian crab apple: 4,606

Cultivated:

Gala: 210

Granny smith: 205

Fuji: 142

Red Delicious: 108

Golden Delicious: 71

Ginger Gold: 15

Phytonutrient-rich plants are usually sour, astringant, or bitter tasting. Leading to decreased consumption over time.

How to spot a phytonutrient:

———————————————–

By color: [4]

It’s common knowledge. But 8/10 Americans don’t eat enough “color.”[6]

This is why you should “eat the rainbow.”

Carotenoids: red, yellow, orange

–Antioxidents

Ellagic Acid: reds to purple: strawberries, raspberries, pomegranetes

–Cancer fighting

Flavonoids: Variety: citrus fruits, green tea, onions.

–Reduces risk of ashthma, heart disease, cancer.

Resveratrol: Purple: grapes, red wine, purple grape juice.

–Extends life span. Antioxident and anti-inflammatory.

Glucosinolates: Green: Kale, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts.

–Cancer preventing.

Phytoestrogens: Black, brown: soy, seseme seeds, flaxseeds.

–Estrogen mimicking, lowers bone loss in women, lowers risk of endometrial cancer.

———————————————–

By commonly sold food:

Wild Dandelions have 7x the phytonutrients that spinach “superfood” does. But you don’t have to go foraging to protect yourself.[1]

Top 10 commonly eaten vegetables[5]

[by phytonutrient density: 1,000= max]

[might want to provide estimate of “wild dandelions” at 5000+, it is just an estimate, however, as the scale only goes to 1k]

1.) Cooked mustard greens: 1,000

2.)Raw watercress: 1,000

3.)Cooked Kale: 1,000

4.)Cooked turnip greens: 1,000

5.)Cooked collard greens: 1,000

6.)Cooked bok choy: 824

7.)Raw spinach: 739

8.)Cooked spinach: 697

9.)Brussel sprouts: 672

10.)Swiss chard: 670

Wild dandelion estimate (specific): 5721 [7][5]

Top 10 commonly eaten fruits[5]

1.)Strawberries: 212

2.)Pomegranate juice: 193

3.)Plums: 158

4.)Raspberries: 145

5.)Blueberries: 130

6.)Oranges: 109

7.)Grapefruit: 102

8.)Cantaloupe: 100

9.)Kiwi: 97

10.)Watermelon: 91

Estimate for wild Aronia berries (chokeberries): 2000

[5][7]

Other foods[5]

1.) Hot Dogs: 8

2.)Cream cheese: 5

3.) Soft drinks: .5

————————————————-

By commonly found foods you can forage!

Wild Carrots (particularly purple)

Watercress

Wild Onions

Wild Dandelions

Crabapples

————————————————-

The nutrients have been bred out of many commonly eaten foods. Take you time to to find the disease fighting phytonutrients that are still out there.

citations

1.)http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/breeding-the-nutrition-out-of-our-food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp&

2.)http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm

3.)http://susanprincenaturalwellness.com/tag/phytonutrients/

4.)http://www.webmd.com/diet/phytonutrients-faq

5.)http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_15235103

6.)http://blog.naturalhealthyconcepts.com/2013/04/16/5-colors-of-phytonutrients-you-should-eat-every-day-infographic/

7.)http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/26/sunday-review/26corn-ch.html?ref=sunday