The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

[Miulang]

My kane pointed me to this article that was published in 2004 about how the fresh food we consume today is much less nutritious than it was a few years ago. Some examples:

Table 2. Iron Content in Selected Fruits*

..............................1975..............20 01..........Net Change

Apples................0.3 mg.........0.18 mg.........Down 40%

Apricots..............0.5 mg.........0.54 mg.........Up 8%

Bananas.............0.7 mg.........0.31 mg.........Down 55.7%

Cherries.............0.4 mg..........0.39 mg.........Down 2.5%

Grapefruits.........0.4 mg..........0.06 mg.........Down 85%

Lemons...............0.7 mg...........0.6 mg..........Down 14.3%

Oranges..............0.4 mg.........0.10 mg..........Down 75%

Peaches.............0.5 mg..........0.11 mg.........Down 78%

Pineapples.........0.5 mg..........0.37 mg.........Down 26%

Strawberries......1.0 mg..........0.38 mg..........Down 62%

Tangerines.........0.4 mg...........0.1 mg...........Down 75%

Watermelons.....0.5 mg..........0.17 mg...........Down 66%

Net Change............................................ .........Down 16.4%

*Based on 100 Grams, Edible Portion. Source: USDA food composition tables

No wonder we're eating more and enjoying it less!

Miulang

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

Eeeh...I don't know if I'd put much faith in his findings. He uses only 2 sets of stats. One set from only one reference source from 25 years ago and present stats. Where's eveything in between? Can't really tell if this is a trend or possibly just a naturally occuring event that could take place, say, every 5 years. Or maybe these numbers are what are supposed to be and the inflated numbers from the past have been because of heavier use of fertilizers.

[Miulang]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

I can think of at least one reason why the nutritional levels of fresh fruits and vegetables might be deteriorating...as a nation we are relying more and more on imported fruits and veggies than ever. It's because we have this notion that just because we can afford it, we should be able to have fruits and veggies that might not be in season still available to us.

Hawai'i is an extreme example because the Pacific Ocean is a natural obstacle, but even up here, much of the fresh produce on supermarket shelves has to travel more than 1,500 miles to get from the source to the supermarket. The foods with the highest nutrient levels are the ones that are grown and consumed locally. That's why, even if it costs a little more, buying local produce and supporting the local farmers is a good idea. So is buying produce that's in season. Whenever I can, I shop at local farmer's markets and when I have to shop at Safeway or another chain market, I always buy organic or look for stickers that show the country of origin of the product. If I can't buy local produce, the next best choice is something grown in the US. Forget the fruits and veggies coming from South America at this time of year.

Miulang

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

Well....now you bring up another aspect to look at. The fruits that were tested then and now. Where did they all come from? Each particular fruit should have come from the same place, better still the same tree if it still exists. What kind of test did they run back then and what kind of test did the author use this time around? Should have been exactly the same. Were the fruits freshly picked? What's the possibility that the first test was run on freshly picked fruit and this guys test was done on fruit grown on the opposite coast. Makes a heck of a big difference.

I don't put much stock in these "tests" by "alarmists". Remember about 15 to 20 years ago? The state decided to get federal guidelines for acceptable levels of toxins/pollutants in waterways. A local group of alarmists started up a petition to stop this process claiming it'll lead to higher pollution levels and on and on, blah, blah, blah. WELL....That petition came around to me to sign and I asked the person passing it around just what did she know about this situation. Not much.

At the time, the state had no guidelines for maximum levels of toxins and such in our waterways. I told her that some of our streams are already so polluted that fish can't live in the water. I told her that Hawai'i doesn't have any controls over toxin levels and these federal guidelines are supposed to do just that. Set maximum "acceptable" limits on toxins. She called the "leader" and let me talk to her. All she could say was. "oh."

The state had to do some policing and cleaning up as the toxin levels in certain waterways were way out there. Never heard anything else about this petition or the misinformed bunch of zealots. No one showed up to protest the signing of that bill.

Not to worry, Miulang. How many people do you know eat fruit specifically for it's nutritional content? Even fruit that doesn't taste good? You know, fruit like soursop could have 100% of our daily needs for iron or potassium or calcium or whatever, but I'm not going to eat the stuff and doubt many others will either. I don't know. I like fruit for how they taste. You know. juicy, sweet and some gotta be crispy....and at my age I need the extra fiber. Besides, dats wot Centrum Silvah is foah, yeah?

[Miulang]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

It's funny how my Mom, given a choice between a fresh tomato grown in Hawai'i v. one that made an ocean voyage across the Pacific, always said she preferred the "firmer" tomato with no taste at all. Her reasoning? It was easier to cut! I shoulda bought her a new set of kitchen knives instead. I can remember eating tomatoes that were so hard that if you dropped a piece on the floor, the sucker would bounce! No wonder I never liked tomatoes until I tasted one that was fresh from the vine and warmed by the sun. With just a little sprinkling of salt, talk about onolicious.

Up here, I've gone to pick strawberries off the plants that were still warm from sun...man, you have never tasted a strawberry until you've tasted one fresh off a plant. Succulent, naturally sweet and juicy. The stuff from California sucks after eating locally grown strawberries. If you guys ever see Kula strawberries in the market, buy them. They taste a whole lot better than the California half green ones.

Miulang

[Surfingfarmboy]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

If you guys ever see Kula strawberries in the market, buy them. They taste a whole lot better than the California half green ones.

And eat them quick! I bought a pound box of Kula strawberries, on sale, at Times, last vist over to O'ahu. Like Miulang implies about them, they are super red, super sweet, and super ripe. In fact they were so ripe and juicy, that after only one day after I bought them, what I hadn't immeadiatly consumed after buying them, started to mold up and go bad.

In defense of California (and Florida) strawberries: California and Florida both produce some exceptional berries, if they are allowed to fully sun-ripen in the field. But therein lies the future trouble for them. Pick them fully ripe and they will never make it to their intended distant markets. Picking them to where they will travel intact means picking them still hard and marginally ripe. California berries will never be able to compete, taste-wise, with sun-ripened berries grown on Maui in Hawai'i. But in the same light, I doubt Kula berries could ever taste as good as they do on Maui if they are picked marginally ripe to make the long trip over the Pacific to the mainland. All told, a fully sun-ripened strawberry grown in California's Imperial Valley tastes as good as a sun-ripened Maui strawberry.

Strawberries were never intended to be a year-round fruit. They were, at best, in most areas of the mainland, at one time, a summer fruit, with a very short season of availability. In many places, before this age of jet-fresh produce shipped from distant lands, June and July were it for the strawberry season. A particular market had, in terms of berries, what was grown in the immediate area. There were no year-round shipments of berries from Florida or California. When the berry season was over, that was it. The next berries in were the ones due next summer.

And with this in mind, Miulang is absolutely correct in the reoccuring theme of her posts in this thread: Buy local produce in season. It will be better, no matter where you are at. Produce grown 3,000-5,000 miles just cannot compete in overall taste and quality, with produce grown in your own home state. Your home-grown produce is picked ripe and at its peak of flavor. Produce from distant lands? Most of the time it's picked so it can travel. Overall flavor is a secondary concern.

BTW, if you want to taste some really, really good strawberries, I'll have some available in June. Rhode Island produces some wicked good strawberries. Sugar sweet, beet-red berries. Only problem is they do not ship to market at all. They might have a shelf-life of one day after being picked. Most berries here are sold direct from farmer to consumer at roadside stands on Aquidneck Island..no middle men or buying them at Safeways here. They are strawberries with a very short and finite season...the way strawberries are meant to be.

[GypsyLika]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

The best pineapples I've ever eaten was fresh from the fields when I use to pick pineapples back in da day. I rarely buy pineapples in the mainland cause I know they pick the fruit 60% or 75% ripe anden ship'um ova to mainland. No taste da same.

Sad that we have to pay more for organic when its better for you then the non-organic.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: The "watering down" of nutrients in fresh food

Yeah, pineapple fresh off the plant, first thing in the morning right after you jump off the truck and hang your lunch. Hootah! Used to love that.

We have fruit trees and bushes in our backyard. One tree is "Kona Gold" oranges and the other is Okinawan tangerine. The bumboocha ones with the really loose skin. Darned thangs give fruit almost year round. Sometimes we have so much fruit, I end up juicing them. Nothing like fresh orange/tangerine juice. I swear it's magic when we have colds and drink the juice. Colds seem to last only a couple of days instead of up to 2 weeks.
Other fruits are a papaya tree and a poha bush. The papaya tree is lame, but the poha also seems to give fruit year round. Melanie brings me a handfull at a time saying it's to freeze for poha jam...then she commences to eating all of them.

In the old days, we used to get Hayden and Piri mango by the box. Nowdays, we lucky to get only a couple during the whole season. All the people who used to give us mango got old and died. The mangos in the market are pretty bad. Real stringy and more often not sweet or juicy at all. Unfortunately, Mel loves mango and I end up having to buy some during the year.

Btw, don't eat Hayden mango or any other really sweet fruit before getting bloodwork. I ate 2 the day before I had bloodwork done. Doc saw the blood sugar level up through the roof. I told him I ate mango. He asked, "Well, how many did you eat?" I said, "Two, two big ones." He said, "Eat ONE. ONLY ONE per day!" I said, "Awe Doc, no can."<LOL>