The question for today is one that has come up in agriculture and organic food publications. Are we getting the same amount of nutrients from our food that we used to get? I recently heard a story that a study was done comparing the nutrients in a peach from 1955 (have they been saving it since then?) to a grocery store peach from 2007. The study indicated that you’d have to eat 50, 2007 peaches to equal the nutrient value in 1 1955 peach.

So is that story true? Who knows? But what is known is that the big business of agriculture has moved far away from the ancient and well-proven system of rotating crops and allowing soil to regenerate. Instead, today’s conventional soil is almost dead and our crops grow in a mixture of petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides. It’s hard to imagine that our peach or our corn grown in that manner has the nutrients of a peach or an ear of corn grown in rich non-depleted soil.

The question that naturally follows this line of thinking is, “so how do we get the nutrients we need?” As Jen Laemmel mentioned in my previous hub, that choosing organic food is a first good step. Growing your own vegies as much as possible is another great option. There is a growing movement of local farmers and people supporting them with a goal of trying to eat food that is grown as close to home as possible. An apple picked two days ago is far superior to one grown in Chile and picked four weeks ago, in terms of taste and nutritional value. If you attempt to eat foods that are in season, you are more likely to find locally grown foods. When you buy from local farmers, even those who do not grow organically, you are still eating foods that are better for you than those grown on huge agri-industrial farms.

There is a place for supplements in todays diet, yet most of the pills that we wash down end up exiting our bodies in our urine. When looking at supplements, vitamins, minerals and herbs; look for liquids and those made from whole foods rather than synthetics. Companies like Shaklee have been delivering whole food vitamins for over 30 years. Then there are the new wave of scientifically formulated nutritional beverages. You have to do your research, as many are full of sugar. Yet there are some that are absolutely wonderful. They have true scientific backing and are not just a fancied up version of sweet fruit juice.

There is also a brand new product that is based on an ancient Ayurvedic formulation. Ayurveda is a type of medical healing that has been practiced in India for thousands of years. This product is endorsed by the Chopra Center for Well-Being, which is an internationally renowned alternative health facility in Californial. The combination of the amalaki berry and 6 other rejuvenating and detoxifying herbs, make Zrii a very unique product in the health beverage market. If you’d like to learn more,click hereto be redirected to an informative alternative wellness website. Since the benefits complement each other, I have personally begun drinking Zrii regularly in addition to my Monavie, which I’ve drank for almost a year now. This has been my healthiest year by far, in over a decade.

So to recap.... choose whole foods (not processes),buy organic, eat locally, eat foods that are "in season". If you choose to use supplements, focus on liquid nutrition and products that are whole food, not synthetic. Stay away from fast food, energy bars and drinks that are mostly processed sugar (in its various forms).