The Truth About Mineral Deficiencies and Soil Depletion.

Minerals and the closely related vitamins, are micronutrients we get from our food sources. Whether you are a dedicated Vegan, unapologetic carnivore, or just suffering through the side effects of a fast-food diet, the nutrition of your food (or lack thereof) is counted in macromolecules (Protein Fats, & Carbohydrates) and micronutrients.

Minerals like calcium, magnesium, and iron are micronutrients needed by our bodies for a whole lot of metabolic functions but for healthy individuals, we don’t need a whole lot of them. Since they exist in proportionally small amounts in our food, hence the term trace minerals, a balanced diet can provide all the necessary mineral nutrition without much trouble.

Then what’s up with all of the horrifying stories?

The Internet and Bad Information

We all love the Internet, right? Entertainment, shopping AND information in one sitting! Though sifting through the information to separate the factual from the marketing “stories” can be tough.

The Internet loves a scary story about something in your daily life, like your food. The scare-factor gets your attention, just in time to be presented with a smooth sales pitch of a product that just so happens to solve the scary problem.

Convenient, eh?

Mineral deficiencies in our bodies and mineral depletion of our soil are stories that have a kernel of truth to them but the real situation is far from the drama presented online.

Truth About Mineral Deficiencies

Mineral deficiencies can and do occur in people all of the time. They have so for generations.

Since our bodies need minerals from food sources, what we eat is what we get. If absorb-able minerals are missing, we eventually develop deficiencies BUT it takes a long time for that to happen. In modern industrialized nations, what minerals we don’t get from one source, we usually get from another.

In underdeveloped nations, mineral deficiencies happen because the alternative sources of nutrition are severely restricted. What happens there rarely happens in developed nations.

Some people have mineral deficiencies due to physiological problems where they cannot properly metabolize certain minerals. They usually have to find medical treatment for their particular condition.

So if you suspect that you are experiencing symptoms of mineral deficiency, consult a healthcare professional skilled in assessing and treating these types of problems. Deficiencies can be short term issues or more involved long term problems. Just don’t rely on marketing claims to diagnose. Symptoms need to be expertly evaluated for a correct treatment to be developed.

Soil Depletion Stories

Oh, the horrifying stories of how the soils used to raise our food are so dramatically depleted of any nutrition!

Or so say the folks marketing mineral supplements that are sure to correct such deficiencies.

There is a kernel of truth here but the story is far less epic.

We do have a measurable depletion of mineral content in much of the soil used to raise our vegetables and grains. However, it is not to the extent as to make our foods dangerous to our Health. No causal relationship of soil depletion to mineral deficiencies in people has been established. In fact, there has not been any measure of significant mineral deficiencies in people that has not been easily attributed to poor diet choices.

The fast food diet strike again.

In all seriousness though, the real threat to our soil is not mineral depletion but erosion. The top soil in which farmers raise food is moving out of the fields, leaving them with less fertile soil with which to plant.

The solution?

Change the way farmers manage the soil. Instead of stripping off vegetation that holds the soil AND fertilizes at the same time, allow fallow time and rotate crops. Yes, the farming corporations don’t make as much money but the long term result is healthier soils in which to raise our food.

Take Away Thoughts

When you read these epic stories of food catastrophes, try to follow the money. I think you’ll find that there is some vested monetary interest in many of the stories. Whether it is a marketing of products or of services, be skeptical of claims of horrors in the same article that offers the solution.

And remember that you have a voice in these matters. Look at what has happened in the meat and poultry businesses in recent years with antibiotic use and other food raising techniques being changed due to public pressure. Let the vegetable and grain producers know that you want nutritious foods made in a sustainable manner.

Social media works!

You call a star a star, and say it is just a ball of matter moving on a mathematical course. But that is merely how you see it. By so naming things and describing them you are only inventing your own terms about them. And just as speech is invention about objects and ideas, so myth is invention about truth.
― Humphrey Carpenter