Mineral Depletion of Soil....So what....

Minerals are an essential part of our natural diet and a lack of them may in part account for our increasing susceptibility to the “diseases of civilization” – such as heart disease (magnesium), cancer (selenium), diabetes (chromium) and mental illnesses (zinc). Every one of us should take care to get the minerals we need, for the good of our health.
http://www.physicalnutrition.net/soil-mineral-depletion.htm




I have been puzzled for several years by the increase of childhood asthma, allergies, bipolar disorder, ADD and ADHD, and other such disorders among the general population. Throughout my holistic nutrition research I have seen many probable explanations. I was content, before, to place blame on the fact that we are introducing new chemicals into the atmosphere all the time. I now have the understanding that it is far more than that. In fact, it is not just the addition of chemicals into the atmosphere and our diets, but also the depletion of nutrients from our soil.

Over the last century our animal and vegetable food sources have suffered a significant drop in nutrient content. Genetic engineering has placed a higher value on physical traits rather than nutritive quality. The soil has been depleted of it's minerals due to chemical use and over farming. This affects all of our vegetation and therefore all of our livestock and even the human population.

Though most can understand the link between chemical pollutants and the increase instance of allergies and asthma in the population, it may not be so obvious why we are seeing an increase in the other disorders or what any of this has to do with our food sources. Let me explain.

When our body systems are not balanced, even down to the cellular level, we see an increased likelihood of symptoms of disease and disorder. These symptoms or signs of imbalance can be very subtle. Often times we associate these things with other causes without understanding what is really going on. What IS going on is that our diets are lacking nutrients, are too acidifying, and completely unbalanced. We are creating a toxic environment in our bodies and then attempting to treat the symptoms with more toxins!!!

We should, instead, focus on returning balance to our bodies and our food sources. The mineral depletion of our soil has reduced the mineral contents of our food. I found some really interesting information when researching mineral values. I was instructed to further research Selenium. I ended up finding that Selenium, Glutathione Peroxidase, and Vitamins E and C are related to asthma. Selenium (actually in the form of selenocysteine) is incorporated to the four active sites of the enzyme Glutathione Perioxidase. This enzyme plays an active role in eliminating free radicals associated with oxidative damage.


I had such a DUH moment when I put all of this together. This explained why we are seeing such an enormous rise in childhood asthma. WOW!! I was relieved to finally have another piece of the puzzle.


The soil depletion is just an example, just one of the many effects of our carelessness on this planet. Organic farming, crop rotations, and other methods of keeping the soil healthy and nutrient dense are long past due. This cycle of destruction needs to stop. We need natural, healthy food sources if we want to be healthy individuals. We need a healthy planet if we want healthy food sources.....it is a very simple concept.