Vitamins and Minerals - Does 5 a Day Help Us Stay Healthy?

Do you and your family believe in taking vitamins andfor good health.
minerals in tablet or capsule form, or do you believe -Professor Tim Lang, of the renowned Centre for
like I once did - that healthy eating gives you all theFood Policy at Thames Valley University, said that
nutrients needed?the results revealed an important trend needing to be
Once upon a time it did. But thanks to modernexposed. 'These are big percentages', he added.'The
farming methods fruit and vegetables are nowherenature of production is altering what we're eating.
near as nutritional as they were 60 years ago. InPlant breeders have been trying to develop
fact, according to a scientific study, there has beentomatoes and carrots and fruit that look nice, resist
an alarming reduction in the amount of essentialdisease and can withstand being shipped halfway
minerals in the food we eat.around the world. They have been less concerned
Research by nutritionist David Thomas, who basedabout the minerals in the food.'
his conclusions on data from The Composition ofHe went on: 'We are dying prematurely of coronary
Foods - a comprehensive study of the content of allheart disease and cancer and are being told to cut
major foods dating back to 1940 - showed thatdown on fat and eat more fruit and vegetables. But
there is currently up to 75% less calcium and 93%at the same time they are changing the content of
less copper in fruit and vegetables than back then.what we are eating.'
Levels of important minerals such as phosphorous,So I think you'll agree it's abundantly clear that an
iron, magnesium and potassium have plummeted. Andapple a day can no longer be relied on to keep the
runner beans, which once contained a significantdoctor away - and that the 5 a day advocated
amount of the sodium so crucial for the working ofdoesn't necessarily help us as much as it once did!
our nerves and muscles, now have almost no tracesSourcing fruit and vegetables that are really fresh will
of it whatsoever.help our health - as well as eating food that hasn't
The research also showed that broccoli has 75% lessbeen injected with preservatives.
calcium - vital for building healthy bones and teeth -Farmers' markets are of course ideal sources. Did you
while carrots have 75% less magnesium, whichread a while ago about the apples a major
protects against heart attacks, asthma and kidneysupermarket chain had stored for a whole year
stones. Spinach, famed for its source of iron, wasbefore marketing them as 'fresh'?
found to have 60% less than 60 years ago.Imagine how many vitamins and minerals such apples
The list is much longer than this - including a loss ofwould have provided us with!
93% copper from watercress, 74% calcium fromYes, we can help ourselves by eating fresh fruit and
spring onions, 71% iron from swedes, 47%top quality protein foods such as fish, lean white
phosphorus from potatoes, 67% iron from oranges,(free range) meat, eggs, beans, lentils and grains and
62% sodium from avocados, 55% calcium fromby avoiding too much junk, but is it enough?
strawberries, 45% magnesium from melons, 43%Not according to Patrick Holford, founder of the
potassium from passion fruit, 39% calcium fromInstitute of Optimum Nutrition, who states: "To
raspberries, 35% from blackberries and 32%achieve optimum health and nutrition you need to
potassium from rhubarb.'eat right and take a multivitamin'". He was quoting a
Mr Thomas said that he believed the reduction in therecent headline in the New England Journal of
mineral content of food was a result of modernMedicine editorial. 'The evidence suggests,' the journal
farming methods, which use massive amounts ofwent on 'that people who take such supplements
fertilisers on the soil. These encourage plant growthand their children are healthier.
at the expense of the minerals that are so important