V8 Juice: Nutrition In A Can? Or…

V8 Juice.

We’ve all seen the ads.  Guy drinking a soda looks over and sees his buddy drinking from a colorful can with pictures of celery, tomatoes, carrots, and other brightly painted vegies on it.  Guy knocks himself in the head exclaiming “Wow, I could’a had a V8!”.

V8 100% Vegetable Juice, now made by the Campbell Soup Company, still retains the same basic recipe as when it was first formulated back in 1933.  Per the V8 site, the original V8 Juice (there are now more than 20 additional V8 brands) contains a healthy mix of vegetable juices extracted from tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress and spinach.

Campbell claims that each eight ounce glass of the V8 100% Vegetable Juice equals two servings of vegetables.  So, in theory, drinking 2-3 cans of V8 each day should fulfill your daily requirements for the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and healthy plant based sterols that we would get from fresh vegies eaten raw, steamed, or even juiced.

But is that true?  I’ve often wondered about the processes required to prepare fruit and vegetable juices for mass storage and distribution, and the effects of these process on the nutritional value of the juice.  In other words, is drinking a glass of 100% Apple Juice from a bottle as nutritious as eating 2-3 raw apples?  Is drinking a glass of V8 as healthy as downing a couple of helpings of spinach and carrots?

Let’s look at how V8 (and most other fruit and vegetable juices) are processed.  We are not privy to the exact recipe of how the juice is prepared or what the percentage breakdown of the eight included vegetables is, so let’s just assume that, at the early stages, it really is a healthy combination of raw juices from the vegetables listed above.

Now this is a glass of juice I’d like to drink.  In addition to an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, freshly extracted vegetable juice also contains living enzymes.  These living enzymes are protein molecules and are essential for most of the building and rebuilding that goes on constantly in our bodies.

But, if I wanted to get the full nutritional value of that glass of raw juice, I would need to drink it quickly.  Prolonged exposure to air will speed up the breakdown of these living enzymes.  In fact, most of the valuable enzymes are destroyed within 20 minutes of exposure to air.  This is why, when you go to a juice shop and order wheat grass or any of the other freshly extracted vegetable juices, you are encouraged to drink it quickly.

Now if you’re lucky enough to be able to immediately seal that freshly extracted juice in an airtight container, you might be able to store it in your fridge for up to 3-4 days before the enzymes are completely broken down.   Freshly extracted fruit juice can be sealed and stored for up to five days before losing all the enzyme goodness.

Reading between the lines, I’m pretty sure all those living enzymes are gone by the time those cans and bottles of V8 reach my pantry shelf.

So, maybe V8 should change it’s name to:

V8 100% Vegetable Juice (But Without All Those Pesky Healthy Enzymes).

Okay, back to our glass of freshly made pre-processed V8 Juice.  Now the makers have to be able to package the juice in cans and bottles and ship it across the world so that it can be ready and waiting on your local grocery shelf.  But wait, first the juice must be pasteurized.   Per Webster’s Dictionary:

Pasteurization is the act or process of heating a beverage or other food, such as milk or beer, to a specific temperature for a specific period of time in order to kill microorganisms that could cause disease, spoilage, or undesired fermentation.

Pasteurization kills organisms–such as salmonella, listeria, and brucella–that can make you sick or cause food and juices to spoil.  Our favorite governmental glee club, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), through its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), sets detailed guidelines for the pasteurization of fruit and vegetable juices.

What does pasteurization do to our glass of prep-packaged V8 juice?  Well, per numerous studies, it has been proven that the pasteurization process can destroy large quantities of the nutritional goodies that remain in our already enzyme-depleted glass of juice.

Specifically, it has been shown that the various vitamins in our glass of vegie juice react differently to heat.  Vitamin E is relatively stable and has a 90% retention rate.  In contrast, vitamin A has only a 60% retention rate after heat processing.  The B family of vitamins is relatively stable with retention rates ranging from 75% to 90%.  The exceptions there being folic acid, which has about a 50% survival rate after being pasteurized, and riboflavin, which is sensitive to both heat and light.

What about vitamin C?  Well the majority of the vitamin C in our pre-packaged glass of V8 vegetable juice never makes it to pasteurization.  Turns out vitamin C, like our living enzymes, is also very sensitive to air exposure and will break down in a short period of time.

In summary, a plate of raw fresh vegetables or a glass of raw vegetable juice contains quality protein, antioxidants, vitamins, and complex sugars to provide long lasting metabolic energy.  The same juice after going through pasteurization contains little protein, no antioxidants, and nutrients that have broken down into large quantities of simple, monosaccharide sugars.

Now, on the plus side, it has been shown that plant phenols are relatively stable throughout the heating process.  But, again, the free radical scavenging antioxidants aren’t.  They are almost completely lost.

So, is an eight ounce glass of V8 100% Vegetable Juice really equal to two servings of fresh vegetables or freshly extracted vegetable juice?

Not even close.  And when you throw in the extra salt that they add to enhance the flavor that is also lost during the heating process, you really have gone from 100% Vegetable to maybe 50% Vegetable Light Plus Salt.

I still drink V8.  The low sodium brand.  I know it’s not going to replace or even really reduce the need for real vegetables, but it is a tasty drink that does offer more nutritional value than soda, coffeee, or bottled water.

There are over twenty different types of V8 juices on the market. What’s your favorite? And do you drink it for the “health benefits”, or just the taste?

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Krill Oil: Three Times As Healthy As Fish Oil?

If you are already familiar with the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and how fish oil supplements can help attain a healthy balance of these essential fatty acids, then you may want to scroll down to the ‘A Better Alternative?’ section.

It is well acknowledged in the scientific and consumer communities that taking in omega-3 fatty acids can improve your health.

Omega-3 fatty acids cannot be produced by the human body and are thus part of the “essential fatty acid” family.  We can only get them from the food we eat or the supplements we take.  Cold water fish, such as salmon and cod, are great sources of omega-3s.

There are three types of omega-3 fatty acids: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).  All of these act as anti-inflammatories in the body.  Inflammation is a leading cause of many medical conditions including the deterioration of the cardiovascular (heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure) and brain (depression, Alzheimer’s) systems.  Inflammation is also primarily responsible for many of the effects of aging, including skin wrinkling, arthritis, and the degeneration of bone and tissue in the body.

Another member of the essential fatty acids are the omega-6s.  They are far more common in the typical diet and can be found in meat, nuts, and seeds.  Maintaining a healthy ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids can reduce the likelihood of suffering from a variety of medical problems including cancer, arthritis,and heart disease.  However, the proper ratio between the two can differ based on the condition you are trying most to alleviate or prevent.

Regardless of the ratio, taking in the appropriate amount of omega-3s and omega-6s can be immensely beneficial to our health.  Most people get plenty of the omega-6 fatty acids in their day to day diet.  However, due to the limited food sources available (how many people eat fresh salmon everyday?), supplementation is a great way of ensuring that we get the appropriate amount of omega-3s.

Fish oil pills have become a popular source of omega-3s over the last ten years.  Even doctors, who routinely disavow any nutritional benefits of non-prescription supplementation, are recommending fish oil supplements to their patients.  Especially those who suffer from any of the warning signs of impending cardiovascular issues (adverse cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, etc).

So, in summary, various scientific studies conclude that a healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids can help with the following conditions:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Adverse cholesterol and triglyceride levels
• Depression
• Certain types of stroke
• Eczema
• Asthma
• Arthritis

Taking fish oil supplements can help achieve that healthy balance of essential fatty acids.

Fish Oil Supplements Do Have A Downside

Fish oils are a great source of the omega-3 fatty acids.  But they do have some risks.  Fish oil is obtained from fish that swim in oceans that contain varying levels of mercury and other toxins.  And because salmon and other cold water fish are way up the ocean food chain, they absorb all the toxins that have been ingested by the fish they eat, the fish that those fish ate, and so on down the line.

By the time a salmon is caught and harvested for its oil, it potentially contains dangerously high levels of mercury and other toxins that have poisoned our oceans.  You always want to check the quality of the fish oil supplements you buy to ensure that quality filtering processes are used to purify the extracted oil.  But, no matter the quality of the manufacturing, there is a risk of at least trace amounts of bad stuff in those pills.

A Better Alternative?

Krill are tiny shrimp-like marine animals that live in all oceans of the world.  They are considered a “keystone” species near the bottom of the food chain because they feed purely on phytoplankton and zooplankton and convert these into the main dietary sources for fish and other higher level marine animals.

In other words, they are a primary food source for many of the bigger boys in the ocean.

Turns out krill oil contains higher and more efficient concentrations of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA, EPA, and ALA than is found in the cold water fish that fish oil supplements are made from.

Three times the effectiveness of fish oil!

The effectiveness of krill oil is superior due to the fact that the omega-3s in krill oil are linked together in a different cellular structure that, without going all high school chemistry, mimics the structure of the fat in human cell walls.  This means that krill oil is more compatible with the human body and thus more easily absorbed.

In addition, krill oil contains astaxanthin, an extremely potent antioxidant the body uses to neutralize free radicals that can damage cells and tissues throughout the body.

Krill are a plentiful ocean resource.  Less than 1% of the ocean’s 600 million tons of krill is harvested annually.  This ensures an abundant, sustainable krill population.  This is a plus because many people are shying away from fish oil supplements due to the concerns over depleted fish populations across the globe.

Krill oil is typically packaged in small soft gel form.  This is compared to the larger fish oil gel pills that can be hard for some people to swallow.  And krill oil keeps longer.  Bottles of fish oil pills typically spoil within six months to a year.  Krill oil pills can stay fresh and nutritionally potent for up to two years or more.

And for some reason, krill oil doesn’t have the fishy smell or disgusting burp aftertaste that is so common with fish oil.

So, fish oil is a good source of omega-3s if you do your homework on quality and purity.  But krill oil supplements are clearly superior in terms of effectiveness and purity.

I’ve switched to krill.  I get mine thru Bulk Nutrition, which is a site I learned about in the homemade supplements guide I obtained.  It’s a great site that carries a large supply of quality supplement brands at super discount prices - especially when you buy in quantities.

Click to see the Bulk Nutrition krill oil I use.

They carry various brands, so be sure to type ‘krill oil’ into the ‘Quick Find’ search box on the left side of the page if you want to check their selection.  They also carry a wide range of other products that you can browse for.  Again, great prices and quick shipping.

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I Trust Lance Armstrong… I Think

It’s tough not to like Lance Armstrong.  Even tougher not to admire him and what he’s accomplished.  A discussion of his achievements would read like a real life Rocky story, but that’s not what this post is all about.

Lance is now promoting a new energy drink called FRS.  After trying FRS, he was so impressed he actually approached the company, The FRS Company,  about endorsing the product. And he must be committed to the stuff, because he’s now also a member of the The FRS Company’s Board of Directors.

I’m not a big fan of most of the “energy” drinks you see lining the shelves and coolers of your local health store or grocery.  Catchy names like Red Bull, Full Throttle, and Monster Energy (”Unleash the beast!”) are slapped onto stimulant laced drinks that typically contain way too much sugar and way too much caffeine.  I’ve already given you a rundown of the ingredients you find in most of these drinks, so no need to rehash them here.

FRS, which stands for Free Radical Scavengers, is advertised as a healthy energy drink that uses all natural ingredients to provide a kick.  Minimal sugar and minimal caffeine. The formula relies on a unique antioxidant called quercetin to encourage the production of energy at the cellular level.  According to the FRS web site:

Quercetin is a natural antioxidant found in the skins of apples, blueberries, and onions. It protects the adrenaline that your body naturally creates to give you energy for small daily tasks like staying awake at work and big events like running a marathon. Quercetin allows your body to use energy more efficiently so you feel more energy for a longer amount of time.

I’m a big fan of the power of antioxidants.  Especially as we age.  But they are not the miracle cure that’s going to enable us to splash around in the fountain of youth.

However, I am always interested in finding reasonably safe energy supplements - i.e. ones that aren’t full of sugar, caffeine or other herbal heart-pounders like guarana or ephedra - that can give me the occasional boost I need to get off the couch and into the gym.

So I picked up a 4 pack of FRS to give it a try. Not cheap.

First, the stuff tastes like flat 7-Up. Sort of lemon-limey without the in your face carbonation that many of the other energy drinks have. But you’ll definitely want to throw these into the fridge, because FRS goes down alot easier when cold.

According to the product literature, a single can of FRS delivers the same antioxidant quantity as roughly three servings of blueberries, or eight servings of raspberries. This is due to the 250 mg of quercetin and 100 mg of catechins in each serving. We learned above that quercetin is an antioxidant that can be found in apple skins, red onions, and blueberries. Catechins are found in tea leaves, especially green tea, and have been proven effective at promoting cardiovascular health.

In addition to the antioxidant ingredients, FRS also contains high levels of the B-vitamin family (niacin, riboflavin, B-6, B-12, etc) as well as significant quantities of vitamins A, C, and E. Again, very little caffeine (<50 mg) and very little sugar. The B vitamins contribute to the energy mix, but you can get those alot cheaper in pill form. So, FRS must be pinning it’s value proposition on the quercetin.

Well, does it work?

Well, there’s certainly no immediate energy rush. Used to be when I downed a Red Bull, I’d feel a quick jolt as the sugar and caffeine hit my system. None of that with FRS. But at the same time, no jacked up heart rate, no twitching muscles, and no urge to punch through a wall. I’ve always thought I would have loved to have had Red Bull around when I was twenty and invincible. But nowadays, I’ve shorted out enough fuse boxes to know that power surges aren’t all good.

Did some more research and discovered that the FRS formula is not designed to provide that quick surge that the other drinks deliver. FRS supposedly provides an all day energy boost that, while not as intense as the typical energy drink, is much longer lasting. According to Lance Armstrong and the rest of the FRS Company, after taking drinking FRS, you’ll feel much more energized at the end of the day.

Hence the FRS marketing slogan “Tired of being tired?”.

The key to FRS’s claim is the antioxidant quercetine and how it interacts with the body to increase mitochondria production. Without getting all high school biology, mitochondria are the energy producing components in our body. More mitochondria equals more energy at a cellular level.

Now, if the claims are true and FRS does help you feel less fatigued at the end of the day, then great! But this stuff is being heavily marketed to athletes as a performance boosting drink and I just don’t see how a slight, long lasting increase in energy levels qualifies as a performance boost. Well, I take that back. Maybe it does help in marathon type of activities such as running the New York Marathon or cycling the Tour De France.

But wait. There have been studies that prove that quercetine does increase mitochondria production. In mice. But what about people?

The jury is still out, but recent studies such as this one indicate that quercetine does not increase mitochondria production or boost athletic performance in humans in any way.  Potentially another in a long line of nutritional supplement claims based solely on the results of animal experiments.  Humans aren’t mice.

So, like I said, I want to trust Lance.  And I’m sure he’s done his homework on FRS.  But while it does appear the energy enhancing capabilities of quercetine might wake up a tired mouse, I’m not sure it’s going to do a thing for me.

I’m going to keep my eye on the ongoing studies around the benefits of quercetine.

So,what’s your favorite energy drink? And do they work for you? Leave a comment and share your experience.

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Flipping Mushrooms On The Grill

Evenings are finally getting cooler here in Dallas.  A nice change from the 100+ degree days we’ve been getting for much of the Summer.  Grilling out in those temperatures is little more than throwing a slab of meat on a plate and leaving it in the sun to cook.  But, now that Fall is finally approaching, I fired up the old Weber grill this weekend.

Family wanted burgers.  Me, I’ve been getting my fill of beef, chicken, and fish lately, so i wanted to try something different.  I went browsing in the local Sprouts and found some fresh portobello mushrooms that were 6″-7″ in diameter and looked just like tasty round slabs of meat.

I’ve heard that vegetarians often use mushrooms in place of meat, so, being the adventurous eater that I am, I bought a couple of the firmer looking brown caps.  Time to grill up some meat and mushrooms!

Marinated the meat with Worcestershire sauce and the mushrooms with olive oil and some red pepper.  Threw them all on the grill, and learned that portobello mushrooms kick out a different sort of smell when cooking.  More earthy and somewhat fresher than the smell of charring meat.  My neighbor actually stuck his head over the fence to ask what I was cooking.  When I told him mushrooms, he ducked back down muttering something about it being unnatural to grill anything but meat in Texas.

Once cooked, I slapped one of the mushrooms between a  bun, threw on some lettuce and tomato, and had one of the tastiest burgers I’ve ever eaten.  Really really good.  Now when I get burned out on eating beef and chicken, I can always throw some mushrooms on the grill or in the oven to spice up my diet.

Forget the fact that taking a break from meat is always a good thing to do to allow your body to do some self cleaning, but mushrooms are really healthy.

Some fun facts about a mushroom’s nutritional value:

First, unless you know what you are doing, don’t pick your own mushrooms.  There are hundreds of species which are poisonous.

Second, mushrooms are not vegetables, and they are not herbs.  They are fungi.  You just aren’t likely to see a “Fungi” sign in your local Kroger, so look for mushrooms in the veggie section.

Mushrooms are made of 70%-80% water, which was really surprising to me as the portobello burgers I cooked had the texture and chewiness of meat.  And at only 100 calories per ounce, they are a perfect weight loss substitute for beef or chicken.  Mushrooms contain very little sodium and fat, and 8% to 10% of the dry weight is healthy fiber.

How about vitamins are other nutritional goodies?  Mushrooms pack quite a wallop.

Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium.

Potassium is a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. One medium portabella mushroom has even more potassium than a banana or a glass of orange juice. One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40 percent of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardioprotective properties.

Mushrooms are a rich source of niacin, selenium, and riboflavin.

Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals. Male health professionals who consumed twice the recommended daily intake of selenium cut their risk of prostate cancer by 65 percent. In a Baltimore study on Aging, men with the lowest blood selenium levels were 4 to 5 times more likely to have prostate cancer compared to those with the highest selenium levels.

Certain mushroom species are famous for their healing and immune system boosting capabilities.

Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by Asian cultures to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan present in the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity.

So, the next time the family wants burgers, just throw sone fungi on the grill for a tasty and healthy meal.

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Homemade Nutrition - Make Your Own Supplements

I’m in complete agreement with the argument that maintains that, as we get older, our bodies need more nutrition than we can absorb from the typical daily diet. This is partially because today’s fruits and veggies just aren’t as healthy as they were 25 years ago, but it’s also due to advances in body science that have led to newly discovered chemical interactions that serve to ward off the effects of aging using various sources of antioxidants and other nutritional goodies.

But unless you’re actually eating 6-8 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day (primarily vegetables), chances are you’re not getting enough of these rejuvenating substances, especially as our bodies age and begin to lose the ability to efficiently utilize the vitamins, minerals, and other good stuff (antioxidants, phytochemicals, etc.) in the foods we eat.  Hence the need for supplements.  The right supplements.

And just to review.  We’ve talked about supplements that we think work.  We’ve talked about supplements that we just don’t think are worth the money.  And we’ve talked about supplements that are just out and out scams.

Supplements can be expensive.  Just head over to your local GNC, and before you know it, the clerk has talked you into buying a hundred dollars worth of stuff to treat what ails ya.

Worried about cholesterol?  They have multiple pills, potions, and powders to choose from.  Want to burn fat?  Just grab a bottle of one of those energy kickers they sell for $30-$45 bucks.  Want to stay young?  Step right up, pull out that credit card, and purchase a bottle of acai pills.  Yea, they’re a little expensive, but they’re hot right now.  And Oprah swears by them!

Maybe at this point you might want to review the three questions I ask myself before I’ll even think about laying out dollars for a supplement.

Picking the right supplements is important.  Picking the right supplements and not going broke is even more important.

Well, last week I picked up an interesting e-book called Homemade Supplement Secrets.  Did you know that you pay a huge premium for many supplements when, if you were to purchase the ingredients individually, you could cut the substantially cut the cost?

This book actually teaches you how to make your own supplements.  It takes you through all the steps, including analyzing a popular supplement that might cost you $50 per bottle in the store, buying the ingredients from online supplement suppliers, and, using inexpensive kitchen-type equipment, mixing your own version of that supplement for a fraction of the cost.

Really interesting stuff.  And for $27, just getting a list of his preferred online suppliers is worth the cost to me.  These suppliers have been checked out for quality and offer supplements at really really cheap prices, especially when you buy in bulk.

Just to give you an idea, here’s the table of contents of the 193 page downloadable e-book:

Chapter 1: Supplement “Suckers” 101…………………..9
Chapter 2: Supplements – Are They Worth It?……..12
Chapter 3: “Back Room” Supplements……………………23
Chapter 4: Marketing Secrets Exposed ………………..31
Chapter 5: The Good, The Bad, And The UGLY ………48
Chapter 6: The Home-Based Supplement Lab ………59
Chapter 7: “Knocking Off” The Top Supplements ….68
“Energy/Pre-Workout Aids”…………………………76
“Mass Gainers” …………………………………………..90
“Muscle Builders” ……………………………………..106
“Fat Burners” ……………………………………………117
“Sports Performance” ……………………………….132
“Post-Workout Recover”……………………………146
“Nitric Oxide” …………………………………………..159
“Hormone-Boosters” …………………………………176

Really good stuff.  The analysis of the popular supplements in the categories listed above is valuable and provides alot of insight as to what works and what doesn’t.

Their web site is a little hype crazy, but the book is definitely worth it.

Click here to learn more about Homemade Supplement Secrets.

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Organic Food - Costs More - Better For You?

In our last post, we examined the declining nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables you find on the market shelves.  How a variety of factors, including the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, has led to modern produce that is anywhere from 5% to 40% less nutritious than the fruits and veggies grown thirty or so years ago.

What about fruits and veggies grown using organic farming techniques?  Are they more nutritious than the produce being grown using  conventional modern farming practices?  If so, is that difference worth the higher price tag typically attached to organic fruits and vegetables?

These days when you shop at your local grocer for produce, you have aisles of apples, carrots, broccoli, and other fruits and veggies.  Then you have that one section, typically small, labeled ‘Organic’ where you find carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes that look pretty much the same as their non-organic counterparts.

But they do cost more.

So, what’s the difference between organic and standard fruits and vegetables?

It all comes down to farming techniques.  The term ‘organic’ refers to the way farmers cultivate and process their agricultural products, including grains, meat, dairy, and fruits and vegetables.

Some key differences between conventional and organic farming include:

Fertilizers

Conventional farming utilizes chemical fertilizers to promote growth.  Organic is all about natural fertilization utilizing manure, compost, and other natural byproducts.

Pest Control

Conventional farmers use chemically based insecticides to control pests and disease.  Organic techniques avoid chemicals and rely on varmint traps and pest mating cycle disruption to manage destructive pests.

Weed Management

Conventional farming utilizes - you got it - chemical herbicides to control pesky weeds.  Organic farmers use crop rotation, mulch, and spending alot of time hand tilling the soil to control weeds.

Can you trust that organic label?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has established a certification program that requires all organic foods to meet strict standards.  These standards revolve around growing techniques, handling practices, and processing steps.  So, if you see the USDA organic label, you can be pretty sure that apple was grown and processed in a chemical free environment.

But don’t confuse the USDA organic label with other labels you might see, such as “free range”, “hormone-free”, or “all natural”.  These labels may be important to you in choosing the foods you buy, but they are not regulated, or even necessarily accurate.

Okay, chemical free is great, but are organic fruits and vegetables more nutritious than their conventional counterparts?

The use of all natural growing and processing practices may be enough for you to justify the extra cost associated with organic produce.  Why the extra cost?  Because, when you take pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and preservatives out of the process, you end up with plants that require more manual attention and lower crop yields due to disease.  Couple this with the costs associated with obtaining the USDA organic standard, and you begin to see why those identical looking apples and carrots are more expensive.

But more nutritious?  No.  There is currently no authoritative evidence that indicates that organic produce is any more nutritious than the produce grown and processed in conventional environments.  The USDA, while certifying food as organic, makes no claims as to that food being safer or more nutritious.

So, if you are concerned about the use of chemicals on your fruits and vegetables, buy organic.  Do remember that most experts agree that the quantity of pesticides found on produce grown via conventional methods is miniscule and poses little to no health risks.

If you’re concerned about the environment, buy organic.  The chemical free organic growing practices do cut down on the world’s pollution footprint and encourage the replenishment of our growing soil.

But if you’re looking to beef up your nutritional intake, save your money and buy conventional fruits and vegetables.  Just eat more of them.

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Grandpa Grew Better Vegetables

There is a common belief that modern farming practices have resulted in bigger and more nutritious fruits and vegetables. That science has progressed and made our good foods even better.

Nope.

For one, the “fresh” vegetables and fruits we get at our local Sprouts or Fresh Market don’t look or taste nearly as succulent as the produce I used to eat at my grandparent’s farm. The corn that we bring home today is not as yellow or as crunchy as the ears we picked right from the fields 35 years ago. The blackberries that we buy at our local farmer’s market aren’t nearly as full and firm as the ones I used to pluck right off the bush back in the day. And don’t get me started on the current state of store bought tomatoes.

Turns out the fresh fruit and veggies we find in the stores today not only don’t taste as good, but they are also less nutritious.

According to an article in the February issue of the Journal of Hortscience, the typical vegetables found in your local market are anywhere from 5% to 40% lower in vitamins and minerals than those that were harvested 30-35 years ago. The nutrients that have been depleted over the years include iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium, and other dietary goodies.   Studies have shown that at least six of the thirteen major nutrients typically found in most vegetables have shown these drastic declines.

In addition, much is made of how modern farming techniques have enabled growers to produce larger, more “robust” fruits and vegetables.  This results in the jumbo sized tomatoes, peppers, etc, that you find in “premium” produce markets.

Bigger fruits and vegetables means more nutritious fruits and vegetables, right? More food equals more content, including vitamins and minerals, doesn’t it?

Again, nope.

According to Donald R. Davis, a former researcher with the University of Texas’s Bichemical Institute and author of the Hortscience article, today’s fruits and vegetables suffer from the “dilution effect”. They may be larger, but today’s jumbo produce actually contains more filler, or “dry matter”, than anything else. This filler actually serves to dilute the vitamin and mineral content.

Turns out that this dry matter is actually made up of starchy carbohydrates, empty of vitamins and minerals. But, guess what?

It does increases the size and therefore the yield of the harvested produce.

And how do farmers get paid?  By the yield of the harvest. Bigger fruits and veggies means more money to the grower, more weight on the scale, and more cost to the consumer.

So, you’re actually paying more money for less nutrition.

Genetic dilution is largely to blame for this. Selective breeding for purposes of increasing crop yield (remember, more yield, more money) has led to substantial declines in the percentage content of vitamins, protein, and amino acids in today’s farm fresh produce.

Another factor in the declining nutritional value of our fruits and veggies is agriculture industrialization. The increased use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has led to crops that are being grown and harvested much faster than in the past.

Get them in. Get them out. Send them to market.

Great for the farmers, but the quick and early harvests mean that the plants spend less time in the ground. Less time in the ground means less time to absorb nutrients from the soil and less time to create them via growth processes, such as photosynthesis. In addition, many of the chemical fertilizers interfere with a plants ability to absorb particular nutrients from the soil.

Other modern farming processes, such as monoculture planting, where a single crop is grown in the same area year after year, have led to the severe depletion of nutrients in the soil.

So, we have genetic dilution that, via selective plant breeding, actually encourages the growth of produce that is larger in volume but less in nutritonal value. We have harvest cycles that rush the growing process and curtail the ability for plants to absorb nutrients from the soil and the sun. And we have modern farming practices that are not allowing our soils to replenish their supply of healthy minerals required for healthy produce.

And even though genetic dilution seems to be more severe in vegetables than fruits, the combination of all these factors means that we just aren’t getting the same quality of produce as what prior generations were consuming.

Now this certainly doesn’t mean you should give up on fruits and veggies in your diet.  Even with the reduction in healthy nutritional content, they are still the best source of the stuff that keeps us going.  Just means you may need to eat more of them.  Or maybe it just means being a little more selective in the quality of the produce you buy.

Which brings us to our next topic.

How does organically grown produce play into all this? Is it worth the extra cost at the market? That’s for our next column.  You can read it here.

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A Supplement That Really Works?

Yea yea - I know.

I spend alot of real estate on this blog debunking many of the various “super” supplements that hit the marketplace. And I do firmly believe that we can get most of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional substances our bodies need from a well-balanced diet. Especially in our younger years. But as we get older, I do think that selective supplementation can benefit us. Both by supplementing falling levels of certain chemicals in the body due to aging processes, and by neutralizing the destructive results of aging related reactions.

Now new studies indicate that creatine, a substance produced in the body from the amino acids methionine, glycine and arginine, may help improve memory and brain functioning.

Creatine has been used in the muscle building community for years.  And as a muscle strength and muscle recovery enhancer, it really does work.

A natural body building supplement that works?  Wow, time to toss out the steroids.

The key to creatine’s effectiveness is that it is chemically linked to another substance in the body called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP, often called the “universal energy molecule”, is utilized by every cell in our bodies to fuel cellular growth and recovery processes.  ATP also reduces the impact of oxidative stress, a reaction that increases as we age, within the body.

A drop in ATP levels naturally occurs as we age and our cells deteriorate accordingly.  Low ATP levels are also linked to the onset of many diseases.

Preserving high ATP levels in the body is a key component of slowing down the aging process and maintaining high energy levels.

Taking powdered creatine mixed with water or juice supplements the body’s natural supply and will provide more energy to our cells.  More energy equals stronger muscles.  Stronger muscles equal bigger muscles when they are progressively worked in an effective exercise program.  More energy also means that as you break the muscles down in a workout, they are able to recover faster.

So, creatine: get bigger muscles, faster! But this is only if you are regularly working out in a resistance training program - i.e. weights, machines, etc.  A couch potato taking extra creatine probably won’t notice any effects at all.  His cells, especially the ones in his muscles, don’t need the extra energy cause there’s not much for them to do anyway.

But a new study out of Australia suggests that the energy producing effects of creatine can also benefit our brain functions, including memeory and mental clarity.  Kind of makes sense.  If creatine can improve energy levels in all cells, including our muscles and heart, then why wouldn’t improve the cells of the brain?

The results of the study indicate that levels of creatine in the brain directly relate to recognition memory capabilities, mental fatigue levels, and analytical decsion making skills.

So, creatine: get bigger muscles, faster, AND smarter!

And the best part?  Creatine is cheap.  You can find it in powdered form in most any health store for around $20 for a 2-3 month supply.  And don’t get suckered into buying “liquid” creatine.  Your friendly GNC clerk will tell you that liquid creatine reaches the cells faster and is more pure,  but studies have proven that the powdered form (mixed with juice or water) is actually far more effective.

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Oprah’s Miracle Fruit? The Truth About The Latest Super Supplement.

Lose weight with Dr. Oz’s miracle fruit!  Hollywood stars regain youth with acai!  Nature’s miracle in a bottle!

Okay, first, I love fresh acai fruit. I can’t find fresh acai berries anywhere here in Dallas, but it’s a staple at most of the smoothie/juice shops in Australia. Great morning pick-me-up snack. And really healthy. But miracle cure?

Remember how popular pomegranate juice was 2-3 years ago? How it was chockfull of healthy antioxidants and other anti-aging substances? Well, the pomegranate has been replaced as the latest super fruit of choice by the Brazilian fruit, the acai berry.

And it’s pronounced “Ah-Sigh-EE”.

These days you see ads for acai berry supplements all over the Internet. Free trial offers. Lose weight with acai!  Grow younger with acai!  Cleanse your colon with acai! Even Oprah has supposedly hawked the benefits of the acai berry.

Let’s get down to facts.

The acai berry is a very healthy fruit.  It is high in antioxidants and cholesterol lowering omega 3 and omega 9 fatty acids.  It is also high in fiber and has a low glycemic index, which means it doesn’t play havoc with your blood sugar, but rather supplies a steady source of raw energy.  All good stuff from one of nature’s healthiest fruits.

Bring on the hype.

So, as with any newly discovered “super” food, what is the first thing the nutritional supplement makers do?  They set up what are often questionable manufacturing processes to extract and bottle acai berries in juice, pill, and powder forms.  They slap some colorful labels on these bottles with names like AcaiBurn, The Brazilian Miracle, and Acai Essence Deluxe. And then they embark on a massive marketing campaign that revolves around hyped testimonials, exaggerated science, and suck-you-in free trial offers designed to prey upon our miracle cure mentality.

All of a sudden you saw ads on Facebook, Google, and all the major news media web sites advertising product web sites called  Oprah-best-acai.com , OprahsAmazingDiet.com, DrOzMiracle.com, rachaelray.drozdiet-acaiberry.com and others with totally misleading names.

Yep, anyone can buy an Internet domain with someone else’s name in it.

The typical pitch is, we’ll send you a free month’s supply.  You just give us your credit card number to pay for shipping and handling.  But if you look at the really small print, you’ll see you’re signing up for an never-ending supply of the supplement, which they will bill you for every one or three months.  They keep shipping, you keep paying.

And apparently, it’s been very difficult to get them to stop shipping.  There have been thousands of complaints against these companies, many of which operate overseas in such hotbeds of corporate activity as Tunisia, Vietnam, and Majorca.  Even when you try to cancel, they keep shipping and you keep paying.

Many people have had to cancel their credit card just to halt the billings.

You can find out more about the CSPI warning here.

Look, acai is just the latest super food fad.  Acai is a great tasting and very healthy fruit, but let’s put things in perspective.

Acai juice does contain healthy levels of antioxidants.  But, recent studies show that, even in juice form, it contains lower levels of healthy antioxidants than Concord grape juice, blueberry juice, and black cherry juice.  It does contain higher levels of antioxidants than apple, orange, or cranberry juices.  And the fatty berry that is the acai does also contain healthy levels of omega fatty acids.

So, again, acai is a healthy fruit.  It tastes great, especially when mixed with nuts.  Trick is, due to it’s native Brazilian rain forest growing environment and challenges in packaging, it’s hard to find acai berries in raw fruit form here in the States.

You can find juices and juice concentrates, which are the next best thing.  But you do still lose some of the benefits in the juice extraction process.

Then you have the pills and powders.  I have yet to find a food of any type that can be packaged in pill or powder form and retain any significant percentage of its nutritional content.  So, take that under consideration the next time you see one of those blinking “Oprah Lost 50lbs With Acai In A Bottle!” ads.

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We’re Not Kids Anymore - Blog Carnival

Welcome to the June 16, 2009 We’re Not Kids Anymore Blog Carnival.

As usual, this edition presents a selection articles from across the health, nutrition, and fitness blogosphere.

Enjoy.

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