Nutrient Collapse? Are Modern Foods Missing Nutrients: Science is Not Clear--but Very Suggestive

[SorellaLaBefana]

These excerpts are from a recent, lengthy, opinion article in Chemistry World discussing the possibility (bolding added). Adhering to the four paragraph posting rule makes for disjointed reading. The original article is quite coherent and covers much more.

…
When we think about the food we ate when we were younger, we might be inclined to say that it was tastier and healthier than what we eat today. And while we may be saying this out of a nostalgic tendency, researchers have been looking for a more scientific answer. In several papers, researchers have used food tables – country-by-country compendia of historical information on the mineral composition of foods – to report an apparent decline in micronutrients such as iron, vitamins and zinc in fruit and vegetables over time…

In 2022, Mayer published another study comparing food in the UK with tables’ data, this time with three data points: 1940, 1991 and 2019. Her findings suggest an astonishing decline in nutrients since 1940, with the biggest overall reductions in sodium, iron, copper and magnesium. ‘The government still says you’re not supposed to compare this data because so much has changed in the food system. To me, that was the reason to look at it,’ she explains. ‘I’m first and foremost a nutritionist. I wanted to know “Has consumed food changed its value?”’

But nutritionist Helena Trigueiro, who isn’t involved in these studies, is more sceptical. ‘As a nutritionist, obviously, it’s interesting to see the different studies and the different techniques they use. But I find it difficult to compare some papers where the methods are quite different, the samples are quite different, and the context is quite different.’…

But for all its benefits, the Green Revolution seems to have had one unwanted consequence. Comparing Green Revolution wheat varieties with older varieties, McGrath and his colleagues found that modern varieties contained fewer minerals when grown under the same conditions and side by side with older varieties. This suggests that the decline in micronutrients is not due to environmental factors, but to something happening inside the plant…

https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/is-modern-food-lower-in-nutrients/4018578.article?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=3be8fc0955-briefing-dy-20231205&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b27a691814-3be8fc0955-49942924

Truly fascinating discussion article, with no clear answers but presenting some very interesting thoughts.

Something which I thought not forcefully presented is the fact that without the Green Revolution hundreds of thousands of people—indeed, more likely, millions—would have starved.

Whatever may, or may not be, any particular shortfalls of micronutrients in these (or in other current) food plants such deficits, if shown to be important, should be amenable to amelioration by fortification.