Not Your Grandma's Tomato Part 1 - Keys to Good Nutrition & Tips to Eating Healthy Feast on Organic Whole Food

I'd like to share an article written
by David Uri LeBaron,
pioneer and innovator of live, whole food-based nutrition.

"THIS IS NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S TOMATO! - Part I"

"After more than 30 years of 'hands-on' organic farming
and continuous nutritional research, let me explain why...

this is NOT your grandmother's tomato!

You've heard 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'...
but not today's apple. Today's apple is not your grandmother's apple.
Neither is a tomato, nor lettuce, or carrot - you name it.

And in many cases, even what's advertised as a 'natural' food
may not really be what you think it is. That's because you're being sold a bill of goods by the big food manufacturers when it comes to conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, and other so-called 'healthy' foods today.

The Truth: Beware of the 'Toxic Buffet'
Why have so many of our food sources been altered? Why are our foods no longer delivering the kind of nutrition they've provided us in the past? And what are the potential risks from these foods?

Here are the startling answers, starting with these facts:

Did you know that over 70 percent of processed foods in U.S. grocery stores contain genetically modified ingredients? And more than half of the corn grown in the U.S. is genetically engineered? This means foods are being altered by scientists in ways our forefathers never imagined. Just consider these shocking examples...

1. Many prematurely picked tomatoes are artificially ripened with hormones.

Take a tomato. The longer it stays on the vine, the higher its sugar level, better its taste, and higher its nutrient content. Just think about how good a home-grown tomato tastes. Yum! But out-of-season produce in the U.S. is often shipped up to 2,500 miles before being sold - so you can't pick a fully ripened tomato and expect to sell it cross country.

This is why many farmers in Florida, California, and Mexico pick tomatoes at 'mature green' state and artificially ripen them with ethylene. Ethylene is a hormone derived from petroleum and natural gas. The problem is, these tomatoes are deprived of optimum nutrient content.

2. Apples are treated with radioactive gamma rays to appear fresher.
Today, some conventionally grown apples are treated with radioactive gamma rays (yes, low levels of radiation) to extend shelf life and make them appear fresher than they really are. [Business News, 6/1/2005]

In fact, irradiation destroys up to 80 percent of an apple's essential vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, C, E, and K, as well as thiamin, folic acid, and even essential fatty acids and amino acids.

3. Crops are 'genetically-modified' (GM) to grow better.

To create more drought-and pest-resistant crops, engineers insert bacteria, viruses, plant or animal cells and even human genes into seeds...but at what risk? [truefoodnetwork.com]

For example, GM crops are designed to withstand herbicides...so farmers growing GM soybeans are using 2-5 times more herbicides than growers of natural varieties. GM crops easily pollinate with related weeds, creating 'super weeds' that are resistant to top-seling herbicides...forcing farmers to use more toxic herbicides.

Shockingly, U.S. food manufacturers are NOT required to put "genetically modified" on any food labels! This leave us in the dark. In fact, according to the International Food Information Council, 62 percent of Americans surveyed said they knew 'a little or nothing at all' about genetic engineering of foods.

But as you'll see in a moment, 'the Feast' gives you REAL whole food-based nutrition from organic and naturally grown fruits, berries, greens, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and sprouts, just as Nature intended - free of the dangers of biotech engineering and genetic modification.

Another reason why today's common fruits and vegetables are nowhere near the quality of your grandmother's is the shockingly poor vitamin and mineral content found in today's conventionally grown produce. Since the late 1950's, the nutritional content of America's conventionally grown fruits and vegetables has declined, often significantly.

Dr. Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas, noted that the USDA tracked 13 major nutrients in garden crops from 1950 to 1999 and found six with noticeable declines. Of these, a 38 percent drop in riboflavin...a 15 percent drop in iron...and a 20 percent drop in vitamin C stand out.

Nutritionist Alex Jack found even more shocking evidence when he compared USDA food tables from 1963 to those of 2000, as reported in Life Extension [March 2001]. He found the following: 50% less calcium in broccoli and carrots, 88% less iron in watercress, 45% less vitamin C in spinach, 51.5% less potassium in collard greens, and 66% less iron in apples, oranges, and apricots. SHOCKING!

WHY such poor nutritional content in our produce today?"

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I will continue this article in Part 2 by David Uri LeBaron in my next posting.

Thank you so much for visiting my health and nutrition blog. Please check back often for my most recent postings on good nutrition and on eating healthy, and consider adding my RSS FEED so that you can be kept up to date on all of these health and nutrition articles. As a defender of your health, I am dedicated to providing you with the Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy. I'm also devoted to encouraging you to eat 5-9 servings of fresh organic fruits and vegetables every day, and the next best way to do that is by drinking the Feast, by Uri International, which is a live whole food based InstaFresh juice powder drink by Yuri. For more information, click here: http://www.livesuperjuice.com