Is Our Food Becoming Less Nutritious?

Hey everyone, welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I am your host, Dr. Axe, and each and every week on this show, we explore the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level. Today, I'm going to be talking about a topic I am so excited about because it's going to have a radical impact on your health.

We're going to be talking about the nutrient density of your food and the nutrient density of our soil. Think about this. Did you know That certain produce like a tomato or an apple 50 to 70 years ago might have had, in some cases, double the nutrients as today.

So what's happening is when you're eating broccoli and spinach and you're thinking you're doing great eating vegetables and, and nuts and seeds and fruits, and you think, hey, I'm doing really good, I'm getting lots and lots of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants here, you might only be getting Half of what your body needs because our soil is so depleted. Think about this.

If our soil doesn't have nutrients, your food doesn't have nutrients. So in this episode, I'm gonna go through exactly how you can make up the differences, where to buy your produce. In fact, I'll go through what's better, locally grown, homegrown, or organically grown.

I'll talk about if there even is a difference between organic and conventional in most cases, and how you can make sure you are getting every nutrient you need.

Because here's the reality.

If you have one single nutrient deficiency, it can cause a health problem in your body. I'll give you an example. If somebody has hypothyroidism and they're deficient in any single B vitamin, such as B2, B9, B12, or a mineral like selenium, it can cause hypothyroidism. Or if somebody has a deficiency of vitamin D or B12 or other nutrients, it can cause depression.

So you might be struggling with a medical condition right now, or you just have You're low energy or your skin doesn't look good or you just don't feel good because you have a single nutrient deficiency. And it's because our soil is depleted. The food you're eating doesn't actually have the nutrients you think it has.

And so that's leaving your cells and your organs without the nutrients they need to run properly. So I'll go through the root of all of these issues on today's episode. Hey, before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you Don't miss a single thing.

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Here's a reality: is We have major nutrient depletion. Here's the definition. Nutrient depletion refers to the reduction in essential vitamins and minerals in soil and crops over time due to various factors. I'll go through, through what those factors are. And agricultural practices have evolved significantly.

Here's the reality, though.

As we have moved forward in time, we have moved backwards in nutrients due to Farming practices today where we are constantly pillaging the soil. We're taking things without giving things back, without letting the land rest.

By the way, something I'm going to talk about in a minute that's going to blow your mind are biblical farming practices and how those are ahead of science today in terms of what we should be doing to heal. Now, here's what I want to start off showing you. I'm going to show you over the past around, let's call it 50 years or so, how much nutrients have declined in our soil. Okay?

And this is according to major medical journals such as Scientific America, the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, ScienceDirect, and MDPI Nutrients. These are some of the medical journals. So on average today, when you're eating food, okay, uh, let's say again a tomato, a cucumber, kale, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, any of these foods, okay, on average calcium has decreased by 27%.

Magnesium, 21%. Iron, 37%. Now, you wanna know why so many women today have low energy and fatigue? So many women today aren't fully anemic, but they're borderline anemic. And so it's not showing up on blood work, but because of it, they're just tired all the time. Well, why is that? Well, over 1/3 of all of the iron we should be getting in our food today isn't there because our soil is depleted.

Potassium, which is important for heart health. Zinc, listen to this, zinc in our foods is depleted by almost 50%. Zinc is known as our immune system vitamin. If you are deficient in zinc, you have a greater chance of developing autoimmune disease. You have a greater chance of having leaky gut syndrome. You have a greater chance of having acne.

You have a greater chance of not being able to heal, just weak immune system, getting colds and flus and not being able to overcome them quickly because again, it's been depleted. By 50%. Phosphorus is down 10%. Chromium, which is important for blood sugar balance, is down by 17%. Selenium, which is the most essential mineral along with iodine for your thyroid health, is down 22%.

Look at this, iodine down 50%. In addition, those are just the minerals. I only hit on the minerals so far. Now here's the vitamins. Vitamin A is down 18%, which is critical for neurological health and skin health. Vitamin B B2, riboflavin, is down 38%. By the way, vitamin B2, riboflavin, is one of the most essential nutrients for methylation.

So if you've ever heard of not methylating properly, which is very important for people with hypothyroidism and infertility and low energy levels, well, B2 is one of those 3 to 5 most critical nutrients, and it's 38% depleted in our soil.

Wow.

Vitamin B3, 21% less. B9, folate, which is the most important for that folate methylation cycle, 30% reduced. Vitamin C, 16%, of course, important for your immune system. Vitamin E, important for healing and repair. Vitamin K, important for heart health, down 22%. And then look at this, phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Our total phenolics, uh, phenolics are down by 32%, and flavonoids are down 40%. Flavonoids are those antioxidants that are found in things like Blueberries and extra virgin olive oil that keep us feeling and looking younger. Well, if it's down 40%, you're gonna age more quickly.

So you can see here where, where the nutrients depleted in our soil, which is now depleted in our food, is going to keep you from healing at the same level you should be healing. Also, critical nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur are also depleted in our soil by 42%, 33%, and 33%.

Wow.

Those nutrients then being depleted leaves you depleted. So think about it like this: poor soil health equals poor produce health equals poor health for you, because now you're not getting the nutrients you should be getting. Now, I want to go through now how to fix this problem.

I want to get more into the root of why this is happening, but then go through the practical things you can start doing to make up for all of these nutrients that you don't have In your body or in your diet. So here is why our soil is so depleted today and so why our foods are so depleted.

There is a heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers that literally only puts 3 nutrients back in our soil when we should be putting probably 80 to 100 nutrients back into our soil. This heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers that only puts back nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. While neglecting all the others.

In fact, a study was done in 2005 and it found that intensive farming reduces soil organic matter by up to 50%, which is why now you don't have any nutrients in the food you're eating. And here's the other thing that happens. Then they have to use extra chemicals like glyphosate and other herbicides that are now toxic to your body. So here's the deal.

Not only are you getting less nutrients, But now you're getting more chemicals that are causing cellular toxicity. Now, number 2 issue that's causing our soil and foods to be depleted is lack of crop rotation and monocropping. Monocropping means you just plant soybeans or corn every single year and it's the only thing you grow.

Versus if you monocrop, if you plant corn one year and beets another and wheat another year, Well, those foods are different. They pull different nutrients and add different things back into the soil. And a study was done in 1999 and they found that continuous monocropping led to around a 20 to 30% reduction in soil fertility over a 30-year period of time.

Now, I want to give this to you, an example, as for a human. Okay. Let's say you only ate one food all the time. That's all you ate ever was one food. Okay. How healthy are you going to be? You're going to be missing something. Even if it's a food like an avocado that's very nutrient-dense or wild-caught salmon, you're still going to be missing something. You want a variety in your diet.

If the soil is only getting one thing over and over and over again, it's missing something. And so then your foods are going to be missing something. Number 3, soil erosion and loss of topsoil is a major issue due to us continually removing nutrients from the soil over and over again.

And then again, I mentioned this, number 4, overuse of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides cause soil toxicity and it disrupts the microbiome of the soil. So just like you, your gut health, it's called your gut microbiome, and it needs good bacteria like probiotics to grow and create things.

Well, the soil has a biome, a microbiome, and if it doesn't have good bacteria and good viruses and worms and things like that, It can't be healthy. Fungi, in fact, fungus is very important for the health of our soil. If it doesn't have that, well, what happens?

Just like these synthetic fertilizers or chemicals kill off probiotics and good bacteria in your gut, they also kill off good microbes in the soil, which causes the soil to erode and break down. So it creates less nutrients for our food. The other big thing is this. Number 5 is loss of soil biodiversity.

Again, diversity.

You want a lot of different types of probiotics in your gut. You need a lot of different bacteria and microbes in the soil in order for it to be healthy. And again, these— here's the big thing.

Modern farming practices where you're just doing one crop and you're tilling the soil, releasing carbon and the nutrients, and then replanting the same thing over and over again, and then using pesticides, it's absolutely destroying the earth and the soil. And of course, there are some people believe that that actually is impacting the environment.

I don't believe in the global warming the way that it's being drummed up. I do believe, though, we are harming the environment with our modern farming practices, which is harming our food, which is harming us.

Now, here's the reality.

The lower the nutrient density in the food you eat, the greater deficiencies and health issues, according to a study done in the Journal of American College of Nutrition. They found, again, when soil declines, Food nutrients decline, and then your health declines. There is a direct correlation according to medical studies.

You could see here as an example, calcium in 1950, uh, was about 58 milligrams. Today it's 38 grams. That's nearly a 35% decrease. Iron was around 9 milligrams in 1950. Now it's 6 milligrams. That's a 33% decrease. Vitamin A It was 721. Now it's 401 IUs. That's a 44% decrease. Vitamin C was 5 milligrams. It was 13 milligrams in 1950. That's a 61% decrease. Guys, think about that. A 61% decrease.

You're getting less than half of the vitamin C you did in 1950. So when you're eating an orange and you're thinking today, wow, I'm eating this orange, I'm getting a lot of vitamin C. If it's a conventionally grown orange, you're getting maybe less than half of what you actually think you're getting.

Magnesium here, you can see one of the most important minerals in the body, decreased by around 18% there as well. So our nutrients are really depleted in our soil. And here is how we start to restore our soil health. And by the way, I'm going to get into things around taking a multivitamin, whether you should do that, and where to actually get nutrient-dense foods here in just a moment.

But rotating crops is helpful. According to studies, it reduced pests and what we have to use for chemicals by around 20 to 30%. Organic farming practices and something called permaculture can really help build up topsoil. This helps as well by 20 to 30%. Another study found that by using composting— so here's what composting is, okay?

If you On the course of any given week, take the organic matter you don't eat. Let's say a banana peel. Okay? You throw that into a bin along with coffee grinds and eggshells you don't use. And really anything that's a real food, you throw in a tub and you let it decompose and you throw it out.

Let's say you have an area in your backyard and you create a little area and you go and you get a composter and you basically compost it and put that out over time. That increases the soil organic carbon by 25% and nutrient availability by 15% in an incredibly short period of time. In fact, that might happen in a year.

Over years and years and years, I mean, you can have incredibly nutrient-dense soil if we are following these permaculture principles. Now, the other thing is that can really help is if we are combining our animals With our vegetation.

So if animals like chickens and ducks or sheep, goats, and cows are going up and down around our produce and you're getting manure, then that then is going to increase the topsoil. It can reduce erosion by 50%. Think about 50% more nutrients, 50% more topsoil, 50% more organic matter. That is incredibly important. For the health of our plants.

So you're going to get that many more nutrients in the soil. Here's the other thing. We want to do less tilling. Here's what happens. Okay, so imagine this, you go into your yard and you constantly dig up dirt. That disrupts the soil. It's like going in and disrupting your gut microbiome, like dropping an antibiotic in there almost. Okay, it's going to kill things off, things are released.

It's not good. When you Don't till, which basically means rather than planting something you have to regrow every year, if you plant a berry bush, like a blueberry bush in your yard, if you plant an apple tree, if you plant something that can grow year after year after year, then you're going to reduce soil erosion by 40% and increase the organic carbon and nutrients by around 30%, okay?

By using those sort of plants. Or if you do have to dig it up and then replant, which you're better off not digging it up, just letting it die, okay? But then you replant the next year, that's better off. Or if you can add good soil to it, the idea there is, is you don't want to constantly be digging things up. And that's what happens in modern agriculture today.

It's not following these correct principles. Well, now I want to share with you biblical farming principles. These are principles that are referred to in the Bible, 5 principles to restore Nutrients to our soil, which will restore nutrients to our plants and produce, which will restore nutrients to our bodies that we're missing. The first is called Sabbath rest for the land.

It's known as Shemitah. Okay, here is a Bible verse that says, but in the 7th year, the land is to have a year of Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. This is Leviticus 25:4.

Here's the reality.

Allowing the land to rest every 7 years helps restore soil fertility and prevent overexploitation. It'll actually help build back all of the nutrients in the soil if you do this every 7 years. Modern agriculture experts recognize the value of fallow periods for soil regeneration and breaking pest cycles.

In fact, there's a study done in 2010, and they analyzed fields that were left fallow 1 year after every 6 years of cultivation. Here's what they found. Nitrogen increased by 15%. Organic matter increased by 10%. Crop yield improvement by 20% in the following cycle. It made a tremendous difference. That single principle alone could help heal the planet in a big way.

The second principle referenced in the Bible is related to farming crop rotation and diversity. A Bible verse says, do not plant your field with 2 kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of 2 kinds of material. This is Leviticus 19:19. Now, this is more specifically addressing mixed seeds. Okay? The broader principle of avoiding monoculture aligns with modern crop rotation.

It's the general principle that does align if you understand this. Crop rotation improves soil structure, reduces pest buildup, and enhances nutrient bioavailability. So rather than sowing 2 at once, instead rotate every year and change up what you're doing. Here's another one. Impact on crop rotation for soil health. This study evaluated the impact of rotating different crops over 5-year periods.

We saw a 20% increase in organic matter, 30% reduction in bugs and pests, and a 15% increase in crop yield. Here's another verse on restoring health, and I think there's more of a spiritual component to this one.

Here's the verse.

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leviticus 19:9. Leaving parts of the field unharvested supports biodiversity and soil health. It allows plants to naturally decompose, returning those nutrients to the soil and providing habitats for beneficial organisms and animals that help build up the topsoil as well.

Now, here is a study that proves this. The study analyzed the effects of leaving field edges unharvested and found that it enhanced biodiversity and improved overall soil health. It increased soil organic matter by 20%. Biodiversity increased by 25%. Again, biodiversity, think about gut health, think about soil health. And crop yield stability improved by 10% as well. And then here's one more.

Bible verse. While not directly mentioned, the principle of using animal dung, manure, as fertilizer is inferred from various passages of the Bible, such as in the parable of the fig tree. So here's one. It says, so he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, for 3 years now, I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down.

Why should it Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year and I'll dig around it and I'll fertilize it. Luke 13:7-8.

Here's a reality.

Composting organic waste, like doing compost and using manure, are traditional methods to enhance soil fertility. These practices recycle nutrients, improving soil structure, And promoting healthy microbial activity.

Here's the reality.

All of these things are going to increase the health of our soil. One more here, one more Bible verse. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. Jeremiah 17:8.

Here's the reality.

When you have efficient water management and you farm practically and properly, it creates a natural irrigation system for all the plants. It prevents erosion, increases moisture and nutrients. Again, think about for a plant to grow, it needs water.

Experts advocate for practices like drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting to conserve water and enhance soil health, or practicing permaculture, which every farm could do in order to store more water. Studies have been shown Things to harvest water properly on farms reduces soil erosion by 25%, improves water efficiency by 30%, and increases crop yield by 15%. You can see here all of it.

Now, I know I'm jumping into a lot of these farming practices, which you may or may not be interested in.

But here's the reality.

If you want more nutrients in your food, then you need to be aware of what our farming practices are doing today. This is why— here's what I want to encourage you to do. Here are the practical tips now. Number 1, buy organic and locally grown food. A study from 2004 showed that supporting local farms promotes sustainable agriculture and increases community resilience.

And those foods, more often than not, are more nutrient-dense and have less chemicals than conventional food you're going to buy at your grocery store. Here's the second principle. Growing nutrient-dense foods at home. Do your own garden. This is something my wife Chelsea and I have done. And again, it is something that has brought us joy. It's brought us health.

By the way, one of the greatest things you can do to boost your gut microbiome and health is to have a home garden, even if it's just an herb garden. Chelsea and I went out and bought a big planter box. We grew basil, parsley, rosemary, cilantro, Cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant. And it's been so much fun. Chives was another one. We throw those in our eggs in the morning.

And you know, it's going to be healthy. It's going to be more nutrient-dense. In fact, a study from 2010 found that if you are doing a home garden using those organic methods, that food's going to have typically at least 20 to 30% higher nutrient levels compared to conventional methods. Wow.

Yeah.

Conventionally grown produce. Now, here's the mind-blowing thing. That means that food will be even more nutrient-dense than conventional food, but also organic food. So if you're going to Whole Foods Market or Sprouts and buying organic produce, by the way, you should do that.

But any food that you grow in your own home, in your own yard and garden, especially if you use good soil, it's going to be more nutrient-dense. Okay? And herbs are like medicine. So if you can do basil and cilantro and chives and some of those foods yourself, You're getting way, way more nutrient— more nutrients that way. So I want to encourage you, do an herb garden or a garden yourself at home.

More and more celebrities are doing that. Our friends Carrie Underwood Fisher and Mike Fisher do this. You should follow her on Instagram. She's got great posts. And Chelsea and I are building this out right now, building out our own homestead with, with these gardens as well. We're excited about— here's the third thing.

When you can't buy locally, And you can't do your own garden, choose organic produce. It's better for local people and for the environment. One of the things you'll notice if you shop at Whole Foods Market or Sprouts, your local health food store, they tend to get things regionally or, or closer to home. Okay, there's one in Nashville I love called, called the Turnip Truck. That's another one.

But these health food stores typically get things more regionally. Less stuff is coming in from Mexico and China. So try and buy The local or regional foods, even if you're shopping in a place like Whole Foods or Sprouts. Okay. A study showed from 2012 found that organic foods have had, have at least 30% lower pesticide residue and have higher nutrients such as vitamin C and iron.

So organic is worth it. But remember, the best of the best is at home. The next is at your local farmer's market, knowing and asking the farmer, making sure it's clean and good stuff. 3 Is buying organic from a health food store. Those are your best options in terms of what to do to get more nutrients. And then here's the other thing I would suggest: take whole food-based nutrients.

I would suggest taking a whole food-based multivitamin or B complex or some sort of nutrient because the reality is our soil is depleted and you're probably not getting enough nutrients. But there is a big difference between a synthetic multivitamin and a whole food-based multivitamin. Synthetic vitamins are just what they sound like.

They're using, uh, nutrients that have been processed in a plant or taken from rocks like limestone. And studies show that if you're consuming a lot of these synthetic nutrients, like synthetic calcium, it may actually increase your risk of a heart attack or heart disease or stroke. So because your body doesn't know what to do, it can't absorb it properly.

So you don't want to take any synthetic nutrients. You want to buy from brands multivitamins from food-based brands. Okay, some of the brand— by the way, studies have shown better absorption, fewer side effects, according to a 2001 study. Some of the brands can include, again, the one that I personally recommend, the 2 brands, Ancient Nutrition, LongevityRx, Garden of Life, Megafood, New Chapter.

I mean, these are food— Gaia. I mean, these are food-based supplement companies that you're going to find in health food stores versus if you're going to a CVS or Walgreens or conventional grocery store, every single— most of those brands are synthetic.

Again, you really want to typically go to a health food store, go to a good place, look for Ancient Nutrition, you know, or for, again, just a food-based supplement company where they have foods in there and you see also methylated vitamins in there. Things that are more food-based that you can actually absorb. So I want to encourage you, take a multivitamin.

Here's another big one, take a probiotic, because probiotics will help you absorb the nutrients of all the produce you're consuming and actually will help you detoxify even some of the pesticides. Probiotics do that.

So if you can take a probiotic and a multivitamin and maybe like a super green or super red, like a superfood powder, those are the things that will help you most make up for these deficiencies in our soil. And then just spending time outside. We're meant to be connected to the earth. We're meant to spend time outside, walking outside, having a garden.

Listen, even if it's just a box that's, you know, 3 foot by 1 foot, just a small box of herbs and putting your hands in the dirt and growing that, it does tremendous things for your health, along with a multivitamin, a probiotic, a superfood powder.

In addition to that, what I talked about, remember, when you're buying food, number one, at home, number two, your local farmers market or CSA, number three, at a health food store that's organic and ideally closer to home, grown regionally, is the best for your health.

Here's the reality.

In the past 50 years, our modern farming practices have absolutely destroyed our soil. It's destroyed our environment, it's destroyed our produce, and that's destroying and hurting our health. So hey, be part of the solution. Follow some of the advice you heard on this show. And by the way, thank you, all of you who are going to share this episode. It means so much to me every time you do that.

It really does. It touches my heart. And I love that we get to be on this mission together to help people heal. You know how many people don't know this and they're still going to their local grocery store and they're buying produce. I mean, I, you know, let me give you examples.

My, my, I remember, um, we were living somewhere for a time, and I remember went and bought apples for a while from some store, and they were organic. But I, I told Chelsea, I said, I feel like these apples taste like a bag of water. Like, they just don't have real nutrients. They just don't taste great.

And then we went up to Minnesota in the middle of summer, and we went to this, you know, organic shop and got apples up in Minnesota. And I tasted it and I said, after eating these other apples for the past month or so, I said, I feel like I've bitten into a real apple for the first time in months.

Because it was locally grown, it was organic, these people really cared, had good soil at their farm, and it makes a big difference. And think about this, are you biting into a bag of water where there's no nutrients in it? Or are you biting into something that's living, something that has vitamins, minerals, antioxidants? And it's an actual real food that's, that's created to heal your body.

Remember, food is medicine. So everybody, thanks again for sharing this. Thanks everybody for— don't forget to subscribe, by the way. Every time you subscribe, it allows me to bring on bigger and better guests, put out more content. Thank you, all of you as well, for liking and, and for, um, for commenting on the episode here. Again, thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Axe Show.

I can't wait to see you on the next episode.