Here's something you probably don't know. The fruit and vegetables you eat today are not as nutritious as the food from fifty years ago.

Who says so? The USDA. When you compare the Food Composition Tables from the 1950 Agriculture Handbook with the latest version, you'll see the shocking truth.

In fact, that is exactly what researchers Donald Davis, Melvin Epp, and Hugh Riordan did. They compared the data for 43 garden crops. They found that the group of vegetables showed "statistical reliable declines" for many nutrients.

There was less riboflavin, protein, iron, vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and magnesium, and other nutrients. In some cases the nutrient drop was more than 50%.

The cause of these nutrient losses may have been from changes in the vegetable varieties, according to the researchers. It seems that the plant breeders are more interested in vegetables that ship well and look good on store shelves. Appearance is everything when it comes to creating profits. Nutrition is a secondary consideration.

Not mentioned was the probable lack of trace plant nutrients in soil that has been mined by unsustainable farming practices over the years. This is what the organic farming people have been saying for years.

The nutrition shortage in almost all people is made even worse by our food choices. Instant, prepackaged, processed foods supply refined carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and little else. It's a lot like the farming practices that feed the crops with high nitrogen chemical fertilizers, potassium, and phosphorus and nothing else.

We end up eating bloated, unhealthy, nutrient lacking foods that give us bloated, unhealthy bodies. Could this be the real cause of the growing obesity problem around the world? We're all over-stuffing ourselves trying to get the nutrition our body's intelligence knows we need to be healthy.

If you liked this article, you can get more Tom Donaldson on his Blog at http://PhreMind.blogspot.com.