Vitamins and minerals in fresh foods
September 9th, 2011 → 11:23 am @ Shanti
My dear friends,
I am going to write some information about “The vitamins and minerals in fresh food” e.g.: fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and herbs.
From tomorrow, I will add ten pages of information about a single food item and will continue to do so on the 10th of every month, till I have exhausted my supply of information.
I have been asked many times to do so, but I have been rather busy with my book.
The list will mainly include the more common available fresh food items, from throughout the year, available during their growing/ripening season. Having read my book, you know by now, that I believe in eating fresh foods in season, when they are ripe in the case of fruits and mature in vegetables. In the case of all fruits and vegetables they should not be imported from outside your particular area, especially from another hemisphere, where the season is completely the opposite to where you live. Summer-time in Australia is winter-time in the northern hemisphere, so these seasons clash with what we should eat. That’s why I keep saying: “Create a community of like-minded people, who can each grow something and barter or exchange with each other throughout the year, to give you as much variety as possible, because you cannot grow it all yourself.”
I have described this clearly in my book, so read all that again if you like.
At this stage I will not write about fancy items of produce, which not many people eat. I would like you to be informed about what you eat daily or weekly, or at least on a regular basis and find out, if you are getting fed properly or not; the vitamins, the minerals etc.
No fancy details and numbers will be written to confuse you, so you do not have to add up all the figures together to see if you get enough of one particular vitamin for instance. This makes people confused and they give away trying, to do the right thing. I would like you to feel confident, that `an apple a day, keeps the doctor away `expression is for you, in other words, by eating a few more of a particular type of fruit, is going to help you build up an extra reserve of vitamin C or A, or increases your immune system for instance.
People living in other countries, will have fruits and vegetables that are a little different to the Australian varieties, but so many are the same and these are the ones I will write about first and that will be quite a long list. The fact that you will have this list on your computer in an alphabetical order, headed by FRUIT, followed by VEGETABLES, NUTS, GRAINS and HERBS, it will be easily browsed through, when the information is needed.
The question: “What is in an apple?”
You look up: apples, and hey presto, it is all there, all the information you NEED! Short and sweet.
I was told a story the other day, about a 40 year old lady, who was absolutely surprised to find out, that eggs came from chickens. She had no idea at all and never thought about it either. So many children do not know where milk comes from. I find this very sad. Take them to the country and let them experience the real world; let them experience animals and all.
For this reason I want to try and help the children, so they can see how a fruit grows; the type of tree, the leaves and the fruits individually, or sometimes bunched together, etc. The vegetables : whenever I can, I have chosen a photo of the most natural growing condition, rather than the way they are displayed in the shop, all cleaned up and ready to eat. The seeds are a little more difficult to photograph as they usually grow in pods, but I have done my best to find the most natural way, before they are out of their shells.
It will make it easy during a particular season, when you eat an abundance of that season’s fruits to see if you need another fruit or vegetable, to make up for the lack of some vitamin or mineral.
I don’t want you to be too concerned about what you eat all the time, because it will cause even a bigger problem. Some people really worry all the time, if they eat properly, but they are usually pretty undernourished. They have a library full of “health books “and know it all, but as lay-people they haven’t got a clue, what it is all about. Read my book and you will be happy.
The balancing of foods is regulated by the seasons and The Universe has planned it all that way. When the seasons were created, the fruits and vegetables came during those certain times, to feed us right for that season, where we live. As I mentioned in the book, citrus fruits for instance, are on the trees for us to consume during the autumn (fall) and winter, when we need an abundance of vitamin C, to boost our immune system. There is no need to import citrus from the other side of the world, because during the summer, we should eat summer ripening fruits, growing in our area. That is the plan!
I hope you will enjoy this journey with me, through the list of goodies and I am sure, that without too much hassle, you can do the job to suit yourself.
Please always remember, that the quantities of the listed vitamins and minerals will vary, depending where and how they are grown. As I have mentioned in my book, that produce grown in bio-dynamic soil is always tops and cannot be equalled. Some of the values of vitamins and minerals you are going to read about, will be much higher from a bio-dynamic farm, or from a home grown patch, treated with manures and without chemicals. The figures to follow are more or less from conventionally grown produce. Please keep that in mind!
Don’t panic trying to work all this out for yourself, please, because that alone is going to make you sick. Take it easy and relax, it will all work out fine. Eat a good and varied diet with lots of greens and fruits in season and you will be well. I don’t count my vitamins or minerals. So many people constantly ask me a question like:” What can I eat that has a lot of…..minerals in it or vitamin.” I say what I just have said to you, eat a good all round diet of fruits, vegetables, some grains, nuts and seeds. Drink alkaline water! Give away take-away foods, including shop bought and prepared foods and you will find that things will start to happen.
Please believe me, Shanti.
Okay, the first fruit to be dealt with is: THE APPLE.
That is coming up as a blog TOMORROW.
When you see (H), (M), (VH) or (L), these stand for high, medium, very high and low. This way I will no have to write the same thing all the time.
