vegetables

Which vegetables have the highest overall nutritional value?

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Vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet, providing a wide range of important nutrients. However, some vegetables stand out from the rest in terms of their overall nutritional value. In this article, we will discuss the top ten vegetables that have the highest nutritional value.

1. Spinach: Spinach is a leafy green vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. It is also a good source of iron, magnesium, and calcium. Spinach is low in calories and high in fiber, making it an excellent choice for weight loss.

2. Kale: Kale is a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. It is also a good source of calcium, iron, and potassium. Kale is low in calories and high in fiber, making it an excellent choice for weight loss.

3. Broccoli: Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. It is also a good source of fiber, calcium, and potassium. Broccoli is low in calories and high in fiber, making it an excellent choice for weight loss.

4. Sweet potatoes: Sweet potatoes are a root vegetable that is rich in vitamins A and C. They are also a good source of fiber and potassium. Sweet potatoes are low in calories and high in fiber, making them an excellent choice for weight loss.

5. Carrots: Carrots are a root vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. They are also a good source of fiber and potassium. Carrots are low in calories and high in fiber, making them an excellent choice for weight loss.

6. Brussels sprouts: Brussels sprouts are a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. They are also a good source of fiber and potassium. Brussels sprouts are low in calories and high in fiber, making them an excellent choice for weight loss.

7. Peppers: Peppers are a vegetable that is rich in vitamins A and C. They are also a good source of fiber and potassium. Peppers are low in calories and high in fiber, making them an excellent choice for weight loss.

8. Tomatoes: Tomatoes are a vegetable that is rich in vitamins A and C. They are also a good source of fiber and potassium. Tomatoes are low in calories and high in fiber, making them an excellent choice for weight loss.

9. Cauliflower: Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. It is also a good source of fiber and potassium. Cauliflower is low in calories and high in fiber, making it an excellent choice for weight loss.

10. Cabbage: Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C, and K. It is also a good source of fiber and potassium. Cabbage is low in calories and high in fiber, making it an excellent choice for weight loss.

In conclusion, these vegetables are not only packed with nutrients but are also low in calories, making them ideal for weight loss. Adding these vegetables to your diet is an excellent way to boost your overall health and well-being.

What vegetables should be avoided by a diabetes patient?

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You can’t eat sweets anymore. Never. People with diabetes, have you heard a phrase like that at least once in your life? There is an opinion that if a person is diagnosed with diabetes, his diet in the future will consist exclusively of fresh, tasteless foods. But this is not entirely true, because diet and nutrition for diabetes can be delicious, and the quality of life will only increase. What to expect from a diet with diabetes, how to control glucose levels and learn to count units of bread? The endocrinologist at the San Nicolás Clinic will tell you.

What level of sugar is considered dangerous?

The norm of fasting blood glucose is 3.9 to 5.6 mmol/l. If the analysis results are different, it may mean the following:

Prediabetes: 5.6-6.9 mmol/l. This means that diabetes has not yet developed, but a number of processes are occurring in the body that can increase the risk of its onset.

Diabetes: more than 7 mmol/l. So far there is no special danger to health, if it is detected in time and appropriate measures are taken.

Endocrinology of diabetes mellitus

Next, there are 3 degrees of hyperglycemia:

Light: 6.7-8.2 mmol/l

Average gravity: 8.3-11.0 mmol/l

Heavy: more than 11.1 mmol/l

If the indicators exceed 16.5 mmol / l, precoma develops, and when the concentration of glucose in the blood is above 33.3 mmol / l, hyperglycemic coma. These states are described in more detail below.

Consequences of diabetes

It is not uncommon for people to see a doctor whose sugar level is outside the normal range: 20-25 mmol/l. In addition, they are usually applied in case of typical complaints:

Consultation of an endocrinologist.

Decreased visual acuity up to loss of vision.

Damage to all blood vessels (heart, kidneys, brain, retina)

Impaired kidney function (up to kidney failure)

Gangrene, trophic ulcers of the lower extremities.

Stroke, heart attack

Impotence

hearing impairment

Frequent infections (especially bladder, kidney)

This is due to the fact that with prolonged hyperglycemia, glucose accumulates in the tissues and becomes toxic: it destroys the liver, kidneys, blood vessels, heart and nerve fibers. But not only can high sugar have a harmful effect on the body, hypoglycemia is also dangerous. First of all, the brain suffers, as it consumes up to 60% of all the energy supplied by glucose. As a result, dizziness, weakness, decreased concentration, darkening of the eyes, tremors of the limbs, fainting.

There are also particularly dangerous consequences that require immediate assistance:

Ketoacidosis is a condition that develops when there is a lack of insulin in the blood. As a result, glucose cannot enter the cell, and to obtain the necessary energy, the body begins to break down fatty acids in large quantities. In the process of division, toxic ketone bodies are formed that accumulate in the blood very quickly, so the kidneys do not have time to excrete ketones with urine. As a result, ketoacidotic coma or even death, if timely medical assistance was not provided.

Hyperglycemic coma – an increase in blood glucose level to critical values (above 33.3 mmol / l). A person has intense thirst, a constant urge to urinate, and if no action is taken, he falls into a coma.

Hypoglycemic coma is a critically low blood glucose level (below 1.65 to 1.38 mmol/l). As already mentioned above, the main consumer of glucose is the brain, and if it does not receive enough nutrition, the brain goes into “hibernation” to save energy.

What is the difference between nutrition for type 1 and type 2 diabetes?

Nutrition for type 1 diabetes.

It is important to get all the essential nutrients in the same amount as a normal person. If there is no tendency to satiety, then the daily calorie content of dishes should not differ from the norm. The only thing that is important to know is the amount of carbohydrates in the food. On average, 1 unit of insulin is calculated per 15 g of carbohydrates, the insulin dose is adjusted to the meal, taking into account the number of bread units of the next meal. According to modern recommendations, the most suitable foods for type 1 diabetes are foods from the so-called Mediterranean diet.

Nutrition for type 2 diabetes.

There are no special differences in the diet, the diet should also be saturated with non-starchy vegetables, complex carbohydrates and whole grain products. If you are overweight, your doctor may recommend a low-calorie or low-carbohydrate diet.

Additionally, type 2 diabetics need to consume at least 1.5 liters of water per day.

Recommendations to reduce sugar levels

The basis for maintaining an optimal glucose concentration is a healthy lifestyle and a diabetes-appropriate diet. Usually includes:

Helps with diabetes

Refusal of alcohol

Reduce the amount of sugar and sweeteners.

Replace fast food with homemade dishes

Changing flour products from soft varieties of wheat to hard varieties.

Eat strictly according to schedule (avoid snacks)

Replace unhealthy foods with healthy foods (for example, you can eat frozen smoothie bananas instead of ice cream)

Avoid overeating

TOP-3 diet rules

Replace sweets with healthy food!

Can’t give up sweets with tea? Then, instead of the usual chocolate, it is better to eat a small amount of nuts and whole grain crackers. You like ice cream? Try to prepare it yourself at home: freeze your favorite berries or fruits and beat them with a blender until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

The calorie content of each meal should be approximately the same.

Make a menu so that the breakfast, lunch and dinner portions are equal in calories. Use the diabetic plate method: half the meal is vegetables and greens, one quarter carbohydrates, and another quarter meat/fish. It is best to contact a nutritionist to develop a personal nutrition plan.

Eat carbohydrates in the first half of the day.

For lunch: porridge, fruits, potatoes, milk. Carbohydrates have the highest glycemic index, so they can be consumed only before lunch, and after 5:00 p.m. carbohydrates are completely prohibited. This threatens a sugar spike at night, when it is not possible to control its level.

What you can’t eat with diabetes.

The list of prohibited foods for diabetes is honorably opened by alcohol; At the same time, the stronger the drink, the more calories it has. It should be abandoned completely.

In second place are easily digestible carbohydrates. They create a jump in blood glucose levels, which is dangerous in case of insulin deficiency. This includes all flour products (buns, white bread, cakes, pastries), soft wheat pasta, sweets with added sugar (soft drinks, chocolates, candies), sausages and sausages, potatoes, fast food. If it is not possible to exclude all these products from the diet, it is necessary to at least minimize their consumption.

It is also worth limiting:

Trans fats (margarine, store-bought pastries)

Cholesterol: optimally no more than 200 mg per day (approximately this amount is contained in 1 medium chicken egg)

Tinctures: approximately 1 teaspoon per day.

Saturated fats: animal products, fatty dairy products, coconut and palm oils.

You should not think that a couple of glasses of alcohol or some sweets will not affect anything, because even this amount can cause a jump in blood glucose and cause complications.

What can you eat with diabetes?

Problem with diabetes

Berries and fruits without sugar.

Low-fat dairy products

Beans

whole grain bread

Vegetables

Fish/lean meat

Eggs

What cereals are allowed to eat?

Barley (pearl, barley)

oat grains

Greek

Wheat

Quinoa

Rice (long grain brown rice only)

Meat or fish: what should be more in the diet.

Meat and fish are excellent sources of protein. But it is important to use them in moderation. It is impossible to say unequivocally what should prevail in the diet, it is only important not to abuse fatty varieties of meat / fish and include them in the menu in a measured manner.

What foods reduce the amount of sugar in the blood?

Fresh vegetables and herbs

Fruits and berries without sugar.

Seafood, sea fish

Avocado

Nuts of various varieties (almonds are the most useful)

Integral products

What are the best vegetables for vitamin D?

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Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that plays a vital role in bone health, immune function, and many other bodily processes. While sunlight is the best natural source of vitamin D, certain foods can also provide this important nutrient. Vegetables are a great source of many essential nutrients, including vitamin D. In this article, we will discuss the best vegetables for vitamin D.

1. Mushrooms

Mushrooms are one of the best sources of vitamin D among vegetables. They are unique in that they can synthesize vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, just like human skin. In fact, mushrooms exposed to UV light can contain up to 1000 times more vitamin D than regular mushrooms. Some of the best types of mushrooms for vitamin D include portobello, shiitake, and maitake.

2. Spinach

Spinach is a leafy green vegetable that is packed with nutrients, including vitamin D. One cup of cooked spinach contains about 6% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Spinach is also a great source of other essential nutrients like iron, calcium, and vitamin C.

3. Kale

Kale is another leafy green vegetable that is rich in vitamin D. One cup of cooked kale contains about 10% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Kale is also a good source of other essential nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin K, and fiber.

4. Collard Greens

Collard greens are a type of leafy green vegetable that is popular in Southern cuisine. One cup of cooked collard greens contains about 5% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Collard greens are also high in other essential nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium.

5. Broccoli

Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamin D. One cup of cooked broccoli contains about 6% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Broccoli is also a great source of other essential nutrients like vitamin C, fiber, and potassium.

6. Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are a type of cruciferous vegetable that is packed with nutrients, including vitamin D. One cup of cooked Brussels sprouts contains about 6% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Brussels sprouts are also a great source of other essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, and fiber.

7. Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable that is rich in vitamin D. One cup of cooked Swiss chard contains about 3% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Swiss chard is also a good source of other essential nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium.

8. Turnip Greens

Turnip greens are a type of leafy green vegetable that is rich in vitamin D. One cup of cooked turnip greens contains about 4% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Turnip greens are also high in other essential nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium.

9. Asparagus

Asparagus is a vegetable that is high in vitamin D. One cup of cooked asparagus contains about 2% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Asparagus is also a good source of other essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate.

In conclusion, there are many vegetables that are rich in vitamin D. By incorporating these vegetables into your diet, you can improve your overall health and well-being, and help to ensure that you are getting all the essential nutrients that your body needs.

The Broccoli Experiment: How Facial Expressions Impact Food Love

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Summary: Observing others’ facial expressions while eating raw broccoli impacts women’s liking but not their desire to eat it. A study examined the effects of positive, neutral, and negative facial expressions during broccoli consumption.

Negative expressions reduced liking ratings, suggesting the power of food dislike on eating behavior. This research sheds light on the role of social modeling in influencing food preferences and could extend to children’s vegetable acceptance.

Key Facts:

  1. Observing others’ negative facial expressions while eating raw broccoli reduces adults’ liking of the vegetable.
  2. This study focused on women to explore potential gender differences in social modeling effects.
  3. The findings may have implications for children’s vegetable acceptance when exposed to parental food dislikes.

Source: Frontiers

Humans learn which behaviors pay off and which don’t from watching others. Based on this, we may draw conclusions about how to act – or eat. In the case of the latter, people may use each other as guides to determine what and how much to eat. This is called social modelling and is one of the most powerful social influences on eating behavior.

In a new study, researchers in the UK investigated whether observing others’ facial expressions while eating raw broccoli influenced young women’s liking and desire to eat raw broccoli.

“We show that watching others eating a raw vegetable with a negative facial expression reduces adult women’s liking of that vegetable, but not their desire to eat it,” said Dr Katie Edwards, a researcher at the Aston University School of Psychology and lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Psychology.

“This highlights the power of observing food dislike on adults’ eating behavior.”

Broccoli gazing

In the study led by Edwards, just over 200 young women watched a video containing clips of different unfamiliar adults consuming raw broccoli. While eating, the models displayed positive (smiling), neutral, or negative (disgust-like) facial expressions.

The researchers examined only women’s reactions since gender differences may exist within the modelling of eating behavior, and modelling effects can be different among women and men.

Previous research shows that behaviors are more likely to be imitated if positive consequences are observed, while the reverse is true if negative outcomes are witnessed. In the present study, however, this correlation was observed only partially: Exposure to models eating broccoli while conveying negative facial expressions resulted in a greater reduction in liking ratings, whereas the reverse did not hold.

“Watching others eating a raw vegetable with a positive facial expression did not increase adults’ vegetable liking or eating desire,” Edwards explained.

One possible explanation may be that avoiding any food – irrespective of whether it is commonly liked or disliked – that appears disgusting can protect us from eating something that tastes bad or is harmful. Another reason may be that smiling while eating is perceived as an untypical display of liking a certain food.

“This might imply that watching someone eating a raw vegetable with positive facial expressions does not seem an effective strategy for increasing adults’ vegetable consumption,” said Edwards.

Copy and taste

There is still much that needs to be understood about the interplay of obvious enjoyment and the liking of food. For example, the researchers have focused on adults, and while this has not been tested for on this occasion, they said that given the power of negative facial expressions, and because children tend to be less willing to try vegetables by default, these findings could generalize to kids.

“For example, if a child sees their parent showing disgust whilst eating vegetables, this could have negative consequences on children’s vegetable acceptance,” Edwards pointed out.

In the present study, participants also watched short video clips, rather than watching people eat in front of them. This allowed them to observe the dynamic nature of reactive facial expressions, which is more realistic than looking at static pictures; however, in the future, an important focus will be to examine the effect of watching live food enjoyment on eating behavior, the researchers said.

“We also need more research to see whether the findings from this study translate to adults’ actual intake of vegetables,” Edwards concluded.

Eating More Fruits and Vegetables May Extend Life Expectancy

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(Shutterstock)

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, carotenoids, and polyphenols. Recent survey research showed that fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancers.

A research team led by Atsushi Goto, a professor at Yokohama City University, and Hitoshi Nakagama, the president of the National Cancer Center Japan, conducted a 20-year research survey on the association between eating fruits and vegetables and all-cause mortality. The results, published in the Journal of Nutrition, an Oxford journal in the UK, on June 28, 2020, showed that people who consumed more vegetables and fruits had a 7 to 8 percent lower risk of death over 20 years, compared with those who consumed fewer vegetables and fruits.

European and American research had previously revealed that eating more fruits and vegetables can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and the risk of all-cause mortality effectively, said Atsushi Goto. Yet, the diet, lifestyle, and heredity of westerners are different from Asians. Thus, the research team selected 95,000 male and female volunteers, aged 40 to 69, from 11 Japanese prefectures and cities between 1990 and 1993, after excluding patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease, and liver disorders, for a long-term questionnaire survey.

Based on the results of the questionnaire, the researchers compiled statistics on the daily fruit and vegetable intake of the participants and divided them into five groups according to the amount of intake, from highest to lowest. The group with the lowest fruit and vegetable intake was the control group, which was compared to the other groups for subsequent risk of death from all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

In 2018 (20 years later), the follow-up investigation results showed that the risk of all-cause death was reduced by 8 to 9 percent in the high fruits and vegetables intake group, while the risk of death for cardiovascular disease was reduced by approximately 9 percent.

The analysis of fruit intake showed that the risk of all-cause death was reduced by 8 percent in the highest intake group, and the risk of death by cardiovascular disease was decreased by 13 percent. It was particularly noticeable in women.

Analysis of vegetable intake showed that the group that consumed the most vegetables had a 7 percent lower risk of death than the group that consumed the least.

When mortality was analyzed separately for males and females, it was found that higher fruit intake in males was associated with lower respiratory mortality, while the same in females was associated with lower cardiovascular mortality.

According to the result of the analysis, the research team concluded that vegetables and fruits, which are rich in vitamins and dietary fiber, play an important role in people’s health. It is recommended to intake more than 300g of vegetables and more than 140g of fruits daily.

“I hope this research result can provide data as a basic reference to the general public about the daily intake of fruits and vegetables,” said Atsushi Goto.

Additionally, research on nearly 1.9 million people worldwide conducted by scientists from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other institutions also revealed that an appropriate amount of daily fruit and vegetable intake can extend life expectancy. The research results were published in the American medical journal Circulation in March 2021.

The research discovered that not all vegetables and fruits can reduce the risk of mortality. Starchy vegetables such as peas, corn and potatoes, and some fruit juices are not associated with lowering the risk of death from all-cause or certain chronic diseases.

Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, and kale, citrus fruits, berries, and carrots, which are rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C, have all shown benefits in reducing the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Fruits and Vegetables for Improved Endurance

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(William.Vaccaro/Shutterstock)

(William.Vaccaro/Shutterstock)

A new study found that short-term high protein diets may hinder muscle endurance and short-term high carbohydrate diets may increase endurance (mSystems, May 17, 2022;7(3)). This study found that what elite long-distance runners ate determined which types of bacteria lived in their colons. A diet high in fruits and vegetables (high-carbohydrates) was associated with improved time-trial runs in highly trained competitive runners by 6.5 percent, while a high-meat diet (high-protein) was associated with a performance reduction of 23.3 percent.

The runners who had the least changes in the bacteria in their colons had the greatest improvement in time trial performance. The study found that:

• The high-carbohydrate diet that improved performance was associated with less change in the types of colon bacteria and an increase in the healthful types.
• The high protein diet that slowed exercise performance changed the types of bacteria in the colon (microbiome), reduced the number of different bacteria (diversity), and raised the levels of some types of viruses and bacteria.

How Diet May Influence Athletic Performance

Your muscles use primarily carbohydrates and fats for energy. The limiting factor for how fast you can move is how long it takes for oxygen to go from your bloodstream into the exercising muscles (Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2018;28:451–463). Carbohydrates (sugar) require less oxygen to make energy than fats do, so as you start to run out of your limited sugar supply, you have to slow down. You have an almost endless amount of fat in your body, but only a meager amount of sugar stored in your muscles and liver. Restricting carbohydrates for a short period can increase the ability of your muscles to store extra sugar when you eat carbohydrates days later (Med Sci Sport Exerc, 2010;42:2046–2055).

You need some extra protein to stimulate muscle growth for exercise (Sports Med, 2019;49:59–68). Therefore many competitive athletes manipulate their training (Sports Med, 2018;48:1031–1048) by restricting carbohydrates and increasing protein for a week or two, and then eating a high carbohydrate diet for a few days before they compete. During the high-carbohydrate period, you should not “carbohydrate load” where you force yourself to eat a tremendous amount of carbohydrates such as pasta or bread (Eur J Sport Sci, 2015;15:3–12). Your muscles can store only a limited amount of sugar, so you can increase sugar storage in muscles only a little bit. Excess carbohydrates are converted to fat, and you don’t need extra fat for exercise. In 1973, I reported the case of a marathon runner who suffered a heart attack after carbohydrate-loading in the days before a marathon (JAMA, Mar 26, 1973;223(13):1511-2).

Another reason not to load on meat: a very high-meat diet contains sulfated amino acids such as cysteine and methionine, and fermentation of these acids in your colon can produce ammonia, phenols, and hydrogen sulfide, which can damage the lining of your colon and change the types of bacteria in your colon (Nutrients, Mar 10, 2018;10(3):337).

My Recommendations

Recent papers are showing that exercise may improve health by increasing the number of healthful colon bacteria and decreasing the number of harmful bacteria. A healthful plant-based diet appears to build endurance by increasing the number and diversity of healthful bacteria in your colon (mSystems, May 17, 2022;7(3)), so eating lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts may make you a better athlete.

Eating potatoes in morning, vegetables in evening lowers mortality risk in diabetes

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The time of day certain types of foods are eaten may affect risks for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality for adults with diabetes, according to study data published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

“We observed that eating potatoes in the morning, whole grains in the afternoon, greens and milk in the evening and less processed meat in the evening was associated with better long-term survival in people with diabetes,” Qingrao Song, MD, of the department of nutrition and food hygiene at the Harbin Medical University School of Public Health in China, said in a press release. “Nutritional guidelines and intervention strategies for diabetes should integrate the optimal consumption times for foods in the future.”

Risks for CVD mortality with diabetes reduced with dietary trends
Eating more potatoes in the morning, whole grains in the afternoon and dark vegetables in the evening can reduce the risk for CVD mortality in adults with diabetes. Data were derived from Jiang W, et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022;doi:10.1210/clinem/dgac069.

Researchers analyzed data from 4,642 adults aged 18 years and older with diabetes who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2014. Food intake data were collected during two nonconsecutive 24-hour dietary recalls, one taking place in person and the second occurring 3 to 10 days later by phone. Food consumption was analyzed in three time periods: morning, which consisted of breakfast plus a snack between breakfast and lunch; afternoon, including food eaten during lunch and a snack between lunch and dinner; and evening, including dinner plus any snack eaten after dinner. The cohort was divided into quantiles based on each participant’s intake of each food group. CVD and all-cause mortality data were obtained from the National Death Index through 2015. Researchers also built isocaloric models to analyze the RR of mortality when food intake was changed from one time period to another.

In the morning period, participants had a lower risk for CVD mortality if they were in the highest quantile for potatoes (HR = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24-0.89), starchy vegetables (HR = 0.32; 95% CI, 0.15-0.72) and tomatoes (HR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.97) compared with those in the lowest quantile for each of those groups. Adults in the highest quantiles for eating potatoes (HR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.51-0.97), starchy vegetables (HR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.49-0.95) and tomatoes (HR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.53-0.94) during morning also had a decreased all-cause mortality risk compared with those in the lowest quantile.

In the afternoon, adults who consumed whole grains had a lower risk for CVD mortality compared with those who did not eat whole grains (HR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.48-0.95). During the evening, people in the highest quantile for eating processed meat had a higher risk for CVD mortality compared with those in the lowest quantile (HR = 1.74; 95% CI, 1.07-2.82). Adults in the highest quantile for eating dark vegetables had a lower risk for CVD mortality compared with those in the lowest quantile (HR = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.35-0.87), and people in the highest quantile for drinking milk had a lower risk for CVD mortality (HR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36-0.88) and all-cause mortality (HR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.54-0.92) compared with those in the lowest quantile.

In analysis of the isocaloric models, moving one-tenth of a serving of potatoes from afternoon or evening to morning decreased CVD mortality by 9%. Shifting one-tenth of a serving of starchy vegetables from afternoon to morning reduced CVD mortality by 14% and moving one-tenth of a serving from evening to morning lowered CVD mortality by 15%. CVD mortality declined 8% when one-tenth of a serving of dark vegetables was shifted from afternoon to evening. CVD mortality was reduced by 7% and all-cause mortality declined 3% when one-tenth of a serving of whole grain was moved from morning to the afternoon.

“The findings in our study have important implications,” the researchers wrote. “People with diabetes are under a disrupted biological rhythm of glucose metabolism, and accumulating evidence in recent years has indicated that food intake time is as important as quantity and quality for maintaining health. Therefore, nutritional therapy that considers consumption time will be a major component of diabetes treatment.”

Green, leafy vegetables can decrease your risk of glaucoma by 20%

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Image: Green, leafy vegetables can decrease your risk of glaucoma by 20%

Research provides another reason for you to eat more leafy greens: They prevent the onset of a serious eye disease called glaucoma. In a study published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology, researchers suggested that eating green leafy vegetables every day may cut one’s risk of glaucoma by 20 to 30 percent over many years.

Glaucoma is an eye problem that typically occurs when fluid in the front part of the eye increases and causes pressure, which in turn damages the optic nerve. This condition can result in loss of vision.

For the study, the research team followed about 64,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study from 1984 to 2012. They also followed over 41,000 participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 to 2014. The participants were all aged 40 and above and did not have glaucoma at the start of the study. They had eye exams every two years.

Throughout the follow-up period, nearly 1,500 participants developed glaucoma. To determine whether diet played a role in the onset of the eye disease, the research team evaluated the diet, particularly the consumption of green leafy vegetables, of the participants. Then, they grouped the participants into five according to how much green leafy vegetables they consumed. Those who consumed the most amount of green leafy vegetables averaged about 1.5 servings a day, or approximately one and a half cups each day; while those who ate the least amount averaged about one serving every three days.

Although there was an association between consuming more leafy greens and a lower risk of glaucoma, it did not prove cause and effect. However, study leader Jae Kang explained that green leafy vegetables contain nitrates, which are precursors to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide plays a key role in regulating blood flow to the eye, and in glaucoma, there is an impairment of blood flow to the optic nerve. As an individual eats more leafy greens, the levels of nitric oxide in the body also increase.

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Kang is an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Preventing glaucoma with diet

Earlier research has suggested that eating the right foods may help cut the risk of glaucoma, prevent the disease, and help keep eyesight healthy for many years. The study, published in the Archives of the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology, assessed the diets of people in two American ophthalmological studies, and in a study from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

These large population studies found that consumption of foods rich in retinol, which is a form of vitamin A, helps lower the risk of glaucoma. However, there was no evidence that a diet rich in dietary fats promote the development of glaucoma, although too much fat intake is generally known to cause obesity and cardiovascular disease.

As the researchers dug deeper, they observed a link between lower rates of glaucoma and greater intake of leafy green vegetables, especially cabbage, carrots, fruits, and fruit juices, especially orange-colored fruits like peaches and apricots. In addition, the Spanish study suggested consuming flavonol-rich foods, such as green tea, dark chocolate, coffee (without sugar and little cream), and regular black tea. However, those who already have well-established cases of glaucoma should consume little or no caffeine because it can increase intraocular pressure and worsen the disease. (Related: Reduce glaucoma risk by drinking more green tea.)

In the study, the researchers provided a set of guidelines for lowering glaucoma risk:

  1. Eat plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables.
  2. Patients with hypertensive glaucoma should not consume too much salt.
  3. Avoid high-calorie diets to prevent body fat increase.
  4. Try eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids like fatty fish and nut as they seem to reduce risk.
  5. Drink small amounts of liquid throughout the day. Don’t drink large amounts in one shot.
  6. Drink red wine and green tea and eat dark chocolate moderately.
  7. If you already have glaucoma, do not consume caffeinated drinks.

Read more news stories and studies on foods that keep the eyes healthy by going to SuperFoods.news.

Sources include:

Consumer.HealthDay.com

FoxNews.com

The Evening Meal

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Mix-and-match dinner components for healthy, relaxing meals, featuring slow-roasted salmon, rotisserie chicken, zucchini spaghetti, and more!

Dinner is a mystery to me. It is definitely my favorite meal to eat – but being in charge of getting it on the table can be kind of dispiriting. It just comes around and comes around, and even though you just made dinner last night, it is time to make more of it, to make it again and again, whether or not you are out of ideas and whether or not you have family members milling around like a school of hungry sharks.

Dinner prep can be especially tricky if you’re trying to lower your overall carb intake since easy, comfortable favorites like spaghetti and meatballs, mac and cheese, or even breakfast for dinner have to be tinkered with. That’s why my recipes are meant to be the meal equivalent of practical wardrobe separates: you can make them as stand-alone recipes, or you can mix and match them into complete meals. They are generally low-carb, nutrient-dense, and also fairly straightforward and quite delicious. Plus, you can add whatever seasonings you like to make them even more interesting for yourself or the people you’re feeding – in other words, you can dress them up, dress them down, serve them with jeans, etc. Or that’s the hope.

I want to say here, in the interest of full transparency, that lots of people at diaTribe, including our own Adam Brown and me, are increasingly convinced that lowering carbohydrate intake substantially helps stabilize blood sugars and makes people feel better. But then we’re not completely avoiding carbs, and we don’t want to assume that you are. (Although if you are, that’s great!) We are thinking of some of these foods – the quinoa, for example – as better options than the ones like bread or pasta that have lots of carbs that go in fast. But please feel free to tell us what you’re thinking, what you’re wanting to cook more or less of at home. Because we really want to know!

Click to jump down to a recipe:

1 Store-Bought Rotisserie Chicken / 10 Meals

Okay, that’s a kind of inaccurate headline because you’re not really making 10 entire meals from a single chicken. It’s more that I’m giving you 10 different meal ideas for when you’ve bought a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, but you don’t really want to have just the plain chicken (again). I love supermarket rotisserie chickens because they’re inexpensive and they’re tasty – and because they lend themselves to such a lovely range of meals, without the fuss of first prepping and cooking the chicken. (Plus, nobody will know that you peeled off and ate the entire bronzed chicken skin while you were cooking. Chef’s prerogative!)

(Serving size and carb counts will depend on individual preparations, but I’m indicating what the source of carbs is below)

  • Lettuce Wraps (The carrot will add up to 3 grams of carbs per serving)

Butter or Boston lettuce leaves + shredded chicken + slivered carrots and/or cucumbers + basil and/or mint + a simple peanut dressing made by whisking together 2 tablespoons peanut butter (try to get the no-sugar ones), 1 tablespoon balsamic or rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon cayenne, and enough warm water by the spoonful to make it creamy and drizzle-able

  • Chicken Caesar (The chickpeas will add up to 15 grams of carbs per serving; feel free to omit them)

Cut-up Romaine lettuce + shredded chicken + grated parmesan + Caesar dressing + chickpea croutons (below). Adam’s Brown shared his Caesar dressing recipe, one he’s modified from The Keto Diet book: In a blender or food processor, whiz together 1 cup olive oil, ½ cup mayonnaise (use full-fat; look for Best Foods or Hellmann’s; otherwise, check that there are 0 grams of sugar per serving), one small tin of anchovy fillets, 6 tablespoons lemon juice, 2-3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 4 cloves of garlic (or 2 teaspoons garlic powder) and a grind of black pepper until creamy and smooth. This makes enough to dress 10 large plates of salad.

  • Green Noodles with Chicken (The red pepper will add up to 3 grams of carbs, the zucchini noodles around 6 grams)

Sautéed zucchini noodles (see below) + pesto + shredded chicken + red bell pepper + toasted pine nuts + grated parmesan cheese

  • Ginger-Miso Chicken Salad (The miso will add 2 grams of carbs, the almonds or peanuts up to 2 or 3 grams)

Cut-up Romaine lettuce + shredded chicken + sliced celery and/or cucumbers + toasted sliced almonds or roasted peanuts + miso-ginger dressing made by whisking together ¼ cup white miso + ¼ cup rice vinegar + 2 teaspoons finely minced ginger + 1 teaspoon soy sauce + 1/3 cup vegetable oil + 1 tablespoon warm water

  • Chicken Burrito Bowl (The beans will add up to 10 grams of carbs, the avocado up to 3 or 4 grams)

Shredded chicken + black or pinto beans + shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese + sour cream + salsa + diced avocado

  • Buffalo Chicken Salad (The blue cheese dressing might add a gram or two of carbs)

Cut-up Romaine lettuce and/or mixed greens + shredded chicken + sliced celery + blue cheese dressing + a few shakes of Frank’s Red Hot or Louisiana hot sauce

  • Mexican Chicken Soup (The tomato will add up to 5 grams of carbs, the avocado up to 3 or 4 grams)

Chicken broth + shredded chicken + canned tomatoes + sautéed onion and garlic + oregano and chili powder + lime juice + avocado + sour cream

  • Cobb Salad (The tomato will add up to 4 grams of carbs, the avocado up to 3 or 4 grams)

Cut-up Romaine lettuce + shredded chicken + hard-boiled eggs + cooked bacon + diced avocado + chopped tomatoes + crumbled blue cheese + vinaigrette dressing

  • Chicken Quesadizza (detailed recipe here) (The tortilla will add up to 3 grams of carbs, the broccoli 3 grams, the salsa 1 gram)

Low-carb tortilla + grated Monterey Jack cheese + salsa + shredded chicken + leftover roasted broccoli (below)

  • Vietnamese Chicken Salad (The carrots will add up to 3 grams of carbs, the Sriracha or hot sauce up to 1 gram)

Slivered napa cabbage + shredded chicken + grated carrots + chopped mint and/or cilantro + lime vinaigrette made with 3 tablespoons lime juice + 3 tablespoons fish sauce + 3 tablespoons vegetable oil + 1 clove minced garlic + Sriracha or other hot sauce to taste

Zucchini Spaghetti

Makes: 2 servings

Total carbohydrates: 6 grams per serving

Hands-on time: 5-15 minutes (depending on whether you’re spiralizing yourself)

Total time: 5-15 minutes

So, yes, oodles of zoodles and all that – it’s true that spiralizing vegetables, i.e. slicing them into spaghetti-shaped strands, is kind of a food trend. But zucchini noodles are light and delicious, naturally low in carbohydrates, and naturally high in fiber and nutrients. Plus, if you give them the spaghetti treatment – sauce and cheese, a spoonful of pesto, or even simply a little pat of melting butter – you just might convince any squash-wary family members that they’re worth tasting.

A note on gadgets: I have a super-simple double-sided pencil-sharpener type spiralizer, and I find it quite easy to use. I would also recommend the SpiraLife Vegetable Spiralizer ($13.99), a hand-held no-bells-and-whistles model that I like because it’s a) relatively inexpensive and b) entirely mechanical, which means you don’t need to plug it in and it won’t break.

However, you can invest in a more efficient gadget if you anticipate eating this a lot (Adam really likes this one) or you can even buy your veggies already-spiralized in some places if you want to pay a little more.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound zucchini noodles (also called zoodles) or 1 pound zucchini (about 2 medium), spiralized

Salt

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a wide skillet (ideally nonstick) over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the zucchini and sauté, tossing gently with tongs as it cooks, until it is just barely tender. This will take around 3 minutes, and you should stop before you think it’s completely cooked because it will keep cooking and you don’t want it suddenly sitting in a flood of water. Likewise, don’t salt it until you’re done cooking it, since the salt also will pull water from it.
  3. Salt and sauce as you like.

Perfect Slow-Roasted Salmon

Makes: 4 servings

Total carbohydrates: less than 1 gram per serving

Hands-on time: 5 minutes

Total time: 20-30 minutes

This is my very favorite way to cook salmon (or cod or striped bass, for that matter): the fish ends up meltingly tender, with a velvety texture and a very fresh, mild flavor. Don’t expect it to brown (alas), and don’t expect it to look the way you might expect cooked fish to look, since it won’t turn pale pink and opaque. It’s perfect as a regular main course, or atop a salad for a leafier meal.

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil (divided use)

Grated zest of 1 lemon (quarter the lemon after zesting it)

1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled, and minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped, or another herb of your choosing (optional)

4 pieces of thick salmon fillet (ask for center-cut), 1- 1 ½ pounds total

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Simple tartar sauce, below (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 275° F. Cover a baking sheet with foil, then brush or rub it with the half tablespoon of olive oil.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon zest, garlic, and remaining tablespoon of oil.
  3. Put the fish on the baking sheet, skin side-down. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then drizzle the lemon-garlic oil evenly over the fillets.
  4. Roast for 15 to 25 minutes, until the flesh is just beginning to flake when you press a fork into it, and you can separate the fish from its skin. It might look different from the way you’re used to cooked fish looking – rosier and less opaque. That’s okay!
  5. Serve with the lemon wedges, warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Simple Tartar Sauce

Whisk together ½ cup mayonnaise (use full-fat; look for Best Foods or Hellmann’s; otherwise, check that there are 0 grams of sugar per serving), 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped capers, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon salt. Feel free to add finely chopped cornichons (mini sour pickles) or dill pickles, and/or chopped dill.

Quinoa

Makes: 6 servings

Total carbohydrates: 20 grams per serving

Hands-on time: 5 minutes

Total time: 20-30 minutes

Quinoa is a wonderful grain… or seed… or superfood of the Andes. Whatever it is, it’s somehow simultaneously tender and crunchy, and also nutty and delicious. Plus, it’s gluten-free, high in fiber, and super-high in protein. Try swapping it into any dish or meal that you’d typically use rice for, since it offers so much more nutritional value. And if you’re serving the quinoa as a plain side dish, try stir in the juice and grated zest of half a lemon. Yum. (But also, if you’re aiming for fewer carbs, try making something like cauliflower “rice” instead, which you can find in some frozen vegetable aisles – Trader Joe’s has great options.)

Ingredients

Salt

1 ½ cups quinoa

3 tablespoons butter or olive oil

Instructions

  1. Bring a medium or large pot of water to a boil over high heat and salt it heavily. It should taste as salty as the sea, so we are talking a fair amount of salt.
  2. Add the quinoa and stir, turn the heat down to medium-high and cook it for 10-15 minutes, uncovered, until it is just tender and the grains have spiraled open a bit. It will continue to cook as it steams, so don’t cook it until it’s soft at this point – just fish a little out with a fork to test.
  3. Drain it really, really well in a fine sieve – I mean, really shake it around to get the water out – then put it back in the pot, stretch a doubled dish towel over the top of the pot, and put the lid back on. Leave it to steam for 5 to 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in the butter or oil and serve.

The Best Roasted Vegetables

Makes: 4 servings

Total carbohydrates: around 10 grams per serving

Hands-on time: 15 minutes

Total time: 25-35 minutes

Ingredients

1 large head broccoli or cauliflower, or 1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)

Optional: ½ teaspoon of sugar

Note: If you feel weird adding sugar to your vegetables, please feel free to leave it out. That seems completely reasonable to me, and the vegetables will still be totally good! However, because it helps the vegetables brown, because it only adds only a 1/2 gram of carbs per serving, and because this has, for years, been the best recipe I have for getting vast quantities of vegetables into the bodies of my children, I include it.

Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

  1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a large rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 500 degrees.
  2. If you’re using broccoli, peel the thick stems with a sharp paring knife as best as you’re able. Then cut the stem into long ½-inch-thick pieces and the rest into long, narrowish florets. If you’re using cauliflower, trim out the core with a sharp paring knife, then cut it up into florets, ideally cutting each in half so there’s a flat side. For Brussels sprouts, trim off the bottoms and any discolored leaves, then cut them in half.
  3. Put the vegetables in a bowl, drizzle with the oil and toss well until evenly coated. Sprinkle with the salt and sugar, and toss to combine.
  4. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, then dump on the veggies, spreading them in an even layer and placing flat sides down wherever possible.
  5. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast until the stalks are well browned and tender and the vegetables are lightly browned: about 10 minutes for broccoli; 15 minutes for cauliflower; 15-20 minutes for Brussels sprouts. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Chickpea Croutons

Makes: 1 cup (4 servings)

Total carbohydrates: 15 grams per serving

Hands-on time: 5 minutes

Total time: 25-20 minutes

I love these so much more than traditional croutons and they are better for you! They’ve got all the crunch, flavor, and saltiness you expect, but then they also add a ton of protein, fiber, and vitamins to your Caesar or green salad. Use a nonstick or well-seasoned pan, if you’ve got one.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and spread to dry on a double thickness of paper towels

Salt to taste (use plenty)

Garlic powder (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat until it is medium hot.
  2. Add the chickpeas in a single layer, salt them liberally, and leave them for a few minutes, unpestered by you and your spatula, so they can start to turn a bit golden on the bottom. Now start flipping and turning them every so often, shaking the pan around, until the chickpeas are as crisp and brown as they could be without burning. This will take 10-15 minutes.
  3. Add a sprinkle of garlic powder, if you’re using it, then taste for salt and remove the chickpeas to a paper-towel-lined dish to cool a bit before their introduction to the salad.

The Extinction of Fruits and Vegetables in 80 Years

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Extinction of Fruits and Vegetables

Story at-a-glance

  • Ninety-three percent of seeds were lost from 1903 to 1993
  • Just four agrichemical companies own 43 percent of the world’s commercial seed supply
  • The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership estimates that 60,000 to 100,000 plant species are in danger of extinction

Seeds represent the foundation of life. We depend on them for food, for medicine and for our very survival. In many ways, you can trace the underpinnings of any given culture through the heritage of their crops and seeds.

It wasn’t long ago when seeds were mostly the concern of farmers who, as the Worldwatch Institute put it, “were the seed producers and the guardians of societies’ crop heritage.”1 But this is no longer the case.

Once considered to be the property of all, like water or even air, seeds have become largely privatized, such that only a handful of companies now control the global food supply.

Agriculture has been around for 10,000 years, but the privatization of seeds has only occurred very recently. In that short time, seed diversity has been decimated, farmers have been put out of business due to rising seed costs… and the pesticide companies that control most seeds today have flourished.

According to Worldwatch:2

“…by the early 1900s, the U.S. and Canadian governments began promoting the development of large export-oriented agriculture industries based on only a few crops and livestock species.

To maximize uniformity and yields, seed breeding moved off the farm and into centralized public research centers, such as U.S. land grant universities. Variety development became commodity-oriented.

Scientific advances in the 1970s and ’80s heralded a new era in agriculture. To boost flat sales, Monsanto and other agrichemical companies ventured into genetic engineering and transformed themselves into the biotechnology industry.

They bought out traditional seed companies and engineered their herbicide-resistant genes into the newly acquired seed lines.”  It’s been all downhill from there…

93 Percent of Seeds Have Been Lost in the Last 80 Years

If you were alive in 1903, you would have been able to choose from more than 500 varieties of cabbage, 400 varieties of peas and tomatoes, and 285 varieties of cucumbers.

Eighty years later in 1983, the varieties had dwindled sharply, to just 28 varieties of cabbage, 25 varieties of peas, 79 for tomatoes, and just 16 varieties of cucumbers.

In a comparison of seeds offered in commercial seed houses in the early 1900s to the seeds found in the National Seed Storage Laboratory in 1983, researchers found 93 percent of seeds were lost over eight decades.

The National Geographic infographic below shows just how many varieties of fruits and vegetables appear near extinction.3  Even more concerning is the fact that the data is already more than 30 years old, and the problem may have gotten even worse since.

For the record, it’s not only fruits and vegetables that are disappearing. The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership estimates that 60,000 to 100,000 plant species are in danger of extinction.4

Food Variety Infographic

Loss of Seed Diversity Coincides with the Consolidation of Seed Companies

Seeds have traditionally been saved and shared between farmers from one harvest season to the next. Farmers rarely ever had to buy new seed. Nature, when left alone, provides you with the means to propagate the next harvest in a never-ending cycle.

Now, however, farmers relying on patented seeds must buy them each year from pesticide companies like Monsanto. Saving such seeds is illegal because it is considered to be patent infringement.

Many farmers depend on Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) (and patented) seeds. More than 90 percent of US soybeans and 80 percent of corn acreage is planted with Monsanto’s patented GM seeds.5

For 200 years, the patenting of life was prohibited, especially with respect to foods. But all of that changed in 1978 with the first patent of a living organism, an oil-eating microbe, which opened the proverbial floodgates.

Patenting of life forms was never approved by Congress or the American public. But as far the GMO industry is concerned, they own a gene, wherever it ends up.

According to the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), as of August 2013 Monsanto owned 1,676 seed, plant, and other similar patents.6 This was the plan all along. As reported by Friends of the Earth International:7

“At a biotech industry conference in January 1999, a representative from Arthur Anderson, LLP explained how they had helped Monsanto design their strategic plan. First, his team asked Monsanto executives what their ideal future looked like in 15 to 20 years.

The executives described a world with 100 percent of all commercial seeds genetically modified and patented. Anderson consultants then worked backwards from that goal, and developed the strategy and tactics to achieve it.

They presented Monsanto with the steps and procedures needed to obtain a place of industry dominance in a world in which natural seeds were virtually extinct.”

Seed Industry Consolidation Increases Along with Seed Costs

In 1996, there were still about 300 independent seeds companies left in the US. By 2009, there were fewer than 100.8 With the rise of GM crops and seed patents, meanwhile, the pesticide industry has been snapping up an ever-growing share of the seed industry.

Just four agrichemical companies own 43 percent of the world’s commercial seed supply, and 10 multinational corporations hold 65 percent of global commercial seed for major crops.9 According to Philip Howard, an associate professor at Michigan State University:10

“The commercial seed industry has undergone tremendous consolidation in the last 40 years as transnational corporations entered this agricultural sector, and acquired or merged with competing firms.

This trend is associated with impacts that constrain the opportunities for renewable agriculture, such as reductions in seed lines and a declining prevalence of seed saving.”

He further stated,“[t]he Big Six chemical/seed companies [Monsanto, Bayer, Dow, Syngenta, DuPont and BASF] have increased their cross-licensing agreements to share genetically engineered traits, strengthening the barriers to entry for smaller firms that don’t have access to these expensive technologies.”11

Howard has also compiled the graphic below, which depicts changes in ownership involving major seed companies and their subsidiaries from 1996 to 2013.12

As for seed costs, prices for GM soybean seeds rose 325 percent from 1995 to 2011, with GM soybean seed costing about 47 percent more than non-GM soy.13 GM corn seed is also about double that of conventional seed, and according to the Center for Food Safety:14 “In addition to the cost of seeds, a ‘trait fee’ is charged—this fee has also precipitously risen from $4.5[0] per bag of soybean seed in 1996 to an estimated $17.50 by 2008.”

As the Worldwatch Institute reported:15 “With the profitability of seed increasing over the last 15 years, largely because of patents and contracts, the money and incentive for public institutions to develop new varieties are declining. Farmers also are saving less seed.”

seed industry structure

Insane Government Policy Targets Seed Swap at Community Library

The Cumberland County Library System in Pennsylvania set up a “seed library” at Mechanicsburg’s Joseph T. Simpson Public Library last year. Locals could borrow heirloom seeds for the growing season and then replace them at the end of the year. The library thought the system would encourage “residents to learn more about growing their own food and acquiring self-sufficiency skills.”16

All was well in the community… until the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent a letter telling them they were violating the 2004 Seed Act, which regulates the selling of seeds. For good measure, the USDA also sent in a high-ranking official and lawyers to meet with the library. As Global Research reported, the USDA was only doing their job, stopping possible “agri-terrorism” at the hands of community residents planting heirloom tomatoes…17

“Feds told the library system that they would have to test each individual seed packet in order for the facility to continue, an impossible task, which meant that the seed library was shut down. Cumberland County Library System Executive Director Jonelle Darr was told that the USDA would, ‘continue to crack down on seed libraries that have established themselves in the state.’

Cumberland County Commissioner Barbara Cross applauded the USDA’s decision, warning that allowing residents to borrow seeds could have led to acts of ‘agri-terrorism.’…While the USDA is busy cracking down on local seed libraries in the name of preventing cross-pollination, many accuse the federal agency of being completely in the pocket of biotech giant Monsanto, which itself has been responsible for cross-pollinating farmers’ crops with genetically modified seeds on an industrial scale.”18

In reality, “old-fashioned” seed swaps such as the one attempted at the Joseph T. Simpson Public Library are one of the best ways to secure non-GMO, heirloom seeds for your garden. You can try this on your own with friends and neighbors or local gardening clubs. The National Gardening Association, for instance, has an online seed swap that allows you to post either seeds you’d like to share or seeds you’re looking for. It’s a free service and, as they say on their site, “one gardener’s extras are another’s treasures.”19 If you’re interested in learning more, keep an eye out for the film “Seed: The Untold Story,” which is slated to be released in 2015.