Thanks. I have done, and continue to do, major research on nutritional aspects of disease states. I think it is a totally underappreciated aspect of care. Drugs are not the only answer, and may not be even the best answer, in some cases.
I'm aware of research showing that nutrients have declined in many foodstuffs, particularly due to mineral depletion in soils. Whether or not organically grown foods are sufficient is not really clear, but obviously, there is a better chance that the nutritive value will be greater than that of conventionally grown food.
There's much more to the picture than organic/conventional farming, though. Food processing, the whole "food industry" has substantially changed what people eat, let alone the nutrients in foods themselves. We did not evolve next to Twinkie trees, to make an absurd example.
I know it sound like heresy, but I am of the studied and sincere belief that it is not even possible to obtain all the nutrients we know a person needs (RDAs) from normal diet, no matter what it is you select, and still remain within the energy requirements to avoid obesity. That may be so because our energy needs have declined, but not our nutrient needs. Still, it cannot be done. Not for even a single day.
Here's a link to a table of US zinc intake. I'm going to emphasize some points of interest. The table is in terms of Adequate Intake, which is itself only 77% of the RDA, which is itself only that level that prevents *overt* (obvious) deficiency symptoms in 97.5% of NORMAL HEALTHY people, whoever they might be. Roughly half the US population does not even get the adequate intake of zinc. What about people with health issues? Surely their needs are greater, not lesser.
http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content...130/5/1367S/T4
The RDA also does not even remotely take into consideration what might be the optimal intake of a nutrient. It is defined in terms of deficiency, not optimal health.
I keep coming back to a simple truth. You are what you eat. I do not have a Prozac deficiency, ya know?
Lar