A recent study found that most of the world's basic plants will be stripped of essential nutrients. The culprit? CO2. That same greenhouse gas responsible for global warming is also harming the growth and chemistry of our basic plants and crops.
CO2 is the greenhouse (or heat-trapping) gas that results from human activities. Experiments have been made to demonstrate exactly how rising CO2 levels can have damaging effects on plant nutrition (and, by extension, human nutrition). Increasing concentrations of CO2 can effect a plant's natural photosynthetic process.
A recent study published in the journal Nature took a close look at how basic crops, including wheat, rice, sorghum, soybeans, and peas react to higher CO2 levels. Researchers concluded that a significant amount of vital nutrients, including zince and iron, dropped. Wheat levels of zinc dropped more than 9%. Iron dropped 5%. Researchers also saw drops in levels of protein found in crops.
This poses a greater risk for worldwide anemia, fatique, low quality of life, low immunity, and higher risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
WIth soil degradation already underway, adding elevated carbon dioxide to the mix makes matters worse. The solution? Researchers are interested in developing a modified crop that is more resistent to rising CO2 levels.
What can you do to protect your health? Consider this more motivation to pack more nutrition into every day. Eating processed foods can rob you of even more nutrients. Save as many nutrients as possible by choosing high quality organic foods, raw fats and oils, and unprocessed carbohydrates.
Finally, complete your diet with a high quality multivitamin supplement. EnergyFirst's EnergyOne Multivitamin and Mineral plus ACE will cover all bases.
