Page 12 - Healthy Living

halation after construction or demolition involving cutting, dressing, grinding or blasting stone or concrete release it in the air.
Long term exposure to silica leads to lung infections and lung cancer.

30.Fiberglass. Like the name suggests, this is a type of fibre made up of glass which is mostly used as a thermal insulator and as
a roofing material.
Exposure to fiberglass is most prevalent among workers who cut, trim, chop and sand the fibres producing dust which mixes
with air and dust and later finds its way into their bodies through ingestion or inhalation.

The fibres cause eye, skin and upper respiratory tract irritation and aggravate bronchitis and asthma.

This list needs to be updated regularly because research by industrial chemists is ongoing to find more inorganic molecules to
make products for sale.

Step #4 - Avoid eating foods that are nutritionally depleted

Fruits and vegetables grown 50 or more years ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than those purchased today.
Modern intensive agricultural methods have depleted the topsoil of minerals.

A group of researchers led by Donald Davis from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Department of Chemistry and Bio-
chemistry published the results of their comparative study of the U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional data from 1950 to
1999. Data of forty three vegetables and fruits were compared. Their findings were published in the Journal of the American
College of Nutrition in December 2004.
They found verified declines in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the
past half century. Davis and his colleagues attributed the reduced nutritional content to the agricultural practices designed to
improve traits (size, growth rate, pest resistance) for marketing purposes. They were not as concerned about the nutritional
content. Other nutritional components like magnesium, zinc and vitamins B-6 and E were not studied in 1950 were not studied.

There were other studies with similar comparative data. The Kushi Institute studied nutrient data from 1975 to 1997. Its re-
searchers found that average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent; iron levels 37 percent; vitamin A levels
21 percent, and vitamin C levels 30 percent.

A study of comparative of nutrient data published in the British Food Journal collected evidence that the average calcium con-
tent in 20 vegetables had declined 19 percent, iron 22 per cent and potassium 14 per cent. Another study concluded that today
one must consume eight oranges to obtain an equivalent amount of vitamin A as our grandparents would have from one.

What caused the degradation of agricultural topsoil? With the advent of the 20th century, the use of tractors, harvesters, bail-
ers, etc. transformed agricultural practices. Farmers were not concerned with replenishing the soil after harvest.
Many trees were cut down to make huge expanses of agricultural flat land. Deep plowing disrupted the underground micro-
organisms and the natural ecology of the soil. By the 1960s, farmers began to use huge quantities of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium) fertilizer made from synthetically produced ingredients usually derived from by-products of the petroleum in-
dustry. Examples are Ammonium Nitrate, Ammonium Phosphate, Superphosphate, and Potassium Sulfate.

Plants require 13 nutrients. There are three primary macronutrients; nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These
nutrients are used in significant amounts by growing plants, so they must be replaced periodically to sustain productivity.

The secondary nutrients are; calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S). There are usually enough of these nutrients in the
soil, so additional fertilization is not always needed. The micronutrients used in small quantities are; boron (B), copper (Cu), iron
(Fe), chloride (Cl), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn).

Chemical fertilizers add nutrients to the soil, but they don’t add anything else. Plants needs more than just nutrients to survive.
They also need organic matter and living organisms. Synthetic fertilizers do not support microbiological life in the soil. The ap-
plication of a synthetic fertilizer actually kills a significant percentage of beneficial microorganisms that can break down organic