Question:

it has been relatively established that our diets are deficient in many nutrients-we have stripped the soil of its mineral and micronutrient levels, so using a supplement is a good idea with your docs’ blessing.

Here’s an alternative point of view: The Soil Depletion Song The refrain that depleted soils yield less nutritious fruits and vegetables is one story that refuses to go away even though there is minimal evidence for it. Vitamins are not found loose in the soil just waiting for plants to soak them up into their roots. Plants synthesize their vitamins from a variety of building blocks in the soil. Minerals are taken up from the soil, but if there is a deficiency in a mineral needed for growth of the plant, it simply does not yield commercially viable amounts of fruits or vegetables. Many people hold the belief that commercial fertilizers lack some nutrients that are present in the soil or in organic fertilizers. This is simply not true. Most commercial fertilizers are formulated to give the highest yield of whatever crop they are used on. *While there may be some variations in mineral levels of produce due to soil content, only selenium varies markedly*. Some plants can take up lead in very variable amounts depending on the immediate environment. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Depleted soil is not commercially profitable. Therefore, farmers use fertilizers containing all the needed nutrients for specific crops. While organic farming may be more environmentally friendly, there is no nutritional difference in vitamins or minerals between crops grown under these two conditions. Dr. David Klurfeld is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.   In addition, he is Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, one of the top nutrition research journals in the world. Finally, he is an active researcher in the area of nutrition and prevention of chronic diseases with over 130 publications in the biomedical literature in the last 20 years. http://www.nutritionnewsfocus.com/archive/SoilDep.html — The charter is available at:

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