this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2026
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Science

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Vegetables half as nutritious as they were in the 1960s (www.yahoo.com)
submitted 6 days ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/science@beehaw.org
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This is The Telegraph, so apologies for the weird choice on percent and other style quirks.

The nutritional value of fruit and vegetables has fallen by up to 50pc since the Sixties because of declining soil quality, according to a new study.

The report, from researchers at Deep Science Ventures, found that humans needed to consume twice the number of vegetables to get the same level of minerals such as potassium, magnesium or copper as would have been present in their food 60 years ago.

The study found that many crops had lost 20pc to 50pc of several key nutrients.

Will Summers, a senior associate at the firm, said: "For 60 years we've measured food security in calories and tonnes per hectare.

"On those measures we've done remarkably well. But we've been quietly hollowing out what's inside our food."

The decrease in nutrient and vitamin value is thought to be down to declining soil quality and crops being selectively bred for their ability to grow quickly, rather than there being any focus on their health benefits.

The effect will be particularly acute for the 14pc of Britons who identify as vegetarian or vegan.

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[โ€“] storm_shadow@piefed.social 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I don't know you, so I can't know your life situation, but in the places where I've lived, you can absolutely get the vitamins and minerals that you need from a proper balanced diet. And multivitamins in particular, especially ones containing iron and calcium, which interfere with the absorption of other micronutrients, are not a viable solution to a deficient diet.

[โ€“] ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

https://www.costco.com/p/-/kirkland-signature-usda-organic-multivitamin-80-coated-tablets/100458954

Looks like the calcium and iron are about one percent of your daily needs, so maybe they're aware of this issue. I stick to whole food vitamins because they're supposed to be easier for the body to utilize. You could be right about multivitamins, but these are affordable enough so that I can keep taking them just in case my body is able to utilize the micronutrients.

I usually buy a few bottles when they're on sale. $20 for 80 pills is an amazing deal.

Edit: 1% daily needs of calcium and 8% iron. It doesn't matter that there's no magnesium because I eat a lot of chia seeds.