01/30/2026
Food For Health Fridays.
š Natural vs. Synthetic šØāš¬
Nutritional Value š„š
We all learned in elementary school that plants get their nutrients from the soil. š± With that basic understanding, itās easy to see that the more nutrient-dense the soil, the nutrient-dense our food becomes.
Our cells recognize and understand naturally food-derived vitamins and know exactly how to process and use them in the body. I may repeat this often, but itās a key foundation of natural health. š„
With that in mind:
1. š¬ Fertilizers and pesticides can reduce the nutritional quality of the soil, resulting in plants with lower nutritional value.
2. šššš„ After harvest, food loses even more nutrients during - bleaching flour, chemical processes and treatments, excessive cooking, and refining all strip away natural vitamins and minerals. To compensate, synthetic vitamins and nutrients are added back in. Enriched flour is a perfect example. The word enriched sounds positive, but the reality is that natural nutrients were stripped and replaced with synthetic ones.
3. šššš Additional chemicals are often added in the form of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives.
š By the time food goes through growing, processing, and additives, our bodies may be exposed to a significant toxic load. Synthetic nutrients and artificial ingredients can confuse our cells, because our cells were designed to recognize and process nature, not chemicals.
Over time, chronic exposure may cause cells to lose their ability to clearly distinguish what is helpful versus harmful. As described by a rheumatologist:
āAn autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system becomes confusedāattacking healthy tissue as if it were foreign, while failing to recognize harmful substances appropriately.ā
In rheumatoid arthritis, the joints are attacked. In other autoimmune conditionsāsuch as lupus or type 1 diabetesāthe specific healthy tissue targeted varies. š·š¤
