Last time I talked about the many deficiencies we experience in our modern day lives. If you need a reminder as to what these are simply read part 1.

Today I would like to cover the second part of the first of the 8 causes…the road to correct deficiencies…primarily nutritional deficiencies. As far as nutritional deficiencies are concerned there are a number of things we need to understand along the path to correcting these.

The primary issue to understand however, is simply to recognize that the predominance of foods that are typically available to us are lacking nutrients. This includes organic foods as well. The general assumption in our world is that organically labeled foods are super high in nutrient values…including vitamins and other co-enzymes, minerals, and a whole host of general and food specific phytochemicals. I wish it were true but many times it is not.

If you were to purchase a Brix measuring device and were able to go into your local produce department, then you would be able to tell which foods have the highest nutritional values. Short of doing that it is very difficult to determine.

I happen to have one of these instruments for my work as a consultant in the natural health field. What I have learned is that whether a food is labeled organic or not is not a determining factor for nutritional value. In fact, often, inorganic foods have a higher nutritional content than organic foods.

A Brix (pronounced brick) meter, or refractometer, as it is often called, is an instrument that some farmers use to help determine the quality of their produce. Unfortunately, the understanding of using a Brix meter is mostly foreign to many farmers still. The farmers that typically use these devices are the ones who have educated themselves on the methods of creating and maintaining soil health so that they can grow outstanding, highly nutritious fruits, roots and vegetables.

What these meters do is measure dissolved solids through a prism at one end that refracts light according to the make up of the juice or sap in the foods. Sugar, minerals, proteins, amino acids, oils, flavonoids, vitamins and other phytonutrients are the parts that make up these dissolved solids. The more solids (the more nutrients), the more the light bends. In this way it is quite easy to determine the nutritional makeup of the foods you eat.

Even more importantly, in my opinion, a Brix meter is a way of seeing which fruits and vegetables are operating at a higher energetic level. Health in all of its many complexities essentially boils down to energy. The higher energy soil and seeds produce higher energy crops.

Another way to tell a highly nutritious food is if you know where it is grown. Insects are attracted to low energy foods. Low energy foods have low nutrient levels in general. Insects seem to be able to "see" or feel the vibratory rate of a plant and they prey on plants with a lower vibratory rate. They instinctively know that the plants with higher energetics will hurt them. Therefore, if your produce has a problem with insects then you know it is a lower energy food. Again…lower energy typically means lower nutrient level.

One final way to tell is by flavor. Full rich tasting fruits and vegetables are more nutritious. The problem with this is that most people have never had outstanding produce in their lives…so they do not even know what is excellent and what is not. Highly energetic and nutritious foods taste fantastic. Low energetic foods are dull and boring.

One of the questions asked from time to time is do pesticides alter the Brix measurement to give a false reading? The answer is that you can measure pesticides and other inorganic chemicals if you know what you are looking for but in general these things only affect the Brix reading by making it lower.

Pesticides and other chemicals that are not natural to good, rich soil will most often create a fruit or vegetable with lower Brix readings because they are used where soil depletion is high. Also, these things compete for nutrients so the results are a lower nutrient content in the foods.

So…why would inorganic foods often have higher nutritional values of foods? I have wondered this many times myself and have come to the conclusion that the answer is two-fold:

1. Just because something is labeled organic does not mean that the farmer is particularly interested in the nutrition or energy of the end product. Having a highly energetic end product requires a highly nutrient rich and energetic soil. Just because a farmer does not use certain pesticides does not mean that he/she knows how to care for the soil and develop a super rich energetic bed for their crops.
2. Because of #1 above…and because of shipping problems, many times organic produce is picked way too early. Farmers will pick their produce early so that they ship better and they will also pick early to protect their produce from insects. Whatever the reasoning…the produce is not on  the plant long enough to gain the full compliment of nutrients available to it from the plant. We have found those last few days are critical in the transference of energy from the soil to the plant to the fruit.

Really, the conclusion is that we can't be sure simply because of a label which type of fruit or vegetable is more energetic and nutritious. What do you do then?

Here is what we do:

We have found that there are some key nutrients that create a bedrock of health for people. Since it is nearly impossible to be sure what you are getting in the food you eat, it is practically vital to get those things in other ways.

We do supplement. However, just as foods have a variety of energy and nutrient levels, so do supplements as well. It is super hard to determine where to turn. I am fortunate in that I have found the best of the best and it is not where you think it is.

There are so many supplements out there to choose from and so many companies claiming that they have the best products, it is truly a difficult task to determine which is best. I wrote a blog post about Trust in Business and Life a while back. It was quite a popular post…simply because people in general recognize the importance of trust in their lives. Well…in this area of choosing which supplements to feed yourself and your family…Trust is absolutely huge.

When it comes to supplement companies I have found that there are a number of different criteria that are vitally important to me:

1. Do they have a track record…in other words have they earned people's trust over the course of time?
2. Are the people running the company trustworthy?
3. Do the products change people's lives for the better?
4. Do they test their materials and products?

These questions are vital to ask because of the importance of the subject. You cannot possibly have a vibrant and energetic life without gaining some of that life energy from the foods you eat…including your supplements.

Here is a question I do not ask…do they only have organically labeled products? I am going to share with you all the supplements that we use in the next segment of this series but I do have a quick story to tell about the primary company that we use. (I actually have dozens upon dozens of stories that I could share but this particular story speaks to the heart of the organic vs. inorganic labeling issue).

On a small farm in France is an older gentleman who grows lavender. This French gentleman steam distills his lavender flowers in a particular manner so as to create a super energetic lavender essential oil. This farmer does not use any pesticides as he does not need to. He has been farming for years and has learned the art of creating highly energetic soil so that his plants are highly energetic. Therefore, the bugs don't like them (except for perhaps the bees which love highly energetic plants…this is what makes honey and royal jelly such wonderful foods).

Anyhow…this farm is labelled an inorganic farm. The farmer doesn't care about the labels…he actually only cares about the quality of the flowers. The company we primarily use for our supplements do not care about the labels either. They simply care about the energetics and the nutrient value and purity of the final product. Because of time and the length of this article thus far I am not going to share which company we primarily use but I will next time I make a post in this 8 Causes of Disease series.

I hope you are beginning to see that something labeled organic seems like it would be a good thing (perhaps it is in some cases) but it doesn't guarantee anything at all. What gives us the nutrition and energy we need to overcome deficiencies is food and supplements that are grown in highly energized rich soil. The fact of the matter is that in order to overcome the first cause of disease from a nutritional or energetic standpoint…you must be very diligent in how and where you get your nutrients. Just eating, unfortunately is not the answer…we will explore more of this next time…

Thanks for reading…please share this information with everyone you know and comment below if you have something to share.