Do you and your family believe in taking vitamins and minerals in tablet or capsule form, or do you believe - like I once did - that healthy eating gives you all the nutrients needed?

1 A Day Vitamins

Once upon a time it did. But thanks to modern farming methods fruit and vegetables are nowhere near as nutritional as they were 60 years ago. In fact, according to a scientific study, there has been an alarming reduction in the amount of essential minerals in the food we eat.

1 A Day Vitamins

Research by nutritionist David Thomas, who based his conclusions on data from The Composition of Foods - a comprehensive study of the content of all major foods dating back to 1940 - showed that there is currently up to 75% less calcium and 93% less copper in fruit and vegetables than back then.

Levels of important minerals such as phosphorous, iron, magnesium and potassium have plummeted. And runner beans, which once contained a significant amount of the sodium so crucial for the working of our nerves and muscles, now have almost no traces of it whatsoever.

The research also showed that broccoli has 75% less calcium - vital for building healthy bones and teeth - while carrots have 75% less magnesium, which protects against heart attacks, asthma and kidney stones. Spinach, famed for its source of iron, was found to have 60% less than 60 years ago.

The list is much longer than this - including a loss of 93% copper from watercress, 74% calcium from spring onions, 71% iron from swedes, 47% phosphorus from potatoes, 67% iron from oranges, 62% sodium from avocados, 55% calcium from strawberries, 45% magnesium from melons, 43% potassium from passion fruit, 39% calcium from raspberries, 35% from blackberries and 32% potassium from rhubarb.

Mr Thomas said that he believed the reduction in the mineral content of food was a result of modern farming methods, which use massive amounts of fertilisers on the soil. These encourage plant growth at the expense of the minerals that are so important for good health.

Professor Tim Lang, of the renowned Centre for Food Policy at Thames Valley University, said that the results revealed an important trend needing to be exposed. 'These are big percentages', he added.'The nature of production is altering what we're eating. Plant breeders have been trying to develop tomatoes and carrots and fruit that look nice, resist disease and can withstand being shipped halfway around the world. They have been less concerned about the minerals in the food.'

He went on: 'We are dying prematurely of coronary heart disease and cancer and are being told to cut down on fat and eat more fruit and vegetables. But at the same time they are changing the content of what we are eating.'

So I think you'll agree it's abundantly clear that an apple a day can no longer be relied on to keep the doctor away - and that the 5 a day advocated doesn't necessarily help us as much as it once did!
Sourcing fruit and vegetables that are really fresh will help our health - as well as eating food that hasn't been injected with preservatives.

Farmers' markets are of course ideal sources. Did you read a while ago about the apples a major supermarket chain had stored for a whole year before marketing them as 'fresh'?

Imagine how many vitamins and minerals such apples would have provided us with!

Yes, we can help ourselves by eating fresh fruit and top quality protein foods such as fish, lean white (free range) meat, eggs, beans, lentils and grains and by avoiding too much junk, but is it enough?

Not according to Patrick Holford, founder of the Institute of Optimum Nutrition, who states: "To achieve optimum health and nutrition you need to 'eat right and take a multivitamin'". He was quoting a recent headline in the New England Journal of Medicine editorial. 'The evidence suggests,' the journal went on 'that people who take such supplements and their children are healthier.'

Vitamins and Minerals - Does 5 a Day Help Us Stay Healthy?

1 A Day Vitamins