Many people selling vitamin and mineral supplements would like the public to think that our soils are depleted of vitamins and minerals. I am selling nothing.

Plants need nitrogen (for growth of leaves, seeds and fruits), potassium (from potash for growth) and phosphorus (bone meal for blooming and roots) in the soil to grow and mature the fruits, vegetables and grains we eat. Soil is not something farmers just arbitrarily throw fertilizers at due to the cost and over applying any nutrient can cause the death of a plant. Through their roots, plants draw minerals like calcium and magnesium from limestone added to acidic soil, sulfur from the decomposition of organic materials like manure, grass clippings and leaves from the soil to grow normally according to their genetic code. Micronutrients like iron (helps green plants create chlorophyll), copper, chloride, zinc, manganese, molybdenum and boron are needed in very small amounts. These micro minerals also come from organic materials like grass clippings and leaves. Periodically farmers rotate crops and plant a green crop that they till under to return sulfur and these micronutrients to the soil. Soil texture (sand, loam or clay) and pH (acid or alkaline) are also important in a plant's ability to draw nutrients from the soil. Most food producing plants prefer a neutral pH from 6.0 to 6.5 to grow. Blueberries prefer an acid soil and often grow in pine tree forests. Microbes and worms in soil also add to the nutrient mix in soil. For more information about soil science see the University of Minnesota extension service about nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in soil.

Nutrients in plants are for the plant's benefit or they would not grow properly. If the soil is depleted of any nutrient, the deficiency will be visible to the farmer and will affect the harvest. Poor crops don't sell and usually don't make it to market for us to eat.

Vitamins are created by plants and stored in their fruits, vegetables and grains. Animals eat plants and make vitamins which are stored in their meat that we eat.

Plants use the energy of the sun to change carbon dioxide into oxygen. Water (hydrogen, oxygen) from rain and groundwater helps plants to create sugars and starches for their own food source from chlorophyll triggered photosynthesis.

When the USDA analyzes the nutrient content in foods, they take a representative sample of a food from various markets around the country. Variability in nutrients within a narrow range for each food is acceptable in U.S. grown crops.

The U.S. has the cheapest, safest food supply in the world. We grow food in great variety and abundance. If you are concerned about nutrients in foods, have you heard of the Slow Food Movement? Proponents of Slow Foods buy foods within 100 miles of where they live to ensure fresher foods and to decrease the dependency on fossil fuels. I am more worried about the sustainability of our food supply, climate changes and food safety.

Regarding the RDA's (Recommended Dietary Allowances), the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine periodically reviews research on nutrient needs of humans and revises how much of each nutrient is needed by children and adults. Published research, not testimonials are considered in setting RDAs.

This leads to your last assertion that people other than people with nutrition degrees are qualified to provide nutrition counseling. People who have bachelor, master or doctorate degrees in nutrition are the best sources of nutrition information. Dietitians are experts in the relationship between nutrition and health. As of 2008, 46 states license who can provide nutrition counseling so don't trust anybody with your nutritional health.

The Healthy Body Calculator is not based on an average. It utilizes nutrition scientific principles to perform the calculations. If you read the text under the body fat section, the calculator will not estimate an appropriate body weight for people with low body fat. Those people are encouraged to enter their current body fat to get a more accurate calculation. I designed the calculator for athletes and non-athletes alike. Anyway, you are within a healthy body weight for height whether you are a female or male, irrelative of your percent body fat. So what's your beef?

As to the information regarding use of cartilage or gelatin in the treatment of arthritis, I have not seen published research documenting what you state. A drug is any substance given in excess of what the body needs or normally consumes or produces, including concentrated substances like mega doses nutritional supplements.

I have not seen recently published research documenting that our soils are depleted of minerals. In fact, minerals are quite stable and stationary in soil based on the reading I have done. I have seen such statements though by companies selling supplements. Hopefully agriculture has learned a bit about soil management since 1936 and it would be false to assume that if soils were somewhat depleted in 1936 that they are more depleted now. That would assume that we have not gained knowledge nor used that knowledge. In fact, the organic farming movement has had a tremendous effect on how we grow and process our food. Lastly, I design and manage nutritional databases and review that data which results from the chemical analysis of raw and cooked foods. Based on the nutrient content of foods that I have access to (over 23,000 foods), there definitely are minerals in foods, both raw and processed. If a person eats a varied diet with at least 1600 calories per day, It is very reasonable to meet your Recommended Dietary Allowances without the need for nutritional supplements.

No. When a person is ill, you should feed the person what they prefer, providing they are not vomiting nor have diarrhea. People with colds generally in the beginning have a poor sense of taste since their sense of smell is blocked. I would not recommend starving a person with a cold. Try hot soups, warm beverages, cooked cereals and toast. Researchers have proven that chicken soup does really help break up mucous secretions.

People with a fever need additional fluids to replace water lost through their higher body temperature. Also, more calories are burned by people with a temperature above 98.6 degrees and needs to be replaced with food as tolerated. Try six small meals per day. Generally, people with a fever prefer cool liquids, soup broth and fruit juices or plain gelatin. Encourage liquids of any kind during a fever.

Milk straight from the cow is called raw milk, which is a carrier of several serious diseases. To kill any of these "disease producing bacteria" in milk, you should pasteurize the milk first. The Public Health Department suggests "heating raw milk to at least 161 degrees for 14 seconds and cooling it rapidly to 45 degrees or less". You should make sure all your pots and utensils are clean before starting. Your county Public Health Department may have a pamphlet on raw milk, call for one.

Nutritionally, my concern for people drinking raw milk is centered on the lack of vitamin D in raw milk. Your body needs vitamin D for adequate development of bone and teeth. Children especially need adequate sources of vitamin D to prevent rickets, which is characterized by a bowing of the legs. Before fortification of milk, public schools gave cod liver oil to schoolchildren to prevent rickets and to prevent faulty mineralization of teeth.

Another source of vitamin D is sunlight. We have vitamin D receptors in our skin which synthesize sunlight into vitamin D. Northern residents of the United States and Canada cannot rely on sunlight for vitamin D since the climate is cooler and people are more likely to have most of their skin covered. Also, cloudy days, smoke, fog and window glass act as barriers to sunlight, which should not be depended upon to supply enough vitamin D. Additionally, the health risk of any sun exposure increases a person's risk of skin cancer.

So I would suggest that if you are drinking raw milk, pasteurize it and take vitamin D supplements to meet your Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of five micrograms for adults (ages 25 to 50), 10 micrograms for children and young adults (ages 6 months to 24 years) and 7.5 micrograms for infants (ages 0 to 6 months). Most fortified milk found in grocery stores has vitamin D added to provide 10 micrograms per quart.

PS Natural can mean any food grown on this planet. This also includes foods like sugar and white flour.