Garden-Based Biohacking
If you didn’t know it already, I’m one of those highly annoying health nuts. Last week, while at the beach with my family, I irritated the heck out of everyone by squawking about inflammatory oils, the need for organic fruits and veggies, and why sugar is killing us. For those of you already rolling your eyes, I apologize in advance and entreat you to allow me a moment. I promise my health nuttiness comes from a very human place: the pain in my creaky lower back, the fear of my parents’ growing medicine cabinet, my own blood tests that reveal low iron, wacky cortisol, and worsening vision. I can’t help but cling to the possibility that the nutrients in my garden may save us all.
Research supports my obsession; it really does. Here’s where I hop on a soapbox to point out the benefits of garden-based eating.
1) Quick transport from garden to fork equals more nutrients: When fruits and vegetables are harvested, some will immediately begin to lose their nutrients through a process called respiration. It’s like they are panting out all the good stuff. That means that if spinach is harvested in California and endures a 2,000 mile voyage to Tennessee, the leaves have lost 30% of their Vitamin B, Iron and Calcium. The same goes for broccoli, cauliflower and kale. If, on the other hand, I harvest my spinach from the backyard and throw it directly in my morning omelet, I am getting almost 100% of the nutrients that spinach plant drew from the soil. Consider what Popeye could’ve done if he had ditched the can and tended his homegrown spinach?
2) How we harvest matters: More research suggests that veggies carefully harvested by hand will have more nutrients than those that are harvested by machines. In addition, large-scale conventional growers will often harvest crops like tomatoes, pepper and apples before they are ripe for easier transport. Unfortunately, early harvesting means that we don’t get all of the nutritional value that plants have to offer. It’s better to harvest them when they are ripe and ready, and for Pete’s sake, be gentle on your ripe fruits so that all of those vitamins stay intact! (I loved reading Jo Robinson’s book, Eating on the Wild Side to learn about this!
3) In their defense against pests, organic plants increase their “battle chemicals,” which, in turn, might increase their nutrient density. Ok there is more research to be done on this idea, and as a former high school English teacher, I will not boldly state that organic veggies have more nutrients without a solid source to cite. But here’s what I find interesting: If a plant has to build up its defenses to fight caterpillars and aphids, it makes sense to me that those defenses may equate to greater nutrients (aka polyphenols) for humans. In sum, I’d like to eat a resilient squash that’s been through or thing or two, not some mamby-pamby vegetable that’s been protected by pesticides since it was a sprout. And since I don’t have to pay the extra cash for the organic label when it comes from my garden, I’m happy to eat around the catepillar nibbles and believe in the resilience of my garden harvest.
