Actually I would like to see proof to the nutrient depletion and problems with NPK. I don't buy in to a lot of it.

For one thing minerals are always being replaced through irrigation unless they are purifying the water before using it. This is quite unlikely. Water dissolves minerals, which is why flood plains are so fertile. Many of the nutrients are there, but things like pH, and settling of nutrients in the soil can make them unavailable to many plants. Some fruit trees, like peaches for example will develop chlorosis if the pH of the soil becomes too alkaline. This blocks iron absorption. This is why I add sulfur around my trees since our soil is so alkaline. And one of the reasons that alfalfa is so nutritious is that their roots can reach 100' down reaching nutrients that are beyond the reach of many other plant roots.

As for NPK, these are all essential for plant growth. If they interfered then all the plants, and all of us would have been dead a long time ago. Don't use NPK and watch what happens to a lot of plants.

I have never seen any evidence of pasteurization affecting calcium either. It is the protein in milk that blocks the absorption of calcium. The protein is present regardless of whether or not the milk has been pasteurized.

As far as herbicides and pesticides go, most of these are powerful estrogens. Estrogens actually help with calcium metabolism. This is why I don't read many of the chicken little "the sky is falling" internet sites. I have seen so much BS on the net such as all of the negative information on soy and canola oil. I have written extensively on both trying to explain why the claims about these are bogus. For example the claim that canola contains mustard oil used to make mustard gas. First of all there is no mustard oil in canola oil. Secondly, mustard gas is a COMPLETE chlorine based chemical synthetic. No plant is used in its manufacture. The funniest claim I heard about soy was from a naturopathic doctor that actually told me that the reason Asians are so short is because the soy in their diet stunts their growth. I wrote back to her and told her that I wonder how much taller than 6' 2" that I would have been if I had not been raised on soy!!! I was allergic to both mother's milk and cow's milk as a baby, so I was raised on soy. And I am healthier than virtually anyone I know.

>> "Actually I would like to see proof to the nutrient depletion and problems with NPK. I don't buy in to a lot of it."

You should put some effort into understanding the carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen cycles along with soil based organisms that interact with the roots of plants... not as a singular cycle of function, but collectively... holistically. Not as chemistry, physics, biology, etc., but as a complete, integrated function. Science seems to compartmentalize and miss the big picture.

The hormone regulating the release of calcium from bone that you reference in the presence of too much phosphorus also has effect on decreasing intestinal uptake and increasing kidney excretion... it does not have a singular effect.

All of this however is assuming that the parathyroid is functioning properly, which, due to many environmental pollutants and such does not in many (most?) people and skews scientific research in the area.

>> "As for the NPK, herbicides and pesticides I don't buy any of that at all, and I addressed it in my last post."

>> "The funniest claim I heard about soy was from a naturopathic doctor that actually told me that the reason Asians are so short is because the soy in their diet stunts their growth. I wrote back to her and told her that I wonder how much taller than 6' 2" that I would have been if I had not been raised on soy!!! I was allergic to both mother's milk and cow's milk as a baby, so I was raised on soy. And I am healthier than virtually anyone I know."

>> "I have seen so much BS on the net such as all of the negative information on soy and canola oil. I have written extensively on both trying to explain why the claims about these are bogus."

I now understand where you are coming from.

Realize a few things here...

1. Life will find a way and some people will develop advantageous mutations that allow them to better cope and deal with the environment... but this is most often the exception and not the rule. And probably why people who have beneficial mutations will always doubt or brush aside those who do not as nut jobs or full of BS as you put it.

2. chemical sensitives are real, as are the increases in degenerative diseases due to man made environmental toxins, food possessing etc. These folks have not developed the necessary mutations that permit them to deal with these issues. See #1

3. Your entire diet AND environment most likely varied considerably from the "Asians" referenced by your naturopathic doctor and the statement did not take anything but the soy into account which is in grievous error.

4. Raw milk does contain chelated AND colloidal calcium. Calcium lactate and calcium phosphate... pasteurization renders the enzymes lactase and phosphatase in milk impotent... figure that one out as it applies to nutrient availability; as almost all enzymes are proteins, lets not mince words here and confuse the readers. Protein manipulation with pasteurization is certainly going to have an effect on nutrient availability, especially to one who may not be producing the necessary enzymes themselves. Most likely why raw food and juicing has found a niche in nutritional circles.

5. while fat and proteins can inhibit the absorption of some nutrients, they can also increase the absorption of others. Most likely why food combining has found a niche in nutritional circles.

6. eating a balance of acidic and alkaline foods can maximize absorption unless the focus of a meal is one extreme or the other - but then individual need and function at the time plays a part here too... an example is the traditional use of ACV, balsamic vinegar, and\or a fat, such as butter on dark green leafy vegetables which increases the availability of the minerals and fat soluble vitamins in the greens.

I could go on, however you seem to have your mind made up firmly...

Don't let schooling interfere with your education. ~Mark Twain

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned. ~Mark Twain

Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run. ~Mark Twain

The point being, sometimes we must unlearn what we have learned, and\or have been conditioned to believe in order to understand.

grz-