Why do fruits and vegetables have more vitamins than other foods?
In: 20
I’m not so sure your premise is entirely correct. For example eggs are extremely high in many vitamins, as are shellfish, organ meats, etc. The bioavailability for your body to use them also matters:
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/are_you_absorbing_the_nutrients_you_eat
Also, it’s worth noting many fruits and vegetables in an average grocery store aren’t actually as nutritious as they would be under better conditions. A carrot doesn’t automatically have X amount of Vitamin A that a website says it does. When you eat produce that tastes like cardboard from the store, this is why. Its literally lacking the nutrients that make it taste good. Not many people have tasted well-raised fresh produce anymore so I don’t think they realize.
In order for a vegetable to meet its nutritional potential, it has to be grown in soil that has not been depleted of certain minerals AND has the appropriate bacteria and fungi to work in concert with the plant to grow. Plants cannot just eat dirt. The bacteria and fungi do this for them.
Large-scale agriculture generally doesn’t meet these requirements (in the US) due to heavy pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide use and heavy tilling. Ok I’ll cut myself off here.
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