Kevin Hu and Anthony Jacobs12.11.14
Much has been made of the advancements in agricultural development over the last 50 years. An ordinary American grocery store has more diversity in produce than our grandparents could ever have dreamed of. Yet the fact is that we would need to eat at least 35% more food than our parents did to consume the same amount of minerals and trace elements they got from food during their childhood.
Why is this? It's because the average mineral levels in agricultural soils have fallen worldwide over the past 100 years—by 72% in Europe, 76% in Asia and 85% in North America, according to scientists at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Mono cropping, herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers are depleting the soil of minerals and trace elements, which we need in our foods to stay healthy. (Read more about this mineral depletion of our food at www.nutritionsecurity.org.)
A landmark study by researchers at University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the results of which were published in Scientific American, looked at U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional data from both 1950 and 1999 for 43 different vegetables and fruits, and found there had been significant declines in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the past half century (read more here).
We have methods to replenish the soil of its mineral nutrients, but also a relative lack of knowledge on how to identify all deficiencies and to fully correct them. Most problematic is the lack of an economic incentive to implement long-term, soil-building solutions.
Because humans need nutrients such as phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, sodium, chloride and potassium for our basic survival, researchers are trying to find a more efficient source of minerals and trace elements.
Deep Ocean Water May Hold the Answer
In September 1999, a natural disaster may have helped scientists stumble on an answer. A major earthquake struck the north of Taiwan, seriously compromising the long-term supply of potable groundwater. Researchers there quickly developed technology to extract water from deep under the ocean's surface. When they analyzed it for purity, they discovered that it was not only exceptionally clean, but it was rich in the very minerals and trace elements necessary for human life.
There are three major layers of ocean water. First there's fast-moving surface water, which is penetrated by sunlight to a depth of 250 meters (820 feet) and filled with the mineral nutrients for microalgae, plankton and marine life. The second layer, deep ocean water, is the slow-moving layer found below a depth of 250 meters to 1,500 meters (nearly a mile deep). This layer of water originates from the northern arctic and Greenland ice melts, absorbing minerals and trace elements as it enters the oceans and then sinks with the weight of the very same minerals we need for good health. This is the beginning of a 2,000-year journey before it resurfaces and dissipates in the Pacific Antarctic region, where it feeds the microalgae that form our marine food chain. Below deep ocean water is very deep ocean water, below 1,500 meters, where rare and exotic life forms are being discovered.
The Nutritional Potential of Deep Ocean Water
Deep ocean water, the second layer mentioned above, has a number of characteristics that protect and stabilize the minerals and trace elements. The absence of sunlight, cold water temperatures of 44-50 degrees F, and intense pressures keep this zone virtually free of life, so the minerals and nutrients are never being depleted, as with surface water.
Currently, we only have the infrastructure and capabilities to pipe deep ocean water from the coastlines of Taiwan, Japan and Hawaii. Taiwan, however, has optimum access to enormous reservoirs—at a depth of over 600 meters, or nearly 2,000 feet.
Oceanographers estimate that deep ocean water comprises a minimum of 90% of the total oceans. The good news is that it is a virtually infinite resource if used constructively. Best of all, there are over 70 minerals and trace elements in deep ocean water, which could very well be a solution to our mineral deficiency in the near future—especially if we keep depleting our precious soil at our present rate.
Kevin Hu and Anthony Jacobs are biotech researchers and industry experts who have been working for more than a decade with clinical trials at universities in Taiwan, the U.S., and the U.K. to evaluate the potential of deep ocean minerals to improve physical performance and intracellular communication. These studies have found significant clinical benefits with regard to reducing fatigue, blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose intolerance and increasing life span. Learn more about deep ocean minerals as a future source of concentrated minerals essential to health at the Pacific Deep Ocean Mineral Biotech website, www.pdobiotech.com.
Why is this? It's because the average mineral levels in agricultural soils have fallen worldwide over the past 100 years—by 72% in Europe, 76% in Asia and 85% in North America, according to scientists at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Mono cropping, herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers are depleting the soil of minerals and trace elements, which we need in our foods to stay healthy. (Read more about this mineral depletion of our food at www.nutritionsecurity.org.)
A landmark study by researchers at University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the results of which were published in Scientific American, looked at U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional data from both 1950 and 1999 for 43 different vegetables and fruits, and found there had been significant declines in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the past half century (read more here).
We have methods to replenish the soil of its mineral nutrients, but also a relative lack of knowledge on how to identify all deficiencies and to fully correct them. Most problematic is the lack of an economic incentive to implement long-term, soil-building solutions.
Because humans need nutrients such as phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, sodium, chloride and potassium for our basic survival, researchers are trying to find a more efficient source of minerals and trace elements.
Deep Ocean Water May Hold the Answer
In September 1999, a natural disaster may have helped scientists stumble on an answer. A major earthquake struck the north of Taiwan, seriously compromising the long-term supply of potable groundwater. Researchers there quickly developed technology to extract water from deep under the ocean's surface. When they analyzed it for purity, they discovered that it was not only exceptionally clean, but it was rich in the very minerals and trace elements necessary for human life.
There are three major layers of ocean water. First there's fast-moving surface water, which is penetrated by sunlight to a depth of 250 meters (820 feet) and filled with the mineral nutrients for microalgae, plankton and marine life. The second layer, deep ocean water, is the slow-moving layer found below a depth of 250 meters to 1,500 meters (nearly a mile deep). This layer of water originates from the northern arctic and Greenland ice melts, absorbing minerals and trace elements as it enters the oceans and then sinks with the weight of the very same minerals we need for good health. This is the beginning of a 2,000-year journey before it resurfaces and dissipates in the Pacific Antarctic region, where it feeds the microalgae that form our marine food chain. Below deep ocean water is very deep ocean water, below 1,500 meters, where rare and exotic life forms are being discovered.
The Nutritional Potential of Deep Ocean Water
Deep ocean water, the second layer mentioned above, has a number of characteristics that protect and stabilize the minerals and trace elements. The absence of sunlight, cold water temperatures of 44-50 degrees F, and intense pressures keep this zone virtually free of life, so the minerals and nutrients are never being depleted, as with surface water.
Currently, we only have the infrastructure and capabilities to pipe deep ocean water from the coastlines of Taiwan, Japan and Hawaii. Taiwan, however, has optimum access to enormous reservoirs—at a depth of over 600 meters, or nearly 2,000 feet.
Oceanographers estimate that deep ocean water comprises a minimum of 90% of the total oceans. The good news is that it is a virtually infinite resource if used constructively. Best of all, there are over 70 minerals and trace elements in deep ocean water, which could very well be a solution to our mineral deficiency in the near future—especially if we keep depleting our precious soil at our present rate.
Kevin Hu and Anthony Jacobs are biotech researchers and industry experts who have been working for more than a decade with clinical trials at universities in Taiwan, the U.S., and the U.K. to evaluate the potential of deep ocean minerals to improve physical performance and intracellular communication. These studies have found significant clinical benefits with regard to reducing fatigue, blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose intolerance and increasing life span. Learn more about deep ocean minerals as a future source of concentrated minerals essential to health at the Pacific Deep Ocean Mineral Biotech website, www.pdobiotech.com.