It appears that genetic progress in our food manufacture may be damaging our health. In our bid to introduce new brands of apples that are more disease resistant, grow in more diverse climates and give a bigger better looking apple, we are genetically breeding OUT all their goodness.
The old varieties of apples like the Red Delicious have very high anti-cancer properties. Not so with the new varieties it seems.
Bio Tech Researcher, Dr Tony McGhie is attempting to locate older varietials and aggressively breed them in an attempt to restock the nation with the health giving benefits of the ‘apple a day’.
And just like the skin of red grapes, it seems that color is a dominant factor in how much protection is offered. Red skin varieties like Red Delicious “inhibit cancer forming cells by 40-50%”. That’s pretty significant!
And Dr McGhie believes that all the health giving properties we need are provided in abundance in older diverse varieties of food crops – yeah, well we know that, but getting them, and getting them unsprayed is pretty difficult – hence the need for powerful natural vitamin supplements and antioxidants.
But overall, good to see that our food chain is being preserved.
Nicola