In a message dated 10/5/00 3:00:07 PM, Gawen Harrison <[log in to unmask] writes: << From what I have read vitamin content is stable even in poor soils. Mineral content, however, does decline in poor soils. Vitamin deficiency occurs when someone is not eating the proper foods. -Gawen << Gawen, I think a lot of people on the list take supplements and vitamins because our food just does not contain what it used to anymore. >> What people are not considering relevant to this discussion concerns our ability to ABSORB nutrients taken in. In the case of vitamin B 12, for example, there is something secreted by the intestine called intrinsic factor, without which no amount of the vitamin can be absorbed or utilized by the body. This is why some people, lacking this factor, must take the vitamin as an injection or a sublingual tablet, despite that fact that only microscopic amounts are required for health. Additionally, some people have a metabolic need for much larger amounts of a particular nutrient than would normally be available even in the most ideally produced foods, and therefore must take additional amounts in supplemental form to remain healthy. Keep in mind that in actual Paleo times, a person with such unusual needs would not survive to pass on his metabolically defective genes. Such is not the case today. So we should remember, that while in a perfect world supplements may not be necessary, there are many people who must have large additional amounts. This is the basis of Orthomolecular Psychiatry. Most people on this list have probably grown up eating the SAD lifestyle, and many have compromised digestive capacity as a result. While switching to a Paleo lifestyle will go along way toward achieving health, there are times when supplements of various kinds will be quite necessary. Maddy Mason Hudson Valley, NY