Analyzed as a whole, these data tell us a great deal about how we should manage our soil to produce the most nutritious food and about the judicious use of compost in the garden as well.  I ask you to refer back to these three small charts as I point out a number of conclusions that can be drawn from them.

The basic nutritional problem that all animals have is not about finding energy food, but how to intake enough vitamins, minerals and usable proteins.  What limits our ability to intake nutrients is the amount of bulk we can process—­or the number of calories in the food.  With cows, for example, bulk is the limiter.  The cow will completely fill her digestive tract at all times and will process all the vegetation she can digest every day of her life.  Her health depends on the amount of nutrition in that bulk.  With humans, our modern lifestyle limits most of us to consuming 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day.  Our health depends on the amount of nutrients coming along with those calories.

So I write the fundamental equation for human health as follows: 

HEALTH = NUTRITION IN FOOD DIVIDED BY CALORIES IN THAT FOOD

If the food that we eat contains all of the nutrients that food could possibly contain, and in the right ratios, then we will get sufficient nutrition while consuming the calories we need to supply energy.  However, to the degree that our diet contains denatured food supplying too much energy, we will be lacking nutrition and our bodies will suffer gradual degeneration.  This is why foods such as sugar and fat are less healthful because they are concentrated sources of energy that contain little or no nutrition.  Nutritionless food also contributes to “hidden hungers” since the organism craves something that is missing.  The body overeats, and becomes fat and unhealthy.

Albrecht’s charts show us that food from dry climates tends to be high in proteins and essential minerals while simultaneously lower in calories.  Food from wet climates tends to be higher in calories while much lower in protein and essential mineral nutrients.  Albrecht’s writings, as well as those of Weston Price, and Sir Robert McCarrison listed in the bibliography, are full of examples showing how human health and longevity are directly associated with these same variations in climate, soil, and food nutrition.

Albrecht pointed out a clear example of soil fertility causing health or sickness.  In 1940, when America was preparing for World War II, all eligible men were called in for a physical examination to determine fitness for military service.  At that time, Americans did not eat the same way we do now.  Food was produced and distributed locally.  Bread was milled from local flour.  Meat and milk came from local farmers.  Vegetables and potatoes did not all come from California.  Regional differences in soil fertility could be seen reflected in the health of people.