You just purchased a bunch of organic bananas from the market. You get home, peel one, and sit back as you savor the flavor and reflect on all the nutrients your body will enjoy from this treat.
Or will it?
According to the USDA food data chart, that banana you just ate provided you with (approximately) 326 milligrams (mg) of potassium, 28 mg of magnesium, 5 mg of calcium, and 144 micrograms of folate. But how much of it will your body actually absorb and utilize?
We know that soil health, growing environment, processing, transportation, storage, and other elements can all affect the nutritional value of our food, fresh or processed. Yet, at the end of the day—or the moment of truth when you are ingesting the food—how much influence do you have over how many nutrients your body will effectively absorb from that food and use?…