New USDA Dietary Guidelines

The newly released dietary guidelines for Americans is more detailed and demanding than ever. The government raised the daily goal for fruit and vegetables from five to nine servings.

"When the Agriculture Department unveiled its new dietary guidelines this month, it laid down a challenge to all Americans: Eat better, smarter and healthier, or else. The "or else" included a long list of ailments that plague the developed world, from heart disease and osteoporosis to diabetes."

"Along with the stick, however, came some nice, healthy carrots: Follow the guidelines and you will be stocking up on nutrients that help prevent cancer. You should also lose some weight. Odds are you'll live longer and feel better. Just stick to the road map."

The good news: If you're doing any fruits and veggies every day, keep doing it. Don't give up just because it's not nine. Any number more than one-a-day is a good thing.

Why nine servings? 

People who know say one reason the number of servings has gone from 3-5 to 9 per day, is the soil doesn't have the nutrients it used to, and therefore, the quality of the fruits and veggies isn't what it used to be. 

Consequently, we need to eat more to get the same nutrition.

The depleted soil is getting world wide attention now:

According to the Associated Press, "The brainpower of entire nations has diminished because of a shortage of the right vitamins, and slipping nutrients into people's food seems to be the only solution, a new U.S. survey says."

That's the idea behind BarleyLife Xtra, the fruit and veggie supplement now on the market - "instant nutrition in a powder" - 18 fruits and veggies, combined with young barley grass, with antioxidants, enzymes and more.

There's more than one way to make things happen.

So there you have it.