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Welcome back to the Borates Today podcast.
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Each week we cover a topic that is relevant to the industry and timely.
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We cover the latest industry news.
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Who are the key players in the sector?
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What are the latest trends, driving demand and supply for boron.
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What is the science behind boron and who's doing valuable research into
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new boron applications and benefits?
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We look at how boron helps in advanced energy, in food security,
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and in providing nutrition.
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So don't forget to check out boron applications and benefits
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on our website borates.today.
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In today's podcast, we're going to look at boron and food security.
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Boron plays a considerable role in food utilization, principally by
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improving the nutritional value of fertilizers for plant growth development.
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It also increases crop yield through increased nitrogen fixation rates in
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soils deficient in micronutrients.
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Boron and Food Security
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There are three pillars of food security.
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The first is availability, which refers to having sufficient food supplies
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for the population of the country.
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The second is accessibility, which refers to a person's ability to buy
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food and it has to be affordable.
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And the third pillar is utilization, which refers specifically to the biological
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use and proper dietary intake of food.
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Overall, food security refers to the availability of food for all, regardless
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of their dietary preferences or dietary needs allowing people around the world
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to live healthy and active lives.
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The United Nations Committee on world food security is an intergovernmental
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body that serves as a forum for the review and follow up of food security policies.
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Let's Look First at Food Utilization.
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Food utilization or food metabolization is one of the pillars
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that contributes to food security.
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Utilization is vital to determine how well we can use and benefit from
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the nutrients in our food, either through absorption or intake via
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proper natural consumption of food.
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It includes a diet to provide sufficient energy essential nutrients, potable
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drinking water and sanitation.
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But what does food consumption have to do with anything?
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Because food utilization determines what and how we get from our
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diet, it's vital to evaluate the individual nutritional status.
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A diet providing adequate nutrition and energy is crucial for proper
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biological usage of consumed food.
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The term utilization is often used interchangeably with nutrition.
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However, while utilization focuses more on nutrition than food
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storage, processing, and health.
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It also includes nutrition-related sanitation.
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Achieving a reasonable utilization goal is a challenge for any population.
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It's not good enough to simply supply food.
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It is equally essential that the people have access to resources
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and the ability to utilize them.
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Some of the factors affecting food utilization are food
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safety and nutritional value.
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In food safety a household's ability to obtain safe food has a direct
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impact on food consumption levels.
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Food security can only be achieved if the food consumed is safe to consume and meets
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the individual's physiological needs.
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Several things determine food safety.
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These include preparation, processing, cooking, and communal
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settings and household settings.
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The nutritional values you set for your family dictate
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what kind of foods you'll eat.
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Cultural preferences in local communities can also impact the types of food
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considered appropriate for consumption.
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As for nutritional value, nutritional deficiencies are not always apparent
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in the short term, but over time can contribute to illnesses and disease.
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By having an explicit policy and awareness of the nutritional value of
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food, consumers can understand the impact of different foods on their overall
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health and take responsibility for it.
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Food with high nutritional value, actually aids body functions.
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A third element is the individual capacity to process food.
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Every person's ability and capacity, can vary depending on family history,
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allergies, or other medical conditions.
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e.g.
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diabetes or being a celiac.
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It's essential to ensure safe food, especially for your special needs.
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An excellent way to ensure your health is to watch how you consume certain foods.
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Sanitation is a further element.
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Food free from disease and contamination can be obtained by being clean.
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Sanitation includes keeping an eye on internal sanitation.
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Intestinal parasites can cause a slowing down of the rates of utilization of food.
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So proper sanitation is a way to reduce the spread and incidence of
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foodborne illnesses and increase the quality of food utilization.
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Adulteration during storage involves the addition or of, or removal
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from ingredients to make foods tastes fresher better or healthier.
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This may not be suitable for your health or even have nutritional value
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and further it prevents food from being used because the body cannot
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recognize it in its original form.
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What about boron food safety?
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Food that is safe to consume, needs to be stored properly and consumed
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in a certain period of time.
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Other safety factors relate to how the food is protected from disease.
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Here boron-rich pesticides and boron in agricultural feed can
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improve the yield of plants.
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Boron benefits plants by helping them use other nutrients more efficiently as well
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as providing many essential plant hormones that regulate growth and development.
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If boron is spread over fields before planting starts, higher levels of boron
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in the soil connectors, both the pesticide and fertilizer and increase yields
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significantly after a couple of seasons.
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And what about boron and the individual's capacity to process food?
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Part of an individual's ability to process food is determined
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by family health history.
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Chronically under-nourished people may be more susceptible
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to debilitating illnesses such as arthritis, diabetes or even cancer.
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Boron-rich foods and boron supplements can alleviate some or all of these conditions.
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For instance, for sufferers of arthritis, borax can be used as a
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solution, most commonly consumed orally.
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But it also helps with arthritis when applied topically or inserted
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into the body via an enema.
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The oral form of borax treatment would require drinking two teaspoons
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of borax dissolved in water daily and following up by consuming half an
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apple mixed with cinnamon powder every day until the symptoms are relieved.
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Reduction of intake is advised gradually during this period, if more than
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one month passes without relief in order to protect your kidneys while
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they're trying to flush out all the sodium from the borax supplements.
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As for boron and sanitation, poor sanitation can lead to internal
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parasites, which affect the health and wellness of the parasite's host.
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A diet rich in micronutrients, including boron can help stave off parasites.
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The World Health Organization, guideline for boron level in drinking
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water is 2.4 milligrams per liter.
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There are ongoing challenges with food security.
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Recent years, have seen an alarming drop in management of food security,
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especially in developing countries.
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The impacts of climate change, natural disasters, economic and political
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instability are also contributing factors.
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However these challenges can be overcome by ensuring that households have
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constant access to nutritious food.
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This is not just about having enough food in the country or region, but
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also having the money to pay for it.
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With rising prices and inflation, it is becoming increasingly
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difficult for families in many countries to access nutritious food.
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Food supply chains have been disrupted as a result of the ongoing
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Russia, Ukraine conflict and there are other natural hazards like
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drought, which affect food security.
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It is estimated that today, there are more than 800 million people in developing
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countries suffering from chronic hunger.
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And this is not likely to change in the near future without ongoing
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policies and regulations to make food available, accessible, and
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well-utilized by people around the world.
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For more information on boron and food security, please refer
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to the Borates Today website.
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And that's all for today.
