Malnutrition: eating more and getting less
In 2035, it will take two supermarket oranges to provide the same vitamin C as one did in 1985.
Modern agriculture has prioritised yield over nutrition. Soil degradation, intensive farming, and industrial processing have stripped essential micronutrients from our food. Today, up to 40% of the planet’s land is degraded, and 95% of soils are on course to follow by 2050.
Meanwhile, post-harvest sterilisation, storage, and packaging processes further reduce nutrient density. Add to this the global shift toward ultra-processed foods, and we arrive at a paradox: energy-dense diets that leave us undernourished.
In the test kitchen, Chef Oliver Truesdale-Jutras staged a quiet confrontation. He served two dumplings: one made with organic vegetables grown in healthy soil, the other comically large,packed with ultra-processed supermarket ingredients.
The result made hidden hunger visible.
One nourished. One merely filled.
“Not enough attention is going to the single greatest aspect of food production, if someone isn’t talking about dirt, I don’t think they’re taking the problems we face as a species very seriously.”
Bioavailability: eating less, getting more
What we absorb matters more than what we consume.
As chronic disease deaths rise and public health systems strain under the weight of ageing populations, sedentary lifestyles, and ultra-processed diets, a new nutritional focus has emerged: bioavailability.
This is the science of optimising nutrient absorption — through the way we cook, combine, and prepare food. Cooking tomatoes, for instance, boost their lycopene absorption by 164%. Turmeric’s curcumin, barely absorbed on its own, becomes 2000% more bioavailable when paired with black pepper.
.avif)
By 2035, the role of nutritionists will become more mainstream, embedded in workplaces, schools, and healthcare systems to help people get more from every meal. But personal habits still matter. The elderly, in particular, use bioavailability strategies to overcome reduced appetite, difficulty swallowing, and poor protein absorption.
In the Test Kitchen, nutritionist Charlotte Mei partnered with Chefs Oliver and Russell to bring these ideas to life through everyday dishes.
Nutritionist Charlotte Mei with Chef Oliver Truesdale-Jutras and Russell Nathan in Synthesis' Test Kitchen
Bioavailability offers a simple but powerful shift: eat less, absorb more, feel better.
“Nutrition is about more than just eating, how we cook and pair food can maximize nutrient absorption. Until the basics of nutrition are in place, the fads are just distractions.”
Bioavailability offers a simple but powerful shift: eat less, absorb more, feel better.
