You are what you eat. It's a worn-out phrase that recently has achieved
new meaning. Leading scientists are now proving that fruits, vegetables,
beans, and whole grains do, indeed, make us healthy. In fact,
researchers are now predicting that, in the not-too-distant future,
doctors may actually forego synthetically based drugs and instead
prescribe onions in your diet to control cholesterol, chili peppers to
fight emphysema, carrots to prevent cancer, cranberries to ward off
infections, and beans to regulate diabetes. 


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A New Respect For Food

This new respect for the innate powers of food is actually nothing new
at all. Pharmacopoeias of ancient Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and China
were based on food. It was Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine,
who proclaimed, "Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be
your food." The 12th century Jewish physician/philosopher Maimonides
recommended chicken soup as a remedy for asthma. Garlic, mustard seed,
and other herbs and spices collected in herb gardens or collected from
the countryside were used medicinally by doctors and medicine women for
centuries. And what child hasn't heard that "an apple a day keeps the
doctor away"?

It wasn't until the modern drug industry arose in the 19th century that
we placed the obvious behind us and became enamored with manufactured
stop-gap methods. However, as health costs sky-rocket and the harmful
side effects of drugs become more apparent, common, relatively low-cost
food is making a comeback. 


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New Research

The antioxidant component in foods is getting special attention. As
reported by author Jean Carper in her fascinating bestsellers, The Food
Pharmacy and The Food Pharmacy Guide to Good Eating, scientists suspect
antioxidants are the reason that fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains,
and nuts promote health and help prevent diseases such as cancer, heart
disease, lung disease, and autoimmune diseases including arthritis and
Parkinson's disease.

Antioxidants quench volatile, unstable, and toxic molecules known as
oxygen free radicals that are a by-product of normal metabolic processes
and produced from exposure to sunlight, X-rays, ozone, tobacco smoke,
car exhaust, and other environmental pollutants. These free radicals
damage DNA, alter biochemical compounds, corrode cell membranes, kill
cells outright, and are directly responsible for the gradual
deterioration of the aging process. While eating foods high in naturally
occuring anti-oxidants may not extend maximum attainable lifespans, it
could help prevent the onset of degenerative diseases to enable people
to live their years in optimum health.

James Duke, the U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher who has
assembled a vast database on the medicinal attributes of plants,
heartily agrees. "When it comes to cancer, at least, prevention is much
more plausible than cure, especially since many of the so-called 'cures'
are time bombs that give somebody a few extra miserable days of life.
It's so painless to up our anti-oxidant or fiber intake, and the same
diet that fights cancer fights heart disease. This is prevention, the
real thing, and the evidence of the beneficial effect of changing our
diet is so strong that we are foolish not to do it."

A diet high in vitamin C containing foods such as red and green bell
peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, strawberries, spinach,
oranges, cabbage, grapefruit, and cantaloupe can help destroy free
radicals in blood plasma before they can enter the cell membrane where
they can eventually result in clogged arteries, heart attacks, and
strokes.

Wheat germ, rice bran, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts,
cashews, peanuts, soybeans, and vegetable oils in general, all
significant vitamin E containing foods, specifically protect the cell
membrane and, consequently, the life of the cell if any free radicals
get past vitamin C.

Fresh and dried apricots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green cabbage,
carrots, kale, dark leafy lettuce, spinach, winter squash, sweet
potatoes, and tomatoes are all high in beta-carotene. The substance that
converts to vitamin A in the body, beta carotene is considered the major
reason why fruits and vegetables protect against cancers, particularly
lung cancer. By quenching a particular type of free radical called
singlet oxygen, a diet relatively high in beta-carotene containing foods
may reduce the risk of lung cancer, even among people who have smoked
cigarettes for years.

Yellow and red onions, red grapes, broccoli, and yellow crookneck squash
contain another effective antioxidant and potent anticancer agent called
quercitin. It is one of the few food substances that has been shown to
block cancer both at the earliest stage when a single cell's genetic
material is altered and when the single cell proliferates into a tumor
during the promotional stage, a period that takes 10-20 years or more in
humans. Quercitin also protects arteries and discourages blood clots. 

Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries,
grapes, apples, Brazil nuts, and cashews all contain ellagic acid. This
antioxidant helps block four different types of cancer-causing agents,
including the mold aflatoxin and nitrosamines.

Another antioxidant, glutathione, concentrated in broccoli and green
leafy vegetables such as parsley and spinach, is being explored as a
potent inactivator of at least 30 cancer-causing agents that may damage
cells. Swordfish and Brazil nuts are the two most concentrated sources
of selenium, a powerful antioxidant that scientists believe helps
protect against toxins from mercury, lead, and cadmium, as well as a
number of chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Salmon, tuna, lobster, shrimp, oysters, haddock, grains, and sunflower
seeds also contain selenium. 


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Other New Discoveries

The health promoting aspects of food goes beyond antioxidants. For
example, cruciferous vegetables, which include cabbage, broccoli,
Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, turnips, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi,
radish, rutabaga, mustard, and cress contain compounds such as indoles,
glucosinolates, and dithiolthiones which block the formation of cancer,
particularly colon cancer. Lower risks of breast, uterine, and
endometrial hormone-dependent cancers are also linked with high intake
of cruciferous vegetables. 

Legumes contain anti-cancer compounds called protease inhibitors that
help block the activity of enzymes that can instigate and promote
cancer. Additionally, beans have been found to be effective in lowering
blood cholesterol and regulating insulin and blood sugar levels.

Grains also contain protease inhibitors to help suppress cancer-causing
agents and, due to their high fiber content, help reduce constipation.
The gummy fiber found in both oats and barley helps lower blood
cholesterol, too.

Raw garlic helps kill bacteria and boost immune functioning while cooked
garlic can help lower blood cholesterol as well as help prevent
bronchitis.

High potassium foods, including potatoes, cantaloupe, bananas, tomatoes,
and lowfat yogurt seem to help protect blood vessels against damage from
high blood pressure.

Old family remedies such as yogurt, grated apple, white rice, and
blueberries to counter diarrhea have been scientifically verified. And
the list continues ad infinitum.

Even the health-promoting properties of herbs and spices have come to
the limelight. Ginger has been found as effective as popular anti-nausea
drugs for curbing motion sickness. Rosemary contains four potent
antioxidants, two which are equal to the action of BHT and BHA,
synthetic antioxidants used in the food industry to prevent rancidity.
Peppermint stimulates bile flow and the appetite and aids digestion.
It's clear that the benefit of a health-promoting diet goes far beyond
the protein, fat, and carbohydrate components of food. People who eat
the most fruits and vegetables have lower odds of various cancers, in
particular lung, colon, stomach, throat, breast, and pancreatic cancer.
A good diet can also dramatically reduce the chance of developing heart
disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, gallstones, kidney stones, and
degenerative eye disease. 

And yet, a diet must be well-balanced to enable an individual to
function at his/her best. No one food or category should be eaten at the
exclusion of others for the purpose of preventing or treating a specific
disease or maintaining health. Foods contain many components which work
together synergistically to provide optimum health. 

Such is the momentum behind the National Academy of Sciences'
recommendations in their 1989 report Diet and Health:


Every day eat 5 or more servings of a combination of vegetables and
fruits, especially green and yellow vegetables and citrus fruits.
Increase intake of starches and other complex carbohydrates by eating 6
or more daily servings of a combination of breads, cereals, and legumes.
Eat a reasonable, but moderate amount of protein. Reduce fat to 30% or
less of total caloric consumption. Reduce saturated fatty acid intake to
less than 10% of calories and reduce cholesterol to less than 300 mg.
per day.



Both raw and cooked foods are suggested as optimum. Some of the
antioxidants, body detoxifiers, and anti-cancer agents are diminished by
cooking while, in some cases, cooking can boost absorption of
life-enhancing compounds. 


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Food's New Significance

The importance of a good diet is nothing new. What is new is the
affirmation that the incidence of most chronic diseases has a dietary
link and that a good diet can help prevent as well as treat disease.
Despite the fact that, due to biochemical individuality, some may need
to enhance their food intake with isolated nutrients, no supplement can
take the place of a basic, well-rounded diet. Hippocrates was right.
Food is your best medicine.

Note: For those currently on medication or a specific diet, it is
imperative that no dramatic changes should be made without consulting
your doctor or health practitioner. 


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Whole Foods Market web pages (http://www.wholefoods.com/wf.html)
are maintained by The Whole Foods Market Communications Team

Copyright Whole Foods Market, 1995, wfm@wholefoods.com

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Reprinted (October 1995) with permission from Whole Foods Market

