Laurel on Health Food

I recently learned about Meatless Monday, a national public health campaign to help Americans prevent four leading causes of death: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer . The campaign, affiliated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, encourages people to avoid eating meat, poultry, and high-fat dairy products on Mondays (you can still eat fish). I did some quick division, and that means that you could reduce your saturated fat intake by almost 15%.

Robert Lawrence, M.D., a professor of environmental health sciences and Meatless Monday adviser, says that they are not trying to make people become vegetarians — they just want people to consume more fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Lawrence also says that “Mondays work well as a meatless day because if you’ve had a weekend where you’ve had too many calories and fat, you can wake up Monday morning and get back on track.” (Ref: Publix Greenwise magazine, May 2008, p. 12)

You can also think about Meatless Monday as a green initiative. The process of raising animals for food is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases. Cutting back on meat means cutting back on global warming. Until Meatless Mondays become habit, try setting up a reminder on your Outlook or Google calendar, writing it in your planner, or making an alarm go off on your cell phone.

Cooking Light wrote that most experts agree the best way for your body to get antioxidants is to eat a varied diet. “Antioxidants work synergistically” which means that when they work together, they have greater benefit for your body than when they work individually. As you’ve probably heard by now, antioxidants keep your body healthy by preventing and repairing the damage that excessive free radicals do to your cells.

Research from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the total amount of antioxidants in your diet has a greater impact on plasma beta-carotene levels than the amount of beta-carotene alone in your diet. The study concluded that the “other antioxidants pitch in to “spare” beta-carotene so it can work harder when it’s needed.” A professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, Joe Vinson, PhD, recommends eating antioxidant-rich foods all throughout the day because you need to constantly replenish the supply in your body. You can’t store antioxidants like you can for other nutrients. Vinson said the levels drop off very quickly.

Here is a list of 20 most antioxidant-rich foods according to a study from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (#1 has the highest capacity). Try to eat a wide variety to get the best body benefit.

An Oprah Magazine reader wrote to David L. Katz, M.D. in this month’s “The Way to Eat” section (Ref: The Oprah Magazine, May 2008, p. 200). She mentioned that her mother had ovarian cancer and her father had Alzheimer’s disease. Knowing that this meant she was more likely to get those diseases, she asked Katz if there were foods that could help protect her. I summarized a few key points from Dr. Katz’s response below.

To cut your cancer risk, remember that eating the right diet can help but it’s not a cure all. Reduce your intake of saturated fats from red meat, high fat dairy, and processed foods. A Harvard study linked high saturated fat intake and increased risk of ovarian cancer. Also, avoid excess eating, maintain a healthy weight, and always eat plenty of fruits and veggies.

To cut your Alzheimer’s risk, try the Mediterranean diet by focusing on beans, whole grains, fish, fruits, vegetables, and olive oil. A study of 2,000 New Yorkers who ate Mediterranean diets found a significantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s. Scientific research is also suggesting that fish oil supplements, turmeric, ginkgo biloba, and vitamin B6 may help prevent dementia, but there is no proof yet. Visit alzheimersprevention.org for new research and developments.

Also, take a look at these posts I’ve written in the past year addressing Alzheimer’s:

Folate, B-12 Essential for Brain Health

Rosemary Fights Mental Decline, Disease

Study Shows Curry Helps Prevent Alzheimer’s

…and addressing Ovarian Cancer:

Ovarian Cancer Prevention

Lovely Spinach

Tofu a Day Keeps Ovarian Cancer Away

Stanford University has a new arrangement with YoNaturals to install some healthy vending machines. YoNaturals will place the ‘YoZone’ machines in several buildings on campus through their distributor, Natural Now LLC. The school departments that receive the machines in their buildings will receive a portion of profits from the machines and Natural Now also plans to donate some profits to the ShineOn.org Foundation (awards educational scholarships to AIDS-affected high school students in Africa). Here are some details about the YoZone vending machines:

• - Debit and credit card payment systems
• - Temperature control for fresh food/drinks
• - All foods and drinks in the machines “have no genetically modified ingredients, no partially hydrogenated oils, no unhealthy sugars, no dyes or preservatives.”
• - Some examples: Stacy’s Pita Chips, Clif Bars, Teas Tea, Lara Bar, Luna, Pirate’s Booty, Fiji water, Bolthouse Farms, and Horizon organic milk.

I am so happy to hear that healthy foods are finding success at big institutions such as Stanford. I wish I had a YoZone machine at my office! Click here to get a glimpse of the YoZone vending machine. Ahhh, it’s just beautiful.

A University of Chicago study found that eating grapefruit could help you get more out of your prescriptions. There’s an enzyme in your liver and intestines called CYP3A that breaks down any drugs you ingest. The enzyme causes less of the medicine to survive your digestive process. But the study found that compounds in grapefruit (furanocoumarins) interfere with production of the CYP3A enzyme and therefore allow more medicine to get into your bloodstream (reference: Women’s Health, May 2008, p. 24).

I wonder if this process is effective for helping your body digest those multivitamins and herbal supplements?

Dr. James Harris, founder and chief scientific officer of Bioavailability Systems LLC, says that eating grapefruit to boost your drugs could be risky. He says it should only be used for people who are trying to fight off infectious diseases and cancer (when you are willing to risk the side effects in order to fight the disease).

So, it seems these grapefruit and prescription findings come with a “don’t try this at home” warning. But, I always find it interesting to discover how powerful food is inside our bodies. It helps me remember to really think about what I’m eating on a regular basis.