Food and Health
The food you eat does more than provide energy. It can have a dramatic
effect on your body’s ability to fight off heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high
blood pressure, stroke, and weak bones. With remarkable consistency, recent
research has found that a diet high in plant-based foods—fruits, vegetables,
dried peas and beans, grains, and starchy staples such as potatoes—is the body’s
best weapon in thwarting many health-related problems. These foods work
against so many diseases that the same healthy ingredients you might use to
protect your heart or ward off cancer will also benefit your intestinal tract
and bones.
Scientists have recently estimated that approximately
30 to 40 percent of all cancers could be avoided if people ate more fruits,
vegetables, and plant-based foods and minimized high-fat, high-calorie edibles
that have scant nutritional value. Up to 70 percent of cancers might be
eliminated if people also stopped smoking, exercised regularly, and controlled
their weight. In the past, researchers had linked fat consumption with the
development of cancers, but they currently believe that eating fruits,
vegetables, and grains may be more important in preventing the disease than not
eating fat. “The evidence about a high-fat diet and cancer seemed a lot stronger
several years ago than it does now,” says Melanie Polk, a registered dietitian
and director of nutrition education at the American Institute for Cancer
Research.
The road to strong bones is paved with calcium-rich
food. Leafy green vegetables and low-fat dairy products are excellent sources of
calcium, the mineral that puts stiffness into your skeletal system and keeps
your bones from turning rubbery and fragile. Your body uses calcium for more
than keeping your bones strong. Calcium permits cells to divide, regulates
muscle contraction and relaxation, and plays an important role in the movement
of protein and nutrients inside cells. If you don’t absorb enough from what you
eat to satisfy these requirements, your body will take it from your bones.
Because your body doesn’t produce this essential mineral, you must continually
replenish the supply. Even though the recommended daily amount is 1,200
mg, most adults don’t eat more than 500 mg. One reason may have been the
perception that calcium-rich dairy products were also loaded with calories. “In
the past, women, in particular, worried that dairy products were high in
calories,” says Letha Y. Griffin, M. D., of Peachtree Orthopaedics in Atlanta.
“But today you can get calcium without eating any high-fat or high-calorie foods
by choosing skim milk or low-fat yogurt.” Also, low fat dairy products contain
phosphorous and magnesium and are generally fortified with vitamin D, all of
which help your body absorb and use calcium. If you find it difficult to include
enough calcium in your diet, ask your doctor about supplements. They’re a potent
way to get calcium as well as vitamin D and other minerals. But if you rely on
pills instead of a calcium-rich diet, you won’t benefit from the other nutrients
that food provides. Getting the recommended vitamin D may be easy, since your
body makes the vitamin when your skin is exposed to the sun’s
rays. |
