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Fight
Disease with Healing Foods
By Shahida
Nisar
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There's
certain sameness to nutritional advice: Eat fruits
and vegetables.
Have fish twice a week. Don't eat red meat. Cut
back on fats. Yada, yada, yada. Hey, it's all
good advice. But like any generic "prescription,"
it may not necessarily be the best advice for
you. What if you could customize your eating plan
for
your own needs? For example, what if you have
a family history of colon cancer
or heart disease? What if your dad developed diabetes
in his 50s? Is there
a way to tailor that general advice to protect
yourself from whatever disease is
in your family tree, such as heart disease, stroke,
cancer, or diabetes -- killers
that claim almost 2 million lives a year?
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Step 1. Follow these daily recommendations in
the Prevention's Healthy Ideas Basic Healthy Eating
Plan.
- Aim for 25%
of calories from fat, 60 to 65% from carbohydrates,
and 10 to 15% from protein.
- Eat a minimum
of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 6 servings
of grains (at least 3 whole grains), and 2 servings
of nonfat or low-fat dairy products.
- Eat a maximum
of 1 serving (3 ounces) of lean meat, but preferably
not every day; 1 cup of beans can count as a serving
of meat.
- Minimize added
fats, oils, foods with added sugar, and processed
foods.
- Cholesterol:
Stay under 300 mg.
- Sodium: Stay
under 2,400 mg.
- Fiber: 20
to 35 g.
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Step 2. Make your eating plan even
healthier for yourself by zeroing in on your high-risk disease
and adding the nutrients in the amounts we list here.
Step 3. What if you're worried about all four diseases? Don't
panic; you don't need to eat 22 hours a day to get your nutrients.
There's plenty of room in our basic eating plan to incorporate
all the necessary foods into the death-defying diets -- without
increasing your waistline! |
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Heart
Disease and Stroke
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o lower your risk, you need these nutrients:
Folic acid (400 micrograms [mcg] per day). A Harvard
study of 80,000 nurses found that those with the highest intake
of folate (another name for folic acid) reduced their risk of
heart disease by 31%. Folic acid helps protect you by decreasing
blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine, an emerging risk
factor for heart disease and stroke, says Eric B. Rimm, ScD,
assistant professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard
School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study.
Lots of foods contain folate, including orange juice, kidney
beans, broccoli, and spinach. But to make sure you get 400 mcg,
Prevention recommends taking a multivitamin that contains that
amount.
Vitamin B6 (3 mg per day). The same nurses' study
found that those who consumed the most B6 lowered their risk
of heart disease by 33%. Like folic acid, B6 helps reduce homocysteine
levels. Supplements are probably a good idea, since many people
don't even get enough to cover the 2 mg Daily Value (DV), says
Walter Willet, MD, DrPH, chairman of the department of nutrition
at Harvard School of Public Health. Foods containing B6 include
bananas, avocados, lean chicken, brown rice, and oats. The same
multivitamin that provides your DV of folic acid can ensure
that you get 2 mg of B6.
Vitamin E (400 international units [IU] per day).
There's no shortage of studies showing that vitamin E in amounts
ranging from 100 to 800 IU may reduce your risk of heart disease
by about 40%. In one study of people with established heart
disease, those who took 400 to 800 IU of vitamin E reduced their
risk of a nonfatal heart attack by an astounding 77% (Lancet,
Mar 23, 1996). Doctors believe that the antioxidant properties
of vitamin E stop changes in your "bad" low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that make it more likely to clog
your arteries. To get the necessary amount of E, you'll probably
need a supplement. The best sources of the heart vitamin are
vegetable oils, nuts, and wheat germ, but you'd have to eat
unhealthy quantities to even approach the amount recommended
to prevent heart disease.
Omega-3 fatty acids (3 ounces of salmon, mackerel, haddock,
or another "fatty" fish once a week). That one meal
could reduce your risk of cardiac arrest by 50 to 70% (Journal
of the American Medical Association, Nov 1, 1995). Fatty fish
is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, substances that are believed
to reduce heart spasms and the clumping of blood platelets,
a process that leads to dangerous clots in your arteries.
Lycopene. A lot of people think of this as the
spaghetti nutrient because it's so abundant in tomatoes and
tomatoproducts. In the last year or so, studies have shown that
lycopene (one of a large family of carotenes of which beta is
the most well-known) may help prevent heart disease and cancer.
In one study, men who had heart attacks had much lower tissue
levels of lycopene than men with healthy hearts (American Journal
of Epidemiology, Oct 1997). Just one or two servings a day will
boost your lycopene levels into the high range. Cooked tomato
products are higher in lycopene than raw, and it helps to consume
a little fat, such as olive oil, to help your body absorb it.
Flavonoids. Think grapes. This fruit contains Flavonoids shown
to have blood-thinning abilities. One study found that drinking
a 5-ounce glass of purple grape juice twice a day reduced the
tendency for blood to clot by 60%. That was 50% better than
the anticlotting ability of aspirin, considered the gold standard.
If you're taking aspirin, however, it's still too soon to banish
it to the medicine cabinet in favor of grape juice. You may
also want to eat more apples and onions, two other foods that
contain high levels of Flavonoids. Finnish researchers found
that people who ate the greatest amounts of apples and onions
had the lowest risk of heart disease. Tea also contains abundant
Flavonoids.
Target
Menu
Breakfast:
1 c oatmeal (with 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. soft margarine, 1 c nonfat
milk), 5 oz purple grape juice Morning snack: tangerine, hot
green tea
Lunch:
½ c vegetarian chili (made with 1 c tomato sauce, ½
c kidney beans, ½ c corn, ½ c onions, 1 tsp. canola
oil, seasonings)
Afternoon
snack: apple, hot green tea
Dinner:
3 oz roasted salmon, 1 c roasted veggies (½ c onion wedges,
¼ c broccoli, ¼ c Portobello mushroom brushed
with 1 Tbsp. olive oil), 1 c brown rice, ½ c calcium-fortified
fat-free frozen yogurt
Evening
snack: 5 oz purple grape juice, 6 c low-fat popcorn
Calories: about 1,700 (65% carbohydrates, 20% fat, 15% protein),
plus 30 g fiber |
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Cancer
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To lower your risk, you need the following:
Fruits and vegetables. Five or more servings a
day -- but make them different foods of different colors. "It's
well established that fruits and vegetables contain cancer-protective
substances and that each individual fruit and vegetable has
its own phytochemical profile," says Melanie Polk, RD,
director of nutrition education at the American Institute for
Cancer Research in Washington. Why vary the colors? Variety
is the best way to get all of the phytochemical (phyto means
"plant") associated with lower cancer risk. And when
you hear "five or more," pay close attention to that
word "more." To fight cancer, more fruits and veggies
really are better.
Research has also identified some fruits and veggies that may
fight specific cancers. For example...
Apples may protect you from lung cancer. Finnish researchers
found that men and women who ate the most apples were 58% less
likely to develop lung cancer than those who ate the least apples.
The protective ingredient in apples is quercetin, a Flavonoids
with antioxidant effects (American Journal of Epidemiology,
May 1997). Antioxidants attack free radicals, the damaging compounds
that your body naturally produces when it breaks down the food
you eat.
Broccoli sprouts contain 20 to 50 times the amount of sulforaphane,
a phytochemical that helps mobilize your body's natural cancer-fighting
ability, that was first found in studies using mature broccoli.
These three-day-old broccoli babies look and taste something
like radishes. Early sulforaphane studies found it effective
in preventing breast cancer in rats.
Selenium. Men who took the mineral selenium in
daily doses of 200 mcg for four years lowered their rates of
lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer by more than half on average
than men who didn't take it (Journal of the American Medical
Association, Dec 25, 1996). Selenium's protective effects are
probably due to its antioxidant properties. Don't exceed 200
mcg total, including the amount in your multi supplement. (Most
multis contain less than 70 mcg.)
Carotenoids. These include beta-carotene and lycopene,
found in many red, yellow, and orange fruits and veggies. Carotenoids
have been linked to a decreased risk of many cancers, including
prostate, lung, stomach, and endometrial cancers.
Less fat. Reduce to 20% or less.
Vitamin E (200 IU). Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that men and women who
took 200 IU of vitamin E per day had less than half the risk
of getting colon cancer.
Vitamin C. Diets high in vitamin C from fruits
and veggies appear to protect against the risk of stomach, esophageal,
mouth, and cervical cancers. We recommend Resveratrol. This
substance found in ordinary grapes (again!) inhibits cancer
growth by preventing three things: the start of DNA damage in
a cell, the transformation of a normal cell into a cancerous
one, and the growth and spread of tumor cells. Although the
study was done on laboratory mice, the results were so promising
that the researchers believe this substance merits testing in
humans as a potential cancer-preventing drug (Science, Jan 10,
1997).
Catechins. These are the antioxidants found in
tea, especially green tea. In animals, Catechins inhibit a wide
variety of tumors; ongoing human studies are now testing green
tea against breast, prostate, and several other cancers.
Soy. Tofu and other soy-based foods contain high
amounts of substances called isoflavones. At least in the test
tube, researchers found that isoflavones could stunt the growth
of human breast cancer cells by up to 30%. Another study found
that women who eat lots of soy products have less than half
the risk of endometrial cancer as women who don't eat soy foods.
500 mg a day from a supplement too
Target
Menu
Breakfast:
1 c spoon-size shredded wheat (with 1 chopped apple and 1 c
nonfat milk)
Morning
snack: 1 c grapes, hot green tea.
Lunch:
bulgur-vegetable salad (made with ½ c cooked bulgur,
1½ c raw veggies -- including spinach, tomato, onion,
red cabbage, and broccoli sprouts, 1 Tbsp. canola oil, 1 Tbsp.
balsamic vinegar)
Afternoon
snack: 2 kiwifruit
Dinner: 2 c vegetable soup (made with carrots, green beans,
corn, kidney beans), whole wheat roll with 2 tsp. soft margarine,
½ c chocolate pudding made with tofu, hot green tea.
Evening
snack: 1 c calcium-fortified orange juice,
small low-fat bran muffin Calories: about 1,700 (65% carbohydrates,
20% fat, 15% protein), plus 35 g fiber |
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Diabetes
(Type 2)
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If you're at risk, you need
the following:
Lots of fiber, little fat. Your diet should derive
about 60% of calories from carbohydrates, preferably high-fiber,
complex (unrefined) carbs such as fruits, vegetables, beans,
and whole grains. You should also get no more than 25% of calories
from fat, preferably unsaturated vegetable oils or monounsaturated
olive oil, and 15% from protein. High-fat diets increase your
risk for obesity, the number one risk factor for diabetes. Refined
carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed, such as white bread,
white rice, pasta, fruit juices, and soda, cause your blood
sugar to shoot up, putting excessive stress on your pancreas
to produce more insulin, explains David M. Nathan, MD, director
of the diabetes center at the Massachusetts General Hospital
at Harvard Medical School in Boston and chairman of the Diabetes
Prevention Program. If you're overweight and eating a poor diet,
eventually your cells may become less sensitive to the effects
of insulin (which helps them use energy) and your pancreas will
work less efficiently. Unrefined foods high in fiber, by contrast,
are absorbed into your system more slowly, causing a gradual
rise in blood sugar and a decreased need for insulin. Harvard
researchers found that men and women whose diets were high in
rapidly absorbed carbohydrates and low in cereal fiber were
2 to 2½ times more likely to develop diabetes than men
and women who ate high-fiber foods such as whole grains, beans,
fruits, and vegetables (Journal of the American Medical Association,
Feb 12, 1997, and Diabetes Care, Apr 1997).
Chromium. This mineral helps make your cells receptive
to insulin. Some studies show that it can help normalize glucose
and insulin levels too. Since it's hard to get the DV of 120
mcg of chromium from your diet, make sure you're getting 120
to 200 mcg from your daily multivitamin/ mineral supplement.
If you've been diagnosed with glucose intolerance, a condition
that often leads to diabetes, USDA chromium expert Richard A.
Anderson, Ph.D., recommends taking 200 mcg of chromium picolinate
two or three times a day. Discuss with your physician first.
Magnesium. You need 350 mg total from your supplements.
If your diet is deficient in magnesium (most are), you may be
more resistant to insulin, putting you at risk for diabetes.
Harvard researchers found that the more magnesium in your diet,
the less likely you are to get diabetes. Foods high in fiber
are also high in magnesium. They include cereals, spinach, black-eyed
peas, and beans.
Target
Menu
Breakfast:
1 c raisin bran (with 1 c nonfat milk), hot
green tea.
Morning
snack: 2 whole grain rye crackers with 2 Tbsp.
peanut butter
Lunch:
whole wheat pita pocket stuffed with 1½
c chopped veggies (broccoli, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers)
drizzled with 2 tsp. olive oil and 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar,
1 banana
Afternoon
snack: apple, ½ oz toasted almonds
(about 12)
Dinner:
1 c whole wheat pasta with 2 c veggies (½ c diced tomatoes,
1 c spinach, ½ c onions) sautéed in 2 tsp. olive
oil, clementine, hot green tea
Evening
snack: 4 oz low-fat strawberry yogurt Calories: about
1,700 (60% carbohydrates, 25% fat, 15% protein), plus 35 g fiber
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Passive
Punishment
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Just
30 minutes of secondhand tobacco smoke is enough
to reduce blood flow to the hearts of nonsmokers.
Test subjects who puffed at least 20 cigarettes
a day appeared unaffected.
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