Food as Medicine: Does it Bother You?
Are you at all concerned that food is becoming medicine? Every day I hear an advertisement for one food item or another and how it's been enhanced to be better for my health. Yogurt now has to have "active cultures" to be worth eating. Eggs are being created with more omega-3 fatty acids. Bread is now "Wonder" soft yet made from "white whole wheat" flour so that it's nutritious again. It seems to me that food is getting so complicated with health claims that individuals are going to become increasingly confused about what they should eat. It also occurs to me that there has got to be something wrong with food that is manipulated in such a way as to "improve" upon it.What happened to food being food?
I recently read a study* in which a pair of epidemiologists documented a large body of evidence that a diet rich in whole grains reduced the death rate for all causes. But the really interesting thing was that when they looked at individuals who got the same levels of dietary fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, phytic acid, iron, zinc, magnesium, and manganese in the diet as the whole grain eaters, they found that they did not obtain the same level of health benefits.
It would appear from this study that there is an additional health benefit to eating whole grains that cannot be obtained by eating these nutrients alone or together from other food sources. The authors suggest that it appears that "the various grains and their parts act synergistically" in a manner that means that an individual food item is more than a 'sum of its parts.'
I think that nutrition science in this country is being hijacked by commercial entities to sell products. By enhancing foods with 'good for you' nutrients they have a selling point for their products. By marketing it to us in a manner that suggests that this food item is "necessary" in our diet for optimal health, they have yet another selling point. By putting "whole grains" into children's sugar-laden breakfast cereals they convince us that we are somehow feeding them a product that is good for them!
Does anything bother you about this?
Laurie
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* David R. Jacobs and Lyn M. Steffen, "Nutrients, Foods, and Dietary Patterns as Exposures in Research: A Framework for Food Synergy," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003: 78 (suppl): 508S-13S
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5 Comments:
This is a great article for "Food For Thought"! Yes, food is being used on commercials to make us think we are doing the right thing by loading our bodies and our children's bodies with food that no longer has any nurtritional value left in it. Our children see and hear these commercials and put great pressure on parents to buy them. They get comments from kids at school about those items on TV. Then, when we as parents try to feed them good foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, we get the royal fit from the kids, as they don't want that. "Johnny's mother doesn't make him eat this!" Or we get, "Suzzie's mother lets her eat what ever she wants, she NEVER has to eat vegetables!" If only there were regulations that would make it impossible for the food industry to produce commercials about food that is not truely laden with good nutritional benefits! We, as parents are learning, far too late the value of a diet rich in raw fruits and vegetables, due to all the push for easy to fix foods, quick meals, fast food establishments, etc.
When I was in elementary school half a century ago, Johanna, a child in my class, ate only whole wheat bread. Poor Johanna, I thought. Her mother keeps her from eating this wonderful, squishy white bread. Reality check: lucky Johanna whose mother knew what she was doing and had the strength and courage to provide wholesome and nutritious food for here child.
"Wholesome." Now there is a word no longer heard.
Wonderful and very informative in putting things in the correct perspective. Also eating whole grain is "greener" ecologically.
In general I do not believe foods supplemented in extra vitamins are all that beneficial. Vitamins from their whole food source is definitely best. But the Omega-3 eggs aren't artificially supplemented. The chickens are fed a diet that includes lots of flax seed, which is actually quite healthy for them and for us. it also makes those eggs one of the least expensive sources of the animal form of omega-3 fatty acids. (the others primarily being fish and grass fed meats and game).
Dear Laurie,
As a helathcare provider myself, I entirely agree with you. I often wonder what happened to the original food that they FDA enhanced and why the newer food is better. I don't know how much research you have done, but they have also combined plant based foods to ensure people are getting the right amounts of nutrients in their diet. The only problem is, is they're foods most people don't think to pick up by themselves so why on gods earth put them together? I'm not going to eat that if i didn't eat its original. thanks for the text! great point.
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