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Nutrition and Health
Good eating habits, prevention of diseases
How to stock your kitchen with preventive medicine
By Dr. W. Gifford Jones
March 25, 1990
Good nutrition used to be simple. But the old adage of,"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" no longer holds true. Today's consumers face an avalanche of nutritional information much of which proclaims that certain products will protect against heart disease, broken bones or cancer. But how can consumers separate T.V. hype from fact when they walk into the supermarket? Are there simple rules for stocking the kitchen with "preventive medicine"?
First weigh every news headline carefully and skeptically. A recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine casts doubt on the ability of oat bran to lower blood cholesterol. Dr. Frank Sacks of the Harvard Medical School fed 20 volunteers muffins and entrees containing 90 grams of oat bran daily for six weeks. Sacks concluded this diet did not significantly lower blood cholesterol any more than a mixture of cream of wheat and refined white flour. This study contradicted others which showed a decrease in blood cholesterol from 3 to 13 per cent. No one is certain why this discrepancy appeared.
But don't think the oat bran bubble has burst. Remember that no one has ever shown that fiber is bad for your health! Fiber is still the basis for sound nutrition. Like any whole grain, oats are low in fat and provide bulk to the diet which helps to fight constipation, a national disease. There's still a good chance it also fights heart disease and cancer of the large bowel. Good sense dictates that if you're filling the shopping basket with fiber there's less room for packaged foods loaded with salt, sugar and calories which set the stage for obesity, hypertension, heart attack and diabetes.
Stop at the fish counter. Several reports suggest that two fish servings a week may help to circumvent a heart attack. Fish have a lower fat content than meat. In addition they contain oils known as omega-3 fatty acids which are believed to help prevent coronary disease. Canned sardines, tuna, mackerel, salmon and herring are good sources of this healthful oil.
Today pill manufacturers are producing fish oil supplements. But these have been associated occasionally with over-bleeding and they can cause vitamin E deficiency. Once inside the body fish oils use up vitamin E to stay intact. My advice is to get your omega-3 fatty acids at the fish counter, not the pharmacy.
Keep Aristotle's Doctrine of the Golden Mean in mind when you pass meat counters. Today's health conscious consumers are casting wary eyes at meat due to its fat and cholesterol content. Fat is the number one enemy in the diet, but there's no need to say "no" to meat. It's simply prudent to limit intake.
Pick up cheese and milk both of which contain calcium, protein, and are packed with vitamins and minerals. Again, smart consumers purchase calcium from the grocery store, not the pharmacy. I see too many patients who pop 1000 milligrams of calcium pills daily. Some are also drinking two glasses of milk daily. The result? Too much calcium and the increased chance of kidney stones. But here's a surprise for you. Did you know that many cheeses contain more fat than red meat? Hard cheeses like, cheddar, colby, and Swiss get 70 to 80 per cent of their calories from fat. Skim milk and cheeses made from skim milk lower the fat content. A sirloin steak or roast may have only 50 to 60 per cent fat! Again the keynote is moderation.
Don't place yourself among those who say," I never eat eggs anymore". If so, you've removed from your diet an excellent source of protein, along with the delicate pleasure of eating a poached egg or omelette. Even the Heart Association says it's okay to eat three eggs a week.
It's also wise to think "natural" and "vegetarian" now and then. For example, a baked potato provides several hundred milligrams of potassium which helps to control blood pressure, and heart rate. But it only contains 5 milligrams of sodium which is linked to hypertension. Contrast this to a one ounce bag of potato chips that contains 200 to 300 milligrams of sodium!
Fruits also contain potassium, fiber and a vital ingredient ,beta-carotene, possibly of value in preventing cancer. Vegetables and fruits also provide less calories which perhaps accounts for the reason that vegetarians are weigh 20 pounds or less than nonvegetarians.
Think about sugar when you're walking by the soft drinks display. A 10 ounce can of your favourite beverage contains 8 teaspoonfuls of sugar! No sane person would add this amount of sugar to a glass of water. Buy the diet drinks instead.
What about dessert? Ice cream in moderation won't kill you. But don't buy the high fat superpremium brands like Haagen Dazs that contain 16 per cent butterfat as compared to 10 per cent for regular ice cream.
Keep in mind one basic point as you stroll the aisles of the supermarket. Diet drinks and low cal this or that have been around a long time. But the population isn't getting any thinner. The moral. You can't consume diet drinks and then be reckless with other foods. It's the total diet that counts.
W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of The Harvard Medical School. He's been a ship's surgeon, hotel physician and family doctor and later trained in surgery at McGill in Montreal, University of Rochester N.Y. and Harvard. His medical column is published by 60 Canadian newspapers and several in the U.S. He is the author of seven books. Dr. Walker has a medical practice in Toronto. His Web site is: www.mydoctor.ca/gifford-jones. He can be reached at letters@canadafreepress.com
