Go for the Gazpacho: Eight super foods that really can make you healthier
By: Nissa Simon Source: AARP Bulletin Date Posted: July 2006
Throughout history many people (think mothers) have been convinced of the medicinal powers of certain foods (think chicken soup and spinach). Now researchers in laboratories around the world are finding strong scientific evidence that some foods may indeed help prevent or treat conditions, from heart disease to eye problems.
Individual foods contain different protective agents that help the body defend itself against illness. Although some play a stronger role in preventing particular ailments than others, no one food is a magic bullet against disease. Simply consuming a grapefruit or a handful of broccoli florets every day won't cut it. But eating a wide variety of foods—things like fatty fish, dark green or bright-colored fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans and high-fiber, whole-grain breads and cereals—stacks the stay-healthy odds well in your favor.
And no, a multivitamin doesn't fully make up for missing nutrients in your diet. Foods contain thousands of micronutrients, many of which haven't yet been identified, so a handful of pills won't give the same protection as a bowl of blueberries or a glass of carrot juice. Here's a rundown of recent findings:
Gonzo gazpacho
Vegetable soup can boost protective antioxidants and guard against the ravages of substances that damage cells.
Twelve volunteers who added two daily servings of gazpacho—the celebrated vegetable soup, or "liquid salad," from Spain—to their diets raised blood levels of the antioxidant vitamin C and reduced levels of damaging substances called oxidative-stress molecules. The study, by the Tufts University Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, was reported in the Journal of Nutrition.
This chilled, garlicky soup typically contains tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and onions, plus olive oil, which can help lower levels of LDL, the "bad" cholesterol.
Gazpacho is a staple of the Mediterranean diet—one high in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats—that is touted for its health benefits. In February researchers from California's Stanford School of Medicine announced they had found another advantage to the diet: It lowers levels of inflammation, which has been linked to heart disease. Their findings turned up in a study of the Mediterranean diet's effect on more than 900 men and women with an average age of 66.
So go for the gazpacho. "You can use the same vegetables in salads or side dishes," says Antonio P. Martin, M.D., a co-author of the Tufts study. "But this amazingly good soup is an easy and delicious way to provide a generous helping" of antioxidants.
Of Milk and Men
Researchers aren't sure exactly why, but low-fat dairy products may help protect against type 2 diabetes, the form that usually strikes adults.
Men who drank two to three cups of low-fat or nonfat milk per day were 20 percent less likely to develop the disease, according to a Harvard University 12-year follow-up study of 41,200 men published last year in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
AAA (Apples Against Alzheimer's)
The antioxidants in apples could help protect the brain from the type of damage that triggers Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, according to laboratory research with animals.
Chang Y. Lee of Cornell University's Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., estimates that on average Americans eat only one-seventh of an apple per day, not nearly enough. There is "a good reason to say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away," says Lee, who reported on the study in the Journal of Food Science.
Loco for Cocoa
It's what every chocoholic wants to hear: Chocolate (in moderation, because most forms have fat and a lot of sugar in them) is good for you. Dutch researchers, reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine in February, have reinforced that claim. In a 15-year study, they found that of 470 men ages 65 to 84, those who consumed cocoa regularly had significantly lower blood pressure than those who did not.
British researchers recently discovered that chocolate can also quell a cough. A compound in cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, turns out to be a more effective remedy for a persistent cough than the narcotic codeine and has none of codeine's unwanted side effects. The findings were published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology's FASEB Journal.
The Power of Pinot Noir
Red wine may reduce the risk of developing cataracts, according to the Reykjavik (Iceland) Eye Study.
Among the 832 participants, those who drank moderate amounts of red wine (from two glasses per month to two or three glasses per day) had about half the risk of developing cataracts as nondrinkers, beer drinkers and heavy drinkers. White wine was not included in the analysis. The findings were reported last year at a meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
B is for Bones
Bones need more than calcium to keep them strong. A new study of more than 2,500 men and women links low blood levels of vitamin B-12 to low bone mineral density in men. It also confirms similar findings reported in women. A deficiency of B-12 raises the risk of osteoporosis.
The vitamin is found in meat, dairy products and eggs. The body's ability to absorb vitamin B-12 from food decreases with age, but people over 50 can get it in fortified cereals and from supplements.
Results of the study, funded by the Agricultural Research Service were reported in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Cholesterol Patrol
Oatmeal, eggplant and tofu—chow down every day on those foods and lots of others containing fiber and soy and you might be able to lower your LDL cholesterol by 10 to 20 percent. That's what 55 people in a yearlong University of Toronto study did, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in March.
The participants all had high LDL levels going in but brought them down by eating seven daily servings of foods high in fiber—whole grains, legumes (lentils and dried beans), fruits and vegetables—and seven servings of soy products. They also ate a small handful of almonds.
And don't be fooled into thinking fat-free or low-fat cheese, cookies and prepared convenience foods will do much to lower your LDL. Researchers at Stanford, reporting in the Annals of Internal Medicine, compared two groups, each with more than 55 participants, whose diets were identical in protein, carbohydrates and fats. Those who ate foods like dark-green salads and whole-grain rice reduced their LDL and total cholesterol significantly more than those who ate conventional low-fat prepared foods.
The Fighting Folates
Adults who consume the recommended daily amount of folates (B vitamin nutrients found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits and folic acid supplements) have a better chance of keeping their brains sharp.
In a study of 320 men ages 50 to 85, researchers at Tufts found that after three years, those who consumed more folates showed significantly less decline in verbal fluency skills.
In other research, men and women age 60 and older who participated in a long-term National Institute on Aging study of diet and brain aging markedly reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease when their diets contained the recommended 400 micrograms of folates a day.
"Other unmeasured factors may be responsible for this finding," says Claudia Kawas, M.D., of the University of California-Irvine and one of the lead researchers, "so my best advice is to follow your mother's advice: Eat leafy green vegetables, exercise and develop strong social ties. Everything we associate with a healthy lifestyle is important."
Nissa Simon, a health writer, lives and eats in New Haven, Conn.
Additional Related Links
Golden Gazpacho recipe (AARP The Magazine)
Roast Chicken recipe (AARP The Magazine)
Hot Cocoa recipe (AARP The Magazine)
Hummus recipe (AARP The Magazine)
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