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Health care is a crisis in America today, as well as
around the world. Why? Because we need so much of it. We have become a society of unhealthy people. There is much truth to the adage that you
are what you eat. If you filled your
car’s gas tank with water you would not expect it to run well, so why would you
expect your body to perform well when you constantly fill it with junk? The best way to afford health care is to
avoid needing it in the first place, and that starts with what you eat. If you have been a life-long resident of
plant earth, read on to see why plant-based nutrition is the undisputed king.
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Like the
most classic of good vs. evil confrontations, there is a constant battle raging
inside the human body, namely antioxidants vs. free radicals.
Free
radicals are by-products of normal metabolic processes inside our bodies, and
are also acquired through environmental sources such as smoke and pollution.
Free
radicals are highly unstable molecular fragments that attack the normal cells
within our body. These attacks result
in oxidative damage that contributes to the normal aging process, but is also
believed to contribute to the development of many chronic diseases, two
examples being cancer and heart disease.
Antioxidants
protect our cells from this oxidative damage by binding with these attacking
free radicals and neutralizing them before any damage can be done.
So where
are we going with all of this? It’s
very simple, actually. Fruits,
vegetable, and whole grains, the cornerstones of a vegetarian diet, are
antioxidant powerhouses, supplying your body with the nutrients it needs to win
this ongoing battle.
Meat on
the other hand… well… just not gonna get it done.
It is
believed that many of the benefits of a vegetarian diet are due to the hundreds
of different phytochemicals found in plant foods.
Phytochemicals,
like vitamins and minerals, are biologically active compounds that can have a
significant impact on human health.
Unlike
vitamins and minerals, though, they are considered nonessential because no
deficiency symptoms occur when they are absent from the diet.
Some
health benefits of phytochemicals include:
·
Act as antioxidants, protecting body cells from
damage
·
Strengthen the immune system
·
Protect the body from cancer causing substances
Some of
the different types of phytochemicals include:
·
Flavonoids
·
Isoflavonoids
·
Isothiocyanates
·
Monoterpenes
·
Organosulfur Compounds
·
Saponins
·
Sterols
One of
the more beneficial phytochemicals is Isoflavonoids. Although small amounts can be found in berries, flaxseed, fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains, only soy foods provide nutritionally significant
amounts of isoflavonoids.
Soy
foods also provide other phytochemicals, high quality protein, complex
carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.
Soybeans
contain about 45% carbohydrates, 37% protein, and 18% fat, mostly
polyunsaturated.
Soymilk
is an excellent source of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, and zinc.
Soy
protein is considered high quality protein, with an amino acid profile similar
to that found in high-quality animal protein foods such as meat and milk
products.
Protein
is made up of amino acids. Amino acids
are commonly referred to as the building blocks of protein. A protein molecule consists of amino acids
that are linked together like a chain.
There can be over 100 amino acids in some protein molecules.
There
are 22 amino acids that are considered biologically important to the human
body. Some of these amino acids can be
manufactured by our bodies, but there are eight that cannot be. These eight are referred to as “essential”
amino acids, meaning that they must be obtained from the foods or drinks that
we consume.
Different
types of protein may or may not contain all of these eight essential amino
acids. If they do, they are referred
to as “complete proteins”; if they do not, they are referred to as “incomplete
proteins”.
As a
general rule, most protein derived from animal sources are complete proteins,
while most protein derived from plant sources are incomplete proteins. Soy protein is an exception to this rule,
with an amino acid profile similar to that found in most meat and milk
products.
Plant
foods alone can easily provide adequate protein intake, provided that they
contain sufficient calories and are reasonably varied. Amino acids lacking in some plant foods can
easily be found in others, allowing these amino acids to complement each other
and provide all of the essential amino acids in the proportions needed. The body has the ability to “pool”
free-floating amino acids, so it is not necessary to consume complementary
proteins at every meal (1).
A term
that seems to be getting a lot of buzz these days is “functional foods” (also
referred to as nutraceuticals, pharmafoods, or designer foods).
In a
1999 position paper, the American Dietetic Association defines functional foods
as any healthful food or food ingredient that may provide health benefits
beyond its basic nutritional value.
Functional
foods also include whole, enriched, fortified, or enhanced foods.
Fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains, the cornerstones of a vegetarian diet, can all be
considered functional foods because of the phytochemicals that they naturally
contain.
Meat on
the other hand… well… just not gonna get it done.
The fact that you are here reading this now indicates that
you are more health conscious than the average bear, and perhaps your thirst
for knowledge has led you to a few terms that you may not be familiar
with. In this month’s “Did You Know…”
segment we will list and explain a few terms that are commonly seen on nutrition
labels.
·
Bioavailability –
Despite the fact that this word has more syllables than some sentences, it
simply refers to your body’s ability to break down and then digest and/or
absorb a particular nutrient, making it available for use by the body. It’s determined by the amount of the
nutrient in the blood upon completion of the ingestion process. Some factors that may influence this are its
solubility in the stomach, tablet size and formula, and other foods and drinks
in the stomach. The higher the bioavailability
of a substance, the better.
·
Chelate – A chelate is a compound
formed by a mineral and its carrier. In
its basic form, a mineral cannot be transported through the body, and therefore
must links up with a “transporter” agent.
This process normally occurs during digestion. Once this link takes place, the resulting compound is referred to
as a “chelated mineral”. Purchasing
chelated minerals will ensure that the mineral/carrier link has been created,
maximizing absorption.
·
Enteric – An enteric coating is
used on tablets to delay digestion of the tablet until it passes from the
stomach into the intestines.
·
Sublingual – A
sublingual tablet is one that is placed in under the tongue and allowed to
dissolve through the buccal membrane.
This allows the nutrients to bypass the digestive process of the stomach
and pass directly into the bloodstream.
Bioflavonoids
are a compound of similar nutrients found only in plants. They are neither vitamins nor minerals,
although at one time they were referred to as vitamin P.
They are
water soluble, and are essential for the absorption and use of vitamin C.
Bioflavonoids
also have powerful antioxidant properties within the human body.
Bioflavonoids
have been proven to strengthen capillary walls and prevent capillary damage.
It is
also believed that bioflavonoids help to improve recovery and provide
nutritional support for athletes recovering from injury.
Good
food sources of bioflavonoids include:
·
Citrus fruits
·
Grapes
·
Plums
·
Apricots
·
Cherries
·
Blackberries
·
Rose hips
The
major bioflavonoids found in supplements include:
·
Rutin
·
Hesperidin
·
Citrus
·
Quercetin
·
Flavones
·
Flavonols
No RDA
has been established; recommended intake is between 200 mg and 2 gr daily.
There
are two forms of iron found in food – heme and nonheme. Heme is found mainly in animal foods, while
nonheme is found mainly in plant foods.
Most of
the iron in animal protein is bound to either hemoglobin or myoglobin.
Hemoglobin
and myoglobin are key players in the body’s process of transporting oxygen to
the body’s cells. Therefore, iron
deficiency can inhibit the body’s ability to transport oxygen to working
muscles, resulting in fatigue and reduced athletic performance (anemia).
Iron
absorption is a complex process. Some
foods contain materials that will interfere with iron absorption, examples
being milk, coffee, tea, and whole grains.
Coffee and black tea can reduce iron absorption by as much as 80%. Other foods, such as vitamin C, can improve
iron absorption. 25 to 75 milligrams of
vitamin C taken in the same meal can improve the absorption of nonheme iron by
200-400%. Nonheme iron is not as easily
absorbed by the body, and is much more dependant on other dietary factors for its
absorption.
Iron
deficiency is common in athletes, especially females who tend to eat fewer
calories than their male counterparts.
Extremely high intakes of iron (over 30mg daily) can be toxic.
The RDA
for iron is 15 mg for premenopausal women, 10 for those postmenopause, as iron
is depleted during menstruation. The
RDA for men is 10 mg.
Although
vegetarians often have higher iron intakes than non-vegetarians, they often
have a lower iron status because of poorer iron absorption. Vegetarians should emphasize foods rich in
iron such as iron fortified cereals, tofu, legumes, nuts, and whole grains, and
consumes them with foods rich in vitamin C, such as berries, broccoli,
cauliflower, citrus fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin
B12 is also known as Cobalamin.
It is
the only vitamin that contains a mineral, namely Cobalt.
It is a
water-soluble vitamin, as are all the B-vitamins, and is eliminated in the
urine. While this means it is virtually
impossible to get too much, it also means that it must be constantly supplied
to the body.
Vitamin
B12 plays a key role in energy production and normal red blood cell
development.
Vitamin
B12 also protects myelin, which is a fatty substance protecting nerves and
facilitating the transmission of electrical impulses between nerve cells.
The RDA
for vitamin B12 is 2 micrograms, the smallest of all the nutrients. An average adult body, however, has the
capacity to store much more than that, and in fact can store 3-5 years
worth.
Because
of this, vitamin B12 deficiency may take years to develop, and rarely surfaces
before the age of 50.
Recent
studies are indicating a possible link between vitamin B12 and dementia, and in
some studies increasing vitamin B12 intake has had a positive effect on
dementia symptoms.
Vitamin
B12 cannot be made by higher plants, and therefore cannot be derived from plant
foods.
It is
found in nearly all animal products, so vegetarians who consume even moderate
amounts of dairy products or eggs should receive adequate dietary supplies.
Seaweed,
Tempeh, Spirolina, and other fermented foods are not reliable sources of
vitamin B12. Although significant
amounts appear on the label, it is mostly inactive analogs that cannot be used
by the body.
Good
sources of vitamin B12 for vegans include commercial breakfast cereal,
fortified soy products, meat substitutes, and most importantly, supplements.
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(1) Gustafson, Nancy, MS, RD, LD Vegetarian Nutrition, Eureka, CA, Nutrition Dimension, 3rd ed., 2000.