The truth about diet and disease

I would like to briefly discuss some of the relationships between diet and disease, where there is published scientific evidence (I credit Dr. Aileen Burford-Mason for helping put it all together).

1) Lack of fruits and vegetables (which results in low dietary phytochemical content)

2) High glycemic load (excess sugar and starch)

Add the two together and we have major risk factors for most modern degenerative diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's and dementia.

What has been published in the scientific literature supporting these concepts:

A diet high in phytochemicals protect against cancer due to an extensive array of potent antioxidant, anti-infective and detoxifying agents: Studies have shown this and its effects on the following cancers: lung, esophageal, gastric, colorectal, and premenopausal breast cancer.

In 2002, Bazzano LA et al in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey followed almost 10000 adults for almost 20 years. It was observed that eating more than 3 servings of fruits and vegetables daily compared to 1 daily reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease :

27% lower stroke incidence

42% lower stroke mortality

27% lower cardiovascular disease mortality

24% lower ischemic heart disease mortality

15% lower all-cause mortality

What about eggs? Evil right? Bad for your cholesterol, right?

 

Wrong. Consumption of one egg per day increases serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations (protects the eyes, with 20% reduction in cataract risk and up to 40% reduction in age-related macular degeneration). But quite importantly, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were not affected (Goodrow EF et al J Nutr 2006).

What about diet and dementia? 

In 2007, Barberger-Gateau P et al published in Neurology observed in over 8000 elderly non-demented subjects that daily consumption of fruits and vegetables were associated with a reduced risk of all cause dementia. Weekly consumption of fish was associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's dementia and all cause dementia.

In a later post, I will discuss glycemic load and disease.