Phytonutrient Formulas and Fatal Food Facts
In the recent edition of a popular men’s health magazine a PhD nutritionist was asked, “Do people need supplements?” The familiar reply was, “not if they eat a balanced diet and are in good health.” Most of us alternative practitioners could add several other qualifiers, but instead let’s take the doctor’s response as is.
The USDA in its January 2005 Dietary guidelines now recommends a wide variety of 7 servings of fruits and vegetables daily for “average” women and 9 a day for “average” man. Recommendations go as high as 13 servings as calorie requirements increase for those larger and more active than average. 1 The National Cancer Society admits that the “5-a-day” gospel was just the bare minimum. 2 Nonetheless, it is routinely reported that only 1 in 5 adults follow this advice and even less children do. (Some reports say 2 in 5 adults attain the minimum, but that was before the potato was moved from a vegetable to a grain so French fries are no longer counted!) 3
The evidence gathered from 1994-2004 from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals concludes, “A significant gap in the variety of fruit and vegetable intake was also found, which does not allow for an optimal or even near-optimal intake of antioxidant (and other) nutrientsneeded to protect against… ‘killer’ diseases.” 4
Yet four out of the five leading causes of death are related in part to inadequate fruit and vegetable intake: 5
Death in the U.S. - 2001
Heart Disease |
699,697 |
Cancer |
553,251 |
Stroke |
163,601 |
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
123,974 |
Accidents |
97,707 |
Diabetes |
71,252 |
|
As to the new 2005 USDA guidelines, it has recently been reported that only 3 % of males report consuming the now recommended 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. In fact, men on average eat only 4 servings a day. Yet only 25 % of men believe they need to eat more! 6 The Products for Better Health "State of the Plate Report” found, “No other food commodity (fruits and vegetables) – especially one with such importance to disease prevention - has a gap this large between recommended and actual intake.” 7
According to recent excerpts from US Government press releases, only 3% of the US population follow just four out of five of the recommendations of the new food pyramid guidelines! No wonder that even the AMA recommended recently that everyone take a multivitamin! 8
So what is it in fruits and vegetables that so promotes lifelong wellness? “The vitamins, minerals, fiber and, especially, the phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables appear to reduce the risk for…diseases.” 9
Surely the natural vitamins, minerals, and fiber of fruits and vegetables are of great value. Nonetheless, conflicting evidence has been found for the association of the use of vitamin and mineral supplements for the prevention of cancer and heart disease. 10
But the evidence for phytonutrient / phytochemicals keeps growing.
"… diets rich in phytochemicals provide protection from vascular diseases and many cancers (thru) direct antioxidant activity as well as modulation of enzyme expression or hormone activity...the total dietary load of phytochemicals may have important implications for health." McCarty MF., Proposal for a dietary "phytochemical index"., Med Hypotheses. 2004;63(5):813-7.
"When phytochemicals are added to the diet, the capacity of human genes to protect and restore optimal health is far greater than previously recognized." - McDaniel M.D., McAnalley, Ph.D., Journal of the National Academy for Child Development: The Role of Phytochemicals in Optimal Health, 1997 Vol. 11, No. 1
"Knowledge of the role of physiologically active food components, from both phytochemicals and zoochemicals, has ...evolved as...science has advanced beyond the treatment of deficiency syndromes to reduction of disease risk..." American Dietetic Association on Functional Foods
"The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet substantially lowers blood pressure and reduces blood lipid levels. ...the health benefits… are partially attributable to the phytochemicals..." -Most M. M.,Estimated phytochemical content of the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet is higher than in the Control Study Diet, J Am Diet Assoc. 2004 Nov;104(11):1725-7.
"...In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated convincingly that dietary supplementation of phytochemicals has beneficial effects against certain types of pathogenesis, disease, cancer, and aging ".- Ji LL, Peterson DM., Aging, exercise, and phytochemicals: promises and pitfalls. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004 Jun;1019:453-61 .
Therefore if I were to be asked, “Do people need to take phytonutrient supplements” my answer might be, “No, not if they follow the USDA guidelines, live a healthy lifestyle, in a clean and supportive environment, and are in otherwise good health.” How many patients like this do you have? Of course if you can get your patients to eat their fruits and vegetables, my hats off to you! But for most clinicians a phytonutrient supplement of some kind may be the only viable alternative, though admittedly second best.
Some basic things to look for in a phytonutrient supplement include:
1) a wide variety from fruits and vegetables of all the colors,
"...fruits and vegetable phytochemical extracts ...from the combination of phytochemicals...the additive and synergistic… "complex mixture" of phytochemicals...are responsible for these the benefits...no single antioxidant can replace the combination of natural phytochemicals ...."- Lui RH, J Nutr. Potential synergy of phytochemicals in cancer prevention: mechanism of action. Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 148532004 Dec;134(12):3479S-85S.
2) the preferred source should not just be a pill with a grab bag of isolated phytonutrients, but include whole food and juice powders, "...phytochemicals often appear in nature as families of related compounds (that)...may behave synergistically... and... activate metabolic enzymes...as a network ".- Heber D., Phytochemicals beyond antioxidation, J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3175S-3176S.
3) they should have some measure of potency, the best of which presently is antioxidant capacity, "...people may be able to reduce risk of diseases of aging--including senility--simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets," Floyd P. Horn, administrator, Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.
4) they should be made manufactured at cGMP (NNFA – A rated), ISO 9001 (2000), Organic & FDA approved facilities.
5) to insure long term compliance, they should taste good in plain cold water, without mixing with high glycemic juices, or high levels of binding fibers.
The above facts strongly argue that health care providers truly interested in coaching life long wellness and delaying the onset of the common diseases of aging might include the provision of professional quality phytonutrient juice powder formulas for those patients not yet ready to regularly consume the ideal of 7 -13 servings of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
John H Maher, DC, DCCN, FAAIM
www.biopharmasci.com
jmaher@biopharmasci.com
- USDA Jan 2005 Dietary Guidelines, http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/
- Mercy Net Health Information Archives, Sisters of Mercy, http://www.mercy.net/healthinfo/archive/020903.asp
- 5-a-Day.com research facts http://www.5aday.com/html/aboutpbh/researchfacts.php
- Ibid. 3
- Ibid. 3
- Men: You need 9 a Day!, Fitness and Freebies, http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/food/articles/9aday.html
- 5-a- Day press release http://www.5aday.org/html/press/pressrelease.php?recordid=129
- AMA’s Position on Nutritional Supplements: Supplements Shown to Provide Valuable Health Benefits :Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults, Scientific Review June 19, 2002; Kathleen M. Fairfield, MD, DrPH; Robert H. Fletcher, MD, MSc; JAMA. 2002; 287:3116-3126.
- Ibid. 2
- Ibid. 3
