Food myths and facts: Health or hoax?

Perhaps nothing is fraught with more misconceptions than food (a topic that’s close to our hearts and certainly, our stomachs). And we have been fed with these myths for ages. For instance, as far back as 1840, an American dietitian named Sylvester Graham had a mouthful to share on food prejudices and taboos, according to Arnold Bender in his book Health or Hoax, to wit:

• Food should not be consumed when hot.

• Water should not be consumed with meals.

• Tea causes delirium.

• Condiments and sexual excess cause insanity.

• Chicken pie and lewdness cause cholera.

• Meat consumption causes sin.

We asked Dr. Angel Respicio Jr. to answer some oft-asked questions on food, to separate fat, er, fact from fiction. Here’s Part 1 of our one-on-one Q&A session with Hawaii-based Filipino nutritionist Dr. Jun Respicio:

PHILIPPINE STAR: Is it true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away?

DR. JUN RESPICIO: Fruit specialist JT Stinson coined that phrase in an address to the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 based on Benjamin Franklin’s earlier version 250 years ago. There are nearly 10,000 varieties of apples grown around the world. For every variety analyzed, apple skin offered 2/3 of the fiber and antioxidant (polyphenols) punch over apple flesh. Not to be overlooked are the vitamins and minerals. Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions, adds, “Apples are rich in boron which helps prevent osteoporosis, and they have a low glycemic index and therefore can be safely eaten by diabetics.”

Shall we take a bite then? But first you have to realize that the apples in Franklin’s day weren’t treated with toxic or persistent pesticides.

Concerned with wax on your apple? The producers of the famous Red Delicious Washington Apples say the natural wax added to protect their apples is usually carnauba or shellac. Today, apples are on the list of the most contaminated fruits and vegetables, as published by the Environmental Working Group, based on analysis of over 100,000 government reports. Fallon elaborates, “Apples are rich in a type of fiber called pectin. Studies of rats on diets high in raw pectin show pathological changes to the villi of the small intestine leading to digestive problems.”

Remember what happened to Sleeping Beauty when she ate a contaminated apple? Therefore, an organic apple a day (the way they used to be grown) is a great way to keep the doctor away, according to Dr. Greene.

Is it true that carrots help us see in the dark?

According to the snopes.com website, this was folklore and not based on science. During World War II, British intelligence didn’t want Germans to find out about their superior technology, the airborne reception radar that helped them pinpoint some enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel. So they ascribed Lieutenant John Cunningham’s cunning ability to shot his prey in the dark, to his love of carrots. The British press helped spread the word. The studies which have posited this link used doses of vitamin A or beta-carotene which were higher than what is found in the standard diet. If a carrot a day won’t brighten the night, what would?

Night vision is dependent on the integrity of the millions of specialized photoreceptor cells called rods in the retina. This is where vitamin A comes in. According to Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary G. Enig, most of the foods that provide large amounts of vitamin A are butter, egg yolks, liver, cod liver oil, organ meats, and shellfish. Fruits and vegetables do not contain vitamin A. Unfortunately, the vast majority of popular books on nutrition insist that humans can obtain vitamin A from fruits and vegetables. At least six units of beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A in carrots, are needed to convert it to a unit of vitamin A. This means you have to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits to obtain even the daily minimal requirements of vitamin A assuming optimal conversion. Diabetics and those with poor thyroid function cannot make the conversion. They must obtain their precious stores of vitamin A from its true source, those food the diet dictocrats want you to avoid! Shall we avoid carrots then? Carrots are rich sources of B vitamins, phosphorous, calcium, and all-important iodine. Many cultures have valued them too as an aphrodisiac.

Will spinach really make you strong?

Yes, especially if you are related to Popeye. Sally Fallon hails it as the queen of the dark green leafy vegetables, the least bitter, and most tender. It is exceptionally high in carotenoids, vitamin C, and glutathione. Yes, glutathione can prevent macular degeneration. Spinach is better eaten cooked, but don’t overcook as 30-60 percent of glutathione is lost during cooking. Raw spinach has substances that block calcium as well as iodine absorption.

Is malunggay healthier than spinach?

You be the judge. Mark Fritz of the Los Angeles Times wrote: Malunggay (Moringa, Sajina) has triple the iron of spinach and more impressive attributes than olive oil. It has quadruple the beta-carotene in carrots. The Hawaii Medical Service Association further adds: A cup of cooked malunggay has 400 mg. calcium while a cup of milk has 350 mg. The leaves have significant quantities of vitamin C, iron, protein, potassium, magnesium, selenium, and zinc.

What about glutathione, are there any other antioxidants aside from this popular product in the Philippines?

I noticed in the Philippines that glutathione is everywhere — from billboards to television, print media, and the court room. Glutathione is composed of the three amino acids (protein) cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine. It acts as an antioxidant. Green leafy vegetables are rich sources. Other sources of glutathione are fresh fruits, fresh meats and low-heat dried whey. Filipinos who eat green leafy vegetables regularly have an edge over people with an unhealthy lifestyle, those who habitually ingest, inhale, or expose themselves to oxidants (free radicals), thus causing oxidative stress. Dr. Stephen Byrnes describes it as a condition when the available supply of the body’s antioxidants is insufficient to handle and neutralize free radicals. The main sources of free radicals are processed or highly heated oils like refined vegetable oils, margarine, and shortening. They abound in most fast foods and snacks. Excessive sugar intake from any source can contribute to free radical damage. Free radicals are also released from detoxification of drugs (whether legal or illegal), artificial food colorings and flavorings, smog, preservatives in processed foods, alcohol, cigarette smoke, chlorinated drinking water, pesticides, radiation, cleaning fluids, heavy metals like cadmium and lead, benzene and naphthalene (moth balls). Even psychological and emotional stress can contribute to oxidative stress. It has also been observed in athletes after intensive workouts.

Aside from glutathione, the other main antioxidants are vitamins A, E and C, beta-carotene, bioflavonoids, selenium, zinc, CoQ10, and phytochemicals from herbs and foods. We also have biochemical antioxidants which not only scavenge free radicals but also inhibit their formation inside the body. These include lipoic acid, catalase, superoxide dismutase, melatonin, and cholesterol. You read it right, cholesterol is an antioxidant. That is probably the reason serum cholesterol levels rise as people age. With age comes more free radical activity and in response, the body produces more cholesterol to help contain and control the damage.

Do you have to take extra glutathione?

Only if you have an unhealthy lifestyle and if, for some reason, you cannot eat the many different sources of antioxidants. Any other reason to take it? Hmm, if you are not comfortable with your skin color, by all means take your glutathione, but be careful because too much antioxidant is not good. Really? Why? The free radicals they target have useful functions, too, in the body under controlled conditions. They are used by the body to kill some cancer cells. White blood cells also use free radicals to attack and destroy bacteria, viruses, and virus-infected cells. The detoxifying actions of the liver also require free radicals. But still, they are extremely unstable molecules that can damage cells if left uncontrolled.

Are brown eggs better than white eggs?

The Egg Nutrition Center explains, “The color difference is due to the specific breed of hen. Hens with white feathers and white earlobes will lay white eggs, whereas hens with red feathers and matching-colored earlobes give us brown eggs.” What makes an egg better than the other is the type of food eaten by the hen. Sally Fallon, in her book Nourishing Traditions, said, “Eggs from chicken fed flax or fish meal or, better yet, pasture fed so they can eat bugs and worms have nutritional qualities far superior to those battery-raised eggs. Properly produced eggs have vitamins A and D. They also have special long-chain fatty acid acids called EPA and DHA, which play a vital role in the development of the nervous system in the infant and the maintenance of mental acuity (think of memory) in adults. The omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids exist in almost the ideal, one-is-to-one ratio. Eggs fed only grains have omega-6 content as high as 19 times greater than the all-important unsaturated omega-3.”

Should we be afraid of  egg yolk?

Egg yolk is the most concentrated source of choline, a B vitamin found in lecithin that acts as a scrub to the arterial walls, keeping them patent and therefore allowing blood to flow freely. Lecithin from eggs also prevents bile from turning to gallstone. Chris Masterjohn cites the egg (particularly the yolk) which provides consumers with — hold your breath now — EPA and DHA and other healthy fats, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamins A, D, E, and K, carotenes, and all the essential amino acids (complete protein) tryptophan, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine and valine.

Still afraid of egg yolk? You should be, if you’re afraid of cholesterol. An egg yolk has 215 mg. cholesterol. The adult body makes 4,000 mg. per day to maintain a sharp brain and a healthy body. Dr. David Kritchevsky, the number one and original proponent of the cholesterol scare, conceded in his article “History of Recommendations to the Public about Dietary Fat,” The Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 128 No. 2 February 1998, pp. 449S-452 that, “The role of dietary cholesterol in cholesterolemia and atherosclerosis is unclear, the serum cholesterol levels of men with coronary heart disease bore no relation to their habitual intake of cholesterol. This is explained by the biosynthetic capacity of the liver.” How’s that? If you take in 800 mg., it will only make 3,200 mg. from its normal production of 4,000 mg. per day. I have seen this work for my two skeptical siblings (and other patients in Hawaii). They were on cholesterol-lowering medications before. It sounded ridiculous when I told them to stop their medication and eat one to two eggs per day. After a few months, their levels now allow them to buy eggs instead! The cholesterol in egg yolk is the same cholesterol in breast milk. Who’s afraid of breast milk?

Now, that’s food for thought! Doc Jun dishes up more next week in Part 2 of this interview.

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