Food and Greens: Vibrant Health Made Easy!

Most of us have heard that diets high in fruits and vegetables can help us lose weight, reduce our risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, macular degeneration, osteoporosis, arthritis and even wrinkles. As a matter of fact, 8 to 10 servings a day can cut our cancer risk in half!

In 1998, the University of Naples in Italy studied 70 to 100 year olds and found that the healthiest and longest lived ate a lot more fruits and vegetables.

Therefore it comes as no surprise that the USDA Food Guide Pyramid advocates eating 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day for optimum health!

Food science has just recently come to realize that there is much more to micronutrient nutrition than just vitamins and minerals. Indeed, there may be well over 1,000 different plant chemicals, known as phytonutrients, that may have metabolic activity in humans! These include classes such as the polyphenols, carotenoids, flavinoids, coumarins and isothiocyanates, just to name a few! Some serve as antioxidants, some assist the liver in detoxification, others modulate the immune system and hormone metabolism. Research on phytonutrients is an exciting new frontier for nutritionists.

Further study has shown that the fruits and vegetables that come in rich vibrant colors, like tomatoes, carrots, spinach, broccoli, blue berries and raspberries, are much more potent and beneficial than the pastel colored produce like ice berg lettuce, bananas, celery, corn and potatoes.

Plus certain foods may contain greater quantities of enzymes, fibers, probiotics, and even specific medicinal substances, the later being especially true of many edible herbs and spices.

The Super Foods and The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.)

As we have become more aware of the amazing and broad spectrum of health, antiaging, and disease preventing benefits of foods especially high in this “new” array of such micronutrients, a new name for them has arisen, the “Super Foods”.

The “S.A.D.” fact remains, that in spite of all the support from mainstream medicine organizations like the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association, and governmental health organizations like the National Institute of Health, the National Institute on Aging, the USDA, and even the U.S. Surgeon General, few of us eat the recommended minimum of two fruits and three vegetables daily. Even counting the "pale" plants like French fries, green-gassed bananas and ice burg lettuce, few achieve the daily minimum, much less. How many fewer of us enjoy the optimal 8 to 10 servings, and that emphasizing fresh and organic phytonutrient dense fruits and vegetables of deep and bright color!

The reasons for this lack are many and varied, and deeply ingrained in our American culture and lifestyle, though it can hardly any longer be accounted to ignorance. What is obviously need is a "fast food health food" that delivers much of the proven benefits of a diet rich in super foods, but like any other “fast food”, in a extremely convenient, absolutely enjoyable, and most economical form.

This paper will briefly introduce to the reader some of the benefits of many of the most beneficial super foods and super food extracts.

The Super Greens: Spirulina, Chlorella ,and Young Barley Sprouts

Super Greens are those chlorophyll saturated dark green plants that make up the very foundation of complex life on earth. By this statement I mean that such green foods make up the beginning of the plant food chain upon which the more complex animals all depend directly or indirectly. As such these dark green plants foods contain all the essential building block nutrients or precursors upon which all other life eventually depends.

In the oceans and great lakes these super foods are one-celled plants called spirulina and chlorella.

On land, these foods are the young spring time sprouts or shoots of the seed producing grasses and the green herbs. Examples are barley grass, wheat grass and alfalfa.

Spirulina

Spirulina is a primordial aquatic micro-blue green algae, which takes its energy directly from the sun and the minerals in water. It grows so fast that Spirulina accounts for up to one half of the oxygen on our planet!

Spirulina contains over 100 vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and phytonutrients ! Spirulina contains high levels of easily absorbed natural cell protectors (antioxidants) including chlorophyll, alpha and betacarotene and phycocyanin.

Doctors Sklar and Schwartz of Harvard School of Dental Medicine showed an extract of spirulina’s antioxidants prevented cancer in animals. And phycocyanin is found exclusively in Spirulina! Indeed, according to A. Patterson, C.N.C., there has been more positive research on Spirulina algae than any other food source known to exhibit anticancer properties.

Spirulina is approximately 65 - 70% amino acid proteins, which is greater then beef steak by far! Spirulina is a natural treasure trove of organic vitamin B12, iron, chromium, selenium and essential fatty acids (GLA). Indeed, spirulina contains 50 times more blood building iron than spinach and 10 times more bone building calcium than milk. Spirulina is the highest natural plant source of stamina building Vitamin B12, has more good fats (GLA /EFA) than evening primrose oil, and more Vitamin E than raw wheat germ!

Spirulina also contains growth factors that support and promote the growth of friendly intestinal flora. Such a food is called a prebiotic. This in distinction to fermented foods and clabbered dairy products that actually contain many millions of healthy microorganisms, all of which are called probiotics.

Spirulina, like all edible dark green plants, is also highly alkalizing, meaning that it helps restore the acid–base balance. In other words, Spirulina helps neutralize the acidity caused by eating excess meats, starches, sugars, soft drinks and preserved foods, excess stress, excess exercise, environmental pollutants, drugs, alcohol, coffee and tobacco.

Spirulina is rich in tetrapyrolle pigments which makes it a great heavy metal detoxifier.

Dr David Williams, the famous editor of Alternatives For The Health Conscious Individual says, “ if I were forced to limit myself to only one supplement, Spirulina would definitely be my first choice!”

Cracked Cell Wall Chlorella

Chlorella is the #1 selling health food supplement sold in Japan. Chlorella, a unique single-celled fresh water green algae, contains high concentrations of chlorophyll, nucleic acids, amino acids, enzymes, antioxidant carotenes, and vitamins and minerals, especially zinc. (The later often deficient in athletes and vegans.)

Chlorella actually contains twice as much clorophyll as Spirulina. Chlorophyll, the phytonutrient that makes plants green, deodorizes, detoxifies and promotes the body's natural healing.

Chlorophyll has also been studied for its potential in stimulating tissue growth, and in stimulating red blood cell production. Perhaps most remarkable is the similarity between chlorophyll and the red pigment in blood. Indeed, chlorophyll is just a hemoglobin molecule with magnesium in the middle instead of iron!

According to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Jan. 4, 1995), chlorophyll fed to laboratory animals reduces absorption of three dietary carcinogens: heterocyclic amines (found in cooked muscle meats), polycyclic hydrocarbons (found in smoked and barbecued foods), and aflatoxin (a mold on peanuts). The chlorophyll formed complex compounds with the carcinogens while they were still in the digestive tract, limiting their bio-availability.

Chlorophyll has also been found to reduce fecal, urinary, and body odor in geriatric patients.

Chlorella is also by far the richest source of age fighting RNA and DNA, the very building blocks of life!

Chlorella is the most researched "green product" resulting in proof of numerous health benefits including improved immune system function, heavy metal and pesticide detoxification, "anti-tumor activity", and, because of CGF, chlorella growth factor, enhanced white blood cell activity and quicker wound and ulcer healing!

Please note that as Chlorella, unlike Spirulina, has a cellulose wall that humans cannot digest, it is important that “cracked cell wall” Chlorella be used.

Michael Rosenbaum, MD, MSC, noted medical doctor specializing in nutritional medicine, writing in the M.D.’s Nutritional Bulletin, Spring 2001, calls chlorella, “by far the best and most powerful of the nutraceuticals, foods that provide your body with the proper nutrition to heal itself…There is nothing better for finally helping you feel the way you want to feel!”

Young Barley Sprouts

Barley grass is considered the most nutritional of the green grasses. You are aware that when the great herds of the plains have survived the dry season or winter, nature provides them with the most nutritious of foods for themselves and there soon to be born young, young green sprouting grasses. Indeed green grasses are the only vegetation many herbivores eat and as such supply their sole nutritional support from birth to old age!

But before green grasses undergo the reproductive cycle that creates the grains, they are in the grass stage, and the grasses contain about the same vitamins and minerals as dark green vegetables!

When these grasses are harvested at a young age, they have a different chemical makeup from their adult counterparts. For example, wheat grass has 32 g of protein per 100 g, while wheat flour has only 13 g per 100 g. Wheat grass has about 23,000 International Units (IUs) of vitamin A per 100 g, while wheat flour has none. We can see then that the young grasses offer us much greater nutrition.

Barley Grass Juice Powder, low temperature spray dried from pure organic juice, not milled grass, is a green powerhouse that brings you a wide spectrum of natural nutrients in natural proportion, as well as chlorophyll, live enzymes, and a unique and powerful antioxidant: 2"-0-glycosylisovitexin, reported to have antioxidant activity equal to or superior to vitamin E.

Green barley leaves contain a multitude of the body’s spark plugs, enzymes. Enzymes are the catalysts for the body’s essential chemical reactions and are responsible for our digestive processes, for providing cellular energy, and for antioxidant effects.

Despite their importance, most people do not get the enzymes they need. This is because heat destroys enzymes, and most of our foods, whether cooked at home or processed, are heated and the enzymes destroyed. The world’s greatest expert on green barely, Dr. Hagiwara, believes that there may be thousands of active enzymes in green barley, especially superoxide dismutase (SOD), a major detoxifying enzyme sometimes recommended in combating arthritis.

The young barley juice powder contains 13 times as much carotene as that of carrots, 55 times as much Vitamin C as that of apples and 5 times as much iron as that of spinach.

Its potassium content works to balance the sodium in salt and so many other processed foods. Many people note a diuretic effect like the "water pills", frequently followed by lowering of an elevated blood pressure!

Recently, research has unveiled many other possible benefits of green barley leaves. Extracted compounds may have cholesterol lowering effects, anti-inflammatory benefits, and anti-ulcer properties.

After studying green plants for decades, Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara, said, "It was clear to me, then, that the leaves of the cereal grasses provide the nearest thing this planet offers to the perfect food. For reasons of palatability, higher nutrient content, and favorable harvesting features, green barley stands out as the best among these."

The More Familiar Super Greens: Spinach, Kale and Parsley

When I was a boy “eat your spinach” was a not uncommon exhortation by both my mother and “Popeye the Sailorman”, though today I think some might consider such force feeding well nigh near child abuse!

The dark green leafies, spinach, kale and parsley, are also treasure troves of vitamins, minerals, carotenes and chlorophyll, the great detoxifier. (That is why it parsley and chlorophyll are used in natural breath fresheners!) Of particular note are, folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin K, calcium, iron , and potassium, and the antioxidants lutien and zeaxanthin.

According to the USDA, folic acid is the most common dietary vitamin deficiency in the U.S., being deficient in 3 out of 4 diets. Indeed, only recently have we become generally aware that folic acid deficiency is the usual cause of the unfortunately not uncommon neuro tube birth defects. And many medications, including birth control pills and estrogen, increase the need for folic acid! (Nutritional Science News, Sept. 2001, Vol6, No. 9; p.338)

Green leafy vegeatables are well known as being high in bone building calcium, but did you know that Vitamin K is needed for strong bones, too? The Farmingham Health Study showed that those with the highest vit. K intake had three times less hip fracture from osteoporosis! (Analyst 1988:113:393-7). In Japan vit. K is approved as a drug to treat osteoporosis! Fewer yet realize that a recent analysis of published research on vit K concluded ” a substantial part of the population is mildly deficient in vitamin K, and at the later stages this deficiency may contribute to (not only) increased bone fracture risk, (but) arterial calcification and cardiovascular disease, (too).” – Hematol Oncol Clin Noth Am 2000 Apr:14(2):339-53

Popeye sang “ I’m strong to the finish ‘cause I eats me spinach”. This was mostly thought related to its rich iron content, which is also true of kale and parsley. Today, with our high sodium, high protein, high processed food diets, we are even more in need of the alkaline ash minerals, especially potassium, found so predominately in the super greens.

These minerals act as a buffer to neutralize excess acid. If not present in sufficient quantities, the body “steals” these much mineral needed buffers from our bones, and thus such deficiencies are thought to be a leading cause of osteoporosis. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2001:73, pp 118-122)

The discovery that there is a whole class of micro nutrients, called phytonutrients, that were not vitamins, minerals nor fiber, but had dynamic health enhancing effect, is a big part of the reason the major health agencies recommend a minimum of 5 different fruits and vegetables daily.

One such class of phytonutrients are the antioxidant carotenes, of which the pro vitamin A beta carotene is the most familiar. However, though the dark green leafies are a rich sources of beta carotenes, there are numerous non-vitamin A carotenes found in these foods as well. Two of the most rese3arched are lutien and zeaxanthin. According to Health Sense, August 2000, Vol. VI, issue 8, numerous studies show that maintaining sufficient levels of lutien and zeaxanthin, the only carotenoid antioxidants active in the retina of the eye, can prevent macular degeneration and cataracts, two leading causes of age related blindness, and preserve youth visual sensitivity.

High consumption of green leafy vegetables containing lutien and zeaxanthin were determined to be the protective agents that explained the low incidence of lung cancer in Fiji were 80% of the men smoke! (Int. J. Cancer: 63, 18-23 (1995)).

The February 2000 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition linked lutien to a 17% reduction in colon cancer risk.

Non-Green Super Carotenoids: Carrots and Tomatoes

There are two more carotenoid super foods we must mention, namely carrots and tomatoes.

Carrots are well known for their pro-vitamin A beta-carotene content, the abundance of which is responsible for their bright orange color. In 1992, Caragay listed carrots in the top section of his “Possible Cancer–Preventing Food and Ingredients” pyramid.

Tomatoes turn bright red because of the phytonutrient pigment called lycopene. Lycopene has drawn attention because of its link in lowering the risk of lung and prostate and cancer (Jrnl Nat Cancer Inst,12/6/95).

Says S. K. Clinton, M.D, Ph.D., of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, “The data strongly suggest that tomato products should be a component of a healthy dietary pattern that includes at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day”

The Cruciferous Vegetables

When it comes to cancer fighting, the real champs may be the cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables contain detoxifying phytonutrients with rather unfamiliar names like isothiocyanate, sulphoraphane and indole –3 carbinol, or IC-3 for short. These plant micronutrients work by speeding up the production of enzymes, especially in the liver, with which our bodies convert toxic, mutagenic, cancer causing substances into less harmful, even beneficial substances. (Medical Committee for Aging Research and Education, Issue 2, Abstracts,:p.5)

The 2000 January 5 th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute proclaims that the cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels Sprouts, substantially lower the risk of prostate cancer in men. Numerous studies also suggest a protective role in uterine, cervical and breast cancer in women as well (Cancer Chemother Pharmacol,1991;28:255-8).

Fruit: Berry Berry Good for You!

As a recent Newsweek article said "The day when doctors say--'Take 10 cherries and call me in the morning'--may not be far off."

Most known phytonutrients are strongly related to pigment. Just as phytonutrient antioxidant carotenoids tend to dominate in the dark green greens and bright red and orange vegetables, the richly red/blue pigmented flavinoids, with names like isoflavones, anthocyanins, flavinols , catechins and phenols, tend to dominant in the fruits and herbs.

And the richest source of pigment and antioxidants in the fruit group are generally found in the blueberries, raspberries, tart dark cherries, and deep purple plums/prunes. Indeed, these fruits are the most potent source of antiaging antioxidants of any commonly eaten foods!

Antioxidants have been shown to increase immune function and decrease the risk of infection and cancer. Antioxidants help by preventing or repairing damage done to the body's cells by free radicals. Simply put, a free radical is a molecule with a missing electron. An antioxidant, such as vitamin C, vitamin E or beta carotene, may donate one of its electrons to the free radical. If no antioxidants are present, a free radical takes an electron from vital cell structures, damaging the cell and eventually leading to disease.

Like so many Pac Men, the flavinoid antioxidants in berries, cherries and plums “eat up” free radicals in the bloodstream helping prevent the development of cancer. These flavinoids have even been called, "Mother Nature's all-natural chemotherapy agents".

Fruit phytonutrient flavinoids also play a role in preventing the development of heart disease by discouraging fatty deposits in the arteries. Flavinoids even slow wrinkling, protect the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration, and protect the aging brain. Indeed, they are a main reason why fruits and vegetables have been called "Natures Anti Aging Wonders!"

Is it any wonder that most scientists believe it is far better to get a daily healthy dose of dozens of different phytonutrients from micro-nutrient dense ”super foods” than it is to take a mega dose of a few synthetic antioxidant vitamins and minerals.

For example, the 17 identified compounds in tart cherries that have antioxidant properties are considered, in total, to be superior to the activity of vitamins E and C. In addition, they contain compounds that help relieve the pain of arthritis, gout and even headaches with daily consumption!

Blue berries are by far the greatest common whole food source of eye/vision and brain/mind protecting antioxidant flavinoids, being full of blue anthocyanins.

Cranberries, raspberries and tart cherries are the richest fruit source of ellagic acid, a naturally occurring plant phenolic flavinoid phytonutrient that is known as a potent anti-carcinogenic compound. Clinical tests conducted at the Hollings Cancer Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) show that ellagic acid may be the most potent way to prevent cancer!

And you should know that all the berries, not just cranberries, help prevent recurrent urinary tract-bladder infections (UTI’s).

Four More Fabulous Flavinoids: OPC’s, Quercitin ,Green Tea and Red Wine

Oligoproanthrocyanins (OPC’s) are super rich in the anthocyanin bioflavinoid group of phytonutrients. Found abundantly in berries, their very richest sources are grape seed and pine bark extracts. These have been shown to be powerful antioxidants that are very much more active than vitamins C and E, and our thought to protect against carcinogenic changes (Journal of Clinical Oncology 2000;18:668-83).

Quercitin is the major representative of the antioxidant flavinol group, which group is particularly known for preventing the oxidation of low density lipo-protiens (bad cholesterol). Quercitin is found in fruits and vegetables, most notably onions and green apples. That is the major reason why onions and green apples help prevent hardening of the arteries and the heart attacks and strokes that such arteriosclerosis causes (Biomed pharmicother 51:305-3100,1997). Quercitin has also consistently demonstrated a potent antitumor effect (Cancer Chemother Pharmacol,1991;28:255-8).

Green tea is also rich in antioxidant polyphenols that are thought to be the most active ingredient as pertains to its much purported benefits of preventing cancer, heart disease, gum disease and even tooth decay. The benefits of green tea flavinoid catechins for the heart are greater than that of red wine, without the alcohol! (There is a 10% increase in breast cancer for every alcoholic consumed on a daily basis according to the Family Practice News, April 15, 2001).

Speaking of red wine, the reason that red wine is more protective of heart disease than white wines is because of the phytonutrient, resversitol, which gives dark grapes their deep red/blue color. By extracting the resversitol as a supplement, one can get the antioxidant heart protecting benefits of red wine, dark grapes and grape juice without all the alcohol and sugar.

Fruit and Vegetable Extracts

In order to approximate the health benefits of daily eating 8 to 10 serving of dark green, red, orange, blue and purple fruit and vegetables, food scientists have created fruit and vegetable extracts from the most nutrient dense organic varieties. These extracts become highly concentrated phytonutrient super food supplements. Findings reported in the 38th annual meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology show us that these supplements enhanced “multiple immune functions…especially for people whose immune functions have been diminished”. Dr O’Neill , Ph.D., of BYU’s Dept. of Microbiology was quoted as saying, “fruit and vegetable extracts may be protective against cancer.”

Organic Food More Nutritious?

The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine (2001;7(2):161) reported the results of part of the doctoral dissertation of Virginia Worthington, Ph.D., of John Hopkins University, Baltimore. Dr Worthington found that the composition of conventionally grown American food has declined dramatically in the past 60 years. For example, iron is lower by 32 percent, calcium by 29 percent, magnesium by 21 percent. She also found that organically grown produce was higher in most vitamins and minerals and lower in potentially harmful nitrates. Organic foods were 29 percent higher in magnesium, 27 percent higher in vitamin C, and 21 percent higher in iron. Using the USDA recommendation of at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, Dr Worthington concluded that consuming organic produce could make the difference between a deficient and adequate diet!

The Probiotics: Friendly Bacteria?

Evidence for probiotics, “friendly” bacteria like l.acidophilus. l. bifidum, l. bulgarus, b.brevis, and s.thermophilus, is impressive according to Dan Lukaczer, N.D., writing in the Sept. 2001, Vol.6, No, 9 edition of the Nutritional Science News. Inflammatory bowel disease, urinary tract infections, diarrhea and even heart disease and colon cancer risk are favorably effected by these symbiotic bacteria we host in our alimentary tract. No wonder we call them “friendly”! Probiotics are so effective in inhibiting virally induced gastrointestinal infections in children that hospitals, infamous as nosocomial vectors for such bugs, are studying using them prophalactically when admitting children.

Of note, one of the ways we get “seeded’ with probiotics is through soil organisms on plants. But our highly washed, even irradiated, vegetables may not contain near as many as we might get ‘eating from the garden”. And our often frequent ingestion of chlorinated water, antibiotics, and other medications, along with low fiber, high sugar diets do not at all favor the growth of friendly bugs in our intestines.

Clabbered milk products, like yogurt, and fermented plants foods, like sourkraut or tofu, are important probiotic sources as well. As diary sensitivity is so common, especially in those with chronic bowel problems, when supplementing dairy free probiotics are to be generally preferred.

“ friendly bacteria can… prevent cancerous tumors; inactivate viruses; produce natural antibodies and vitamins,; reduce cholesterol… and even more wonders.”.- Dr David Williams, editor of Alternatives For The Health Conscious Individual.
 

Plant Enzymes, Digestive Dynamos!

Natural plant enzymes, like protease, amylase, lipase, cellulase, lactase, and bromelain and papain (from pineapple and papaya) help us to digest food stuffs; respectively, starches, fats, cellulose, milk products and proteins. Raw foods, or foods processed below 108 degrees F., maintain their enzyme activity. Of course, only man cooks his food. All other animals eat a “raw” and therefore a relatively more or less enzyme rich diet. The proposed advantages of a diet rich in raw and low temperature processed plant foods, or supplementing these natural plant enzymes, are well stated in the following quote by I. V. Jimenez-Velasquez, Vice-Chair of the Dept. of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, “As we age, our natural digestive enzymes are depleted, allowing food to ferment (rot) in the digestive tract. Many experts believe that this undigested matter becomes quite toxic, causing many of the health problems associated with aging, such as joint distress, ulcers, bloating and constipation.”