When more than enough is better
More! More! More!
That’s the advice of experts whose University of Oxford research showed that persons who consumed eight or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily are 22 percent less likely to die from heart disease than those who consumed three or fewer servings a day.
The study, published this week in the European Heart Journal, involved more than 300,000 participants from eight European countries. The results, which we obtained from an ABC News report, erased any remaining doubts concerning the effect of fruits and vegetables on cardiovascular health.
Even those who couldn’t consume eight servings daily showed a lower risk; for every additional serving above two per day, researchers observed a four percent decrease in the rate of heart disease deaths.
“This compares ‘enough’ fruit and vegetable intake to ‘more than enough’ and suggests that ‘more than enough’ is better,” said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center.
Managing eight servings
Eight servings amount to about 23 ounces, or nearly a pound and a half, which sounds a tad too much but is, in reality, quite manageable.
“A large orange can easily weigh close to eight ounces and so does a large apple,” says Carla Wolper who is with the Obesity Research Center at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. “That leaves a measly six ounces for salad, string beans, or other vegetables on the dinner plate, so yes people can easily eat this much.”
In the U.S., the recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables was five a day until 2007, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved to a more flexible approach. Instead of a flat recommendation of five servings a day, the new program changes recommendations based on age, sex and activity level. For a 40-year-old sedentary man, CDC recommendations are now two cups of fruits and three cups of vegetables a day; for a sedentary woman of that age, the recommendation is 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies
How vegetables and fruits prevent death
It could be that vegetables and fruits contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are having a specific effect on cardiovascular health, says Dr. Keith Ayoob, associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
Another reason “is the impact of fruit and vegetables to lower inflammation, a known mechanism contributing to cardiovascular disease,” adds Dr. Stephen Devries, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern Hospital
Substitution equals good nutrition
Doctors noted that it may not just be what fruits and veggies add to the diet, but what they replace; when someone is consuming so many fruits and vegetables each day, there’s less room in the diet for the high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-salt foods often associated with increased risk of heart disease.
This makes for lower blood pressure (because these foods are salt free), lower cholesterol (because they are fat free), lower weight (because they are likely to be associated with weight loss), [and] lower blood sugar (lower carbohydrate and sugar content).
Just by taking up a lot of room in the stomach, eight servings of fruits and vegetables will have a salutary effect. Another advantage: there are few if any drawbacks to consuming a lot of fruits and veggies.
Tricks for health
1. Juices – Start by adding a small amount of carrot juice to orange juice drinks. Gradually increase the proportion of carrot juice, then introduce other vegetable juices.
2. Burgers – Mix minced vegetables with the ground meat, form into patties and fry or grill. You may need to add a little flour to bind the patties.
3. Meatloaf – Add green peas, minced carrots, parsley, minced blanched spinach.
4. Lasagna – Alternate layers of blanched chopped spinach or any green leaves.
5. Pizza – Top with many vegetables, preferably sautéed or pre-roasted
6. Gratinated – Baked eggplant parmesan is one of the most popular restaurant items among young people. Add or substitute strips of red and green pepper, slices of fresh or canned tomatoes, zucchini, squash blossoms, chopped spinach
7. Ratatouille – Use olive oil for more health benefits. Make the vegetable mix colorful. For kids who love pizza, top with melty cheese and serve on toast.
8. Pancit – Filipinos tend to use vegetables as mere accents in mami (noodle soup) and fried noodles (pancit). For a change, saute all the veggies in oyster sauce. Cook the pancit separately, then slide the vegetables on top.
9. Fried rice – Go beyond garlic rice by adding onions, green onions, diced carrots, green and red peppers. Top with chopped fried scrambled eggs.
10. Fritters or Ukoy – Shredded vegetables tossed with flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, formed into thin patties and pan-fried till crisp. Healthier than French fries anytime. – Article courtesy of Manila Bulletin
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