Nutrition has a big impact on our health!

We have been hearing this and it has been confirmed over and over again during the last few decades.

Eat yourself healthy! Says a brochure from the World Cancer Research Fund.

Up to 2.7 Million lives could be saved annually through more consumption of fruit and vegetables.
This was announced in August 2003 by WHO, the world's largest health organization. For years, international health organizations have been promoting the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables. You may have seen ads in magazines, newspapers, supermarkets, hospitals, etc. saying 5 a day or 5-9 a day. A big campaign telling us to eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies every day, was started by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the early 1990's and followed by different international health organizations in various countries.

This urgent topic has long been an interest of the media. For example, the well known German magazine -der Stern- wrote in the 18th edition 1994 about this important issue: Vegetables against cancer: Researchers always find new substances in broccoli, tomatoes, as well as cabbage, carrots and onions which act as body guards. Most of the substances in fruits and vegetables can slow down the formation of malignant (cancerous) tumors, so says Professor Claus Leitzmann in this article. We have long known the tumor reducing effects associated with a diet rich in vegetables and fruit, he explains.
(translated from the 18th issue 1994 German magazine der Stern).

A 28 page brochure was published in 1999 by the World Cancer Research Fund together with the Deutsche Institute für Ernährungsforschung (German Institute of Nutrition Research) which said that in 1981 the well known Doll and Peto Study showed that about 35 percent of all deaths due to cancer are directly linked to poor nutrition. For some cancers the percentile is significantly higher.
Ref: World Cancer Research Fund.

The Harvard school of public health stated in their Nutrition Source in January 2009:
Vegetables and fruits are clearly an important part of a good diet. Almost everyone can benefit from eating more of them, but variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy. The key lies in the variety of different vegetables and fruits that you eat.
The same source says: "Eat your fruits and vegetables" is one of the tried and true recommendations for a healthy diet. And for good reason. Eating plenty of vegetables and fruits can help you ward off heart disease and stroke, control blood pressure, prevent some types of cancer, avoid a painful intestinal ailment called diverticulitis, and guard against cataract and macular degeneration, two common causes of vision loss.

CancerConsultants.com was writing in spring 2006: The foods you eat matter.
They say a recent comprehensive review of hundreds of studies of nutrition and cancer indicated that an immune supportive, anticancer diet would include 10 or more servings of vegetables and 4 or more servings of fruit a day. 

So what is it with these findings and what exactly are these vital benefits in fruits and vegetables? Fruit and veggies contain substances like Phyto-chemicals (natural chemicals found in plants), micro-nutrients, including vitamins, trace minerals and enzymes.

These substances and how they work together (synergy) are very important scientific findings in recent years that proof the benefits of fruits and vegetables for our overall health.

Phyto-chemicals -there are more than 30.000 of them that we know of up to now-
are anti-oxidants and have a significant role in the prevention of disease.

Fruits and veggies also contain a large variety of nutrients like vitamins, minerals and enzymes which are all important anti-oxidants. And there is Ginger which may also help destroy cancer cells and block cancer-related inflammation.

Anti-oxidants are vital for our health. They protect our cells, neutralize the free radicals and destroy them.

We need a variety of fruits and veggies. It is the synergy of all the different nutrients in fruit and vegetables which benefit our health. It is not the measured amount of an isolated vitamin that plays the most important role. For example: Research has shown there is about 5.7mg of vitamin C in one half of an apple. But with all the other nutritional components of the apple, the effect of these 5.7 mg vitamin C is more effective than 1500 mg isolated vitamin C.
Ref:Eberhardt MV et al, Nature 2000

Follow the guidelines, be persistent. If you are eating consistently a variety of 5-9 servings (one serving= one hand full or 8 fl. oz.) of fruits and veggies on a daily basis, then you are doing very well. Congratulations!

For those of us who cannot be consistent there is a good way to add these nutrients to our diet. My family is getting the additional vital micro-nutrients on a daily basis. I am excited about this natural fruit, veggie and berry blend and encourage you to check the link to see what I mean.

So, if you want to increase the body's defenses, you have to act on it. And not just once in a while, but consistently.
Check out my page "what's new" on the issue of prevention and health.

Best wishes!
Walburga