January 15, 2005
Blueberries
When I was a kid, I wouldn't eat vegetables. My concerned mother asked the pediatrician what to do; he, unconcerned, told her to give me a multivitamin. That's what we learned about food then too...it was how you got your vitamins and minerals. (And carbohydrates made you fat. I laugh about that as a current [if fading now] fad, because I remember my mom using bread with slices as thin as paper when she was on diets in the '70's.)
I've come to terms with the fact that things I learned in school are no longer true, or at least not the whole truth.
Current research indicates that there's more to an orange than vitamin C, and that chewable cartoon characters probably aren't a reliable substitute for a good salad. Phytonutrients or phytochemicals in plants supply significant benefits. (The USDA has a good phytonutrient FAQ; I was going to write something, but why reinvent the wheel?)
So for this super food thing...what makes these foods super, as opposed to just healthy, is that they are particularly good sources of a compound or compounds that appear to have some specific benefits. From what I'm reading, this makes quite a bit of sense.
Take blueberries. They've been hailed as nutritional wonders for several years; I have a pamphlet from the North Carolina Blueberry Council (picked up at a highway rest stop in 2002) that says "This colorful treat deserves a blue ribbon for nutrition." But I prefer my nutritional information from more scientifically-based sources. The evidence suggests (and I'm being lazy today and working from a database I get through work, so I'm not citing a bunch of actual papers) that blueberries:
-prevent eye disease (macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy) and varicose veins.
-are possibily effective for treating hemorrhoids and reducing platelet aggregation.
-have animal or in vitro data supporting their use as an anti-inflammatory, in cancer, and to lower cholesterol.
Blueberries may also help keep you sharp as you get old, particularly if you are a rat. (I saw this in several studies, but just as an example: Reversals of Age-Related Declines in Neuronal Signal Transduction, Cognitive, and Motor Behavioral Deficits with Blueberry, Spinach, or Strawberry Dietary Supplementation).
Funny thing about keeping rats, you really can observe the changes as they age, because in a 2-3 year lifespan, it happens pretty fast. (One of the reasons they make good lab models, actually.) And I want these guys moving and thinking as long as possible. So...
...they get their blueberries.
Posted by Nic at January 15, 2005 08:41 AM