Food First
Whole Foods Seen Superior to Supplements
Evidence review favors whole foods over supplements; Fish oil proves a major exception,
but fish remains the favored omega-3 source
by Craig Weatherby
Research into the health effects of foods has tended to focus on isolated constituents:
primarily vitamins, minerals, and food factors such as fiber, omega-3s, and antioxidants.
But studies have produced disappointing results with regard to the supposed health
effects of supplements like beta carotene, calcium, vitamin E, and lycopene
In clinical trials, individual nutrients and food factors such as antioxidants and fiber
sometimes fail to produce the big disease-prevention benefits observed in people whose
diets are high in foods containing the compounds being tested.
Trials testing the effect of vitamin supplements and low fat diets have failed to show
reduced rates of chronic diseases, and in some cases have even shown increased risk.
For example, numerous epidemiological
studies that prompted the trial show that
people who eat foods high in beta-carotene
have a reduced risk of lung cancer.
But when beta-carotene was put to a
controlled clinical test among thousand
of male smokers in Finland, those who
took beta-carotene supplements actually
developed higher rates of lung cancer,
compared with smokers who did not take
the vitamin A precursor.
Prompted by puzzling failures like this, scientists who study the effects of foods on health
are beginning to challenge the reductionist, “magic bullet” approach toward nutrition
research, which mimics methods used to test and make drugs.
Instead, it’s looking more and more as though many whole foods offer much more than
the sum of their parts.
Researchers’ “foods first” essay challenges conventional research
The authors of a recent evidence review fired a shot across the bow of conventional
biomedical wisdom, and argue that the synergies among food constituents can no longer
be ignored.
The review was penned by University of
Minnesota Professor David R. Jacobs, PhD
and Linda C. Tapsell, PhD of Australia’s
University of Wollongong, and appeared in
the October, 2007 issue of the journal
Nutrition Reviews (Jacobs DR Jr, Tapsell
LC 2007).
Jacobs and Tapsell noted that the habits
of researchers who approach food factors
like drugs will be hard to break, because,
as he wrote, “… the temptation to study
larger doses of apparently valuable food
components in clinical trials seems to be
irresistible.”
They cite the example of cereal fiber, intake
of which has been associated with reduced
risk of colon cancer.
As the duo wrote, “… the phytochemicals
[antioxidants] that distinguish whole grain
from refined grain food are apparently more
healthful than the cereal fiber.”
They relate the example of two groups of
participants in the Iowa Women’s Health
Study.
Both groups were eating about 6 grams of
cereal fiber per day, but one group consumed
about 75 percent of that fiber from whole grain
sources, while the other consumed it from
refined grain sources.
And, as they point out, “The women who ate
cereal fiber from whole grain sources had
significantly reduced total and non-cancer,
non-cardiovascular mortality, compared to
the women with equal intakes of cereal fiber,
but mostly derived from refined grain
sources.” (Jacobs DR Jr, Tapsell LC 2007)
They also point to three other recent
examples in which whole foods proved more
effective than specific anti-tumor, antioxidant
constituents within them.
These included lab studies that compared
the health benefits of broccoli versus its
glucosinolates, pomegranate juice versus
its various polyphenols, and tomato sauce
versus its red lycopene pigment.
In every case, the whole food
outperformed the isolated constituents.
The team also presented evidence that healthful synergies can increase further when
people enjoy combinations of whole foods, instead of eating each one in isolation:
When combined, a given amount of oranges, apples, grapes, and blueberries equals the
antioxidant activity of the same amount of any one of the fruits alone.
When a pinch of marjoram was added to salad, it doubled the antioxidant capacity of the
dish.
The authors did not dismiss the value of studying individual nutrients: “A nutrition
perspective that focuses on food components has been successful in improving public
health in a number of cases, from identifying the cause of deficiency diseases such as
scurvy or pellagra to finding that folate … [prevents] … congenital birth defects.”
However, as they said, “… these conditions represent only one domain where nutrition
intervention is required … it is the combination of foods [that explains] diet and health
relationships, including relations with many chronic diseases ...”
We agree whole-heartedly with the duo’s conclusion: “… this new understanding …
reminds us emphatically of the central position of food in the nutrition-health interface,
which begs for much more whole food-based research, and which encourages us … to
“think food first”.” (Jacobs DR Jr, Tapsell LC 2007)
Source
Jacobs DR Jr, Tapsell LC. Food, not nutrients, is the fundamental unit in nutrition. Nutr
Rev. 2007 Oct;65(10):439-50. Review.
* When taken properly, as advocated by the Budwig Protocol, (a scientific
and healing therapy developed by Johanna Budwig, http:/www.curezone.
com/letter/dr.Johanna-Budwig.asp ) omega 3's derived through flaxseed oils
may be the best source from which to obtain them.
Key Points
|
What about fish oil and omega-
3s?
If whole foods are better than isolated
nutrients, does it make sense to take fish
oil for its omega-3s?
Any individual’s need for fish oil depends
on how much fish they eat, how fatty that
fish is (more fat = higher omega-3 content),
and how much omega-6 fat they ingest
from conventional meats and from
common vegetable oils (corn, soy,
sunflower, safflower, canola) and the
prepared and processed foods made with
those oils.
The benefits that omega-3s produce in
many studies likely stem from the fact that
most participants eat standard Western
diets, which are low in omega-3s and
extremely high in omega-6 fats, which
compete with essential omega-3s for
space in our cell membranes.
Diets with this American-style “omega-
imbalance” are associated with higher risk
of degenerative conditions like heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.
In this sense, supplemental omega-3s
address a common nutritional deficiency:
one that is not acute enough to produce
obvious symptoms, but which raises the
risk of disease.
As we’ve reported, studies show that
omega-3s may be absorbed better from
Salmon than from standard fish oil
capsules.
This may be because ocean fish offer
many other fatty compounds in addition to
omega-3s.
Accordingly, we offer unrefined Sockeye
Salmon Oil, which reflects as closely as
possible the fat profile found in whole wild
Salmon.
Ocean fish also offer ample protein, the
antioxidant mineral selenium, and, in the
case of wild Salmon, copious amounts of
vitamin D.
It makes sense to obtain as much of your
omega-3s from fish as possible ... and to
get additional omega-3s from Salmon Oil ..
the next best source. *
3s?
If whole foods are better than isolated
nutrients, does it make sense to take fish
oil for its omega-3s?
Any individual’s need for fish oil depends
on how much fish they eat, how fatty that
fish is (more fat = higher omega-3 content),
and how much omega-6 fat they ingest
from conventional meats and from
common vegetable oils (corn, soy,
sunflower, safflower, canola) and the
prepared and processed foods made with
those oils.
The benefits that omega-3s produce in
many studies likely stem from the fact that
most participants eat standard Western
diets, which are low in omega-3s and
extremely high in omega-6 fats, which
compete with essential omega-3s for
space in our cell membranes.
Diets with this American-style “omega-
imbalance” are associated with higher risk
of degenerative conditions like heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.
In this sense, supplemental omega-3s
address a common nutritional deficiency:
one that is not acute enough to produce
obvious symptoms, but which raises the
risk of disease.
As we’ve reported, studies show that
omega-3s may be absorbed better from
Salmon than from standard fish oil
capsules.
This may be because ocean fish offer
many other fatty compounds in addition to
omega-3s.
Accordingly, we offer unrefined Sockeye
Salmon Oil, which reflects as closely as
possible the fat profile found in whole wild
Salmon.
Ocean fish also offer ample protein, the
antioxidant mineral selenium, and, in the
case of wild Salmon, copious amounts of
vitamin D.
It makes sense to obtain as much of your
omega-3s from fish as possible ... and to
get additional omega-3s from Salmon Oil ..
the next best source. *
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