We have an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Even our government recognizes that diet and particulary a deficiency of dark greens and berry fruits are at the root. A diet that emphasizes these foods can provide substantial long-term health support.
Let's use osteoporosis, ovarian cancer and your eye health as examples to illustrate the relationship betwwen fruits and greens and disease prevention. Greens are our principal dietary source of vitamin K, which plays a critical role in calcium-rich foods. Green are also a rich source of folate (e.g., folic acid). Consuming high levels of dietary folate may reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer, according to Sweedish researchers (J Natl Cancer Inst, 2004; 96(5): 396-402). Furthermore, many additional studies show consuming generous amounts of spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables (also rich in carotenoids) can decrease the risk of developing macular degeneration.
But, what would you guess is the average daily serving of green leafy vegetables consumed in the United States?
Although more and more Americans are eating five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, their intake of dark greens cruciferous vegetables nonetheless remains extremely low. In fact, data from the Department of Nutrition, Arizona State University, indicates dark green vegetables consumption averages 0.2 servings daily; meanwhile, citrus, berries or lemon consumption also amounts to less than one serving daily.
It would not be far reaching, therefore, to say that osteoporosus, ovarian cancer, macular degeneration and many other modern diseases are much the result of green deficiency as they are specific nutrient intake or exposure to chemical toxins. Indeed, vitamin K, folate and carotenoids are just a few of hundreds of phytonutrients in greens and berries, and we can't get all of these from isolated synthetic nutrients. But, osteoporosis, ovarian cancer and macular degeneration are just a few diseases that can remarkedly reduce risk of or eliminate with optimal consumption of dark green vegetables and berries.
At the University of Athens Medical School, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, increases in life span are linked to diets dominated by the high consumption of vegetables and fruits.
On the other side of the Antlantic at the Harvard School of Public Health, a study of both men and women found that those who ate optimal daily servings of fruits and vegetables had a 20 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to those who ate fewer. One of the most heartening findings was that for every serving of frutis and vegetables, heart disease rates dropped accordingly. In other words, increasing fruit and vegetable intake by as little as one serving per day can have a significant impact on heart disease risk.
Berries add even more vaule to a diet rich in dark green vegetables. Once again, we learn from researchers at the Harvard Medical School that although fruit and vegetable consumption in associated with reduced lung cancer risk, this reduction is most attributable to fruit, not vegetable, intake.
And Although we always want to consume plenty of fresh unprocessed fruits and vegetables, it has also been shown that taking a greens supplement with the addition of berry concentrates a synergy that dramatically increases the benefits of both. Dietary supplementation with fruit or vegetable extracts high in antioxidants (e.g., blueberry, spinach, respectively) can decrease vulnerability to oxidative stress, as well as decrease inflammation, which we now know to be at the heart of many diseases.
