An Official Publication of:
Ceautamed Worldwide, LLC

The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) vs. “Super Foods”

As we have become more aware of the amazing and broad spectrum of health, anti-aging, and disease preventing benefits of foods especially high in this “new” array of such micronutrients, a new name for them has arisen, the “Super Foods”.

The “S.A.D.” fact remains, in spite of all the support from mainstream medicine organizations like the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association, and governmental health organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Aging, the USDA, and even the U.S. Surgeon General, few of us eat the recommended minimum of five fruits and vegetables daily. Even counting the “pale” plant foods like French fries, green-gassed bananas and iceberg lettuce, few achieve the daily minimum. Only a small percentage of people enjoy the optimal nine servings that emphasize fresh and organic phytochemical-dense deep green and brightly colored fruits and vegetables!

The reasons for this lack are many and varied, and deeply ingrained in our American culture and lifestyle, though it can no longer be accounted to ignorance. What is obviously needed is an educational initiative, as well as new ways for people to enjoy the benefits of fruits and vegetables. This paper is an introduction, and for some, a review of the power and importance of many of the readily available “super foods” available to each of us today. Our S.A.D. choices in food must change. Education and the new advances in food technologies are the keys.
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Introduction

Most of us have heard that diets high in fruits and vegetables can help us lose weight, reduce our risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, macular degeneration, osteoporosis, arthritis and even wrinkles. As a matter of fact, according to the National Cancer Institute, 8 to 10 servings a day can cut our risk of some cancers in half!

Food science has just recently come to realize that there is much more to micronutrient nutrition than just vitamins and minerals. Indeed, there may be well over 1,000 different plant chemicals, known as Phytochemicals, that may have metabolic activity in humans! These include classes such as the alkaloids, carotenoids, coumarins, flavonoids, isothiocyanates, polyphenols, and polysaccharides, just to name a few! Some serve as antioxidants fighting free radicals, some assist the liver in detoxification, others modulate the immune system and hormone metabolism.

Factoid:  In 1991, the University of Naples, Italy studied 70 to 100 year-olds and found that those who lived the longest and the healthiest ate a lot more fruit and vegetables.

In 1998, the University of Naples in Italy studied an elderly population and found that those who lived the longest and were the healthiest ate a lot more fruits and vegetables than those who died before their time. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the USDA Food Guide Pyramid advocates eating 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day for optimum health!
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