| And it's not just the pesticides used in the growing of fruits and vegetables. Even the grains fed to livestock are commonly laced with pesticides to prevent insect infestation. In some animal species exposed to pesticide runoff in rivers and lakes, male sexual organs do not fully develop, indicating a fundamental alteration of gene behavior. No scientific studies have shown that this happens in people, but it has been shown that children eating conventionally grown produce do consume large amounts of pesticides along with it. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I say, for a couple of hundred thousand dollars you can buy a lot of fruits and vegetables, you know what I mean? You can load up on all the organic foods in the world with that kind of a bankroll. Then people say, "Well, my insurance is paying for my health care costs."
Ben: You're still paying for the insurance.
Mike: Exactly. Who's paying for the insurance? I mean, if you're going to make an argument like that, you're a fool. "I'm going to be sick because insurance covers that?" What kind of an idiot thinks that? But it's true; people do. I say that being healthy is very inexpensive. |
Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton
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 It is especially important to eat plenty of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables; drink plenty of water and herbal teas; and eat a lot of protein, particularly vegetable proteins such as beans and seeds, but try to limit dairy proteins.
Natural Remedies
In addition to the above, there is also a whole range of natural and herbal medicines that are used to enhance the immune system. These include echinacea, garlic, ginger, goldenseal, aloe vera, mushrooms, elderberry, and many others. Many appear to be very effective, but first make sure that you are getting all the nutrients you need. |
Michael Pollan
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 The consensus hinged on two suggestive links that were well established by the early sixties: a link between high rates of cholesterol in the blood and the likelihood of heart disease and a link between saturated fat in the diet and cholesterol levels in the blood. Both these links have held up, but it doesn't necessarily follow from them that consumption of saturated
*In 1945, 217,000 deaths in the United States were attributed to heart attacks. By 1960 there were 500,000. By 2001 that number had fallen to 185,000. |
The Editors of FC&A
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| As important as it is to say yes to fruits and vegetables, it's equally important to say no to these foods:
Fatty cuts of meat and full-fat dairy products. Eating a lot of saturated fat in foods like these increases your risk of developing gallstones. That's because they can raise your cholesterol, an ingredient of most gallstones.
Pastries, desserts, and sweet beverages. Foods high in refined sugars also increase your chances of getting gallstones, probably because they increase insulin and, in turn, cholesterol.
Chili peppers. |
| But it is fairly easy to accomplish once you set a goal and realize a standard serving is just one-half cup for most types of fruits and vegetables." What's more, when the five-a-day goal is reached, it takes only a little more effort to gradually, week by week, add a few more servings."
Focus on eating these cancer-crushing foods, and your body will have much of the defense it needs to fight off breast cancer and other diseases.
Head for the cabbage aisle. Cabbage and all its cousins are members of the brassica family, a clan famous for its cancer-fighting abilities. |
| Just shop for a variety of seafood and poultry, as well as mushrooms, whole grains, and raw fruits and vegetables. Be careful about supplements. People over the age of 51 only need 55 micrograms (meg) of selenium a day. More than that could be toxic. shelled sunflower seeds play a role in preventing RA. In
Many cooking oils are rich in vitamin E, but be sure to pick oils like olive and canola that have more omega-3 fatty acids than omega-6. You can also find vitamin E in dark leafy greens, fortified cereals, wheat germ, nuts, and seeds. Think twice before taking supplements. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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 Based upon the chemistry discussed, it is clear that long-term consumption of fruits and vegetables can push the balance significantly in favor of the destruction of ROS, to the benefit of our overall health. Because this is a long-term effect and not the treatment of an acute disease, people may not recognize it as a use of medicinal plants, but that is exactly what it is. Appreciation of this fact is growing, with studies on functional foods and nutraceuticals now becoming common. |
| Proper nutrition, especially a generous intake of fruits and vegetables which are rich in antioxidants, is important. This is because an LDL particle contains vitamin E in addition to protein and lipids, and a variety of antioxidants can help regenerate the vitamin E after it has taken the initial damage from ROS.
We have now come full circle on the topic of antioxidants, ROS and chemical reactivity. We have seen that a variety of normal processes produce ROS. |
| Just about all fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants—that old saying about an apple a day keeping the doctor away is probably truer than anyone realized. The list in Exhibit 5.1 gives some examples of foods that have potent antioxidant properties.33
Many people will be heartened to find red wine and dark chocolate on this list. As it turns out, red wine consumption was an important clue about the role of antioxidants in cardiovascular disease, which added greatly to our understanding of this disease. |
| A particularly alarming statistic is that people with the lowest fruit and vegetable consumption have about double the rate of cancers of the colon, stomach, esophagus, lung, pancreas, cervix, and ovary, compared to people who consume many fruits and vegetables.31 Dietary antioxidants appear to be responsible for this difference. Some dietary antioxidants, such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotenoids like P-carotene, have been known for a long time to be important diet components with several functions, but their role as antioxidants has only been appreciated more recently. |
The Editors of FC&A
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| Cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and whole-grain breads are good sources. Choose rye over wheat for best results.
• Boost your chromium intake. Sources include apples with skins, Brewer's yeast, fish and other seafood, mushrooms, liver, prunes, nuts, and asparagus.
• Sip alcohol in moderation - if you drink. Say when after one or two drinks.
• Eat more fish. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to raise HDL cholesterol.
• Add fresh garlic to your food.
• Drink orange juice. Three glasses a day can raise HDL by 21 percent, according to a Canadian study.
• Add calcium. |
Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton
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| This nutrient is found in many foods, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables such as onions, garlic, and broccoli, and high-protein foods such as meats and beans. However, processing, storage, and cooking destroys essential MSM-sulfur, so most people tend to be deficient in this nutrient. Vegetarians are also more likely to become deficient in sulphur. MSM is very safe for most people, and any that is not used is just excreted from the body.
As with the above-mentioned amino acids, people with existing kidney or liver disease should consult their doctor before taking MSM-sulfur. |
| Food sources include fresh fruits and vegetables, especially asparagus and avocados, and fresh meats.
Amino acids can be found in many of the foods in the Seven-Day Desludge Diet, but to ensure that you are receiving optimal levels you might add a supplement, but do not take very high doses (no more than 7 g per day). Patients with cystinuria, a genetic abnormality which causes the defective absorption of the amino acid cystine, and can lead to the development of kidney and bladder stones, should not take it. |
Ben-Erik van Wyk
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 Too much can be harmful and too little causes deficiency diseases (ascribed to a lack of pigmented fruits and vegetables in the diet).
Dendrocalamus asper bamboo
Bamboo shoot (Dendrocalamus asper)
Description Bamboos are tall, woody grasses with underground rhizomes giving rise to erect, hollow stems with distinct nodes and internodes and most of the leaves clustered at the tips. Flowering is highly synchronised, and all mature plants of a particular area may flower and then die at the same time. |
Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton
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| Preparation and Storage Tips for Nonorganic Foods
> Peel the skin off of fresh fruits and vegetables.
> Thoroughly cook produce that does not have skin, such as broccoli and cauliflower.
> Eat low-fat animal products.
> Remove excess fat from meats and fish.
>¦ Store food in glass and other nonplastic containers.
> Avoid consumption of foods prepackaged in plastic or aluminum containers or wrappings. |
Kelly Harford, M.C., C.N.C.
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 After being bombarded with so many contradictory reports regarding what is beneficial for them to eat, a recent survey showed that the more confused people were about dietary recommendations, the more likely they were to eat poor quality foods and fewer fruits and vegetables.
To say that mass marketing and advertising by the food industry, with the assistance of the mass media, have something to do with what we have come to know as the Standard American Diet would be an understatement. They are, in fact, the primary cultivators of American popular food culture. |
Mary-Ann Shearer
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 These are often treated with a sulfur-based preservative and once cut, nutrients are lost rapidly
• Wash your fruits and vegetables carefully with an environment-friendly soap to remove any residual fertilizers or insecticides
• Store vegetables that don't have skins (such as lettuce and cabbage) in air-tight containers or plastic bags
• Steaming is the best way to cook—this method destroys the least amount of nutrients
• Waterless cooking is second-best
• Stir-frying is a good method if water, instead of oil, is used. |
| By changing her diet to include more fruits and vegetables, and by removing refined sugar, this condition was entirely corrected. I have found that fresh fruit has a stabilizing effect on blood sugar because it contains water-soluble fibers, which slow down the rate at which fruit sugar (known as fructose, which has a more stable effect on blood sugar than refined sucrose) is absorbed. On top of this, fruit contains such a wide variety of nutrients that work together in the body to balance blood sugar. |
| But if you feel the need to follow a pyramid when it comes to choosing food, the University of California's food pyramid is probably the best; this is the one with fresh fruits and vegetables at the base. The one with grains at the base appears to be put together by the breakfast cereal industry. In the last year we have seen the introduction of twelve food pyramids with rainbow-colored, vertical stripes, just to confuse us further. You'd be better off ignoring all the pyramids, following the guidelines in this book, and listening to your body! |
| Surprisingly enough, all fruits and vegetables contain protein, with many of them, such as bananas, tomatoes, carrots, avocados, and nuts, containing all eight essential amino acids. The protein content in these foods is:
• 1 medium banana—0.035 ounces (1 g)
• 1 medium tomato—0.07 ounces (2 g)
• 1 medium carrot—-0.035 ounces (1 g)
• 1 small avocado—0.07 (2 g)
• 1 cup almonds—just less than one ounce (20-25 g)
• 1 cup cashews—0.5 ounces (15.3 g)
Remember that protein levels differ from crop to crop and within each variety so this is a general guideline. |
| For additional information on the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables, see the tables at the back of the book.)
The China Study shows that "consumption of a lot of protein, especially animal protein, is also linked to chronic disease. Americans consume one third more protein than do Chinese and 70 percent of American protein comes from animals, while only 7 percent of Chinese protein does. |
The Editors of FC&A
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| When possible, eat the off with a few slivered skins of fruits and vegetables, too. almonds and a low-fat tt, ^ cu jj vinaigrette dressing. 1 he extra fiber adds even more • protection for your brain by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, both linked to Alzheimer's.
B vitamins. Eat a variety of whole grains - brown rice, whole wheat bread, and oat bran cereal are good choices. Add nuts, beans, leafy green vegetables, and salmon or other fish. What you'll get are lots of B vitamins for your brain, including B12 and folate, two of the most important ones. |
Henry Hobhouse
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 Starch and sugar (in the form of fructose) occur in all fruits and vegetables, and, before the arrival of industrial cane and beet sugar, mankind managed well enough without refined sugar, which is pure, or nearly pure, sucrose.
When pure sucrose is consumed in large quantities, the metabolism of the whole system is altered. If a person eats a fruit containing, say, 10 percent fructose and 10 percent glucose, the remaining 80 percent of dry matter has to go through a number of digestive processes to make the sugars available. |
Richard P. Brown, M.D., and Patricia L. Gerbarg, M.D.
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 Aim for four or five servings of fruits and at least four servings of vegetables every day—and the more, the better. fruits and vegetables provide the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that prevent free radical damage to cells and support the repair mechanisms vital to cellular energy production. To get the most energy and nutrients, whenever possible choose fruits and vegetables that are grown locally, in season, and certified organic. Choose a variety of colors, too. |
The Editors of FC&A
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| Good sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and brussels sprouts, and bright fruits and vegetables like red and green peppers, strawberries, and cantaloupe.
Get the buzz on B's. When you need to stop heart disease dead, summon the killer B's. Folate and other B vitamins swarm through your body to provide maximum protection.
Studies show that people who take folate daily significantly reduce their risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. |
David Wolfe
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 Eating raw fruits and vegetables radically improves the mineralization of the Earth as it encourages the planting of trees. Trees reach down 20 or 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) - sometime much farther (I have been told that wild grape vines reach down as far as 500 feet [150 meters])! Trees elevate the groundwater table and draw minerals up into their stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. This plant matter then eventually falls to the topsoil increasing the mineralization of the soil for more vegetation to grow. Deciduous trees, which drop their leaves each year, strongly mineralize the topsoil. |
| The soil microbes and bacteria that grow on raw fruits and vegetables need to be duplicated in the intestinal tract for the proper assimilation of vitamin B12 to take place. Dr. Victor Herbert described in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1988, vol.48, p. 852-858) the experiences of Dr. James Halsted who traveled to Persia to study a colony of Iranian vegans who did not experience any vitamin B12 deficiencies. He found that their naturally fertilized vegetables were eaten without being carefully washed. |
Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton
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| The foods containing the highest levels of pesticides tend to be perishable foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, the majority of which contain one or more pesticides. Poultry and cattle farming use antibiotics to speed up growth, resulting in these chemicals ending up in the meat. Unfortunately, despite being contaminated by a host of chemicals such as fungicides (carbamates), insecticides (organophosphates), and antibiotics, none of the chemicals used in the growing of foods are listed on the food's label when you buy it in the store. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 And if you actually eat real fruits and vegetables instead of processed ones, you'll benefit even more. |
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