Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Dec. 15, 2005, edition 1 / Page 12
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Piiiiiiiiiiiliifiliiiiliiliiiliiillillip 4B LIFE/Sit Ctitlane ^eai Thursday, December 15, 2005 Experts urge less focus on antioxidants, but more attention to the variety of foods consumed WE ASSOC IATED TRESS Tired of trying to keep track of all the socalled superfoods you’re supposed to eat? You know, oregano that packs 42 times more antioxi dants than apples, cooked tomatoes that may prevent prostate cancer, and choco late and wine that may or may not be health foods. Then here’s the good news—you can stop trying. Leading researchers say all those breathless headlines, food packeiging claims and seemingly contradictory studies about what antioxi dants can and can’t do have fostered a faulty silver bullet mind-set that can hinder health more than help. Instead, experts advise focusing on balance, modera tion and variety, and leave phytochemicals, flavanols and phenolic adds to sden- tists. Researcher Jeffrey Blumberg admits that “does n’t seem to be a very sexy message. People would rather be told there is a superfood, a term I hate because in fact there is no such thing.” But that hasn’t stopped them from becoming a nifyor marketing force. Fcx)ds labeled as antioxidant-rich— everything from bottled tea to bags of frozen berries—have become a $526 million indus try that continues to grow. Even foods that otherwise have seen sales slump are getting a boost from antioxi dant claims, says Phil Lenipert, a food industry ana lyst and editor of SupermarketGuru.com. Sales of blueberry preserves, for example, are up, thou^ overall jam sales are down. “It’s clear that regardless of whether or notj people under stand what Vich in antioxi-i dants’ means, iti is certainly aj Ic^ or a stamp that says, ‘Buy me! Tm going to help you live forever,*” Lempert says. Maybe. Maybe not. Experts aren’t suggest ing antioxidants aren’t important or that people shouldn’t eat foods that cpn- tain them. Rather, that not enou^ is known about how they woric to justify focusing one’s diet on any particular antioxidant or food. It’s all about quashing free radicals, harmful chemicals produced by the body and found in the environment (such as air pollution) that damage cells. That damage has been linked to a host of chronic conditions, from heart problems to cancer, even aging. Diets rich in antioxidants— which are in coimtless foods—seem to minimize this damage. What’s not clear is whether that benefit is due to the antioxidants themselves or to the overall diet eind the way the euitioxidants and other nutrients in it interact. The evidence increasin^y suggests the latter, says Howard Sesso, a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. That meeins eating patterns make a difference, ^but probably not ^eating particu- k lar foods or i taking sup- ■' found to help prevent ^ heart disease and can cer, but studies of beta carotene supplements alone have been mostly dis appointing. And there is little evidence that one antioxidant is better than another. Also unknown is whether queintity counts. Manufacturers brag about the amoimt of antioxidants in their products, but studies have yet to establish that more is better, or whether the body can even absorb the amounts contained in most foods. Blumberg, a scientist at Ilifts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition, worries that the hype about antioxi dants creates a false sense of security Eating a daily hand ful of almonds—believed good for heart health—won’t make up for a diet otherwise laden with saturated fat and cho lesterol. So how should people work antioxidants into their diets? Think big picture. Healthy diets are like healthy investment portfo lios—diversified, says John Erdman Jr., a professor of internal medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-(I!hampaign. Eating a variety of produce and whole grains ensures the best mix of all nutrients. There’s probably not mudi harm in eating a lot of blue berries, but that can’t be said of all antioxidant-ririi foods. The calories in fruit juice and alcohol, for example, add up quickly and obesity negates the tenefits of even the healthiest foods. Even people trying to address specific health prob- l^ns would do better to eat a broad mix of foods than to tai lor their diets around certain ingredients, the experts say “When people get prostate cancer, aU of a sudden they make all the changes in their diet” Erdman says. “We don’t even know if those changes make a difference then. But we know that if people eat that diet before getting can cer, you don’t tend to get it.” dbnsumers also must be critical of companies’ health claims about antioxidants, many of which are unregulat ed and unsupported by sci ence. And studies often are funded by the industries that benefit when products are dubbed superfoods. Bottom line—eat a bal anced diet and don’t get hung up on the particulars. ‘Do you really need to know the nutrient composition when choosing foods?” Blumbei^ says. “Or do you just need to know that you should be choosing more plant foods, and preferably the hi^ily colored ones?” Cliarleston Mouse on Tke Plaz;a A Country Restaurant Where Everyday is a Holiday Lunch 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Dinner. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. The Management cordially invities you to join in celebrating our 3128 The Plaza Charlotte, NC 28205 704-333-4441 Lots of good food and beverages We’ll feed’ you til we fill’ you up, fuh true! Parking available on premises and shuttle services off premises. Katrina victims say now is not the time for Mardi Gras celebration Continued from page 3B age to their facilities. Arthur Hardy, a Mardi Gras historian who publishes a popular guide to Carnival each year, said celebrating the holiday would be good not just for the economy but also for the mental state of the city’s residents. “We need it for our psyche, it’s like group therapy,” he said “We’ve likened this to a jazz funeral, we mourn on the way there, and rejoice on' the way back. We’ve] got to start rejoic ing'” The dispute over whether Mardi Gras should take place has also brou^t out racial tensions, which have a history of hang ing over Mardi Gras. In 1992, a city ordinance had to be passed to ensure that Carnival krewes, the private organizations that hold parades, did not discriminate by keeping blacks out of their ranks. By the time Mardi Gras rolls around—Feb. 28 next year—a great portion of the city’s black popula tion will likely remain in limbo because their neighborhoods were flooded. It will be hard I to party on Mardi Gras far fiiDm home. dTiiQuita Simms, a refugee in Atlanta and publi cist who’s organizing a protest on Monday against Mardi Gras, charged that blacks are only being wel comed back to the city so they can take up low-paying jobs. ‘Tou left (blacks) in the Superdome for fom, five days, and you want them to come up and clean up your mess?” she said. ‘T just think it’s insensitive.” Muniz, the Endymion cap tain, said New Orleans is no longer a city where racism is rampant. Asked if she would celebrate Mardi Gras if she were back in New (Drieans by Feb. 28, she said she probably would be. And she vowed; ‘I’ll be back by then, baby” :..Levine Hospital DECEMBER ^ O AmeriCare^^Heaith AmeriCare Health ''Sugar Creek ” Medical Center 721 W. 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