Connecting to Wellness

In the past, I’ve challenged readers to make certain they eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal.  I’ve suggested this strategy is a fundamental principle to better health and wellness.  Today, I’d like to raise the stakes on that challenge and ask that you consume these fruit and vegetable sources raw or uncooked.

By now, nobody argues the benefits of eating real food that is grown in the ground and comes unadulterated from nature.  But what is so beneficial about eating these foods raw?  Food is more than its individual parts.  Even though I advocate multivitamins, there is no vitamin out there that is as healthful as what you get from organic whole foods.  Nutrients work synergistically, meaning that they work best when combined in the proper ratios.  We get these proper ratios in nature-made whole foods.  Cooking foods at high temperatures destroys many of the health benefits we would otherwise receive.  For instance, high heat destroys the enzymes that work to facilitate chemical reactions in the body.  When these enzymes are damaged, you will not digest some foods properly.  Likewise, when these enzymes are depleted, it puts extra stress on your stomach, pancreas, and liver and can exhaust these organs.  Fruits and vegetables are a carbohydrate which means they contain large amounts of glucose.  What makes these sugars different from the unhealthy glucose found in processed foods is that they are bound to high amounts of fiber which allows the sugars to be released more slowly at a rate that can be metabolized without spiking insulin.  Cooking fruits and vegetables breaks down this fiber and alters the benefits.  Finally, cooking also destroys the healthy bacteria (probiotics) found in these foods.  Getting these healthy bugs is one of the main reasons to spend more money on organically grown foods, but that benefit is lost when the food is exposed to high heat.

Whenever I assess a proposed health benefit for myself, I try it and listen to my own body.  For me, I like to base this on my energy – do I feel this strategy gives me more fuel in my tank or less?  So, pay attention.  If after a meal, you are sluggish, bloated, depressed, or nauseous; something probably wasn’t right with those choices.  In closing, I’d like you to try a new challenge – eat a raw fruit or vegetable with every meal for two weeks and see if you can tell a difference.

Recently, a couple studies came out regarding diet that recommended what we should already know.  The first study performed by Harvard nurses, monitored the diets of 110,000 people for 14 years.  They found that the people who ate more fruits and vegetables had lower risk of developing heart disease.  Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S. accounting for almost 1 out of every 2 deaths!  The nurses concluded that increasing your daily fruit/vegetable intake will decrease your risk of heart disease by 4 percent per serving.

A similar study done at University College London found that diets including plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish help decrease the risk of depression.  In the study, those who ate a diet based on fresh, whole foods had a 26% lower risk of depression.  Furthermore, those who ate diets high in fried food, processed meat, high-fat dairy and sugar had a 58% higher incidence of depression.  Despite their risk of suicide, deeper depression and outcomes that are often not any better than placebos, anti-depression drugs are one of the most common prescriptions in the U.S.  What if simple changes in diet along with regular exercise could eliminate depression for most people?

The recommendation on fruits/vegetables is five-to-thirteen servings per day depending on whether your sources are organic or lower quality mass produced sources.  As I’ve discussed in the past, fruits, vegetables, and fish are the foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids that reduce the inflammation associated with heart disease, depression and most other common ailments.  One of the best health tips you could ever implement is to include a fruit or a vegetable with every meal.  Plan this for yourself and your family and you will see the results within a very short time.  I don’t care if it’s the same vegetable every single meal; just do it!  The only thing I would recommend is that you try to keep your fruit/vegetable sources raw or lightly cooked.  Heavy cooking, freezing and canning can destroy the fiber, enzymes, and vitamin/mineral complexes you are trying to gain by eating these foods.