(e.g. cane sugar), polysaccharides (e.g. starch). Many of the cheaper and most important foods are included in this group, which comprises sugars, starches, celluloses and gums. When one of these foods is digested, it is converted into a simple kind of sugar and absorbed in this form. Excess carbohydrates, not immediately needed by the body, are stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. In DIABETES MELLITUS, the most marked feature consists of an inability on the part of the tissues to assimilate and utilise the carbohydrate material. Each gram of carbohydrate is capable of furnishing slightly over 4 Calories of energy. (See CALORIE; DIET.)... carbohydrate
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Low Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low (fresh or dried fruit) High (dried fruit treated with sodium sulfur compounds) Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Apples are a high-fiber fruit with insoluble cellulose and lignin in the peel and soluble pectins in the flesh. Their most important vitamin is vitamin C. One fresh apple, 2.5 inches in diameter, has 2.4 g dietary fiber and 4.6 mg vitamin C (6 percent of the R DA for a woman, 5 percent of the R DA for a man). The sour taste of all immature apples (and some varieties, even when ripe) comes from malic acid. As an apple ripens, the amount of malic acid declines and the apple becomes sweeter. Apple seeds contain amygdalin, a naturally occurring cyanide/sugar compound that degrades into hydrogen cyanide. While accidentally swal- lowing an apple seed once in a while is not a serious hazard for an adult, cases of human poisoning after eating apple seeds have been reported, and swallowing only a few seeds may be lethal for a child.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Fresh and unpared, to take advantage of the fiber in the peel and preserve the vitamin C, which is destroyed by the heat of cooking.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Antiflatulence diet (raw apples) Low-fiber diet
Buying This Food Look for: Apples that are firm and brightly colored: shiny red Macintosh, Rome, and red Delicious; clear green Granny Smith; golden yellow Delicious. Avoid: Bruised apples. When an apple is damaged the injured cells release polyphenoloxi- dase, an enzyme that hastens the oxidation of phenols in the apple, producing brownish pigments that darken the fruit. It’s easy to check loose apples; if you buy them packed in a plastic bag, turn the bag upside down and examine the fruit.
Storing This Food Store apples in the refrigerator. Cool storage keeps them from losing the natural moisture that makes them crisp. It also keeps them from turning brown inside, near the core, a phe- nomenon that occurs when apples are stored at warm temperatures. Apples can be stored in a cool, dark cabinet with plenty of circulating air. Check the apples from time to time. They store well, but the longer the storage, the greater the natural loss of moisture and the more likely the chance that even the crispest apple will begin to taste mealy.
Preparing This Food Don’t peel or slice an apple until you are ready to use it. When you cut into the apple, you tear its cells, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that darkens the fruit. Acid inactivates polyphenoloxidase, so you can slow the browning (but not stop it completely) by dipping raw sliced and/or peeled apples into a solution of lemon juice and water or vinegar and water or by mixing them with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Polyphenoloxidase also works more slowly in the cold, but storing peeled apples in the refrigerator is much less effective than immersing them in an acid bath.
What Happens When You Cook This Food When you cook an unpeeled apple, insoluble cellulose and lignin will hold the peel intact through all normal cooking. The flesh of the apple, though, will fall apart as the pectin in its cell walls dissolves and the water inside its cells swells, rupturing the cell walls and turning the apples into applesauce. Commercial bakers keep the apples in their apple pies firm by treating them with calcium; home bakers have to rely on careful timing. To prevent baked apples from melting into mush, core the apple and fill the center with sugar or raisins to absorb the moisture released as the apple cooks. Cutting away a circle of peel at the top will allow the fruit to swell without splitting the skin. Red apple skins are colored with red anthocyanin pigments. When an apple is cooked, the anthocyanins combine with sugars to form irreversible brownish compounds.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Juice. Apple juice comes in two versions: “cloudy” (unfiltered) and “clear” (filtered). Cloudy apple juice is made simply by chopping or shredding apples and then pressing out and straining the juice. Clear apple juice is cloudy juice filtered to remove solid particles and then treated with enzymes to eliminate starches and the soluble fiber pectin. Since 2000, follow- ing several deaths attributed to unpasteurized apple juice contaminated with E. coli O157: H7, the FDA has required that all juices sold in the United States be pasteurized to inactivate harmful organisms such as bacteria and mold. Note: “Hard cider” is a mildly alcoholic bever- age created when natural enzyme action converts the sugars in apple juice to alcohol; “non- alcohol cider” is another name for plain apple juice. Drying. To keep apple slices from turning brown as they dry, apples may be treated with sulfur compounds that may cause serious allergic reactions in people allergic to sulfites.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits As an antidiarrheal. The pectin in apple is a natural antidiarrheal that helps solidif y stool. Shaved raw apple is sometimes used as a folk remedy for diarrhea, and purified pectin is an ingredient in many over-the-counter antidiarrheals. Lower cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber (pectin) may interfere with the absorption of dietary fats, including cholesterol. The exact mechanism by which this occurs is still unknown, but one theory is that the pectins in the apple may form a gel in your stomach that sops up fats and cholesterol, carrying them out of your body as waste. Potential anticarcinogenic effects. A report in the April 2008 issue of the journal Nutrition from a team of researchers at the Universit y of Kaiserslautern, in Germany, suggests that several natural chemicals in apples, including but yrate (produced naturally when the pectin in apples and apple juice is metabolized) reduce the risk of cancer of the colon by nourishing and protecting the mucosa (lining) of the colon.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Intestinal gas. For some children, drinking excess amounts of apple juice produces intestinal discomfort (gas or diarrhea) when bacteria living naturally in the stomach ferment the sugars in the juice. To reduce this problem, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ages one to six consume no more than four to six ounces of fruit juice a day; for children ages seven to 18, the recommended serving is eight to 12 ounces a day. Cyanide poisoning. See About the nutrients in this food. Sulfite allergies (dried apples). See How other kinds of processing affect this food.
Food/Drug Interactions Digoxin (Lanoxicaps, Lanoxin). Pectins may bind to the heart medication digoxin, so eating apples at the same time you take the drug may reduce the drug’s effectiveness.... apples
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low (fresh or dried fruit) High (dried fruit treated with sodium sulfur compounds) Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A Major mineral contribution: Iron
About the Nutrients in This Food Apricots are a good source of dietary fiber with insoluble cellulose and lignin in the skin and soluble pectins in the flesh. The apricot’s creamy golden color comes from deep yellow carotenes (including beta-carotene) that make the fruit a good source of vitamin A. Apricots also have vitamin C and iron. One apricot has 0.7 g dietary fiber, 674 IU vitamin A (21 percent of the R DA for a woman, 23 percent of the R DA for a man), and 3.5 mg vitamin C (5 percent of the R DA for a woman, 4 percent of the R DA for a man). Two dried apricot halves provide 0.6 g dietary fiber, 252 IU vitamin A (11 percent of the R DA for a woman, 8 percent of the R DA for a man), no vitamin C, and 2 mg iron (11 percent of the R DA for a woman, 25 percent of the R DA for a man). The bark, leaves, and inner stony pit of the apricot all contain amyg- dalin, a naturally occurring compound that degrades to release hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) in your stomach. Apricot oil, treated during processing to remove the cyanide, is marked FFPA to show that it is “free from prussic acid.” Cases of fatal poisoning from apricot pits have been reported, including one in a three-year-old girl who ate 15 apricot kernels (the seed inside the pit). Extract of apricot pits, known medically as Laetrile, has been used by some alternative practitioners to treat cancer on the theory that the cyanide in amygdalin is released only when it comes in contact with beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme common to tumor cells. Scientifically designed tests of amygdalin have not shown this to be true. Laetrile is illegal in the United States.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Ounce for ounce, dried apricots are richer in nutrients and fiber than fresh ones.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber diet Low-potassium diet Low-sodium diet (dried apricots containing sodium sulfide)
Buying This Food Look for: Firm, plump orange fruit that gives slightly when you press with your thumb. Avoid: Bruised apricots. Like apples and potatoes, apricots contain polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that combines with phenols in the apricots to produce brownish pigments that discolor the fruit. When apricots are bruised, cells are broken, releasing the enzyme so that brown spots form under the bruise. Avoid apricots that are hard or mushy or withered; all are less flavorsome than ripe, firm apricots, and the withered ones will decay quickly. Avoid greenish apricots; they are low in carotenes and will never ripen satisfactorily at home.
Storing This Food Store ripe apricots in the refrigerator and use them within a few days. Apricots do not lose their vitamin A in storage, but they are very perishable and rot fairly quickly.
Preparing This Food When you peel or slice an apricot, you tear its cells walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that reacts with phenols in the apricots, producing brown compounds that darken the fruit. Acids inactivate polyphenoloxidase, so you can slow down this reaction (but not stop it completely) by dipping raw sliced and/or peeled apricots into a solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water or by mixing them with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Polyphenoloxidase also works more slowly in the cold, but storing peeled apricots in the refrigerator is much less effective than an acid bath. To peel apricots easily, drop them into boiling water for a minute or two, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and plunge them into cold water. As with tomatoes, this works because the change in temperature damages a layer of cells under the skin so the skin slips off easily.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Cooking dissolves pectin, the primary fiber in apricots, and softens the fruit. But it does not change the color or lower the vitamin A content because carotenes are impervious to the heat of normal cooking.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Juice. Since 2000, following several deaths attributed to unpasteurized apple juice contami- nated with E. coli O157:H7, the FDA has required that all juices sold in the United States be pasteurized to inactivate harmful organisms such as bacteria and mold. Drying. Five pounds of fresh apricots produce only a pound of dried ones. Drying removes water, not nutrients; ounce for ounce, dried apricots have 12 times the iron, seven times the fiber, and five times the vitamin A of the fresh fruit. Three and a half ounces of dried apricots provide 12,700 IU vitamin A, two and a half times the full daily requirement for a healthy adult man, and 6.3 mg of iron, one-third the daily requirement for an adult woman. In some studies with laboratory animals, dried apricots have been as effective as liver, kidneys, and eggs in treating iron-deficiency anemia. To keep them from turning brown as they dry, apricots may be treated with sulfur dioxide. This chemical may cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock, in people who are sensitive to sulfites.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits * * *
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Sulfite allergies. See How other kinds of processing affect this food.
Food/Drug Interactions * * *... apricots
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate Protein: Low Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins, vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium, magnesium
About the Nutrients in This Food A banana begins life with more starch than sugar, but as the fruit ripens its starches turn to sugar, which is why ripe bananas taste so much better than unripe ones.* The color of a banana’s skin is a fair guide to its starch/ sugar ratio. When the skin is yellow-green, 40 percent of its carbohydrates are starch; when the skin is fully yellow and the banana is ripe, only 8 per- cent of the carbohydrates are still starch. The rest (91 percent) have broken down into sugars—glucose, fructose, sucrose, the most plentiful sugar in the fruit. Its high sugar content makes the banana, in its self-contained packet, a handy energy source. Bananas are a high-fiber food with insoluble cellulose and lignin in the tiny seeds and soluble pectins in the flesh. They are also a good source of vitamin C and potassium. One small (six-inch) banana or a half-cup of sliced banana has 2.6 g dietary fiber and 8.8 mg vitamin C (12 percent of the R DA for a woman, 10 percent of the R DA for a man), plus 363 mg potassium.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Fresh and ripe. Green bananas contain antinutrients, proteins that inhibit the actions of amylase, an enzyme that makes it possible for us to digest * They are also more healt hful. Green bananas contain proteins t hat inhibit amy- lase, an enzyme t hat makes it possible for us to digest complex carbohydrates. starch and other complex carbohydrates. Raw bananas are richer in potassium than cooked bananas; heating depletes potassium.
Buying This Food Look for: Bananas that will be good when you plan to eat them. Bananas with brown specks on the skin are ripe enough to eat immediately. Bananas with creamy yellow skin will be ready in a day or two. Bananas with mostly yellow skin and a touch of green at either end can be ripened at home and used in two or three days. Avoid: Overripe bananas whose skin has turned brown or split open. A grayish yellow skin means that the fruit has been damaged by cold storage. Bananas with soft spots under the skin may be rotten.
Storing This Food Store bananas that aren’t fully ripe at room temperature for a day or two. Like avocados, bananas are picked green, shipped hard to protect them from damage en route and then sprayed with ethylene gas to ripen them quickly. Untreated bananas release ethylene natu- rally to ripen the fruit and turn its starches to sugar, but natural ripening takes time. Artificial ripening happens so quickly that there is no time for the starches to turn into sugar. The bananas look ripe but they may taste bland and starchy. A few days at room temperature will give the starches a chance to change into sugars. Store ripe bananas in the refrigerator. The cold air will slow (but not stop) the natural enzyme action that ripens and eventually rots the fruit if you leave it at room temperature. Cold storage will darken the banana’s skin, since the chill damages cells in the peel and releases polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that converts phenols in the banana peel to dark brown compounds, but the fruit inside will remain pale and tasty for several days.
Preparing This Food Do not slice or peel bananas until you are ready to use them. When you cut into the fruit, you tear its cell walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that hastens the oxidation of phenols in the banana, producing brown pigments that darken the fruit. (Chilling a banana produces the same reaction because the cold damages cells in the banana peel.) You can slow the browning (but not stop it completely) by dipping raw sliced or peeled bananas into a solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water or by mixing the slices with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Overripe, discolored bananas can be used in baking, where the color doesn’t matter and their intense sweetness is an asset.
What Happens When You Cook This Food When bananas are broiled or fried, they are cooked so quickly that there is very little change in color or texture. Even so, they will probably taste sweeter and have a more intense aroma than uncooked bananas. Heat liberates the volatile molecules that make the fruit taste and smell good.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Drying. Drying removes water and concentrates the nutrients and calories in bananas. Bananas may be treated with compounds such as sulfur dioxide to inhibit polyphenoloxi- dase and keep the bananas from browning as they dry. People who are sensitive to sulfites may suffer severe allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock, if they eat these treated bananas. Freezing. Fresh bananas freeze well but will brown if you try to thaw them at room tem- perature. To protect the creamy color, thaw frozen bananas in the refrigerator and use as quickly as possible.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Lower risk of stroke. Various nutrition studies have attested to the power of adequate potassium to keep blood pressure within safe levels. For example, in the 1990s, data from the long-running Harvard School of Public Health/Health Professionals Follow-Up Study of male doctors showed that a diet rich in high-potassium foods such as bananas, oranges, and plantain may reduce the risk of stroke. In the study, the men who ate the higher number of potassium-rich foods (an average of nine servings a day) had a risk of stroke 38 percent lower than that of men who consumed fewer than four servings a day. In 2008, a similar survey at the Queen’s Medical Center (Honolulu) showed a similar protective effect among men and women using diuretic drugs (medicines that increase urination and thus the loss of potassium). Improved mood. Bananas and plantains are both rich in serotonin, dopamine, and other natural mood-elevating neurotransmitters—natural chemicals that facilitate the transmis- sion of impulses along nerve cells. Potassium benefits. Because potassium is excreted in urine, potassium-rich foods are often recommended for people taking diuretics. In addition, a diet rich in potassium (from food) is associated with a lower risk of stroke. A 1998 Harvard School of Public Health analysis of data from the long-running Health Professionals Study shows 38 percent fewer strokes among men who ate nine servings of high potassium foods a day vs. those who ate less than four servings. Among men with high blood pressure, taking a daily 1,000 mg potas- sium supplement—about the amount of potassium in one banana—reduced the incidence of stroke by 60 percent.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Digestive Problems. Unripe bananas contain proteins that inhibit the actions of amylase, an enzyme required to digest starch and other complex carbohydrates. Sulfite allergies. See How other kinds of processing affect this food. Latex-fruit syndrome. Latex is a milky fluid obtained from the rubber tree and used to make medical and surgical products such as condoms and protective latex gloves, as well as rub- ber bands, balloons, and toys; elastic used in clothing; pacifiers and baby bottle-nipples; chewing gum; and various adhesives. Some of the proteins in latex are allergenic, known to cause reactions ranging from mild to potentially life-threatening. Some of the proteins found naturally in latex also occur naturally in foods from plants such as avocados, bananas, chestnuts, kiwi fruit, tomatoes, and food and diet sodas sweetened with aspartame. Persons sensitive to these foods are likely to be sensitive to latex as well. NOTE : The National Insti- tute of Health Sciences, in Japan, also lists the following foods as suspect: Almonds, apples, apricots, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, buckwheat, cantaloupe, carrots, celery, cherries, chestnuts, coconut, figs, grapefruit, lettuce, loquat, mangoes, mushrooms, mustard, nectar- ines, oranges, passion fruit, papaya, peaches, peanuts, peppermint, pineapples, potatoes, soybeans, strawberries, walnuts, and watermelon.
Food/Drug Interactions Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are drugs used to treat depression. They inactivate naturally occurring enzymes in your body that metabolize tyra- mine, a substance found in many fermented or aged foods. Tyramine constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure. If you eat a food containing tyramine while you are taking an M AO inhibitor, you cannot effectively eliminate the tyramine from your body. The result may be a hypertensive crisis. There have been some reports in the past of such reactions in people who have eaten rotten bananas or bananas stewed with the peel. False-positive test for tumors. Carcinoid tumors—which may arise from tissues of the endo- crine system, the intestines, or the lungs—secrete serotonin, a natural chemical that makes blood vessels expand or contract. Because serotonin is excreted in urine, these tumors are diagnosed by measuring the levels of serotonin by-products in the urine. Bananas contain large amounts of serotonin; eating them in the three days before a test for an endocrine tumor might produce a false-positive result, suggesting that you have the tumor when in fact you don’t. (Other foods high in serotonin are avocados, eggplant, pineapple, plums, tomatoes, and walnuts.)... bananas
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate Protein: High Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Very high Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin B6, folate Major mineral contribution: Iron, magnesium, zinc
About the Nutrients in This Food Beans are seeds, high in complex carbohydrates including starch and dietary fiber. They have indigestible sugars (stachyose and raffinose), plus insoluble cellulose and lignin in the seed covering and soluble gums and pectins in the bean. The proteins in beans are limited in the essential amino acids methionine and cystine.* All beans are a good source of the B vitamin folate, and iron. One-half cup canned kidney beans has 7.5 g dietary fiber, 65 mcg folate (15 percent of the R DA), and 1.6 mg iron (11 percent of the R DA for a woman, 20 percent of the R DA for a man). Raw beans contain antinutrient chemicals that inactivate enzymes required to digest proteins and carbohydrates. They also contain factors that inactivate vitamin A and also hemagglutinins, substances that make red blood cells clump together. Cooking beans disarms the enzyme inhibi- tors and the anti-vitamin A factors, but not the hemagglutinins. However, the amount of hemagglutinins in the beans is so small that it has no mea- surable effect in your body. * Soybeans are t he only beans t hat contain proteins considered “complete” because t hey contain sufficient amounts of all t he essent ial amino acids. The Folate Content of ½ Cup Cooked Dried Beans
| Bean | Folate (mcg) |
| Black beans | 129 |
| Chickpeas | 191 |
| Kidney beans canned | 65 |
| Navy beans | 128 |
| Pinto beans | 147 |
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Cooked, to destroy antinutrients. With grains. The proteins in grains are deficient in the essential amino acids lysine and isoleucine but contain sufficient tryptophan, methionine, and cystine; the proteins in beans are exactly the opposite. Together, these foods provide “complete” proteins. With an iron-rich food (meat) or with a vitamin C-rich food (tomatoes). Both enhance your body’s ability to use the iron in the beans. The meat makes your stomach more acid (acid favors iron absorption); the vitamin C may convert the ferric iron in beans into ferrous iron, which is more easily absorbed by the body.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-calcium diet Low-fiber diet Low-purine (antigout) diet
Buying This Food Look for: Smooth-skinned, uniformly sized, evenly colored beans that are free of stones and debris. The good news about beans sold in plastic bags is that the transparent material gives you a chance to see the beans inside; the bad news is that pyridoxine and pyridoxal, the natural forms of vitamin B6, are very sensitive to light. Avoid: Beans sold in bulk. Some B vitamins, such as vitamin B6 (pyridoxine and pyridoxal), are very sensitive to light. In addition, open bins allow insects into the beans, indicated by tiny holes showing where the bug has burrowed into or through the bean. If you choose to buy in bulk, be sure to check for smooth skinned, uniformly sized, evenly colored beans free of holes, stones, and other debris.
Storing This Food Store beans in air- and moistureproof containers in a cool, dark cabinet where they are pro- tected from heat, light, and insects.
Preparing This Food Wash dried beans and pick them over carefully, discarding damaged or withered beans and any that float. (Only withered beans are light enough to float in water.) Cover the beans with water, bring them to a boil, and then set them aside to soak. When you are ready to use the beans, discard the water in which beans have been soaked. Some of the indigestible sugars in the beans that cause intestinal gas when you eat the beans will leach out into the water, making the beans less “gassy.”
What Happens When You Cook This Food When beans are cooked in liquid, their cells absorb water, swell, and eventually rupture, releasing the pectins and gums and nutrients inside. In addition, cooking destroys antinutri- ents in beans, making them more nutritious and safe to eat.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Canning. The heat of canning destroys some of the B vitamins in the beans. Vitamin B is water-soluble. You can recover all the lost B vitamins simply by using the liquid in the can, but the liquid also contains the indigestible sugars that cause intestinal gas when you eat beans. Preprocessing. Preprocessed dried beans have already been soaked. They take less time to cook but are lower in B vitamins.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Lower risk of some birth defects. As many as two of every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their moth- ers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. The current R DA for folate is 180 mcg for a woman and 200 mcg for a man, but the FDA now recommends 400 mcg for a woman who is or may become pregnant. Taking a folate supplement before becoming pregnant and continuing through the first two months of pregnancy reduces the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records for more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-run ning Nurses Health Study at Har vard School of Public Health/ Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston demonstrated that a diet providing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B6 a day from either food or supple- ments, more than t wice the current R DA for each, may reduce a woman’s risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. A lthough men were not included in the analysis, the results are assumed to apply to them as well. NOT E : Beans are high in B6 as well as folate. Fruit, green leaf y vegetables, whole grains, meat, fish, poultr y, and shellfish are good sources of vitamin B6. To reduce the levels of serum cholesterol. The gums and pectins in dried beans and peas appear to lower blood levels of cholesterol. Currently there are two theories to explain how this may happen. The first theory is that the pectins in the beans form a gel in your stomach that sops up fats and keeps them from being absorbed by your body. The second is that bacteria in the gut feed on the bean fiber, producing short-chain fatty acids that inhibit the production of cholesterol in your liver. As a source of carbohydrates for people with diabetes. Beans are digested very slowly, produc- ing only a gradual rise in blood-sugar levels. As a result, the body needs less insulin to control blood sugar after eating beans than after eating some other high-carbohydrate foods (such as bread or potato). In studies at the University of Kentucky, a bean, whole-grain, vegetable, and fruit-rich diet developed at the University of Toronto enabled patients with type 1 dia- betes (who do not produce any insulin themselves) to cut their daily insulin intake by 38 percent. Patients with type 2 diabetes (who can produce some insulin) were able to reduce their insulin injections by 98 percent. This diet is in line with the nutritional guidelines of the American Diabetes Association, but people with diabetes should always consult with their doctors and/or dietitians before altering their diet. As a diet aid. Although beans are high in calories, they are also high in bulk (fiber); even a small serving can make you feel full. And, because they are insulin-sparing, they delay the rise in insulin levels that makes us feel hungry again soon after eating. Research at the University of Toronto suggests the insulin-sparing effect may last for several hours after you eat the beans, perhaps until after the next meal.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Intestinal gas. All legumes (beans and peas) contain raffinose and stachyose, complex sug- ars that human beings cannot digest. The sugars sit in the gut and are fermented by intestinal bacteria which then produce gas that distends the intestines and makes us uncomfortable. You can lessen this effect by covering the beans with water, bringing them to a boil for three to five minutes, and then setting them aside to soak for four to six hours so that the indigestible sugars leach out in the soaking water, which can be discarded. Alternatively, you may soak the beans for four hours in nine cups of water for every cup of beans, discard the soaking water, and add new water as your recipe directs. Then cook the beans; drain them before serving. Production of uric acid. Purines are the natural metabolic by-products of protein metabo- lism in the body. They eventually break down into uric acid, sharp cr ystals that may concentrate in joints, a condition known as gout. If uric acid cr ystals collect in the urine, the result may be kidney stones. Eating dried beans, which are rich in proteins, may raise the concentration of purines in your body. Although controlling the amount of purines in the diet does not significantly affect the course of gout (which is treated with allopurinol, a drug that prevents the formation of uric acid cr ystals), limiting these foods is still part of many gout regimens.
Food/Drug Interactions Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are drugs used to treat depression. They inactivate naturally occurring enzymes in your body that metabolize tyramine, a substance found in many fermented or aged foods. Tyramine constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure. If you eat a food containing tyramine while you are taking an M AO inhibitor, you cannot effectively eliminate the tyramine from your body. The result may be a hypertensive crisis. Some nutrition guides list dried beans as a food to avoid while using M AO inhibitors.... beans
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate Protein: Moderate Fat: Low to moderate Saturated fat: Low to high Cholesterol: Low to high Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate to high Sodium: Moderate to high Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins Major mineral contribution: Calcium, iron, potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food All commercially made yeast breads are approximately equal in nutri- tional value. Enriched white bread contains virtually the same amounts of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates as whole wheat bread, although it may contain only half the dietary fiber (see flour). Bread is a high-carbohydrate food with lots of starch. The exact amount of fiber, fat, and cholesterol in the loaf varies with the recipe. Bread’s proteins, from grain, are low in the essential amino acid lysine. The most important carbohydrate in bread is starch; all breads contain some sugar. Depending on the recipe, the fats may be highly saturated (butter or hydrogenated vegetable fats) or primarily unsaturated (vegetable fat). All bread is a good source of B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin), and in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration ordered food manufactur- ers to add folates—which protect against birth defects of the spinal cord and against heart disease—to flour, rice, and other grain products. One year later, data from the Framingham Heart Study, which has followed heart health among residents of a Boston suburb for nearly half a cen- tury, showed a dramatic increase in blood levels of folic acid. Before the fortification of foods, 22 percent of the study participants had a folic acid deficiency; after, the number fell to 2 percent. Bread is a moderately good source of calcium, magnesium, and phos- phorus. (Breads made with milk contain more calcium than breads made without milk.) Although bread is made from grains and grains contain phytic acid, a natural antinutrient that binds calcium ions into insoluble, indigestible compounds, the phytic acid is inactivated by enzyme action during leavening. Bread does not bind calcium. All commercially made breads are moderately high in sodium; some contain more sugar than others. Grains are not usually considered a good source of iodine, but commer- cially made breads often pick up iodine from the iodophors and iodates used to clean the plants and machines in which they are made. Homemade breads share the basic nutritional characteristics of commercially made breads, but you can vary the recipe to suit your own taste, lowering the salt, sugar, or fat and raising the fiber content, as you prefer.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food As sandwiches, with cheese, milk, eggs, meat, fish, or poultry. These foods supply the essen- tial amino acid lysine to “complete” the proteins in grains. With beans or peas. The proteins in grains are deficient in the essential amino acids lysine and isoleucine and rich in the essential amino acids tryptophan, methionine, and cystine. The proteins in legumes (beans and peas) are exactly the opposite.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Gluten-free diet (excludes breads made with wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat and barley flour) Lactose-free diet Low-fiber diet (excludes coarse whole-grain breads) Low-sodium diet
Buying This Food Look for: Fresh bread. Check the date on closed packages of commercial bread.
Storing This Food Store bread at room temperature, in a tightly closed plastic bag (the best protection) or in a breadbox. How long bread stays fresh depends to a great extent on how much fat it contains. Bread made with some butter or other fat will keep for about three days at room tempera- ture. Bread made without fat (Italian bread, French bread) will dry out in just a few hours; for longer storage, wrap it in foil, put it inside a plastic bag, and freeze it. When you are ready to serve the French or Italian bread, you can remove it from the plastic bag and put the foil- wrapped loaf directly into the oven. Throw away moldy bread. The molds that grow on bread may produce carcinogenic toxins. Do not store fresh bread in the refrigerator; bread stales most quickly at temperatures just above freezing. The one exception: In warm, humid weather, refrigerating bread slows the growth of molds.
When You Are Ready to Serve This Food Use a serrated knife to cut bread easily.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Toasting is a chemical process that caramelizes sugars and amino acids (proteins) on the surface of the bread, turning the bread a golden brown. This chemical reaction, known both as the browning reaction and the Maillard reaction (after the French chemist who first identified it), alters the structure of the surface sugars, starches, and amino acids. The sugars become indigestible food fiber; the amino acids break into smaller fragments that are no longer nutritionally useful. Thus toast has more fiber and less protein than plain bread. How- ever, the role of heat-generated fibers in the human diet is poorly understood. Some experts consider them inert and harmless; others believe they may be hazardous.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Freezing. Frozen bread releases moisture that collects inside the paper, foil, or plastic bag in which it is wrapped. If you unwrap the bread before defrosting it, the moisture will be lost and the bread will be dry. Always defrost bread in its wrappings so that it can reabsorb the moisture that keeps it tasting fresh. Drying. Since molds require moisture, the less moisture a food contains, the less likely it is support mold growth. That is why bread crumbs and Melba toast, which are relatively mois- ture-free, keep better than fresh bread. Both can be ground fine and used as a toasty-flavored thickener in place of flour or cornstarch.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits A lower risk of some kinds of cancer. In 1998, scientists at Wayne State University in Detroit conducted a meta-analysis of data from more than 30 well-designed animal studies mea- suring the anti-cancer effects of wheat bran, the part of grain with highest amount of the insoluble dietary fibers cellulose and lignin. They found a 32 percent reduction in the risk of colon cancer among animals fed wheat bran; now they plan to conduct a similar meta- analysis of human studies. Breads made with whole grain wheat are a good source of wheat bran. NOTE : The amount of fiber per serving listed on a food package label shows the total amount of fiber (insoluble and soluble). Early in 1999, however, new data from the long-running Nurses Health Study at Brigham Women’s Hospital/Harvard University School of Public Health showed that women who ate a high-fiber diet had a risk of colon cancer similar to that of women who ate a low fiber diet. Because this study contradicts literally hundreds of others conducted over the past 30 years, researchers are awaiting confirming evidence before changing dietary recommendations. Calming effect. Mood is affected by naturally occurring chemicals called neurotransmitters that facilitate transmission of impulses between brain cells. The amino acid tryptophan amino acid is the most important constituent of serotonin, a “calming” neurotransmitter. Foods such as bread, which are high in complex carbohydrates, help move tryptophan into your brain, increasing the availability of serotonin.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Allergic reactions and/or gastric distress. Bread contains several ingredients that may trigger allergic reactions, aggravate digestive problems, or upset a specific diet, among them gluten (prohibited on gluten-free diets); milk (prohibited on a lactose- and galactose-free diet or for people who are sensitive to milk proteins); sugar (prohibited on a sucrose-free diet); salt (controlled on a sodium-restricted diet); and fats (restricted or prohibited on a controlled-fat, low-cholesterol diet).... bread
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: High Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: Moderate Fiber: Very high Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A, folate, vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Calcium
About the Nutrients in This Food Broccoli is very high-fiber food, an excellent source of vitamin A, the B vitamin folate, and vitamin C. It also has some vitamin E and vitamin K, the blood-clotting vitamin manufactured primarily by bacteria living in our intestinal tract. One cooked, fresh broccoli spear has five grams of dietary fiber, 2,500 IU vitamin A (108 percent of the R DA for a woman, 85 percent of the R DA for a man), 90 mcg folate (23 percent of the R DA), and 130 mg vitamin C (178 percent of the R DA for a woman, 149 percent of the R DA for a man).
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Raw. Studies at the USDA Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, show that raw broccoli has up to 40 percent more vitamin C than broccoli that has been cooked or frozen.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Antiflatulence diet Low-fiber diet
Buying This Food Look for: Broccoli with tightly closed buds. The stalk, leaves, and florets should be fresh, firm, and brightly colored. Broccoli is usually green; some varieties are tinged with purple. Avoid: Broccoli with woody stalk or florets that are open or turning yellow. When the green chlorophyll pigments fade enough to let the yellow carotenoids underneath show through, the buds are about to bloom and the broccoli is past its prime.
Storing This Food Pack broccoli in a plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator or in the vegetable crisper to protect its vitamin C. At 32°F, fresh broccoli can hold onto its vitamin C for as long as two weeks. Keep broccoli out of the light; like heat, light destroys vitamin C.
Preparing This Food First, rinse the broccoli under cool running water to wash off any dirt and debris clinging to the florets. Then put the broccoli, florets down, into a pan of salt water (1 tsp. salt to 1 qt. water) and soak for 15 to 30 minutes to drive out insects hiding in the florets. Then cut off the leaves and trim away woody section of stalks. For fast cooking, divide the broccoli up into small florets and cut the stalk into thin slices.
What Happens When You Cook This Food The broccoli stem contains a lot of cellulose and will stay firm for a long time even through the most vigorous cooking, but the cell walls of the florets are not so strongly fortified and will soften, eventually turning to mush if you cook the broccoli long enough. Like other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli contains mustard oils (isothiocyanates), natural chemicals that break down into a variety of smelly sulfur compounds (including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia) when the broccoli is heated. The reaction is more intense in aluminum pots. The longer you cook broccoli, the more smelly compounds there will be, although broccoli will never be as odorous as cabbage or cauliflower. Keeping a lid on the pot will stop the smelly molecules from floating off into the air but will also accelerate the chemical reaction that turns green broccoli olive-drab. Chlorophyll, the pigment that makes green vegetables green, is sensitive to acids. When you heat broccoli, the chlorophyll in its florets and stalk reacts chemically with acids in the broccoli or in the cooking water to form pheophytin, which is brown. The pheophytin turns cooked broccoli olive-drab or (since broccoli contains some yellow carotenes) bronze. To keep broccoli green, you must reduce the interaction between the chlorophyll and the acids. One way to do this is to cook the broccoli in a large quantity of water, so the acids will be diluted, but this increases the loss of vitamin C.* Another alternative is to leave the lid off the pot so that the hydrogen atoms can float off into the air, but this allows the smelly sulfur compounds to escape, too. The best way is probably to steam the broccoli quickly with very little water, so it holds onto its vitamin C and cooks before there is time for reac- tion between chlorophyll and hydrogen atoms to occur.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Freezing. Frozen broccoli usually contains less vitamin C than fresh broccoli. The vitamin is lost when the broccoli is blanched to inactivate catalase and peroxidase, enzymes that would otherwise continue to ripen the broccoli in the freezer. On the other hand, according to researchers at Cornell University, blanching broccoli in a microwave oven—two cups of broccoli in three tablespoons of water for three minutes at 600 –700 watts—nearly doubles the amount of vitamin C retained. In experiments at Cornell, frozen broccoli blanched in a microwave kept 90 percent of its vitamin C, compared to 56 percent for broccoli blanched in a pot of boiling water on top of a stove.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Protection against some cancers. Naturally occurring chemicals (indoles, isothiocyanates, glucosinolates, dithiolethiones, and phenols) in Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauli- flower, and other cruciferous vegetables appear to reduce the risk of some forms of cancer, perhaps by preventing the formation of carcinogens in your body or by blocking cancer- causing substances from reaching or reacting with sensitive body tissues or by inhibiting the transformation of healthy cells to malignant ones. All cruciferous vegetables contain sulforaphane, a member of a family of chemicals known as isothiocyanates. In experiments with laboratory rats, sulforaphane appears to increase the body’s production of phase-2 enzymes, naturally occurring substances that inacti- vate and help eliminate carcinogens. At the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, 69 percent of the rats injected with a chemical known to cause mammary cancer developed tumors vs. only 26 percent of the rats given the carcinogenic chemical plus sulforaphane. To get a protective amount of sulforaphane from broccoli you would have to eat about two pounds a week. But in 1997, Johns Hopkins researchers discovered that broccoli seeds and three-day-old broccoli sprouts contain a compound converted to sulforaphane when the seed and sprout cells are crushed. Five grams of three-day-old sprouts contain as much sulphoraphane as 150 grams of mature broccoli. * Broccoli will lose large amounts of vitamin C if you cook it in water t hat is cold when you start. As it boils, water releases ox ygen t hat would ot her wise dest roy vitamin C, so you can cut t he vitamin loss dramat ically simply by lett ing t he water boil for 60 seconds before adding t he broccoli. Vision protection. In 2004, the Johns Hopkins researchers updated their findings on sulfora- phane to suggest that it may also protect cells in the eyes from damage due to ultraviolet light, thus reducing the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of age-related vision loss. Lower risk of some birth defects. Up to two or every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their mothers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. The current R DA for folate is 180 mcg for a woman, 200 mcg for a man, but the FDA now recommends 400 mcg for a woman who is or may become pregnant. Taking a folate supplement before becoming pregnant and continuing through the first two months of pregnancy reduces the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Broccoli is a good source of folate. One raw broccoli spear has 107 mcg folate, more than 50 percent of the R DA for an adult. Possible lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records for more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study at Harvard School of Public Health/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, demonstrated that a diet providing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B6 daily, either from food or supple- ments, might reduce a woman’s risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. Although men were not included in the study, the results were assumed to apply to them as well. However, data from a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2006 called this theory into question. Researchers at Tulane Univer- sity examined the results of 12 controlled studies in which 16,958 patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease were given either folic acid supplements or placebos (“look-alike” pills with no folic acid) for at least six months. The scientists, who found no reduction in the risk of further heart disease or overall death rates among those taking folic acid, concluded that further studies will be required to ascertain whether taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Possible inhibition of the herpes virus. Indoles, another group of chemicals in broccoli, may inhibit the growth of some herpes viruses. In 2003, at the 43rd annual Interscience Confer- ence on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, in Chicago, researchers from Stockholm’s Huddinge University Hospital, the University of Virginia, and Northeastern Ohio University reported that indole-3-carbinol (I3C) in broccoli stops cells, including those of the herpes sim- plex virus, from reproducing. In tests on monkey and human cells, I3C was nearly 100 percent effective in blocking reproduction of the HSV-1 (oral and genital herpes) and HSV-2 (genital herpes), including one strain known to be resistant to the antiviral drug acyclovir (Zovirax).
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Enlarged thyroid gland. Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, contain goitrin, thio- cyanate, and isothiocyanate, chemical compounds that inhibit the formation of thyroid hormones and cause the thyroid to enlarge in an attempt to produce more. These chemicals, known collectively as goitrogens, are not hazardous for healthy people who eat moderate amounts of cruciferous vegetables, but they may pose problems for people who have thyroid problems or are taking thyroid medication. False-positive test for occult blood in the stool. The guaiac slide test for hidden blood in feces relies on alphaguaiaconic acid, a chemical that turns blue in the presence of blood. Broccoli contains peroxidase, a natural chemical that also turns alphaguaiaconic acid blue and may produce a positive test in people who do not actually have blood in the stool.
Food/Drug Interactions Anticoagulants Broccoli is rich in vitamin K, the blood-clotting vitamin produced natu- rally by bacteria in the intestines. Consuming large quantities of this food may reduce the effectiveness of anticoagulants (blood thinners) such as warfarin (Coumadin). One cup of drained, boiled broccoli contains 220 mcg vitamin K, nearly four times the R DA for a healthy adult.... broccoli
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: High Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A, folate, vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium, iron
About the Nutrients in This Food Brussels sprouts are high in dietary fiber, especially insoluble cellulose and lignan in the leaf ribs. They are also a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C. One-half cup cooked fresh brussels sprouts has three grams of dietary fiber, 1,110 IU vitamin A (48 percent of the R DA for a woman, 37 percent of the R DA for a man), 47 mcg folate (16 percent of the R DA), and 48 mg vitamin C (64 percent of the R DA for a woman, 53 percent of the R DA for a man). Brussels sprouts also contain an antinutrient, a natural chemical that splits the thiamin (vitamin B1) molecule so that it is no longer nutritionally useful. This thiamin inhibitor is inactivated by cooking.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Fresh, lightly steamed to preserve the vitamin C and inactivate the antinutrient.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Antiflatulence diet Low-fiber diet
Buying This Food Look for: Firm, compact heads with bright, dark-green leaves, sold loose so that you can choose the sprouts one at a time. Brussels sprouts are available all year round. Avoid: Puff y, soft sprouts with yellow or wilted leaves. The yellow carotenes in the leaves show through only when the leaves age and their green chlorophyll pigments fade. Wilting leaves and puff y, soft heads are also signs of aging. Avoid sprouts with tiny holes in the leaves through which insects have burrowed.
Storing This Food Store the brussels sprouts in the refrigerator. While they are most nutritious if used soon after harvesting, sprouts will keep their vitamins (including their heat-sensitive vitamin C) for several weeks in the refrigerator. Store the sprouts in a plastic bag or covered bowl to protect them from moisture loss.
Preparing This Food First, drop the sprouts into salted ice water to flush out any small bugs hiding inside. Next, trim them. Remove yellow leaves and leaves with dark spots or tiny holes, but keep as many of the darker, vitamin A–rich outer leaves as possible. Then, cut an X into the stem end of the sprouts to allow heat and water in so that the sprouts cook faster.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Brussels sprouts contain mustard oils (isothiocyanates), natural chemicals that break down into a variety of smelly sulfur compounds (including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia) when the sprouts are heated, a reaction that is intensified in aluminum pots. The longer you cook the sprouts, the more smelly compounds there will be. Adding a slice of bread to the cook- ing water may lessen the odor; keeping a lid on the pot will stop the smelly molecules from floating off into the air. But keeping the pot covered will also increase the chemical reaction that turns cooked brussels sprouts drab. Chlorophyll, the pigment that makes green vegetables green, is sensi- tive to acids. When you heat brussels sprouts, the chlorophyll in their green leaves reacts chemically with acids in the sprouts or in the cooking water to form pheophytin, which is brown. The pheophytin turns cooked brussels sprouts olive or, since they also contain yel- low carotenes, bronze. To keep cooked brussels sprouts green, you have to reduce the interaction between chlorophyll and acids. One way to do this is to cook the sprouts in a lot of water, so the acids will be diluted, but this increases the loss of vitamin C.* Another alternative is to leave the lid off the pot so that the hydrogen atoms can float off into the air, but this allows the smelly sulfur compounds to escape, too. The best solution is to steam the sprouts quickly in very little water, so they retain their vitamin C and cook before there is time for reaction between chlorophyll and hydrogen atoms to occur.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Freezing. Frozen brussels sprouts contain virtually the same amounts of vitamins as fresh boiled sprouts.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Protection against cancer. Naturally occurring chemicals (indoles, isothiocyanates, gluco- sinolates, dithiolethiones, and phenols) in brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables appear to reduce the risk of some cancers, perhaps by pre- venting the formation of carcinogens in your body or by blocking cancer-causing substances from reaching or reacting with sensitive body tissues or by inhibiting the transformation of healthy cells to malignant ones. All cruciferous vegetables contain sulforaphane, a member of a family of chemicals known as isothiocyanates. In experiments with laboratory rats, sulforaphane appears to increase the body’s production of phase-2 enzymes, naturally occurring substances that inac- tivate and help eliminate carcinogens. At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, 69 percent of the rats injected with a chemical known to cause mammary cancer developed tumors vs. only 26 percent of the rats given the carcinogenic chemical plus sulforaphane. In 1997, the Johns Hopkins researchers discovered that broccoli seeds and three- day-old broccoli sprouts contain a compound converted to sulforaphane when the seed and sprout cells are crushed. Five grams of three-day-old broccoli sprouts contain as much sulforaphane as 150 grams of mature broccoli. The sulforaphane levels in other cruciferous vegetables have not yet been calculated. Lower risk of some birth defects. Up to two or every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their mothers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. NOTE : The current R DA for folate is 180 mcg for a woman and 200 mcg for a man, but the FDA now recommends * Brussels sprouts will lose as much as 25 percent of their vitamin C if you cook them in water that is cold when you start. As it boils, water releases oxygen that would otherwise destroy vitamin C. You can cut the vitamin loss dramatically simply by letting the water boil for 60 seconds before adding the sprouts. 400 mcg for a woman who is or may become pregnant. Taking a folate supplement before becoming pregnant and continuing through the first two months of pregnancy reduces the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Possible lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records for more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study at Harvard School of Public Health/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, demonstrated that a diet providing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B6 daily, either from food or supple- ments, might reduce a woman’s risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. Although men were not included in the study, the results were assumed to apply to them as well. However, data from a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2006 called this theory into question. Researchers at Tulane Univer- sity examined the results of 12 controlled studies in which 16,958 patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease were given either folic acid supplements or placebos (“look-alike” pills with no folic acid) for at least six months. The scientists, who found no reduction in the risk of further heart disease or overall death rates among those taking folic acid, concluded that further studies will be required to verif y whether taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Vision protection. In 2004, the Johns Hopkins researchers updated their findings on sulfora- phane to suggest that it may also protect cells in the eyes from damage due to ultraviolet light, thus reducing the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of age-related vision loss.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Enlarged thyroid gland (goiter). Cruciferous vegetables, including brussels sprouts, contain goitrin, thiocyanate, and isothiocyanate. These chemicals, known collectively as goitrogens, inhibit the formation of thyroid hormones and cause the thyroid to enlarge in an attempt to produce more. Goitrogens are not hazardous for healthy people who eat moderate amounts of cruciferous vegetables, but they may pose problems for people who have a thyroid condi- tion or are taking thyroid medication. Intestinal gas. Bacteria that live naturally in the gut degrade the indigestible carbohydrates (food fiber) in brussels sprouts and produce gas that some people find distressing.
Food/Drug Interactions Anticoagulants Brussels sprouts are rich in vitamin K, the blood-clotting vitamin produced naturally by bacteria in the intestines. Consuming large quantities of this food may reduce the effectiveness of anticoagulants (blood thinners) such as warfarin (Coumadin). One cup of drained, boiled brussels sprouts contains 219 mcg vitamin K, nearly three times the R DA for a healthy adult.... brussels sprouts
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Low Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A, folate, vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Calcium (moderate)
About the Nutrients in This Food All cabbage has some dietary fiber food: insoluble cellulose and lignin in the ribs and structure of the leaves. Depending on the variety, it has a little vitamin A, moderate amounts of the B vitamin folate and vitamin C. One-half cup shredded raw bok choy has 0.1 g dietary fiber, 1,041 IU vitamin A (45 percent of the R DA for a woman, 35 percent of the R DA for a man), and 15.5 mg vitamin C (21 percent of the R DA for a woman, 17 percent of the R DA for a man). One-half cup shredded raw green cabbage has 0.5 g dietary fiber, 45 IU vitamin A (1.9 percent of the R DA for a woman, 1.5 percent of the R DA for a man), 15 mcg folate (4 percent of the R DA), and 11 mg vitamin C (15 percent of the R DA for a woman, 12 percent of the R DA for a man). One-half cup chopped raw red cabbage has 0.5 g dietary fiber, 7 mcg folate (2 percent of the R DA), and 20 mg vitamin C (27 percent of the R DA for a woman, 22 percent of the R DA for a man). One-half cup chopped raw savoy cabbage has one gram dietary fiber, 322 IU vitamin A (14 percent of the R DA for a woman, 11 percent of the R DA for a man), and 11 mg vitamin C (15 percent of the R DA for a woman, 12 percent of the R DA for a man). Raw red cabbage contains an antinutrient enzyme that splits the thiamin molecule so that the vitamin is no longer nutritionally useful. This thiamin in hibitor is inactivated by cooking.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Raw or lightly steamed to protect the vitamin C.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Antiflatulence diet Low-fiber diet
Buying This Food Look for: Cabbages that feel heavy for their size. The leaves should be tightly closed and attached tightly at the stem end. The outer leaves on a savoy cabbage may curl back from the head, but the center leaves should still be relatively tightly closed. Also look for green cabbages that still have their dark-green, vitamin-rich outer leaves. Avoid: Green and savoy cabbage with yellow or wilted leaves. The yellow carotene pig- ments show through only when the cabbage has aged and its green chlorophyll pigments have faded. Wilted leaves mean a loss of moisture and vitamins.
Storing This Food Handle cabbage gently; bruising tears cells and activates ascorbic acid oxidase, an enzyme in the leaves that hastens the destruction of vitamin C. Store cabbage in a cool, dark place, preferably a refrigerator. In cold storage, cabbage can retain as much as 75 percent of its vitamin C for as long as six months. Cover the cabbage to keep it from drying out and losing vitamin A.
Preparing This Food Do not slice the cabbage until you are ready to use it; slicing tears cabbage cells and releases the enzyme that hastens the oxidation and destruction of vitamin C. If you plan to serve cooked green or red cabbage in wedges, don’t cut out the inner core that hold the leaves together. To separate the leaves for stuffing, immerse the entire head in boiling water for a few minutes, then lift it out and let it drain until it is cool enough to handle comfortably. The leaves should pull away easily. If not, put the cabbage back into the hot water for a few minutes.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Cabbage contains mustard oils (isothiocyanates) that break down into a variet y of smelly sulfur compounds (including hydrogen sulfide and ammon ia) when the cabbage is heated, a reaction that occurs more strongly in aluminum pots. The longer you cook the cabbage, the more smelly the compounds will be. Adding a slice of bread to the cooking water may lessen the odor. Keeping a lid on the pot will stop the smelly molecules from floating off into the air, but it will also accelerate the chemical reaction that turns cooked green cabbage drab. Chlorophyll, the pigment that makes green vegetables green, is sensitive to acids. When you heat green cabbage, the chlorophyll in its leaves reacts chemically with acids in the cabbage or in the cooking water to form pheophytin, which is brown. The pheophytin gives the cooked cabbage its olive color. To keep cooked green cabbage green, you have to reduce the interaction between the chlorophyll and the acids. One way to do this is to cook the cabbage in a large quantity of water, so the acids will be diluted, but this increases the loss of vitamin C.* Another alternative is to leave the lid off the pot so that the volatile acids can float off into the air, but this allows the smelly sulfur compounds to escape too. The best way may be to steam the cabbage ver y quickly in ver y little water so that it keeps its vitamin C and cooks before there is time for the chlorophyll/acid reaction to occur. Red cabbage is colored with red anthocyanins, pigments that turn redder in acids (lemon juice, vinegar) and blue purple in bases (alkaline chemicals such as baking soda). To keep the cabbage red, make sweet-and-sour cabbage. But be careful not to make it in an iron or aluminum pot, since vinegar (which contains tannins) will react with these metals to create dark pigments that discolor both the pot and the vegetable. Glass, stainless-steel, or enameled pots do not produce this reaction.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Pickling. Sauerkraut is a fermented and pickled produce made by immersing cabbage in a salt solution strong enough to kill off pathological bacteria but allow beneficial ones to sur- vive, breaking down proteins in the cabbage and producing the acid that gives sauerkraut its distinctive flavor. Sauerkraut contains more than 37 times as much sodium as fresh cabbage (661 mg sodium/100 grams canned sauerkraut with liquid) but only one third the vitamin C and one-seventh the vitamin A. * According to USDA, if you cook t hree cups of cabbage in one cup of water you will lose only 10 percent of t he vitamin C; reverse t he rat io to four t imes as much water as cabbage and you will lose about 50 percent of t he vitamin C. Cabbage will lose as much as 25 percent of its vitamin C if you cook it in water t hat is cold when you start. As it boils, water releases ox ygen t hat would ot her wise dest roy vitamin C, so you can cut t he vitamin loss dramat ically simply by lett ing t he water boil for 60 seconds before adding t he cabbage.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Protection against certain cancers. Naturally occurring chemicals (indoles, isothiocyanates, glucosinolates, dithiolethiones, and phenols) in cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauli- flower, and other cruciferous vegetables appear to reduce the risk of some cancers, perhaps by preventing the formation of carcinogens in your body or by blocking cancer-causing substances from reaching or reacting with sensitive body tissues or by inhibiting the trans- formation of healthy cells to malignant ones. All cruciferous vegetables contain sulforaphane, a member of a family of chemicals known as isothiocyanates. In experiments with laboratory rats, sulforaphane appears to increase the body’s production of phase-2 enzymes, naturally occurring substances that inac- tivate and help eliminate carcinogens. At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, 69 percent of the rats injected with a chemical known to cause mammary cancer developed tumors vs. only 26 percent of the rats given the carcinogenic chemical plus sulforaphane. In 1997, Johns Hopkins researchers discovered that broccoli seeds and three-day-old broccoli sprouts contain a compound converted to sulforaphane when the seed and sprout cells are crushed. Five grams of three-day-old broccoli sprouts contain as much sulforaphane as 150 grams of mature broccoli. The sulforaphane levels in other cruciferous vegetables have not yet been calculated. Vision protection. In 2004, the Johns Hopkins researchers updated their findings on sulfora- phane to suggest that it may also protect cells in the eyes from damage due to ultraviolet light, thus reducing the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of age-related vision loss. Lower risk of some birth defects. As many as two of every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their moth- ers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. The current R DA for folate is 180 mcg for a woman and 200 mcg for a man, but the FDA now recommends 400 mcg for a woman who is or may become pregnant. Taking a folate supplement before becom- ing pregnant and through the first two months of pregnancy reduces the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Possible lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records for more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study at Harvard School of Public Health/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, demonstrated that a diet providing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B6 daily, either from food or supple- ments, might reduce a woman’s risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. Although men were not included in the study, the results were assumed to apply to them as well. However, data from a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2006 called this theory into question. Researchers at Tulane Univer- sity examined the results of 12 controlled studies in which 16,958 patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease were given either folic acid supplements or placebos (“look-alike” pills with no folic acid) for at least six months. The scientists, who found no reduction in the risk of further heart disease or overall death rates among those taking folic acid, concluded that further studies will be required to verif y whether taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Enlarged thyroid gland (goiter). Cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, contain goitrin, thiocyanate, and isothiocyanate. These chemicals, known collectively as goitrogens, inhibit the formation of thyroid hormones and cause the thyroid to enlarge in an attempt to pro- duce more. Goitrogens are not hazardous for healthy people who eat moderate amounts of cruciferous vegetables, but they may pose problems for people who have a thyroid condition or are taking thyroid medication. Intestinal gas. Bacteria that live naturally in the gut degrade the indigestible carbohydrates (food fiber) in cabbage, producing gas that some people find distressing.
Food/Drug Interactions Anticoagulants Cabbage contains vitamin K, the blood-clotting vitamin produced natu- rally by bacteria in the intestines. Consuming large quantities of this food may reduce the effectiveness of anticoagulants (blood thinners) such as warfarin (Coumadin). One cup of shredded common green cabbage contains 163 mcg vitamin K, nearly three times the R DA for a healthy adult; one cup of drained boiled common green cabbage contains 73 mcg vita- min K, slightly more than the R DA for a healthy adult. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are drugs used to treat depression. They inactivate naturally occurring enzymes in your body that metabolize tyra- mine, a substance found in many fermented or aged foods. Tyramine constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure. If you eat a food such as sauerkraut which is high in tyramine while you are taking an M AO inhibitor, you cannot effectively eliminate the tyramine from your body. The result may be a hypertensive crisis.... cabbage
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): High Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Low to high Sodium: Low (except self-rising flour) Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins Major mineral contribution: Iron
About the Nutrients in This Food Flour is the primary source of the carbohydrates (starch and fiber) in bread, pasta, and baked goods. All wheat and rye flours also provide some of the food fibers, including pectins, gums, and cellulose. Flour also contains significant amounts of protein but, like other plant foods, its proteins are “incomplete” because they are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine. The fat in the wheat germ is primarily polyunsaturated; flour contains no cholesterol. Flour is a good source of iron and the B vitamins. Iodine and iodophors used to clean the equipment in grain-processing plants may add iodine to the flour. In 1998, the Food and Drug Administration ordered food manufac- turers to add folates—which protect against birth defects of the spinal cord and against heart disease—to flour, rice, and other grain products. One year later, data from the Framingham Heart Study, which has fol- lowed heart health among residents of a Boston suburb for nearly half a century, showed a dramatic increase in blood levels of folic acid. Before the fortification of foods, 22 percent of the study participants had a folic acid deficiency; after, the number fell to 2 percent. Whole grain flour, like other grain products, contains phytic acid, an antinutrient that binds calcium, iron, and zinc ions into insoluble com- pounds your body cannot absorb. This has no practical effect so long as your diet includes foods that provide these minerals. Whole wheat flours. Whole wheat flours use every part of the kernel: the fiber-rich bran with its B vitamins, the starch- and protein-rich endosperm with its iron and B vitamins, and the oily germ with its vitamin E.* Because they contain bran, whole-grain flours have much more fiber than refined white flours. However, some studies suggest that the size of the fiber particles may have some bearing on their ability to absorb moisture and “bulk up” stool and that the fiber particles found in fine-ground whole wheat flours may be too small to have a bulking effect. Finely ground whole wheat flour is called whole wheat cake flour; coarsely ground whole wheat flour is called graham flour. Cracked wheat is a whole wheat flour that has been cut rather than ground; it has all the nutrients of whole wheat flour, but its processing makes it less likely to yield its starch in cooking. When dried and parboiled, cracked wheat is known as bulgur, a grain used primarily as a cereal, although it can be mixed with other flours and baked. Gluten flour is a low-starch, high-protein product made by drying and grinding hard- wheat flour from which the starch has been removed. Refined (“white”) flours. Refined flours are paler than whole wheat flours because they do not contain the brown bran and germ. They have less fiber and fat and smaller amounts of vitamins and minerals than whole wheat flours, but enriched refined flours are fortified with B vitamins and iron. Refined flour has no phytic acid. Some refined flours are bleached with chlorine dioxide to destroy the xanthophylls (carotenoid pigments) that give white flours a natural cream color. Unlike carotene, the carotenoid pigment that is converted to vitamin A in the body, xanthophylls have no vita- min A activity; bleaching does not lower the vitamin A levels in the flour, but it does destroy vitamin E. There are several kinds of white flours. All-purpose white flour is a mixture of hard and soft wheats, high in protein and rich in gluten.t Cake flour is a finely milled soft-wheat flour; it has less protein than all-purpose flour. Self-rising flour is flour to which baking powder has been added and is very high in sodium. Instant flour is all-purpose flour that has been ground extra-fine so that it will combine quickly with water. Semolina is a pale high-protein, low- gluten flour made from durum wheat and used to make pasta. Rye flours. Rye flour has less gluten than wheat flour and is less elastic, which is why it makes a denser bread.:j Like whole wheat flour, dark rye flour (the flour used for pumpernickel bread) contains the bran and the germ of the rye grain; light rye flour (the flour used for ordinary rye bread) The bran is t he kernel’s hard, brown outer cover, an ext raordinarily rich source of cellulose and lignin. The endosperm is t he kernel’s pale interior, where t he vitamins abound. The germ, a small part icle in t he interior, is t he part of t he kernel t hat sprouts. Hard wheat has less starch and more protein t han soft wheat. It makes a heavier, denser dough. Gluten is t he st icky substance formed when k neading t he dough relaxes t he long-chain molecules in t he proteins gliadin and glutenin so t hat some of t heir intermolecular bonds (bonds bet ween atoms in t he same molecule) break and new int ramolecular bonds (bonds bet ween atoms on different mol- ecules) are formed. Triticale flour is milled from triticale grain, a rye/wheat hybrid. It has more protein and less gluten than all-purpose wheat flour.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food With beans or a “complete” protein food (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese) to provide the essential amino acid lysine, in which wheat and rye flours are deficient.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-calcium diet (whole grain and self-rising flours) Low-fiber diet (whole wheat flours) Low-gluten diet (all wheat and rye flour) Sucrose-free diet
Buying This Food Look for: Tightly sealed bags or boxes. Flours in torn packages or in open bins are exposed to air and to insect contamination. Avoid: Stained packages—the liquid that stained the package may have seeped through into the flour.
Storing This Food Store all flours in air- and moistureproof canisters. Whole wheat flours, which contain the germ and bran of the wheat and are higher in fat than white flours, may become rancid if exposed to air; they should be used within a week after you open the package. If you plan to hold the flour for longer than that, store it in the freezer, tightly wrapped to protect it against air and moisture. You do not have to thaw the flour when you are ready to use it; just measure it out and add it directly to the other ingredients. Put a bay leaf in the flour canister to help protect against insect infections. Bay leaves are natural insect repellents.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Protein reactions. The wheat kernel contains several proteins, including gliadin and glute- nin. When you mix flour with water, gliadin and glutenin clump together in a sticky mass. Kneading the dough relaxes the long gliadin and glutenin molecules, breaking internal bonds between individual atoms in each gliadin and glutenin molecule and allowing the molecules to unfold and form new bonds between atoms in different molecules. The result is a network structure made of a new gliadin-glutenin compound called gluten. Gluten is very elastic. The gluten network can stretch to accommodate the gas (carbon dioxide) formed when you add yeast to bread dough or heat a cake batter made with baking powder or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), trapping the gas and making the bread dough or cake batter rise. When you bake the dough or batter, the gluten network hardens and the bread or cake assumes its finished shape. Starch reactions. Starch consists of molecules of the complex carbohydrates amylose and amylopectin packed into a starch granule. When you heat flour in liquid, the starch gran- ules absorb water molecules, swell, and soften. When the temperature of the liquid reaches approximately 140°F the amylose and amylopectin molecules inside the granules relax and unfold, breaking some of their internal bonds (bonds between atoms on the same molecule) and forming new bonds between atoms on different molecules. The result is a network that traps and holds water molecules. The starch granules then swell, thickening the liquid. If you continue to heat the liquid (or stir it too vigorously), the network will begin to break down, the liquid will leak out of the starch granules, and the sauce will separate.* Combination reaction. Coating food with flour takes advantage of the starch reaction (absorbing liquids) and the protein reaction (baking a hard, crisp protein crust).
Medical Uses and/or Benefits A lower risk of some kinds of cancer. In 1998, scientists at Wayne State University in Detroit conducted a meta-analysis of data from more than 30 well-designed animal studies mea- suring the anti-cancer effects of wheat bran, the part of grain with highest amount of the insoluble dietary fibers cellulose and lignin. They found a 32 percent reduction in the risk of colon cancer among animals fed wheat bran; now they plan to conduct a similar meta- analysis of human studies. Whole wheat flours are a good source of wheat bran. NOTE : The amount of fiber per serving listed on a food package label shows the total amount of fiber (insoluble and soluble). Early in 1999, however, new data from the long-running Nurses Health Study at Brigham Women’s Hospital/Harvard University School of Public Health showed that women who ate a high-fiber diet had a risk of colon cancer similar to that of women who ate a low-fiber diet. * A mylose is a long, unbranched, spiral molecule; amylopect in is a short, compact, branched molecule. A mylose has more room for forming bonds to water. Wheat flours, which have a higher rat io of amy- lose to amylopect in, are superior t hickeners. Because this study contradicts literally hundreds of others conducted over the past 30 years, researchers are awaiting confirming evidence before changing dietary recommendations.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Allergic reactions. According to the Merck Manual, wheat is one of the foods most commonly implicated as a cause of allergic upset stomach, hives, and angioedema (swollen lips and eyes). For more information, see under wheat cer ea ls. Gluten intolerance (celiac disease). Celiac disease is an intestinal allergic disorder that makes it impossible to digest gluten and gliadin (proteins found in wheat and some other grains). Corn flour, potato flour, rice flour, and soy flour are all gluten- and gliadin-free. Ergot poisoning. Rye and some kinds of wheat will support ergot, a parasitic fungus related to lysergic acid (LSD). Because commercial flours are routinely checked for ergot contamina- tion, there has not been a major outbreak of ergot poisoning from bread since a 1951 incident in France. Since baking does not destroy ergot toxins, the safest course is to avoid moldy flour altogether.... flour
Haemostatic preparations of gelatine and cellulose are used to stem bleeding from the skin and gums, or as a result of tooth extractions.... haemostatics
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: High Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins, folate, vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Iron, potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Because beans use stored starches and sugars to produce green shoots called sprouts, sprouted beans have less carbohydrate than the beans from which they grow. But bean sprouts are a good source of dietary fiber, including insoluble cellulose and lignin in leaf parts and soluble pectins and gums in the bean. The sprouts are also high in the B vitamin folate and vitamin C. One-half cup raw mung bean sprouts has 1.2 mg dietary fiber, 31.5 mcg folate (8 percent of the R DA), and 7 mg vitamin C (9 percent of the R DA for a woman, 7 percent of the R DA for a man). Raw beans contain anti-nutrient chemicals that inhibit the enzymes we use to digest proteins and starches; hemagglutinins (substances that make red blood cells clump together); and “factors” that may inactivate vita- min A. These chemicals are usually destroyed when the beans are heated. with the bean must be cooked before serving. Sprouted beans served
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Cooked (see Adverse effects associated with this food ).
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber, low-residue diet
Buying This Food Look for: Fresh, crisp sprouts. The tips should be moist and tender. (The shorter the sprout, the more tender it will be.) It is sometimes difficult to judge bean sprouts packed in plastic bags, but you can see through to tell if the tip of the sprout looks fresh. Sprouts sold from water-filled bowls should be refrigerated, protected from dirt and debris, and served with a spoon or tongs, not scooped up by hands. Avoid: Mushy sprouts (they may be decayed) and soft ones (they have lost moisture and vitamin C).
Storing This Food Refrigerate sprouts in a plastic bag to keep them moist and crisp. If you bought them in a plastic bag, take them out and repack them in bags large enough that they do not crush each other. To get the most vitamin C, use the sprouts within a few days.
Preparing This Food R inse the sprouts thoroughly under cold running water to get rid of dirt and sand. Discard any soft or browned sprouts, then cut off the roots and cook the sprouts. Do not tear or cut the sprouts until you are ready to use them. When you slice into the sprouts, you tear cells, releasing enzymes that begin to destroy vitamin C.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Cooking destroys some of the heat-sensitive vitamin C in sprouts. To save it, steam the sprouts quickly, stir-fry them, or add them uncooked just before you serve the dish.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Canning. Vitamin C is heat-sensitive, and heating the sprouts during the canning process reduces their vitamin C content.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Lower risk of some birth defects. As many as t wo of ever y 1,000 babies born in the United States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their mothers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. The R DA for folate is 400 mcg for healthy adult men and women, 600 mcg for pregnant women, and 500 mcg for women who are nursing. Taking folate supplements before becoming pregnant and continuing through the first t wo months of pregnancy reduces the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records for more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study at Harvard School of Public Health/Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, in Boston, demonstrated that a diet provid- ing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B6 daily, from either food or supplements, more than twice the current R DA for each, may reduce a woman’s risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. Although men were not included in the analysis, the results are assumed to apply to them as well. However, data from a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2006 called this theory into question. Researchers at Tulane University examined the results of 12 controlled studies in which 16,958 patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease were given either folic acid supplements or placebos (“look-alike” pills with no folic acid) for at least six months. The scientists, who found no reduction in the risk of further heart disease or overall death rates among those taking folic acid, concluded that further studies will be required to verif y whether taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Food poisoning: Reacting to an outbreak of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 food poisoning associated with eating raw alfalfa sprouts, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warn- ing in 1998 and again in summer 1999, cautioning those at high risk of food-borne illness not to eat any raw sprouts. The high-risk group includes children, older adults, and people with a weakened immune system (for example, those who are HIV-positive or undergoing cancer chemotherapy). Tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1999 sug- gest that irradiating raw sprouts and bathing them in an antiseptic solution at the processing plant may eliminate disease organisms and prolong the vegetable’s shelf life; this remains to be proven.... bean sprouts
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate Sodium: Moderate Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Beets are roots, high-carbohydrate foods that provide sugars, starch, and small amounts of dietary fiber, insoluble cellulose in the skin, and soluble pectins in the flesh. Beets are also a good source of the B vitamin folate. One-half cup cooked fresh beets has one gram of dietar y fiber and 68 mcg folate (17 percent of the R DA).
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Cooked, to dissolve the stiff cell walls and make the nutrients inside available.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Anti-kidney-stone diet Low-sodium diet
Buying This Food Look for: Smooth round globes with fresh, crisp green leaves on top. Avoid: Beets with soft spots or blemishes that suggest decay underneath.
Storing This Food Protect the nutrients in beets by storing the vegetables in a cool place, such as the vegetable crisper in your refrigerator. When stored, the beet root converts its starch into sugars; the longer it is stored, the sweeter it becomes. Remove the green tops from beets before storing and store the beet greens like other leaf y vegetables, in plastic bags in the refrigerator to keep them from drying out and losing vitamins (also see gr eens). Use both beets and beet greens within a week.
Preparing This Food Scrub the globes with a vegetable brush under cold running water. You can cook them whole or slice them. Peel before (or after) cooking.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Betacyamin and betaxanthin, the red betalain pigments in beets, are water-soluble. (That’s why borscht is a scarlet soup.) Betacyanins and betaxanthins turn more intensely red when you add acids; think of scarlet sweet-and-sour beets in lemon juice or vinegar with sugar. They turn slightly blue in a basic (alkaline) solution such as baking soda and water. Like carrots, beets have such stiff cell walls that it is hard for the human digestive tract to extract the nutrients inside. Cooking will not soften the cellulose in the beet’s cell walls, but it will dissolve enough hemicellulose so that digestive juices are able to penetrate. Cook- ing also activates flavor molecules in beets, making them taste better.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Canning. Beets lose neither their color nor their texture in canning.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Lower risk of some birth defects. As many as two of every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their moth- ers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. The R DA for folate is 400 mcg for healthy adult men and women, 600 mcg for pregnant women, and 500 mcg for women who are nursing. Taking folate supplements before becoming pregnant and continu- ing through the first two months of pregnancy reduces the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Possible lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records of more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study at Harvard School of Public Health/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, demonstrated that a diet providing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B6 daily, either from food or supple- ments, might reduce a woman’s risk of heart attack by almost 50 percent. Although men were not included in the study, the results were assumed to apply to them as well. However, data from a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2006 called this theory into question. Researchers at Tulane Univer- sity examined the results of 12 controlled studies in which 16,958 patients with preexisting cardiovascular diseases were given either folic acid supplements or placebos (“look-alike” pills with no folic acid) for at least six months. The scientists, who found no reduction in the risk of further heart disease or overall death rates among those taking folic acid, concluded that further studies will be required to verif y whether taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Pigmented urine and feces. The ability to metabolize betacyanins and be taxanthins is a genetic trait. People with two recessive genes for this trait cannot break down these red pig- ments, which will be excreted, bright red, in urine. Eating beets can also turn feces red, but it will not cause a false-positive result in a test for occult blood in the stool. Nitrosamine formation. Beets, celery, eggplant, lettuce, radishes, spinach, and collard and turnip greens contain nitrates that convert naturally into nitrites in your stomach—where some of the nitrites combine with amines to form nitrosamines, some of which are known carcinogens. This natural chemical reaction presents no known problems for a healthy adult. However, when these vegetables are cooked and left standing for a while at room tempera- ture, microorganisms that convert nitrates to nitrites begin to multiply, and the amount of nitrites in the food rises. The resulting higher-nitrite foods may be dangerous for infants (see spinach).... beets
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Moderate Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A Major mineral contribution: Potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Carrots are high-fiber food, roots whose crispness comes from cell walls stiffened with the insoluble dietary fibers cellulose and lignin. Carrots also contain soluble pectins, plus appreciable amounts of sugar (mostly sucrose) and a little starch. They are an extraordinary source of vitamin A derived from deep yellow carotenoids (including beta-carotene). One raw carrot, about seven inches long, has two grams of dietary fiber and 20,250 IU vitamin A (nine times the R DA for a woman, seven times the R DA for a man).
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Cooked, so that the cellulose- and hemicellulose-stiffened cell walls of the carrot have partially dissolved and the nutrients inside are more readily available.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Disaccharide-intolerance diet (for people who are sucrase- and /or invertase-deficient) Low-fiber diet Low-sodium diet (fresh and canned carrots)
Buying This Food Look for: Firm, bright orange yellow carrots with fresh, crisp green tops. Avoid: Wilted or shriveled carrots, pale carrots, or carrots with brown spots on the skin.
Storing This Food Trim off the green tops before you store carrots. The leaf y tops will wilt and rot long before the sturdy root. Keep carrots cool. They will actually gain vitamin A during their first five months in storage. Protected from heat and light, they can hold to their vitamins at least another two and a half months. Store carrots in perforated plastic bags or containers. Circulating air prevents the for- mation of the terpenoids that make the carrots taste bitter. Do not store carrots near apples or other fruits that manufacture ethylene gas as they continue to ripen; this gas encourages the development of terpenoids. Store peeled carrots in ice water in the refrigerator to keep them crisp for as long as 48 hours.
Preparing This Food Scrape the carrots. Ver y young, tender carrots can be cleaned by scrubbing with a veg- etable brush. Soak carrots that are slightly limp in ice water to firm them up. Don’t discard slightly wilted intact carrots; use them in soups or stews where texture doesn’t matter.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Since carotenes do not dissolve in water and are not affected by the normal heat of cooking, carrots stay yellow and retain their vitamin A when you heat them. But cooking will dissolve some of the hemicellulose in the carrot’s stiff cell walls, changing the vegetable’s texture and making it easier for digestive juices to penetrate the cells and reach the nutrients inside.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Freezing. The characteristic crunchy texture of fresh carrots depends on the integrity of its cellulose- and hemicellulose-stiffened cell walls. Freezing cooked carrots creates ice crystals that rupture these membranes so that the carrots usually seem mushy when defrosted. If possible, remove the carrots before freezing a soup or stew and add fresh or canned carrots when you defrost the dish.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits A reduced risk of some kinds of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, carrots and other foods rich in beta-carotene, a deep yellow pigment that your body converts to a form of vitamin A, may lower the risk of cancers of the larynx, esophagus and lungs. There is no such benefit from beta-carotene supplements; indeed, one controversial study actually showed a higher rate of lung cancer among smokers taking the supplement. Protection against vitamin A-deficiency blindness. In the body, the vitamin A from carrots becomes 11-cis retinol, the essential element in rhodopsin, a protein found in the rods (the cells inside your eyes that let you see in dim light). R hodopsin absorbs light, triggering the chain of chemical reactions known as vision. One raw carrot a day provides more than enough vitamin A to maintain vision in a normal healthy adult.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Oddly pigmented skin. The carotenoids in carrots are fat-soluble. If you eat large amounts of carrots day after day, these carotenoids will be stored in your fatty tissues, including the fat just under your skin, and eventually your skin will look yellow. If you eat large amounts of carrots and large amounts of tomatoes (which contain the red pigment lycopene), your skin may be tinted orange. This effect has been seen in people who ate two cups of carrots and two tomatoes a day for several months; when the excessive amounts of these vegetables were eliminated from the diet, skin color returned to normal. False-positive test for occult blood in the stool. The active ingredient in the guaiac slide test for hidden blood in feces is alphaguaiaconic acid, a chemical that turns blue in the presence of blood. Carrots contain peroxidase, a natural chemical that also turns alphaguaiaconic acid blue and may produce a positive test in people who do not actually have blood in the stool.... carrots
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate Sodium: Moderate Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium, phosphorus
About the Nutrients in This Food Celeriac is the starchy root of a variety of celery with moderate amounts of dietary fiber and vitamin C. One-half cup cooked celeriac has one gram dietary fiber and 4 mg vitamin C (5 percent of the R DA for a woman, 4 percent of the R DA for a man), and 134 mg potassium—about 40 percent as much potassium as one medium orange.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Fresh sliced in salads to protect the vitamin C.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber diet Low-sodium diet
Buying This Food Look for: firm, small-to-medium, sprout-free celeriac roots Avoid: large roots. Larger celeriac roots contain more cellulose and lignin, which gives them a “woody” texture.
Storing This Food Do remove green tops from celeriac before storing the root. Do refrigerate celeriac in plastic bags or in the vegetable crisper; it will keep fresh for about a week.
Preparing This Food Scrub celeriac under cold running water. Cut off leaves, and extra root buds. Peel the root, slice it and either use it raw in salads or boil it to serve as a vegetable side dish. When you cut into the celeriac, you tear its cell walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that will turn the vegetable brown. You can slow the reaction (but not stop it completely) by dipping peeled, sliced raw celeriac in an acid such as lemon juice or a solution of vinegar and water.
What Happens When You Cook This Food When celeriac is heated, the soluble fibers in its cell walls dissolves; the cooked vegetable is softer.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Lower risk of stroke. Potassium lowers blood pressure. According to new data from the Harvard University Health Professionals Study, a long-running survey of male doctors, a diet rich in high-potassium foods such as bananas may also reduce the risk of stroke. The men who ate the most potassium-rich foods (an average nine servings a day) had 38 percent fewer strokes than men who ate the least (less than four servings a day).... celeriac
Habitat: Throughout India. Grows wild in forests and hills. Often found around subterranean water streams.
English: Cluster Fig, Country Fig.Ayurvedic: Udumbara, Sadaaphala, Hema-daudhaka, Jantuphala, Yagyaanga.Unani: Anjir-e-Aadam, Anjir-e- Ahmak, Gular.Siddha/Tamil: Atthi.Action: Astringent and antiseptic; used in threatened abortions, menorrhagia, leucorrhoea, urinary disorders, skin diseases, swellings, boils, haemorrhages. Unripe fruits—astringent, carminative, digestive, stomachic; used in diarrhoea, dyspepsia, dysentery, menorrhagia and haemorrhages. Ripe fruits—antiemetic, also
used in haemoptysis. Root and fruit—hypoglycaemic. Bark— decoction is used in skin diseases, inflammations, boils and ulcers.The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India recommends the use of the bark in lipid disorders and obesity.Leaves and fruit contain gluacol. The fruit also contains beta-sitosterol, lupeol acetate, friedelin, higher hydrocarbons and other phytosterols.Petroleum ether extract of the stem bark significantly reduced blood sugar level of rats with streptozotocin- induced diabetes. It completely inhibited glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from rat liver. Extracts of fruit and latex did not show any significant effect on blood sugar level of diabetic rats, they inhibited only glucose-6- phosphate but not arginase from rat liver.An alcoholic extract of the bark has been found to be very effective in reducing blood sugar in alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. It helped in improving the damaged beta cells of islets of Langerhans, thus exerting permanent blood sugar lowering effect.The ethanolic extract of seeds also showed hypoglycaemic activity.Lignin, the main fiber constituent of the fruit, prevented the rise in serum cholesterol levels of some extent. Fresh whole fruits, used as a source of dietary fibre, exhibited more hypoc- holesterolemic activity than pure cellulose.Dosage: Bark—20-30 g for decoction. (API Vol. I.)... ficus racemosaNutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate Sodium: High Major vitamin contribution: Folate Major mineral contribution: Potassium, phosphorus
About the Nutrients in This Food Celery has moderate amounts of dietary fiber and small amounts of the B vitamin folate. One-half cup diced raw celery has one gram dietary fiber and 17 mcg folate (4 percent of the R DA).
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Fresh, filled with cheese to add protein.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber diet Low-sodium diet
Buying This Food Look for: Crisp, medium-size pale green celery with fresh leaves. Darker stalks have more vitamin A but are likely to be stringy. Avoid: Wilted or yellowed stalks. Wilted stalks have lost moisture and are low in vitamins A and C. Yellowed stalks are no longer fresh; their chlorophyll pigments have faded enough to let the yellow carotenes show through. Avoid bruised or rotten celery. Celery cells contain chemicals called furocoumarins (pso- ralens) that may turn carcinogenic when the cell membranes are damaged and the furocou- marins are exposed to light. Bruised or rotting celery may contain up to a hundred times the psoralens in fresh celery.
Storing This Food Handle celery carefully to avoid damaging the stalks and releasing furocoumarins. Refrigerate celery in plastic bags or in the vegetable crisper to keep them moist and crisp. They will stay fresh for about a week.
Preparing This Food R inse celery under cold running water to remove all sand and dirt. Cut off the leaves, blanch them, dry them thoroughly, and rub them through a sieve or food mill. The dry powder can be used to season salt or frozen for later use in soups or stews.
What Happens When You Cook This Food When you cook celery the green flesh will soften as the pectin inside its cells dissolves in water, but the virtually indestructible cellulose and lignin “strings” on the ribs will stay stiff. If you don’t like the strings, pull them off before you cook the celery. Cooking also changes the color of celery. Chlorophyll, the pigment that makes green vegetables green, is very sensitive to acids. When you heat celery, the chlorophyll in its stalks reacts chemically with acids in the celery or in the cooking water to form pheophytin, which is brown. The pheophytin will turn the celery olive-drab or, if the stalks have a lot of yellow carotene, bronze. You can prevent this natural chemical reaction and keep the celery green by cooking it so quickly that there is no time for the chlorophyll to react with the acids, or by cooking it in lots of water (which will dilute the acids), or by cooking it with the lid off the pot so that the volatile acids can float off into the air.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Contact dermatitis. Celery contains limonene, an essential oil known to cause contact der- matitis in sensitive individuals. (Limonene is also found in dill, caraway seeds, and the peel of lemon and limes.) Photosensitivity. The furocoumarins (psoralens) released by damaged or moldy celery are photosensitizers as well as potential mutagens and carcinogens. Constant contact with these chemicals can make skin very sensitive to light, a problem most common among food work- ers who handle large amounts of celery without wearing gloves. Nitrate/nitrite poisoning. Like beets, eggplant, lettuce, radish, spinach, and collard and turnip greens, celery contains nitrates that convert naturally into nitrites in your stomach and then react with the amino acids in proteins to form nitrosamines. Although some nitro- samines are known or suspected carcinogens, this natural chemical conversion presents no known problems for a healthy adult. However, when these nitrate-rich vegetables are cooked and left to stand at room temperature, bacterial enzyme action (and perhaps some enzymes in the plants) convert the nitrates to nitrites at a much faster rate than normal. These higher-nitrite foods may be hazardous for infants; several cases of “spinach poison- ing” have been reported among children who ate cooked spinach that had been left standing at room temperature.... celery
Habitat: Indigenous to Japan.
English: Agar Agar, Japanese Isinglass. (Dried mucilaginous extract.)Folk: Agar-Agar.Action: Bulk-laxative. Agar-Agar does not increase peristaltic action. Its action is similar to that of cellulose of vegetable foods which aids the regularity of the bowel movement. (Often made into an emulsion with liquid paraffin for use in constipation.)
Most agars consist of two major polygalactoses, the neutral agarose and the sulphonated polysaccharide agaropectin, with traces of amino acids and free sugars.Agar contains a large amount of pectin which may precipitate when exposed to alcohol. (Sharon M Herr.)... gelidium amansiiNutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Moderate Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A (sour cherries), vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Cherries have moderate amounts of fiber, insoluble cellulose and lignin in the skin and soluble pectins in the flesh, plus vitamin C. One cup fresh red sweet cherries (two ounces, without pits) has 3.2 g dietary fiber, 64 IU vitamin A (.2 percent of the R DA) and 10.8 mg vitamin C (14 percent of the R DA for a woman, 12 percent of the R DA for a man). One-half cup canned water-packed sour/tart cherries has 0.5 g dietary fiber and 1.5 mg vitamin C, and 377 IU vitamin A (16 percent of the R DA for a woman, 13 percent of the R DA for a man). Like apple seeds and apricot, peach, or plum pits, cherry pits contain amygdalin, a naturally occurring cyanide/sugar compound that breaks down into hydrogen cyanide in the stomach. While accidentally swallow- ing a cherry pit once in a while is not a serious hazard, cases of human poisoning after eating apple seeds have been reported (see apples). NOTE : Some wild cherries are poisonous.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Sweet cherries can be eaten raw to protect their vitamin C; sour (“cook- ing”) cherries are more palatable when cooked. * Except for maraschino cherries, which are high in sodium.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-sodium diet (maraschino cherries)
Buying This Food Look for: Plump, firm, brightly colored cherries with glossy skin whose color may range from pale golden yellow to deep red to almost black, depending on the variety. The stems should be green and fresh, bending easily and snapping back when released. Avoid: Sticky cherries (they’ve been damaged and are leaking), red cherries with very pale skin (they’re not fully ripe), and bruised cherries whose flesh will be discolored under the bruise.
Storing This Food Store cherries in the refrigerator to keep them cold and humid, conserving their nutrient and flavor. Cherries are highly perishable; use them as quickly as possible.
Preparing This Food Handle cherries with care. When you bruise, peel, or slice a cherry you tear its cell walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase—an enzyme that converts phenols in the cherry into brown compounds that darken the fruit. You can slow this reaction (but not stop it completely) by dipping raw sliced or peeled cherries into an acid solution (lemon juice and water or vinegar and water) or by mixing them with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Polyphenoloxidase also works more slowly in the cold, but storing sliced or peeled cherries in the refrigerator is much less effective than bathing them in an acid solution.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Depending on the variety, cherries get their color from either red anthocyanin pigments or yellow to orange to red carotenoids. The anthocyanins dissolve in water, turn redder in acids and bluish in bases (alkalis). The carotenoids are not affected by heat and do not dissolve in water, which is why cherries do not lose vitamin A when you cook them. Vitamin C, how- ever, is vulnerable to heat.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Canning and freezing. Canned and frozen cherries contain less vitamin C and vitamin A than fresh cherries. Sweetened canned or frozen cherries contain more sugar than fresh cherries. Candying. Candied cherries are much higher in calories and sugar than fresh cherries. Maraschino cherries contain about twice as many calories per serving as fresh cherries and are high in sodium.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Anti-inflammatory effects. In a series of laboratory studies conducted from 1998 through 2001, researchers at the Bioactive Natural Products Laboratory in the Department of Horti- culture and National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University dis- covered that the anthocyanins (red pigments) in tart cherries effectively block the activity of two enzymes, COX-1 and COX-2, essential for the production of prostaglandins, which are natural chemicals involved in the inflammatory response (which includes redness, heat, swelling, and pain). In other words, the anthocyanins appeared to behave like aspirin and other traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen. In 2004, scientists at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, released data from a study showing that women who ate 45 bing (sweet) cherries at breakfast each morning had markedly lower blood levels of uric acid, a by-product of protein metabolism linked to pain and inflammation, during an acute episode of gout (a form of arthritis). The women in the study also had lower blood levels of C-reactive protein and nitric acid, two other chemicals linked to inflammation. These effects are yet to be proven in larger studies with a more diverse group of subjects.... cherries
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A (in yellow corn), B vitamins, vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Like other grains, corn is a high-carbohydrate, high-fiber food. Eighty-one percent of the solid material in the corn kernel consists of sugars, starch, and dietary fiber, including insoluble cellulose and noncarbohydrate lignin in the seed covering and soluble pectins and gums in the kernel.* Corn has small amounts of vitamin A, the B vitamin folate, and vitamin C. Corn is a moderately good source of plant proteins, but zein (its major protein) is deficient in the essential amino acids lysine, cystine, and tryptophan. Corn is low in fat and its oils are composed primarily of unsaturated fatty acids. Yellow corn, which gets its color from the xanthophyll pigments lutein and zeaxanthin plus the vitamin A-active pigments carotene and cryptoxanthin, contains a little vitamin A; white corn has very little. One fresh ear of yellow corn, 5.5– 6.5 inches long, has three grams dietar y fiber, one gram fat (0.1 g saturated fat, 0.3 g monounsaturated fat, 0.4 mg polyunsaturated fat), 137 IU vitamin A (6 percent of the R DA for a woman, 5 percent of the R DA for a man), 34 mcg folate (9 percent of the R DA), and 5 mg vitamin C (7 percent of the R DA for a woman, 6 percent of the R DA for a man). * The most plent iful sugar in sweet corn is glucose; hydrolysis (chemical splitt ing) of corn starch is t he principal indust rial source of glucose. Since glucose is less sweet t han sucrose, sucrose and fructose are added to commercial corn syrup to make it sweeter.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food With beans (which are rich in lysine) or milk (which is rich in lysine and tryptophan), to complement the proteins in corn. With meat or a food rich in vitamin C, to make the iron in corn more useful.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber diet
Buying This Food Look for: Cobs that feel cool or are stored in a refrigerated bin. Keeping corn cool helps retain its vitamin C and slows the natural conversion of the corn’s sugars to starch. Choose fresh corn with medium-sized kernels that yield slightly when you press them with your fingertip. Very small kernels are immature; very large ones are older and will taste starchy rather than sweet. Both yellow and white kernels may be equally tasty, but the husk of the corn should always be moist and green. A dry yellowish husk means that the corn is old enough for the chlorophyll pigments in the husk to have faded, letting the carotenes underneath show through.
Storing This Food Refrigerate fresh corn. At room temperature, fresh-picked sweet corn will convert nearly half its sugar to starch within 24 hours and lose half its vitamin C in four days. In the refrigera- tor, it may keep all its vitamin C for up to a week and may retain its sweet taste for as long as ten days.
Preparing This Food Strip off the husks and silk, and brush with a vegetable brush to get rid of clinging silky threads. R inse the corn briefly under running water, and plunge into boiling water for four to six minutes, depending on the size of the corn.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Heat denatures (breaks apart) the long-chain protein molecules in the liquid inside the corn kernel, allowing them to form a network of protein molecules that will squeeze out moisture and turn rubbery if you cook the corn too long. Heat also allows the starch granules inside the kernel to absorb water so that they swell and eventually rupture, releasing the nutrients inside. When you cook corn, the trick is to cook it just long enough to rupture its starch granules while keeping its protein molecules from turning tough and chewy. Cooking fresh corn for several minutes in boiling water may destroy at least half of its vitamin C. At Cornell University, food scientists found that cooking fresh corn in the microwave oven (two ears/without water if very fresh/4 minutes/600 –700 watts) preserves most of the vitamin C.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Canning and freezing. Canned corn and frozen corn both have less vitamin C than fresh- cooked corn. The vitamin is lost when the corn is heated during canning or blanched before freezing to destroy the natural enzymes that would otherwise continue to ripen it. Blanch- ing in a microwave oven rather than in boiling water can preserve the vitamin C in frozen corn (see above). Milling. Milling removes the hull and germ from the corn kernel, leaving what is called hominy. Hominy, which is sometimes soaked in wood ash (lye) to increase its calcium con- tent, can be dried and used as a cereal (grits) or ground into corn flour. Coarsely ground corn flour is called cornmeal. Processed corn cereals. All processed, ready-to-eat corn cereals are much higher in sodium and sugar than fresh corn. Added calcium carbonate. Pellagra is a niacin-deficiency disease that occurs most com- monly among people for whom corn is the staple food in a diet lacking protein foods with the essential amino acid tryptophan, which can be converted to niacin in the human body. Pellagra is not an inevitable result of a diet high in corn, however, since the niacin in corn can be made more useful by soaking the corn in a solution of calcium carbonate (lime) and water. In Mexico, for example, the corn used to make tortillas is boiled in a dilute solution of calcium carbonate (from shells or limestone) and water, then washed, drained, and ground. The alkaline bath appears to release the bound niacin in corn so that it can be absorbed by the body.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits As a wheat substitute in baking. People who are allergic to wheat or cannot tolerate the glu- ten in wheat flour or wheat cereals can often use corn flour or hominy instead. Bath powder. Corn starch, a fine powder refined from the endosperm (inner part) of the corn kernel, can be used as an inexpensive, unperfumed body or face powder. Because it absorbs oils, it is also used as an ingredient in dry shampoos.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Allergic reaction. According to the Merck Manual, corn is one of the 12 foods most likely to trigger the classic food allergy symptoms: hives, swelling of the lips and eyes, and upset stomach. The others are berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries), choco- late, eggs, fish, legumes (green peas, lima beans, peanuts, soybeans), milk, nuts, peaches, pork, shellfish, and wheat (see wheat cer ea ls).... corn
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Low Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Low Sodium: Moderate Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Iron, potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food Cranberries are nearly 90 percent water. The rest is sugars and dietary fiber, including insoluble cellulose in the skin and soluble gums and pectins in the flesh. Pectin dissolves as the fruit ripens; the older and riper the cran- berries, the less pectin they contain. Cranberries also have a bit of protein and a trace of fat, plus moderate amounts of vitamin C. One-half cup cranberries has 1.6 g dietary fiber and 6.5 mg vitamin C (9 percent of the R DA for a woman, 7 percent of the R DA for a man). One-half cup cranberry sauce has 1.5 g dietary fiber and 3 mg vitamin C (4 percent of the R DA for a woman, 3 percent of the R DA for a man).
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Relish made of fresh, uncooked berries (to preserve the vitamin C, which is destroyed by heat) plus oranges.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber diet
Buying This Food Look for: Firm, round, plump, bright red berries that feel cool and dry to the touch. Avoid: Shriveled, damp, or moldy cranberries. Moldy cranberries may be contaminated with fusarium molds, which produce toxins that can irritate skin and damage tissues by inhibiting the synthesis of DNA and protein.
Storing This Food Store packaged cranberries, unwashed, in the refrigerator, or freeze unwashed berries in sealed plastic bags for up to one year.
Preparing This Food Wash the berries under running water, drain them, and pick them over carefully to remove shriveled, damaged, or moldy berries. R inse frozen berries. It is not necessary to thaw before cooking.
What Happens When You Cook This Food First, the heat will make the water inside the cranberry swell, so that if you cook it long enough the berry will burst. Next, the anthocyanin pigments that make cranberries red will dissolve and make the cooking water red. Anthocyanins stay bright red in acid solutions and turn bluish if the liquid is basic (alkaline). Cooking cranberries in lemon juice and sugar preserves the color as well as brightens the taste. Finally, the heat of cooking will destroy some of the vitamin C in cranberries. Cranberry sauce has about one-third the vitamin C of an equal amount of fresh cranberries.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Urinary antiseptic. Cranberr y juice is a long-honored folk remedy for urinar y infections. In 1985, researchers at Youngstown (Ohio) State University found a “special factor” in cran- berries that appeared to keep disease-causing bacteria from adhering to the surface of cells in the bladder and urinar y tract. In 1999, scientists at study at Rutgers University (in New Jersey) identified specific tannins in cranberries as the effective agents. In 2004, research- ers at Beth Israel Medical Center (New York) published a review of 19 recent studies of cranberries. The report, in the journal American Family Physician, suggested that a regimen of eight ounces of unsweetened cranberr y juice or one 300 – 400 mg cranberr y extract tablet twice a day for up to 12 months safely reduced the risk of urinar y tract infections. In 2008, a similar review by scientists at the University of Stirling (Scotland) of 10 studies showed similar results.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Increased risk of kidney stones. Long-term use of cranberry products may increase the risk of stone formation among patients known to form oxalate stones (stones composed of calcium and/or other minerals).
Food/Drug Interactions Anticoagulants Anticoagulants (blood thinners) are drugs used to prevent blood clots. They are most commonly prescribed for patients with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that allows blood to pool in the heart and possibly clot before being pumped out into the body. In 2006 researchers at the College of Pharmacy and the Antithrombosis Center at the Univer- sity of Illinois (Chicago) reported that consuming cranberry juice while using the anticoagu- lant warafin (Coumadin) might cause fluctuations in blood levels of the anticoagulant, thus reducing the drug’s ability to prevent blood clots.... cranberries
People should be aware that normal bowel habits vary greatly, from twice a day to once every two or even three days. Any change from normal frequency to irregular or infrequent defaecation may signal constipation. Furthermore, before laxatives are prescribed, it is essential to ensure that the constipation is not the result of an underlying condition producing ‘secondary’ constipation. Individuals should not use laxatives too often or indiscriminately; persistent constipation is a reason to seek medical advice.
Bulk laxatives include bran and most high-?bre foods, such as fruit, vegetables and wholemeal foods. These leave a large indigestible residue that holds water in the gut and produces a large soft stool. Isphaghula husk, methyl cellulose and stercula are helpful when bran is ine?ective. Inorganic salts such as magnesium sulphate (Epsom Salts) have a similar e?ect.
Stimulant laxatives – for example, bisacodyl, senna and docusate sodium – stimulate PERISTALSIS, although the action may be accompanied by colicky pains.
Faecal softeners (emollients) There are two groups: surface active agents such as dioctyl sodium and sulphosuccinate which retain water in the stools and are often combined with a stimulant purgative; and liquid para?n which is chemically inert and is said to act by lubrication.
Osmotic laxatives These substances act by holding ?uid in the bowel by OSMOSIS, or by altering the manner in which water is distributed in the FAECES. Magnesium salts are used to produce rapid bowel evacuation, although one of them, magnesium hydroxide, should be used only occasionally. Phosphate or sodium citrate enemas (see ENEMA) can be used for constipation, while the former is used to ensure bowel evacuation before abdominal radiological procedures, endoscopy and surgery.... laxatives
Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate (fresh figs) High (dried figs) Protein: Low Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Very high Sodium: Low (fresh or dried fruit) High (dried fruit treated with sodium sulfur compounds) Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins Major mineral contribution: Iron (dried figs)
About the Nutrients in This Food Figs, whether fresh or dried, are high-carbohydrate food, an extraordinarily good source of dietary fiber, natural sugars, iron, calcium, and potassium. Ninety-two percent of the carbohydrates in dried figs are sugars (42 percent glucose, 31 percent fructose, 0.1 percent sucrose). The rest is dietary fiber, insoluble cellulose in the skin, soluble pectins in fruit. The most important mineral in dried figs is iron. Gram for gram, figs have about 50 percent as much iron as beef liver (0.8 mg/gram vs. 1.9 mg/gram). One medium fresh fig has 1.4 g dietary fiber, six grams sugars, and 0.18 mg iron (1 percent of the R DA for a woman, 2 percent of the R DA for a man). A similar size dried, uncooked fig has 0.8 g fiber, four grams sugars and the same amount of iron as a fresh fig.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Dried (but see How other kinds of processing affect this food, below).
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber, low-residue diets Low-sodium (dried figs treated with sulfites)
Buying This Food Look for: Plump, soft fresh figs whose skin may be green, brown, or purple, depending on the variety. As figs ripen, the pectin in their cell walls dissolves and the figs grow softer to the touch. The largest, best-tasting figs are generally the ones harvested and shipped in late spring and early summer, during June and July. Choose dried figs in tightly sealed airtight packages. Avoid: Fresh figs that smell sour. The odor indicates that the sugars in the fig have fer- mented; such fruit is spoiled.
Storing This Food Refrigerate fresh figs. Dried figs can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature; either way, wrap them tightly in an air- and moistureproof container to keep them from los- ing moisture and becoming hard. Dried figs may keep for several months.
Preparing This Food Wash fresh figs under cool water; use dried figs right out of the package. If you want to slice the dried figs, chill them first in the refrigerator or freezer: cold figs slice clean.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Fresh figs contain ficin, a proteolytic (protein-breaking) enzyme similar to papain in papayas and bromelin in fresh pineapple. Proteolytic enzymes split long-chain protein molecules into smaller units, which is why they help tenderize meat. Ficin is most effective at about 140 –160°F, the temperature at which stews simmer, and it will continue to work after you take the stew off the stove until the food cools down. Temperatures higher than 160°F inac- tivate ficin; canned figs—which have been exposed to very high heat in processing—will not tenderize meat. Both fresh and dried figs contain pectin, which dissolves when you cook the figs, mak- ing them softer. Dried figs also absorb water and swell.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Drying. Figs contain polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that hastens the oxidation of phenols in the fig, creating brownish compounds that darken its flesh. To prevent this reaction, figs may be treated with a sulfur compound such as sulfur dioxide or sodium sulfite. People who are sensitive to sulfites may suffer serious allergic reactions, including potentially fatal ana- phylactic shock, if they eat figs that have been treated with one of these compounds. Canning. Canned figs contain slightly less vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin than fresh figs, and no active ficin.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits Iron supplementation. Dried figs are an excellent source of iron. As a laxative. Figs are a good source of the indigestible food fiber lignin. Cells whose walls are highly lignified retain water and, since they are impossible to digest, help bulk up the stool. In addition, ficin has some laxative effects. Together, the lignin and the ficin make figs (particularly dried figs) an efficient laxative food. Lower risk of stroke. Potassium lowers blood pressure. According to new data from the Harvard University Health Professionals Study, a long-running survey of male doctors, a diet rich in high-potassium foods such as bananas may also reduce the risk of stroke. The men who ate the most potassium-rich foods (an average nine servings a day) had 38 percent fewer strokes than men who ate the least (less than four servings a day).
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Sulfite allergies. See How other kinds of processing affect this food.
Food/Drug Interactions MAO inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase (M AO) inhibitors are drugs used as antidepressants or antihypertensives. They inhibit the action of natural enzymes that break down tyramine, a nitrogen compound formed when proteins are metabolized, so it can be eliminated from the body. Tyramine is a pressor amine, a chemical that constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. If you eat a food rich in one of these chemicals while you are taking an M AO inhibitor, the pressor amines cannot be eliminated from your body, and the result may be a hypertensive crisis (sustained elevated blood pressure). There has been one report of such a reaction in a patient who ate canned figs while taking an M AO inhibitor.... figs
Habitat: Native to West Asia; cultivated throughout India as a salad plant.
English: Garden Cress, Water Cress.Ayurvedic: Chandrashuura, Chan- drikaa, Vaas-pushpaa, Pashume- hankaarikaa, Nandini, Suvaasaraa, Aashaalim.Unani: Habb-ul-rashaad, Tukh-e- Taratezak, Haalim, Sipandaan.Siddha/Tamil: Alivirai.Action: Used in asthma, bronchial affections and bleeding piles. Seeds—lactagogue, diuretic, and emmenagogue. Used for treating skin disorders, fever, amoebic dysentery and asthma. Leaf— stimulant, antiscorbutic, diuretic. Roots—used in secondary syphilis and in tenesmus.
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India recommends the use of dried seeds, in powder form, in gout.The seeds are a good source of iron, but its bioavailability is poor (5.4% of total iron). They are used for rapid healing ofbone fractures. The ethano- lic extract of seeds significantly increased collagen synthesis and its deposition at bone fracture portion in the treated rats. The tensile strength of the broken tibiae also increased.The seeds contain an alkaloid (0.19%), glucotropaeolin, sinapin (cho- line ester of sinapic acid), sinapic acid, mucilaginous matter (5%) and uric acid (0.108 g/kg). The seed oil exhibits pronounced oestrogenic activity.The seed mucilage allays the irritation of the mucous membrane of intestines in dysentery and diarrhoea. It consists of a mixture of cellulose (18.3%) and uronic acid-containing polysaccharides; acid hydrolysis yield L-arabinose, D-galactose, L-rhamnose, D-glacturonic acid and D-glucose.The plant contains pantothenic acid, pyridoxin and rutin. Ethanolic extract of the plant showed antiviral activity against rinderpest virus.Dosage: Seed—3-6 g powder. (API, Vol. I.)... lepidium sativumCAPSULES. A convenient vehicle for administration of powders, seeds, oils, balsams, Castor oil, Garlic, Rose Hip, etc, having the advantage to mask nasty tasting or smelly medicines. Ideal for regulating dosage for children. Swallowed, they soon reach the stomach where their contents are slowly released. Gelatin capsules are of animal origin but cellulose non-animal materials are available. Their use extends also to gynaecological and rectal problems, inserted into the vagina or anus.
Standard sizes range from size 5 to 000. Size 00 is most popular in European pharmacy. See: POWDERS.
To fill empty capsules, take apart the two sections, ‘dab’ open end into powder on a flat surface; fill to capacity and affix unfilled half-shell. Manufacturers use a special filling machine for this purpose.
Patients should remain standing for at least 90 seconds after taking capsules, and followed up with sips of water. Swallowing failure is possible when capsules are taken in the recumbent position when they may adhere to the oesophageal membrane delaying disintegration time.
Equipment suppliers: capsules and capsule-making machines – Dav-Caps, PO Box 11, Monmouth, Gwent NP5 3NX. Also: The Herbal Apothecary, 120 High Street, Syston, Leicester 1E7 8GC. ... capsicum
Available carbohydrates are predominantly starches (complex carbohydrates) and sugars (simple carbohydrates). In carbohydrate metabolism, the monosaccharides (simple sugars) glucose (grape sugar), galactose (a milk sugar), and fructose (fruit sugar) are absorbed into the bloodstream unchanged. The disaccharides (double sugars) sucrose, maltose and lactose (a milk sugar) are broken down into simple sugars before they are absorbed. Starches also have to be broken down into simple sugars.
Some glucose is burned up immediately (see metabolism) in order to generate energy for cells, such as brain cells, that need a constant supply. Galactose and fructose have to be converted to glucose in the liver before they can be used by body cells. Surplus glucose is conveyed to the liver, muscles, and fat cells where it is converted into glycogen and fat for storage. When blood glucose levels are high, glucose storage is stimulated by insulin, a hormone that is secreted by the pancreas. When the blood glucose level becomes low, insulin secretion diminishes and glucagon, which is another hormone produced by the pancreas, stimulates the conversion of stored glycogen to glucose for release into the bloodstream. Although fat cannot be converted to glucose, it can be burned as a fuel in order to conserve glucose. In the disorder diabetes mellitus, carbohydrate metabolism is disturbed by a deficiency of insulin.... carbohydrates
Some components of dietary fibre hold water, thereby adding bulk to the faeces and aiding bowel function. For this reason, dietary fibre can be effective in treating constipation, diverticular disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. Unrefined carbohydrate foods such as wholemeal bread, cereals, and root vegetables are rich in fibre. (See also nutrition.)... fibre, dietary
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