It pains me to
write this, but a recently published study found that eating fruits and
vegetables in the amount recommended by the experts does not lower the risk of
getting cancer. This study, published in The Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, followed 178,000 people in Europe who ate a large amount of fruits
and vegetables. On average, the study participants were followed for a period
of nine years, and at the end of the study the cancer rate among the study
population was nearly identical to people who eat a "typical American
diet."
Does it not just
hurt to see the typical American diet used as a contrast to a healthful,
European diet high in fruits and vegetables? I know that it pains me terribly
every time I see it happen. The study results are also upsetting to me as I
fear that once word gets out, Americans will use these results to validate
their current eating habits and as an excuse to put no effort into eating the
proper amount of fruits and vegetables……There is a big point, and one that was underscored by this same study.
People who consume a diet high in fruits and vegetables are 30% less likely to
develop heart disease and
to suffer from a stroke…..To Read More……
My Take – There is one point made here that I find
interesting. She says –
“we are too fat, our kids have a lower life expectancy than we
do, or that our parents did, because of the poor diet that they eat, and the
detrimental effects that diet has on their young bodies.”
Well, I agree we are too fat…me too….and clearly
diet is a part of that, but remember that my parents and grandparents
generation ate heavily salted fatty foods, and vegetables that were cooked almost to mush….daily! So why would they live longer than our
children?
The real component left out of
this jeremiad is the fact they worked extremely hard.
Our children don’t work or exercise.
The ball diamonds are empty during the summer months. When I was a kid there would be so many on a
ball field you could have as many as 15 guys on a side in order to let
everyone play. Admittedly there might be
only five or less on a side, but there was someone there every day, and pretty much all
day. It isn’t all about the diet, it’s the lack of
exercise that fails to offset bad eating habits. As for fruit and vegetables, they’re great,
but they won’t compensate for a lack of exercise.
No food or food category is a panacea. Foods...all foods.....are chemicals, and the body responds to these chemicals as it is designed to respond, and that can vary in ways that to accommodate the body's needs based on activity. As for being too fat…once again….calories in
calories out. That was an important component to this whole discussion and it was left out. I wonder why?
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