8.1: Chapter Introduction

Big Idea

Eating foods such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices that are high in antioxidants can help prevent cell damage and promote health.

 

Figure 8.1.1 Nutmeg, which is obtained from the seed of the evergreen tree, Myristica fragrans, was once a highly coveted spice. IMage used with permission (public domain).

Government trickery and greed are a big part of the history of the woody, bittersweet nutmeg people sprinkle in their eggnog and add to their pumpkin pie. Arabs originally controlled the lucrative nutmeg trade. Run Island, part of the Banda archipelago in the Maluku province of Indonesia, and (for a while) the sole source of nutmeg, remained a well-kept secret under their control. Then, in 1521, the Portuguese conquered the southern region of Malay in Indonesia and discovered the island.

Control of this nutmeg source switched hands rapidly from this point on. Although the Portuguese claimed ownership for a moment, the Spaniards were quick to take over. In the seventeenth century, the Dutch East India Company invaded the Band Islands. They then ran plantation estates on Run Island and actively patrolled the sea in war vessels to discourage the stealing of seeds from Myristica fragrans. They went so far as to track the movement of pigeons and other animals that might unwittingly transport the seeds elsewhere, and they burned any trees found off of Run Island.

The battles over Run Island had one important motivation: money. Trade was lucrative in the seventeenth century because nutmeg was valued as a curative for stomach ailments, as an aphrodisiac, and as a healer of the liver. The spice even had a reputation for curing the plague, which might have worked—wearing a clove of it around the neck may have deterred fleas and other disease carriers. Buyers were also well aware of nutmeg’s hallucinogenic properties and used it in high doses as a psychoactive drug. Its price was astronomically high and kept so by the Dutch, who burned their own nutmeg warehouses down to assure the laws of supply and demand did not lower the spice’s value.

During the Napoleonic wars, while the Dutch were battling the French, the British slipped onto Run Island, stole Myristica fragras seeds, and successfully grew the tree on plantations on the island of Grenada. Today, Grenada, also known as the “Isle of Spice,” produces about one-third of the world’s supply, which is why its flag boasts a clove of nutmeg.

Our ancestors were probably right to value nutmeg for its curative properties. While it does not actually cure disease outright, nutmeg contains a variety of antioxidants, including phenolic compounds, lignans, and eugenol. Foods rich in antioxidants have been touted as preventative and curative, and some believe they delay certain aspects of the aging process. While we are no longer fighting over nutmeg’s production and sale, we are waging a fierce debate about the lack of scientific proof of these believed benefits.

The “antioxidant hypothesis”—the educated guess that antioxidant chemicals protect against chronic disease—has existed for decades. Despite thousands of studies conducted on the health benefits of particular antioxidants, there is little evidence supporting the idea that they singularly prevent disease, reduce the effects of aging, or promote health. It is the combination of antioxidants, phytochemicals, and nutrient-rich foods that achieve these end goals.

Nutmeg has been shown in animal and laboratory studies to act as an antimicrobial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory agent. It has protected against liver damage and stimulated male sexual activity in rats. However, none of these effects have been scientifically shown to occur in humans. On the other hand, nutmeg has proven effective as a psychoactive drug when taken in high doses.

In this chapter, you will learn there is no miracle food or supplement. The debate over nutmeg’s effectiveness as an antioxidant—and over the effects of antioxidants in general—is proof of this. You will also learn that plant chemicals can affect the body in many different ways, depending on the type of chemical and the dosage. Different antioxidants are believed to have different functions, and those functions are sometimes interdependent or dependent on the amount of nutrient-rich foods you eat.

You Decide

Will you increase your intake of antioxidant- and nutrient-rich foods to improve health and reduce the risk of chronic disease? Why and how?

“Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mold myself?” - Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817–May 6, 1862)

Note: Big Idea

Build peak bone mass during youth to preserve bone mass during aging.

Milk has been and will continue to be a key component in the diets of millions of people. During the agrarian age, people drank milk from the animals they raised. At the dawn of the twentieth century, nutritional science appeared on the scene and quickly acknowledged milk’s importance as a part of a balanced diet. For over one hundred years, several US government nutrition programs have highlighted milk’s value. How does milk get from a cow to your doorstep?

In the early nineteenth century, raw milk was distributed in carelessly washed metal pails and was, at times, still warm from the cow when it reached its destination. If you got up too late to fetch your milk you received little of the coagulated cream on top. This distribution method did not suffice for the widespread delivery of fresh milk to the masses living in cities, thus milk and its preparation methods had to be changed in several ways. Consuming raw milk can be a potential health hazard as harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria may be present, all of which are known as culprits for many foodborne illnesses. Pasteurization, homogenization, fortification, and eventually packaging in plastic containers were developed to address distribution and food-safety issues.

In 1863, Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization. Pasteurization involves heating the milk to a high temperature (greater than 161 degrees Fahrenheit) for a short time (less than 20 seconds) and is an effective method of killing 99.999 percent of bacteria, molds, and yeast. Pasteurization was a welcome technology as it extended the shelf life of milk by about two to three weeks and destroyed infectious bacteria, such as those that caused diphtheria, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and scarlet fever, thereby making milk safe to drink. Unfortunately, pasteurization also destroys vitamins, enzymes, and some beneficial bacteria. Milk may also be microfiltered, a process that pushes milk forcefully through ceramic filters that remove bacteria. Milk is homogenized so that it does not separate into butterfat globules and milk fluid. During homogenization, milk is emulsified under intense pressure as it is pumped through narrow tubes. Fat globules are broken into smaller ones and they do not recoagulate. The homogenization process, however, does not have a negative effect on the milk’s nutritional value or effectiveness.

Figure 8.1.1: Milk: An ever-changing product of the dairy industry. © Shutterstock

The dairy industry has gone through many changes to increase milk production, quality, and distribution. As a result of pasteurization and to meet the health needs of the American population, a public-policy decision was made in 1933 to fortify milk with vitamin D to prevent childhood bone disease. More recently, changes include expanding the number of cows per herd, increasing milk production per cow by over six-fold, improving dairy cow nutrition and herd management practices, and advancing technologies that increase storage time and decrease bacterial contamination. How did milk production increase six-fold per cow? Most cows are Holsteins, bred with optimum genetics for producing milk. They are provided with the best nutrition, a dietary pattern taken from many scientific studies that provides optimal nutrients specifically for cows to make milk. Some people are concerned about the changes that were brought about by controversial methods, such as injecting dairy cows with bovine growth hormone. This increases milk production by about 15 percent but also increases the risk of udder infection in the cows. As a result, antibiotics are widely used in the dairy industry. There is evidence linking widespread antibiotic use with the increase in the resistance of bacteria. This practice also decreases the effectiveness of antibiotics in humans.

Note: You Decide

How will you ensure that you are building strong bones and will be able to avoid detrimental bone loss in old age?

It is estimated that every three seconds around the globe, an osteoporotic fracture occurs. Over two hundred million women worldwide suffer from this disease.Kanis, J. A. WHO Technical Report, (University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, 2007): 66. Statistics also show that one in three women and one in five men over sixty will experience an osteoporotic fracture.European Foundation for Osteoporosis and National Osteoporosis Foundation. “Who Are Candidates for Prevention and Treatment for Osteoporosis?” Osteoporos Int 7, no. 1 (1997):Melton 3rd, L. J. et al. “Perspective. How Many Women Have Osteoporosis?” J Bone Miner Res 7 (1992): 1005.Kanis, J. A. et al. “Long-Term Risk of Osteoporotic Fracture.” Malmo Osteoporos Int 11 (2000): 669. How can you prepare yourself and fortify your bones against this disease? Milk is a ready and convenient source of calcium and vitamin D, but one glass of milk per day is not sufficient to provide an adequate intake of these nutrients and many people have an allergy or intolerance to dairy products. Other good sources of calcium and vitamin D are soybeans, parsley, kale, salmon, broccoli, eggs, tuna, beans, and fortified products such as soymilk, rice milk, and almond milk. As you read this chapter you will learn the importance of building and preserving healthy bones through proper diet and exercise. Whatever you decide, know that your bone health will be affected by your dietary and lifestyle choices for years to come.

Big Idea

Micronutrients come from many sources and some may surprise you; get them in the right amounts to support metabolism and blood health.

Video 8.1.1

How to Get Iron into Your Diet

(click to see video)

View this video for simple steps you can take to obtain and maintain healthy iron levels in your body.

Figure 8.1.1: Mmm, cornbread cooked in a cast-iron skillet—the smell and taste of cooking on the range. Can this also be an iron-friendly meal? © Shutterstock

In a small town in the Appalachian Mountains, Joseph Lodge founded Lodge Iron Cookware in 1896. Today it is still a family-run business that provides Americans with pioneer-style iron cookware. Iron cookware was and still is, prized for its heat retention, even heating, and durability. In fact, many pans sold one hundred years ago are still in use today. Unbeknownst to the American pioneers, the cookware also leaches iron, an essential mineral, into foods as they are cooked in cast-iron hardware.

Iron has several vital functions in the body. Primarily it is the oxygen carrier of the protein hemoglobin, which is found in red blood cells. Oxygen is essential for cellular metabolism. A reduction in the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells hampers the synthesis of energy and consequently cell function. Additionally, iron is required for energy production and enzymatic synthesis of RNA and DNA. Therefore cells that are rapidly dividing are acutely sensitive to an iron deficiency. Since red blood cells are under a constant state of renewal in the body, low iron levels impede their synthesis, eventually causing anemia. A person with anemia experiences fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, muscle weakness, and pale skin. In infants and children, iron-deficiency anemia can impair growth, motor control, mental functioning, behavior, and performance in school. Iron deficiency is the number one nutritional deficiency in the world, and even in America, it affects 10 percent of women of childbearing age and many infants, children, and adolescents.

Dietary sources of iron include red meats, poultry, leafy green vegetables, prunes, raisins, egg yolks, lentils, oysters, clams, artichokes, and enriched cereal grains. While there are many food sources of iron, only a small fraction of dietary iron is absorbed. One method of increasing dietary intake of iron is cooking foods in an iron skillet. Acidic foods high in moisture content, such as tomatoes, absorb more iron during cooking than nonacidic foods. For example, cooking spaghetti sauce in iron cookware can increase the iron content ten-fold. How much iron leaches into food is also dependent on cooking times; the longer food is in the pan the more iron is absorbed into the food. Stirring food more often increases contact time and thus more iron is absorbed from the cookware. The utility of iron cookware in increasing dietary intake of iron has prompted some international public health organizations to distribute iron cookware to high-risk populations in developing countries as a strategy to reduce the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia worldwide.

You Decide

What are the different ways to build iron storehouses in your body without taking a pill?

In this chapter, we will discuss the importance of blood and its vital role in support of metabolism and pull together what we have learned about macronutrient metabolism. You will also learn the important roles micronutrients have in metabolism and how they support blood function and renewal. We will also consider food sources of these valuable nutrients. Read the facts, then decide the best way to supplement your diet with iron-friendly eating and cooking.