Mom was Right. Veggies Are Good for You
What do broccoli, Brussels sprouts, turnips and beets have in common? They all send shivers up the spines of most 7- and 8-year-olds. But persevere, moms and dads, because science is behind you -- we should be eating our vegetables.
If we don't get vitamins in our diet, we will develop serious health problems, says Dr. Gary Elmer, associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. "There's a strong correlation between increased intake of vegetables and a lower rate of chronic diseases," he said.
Vitamins help the enzymes in our body carry out important metabolic steps. Vitamin E, an antioxidant, aids in the prevention of heart disease, for instance, by keeping unstable oxygen molecules from destroying healthy cells in our bodies.
Elmer said that if you polled the scientists and physicians, including him, who are conducting research with vitamin E, you'd find that most have increased their intake of it.
Other vitamins that have been directly linked to the prevention of specific diseases include folic acid, a vitamin found in green, leafy vegetables that prevents anemia and birth defects. Vitamin D prevents rickets; vitamin A, blindness; vitamin C, scurvy; and vitamin B12, anemia.
Most people know whether they are on a well-balanced diet, Elmer says. If not, though, an easy way to find out is to track your food intake for a week and then find a food table that allows you to compare your intake of vitamins with the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).
If you are meeting the RDA, you can rest assured that you're on the winning side against disease, because the RDA is not a minimum but is set at a higher level than what is essential, Elmer said.
If you are below the RDA, however, you should try to improve your diet and take a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. Generic brands will do. When selecting a supplement, Elmer recommends dividing the price by the number of pills in the bottle. If the answer is more than eight cents each, the price is too high, he says.
In fact, some of the more expensive supplements, like those marketed toward seniors or as stress relievers, may lack one or more of the essential vitamins.
A good supplement should contain at least the following: B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, folic acid, A, D, and E. Studies have shown that folic acid prevents birth defects from occurring during the early stages of pregnancy and may play a role in preventing heart disease and certain cancers, Elmer said.
So, with all this good news about vitamins, why has it taken so long for such simple advice as "eat your vegetables" to sink into the collective American psyche?
We've simply acquired too fine a taste for salty, fatty food, according to Elmer. "A heaping plate of vegetables with wedges of orange and mango on the side is not the American idea of a gourmet meal," he says.
