Eating for Health

There is scientific validity to the adage, "You are what you eat." Food is the source of our fuel, but it also contains nutrients that protect us from cellular damage, including cancer. Several years ago, the National Cancer Institute and the "Produce for Better Health Foundation" launched a national campaign to encourage the American public to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, because they help with improved healing, reduce the risk of cancer, high blood pressure, constipation, and aid in recovery after exercise.

Many people claim they rarely eat fruit because it's unavailable, or they don't have the time to cook vegetables or fix salads.

If you have trouble including fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, the following tips will help you balance your intake better and make these foods a top priority in your good nutrition game plan. First, if you like fruit but just don't get around to eating it, plan into your breakfast either a banana or glass of orange juice. These are among the most nutritious fruits, so you'll be getting a good start to the day. Citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines surpass many other fruits or juices in terms of vitamin C and potassium. If you do not have time to peel an orange, then juice is a good alternative and will cover your vitamin C requirement (60 milligrams) for the day. Bananas are high in potassium and are easy to carry with you. Cantaloupe, kiwi, and strawberries are also nutrient-dense fruits which are good sources of vitamin C and potassium. Dried fruit is easy to carry with you and is rich in potassium and carbohydrates.

In general, vegetables have more nutritional value than fruits, and dark, colorful vegetables usually have more nutritional value than paler ones. The deeper green or deeper yellow a vegetable is, the more vitamin A it contains. If you're struggling to improve your diet, don't stuff yourself with pale lettuces, cucumbers, zucchini, mushrooms, and celery. Instead, feast on colorful broccoli, spinach, green peppers, tomatoes, and carrots, which offer far more nutrients.

Antioxidants

In the United States, cancer follows heart disease as the most frequent cause of death. Diet is a factor in an estimated 35 percent of cancer cases. Despite the gloomy news that one in four of us will get cancer, the encouraging news is that diet can prevent perhaps one third of cancer deaths. A low-fat, high fiber diet can also be a cancer protector. One key to the role of diet in preventing cancer may be its antioxidant capacity, a food's ability to deactivate harmful chemicals known as "free radicals" that are produced during the course of cell metabolism. Free radicals are formed daily through normal body processes, including exercise. Environmental pollutants such as cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust, radiation, and herbicides, also generate free radical precursors.

These unstable compounds can attack, infiltrate, and injure vital cell structures. Fortunately, our bodies have natural control systems that deactivate and minimize free radical reactions within the cells. These natural control systems involve many vitamins and minerals. Beta-carotene, a form of vitamin A found in plants and converted into vitamin A in the body, helps prevent the formation of free radicals. Vitamin C guards against harmful reactions within the cells. Vitamin E and selenium protect the cell walls from free radical damage. Selenium also enhances the immune system's response with increased resistance to cancer growth.

In order to boost your intake of these anti-cancer nutrients, you should focus your diet on dark green and colorful vegetables rich in vitamin A, such as broccoli, spinach, carrots, and leafy greens; members of the cabbage Family (cruciferous vegetables), such as cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, bok choy, and Brussel sprouts; vitamin C rich foods, such as grapefruit, oranges, melon, strawberries, broccoli, and spinach; whole grain foods rich in vitamin E, including whole wheat bread, wheat germ, nuts and peanut butter; selenium-rich foods, such as tuna, nuts, lean meats and seafood. It is better to obtain these important nutrients from the natural foods instead of in the pill or powder form.

Foods that Boost Your Moods

Pick your passion. Scientists are discovering that when you're in the mood for a particular food, your brain may have as much to do with what you pick as your taste buds. Part of performance nutrition is to provide the right balance of these foods so that we have the psychological stamina to join our physical vigor. These nutrients also help people to resist fatigue and regulate positive mood, two requirements to stay in the fast lane.

Carbohydrates boost brain serotonin, a calming neurotransmitter that counters irritability and depression. Eating carbohydrates begins a process that allows the amino acid tryptophan to enter the brain more easily. The brain uses it to make serotonin. Antidepressants like Prozac work by keeping serotonin high. "If you notice that, for no good reason, you feel down, anxious, put upon or unable to focus, try carbohydrates," says Judith Wortman of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT, who is a pioneer in the study of food and mood. Wortman suggests you eat cereal, a bagel, a potato, rice cakes or pretzels, allowing 90 minutes for the food to work. Keep in mind that fat, as well as a full stomach, slows digestion, blunting the tryptophan's effect. Expect the resulting mood to last about three hours.

The amino acid tyrosine, contained in protein-rich foods, stimulates dopamine and norepinephrine - brain chemicals that make people more alert, with improved attention, motivation and reaction time. An Institute of Medicine committee on military research recently reported that tyrosine supplements helped Soldiers think more clearly under conditions of severe stress, such as extreme cold or high altitude, says the committee chair, Robert Nesheim. Does this mean that eating more tyrosine-rich food such as fish, chicken, meat, eggs and beans will make you more alert? It is more accurate to say that protein is less sedating than carbohydrates. The two nutrients fight fatigue better than carbohydrates alone - especially at lunch, when the normal rhythms of your body make post-meal drowsiness more likely.

It is suggested that an individual eat 3 to 4 ounces of lean protein food to prepare for mental activities. You can eat carbohydrates along with it, but skip the fat. Avoiding red meat completely may do more harm than good. With all the hoopla over low-cholesterol diets, many women experience low-level iron deficiencies that make them feel tired and blue. (The body needs adequate iron to keep its cells fueled with oxygen and, thus, energized.) Those most at risk for iron deficiency are women who exercise frequently, have been pregnant in the past two years or consume fewer than 2,500 calories per day. The key is choosing lean meats such as flank steak, round steak or sirloin which are lower in fat.

Not drinking enough water each day can leave you feeling lethargic. Mild dehydration is a common but often overlooked cause of fatigue, says dietitian Elizabeth Somer, author of Food and Mood. When the body dehydrates, blood flow to the organs decreases and the brain slows down. Relying on thirst, however, is a poor way to determine how much water you need. Most adults should drink six to eight glasses of water or plain seltzer per day. Soft drinks, however, are no substitute. Many act as diuretics and increase dehydration.
Reference: HOOAH4HEALTH.com/body/fluids

"Caffeine is more than a perk-me-up," says nutritionist Robert Nesheim. "It can also help maintain alertness, especially when doing long, tiresome tasks." Recent research links the amount of caffeine in one to two cups of coffee with an improved ability to think clearly, make snap decisions and feel more energetic up to three hours after drinking it. In a study of fifty sleep-deprived people, the amount of caffeine in as little as one and a half cups of coffee boosted their concentration, energy and confidence levels.

Although the mechanism is not firmly established, some researchers believe that caffeine raises blood pressure slightly and blocks hormonal messengers that lull us to sleep. Keep in mind, however, that if you drink more than two cups of coffee a day or are sensitive to caffeine, it can make you irritable and jittery.

Magnesium deficiency and stress are also linked so closely that some doctors and dietitians now advise people who lead hectic lives to add magnesium rich foods like bananas to their diets, according to Dr. Mildred Seelig, a former executive director of the American College of Nutrition. Most Americans do not eat the Recommended Daily Allowance (300 mg), of this important mineral. If you have a hectic schedule or a stressful job, the problem is worse. Stress hormones, which flood the body during times of tension, leach magnesium out of cells, resulting in lower resistance to viral infection.

There is more evidence for magnesium's energy-promoting role from studies on the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at the University of Southampton, in England. One group of patients received a placebo, while another received a weekly gram of magnesium, the equivalent of about two bananas a day. (If you don't like the thought of eating two bananas a day, substitute servings of other good magnesium sources, such as nuts, beans, leafy greens and wheat germ). After six weeks, the group who took magnesium reported a significant boost in energy. Other research has found that increased magnesium intake resulted in less anxiety and better sleep.

Citrus fruits are among the richest sources of vitamin C, a key ingredient for boosting levels of the energizing brain chemical norepinephrine. This neurotransmitter regulates the body's ability to be alert, attentive and motivated. Researchers have found that even a small deficiency in vitamin C (the RDA is 60 mg, or three quarters of grapefruit or one orange), can leave you feeling irritable and blue. The precise mechanism is still unclear, but a lack of vitamin C-rich foods can also inhibit your body's ability to absorb the iron it needs to fight fatigue.

In a recent study of more than 1,000 people with diets only slightly deficient in vitamin C, more than half reported feeling less nervous, cranky and depressed when they ingested amounts equal to the RDA. Consuming more than that, however, may make you feel even more upbeat. In a University of Alabama study, researchers found that those who regularly consumed 400 mg of vitamin C per day (equal to two twelve-ounce glasses of orange juice or six oranges) were half as tired as those who consumed less than 100 mg per day.

Another trace mineral to consider is selenium, which has been linked to upbeat moods. In a 1990 study conducted at University College, in Swansea, Wales, people who consumed the least selenium tended to be the most anxious, depressed and tired. Those given the amount found in one Brazil nut reported a greater sense of happiness, more energy and a reduction in tension compared to participants given a placebo. Other good sources of selenium: seafood, cottage cheese and fruit.

The food you crave may trigger the release of endorphins, pleasure-enhancing substances made by the brain. Cravings often differ by gender: women tend to prefer fat-sugar combinations like chocolate, ice cream and cake; men like fat-protein or fat-salt mixtures such as steak, pizza and French fries. Satisfy your cravings healthfully by cutting fat; for example, fat-free pudding for a fat-sugar craver; lean meat for a fat-protein lover; fat-free tortilla chips for a fat-salt lover. For the lowest-calorie high of all, try exercise. Those who exercise regularly produce more endorphins than those who don't.

Summary

In order to have the stamina you need, you must fuel yourself with the best fuels. Whether at home or on the road, at the dining table or desk, your choices impact the quality of your life, the energy you feel, and the health you keep.

For more information on Stamina see:
Stamina - How to Get It and Keep It

Source: The Stamina-Nutrition Connection. by Joanna Reagan Captain, US Army, in A Guide for Senior Leaders