The
old saying, “You are what you eat”
never has been more true. Recent research has
shown definitive links between diet and health
— or conversely, between diet and certain
diseases.
We know that eating foods rich
in anti-oxidants, high in protein,
low in fat (particularly saturated
fats), high in fiber and not overly
processed is a key factor in preventing
certain diseases, including breast
cancer. But sorting out all the
options and discerning the hype
from the facts can be complicated.
To gain a better understanding of
what foods, diets and lifestyles
are beneficial to our health, the
Breast Cancer Alliance talked with:
• Dr. Barry Boyd, Director
of the Integrated Medicine program at Greenwich
Hospital and author of the upcoming book, The
Missing Link: Obesity, Insulin and the Cancer
Connection - The True Basis for Integrative Cancer
Care;
• Marco Petrini, President
of Monini North America, a specialty
olive oil importer/distributor; and
• Albert DeAngelis, Executive
Chef at the Ramze Zakka restaurant group, which
includes Acqua in Westport, Terra and Mediterraneo
in Greenwich, Solé in New Canaan and Aurora
in Rye.
Here, our panel shares its views
on Mediterranean and American diets, choosing
healthy options both at home and in restaurants,
and the truth about organic foods.
What
is a healthy diet? And, how can healthy eating
combat obesity?
Boyd:
There is enormous confusion between a healthy
diet and a diet to lose weight. Obesity is the
single most important issue when it comes to nutrition
and cancer. But, people really need to change
their focus when they diet. There is good epidemiological
evidence to suggest that you don’t need
low carbohydrate diets to lose weight. You don’t
need to overload on certain foods, either. Although
we know that broccoli and cauliflower break down
carcinogens rapidly and that processing foods
reduces their nutrients, the key is a healthy
dietary pattern rather than concentration on a
single food. Exercise and stress reduction also
come into play. Remember, it’s not the soy
— it’s the healthy lifestyle.
Petrini:
People need to pare down their portions —
if they see it, they eat it, and it’s often
too much.
DeAngelis: As a restaurant,
we need to make portions generous enough that
people feel they are getting value for their money,
but our real value is in offering good ingredients
prepared well. People should also slow down —
if they eat more slowly, they will be satisfied
with a smaller amount of food.
Why
do southern Europeans have healthier eating habits
than many Americans?
Petrini:
In the United States, people want their meals
to be “quick.” They mistakenly assume
that a good meal requires numerous ingredients
and two hours of preparation. But all it really
takes is a few ingredients, a little time and
some passion! People in Europe, especially children,
also eat a more varied diet — here, children’s
menus are always the same. Another thing I notice
is snacking. In Europe, we have bigger meals and
take our time about them, but we don’t eat
while we drive in our cars, for instance.
DeAngelis:
People sometimes don’t realize that cooking
simply can make a great meal. A simple piece of
fish with a drizzle of flavored olive oil is just
as appealing as one with a creamy sauce, not to
mention healthier and faster to prepare. Sometimes
when you overcomplicate a recipe, you lose the
basic flavor.
Boyd:
It is known that the Mediterranean diet is high
in Omega 3 fats found in fish, olive oil and vegetables.
People in that area of the world are known to
have significantly lower incidences of lung, prostate
and colon cancer. In this country, we eat far
too much processed food, including concentrated
carbohydrates such as corn syrup and sugar. It
is a human evolutionary trait to search for sweets
so our bodies can store fat. That’s a hard
habit to break when we make sweet foods so abundantly
available.
Why
do we hear so much about the benefits of olive
oil?
Can you guide us through the different types of
olive oil?
Petrini:
Olive oil has long been a staple of the Mediterranean
diet, and studies have proven that it is a healthier
fat than animal fats like butter or lard. The
preliminary results of a study currently underway
show that the use of olive oil in every day quantities
protects against the development of breast cancer.
The reason: olive oil is rich in natural antioxidants
like Vitamin E, which is beneficial for heart
and circulation problems as well as some cancers.
Olive oil is also rich in monounsaturated fats,
which the human body can easily break down. In
fact, Italian pediatricians often prescribe 1
tsp. of olive oil per day for infants because
it helps protect their digestive system. And olive
oil can be used in baking — for cakes, biscuits,
frying — anywhere you would use other fats.
Not every type of olive oil offers a benefit,
however. It is extremely important to use extra
virgin olive oil, which simply means that the
oil has been extracted through a method of mechanical,
not chemical, pressure. Extra virgin olive oil
may be organic or not, depending on how it is
grown, but it is all natural — there is
no processing and nothing is added. Extra virgin
olive oil is more expensive than other olive oils
because the yield is low — a harvest of
100 pounds of olives yields roughly 20 pounds
of oil. But the health benefits are undoubtedly
worth the added price.
How
do popular diets and other eating trends affect
a restaurant?
DeAngelis:
We definitely have more customers who make specific
requests based on diets like Atkins and South
Beach. They might request two vegetables rather
than a vegetable and a starch. Many of our customers
also request organically grown vegetables. But
going “all organic” becomes a cost
issue for a restaurant, so we try to have a mix.
Ironically, consumer preference for “healthier”
foods sometimes has a downside. For instance,
people don’t want to be limited to seasonal
choices anymore. The result is that we import
many fruits and vegetables whose growing conditions
may not be up to American standards, and which
can sometimes cause serious illness. Hydroponic
farming is another example — lettuce can
now be grown year round in a water mixture, but
it isn’t as tasty and it is missing essential
phytonutrients like selenium found in soil. Finally,
certain fish have become victims of their own
popularity. Chilean sea bass is now an endangered
species, tuna is blasted with nitrogen to keep
its red color and farm salmon are injected with
dyes and antibiotics. Sea scallops are often injected
with sodium trisulfide, which causes them to fill
with water — making them weigh more and
thus cost more. We do our best to avoid these
less-than-natural products, but consumers need
to be aware when they shop for their own food
as well.
What’s your
best advice to consumers in terms of healthy eating?
DeAngelis:
They need to become more knowledgeable. If an
expensive seafood is available at $3.00 per pound,
it’s probably coming from another country
where it is injected with dye, fed antibiotics
and farmed poorly. It’s important to have
a relationship with the people you buy your food
from so you can trust that the product you’re
buying is really what you think it is.
Petrini:
Make it a habit to read labels — don’t
just look at price and packaging.
Boyd:
Make good eating choices and integrate
those choices into an overall health
plan. We now know that obesity is
a health issue, not a cosmetic one,
so people need to make choices that
will lower their risk.
