Food for Life: How the New Four Food Groups Can Save Your Life (26 page)

The fish you might buy at the store is a surprise package, too. Unlike cows and chickens, fish are cold-blooded. So the bacteria that live in them are quite comfortable—and even grow—at the temperatures in your refrigerator.
Consumer Reports
found that bacterial contamination is so common in fish that at least 40 percent have begun to spoil before they leave the grocery case.
⁴⁴
And a slightly higher percentage contain fecal bacteria from human or animal waste. Fish pick up these bacteria in polluted waters and in the ironically named process of “cleaning” and handling. And you can smell it. The “fishy” smell that is so familiar in the nether regions of the grocery store comes from trimethylamine, a chemical produced as fish begins to spoil.

One final culinary nightmare is provided by poison-producing bacteria. The story begins with the innocent-looking bacteria that live on human skin, in the nose, or in the digestive tract. These were the critters your mother was thinking of when she said, “Wash your hands before you eat—you’re covered with
Staphylococci
and
Clostridium perfringens.”

These bacteria generally do no harm. But what happens when, for example, a picnic guest who did not wash his hands happens to stick his finger in lunch to take a little taste. Bacteria incubate in warm foods. They are particularly fond of high-protein foods like chicken salad or chili.
When
Staphylococci
are allowed to sit in foods for several hours at room temperature, they produce a chemical poison that accumulates in the food. Then after the volleyball game, you root through the picnic leftovers. It takes about two to four hours for the symptoms to hit: nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The illness will be memorable, but it will usually go away on its own.

Let’s say you were concerned that the chili has sat out too long, so you put it back on the stove before eating it. Unfortunately, a second heating will not always help. Although the bacteria are usually killed by heating, some bacterial toxins are heat-resistant. Bacterial contamination is discouraged by the more modest protein content of the recipes in this book. Even so, it is essential to maintain good hygiene and not to leave foods out at temperatures that encourage bacterial growth.

Ulcers occur in the first part of the intestine, called the duodenum, or, less commonly, in the stomach or the esophagus. They cause a burning pain, particularly after meals. The old method of dealing with ulcers was with antacids and, more recently, drugs to reduce acid production. And people often eliminated coffee, tea, and spicy foods from their diet.

All that is now changing. There is substantial evidence showing that ulcers can be caused by a particular type of bacteria called
Helicobacter pylori
. It is believed that we acquire the bacteria through human contact.
Helicobacter pylori
bacteria can actually survive in the acid conditions of the stomach. They cause gastritis and apparently lower resistance to the effects of acid.

About 95 percent of people with duodenal ulcers and 70 percent of people with stomach ulcers are infected with the bacteria, and treating the infection eliminates peptic ulcer disease in most. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have tested medicines to destroy the
Helicobacter
in their ulcer patients. One experiment showed that when ulcer patients are treated with acid-reducing medications alone, 80 percent relapse within six months. However, when anti-
Helicobacter
medications are added to the regimen, the relapse rate was cut to 6 percent. This treatment is new and still somewhat controversial among gastroenterologists, some of whom prefer to stick to the acid-reducing medications.

The other major cause of ulcer-related problems is aspirin. Not only can aspirin irritate the stomach, but it also interferes with blood clotting, making bleeding more likely. So steer clear even of coated aspirin if you have any tendency toward ulcers, gastritis, or other cause of bleeding.

Enthusiasts of Latin American cuisine can take heart. In spite of their reputation as an ulcer-causing food, jalapeño peppers got a not-guilty verdict from researchers who fed them to volunteers and then—believe it or not—passed endoscopes into the volunteers’ stomachs and looked around for any sign of damage. Aspirin caused damage, but jalapeños did not.
⁴⁵

If you still take antacids, be careful: many contain aluminum. The name Maalox, for example, is a shortening of magnesium and aluminum hydroxide. Some evidence has linked aluminum to Alzheimer’s disease, and while it is uncertain whether or not it actually causes the disease, you may not wish to be in the experimental group! Milk is used by some as an antacid. However, although milk reduces acidity in the short run, it can actually increase overall acid production. The good news is that most ulcers can be cured, making antacid use unnecessary.

Turn on your television for a couple of hours in the evening. Notice the commercials for laxatives, antacids, fiber-supplemented products, weight-loss programs, and arthritis medicines. Imagine what would happen if people were to embrace the power of healthful eating. If children grew up eating from the New Four Food Groups, there would be lots of empty television airtime. And there might be fewer of us watching TV anyway. If arthritis, diabetes, constipation, food poisoning, and ulcers become less common, more of us will be on the dance floor, tennis court, golf course, or in the pool, enjoying our healthy bodies.

When the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine proposed the New Four Food Groups in April 1991,
Tonight Show
host Johnny Carson gave his own idea for the four food groups: cheeseburgers, fries, ketchup, and Coke.

Well, it is true that the New Four Food Groups are a departure from the diet on which most of us were raised. Years ago, when I decided to swap my North Dakota diet of pork chops and roast beef for a healthier menu, I was not so sure how to go about it, nor did I have any idea how wonderful this switch would turn out to be.

What kinds of foods can be made from grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes? The most delightful menu you can imagine. In the Georgetown district of Washington, D.C., a Middle Eastern restaurant brings the patron a feast of fifteen different plates of exquisite tastes, from exotic salads to delicately spiced vegetables, spreads, and entrees. In a family-owned restaurant on Italy’s Mediterranean coast, fresh linguine is combined with a hearty marinara sauce, with a selection of vegetables and breads. By a lake shore in Switzerland, the sidewalk cafés outside luxury hotels turn green beans, carrots, endive, and broccoli into tastes befitting such a wonderful place. These masterpieces were made from grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes, not because the foods are the very basis of healthful eating but because they delight the palate.

You do not have to be a gourmet chef to make these foods. In
Chapter 8
you will find menus and recipes that translate the New Four Food Groups into delicious meals.

The New Four Food Groups are grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes. Together, they are a much more powerful menu than previous dietary plans.
Although the old nutritional food groups crowded vegetables and fruits into one group, we have given them separate categories because both are so important.

What is most noteworthy, of course, is that two of the old food groups—meat and dairy—have been dropped: Meats—all meats, poultry, and fish—contain cholesterol and saturated fat, and all meats are totally devoid of fiber and contain virtually no complex carbohydrates. So there is no meat group in the New Four Food Groups. Likewise, dairy products contain fat, cholesterol, lactose, and allergenic proteins, and have no fiber or complex carbohydrates. So there is no longer a recommendation that dairy products be included in the diet.

Now, you may be saying, can I get enough protein without animal products? Can I get calcium? The answer is yes, and in this chapter we will look at these and other common questions. The New Four Food Groups are the Clark Kents of the nutrition world. Their modest and unassuming nature hides extraordinary strength. If your goal is to reverse heart disease, the old food groups were simply too weak to help you. Cholesterol is found only in animal products, and most meat-eaters eat hundreds of milligrams of cholesterol every day. But there is not a speck of cholesterol in the New Four Food Groups because they are 100 percent plant derived. The New Four Food Groups are also dramatically lower in fat than any cut of meat or poultry. And they contain generous amounts of soluble fiber, which adds to their cholesterol-lowering power. Together, they are enormously helpful for anyone who wants to reverse or prevent heart problems.

If you would like to lose a few pounds (or more than a few), the New Four Food Groups are more effective than any commercial diet. They help you to stay slim (or to get there) with no calorie restrictions and no limit on portion sizes.

The New Four Food Groups can also greatly reduce your risk of the most common forms of cancer. Cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, and other organs are less common in populations whose menus approximate these food groups. It is not just that the foods are low in fat. It is the combined effect of less total fat, no animal fat, fewer contaminants, more fiber, more cancer-fighting vitamins and minerals, and other factors that are being discovered on a fairly regular basis.

Surprisingly, calcium balance is
improved
. As noted in
Chapter 1
, diets that are high in protein, particularly animal protein, tend to cause calcium to be lost from the body. This has been shown in numerous experiments
in which volunteers eat meat meals and the calcium that is lost in their urine is measured. But when animal protein is replaced with plant protein, the body maintains a healthy calcium balance with less calcium intake.
¹
In a recent experiment in which meat protein was replaced with soy protein, subjects maintained good calcium balance with a calcium intake of only 457 mg per day—about half the Recommended Daily Allowance of 800 mg.

It is not a coincidence that the United States, a heavy meat-consuming country, would set such a high RDA for calcium. Evidence suggests that meat-eaters are busy losing calcium in their urine, and nutritionists are busy promoting greater calcium ingestion to attempt to make up for it. Comparisons of people in various countries show that those whose diets are plant-based generally maintain their bone strength better, even if they consume more modest amounts of calcium. The World Health Organization recommends a lower protein intake than is recommended by the U.S. government, and a lower calcium intake as well—between 400 and 500 mg per day. Calcium is abundant in green, leafy vegetables and beans. Without the protein overdose, calcium has an easier time remaining in the bones.

•
The Whole-Grain Group
. Beyond the obvious whole wheat bread, oatmeal and other breakfast cereals, and corn, the grain group also includes pasta. An Asian invention, perfected in Italy, pasta comes in every shape and variety, from linguine to spaghetti, vermicelli to rotini.

Exquisite rice dishes transform the staple food of Asia into curries, pilafs, and Latin American specialties, using its many varieties, which differ in taste and texture, with centuries-old combinations of spices.

What’s in them nutritionally? Lots of fiber, complex carbohydrates, important vitamins, and a healthful amount of protein—not too much and not too little. They fit easily under the 10 percent fat limit used in Dr. Ornish’s study of reversal of heart disease described in
Chapter 2
, and contain no cholesterol.

•
The Vegetable Group
. Vegetables have become all too unfamiliar on the American plate. Former President George Bush declared that he did not like broccoli and made no secret of his taste for pork rinds. And Vice-President Quayle had trouble spelling
potato
. But it seems that a week does not go by without another discovery that a naturally occurring chemical in vegetables helps fight cancer or boost immunity. Broccoli and other green vegetables are loaded with
calcium, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins. Vegetables tend to be very low in fat and, like all plant foods, contain no cholesterol.