2521: Eat A Rainbow by Renae Earle with Ideal Nutrition on Nutritional Biochemistry & Disease Prevention

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Health Daily, Episode 2521. Eat A Rainbow by Renee Earle with ideallnutrition.com.au

[00:00:39] And I'm Dr. Neal, your very own personal narrator.

[00:00:43] Welcome to a Tuesday edition of Optimal Health Daily. This is one of just a few podcasts in the world where blogs are read to you for free so that you don't have to read them yourself.

[00:00:53] Now to check out our other shows, just search for Optimal Living Daily wherever you're hearing this.

[00:00:59] But with that, let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:08] Eat A Rainbow by Renee Earle with ideallnutrition.com.au

[00:01:14] If you live in Australia, you will know all about the Go For Two In Five campaign.

[00:01:20] That is unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years.

[00:01:24] The Australian government created a funny, friendly-looking fruit and veg man who informed Australian kids and adults about the importance of consuming two fruits and five vegetables each day.

[00:01:36] The government pushed this campaign hard with fliers, television advertisements and even educational programs in schools.

[00:01:44] The campaign was an effort to promote healthful behaviors in our increasingly unhealthy population.

[00:01:51] However, is two and five enough?

[00:01:55] While it's a good place to start, good health may not be so simple.

[00:01:59] Nutrition Australia has pushed for a movement away from two and five and toward Eat the Rainbow.

[00:02:07] Nutrition Australia's Eat the Rainbow campaign refers to the importance of consuming not only healthy amounts of fruit and veg, hello two and five,

[00:02:17] but stresses the need to eat a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.

[00:02:22] Eating a wide range of fruit and vegetables ensures adequate vitamin and mineral consumption.

[00:02:28] Aside from this, fruits and vegetables of different colors contain lots of phytochemical compounds with a plethora of health benefits.

[00:02:37] Let's start with fire engine red.

[00:02:40] Some red and pink fruits such as tomato, watermelon, papaya and grapefruit contain the carotenoid lycopene.

[00:02:50] Lycopene has antioxidant functions and is thought to be an active component in fighting against some cancers, particularly prostate cancer.

[00:03:00] Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Australian males over the age of 50.

[00:03:06] Perhaps by increasing lycopene consumption, these statistics can become a little less alarming.

[00:03:12] Once ingested, lycopene is metabolized to apolipopenal derivatives.

[00:03:18] These apolipopenals are capable of interfering with cancer cell proliferation.

[00:03:24] Exact mechanisms are as of yet unknown and epidemiological studies are currently inconclusive.

[00:03:30] However, there is enough evidence to suggest some relationship, so including some red on your plate is probably wise.

[00:03:39] Other carotenoids such as keratines and cryptozanthins as well as being antioxidants are vitamin A precursors.

[00:03:47] They are responsible for yellow and orange hues of carrots, mango and yellow plums.

[00:03:53] Once consumed, carotenoids are cleaved by enzyme BCO1.

[00:03:59] This produces one or two active vitamin A molecules depending on the carotenoid cleaved.

[00:04:04] The active vitamin A molecule binds with a protein called opsin.

[00:04:09] Together, this complex can absorb light at the rods of the eye, facilitating monochromatic vision in the dark,

[00:04:17] meaning this may prevent night blindness.

[00:04:20] In cases of extreme deficiency, permanent blindness can occur.

[00:04:25] In this case, mucus secreting cells within the conjunctiva of the eye are replaced with hardened epithelium or keratinized skin cells.

[00:04:35] This results in cornea destruction and total blindness.

[00:04:39] If you fail to consume yellow or orange fruits or vegetables in your daily two and five,

[00:04:45] you might find yourself at risk for blindness.

[00:04:48] That being said, you can also get active vitamin A from non-vegetable sources such as liver.

[00:04:55] The final two carotenoids that have significant health benefits are lutein, which is yellow,

[00:05:01] and zeaxanthin, which is orange.

[00:05:04] They absorb potentially oxidative blue light.

[00:05:07] When insufficient lutein and zeaxanthin are present, blue light has damaging effects on the macula of the eye,

[00:05:14] promoting its degeneration and eventual blindness.

[00:05:18] If you enjoy your eyesight and want to avoid macular degeneration, which I'm sure you do,

[00:05:23] make sure to stock up on orange and yellow vegetables.

[00:05:27] Polyphenols are another group of healthful phytochemicals, of which flavonoids are the most abundant group.

[00:05:34] The most obvious flavonoid is anthocyanin, which is a red, blue, and sometimes purple color.

[00:05:41] Think purple carrots, plums, and sweet potatoes.

[00:05:45] Yes, you can get purple sweet potatoes.

[00:05:47] Polyphenols have been linked to a range of health benefits including cardiovascular health,

[00:05:53] obesity reduction, anticharsanogenic properties, decreased oxidative stress, and decreased inflammation.

[00:06:01] Flavonoids pass through the stomach and continue to the small intestine, where only a small amount is absorbed.

[00:06:07] The remainder moves to the large intestine, where the real action takes place.

[00:06:13] Here, flavonoids are metabolized by bacteria within the gut to form phenolic acids,

[00:06:18] which have vasodilation effects within the blood vessels.

[00:06:22] This vasodilation, which is another way of saying relaxation of artery muscular walls, lowers blood pressure.

[00:06:30] Hence, flavonoids are particularly important for mildly hypertensive individuals.

[00:06:36] Now those who are very hypertensive will require something stronger than just a little purple food.

[00:06:42] Glycosinalates, although not pigmented, are found in green vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale,

[00:06:49] as well as red radish and white cauliflower.

[00:06:52] Epidemiological studies show a relationship between risk of developing heart disease

[00:06:57] and some forms of cancer and diets rich in these vegetables.

[00:07:02] Glycosinalates are metabolized in the body to produce isothiocyanates,

[00:07:07] which increase the antioxidant response to cancer cells, helping destroy them.

[00:07:12] Furthermore, some are even capable of inhibiting the bad enzymes that activate cancer-promoting mutagens.

[00:07:20] However, not all glycosinalates are here to help.

[00:07:23] Some actually have anti-nutritional properties such as progoitrin, which is found in kale.

[00:07:29] Progoitrin is converted to goitrin, which inhibits thyroid hormone production by blocking iodine uptake.

[00:07:37] In extreme cases, this results in a large protruding swollen thyroid gland on the neck.

[00:07:43] This is also known as a goiter.

[00:07:45] However, you have to eat a lot of kale to elicit these effects, so your daily green smoothie is still good to go.

[00:07:52] While 2-in-5 is a great campaign that has been successful in increasing health, it does have a loophole.

[00:07:59] By following eating a rainbow as well as 2-in-5, health can be maximized.

[00:08:05] Since research into these amazing little compounds is only in early stages and many exact mechanisms are still unknown,

[00:08:12] there are currently no prescribed nutrient reference values.

[00:08:16] However, trying to eat a rainbow is a good place to start.

[00:08:21] I don't know about you, but anti-cancer, anti-blindness, and anti-hypertension are just a few things that get me excited about eating a rainbow.

[00:08:30] Not to mention how pretty it will look on the plate.

[00:08:36] You just listened to the post titled Eat a Rainbow by Renee Earle with idealnutrition.com.au

[00:08:44] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:08:47] Dr. Neal here for my commentary.

[00:08:49] Phew, that was a nice review of some nutritional biochemistry, right?

[00:08:54] Now if there were parts of this episode you need to replay and listen to again, I wouldn't blame you.

[00:08:59] Renee did a great job summarizing some of the complex mechanisms behind food, the nutrients they contain, and potential disease mechanisms.

[00:09:09] But there were lots of terms that we may not have been familiar with.

[00:09:12] The bottom line is this.

[00:09:14] If we can eat a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables, the potential disease fighting effects increase.

[00:09:22] It's like the fruits and vegetables we eat strengthen each other.

[00:09:26] If one fruit or vegetable is weak in certain disease fighting nutrients, another will pick up the slack and say, I got you.

[00:09:35] Wait a second, I feel a superhero analogy coming on.

[00:09:39] Hold on, I'm about to go full nerd on this.

[00:09:41] Fruits and vegetables are like, get this, the Avengers.

[00:09:46] And imagine their ultimate villain, Thanos, one of the worst beings in the universe, is a disease like cancer.

[00:09:53] The Avengers, the good guys, or in our case fruits and vegetables, are trying to defeat Thanos, the bad guy, or cancer in this example.

[00:10:03] Each member of the Avengers has their own strengths and weaknesses.

[00:10:07] Iron Man is super smart but can sometimes act impulsively which gets the Avengers into trouble.

[00:10:13] What Iron Man lacks in careful planning, Captain America balances out with a more balanced, thoughtful approach to fighting evil.

[00:10:22] The Hulk is not as smart or careful in his approach to fighting evil but makes up for it with brute strength.

[00:10:29] So when these forces are combined, weaknesses and all, the team is much stronger when facing a really bad villain like Thanos.

[00:10:38] Alright, yeah you stuck with me?

[00:10:40] So fruits and vegetables behave similarly.

[00:10:44] Each one individually isn't perfect, but when we combine them and eat a rainbow like today's author Renee said,

[00:10:51] we create a powerful force to help ward off disease.

[00:10:56] Now you may be wondering, since I'm a huge Batman fan, what's with the Avengers analogy and not the Justice League analogy?

[00:11:03] Well I hate to admit it, The Avengers was a far better film.

[00:11:06] Even Zack Snyder's cut of the Justice League didn't do it for me.

[00:11:10] Anywho, that wraps up today's episode.

[00:11:13] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:11:14] Thank you for being a subscriber of the show.

[00:11:16] I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.