I’ve read stories that eating blueberries reduces the risk of dementia, red wine is good for you, coffee prevents type 2 diabetes, or declares many other big health claims about a particular “superfood”. There will be. “But what is the truth of these statements?
We – a group of nutritionists – have been involved in this type of research, but we are not responsible for the headlines. But below these high-profile stories are important and serious research that helps keep us all happier and healthier.
We are studying some of the foods that affect our health (whether good or bad), called bioactive foods. Unlike vitamins and minerals, certain fatty acids, fibers, and bioactive substances such as flavanols (eg, group compounds found in tea and apples) are not essential to survival, but they still affect our health. ..
A major challenge in the study of bioactive substances is to separate the effects of foods from individual compounds (foods are very complex and contain many compounds). A cup of coffee contains some phenolic acids that have a positive effect on heart health, but it also contains other compounds that can increase cholesterol. This makes our research difficult, but it is also exciting.
You need to find a way to distinguish the health effects of different parts of food, understand what is happening, and ultimately build confidence in the recommendations you provide.
One way to learn more about the health effects of individual foods is to compare people eating different diets and track them over a long period of time. That approach helped show that the Mediterranean and Scandinavian diets keep us healthy longer. However, if you want to know more about individual foods and their ingredients, this approach is flawed.
Food is never consumed alone and it is very difficult to break it down in such studies. To make the results of such studies easier to understand, these findings are translated into food equivalents such as the infamous raspberry panettes, tea, or bottles of wine that should be consumed for health. Often. In reality, it’s much more difficult.
Dietary and health studies are difficult because there are so many things to consider. We have the essential nutrients we need to survive. There are dietary patterns that can affect your overall health and underlie recommendations such as the UK Government’s Eatwell Guide.
And there are bioactive compounds that are primarily found in plant-based foods and have the potential to have beneficial health benefits.
Research on bioactive substances is often a headline for great foods. In fact, it’s just a small part of food and is often found elsewhere. A notable example is blueberries. They contain bioactive substances, but they are also expensive. Blackberries and plums provide the same bioactive substances, but are much cheaper.
Over the last few decades, we’ve learned a lot about the chemicals that naturally exist in foods – what they are and how they affect the body. Some of them benefit our heart, brain and intestines, speed sprints, lengthen cycles, improve concentration and make it easier to relax.
Focus on diversity
However, many of them cause problems when consumed in excess. For example, green tea flavanols can damage the liver when taken in large amounts. We are just beginning to find out if there is an ideal amount of these compounds that will bring the greatest benefit. Until then, it is no exaggeration to say that a diverse diet is the best approach.
The great thing about our understanding of nutrition is that it is constantly evolving and improving, and as research progresses, we have a much better understanding of which foods to watch out for.
Everyone needs to stay healthy and build a kind of dietary portfolio that contains the essential nutrients, fiber and bioactive substances needed to stay healthy. Our bodies are incredibly complex and require a variety of vitamins, minerals, macronutrients and micronutrients to keep us optimal. Currently, it seems necessary to add bioactive substances to this list. But it doesn’t matter where they came from. Diversity is important.
Attention should be paid to dietary advice that suggests excluding the range of great foods offered and focusing on some “superfoods” that appear to have magical properties. Nutrition is much more complicated than that – and eating a healthy diet is much easier. 
Gunter Kuhnle, Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Reading. Charlotte Mills, Lecturer of Human Nutrition, Reading University, Jeremy Spencer, Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, Reading University.
This article has been republished from Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Please read the original article.
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