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So,
if fruits and vegetables are so dirt cheap, why aren’t more Americans
eating them?
That’s
a good question, says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension
System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food
science, especially considering that the average American’s fruit and
vegetable consumption reached a paltry 683 pounds in 2002, the lowest
level in more than a decade.
Consumption,
in fact, has increased only 18 percent within the last 30 years —
despite the constant exhorting by nutritionists who emphasize the myriad
of health benefits associated with fruits and vegetables.
While
he’s not completely certain, Keith believes there may be three reasons
why Americans fail to capitalize on the many health advantages associated
with produce. First, there is the taste issue.
The
image of an eternally exasperated mother constantly entreating her
children to eat more vegetables is one of the most enduring American
stereotypes — and understandably so, Keith says. In terms of taste, some
vegetables simply don’t hold a candle to less wholesome foods.
"Fruits
certainly have a sweet taste, but some vegetables don’t," Keith
says, "and that’s a problem, especially when there is no one around
to cook them in a way that enhances their flavor."
Income
level also directly affects food choices. Some limited resource families
prefer cheaper, higher calorie foods, even though these may amount to
squat in terms of nutritional value.
It
all boils down to money — or, in the case of many limited income
families, the lack of it, Keith says. High-fat, high-calorie foods provide
a bigger bang for their limited food dollars, even though these choices
ultimately may contribute to obesity and obesity-related problems, such as
diabetes and hypertension.
Finally,
with the exception of a handful of products, most notably Florida orange
juice, there’s very little marketing associated with fruits and
vegetables. Most advertising dollars are still reserved for hefty foods,
many of which are chock-full of fat, sugar and, of course, calories.
Despite
all of these challenges, Keith says it behooves Americans to get at least
5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
For
starters, there’s the antioxidant issue. Scientists already are well
acquainted with the antioxidant properties in fruits and vegetables that
help fend off cell damage caused from smoking and other factors.
There
is the added benefit of phytochemicals — substances found in fruits and
vegetables that scientists only now are beginning to understand.
It
may be some kind antioxidant effect that protects you from damaging
molecules caused from things such as smoking or air pollution. In some
cases, these phytochemicals may turn some genes on and off, protecting us
from chronic and life-threatening diseases such as cancer.
Scientists,
for example, have long believed that soybeans possess certain properties
that reduce the risk of breast cancer.
"It
may be some antioxidant effect associated with the product or it could be
that phytochemicals in the soybeans are suppressing some hormones that
contribute to cancer."
Whatever
the case, the important thing to remember is that there are literally tens
of thousands of phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables that may provide
all kinds of health-related benefits — benefits that scientists only now
are beginning to understand, Keith says. |
