Natural nutrition • Shopping for food • Healthy eating habits • What to eat when • Age-defying superfood • Food away from home • Eating from scratch
• Drinking water • Fresh and juicy • Tonic brews • Age-defying alcohol
• Beating cravings • When to supplement • Green essentials
REJUVENATING EXERCISE 46
Working the body • Which exercise? • Exercising the brain • Exercise essentials
• Keeping motivated • Build exercise into life • Active in the office • Maintaining posture • Breathing essentials • Aerobic workout • Working with weights
• Toning key areas • Cooling down • Hand and foot mobility • Facial exercises
• Building energy • Beating fatigue • Facial exercises • Youthful spirit
NATURAL BEAUTY 90
Glowing skin basics • Skincare in the sun • Eternal style • Organic beauty
• Superstar ingredients • Daily facial care • Deep cleansing • Organic nightcare
• Special care • Instant radiance • Non-surgical face-lifts • Emergency eye action • Lip treatments • Essentail toothcare • Natural bathing • Revitalizing body buffs • Natural cellulite action • Oiling the body • Natural pedicure
• Life-affirming sex • A good night’s sleep • Community spirit • Detoxing
• Healthy heart • A good gut
• Keeping a clear head • A kind menopause
• Healthy prostate • Protecting bones
• Banishing backache
• Keeping joints mobile • Boosting immunity
Introduction
We are the generations who are determined to stay young forever. Whether you were part of the youth movements that created Woodstock and the Glastonbury festival, punk rock and rave culture, hip hop and the first and second summers of love or are simply facing up to your first gray hairs and wondering how to live a greener life, you probably feel as I do. How can we possibly grow old? Our role models are still living the life—writing classic tunes, designing show-stopping collections, becoming the face of global cosmetics companies—so why shouldn’t we?
We have fought to do it our way. Believing individuals could make a difference, we campaigned for women’s and gay rights and against wars and the establishment. A worldwide study suggests this makes us more likely to be sexually satisfied into our 80s and beyond. Our embracing of eco culture—it was us folks who fought to ban the bomb, declared meat is murder, and founded Greenpeace—means we demand that our youth-enhancing beauty products and foods be ethical and green. Recent years have seen a big change in attitude to aging and we can all benefit—we no longer have to grow old to order. Forty is now considered to be no age at all; 50 could be the new 40, and 60 is the time of your life.
This book is packed with tips to keep us having it all as we move through the decades: how to eat well and defy aging through nutrition; how to build exercise into life to boost energy and beat fatigue; recipes for organic wrinkle erasers and nontoxic cleaners; quick ways to bat away stress, beat insomnia; and how to keep the heart, brain, bones, and joints working well so we look good and feel great forever.
As individuals, making small differences to lifestyle not only enhances well-being, but it may also increase lifespan. In a recent survey by Cambridge University of people aged over 45, simply eating a single apple or pear every day seemed to equate with an extra two years of life. Not smoking added five years; moderate exercise and eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day three more each.
Lifestyle changes don’t have to entail deprivation to have an impact on longevity. And often they come in the form of treats—a glass of wine and a little fine dark chocolate, a lunchtime massage, sociable nights out, and a funny movie may add years to our lives as well as life to our years.
Since 1994, the New England Centenarian Study has been monitoring people who live to at least 100 to discover the secrets of successful aging. In doing so, it has disproved the theory that the older we grow, the sicker we become. To the contrary, it reveals that the older we get, the healthier we have been. Seventy-five percent of centenarians live independently to the age of 96. Factors they share include a lean body, years without smoking, de-stressing skills, and a history of giving birth after 35 (birth after 40 equates with a four times greater chance of living to 100!). And, of course, good genes. The secret might be to take the advice of the principal investigator for the study, Dr. Thomas Perls: instead of wondering how to stay young, we should think about how to age well. Here are 1,001 tips to start us off.
Susannah Marriott Cornwall, England
EATING NATURALLY
Take a natural approach to food and enjoy the gourmet experience. A diet that benefits the heart and keeps the brain youthful encourages you to add variety to your plate—to feast on ripe fruit and vegetables, to add herbs and spices, and to indulge in the taste of well-raised meat and wild fish bought fresh and prepared simply. Natural foods contain a startling number of antiaging ingredients. These include heart-friendly fats, protective plant substances, and youth-preserving antioxidants that can neutralize free radicals—the unstable molecules that kickstart the body’s aging processes prematurely and are increased in the body by exposure to stress, pollution, UV rays, cigarette smoke, and unhealthy fats.
Natural nutrition
Eating food in as close to its natural state as possible helps ensure maximum exposure to youth-enhancing nutrients, many of which are lost during storage, processing, and cooking. It also reduces your exposure to artificial additives used to enhance the flavor, texture, color, and shelf-life of processed foods, from preprepared meals to diet dishes.
1
Five a day
Keep looking and feeling young and help ward off diseases of aging, from Alzheimer’s to stroke and heart disease, by eating more fruit and vegetables. They are rich in antioxidants, and the biologically active ingredients of plant pigments and flavorings have anti-aging properties, too. Aim to eat a minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables daily—and up to nine if you can.
2
Fitting in fruit
To boost the number of fruit servings you eat each day, slice fresh fruit or spoon soaked dried fruit onto morning muesli. Snack on grapes, dried fruit and berries, and eat an apple or banana midmorning or afternoon. Follow meals with a fruit salad, baked or poached fruit, or treat yourself to pieces of fruit dipped in fine dark melted chocolate.
3 Color combos
A rainbow of colors on the plate ensures you are getting a good intake of plant chemicals. Naturally deep
green, yellow, and red foods contain antioxidant carotenoids that boost immunity and offer protection against heart disease, cancer, DNA damage, and age-related sight problems. Include peppers, broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin in your diet, plus extra-virgin olive oil to aid absorption.
4
Fresh is best
Choose ripe, seasonal fruit and vegetables and grains in their whole form to ensure maximum flavor while retaining vitamins and minerals, antioxidant compounds, and other plant nutrients that are destroyed by processing.
5
Grow your own
Get fit while you plan your meals by growing some ingredients yourself. Even a city balcony can provide fresh
Eat unprocessed, seasonal fruit to make the most of its anti-aging properties.
herbs, salad leaves, and tomatoes in season, while garlic, soft fruit, and beans do well in pots.
6
Increasing variety
Diversity is the key to a healthy diet, since no one food can provide all the nutrients and antioxidants the body needs. Be adventurous and introduce new foods when you can.
7 Be flexitarian
Plant foods contain such effective life-enhancing properties that longterm vegetarians (think over 17 years) have a life expectancy almost four years longer than meat-eaters. If you’re not quite ready to give up meat, think more flexibly: maybe eat mostly vegetarian, but enjoy a steak
whenever you feel like it. Studies show this reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels.
8
Resensitize your tastebuds
If your diet majors on slimming foods and processed meals, you might be amazed by the taste of fresh produce. Rediscover the difference by sampling organic carrots and butter, sourcing milk from special-breed cows and seeking out meat that has been raised and hung well. Rid your kitchen of products such as cookies and potato chips, store-bought cakes and pies, margarine, and low-fat foods, all of which have long lists of unwanted ingredients.
9
Ditch dieting
Change the way you think about food and you need never worry about dieting again. Eating mostly fresh, seasonal fare frees you from faddy diets and prevents the yo-yoing weight loss and gain that often accompanies dieting (and, dermatologists state, contributes to aged-looking skin). Instead of obsessing over the scales, judge your weight by how well your clothes fit.
10 Cut down on calories
If you are carrying excess weight and it won’t budge, it may be because you now need fewer calories. Over 50s who aren’t active need 200 fewer
calories per day than those who lead a very physically active life. Adjust your diet to accommodate your slowing metabolism, for example, by reducing portion size rather than by cutting out foods.
11
Appetite adaptations
As you age, you may find you can’t tolerate large portions. Increase the amount of exercise you get to boost appetite: aim for 30 minutes a day. Make sure that what you do eat contains plenty of protein, vitamins, and minerals, since these nutritional needs don’t decline with the years.
12
Find more folate
Older people with low levels of folate have noticeably more memory problems than those whose diet is rich in this plant nutrient, according to one study. To keep mind and memory sharp, make sure you eat some folaterich, green leafy vegetables and citrus fruit every day.
13
Choosing good carbs
Don’t be scared of carbs. The right ones are essential for keeping your body and brain energized and active.
Color and texture play an important role in healthy eating.
These complex carbs are rich in fiber and nutrients, and the body absorbs them slowly. They’ll keep you feeling satisfied for hours, lift your mood, and speed recovery after a workout. They include unprocessed grains like oats, quinoa, and brown rice; legumes such as lentils and chickpeas; and broccoli, sweet potatoes, bananas, berries, and plain yogurt. Aim for these to make up about a third of your diet. The carbs most likely to leave you feeling bloated and lethargic are sugary, processed foods like doughnuts and cookies (best as occasional treats).
14
Potato swap
Women who eat fries twice a week increase their risk of type 2 diabetes, a major disease after middle age, according to one study. Another found that replacing one portion of potatoes a day with nonstarchy vegetables—spiralized zucchini or cauliflower couscous, for example—is associated with a lower risk of developing high blood pressure.
15
Eat whole grains
Fiber-rich whole grains are a particularly good food choice as we age. In one study, people over 60 who ate the most whole grains were less likely to suffer metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms implicated in heart disease and diabetes. They were slimmer, too. Whole grains are also rich in B vitamins and magnesium. Brown rice, for example, contains double the magnesium of white rice.
Whole grains are so nutritious they should be key to any anti-aging diet.
A magnesium-rich diet is also essential for bone density. Choose organic to avoid pesticide residue.
16
Try ancient grains
Give unusual grains space in your diet: try baking with spelt flour, making salads using quinoa, and planning breakfast around oats. Many nutritionists feel these overlooked grains are particularly well adapted to the human digestive system.
17
Source good bread
Slow-rise bread warm from the oven is a delightful treat when dunked in pungent olive or nut oil, or spread
with a little good butter. It’s worth searching out an artisan baker who handcrafts bread using traditional techniques and heritage flours, and experiments with different types of loaves, from sourdoughs and rye breads to flatbreads and seed mixes. “Real” bread does not contain the additives found in supermarket loaves, which may be made using a quick-rise method more likely to irritate the gut and result in bloating and stomach pain. You can also bake your own!
18
Fat facts
Make sure your fat intake comes mostly from oily fish, avocados, walnuts and other nuts, extra-virgin olive oil, and flaxseed oil. Dietary fat
is essential with age, especially if you have a small appetite or are frail. It speeds absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids, offers energy and essential fatty acids, brings flavor, especially in meat, and reduces inflammation in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Monounsaturated fats boost the health of the arteries and heart by increasing “good” and reducing “bad” cholesterol. They also decrease risk of breast cancer, according to a Swedish study. “Trans” fats are oils that have been hydrogenated to extend shelflife. They have no nutritional benefits, increase risk of coronary heart disease, and have also been linked
with cancer and skin disease. They are found only in processed foods, and aren’t always labeled, so avoid them by avoiding processed foods.
19 Eat butter
Go to the fridge now and throw away low-fat spreads. They taste nasty and are packed with additives it’s best to avoid. Substitute with a little butter— butter from grass-fed cows contains good levels of the fatty acid CLA and of vitamin K—or try local farmhouse butter for its crumbly texture. Alternatively, drizzle on super-healthy extra-virgin olive or walnut oil.
Savor the smell and taste of fresh home-baked bread or source good bread from a local baker.
20
Selecting good sugar
For baking and to scatter over bitter food and drinks choose dark sugars: brown sugar contains molasses, a good source of iron, and is so flavorful a little goes a long way when stirred into deserts, oatmeal, and drinks. By adding the sugar yourself, you can monitor how much you are taking on board. Buy organic and fair-trade if desired. Honey is a sweetener and an antioxidant with fantastic health-giving properties, used in hospitals for wound healing. Studies suggest it may help prevent heart disease and offer anticavity protection for teeth.
21 Avoid artificial sweeteners
Many popular artificial sweeteners contain ingredients that may be harmful to your health. Check for aspartame (E951), which produces the toxin methanol, which the body can process only in small amounts, and has been associated with headaches and menstrual problems. Saccharin (E954) has been linked with bladder cancer. Acesulfame K (E950) has also been linked with cancer, while sorbitol (E420) and mannitol (E421) are associated with bloating.
22
Discovering hidden sugars
It’s tricky to keep to the World Health Organization’s recommended daily limit for sugar (no more than 10 percent of
your daily food intake, and preferably below 5 percent) when it appears in so many forms in processed foods. If any of the following come near the top of an ingredients list, or if the product contains more than one of them, leave it on the shelf:
• dextrose
• glucose
• corn syrup
• sucrose
• fructose
• HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup)
23
Protein provision
Aim for two servings of high-quality protein a day from meat and fish, pulses, nuts, or tofu. This is particularly important for women over 50. In one osteoporosis study, people with the
highest intake of protein maintained bone mineral density significantly better than those who ate less.
24
Fish for health
Oily fish such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which protect brain and eye health, protect the heart, can ease depression and guard against inflammation that can cause stiff, painful joints. Aim for at least two portions a week.
25 Which fish is best?
Opt for small fish lower down the food chain, such as sardines, herring and anchovies, as well as
wild salmon. These contain 16 times fewer PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls—cancer-causing neurological toxins that accumulate in the body) than farmed salmon according to a study by the Environmental Working Group. Larger carnivorous fish higher up the food chain have been found to contain high levels of environmental pollutants, including mercury, dioxins and PCBs.
26
Red meat for iron
Red meat is a particularly good source of iron, which older people tend to be deficient in. Serve meat with green leafy vegetables and a glass of fresh orange juice to maximize absorption.
Oily fish, such as mackerel and sardines, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have many health benefits.
27
Choose grass-fed
Meat and dairy products from animals that graze in a pasture and forage crops (rather than being fed processed cereals and soy-based feeds) tend to be lower in total fat, including saturated fat. They are also higher in good fats like omega-3 fatty acids and CLA, in vitamins E and B, and in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Because pasture crops include legumes like clover, which reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, this system nurtures the soil and is more sustainable. Pastured animals also need vet treatment less often. If you’re concerned about the expense of pastured meat (often sold as “paleo” meat), opt for cheaper cuts that suit longer cooking times.
28
Find a good butcher
Look for a butcher who sources locally and keeps track of which farmer, and even which field, the stock comes from. A good butcher will recommend cheaper, more interesting cuts that aren’t available in supermarkets, and will offer changing seasonal treats like spring chicken, heather-fed fall lamb, and winter Virginia ham, as well as properly hung, healthy, free-range game such as rabbit, pheasant, and wild duck.
29 Eating poultry
Chicken is a good source of selenium, involved in DNA repair and cancer protection; niacin, which helps protect
brain function as we age; and vitamin B6 for energy and healthy heart and blood vessels. Choose free-range chicken fed an organic diet. To seal in flavor and moisture, leave the skin on while cooking.
30
Leave processed meat on the shelf
To safeguard your health into older age, cut down on processed meat, urges the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency. It ranks alongside smoking as a cause of cancer.
Shopping
This includes bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, and cured meats. Aim for under 21⁄4oz (70g) of processed or red meat daily—a sausage is about 13⁄4oz (50g) and a slice of ham is a scant 1oz (25g).
31
Veggie protein
In recent years many research studies have underscored the health benefits of plant-derived protein as we age. Include nuts, seeds, and fiber-rich legumes, such as black beans, in your diet daily for protection against heart disease and stroke.
for food
How you shop determines how well you eat. If you buy locally from farmers’ markets and pick-your-own farms, specialty butchers, bakers, and fish sellers, artisanal cheese shops and good delis, the produce that reaches your plate will be full of flavor as well as fresh and nutritious.
32
Organic farming
Food that is certified organic comes from farms run by people who are more likely to care about the health of our soil, water, and air, the living conditions of livestock, and the flora and fauna around the farm. Produce of organic farming is less likely to have trace residues of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and antibiotics, and is guaranteed free from GM (genetically modified) material. Organic certifiers permit only a small range of artificial additives to be used in processed foods while more than 500 may be used in nonorganic foods.
33
Nutrient boost
Organic growing methods may boost the nutrient content in some foods. A Newcastle University study in the UK found that organic vegetables, fruit, and grains contained increased levels of antioxidants, so much so that eating five portions a day could give you a nutrient intake the equivalent of up to seven a day. Another study found that organic milk contained significantly higher levels of the healthy fats alphalinoleic acid and omega-3 fatty acids, and more vitamin E and iron. This is largely due to the nutritional value of grass in a cow’s diet.
34
Organic priorities
Which organic staples should you add to your shopping basket? The Pesticide Action Network suggests that some 60 percent of nonorganic fruit and vegetables contain pesticide residue. To avoid ingesting too many, if you can’t eat only organic, prioritize the following foods:
• oranges, lemons, and limes
• apples and pears
• grapes
• bananas
• prepackaged salads
• spring greens
• kale and spinach
• herbs
• cucumber
35
Eating local
Faced with the choice between organic produce from the other side of the world and locally produced nonorganic foods, go for the local option to reduce environmental pollutants resulting from transport that may have an aging effect on body systems. Local food should not have spent too long in storage and so may contain more vitamins.
36
Read the labels
Examine the ingredients listing of every item you pick off the shelf. If you don’t understand any of the words or
Get outdoors and pick your own fruit while it’s still warm from the sun.
chemical formulae, replace the product and look for one with a shorter ingredients list, and one which you don’t need a Master’s degree to decipher.
37
Visit farmers’ markets
With the best producers from miles around gathered in one place for the day, a farmer’s market is as much a social occasion as a shopping opportunity. Enjoy hanging out with the expert growers and makers and ask for tips on what to buy and how to cook or serve it. Or head online and buy direct from farms and artisan producers, knowing you are supporting them directly.
38
Sustainable living
Research suggests that if you know about sustainable ways of eating— that is, choosing foods with a low environmental impact—you’re more likely to eat healthfully. So educate yourself about where your food comes from, who produced it, and how that crop affects its workers and the land, air, and water. The organization Sustain has an online guide to sustainable food.
39
Pick your own
In soft fruit season, head out to a pickyour-own farm to harvest strawberries, raspberries, and other delicate fruit that doesn’t travel well when ripe. Eat as many as you can fresh, then freeze or preserve the rest for a dose of cheering sunshine during dark winter
months. This makes a great bonding family outing that appeals to children and grandchildren of all ages.
40 Source direct from the farm
Cut down on food miles and enjoy the de-stressing effect of knowing exactly where your food comes from by buying direct from a farm. Look for meat freezer packs and programs that deliver to your doorstep.
41 Champion specialty varieties
Local breeds have lost out in past decades to livestock that is cheap to raise, but bland to the palate. Help revive taste history by joining the increasing numbers of chefs and shoppers returning to older, more unusual varieties, which are often more suited to regional climates and cuisines. Rare-breed meat is more likely to have been raised on family farms in free-range conditions with a varied diet, and to have been slaughtered humanely and properly hung. For all these reasons it tastes rich and well-textured, and offers a good balance between lean meat and flavor-enhancing fat.
42 Buy fair
Seek out fairly traded goods for a daily feel-good fix. Feeling uplifted by your ability to make a difference in the world every time you drink a cup
of coffee or eat a banana is an easy stress-beater. People who retain a positive state of mind as they age live longer, happier lives.
43
Try new food crazes
We create neural pathways by exploring new things, so train your brain by exposing your palate to new delights like kimchi (a fermented accompaniment to Korean food), the umami taste of seaweed, and the tang of fresh turmeric.
44
Supermarket savvy
Get to know how supermarkets work so it’s easier to resist the lure of unhealthy processed foods. Fresh
produce—milk, fruit and vegetables, fish and meat counters—are usually situated around the perimeter of the store. Venture into the center, where snack foods and preprepared meals lurk, for olive oil and wine only when you are ready to leave.
45 Waste not
By using cloth tote bags and wicker baskets, we’re already reducing the amount of plastics accumulating in the environment and the toxins created by their manufacture and disposal. Now let’s reduce our food waste by using leftover food in our fridges and vegetable drawers to make soup. Souping increases your intake of vegetables in an easily digestible form that keeps you feeling full.
Food shopping is a de-stressing treat when stalls look this good.
Healthy eating habits
How you eat helps turn back the clock. Missing breakfast, snacking on the run, and grazing while swiping on your phone are all associated with eating excess calories and foods low in vital nutrients. Most of all, they preclude the joy of sharing food with people you love. Those who have a close network of family and friends to share mealtimes with tend to live longer, more fulfilled lives.
46
Rituals of eating
Think of meals as sacrosanct times during the day when you stop and relax. Make sure you set aside enough time for food preparation, eating, and cleaning up. Eat sitting at the table to aid digestion and to allow you to savor the texture, color, and scent of food: enjoying food has as much to do with these sensations as with taste.
47
Setting the table
To give mealtimes a sense of occasion, clear from the table everything except food-related items. Put away laptops, tablets, and cell phones.Throw over a clean tablecloth, place some fresh flowers or a candle in the center, add a pitcher of water with ice and lemon, and set cutlery, glasses, and napkins. Choose coordinating plates and warm them before serving food.
48 Stop multi-tasking
Stop doing anything other than eating at mealtimes. Research suggests that people who eat while on the internet,
working, driving, or chatting on the phone tend to eat more than those who eat without distraction simply because they are not focused on the act of eating.
49 Ban TV dinners
The first rule of natural eating is to turn off the TV, because it diverts attention from the quality of your food and the quantity you are eating.
50
Put down your fork
Between mouthfuls put down your knife and fork. If your fingers feel restless, place them on your lap, palms facing upward. Enjoy the sensation of chewing and appreciate the release of flavors. Chewing and savoring food not only aids digestion, it turns a meal from a period of processing, where speed is the focus, to a time of delight.
51 Count each chew
Chew each mouthful until every last vestige of taste has been given up and the food is small enough to swallow
Engaging the senses when eating allows you to appreciate and savor the food on your spoon.
easily. Chewing triggers the release of enzymes and fluids that ensure easy and proper digestion.
52
Eating meditation
Don’t miss out on the spirit-refueling possibilities of eating with all your senses engaged.
Before sitting down to eat, make sure you are hungry. Sit upright, close your eyes, and focus within.
Open your eyes and look at your plate, as if for the first time: examine the blend of colors and textures, steam rising or beads of oil. When other thoughts arise, let them pass; bring your awareness back to the food in front of you.
As you cut and spear, appreciate the textures: crisp, tender, oozing. Close your eyes, place a morsel in
your mouth and feel the sensations as flavors activate tastebuds on various parts of your tongue. After finishing, sit in silence briefly and concentrate on your digestion. Visualize food circulating through your body systems and being transformed into energy.
53 No more grazing
Nibbling mindlessly between meals (and finishing up leftovers) is a surefire way to take on board
Sociable mealtimes keep relationships alive.
calories without enjoying the experience of eating. If you want a snack, dedicate time to it.
54
Write it down
If you’re unsure how healthy your diet is, start a food journal. Every day write down exactly what you eat, and when. After a week, scrutinize your results and try to recognize patterns. Do you slip into bad habits midafternoon or when you get home from work? Are your
cupboards packed with processed foods because you go to the supermarket when you are hungry or accompanied by kids?
55 Sharing meals
Food is most pleasurable when shared, and throughout human history, mealtimes have been the place where bonds are cultivated, cultures shared, and children civilized. Aim to eat at least once a day with people you like spending time with.
If you can’t eat breakfast together during the week, plan for a leisurely weekend brunch. Encourage colleagues to get out of the office for lunch rather than hunching over their screens. And don’t dismiss the power of social media. Sharing pictures of dishes can bridge miles and forge new friendships across continents.
56
Stock the pantry
Amass enough healthy staples to be able to throw together a healthy, tasty pasta dish in a hurry. Keep onion and garlic in the vegetable rack; extra-virgin olive oil, canned plum tomatoes and tomato purée, anchovies, and good spaghetti in the cupboard; black olives and parmesan cheese in the fridge.
57
Brush your teeth
Brushing teeth after meals has been shown in a Japanese study to be a habit associated with people who keep their weight at a healthy level.
58 Give thanks
Even if you don’t say grace at mealtimes, think about all the people who made it possible for the food to reach your plate: farmers, transport workers, energy suppliers. Appreciate the interdependence of lives across the globe.
What to eat when
Listen to your body as well as your lifestyle when planning what to eat. Some of us do better on three meals a day, others prefer smaller portions more often. Make sure you have enough time between meals to relish the feeling of hunger that accompanies an empty stomach. Routine and regularity are the key to good nutritional health.
Home-pressed orange juice with pulp is a good source of potassium, folate, vitamin C, and carotenoids shown to reduce risk of an inflammatory condition that leads to rheumatoid arthritis by as much as 40 percent.
61
Cardamom oatmeal
Oranges are a great source of potassium, folate, vitamin C, and carotenoids.
59
Why breakfast matters
Kickstart the day with a good portion of the nutrients your body needs — without fuel body and mind won’t cope with all your demands. Choose foods that offer a sustained energy boost: oatmeal, homemade muesli, wholemeal toast, eggs, yogurt with fruit, nuts, and seeds.
60
Fresh orange juice
Squeeze it yourself and be sure that the fruit is organic, fairly traded, and not coated in petroleum waxes.
This recipe is inspired by a breakfast served at a food stall in the healing field at the Glastonbury festival in England. Serves four.
Put the oats and milk in a large pan. Wash and finely chop the apricots and add. Bash the cardamoms to split them, then add to the pan. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon. Allow to bubble for a few minutes, then turn off and leave to cool for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with maple syrup.
62
Go to work on an egg
Eggs are always a good way to start the day for a high-quality protein hit, containing antioxidant selenium, choline for memory, and vitamin D, which helps calcium absorption and boosts immunity.
63 Productive pets
Even a small urban garden can be home to a few hens if you have the enthusiasm and energy—and they could yield up to a dozen eggs a
66
Homemade muesli
week. For an extra feel-good factor, why not rescue an previously caged commercial hen and see the difference in health and happiness you can bring to a fellow creature in just a few weeks? That’s truly life-enhancing.
64 Don’t snack after exercise
A post-workout nutrition bar or glucose drink may seem tempting, but don’t succumb if you want to keep trim. Go for green or camomile tea and an apple instead.
65
Spice up your life
Buy a book about Indian cuisine, grind your own curry powders and garam masalas, and aim to cook your own once a week. India has one of the lowest incidences of Alzheimer’s disease in the world. Researchers attribute this to curry, which almost always contains turmeric, the main constituent of which, curcumin, seems to slow the progress of neurodegeneration. It is also a helpful anti-inflammatory for swollen joints and has been associated with healthy cells. Other
Making your own muesli allows you to pander to personal preference. You can include anti-aging seeds and nuts and leave out the ingredients you dislike.
• organic jumbo oats
• walnuts
• almonds
• Brazil and cashew nuts
• sunflower seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• pine nuts
• sesame seeds
1Into a large bowl empty a bag of jumbo oats. Stir in as many of the nuts and seeds listed above as you wish. Pour the muesli into a large jar and seal tightly. Store in a cool dark place.
2Each morning spoon out a bowlful of muesli. Add chopped fresh or soaked dry fruit to taste—kiwi for morning pep or traditional apple—then top up with semiskimmed milk or yogurt.
fabulously anti-aging ingredients in the curry mix include ginger, garlic, chiles, fenugreek seeds, tomatoes, and onions.
67
Adopt a Mediterranean diet
Benefit from this health-enhancing way of eating by building your daily diet around antioxidant-loaded fresh fruit and vegetables, highly nutritious
whole grains and nuts, and heartfriendly olive oil and fish. Eating a Mediterranean-style diet is associated in numerous studies with longer life and a leaner body—and you can see a difference in just three months.
68
Eat with the seasons
Ayurveda, the Indian system of natural healthcare, is also referred to as the art of longevity. It teaches
Eating Mediterranean style is all about health-enhancing food and wine—and setting aside time to cook, prepare, eat, and relax after eating.
that body and mind become better balanced if we consume the produce of the seasons. Doing so is thought to bring us into a state of equilibrium by synchronizing our internal energies with the changing qualities of the seasons.
69
Spring clean
With the first buds of spring, make changes in your diet and introduce lighter foods that are easy to digest. Lighten up by easing back on dairy foods and rich, oily meals, and gradually introduce more salads and bitter leaves, light broths, sprouted seeds, and raw foods into your diet.
70
Summer foods
In the heat of summer, nature offers juicy fruit and water-laden vegetables to cool and hydrate the body, so take advantage of cucumber, zucchini, celery, watercress, and flush-reducing watermelon. Major on chilled soups, cool juices, and frozen yogurt. Make fresh mixed-leaf salads to keep active bones strong and calm the nerves with their sedative qualities.
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Summer salad
Take large bunches of several leafy seasonal herbs, such as mint, parsley, coriander and sorrel. Wash, chop and dress with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Slice feta cheese and stir in. Chill before serving.
Mood-lifting treats are fine to include occasionally.
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Fall foods
In the season of change, start eating more sweet, astringent, and bittertasting foods, such as pumpkin, beets, and parsnip, suggests Ayurveda. Keep the food light and easily digestible— it’s not winter yet.
73 Root salad
Savor the earthy sweetness of carotenoid-rich carrots and red beets in a robust, clean-tasting cold-season salad. Serves four.
Grate the carrots and beets. Toast the sunflower seeds and toss into the salad while warm. Dress with a little balsamic vinegar.
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Winter warmers
Ayurveda suggests we build in more sustaining, warming food in winter: go for hearty casseroles and roast joints, baked dishes based on dried legumes, and root vegetables.
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Vegetarian roast
Roast winter vegetables, such as carrot, parsnip, red beets, and whole heads of garlic. Serve topped with grilled goat’s cheese, or as wholemeal bread sandwiches.
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Cheering treats
Don’t be scared of the occasional treat: a mood-lifting glass of champagne with lunch, for example. Other treats include:
• 70 percent cocoa, solid organic chocolate
• real ice cream from a dairy farm
• gourmet honey drizzled over toast or yogurt
• fine cheeses served with quince paste or ripe figs
• freshly made pancakes
• freshly popped corn
• homemade fruit scones served with good jam and heavy cream
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Waist sculpting
Enjoying a treat early in the day seems to have less of an effect on the waistline. Lateral yoga stretches like Triangle Pose also shape the waistline.
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Try fasting
In all the great religions, fasting is a tool of meditation, used as a way of reining in the excesses of body and mind. If you are in good health, you might like to have a juice and water-only day once every season. Alternatively, give up something you crave for a set period of time, and notice how after a while the cravings seem less important and your mind feels calmer.
Age-defying superfood
Research is showing us that some foods are particularly effective at keeping at bay the body’s aging mechanisms. Many of these superfoods are fruit and vegetables famed for their antioxidant powers—the more of these you can weave into your day, the better you protect body and brain from the ravages of time.
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Fermented foods
Growing research confirms the health benefits of traditional fermented foods, such as sauerkraut and kimchi. The lactic-acid bacteria responsible for the deliciously tangy, sour taste, and preservative properties like those found in yogurt, promote healthy gut flora, boost immunity, and improve inflammatory conditions while enhancing the nutritional benefit of the vegetables in the mix, such as cabbage.
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Graze on grapes
Keep black grapes handy to pick at. The red coloring contains very potent antioxidants effective in maintaining youthful arteries. They are also a source of ellagic acid, associated with cancer-prevention.
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Pomegranate power
The succulent seeds and juice of this fruit contain very high levels of antioxidant polyphenols that seem to protect against many diseases of aging, such as ailments of the heart and blood vessels. They also seem to stop the growth of prostate and breast cancer cells.
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Cultivate peppers
Buy young pepper plants and nurture in pots through the summer ready to harvest in the fall. Like pumpkin and other red, orange, and yellow fruit and vegetables, peppers contain the carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin, which can help cut the risk of a precursor disease to rheumatoid arthritis by up to 40 percent. Red peppers contain three times more vitamin C than citrus fruit.
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Eat more berries
Eating dark red or purple berries boosts memory function. Blackcurrants and boysenberries are rich in the antioxidant flavonoid anthocyanins and seem to fight cell and DNA damage, which can contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s and cancer. Blackcurrants, blackberries, bilberrries, and blueberries benefit aging eyes and capillary walls, too. Eat fresh berries in season. Out of season try frozen or freeze-dried.
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Enjoy nuts
Walnuts are renowned in Chinese medicine as the longevity fruit. As well as snacking on fresh shelled nuts, try
Blueberries may help safeguard memory.
using the oil in cooking and salad dressings. Packed with heartprotecting antioxidants and fats, walnut oil has a nutty flavor that works well with potatoes and other root vegetables. Peanuts share their cholesterol-lowering properties and are also linked to a decreased risk of heart disease. Eat a handful of almonds each day for their healthy monounsaturated fats, which are associated with a lowered risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
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Snack on seeds
Just a fistful of seeds a day is immensely protective, since they contain protein, useful amounts of minerals and fatty acids essential for joint and prostate health. Add pumpkin, flaxseeds (linseeds), sesame and sunflower seeds to muesli, scatter over salads and keep ready-mixed packets in your desk to dip into when energy levels drop.
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Probiotic booster
A pot of organic live natural yogurt each day can help boost immunity. A Swedish study shows those who get a daily dose of the good bacteria, or probiotics, found in live or “bio” yogurt are less likely to call in sick than colleagues who don’t. It’s also good for digestive health and strong bones. If you find yogurt unpalatable, try drizzling over organic runny honey, adding chopped pistachio nuts, or a spilling of fresh pomegranate seeds.
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Fish feasts
Dining on fish at least twice a week may reduce your risk of heart disease. Studies of older people suggest that those who eat more fish show less cognitive decline and enhanced activity in the memory and emotional areas of the brain. Oily fish—such as salmon, anchovies, mackerel, or sardines—is a particularly rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which we need for healthy brain and eye function; the antioxidant selenium; vitamin D, which seems to protect against forms of cancer common in older age; and magnesium, which is necessary for strong bones.
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Cook with garlic
Valuable for lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol, preventing blood clots, and giving the immune system a powerful boost, eating 2–3 cloves of garlic daily can reduce by a quarter the risk of stroke and heart attack.
Pound the cloves in a mortar and pestle or slice finely with a knife; in a garlic crusher cloves can take on a metallic tang. Use garlic fresh in salad dressings or add right at the end of cooking to ensure valuable compounds aren’t destroyed by heat.
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Switch to olive oil
You can substitute olive oil for other cooking oils, use it in salad dressings, drizzle it over crusty bread, or use it as a massage and body oil. A diet rich
Olive oil has protective effects against many later life illnesses.
Laden with lycopene: aim for 10 servings of tomatoes a week.
in olive oil is associated with a 25 percent reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Extra-virgin olive oil contains most anti-inflammatory and clot-preventing antioxidant phenols. Its main constituent, oleic acid, helps maintain healthy levels of cholesterol and seems to inhibit a gene that stimulates breast cancer cells. It’s no wonder that the Mediterranean diet, with olive oil always on the menu, is associated with long life.
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Keep ketchup on the table
Concentrated cooked tomato products, such as ketchup and purée, contain remarkably effective amounts of lycopene, the antioxidant red pigment found in red fruit and vegetables. In a large-scale European study, men with the highest intake of lycopene-rich foods were half as likely to suffer from a heart attack than those whose diets featured the lowest amount. Lycopene protects the heart
and is good for blood pressure, suggests a recent study, and is also known to combat prostate cancer. The darker the fruit, the more lycopene it contains. Aim for a mighty 10 servings of fresh and cooked tomatoes a week, making sure they are organic: organic ketchup contains 83 percent more lycopene than nonorganic.
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Salsa with everything
Capsaicin, the property that gives chiles heat, seems to kill liver and prostate cancer cells, studies suggest. Chili peppers also protect against heart disease, high blood pressure, blood clots and high cholesterol. To make salsa, chop finely and stir together red onion, diced fresh tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and enough of your favorite variety of chiles to achieve the heat level you prefer. Keep it in the fridge to accompany eggs at breakfast, omelets at lunch, and to pep up grilled meat or fish.
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Substitute sweet potato
Once a week or more substitute orange-fleshed sweet potato for your regular carbohydrate: try baking, roasting, or frying. The color indicates the benefits: carotenoid pigment safeguards the skin and eyes as we age, and people with raised levels of beta-carotene show a reduced risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. Vitamins C and E in the potatoes boost the carotenoids’ antioxidant capabilities.
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Broccoli for breasts
Boost breast health by eating one portion of steamed broccoli or other cruciferous greens, such as cabbage, kale, and Brussels sprouts, most days. This seems to keep breast tissue healthy and helps rid the body of an estrogen linked with the development of breast cancer. Broccoli is also high in bone-building calcium and folate, essential for artery health.
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Eat your greens
The aging brain stays sharper if you eat greens, according to a recent study. People who ate most folate-rich leafy greens and citrus fruit stayed significantly sharper and had better memories than those who ate fewer. Food sources might be more effective than taking a supplement. Other research shows that those who ate foods rich in folate reduced their risk of pancreatic cancer, whereas those who took a supplement didn’t.
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Garnish with herbs
Adding fresh herbs to dishes has been shown in research by the US Department of Agriculture to add more antioxidant properties to meals than the fruit, vegetable, and berry ingredients. Maintain a constant supply of fresh basil, parsley, and coriander by nurturing plants in pots in the kitchen. Plant a bay tree in a pot outside, and raise a rosemary bush and sage plants for marinades and stuffing roasts.
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Citrus fruit salad
Slice and mix together oranges, strawberries, and ripe mangoes (for vitamin C), peaches and fresh or dried apricots (for beta-carotene), and tangerines (for zeaxanthin), all essential for eye health as we age. Drizzle over orange juice and spike with Cointreau for special occasions. Age-related macular degeneration is a prime cause of blindness in the over 55s, and people with a higher intake of these nutrients are significantly less likely to develop the condition.
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Organic whole milk
Calcium for bone health is most effectively absorbed when combined with vitamin D, both available in milk. If you’re getting calcium only from milk, you’d need to drink three glasses a day and four from the age of 50. But bone-building calcium is also
available in leafy greens, tofu, sardines, and sesame seeds. Skim milk is higher in calcium, but isn’t the best option for everyone; whole milk provides more fat-soluble vitamins A and E than lower-fat options. Organic milk is best if you prefer full-fat milk: it has fewer pesticide residues and serves up more omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A and E, beta-carotene, and antioxidant plant chemicals lutein and zeaxanthin.
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Daily chocolate
It’s healthy to enjoy fine chocolate in moderation thanks to the amazingly antioxidant polyphenols it contains.
Eating chocolate daily can reduce risk of circulation problems by 27 percent, lower blood pressure, increase “good” cholesterol and inhibit blood clotting, suggest studies. Choose dark chocolate rich in cocoa solids (look for 70 percent or over) and stick to moderate amounts. Try making your own chocolate drinks with fairly traded cocoa and just enough dark sugar to sweeten to taste. Milk chocolate bars containing sugars and hydrogenated oils don’t share the benefits.
Indulge and enjoy: fine, dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants.
Food away from home
Dining and snacking away from home need not be a nutritional nightmare if you follow a few simple rules and keep a good stock of healthy, age-friendly foods in your bag. Many menus now make a show of banning additives and artificial ingredients.
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Midmorning hunger
If you need a pick-me-up to tide you over until lunchtime, reach for a banana, a few dried prunes, or a handful of nuts and seeds to stabilize energy highs and lows.
• Brazil nuts will boost your levels of antioxidant selenium.
• Walnuts are a good source of oil to ease inflammation.
• Pistachio nuts are rich in cholesterolclobbering phytosterols.
• Sunflower seeds and cashew nuts help keep blood pressure healthy.
• Organic carrots: their pigment may reduce the risk of arthritis.
• Dried cranberries are a source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E.
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Beating the afternoon slump
If your eyes start to close midafternoon, go and breathe in some fresh air— without stoppping at the vending machine en route. When you get back to your desk, drink a reviving cup of peppermint tea and snack on one of the energy boosters listed in No. 99.
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Emergency rations
Carry the following in your bag for times when hunger or thirst strike on the run: sachets of green tea, a bottle of mineral water, an apple, small pack of raisins, easy-peel satsuma, and oat cakes.
A handful of nuts will help to keep you going between meals.
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Carry an apple
The ultimate portable health food, apples really do keep the doctor away, suggest researchers at Cornell University, because they contain some of the highest levels of the flavonoid quercetin, a potent antioxidant plant pigment. Red apples provide the most. Flavonoid-rich foods also have antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, and seem to protect against heart disease, stroke, bowel cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Make sure you eat the skin, where flavonols concentrate.
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Street food
Street food provides some of the freshest, best-tasting snacks: doughnuts fried while you wait then dunked in sugar, roasted nuts from a street vendor, cartons of stir-fried noodles direct from the wok at street markets. Enjoy such high-fat snacks occasionally for the youthinducing joy of eating for pleasure.
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Dining out without pigging out
When eating in restaurants, start with a glass of water and salad. Those who eat greens at the beginning of a meal tend to eat fewer calories in total according to one study. To prevent the feeling of an uncomfortably full stomach, stay away from side dishes and order a
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assists in cleansing the mucous lining of the stomach and intestines. They are diuretic and, if for no other reason than for this cleansing of the kidneys, and to make the stomach and intestines more efficient, the use of green vegetables is to be commended, and it is well to eat freely of them.
TABLE II
G V
FOOD MATERIALS
In larger cities, fresh vegetables are in the markets the year around, but if they are raised in greenhouses, or in any way forced, they lack the flavor which comes with natural maturity and they also lack the full amount of iron given by the rays of the sun. If raised in the south and shipped from a distance, they are not fresh and they do not have as good an effect on the system as when fresh and fully matured by the sun.
Greens, as spinach, chard, dandelions, and beet tops, as previously stated, contain iron and build red blood corpuscles.
Cabbage, of which there are many varieties, contains much sulphur. If fermentation exists in the intestines the sulphur unites with hydrogen causing gas of an unpleasant odor.
They promote the formation of calcium oxalate in the urine and should be avoided as a food by any one inclined to gout, rheumatism, or gall-stones.
Cabbage is usually not well digested by invalids.
Eaten raw, because of its bulk, it is laxative. Some dyspeptics, who cannot digest cooked cabbage, digest raw cabbage readily.
Celery is wholesome when cooked, because of the milk and butter in which it is prepared. Eaten raw the fiber is hard for the digestive juices to dissolve and should be thoroughly masticated. It has little nutritive value save for its appetizing flavor.
Because of the salts, largely sulphates and phosphates, which it contains, celery has been called a nerve food, but the proportion of these is so small that their food value is negligible.
Tomatoes are easily digested and are refreshing. They are not well borne by some and on account of the oxalic acid they contain should not be used by those having an excess of uric acid.
Asparagus, because of its delicate flavor and appearance early in spring, is a vegetable universally liked. It is easily digested and may be eaten by invalids; they usually greatly relish it. Its particular food value lies in its sulphur and in its value as an appetizer.
Rhubarb is one of the most wholesome of vegetables and is being much more widely used. Thoroughly cooked it is digestible and a natural laxative.
Its tart flavor and appearance in early spring render it a pleasant change from the ordinary diet. Eaten in excess, like cabbage, it produces calcium oxalate in the urine and should not be eaten in large amounts by those inclined to gout.
All fresh vegetables should be masticated to almost a fluid consistency; otherwise, they are difficult of digestion, containing, as they do, so much fiber.
Fruits
Technically speaking, fruits include all plant products which bear or contain a seed. They are valuable for their acids and organic salts—citrates, malates, or tartrates of potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium.
They are composed for the most part of starch, sugar, water, and various organic acids, cellulose, and pectin. (Pectin is the substance which jellies under heat.) Fruits which do not contain pectin must be combined with others which do, or with gelatin, if jelly from them is desired.
The organic acids in fruits are readily split up in the body, and form alkalis. For this reason acid fruits are useful in certain acid conditions of the stomach, because they combine with the stomach acids, liberating substances which cause an alkaline reaction.
The citrus fruits—oranges, lemons, grapefruit and limes—are rich in citric acid.
Malic acid is found in gooseberries, peaches, pears, apples, currants, and apricots.
Tartaric acid is prominent in grapes.
The value of fruits as a food depends largely on the amount of starch and sugar they contain, though their agreeable odor and taste,
by furnishing variety in the diet, render them, also, of great value as appetizers.
As a rule they contain too much water to be of great food value if eaten alone.
The organic acids and salts contained in fruits are of value as they stimulate the activity of the kidneys and lessen the acidity of the urine. The urine may even be rendered alkaline by them; hence, when a test shows evidence of too much uric acid, acid fruits are used to neutralize the acids in the tissues, particularly the acids of the citrus fruits.
The fruit juices are readily absorbed and the potassium calcium, sodium, and magnesium they contain are liberated with the formation of alkaline carbonates.
These alkalis are largely eliminated through the kidneys, which accounts for the diuretic effect of fruits, their acids and salts stimulating the activity of the kidneys.
The seeds in the small fruits are not digested, but they serve the purpose of increasing intestinal peristalsis and of assisting the movement of the contents of the intestines. The skin and the fiber of fruits also assist the intestines in this way, just as the fiber in vegetables does.
All acid fruits—particularly lemons, limes, grapefruit, and oranges —stimulate the action of the skin as well as the kidneys and whenever the kidneys and skin are not sufficiently active, these fruits should be eaten freely.
In case of an excess of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, lemon juice or citrus fruits are valuable about half an hour before a meal, as when taken on an empty stomach they decrease the secretion of hydrochloric acid.
When the secretion of hydrochloric acid is limited, acids are given after a meal to supplement the deficiency, or stimulate the glands to activity.
Sweet or bland fruits are those containing a lesser percentage of acids. Among these are pears, raspberries, grapes, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, melons, and some peaches, apples, and plums.
Of this class of fruits, dates, figs, prunes, and grapes (raisins), furnish most nutriment, because, as will be noted by Table III, these fruits contain a large amount of carbohydrates in the form of sugar.
The protein in these sweet fruits is largely in the seeds and, as the seeds are not digested, they have no real food value for the individual.
Figs and prunes, peaches, apples, and berries are laxative— probably the laxative action of figs and berries is due to the seeds, and of the others to the salts and acids they contain, and to the cellulose or fibrous material which furnishes bulk.
TABLE III
F
The astringent and acid taste of unripe fruits is due to the tannin and the acids. Oxygen is necessary to ripen fruits and the slow natural maturing of the fruit on the tree enables the oxygen to enter into combination with these substances, lessening their reaction and altering the starch into glucose or levulose.
Fruits ripened artificially lack this chemical action of sun and oxygen, hence the decreased palatability and digestibility of fruits so ripened. If underripe fruits are freely eaten they ferment in the alimentary tract and this fermentation causes the colic, vomiting, and diarrhea so often experienced. Overripe fruit, from the decomposition products which have already begun to form and which are further released in the stomach or bowels, may produce the same results.
Care should therefore be exercised to select thoroughly ripe fruits which have not begun to decay.
In order to reach their destination in fair condition, outwardly, many fruits are picked before they are ripe. Bananas are commonly picked green, because they decay so quickly that if they were picked ripe they would spoil before reaching the northern markets.
One test of a naturally ripened apple is to cut it with a steel knife— if the blade turns black, or if the cut surface of the apple turns brown in a few minutes, it should not be eaten, for it indicates an excess of tannin. It is this tannin which gives the small boy excruciating pains from his green apples.
It will be recalled that the tannin from the bark of trees toughens the skin of animals and forms leather. The effect on the membrane of the stomach and intestines, from the tannin in food, is not so pronounced, because of the activity and resistance of living matter.
The juice of lemons and oranges is most valuable in seasickness and scurvy, and is of benefit in nausea. A slice of lemon will often clear a coated tongue and give a refreshing sense of cleanliness to the mouth, especially in feverish conditions. Sour lemonade is one of the best drinks in summer because of its thirst-allaying qualities.
Table III shows that bananas contain nearly twenty-three per cent. of carbohydrates, which, in an immature state, are largely starches. The natural ripening process changes the starch to sugar, thus making them more easily digested. The starch globules, when not matured on the tree, are not easily broken and are thus difficult of digestion.
Bananas should not be given to children under two years of age because before this age the ptyalin and pancreatin are not sufficiently developed to digest the starch.
Many of the inhabitants of the tropics use bananas almost to the exclusion of other food and appear well nourished. They obtain them from the tree when the fruit has thoroughly ripened, the starch having been transformed by Nature into an easily digested product.
The reason many find they cannot digest bananas, as purchased in our markets, is due to the fact that the fruit is immature and unripe.
The banana meal or flour is usually thoroughly digestible, is nourishing, and has an agreeable taste. Invalids can often take banana meal in the form of gruel; it makes an appreciated addition to a limited diet. Made into a porridge and eaten with cream it is valuable in conditions of inflammation of the gastro-intestinal tract. The addition of a few drops of lemon juice renders it palatable to those who like an acid flavor. Children enjoy it as a variation from cereals. It is relished by typhoid fever patients as a change from milk.
It must be carefully cooked and well prepared as, like oatmeal, it can be spoiled by insufficient or poor cooking. Owing to the limited
demand it is not obtainable in all markets, as it has not yet become popularized.
Grapes, because of their wholesome qualities, are useful to the system, as they contain sodium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Because of their appetizing flavor they are universally enjoyed, and because they are cheap are universally used. The skins and seeds are indigestible and, if swallowed, may cause severe irritation or obstruction of the intestines. Grapes are rich in sugar, and on this account must not be eaten by diabetics.
Grape juice, when unfermented, is a valuable drink, in health, or for the convalescent. It is agreeable in taste and is mildly laxative. Added to other fruit juices, as lemon or orange, it allays thirst and furnishes a pleasant flavor, but on account of its high percentage of sugar does not allay thirst when used alone.
Apples, so universally used, are easily digestible when ripe, and may be prepared in so many ways that they constitute a valuable addition to the diet. Their laxative qualities, when taken on an empty stomach, as before breakfast, or just before retiring, are well known. They are thus valuable in constipation, and in some forms of dyspepsia may, with benefit, be eaten raw.
Apples should be thoroughly masticated.
The apple peel contains potassium salts and should be eaten with the fruit.
Most invalids digest apples better if they are cooked, especially baked. Stewed apples may have the beaten white of eggs whipped into them and invalids who revolt against eggs can take them thus prepared.
Because of the sugar necessary in cooking them they should be avoided by diabetics, and in conditions in which there is irritation of the gastro-intestinal tract.
Quinces are indigestible when raw, but well baked and eaten with cream are appetizing and nourishing.
Pineapples, if thoroughly ripe, contain a ferment which will digest protein, rapidly softening and disintegrating the tissue of meat. Like the pancreatic ferment it acts in both alkaline and acid mediums. Pineapple juice, therefore, is exceedingly valuable as an addition to the diet. The coarse fibers also have a laxative action. Care must be taken, however, to use this fruit only when it is well ripened, as when green, it is indigestible.
The juice of pineapple, because of the action of the ferment in dissolving tissue, is valuable in many forms of sore throat, particularly when accompanied by an ulcerous condition. The effort should be made to hold it in the mouth, allowing it to trickle down the throat by degrees.
Dried fruits are less palatable than fresh. Many of them, as prunes and raisins, are nourishing, but others, as citron, are indigestible, and should be finely chopped if used as flavoring.
Dried or evaporated fruits, through the action of heat, either artificial or from the rays of the sun, have lost the water they contained, and are preserved by their own sugar.
Dried grapes, or raisins, because of their sugar, soon satiate the appetite if eaten raw, but if cooked or added to cereals, puddings, or breads, enhance the palatability and nourishing qualities of these foods.
Dates and figs used in the same way, in cereals or puddings, are equally valuable.
Dried currants are the most indigestible of the dried fruits, owing to their large amount of skin in proportion to the nutriment.
NITROGENOUS FOODS
As previously stated, in a mixed diet, meat and eggs are the chief sources of nitrogenous foods. Next to these come the legumes.
Meat
Meat is composed largely of muscle fiber and contains connective tissue and fat. It has been estimated that beef contains one-third nutritive material, the other two-thirds being water and bone. Fat meat contains less nitrogenous material and less water than lean meat.
Lean meat is almost entirely digested in the stomach by the gastric juice, which changes it into peptone. It is needless to say that it should be thoroughly masticated, that the gastric juice may promptly act on it. If any part passes into the intestine undigested, the process is continued by the trypsin of the pancreatic juice.
The peptone is absorbed and carried by the blood and lymph to all tissues of the body, where it is used for growth and repair. As stated under “Heat and Energy,” any excess of protein above that needed for growth and repair is oxidized if sufficient oxygen is breathed, yielding energy and heat, and the waste is eliminated through the kidneys and the bile.
For purposes of comparison, one pound of beef has been said to equal in nutritive value, two and one-half pints or five glasses of milk, one-half pound (two-thirds of an ordinary baker’s loaf) of bread, and three eggs. However, these values vary.
TABLE IV
A F
The amount of fat in meat varies from two to forty per cent., according to the animal and to its condition at the time of killing.
The best meats are from young animals which have been kept fat and have not been subjected to any work to toughen the muscles.
It is possible to combine the fat and the lean of meat so as to meet the requirements of the body without waste. About ninety-seven per cent. of meat is assimilated by the system, while a large part of the vegetable matter consumed is excreted as refuse.
The compounds contained in animal foods are much like those of the body, therefore they require comparatively little digestion to prepare them for assimilation—this work having been done by the animal—while the vegetable compounds require much change by the digestive system before they can be used in the body.
The proportion of albuminoids, gelatinoids, and extractives in meat vary with different meats and with different cuts of the same meat.
The albuminoids of meat include the meat tissue, or the muscle cells. These constitute by far the greater part of the meat.
The gelatinoids are derived from the connective tissue forming the sheath of the muscle and of bundles of muscles, the skin, tendons, and the casing of bone. Gelatins are made from these and, if pure and prepared in a cleanly manner, they are wholesome.
Gelatin is distinguishable in rich meat soups, which jelly when cool.
The gelatinoids alone have not a large nutritive value; they serve to spare the albumin from being used, though they cannot replace albumin in the diet. They also, to some extent, keep the muscles from being consumed when starches, sugars, and fats are lacking.
The extractives are found most abundantly in the flesh of animals and birds noted for their muscular activity, as in game. Some of them exert a stimulant action on the nervous system and others are appetizers, giving to cooked meats, broths, etc., their pleasing flavor. In case of anemia, in which it is necessary to build red blood corpuscles, the blood of beef, the thought of which is usually repellent, may be made very palatable if it is heated sufficiently to bring out the flavor of the extractives, and then seasoned.
Unless the beef extracts on the market contain the blood tissue, in addition to the extractives, they are not particularly nourishing and are only valuable in soups, etc., as appetizers.
Soups for nourishment should be made by cooking the bones, connective tissue, and a part of the meat. Bones and connective tissue alone make an appetizing soup, but it contains little nutriment.
One reason why meat soups should constitute the first course at dinner is because the extractives stimulate the appetite and start the flow of gastric juices. Bouillons contain no nourishment, but they may be used as stimulant restoratives to the muscles, or as a basis for vegetables, rice, or barley to give them flavor.
Roasted flesh seems to be more completely digested than boiled meat; raw meat is more easily digested than cooked; rare meat is more easily digested than that thoroughly cooked.
Roasted young chicken and veal are tender, easily masticated, and easily and rapidly digested in the stomach. This is one reason why the white meats are considered a good diet for the invalid, though veal is usually avoided in cases of dyspepsia, as, if too young, it may cause diarrhea; if too old, it is less digestible than beef.
Fat meats remain in the stomach a much longer time than lean meats; thus, gastric digestion of pork, which usually contains much
fat, is especially difficult, requiring from three and one-half to four hours (see page 22).
Preserved and canned meats should be eaten with the utmost caution, care being taken to know that they are put up by firms which use extreme care in their preparation. Inferior meat is sometimes used in the preparation of these foods. If meats are not fresh and the canning not carefully done, they may become putrid after being put up.
Fish and sea foods are, many of them, rich in protein, as noted in Table IV. They should never be used unless absolutely fresh.
The idea is prevalent that fish is a brain food. Fish is easily digested and builds brain as well as other tissue, but no more readily than beef does, or any easily digested, absorbed and assimilated food which contains a goodly proportion of protein.
Lobsters are difficult of digestion and contain little nutrition, so are not valuable as a food, though they are relished by many on account of their flavor
Oysters, raw, are easier to digest than when cooked. Oysters should not be eaten during the spawning season from May to September.
Mussels are nutritious when well prepared and are rapidly gaining in popularity.
Clams furnish a valuable and nutritious food when prepared in chowder form. Clam broth will often be retained on an irritable stomach when other food is rejected by it.
Care should be taken to ascertain the method of their production as typhoid fever has been contracted from eating shell fish whose feeding beds were near or in polluted water.
Eggs
Eggs are excellent articles of food for nutrition and for tissue building. They have practically the
same value in the diet as meat, and make a very good substitute for meat. Egg yolk in abundance is often prescribed when it is necessary to supply a very nutritious and easily assimilated diet.
Eggs consist chiefly of two nutrients—protein and fat (ten per cent.). Because they contain so large a proportion of protein they are classified as nitrogenous foods.
The yolk, which is about one-third fat, contains iron, sulphur, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. The white contains some fat and phosphorus. The white and the yolk contain equal quantities of protein. The white of the egg is almost pure albumin.
The dark stain made by eggs on silver is due to the sulphur
The iron in the yolk is a valuable assistant in building red blood corpuscles.
Eggs, in common with other proteins, are changed, mostly in the stomach, into peptone. That not digested in the stomach, as is the case with other proteins, is changed in the intestine.
If the egg is old, or if its absorption is delayed in the intestine, it decomposes, producing gas, and may cause intestinal disorder. For this reason no stale egg should ever be served, especially to an invalid.
One reason why eggs disagree with some is because too much fat is eaten at the same time. Egg yolk contains fat and if much extra fat is eaten indigestion and fermentation in the intestine may result. This is particularly true in those who digest fat with difficulty
When eggs seem to disagree or the system does not assimilate them well on account of the fat in the yolk, and eggs are desirable to supply the protein in the diet, the whites, which contain practically no fat, may be used. They should be well beaten and if digestion is weak they may be mixed with fruit juices.
The citric acid in lemons and oranges partially digests the egg, the gastric juice quickly changing it to peptone.
One method of preparing eggs, which is especially valuable for those having delicate stomachs, is in egg lemonade or orangeade. Thoroughly beat the egg, add the juice of half a lemon or orange, sugar to taste, and fill the glass with water.
Grape juice, cream, and cocoa, if assimilated, may be used in place of lemon or orange, in order to give variety when it is necessary to use eggs freely.
Eggnog is another means of taking raw eggs.
One method of testing the freshness of eggs is to drop them into a strong, salt brine made by adding two ounces of salt to a pint of water. A fresh egg will at once sink to the bottom. If the egg is three days old the surface of the shell will be even with the surface of the water and an egg two weeks old will float mostly above the surface.
The opinion is prevalent that a hard-boiled egg is difficult of digestion, but this depends entirely on the mastication. If it is masticated so that it is a pulp before being swallowed, a hard-boiled egg is readily digested.
A soft-boiled egg should not be boiled longer than three or four minutes, or better, should be put into warm water, be allowed to come to a boil, then set off the fire and the egg be allowed to remain in the water for ten minutes. This method cooks the egg through more evenly
Another method of cooking the yolk evenly with the white is to put the egg in cold water, let the water come to a boil, and again immerse the egg in cold water. The immersing in cold water after boiling makes hard-boiled eggs peel readily.
CARBO-NITROGENOUS FOODS
Under this class come cereals, legumes, nuts, milk, and milk products. In these foods the nitrogenous and carbonaceous elements are more evenly proportioned than in either the carbonaceous or nitrogenous groups. The different food elements in this group are so evenly divided that one could live for a considerable
length of time on any one food. Some animals build flesh from nuts alone, while the herbivorous animals live on cereals and plants.
Cereals
Under cereals, used by man for food, come wheat, oats, rye, barley, rice, and corn. As will be noted by Table V, cereals contain a large proportion of starch and are therefore used largely for heat and energy. Rice contains the largest proportion and next to rice, wheat flour.
C
Carbohydrates
Breads and Crackers: Wheat bread
TABLE V
The values as given in the table refer to the whole of the grain. When the outer coverings are removed, as in the white flour and the outer covering of rice, the proportion of carbohydrates is increased and the protein and ash are almost entirely eliminated.
There is no part of the world, except the Arctic regions, where cereals are not extensively cultivated. From the oats and rye of the north, to the rice of the hot countries, grains of some kind are staple foods.
An idea of the importance of cereal foods in the diet may be gathered from the following data, based on the results obtained in dietary studies with a large number of American families: Vegetable foods, including flour, bread, and other cereal products, furnished 55 per cent. of the total food, 39 per cent. of the protein, 8 per cent. of the fat, and 95 per cent. of the carbohydrates of the diet. The amounts which cereal foods alone supplied were 22 per cent. of the total food, 31 per cent. of the protein, 7 per cent. of the fat and 55 per cent. of the total carbohydrates that is, about three-quarters of the vegetable protein, one-half of the carbohydrates, and seven-eighths of the vegetable fat were supplied by the cereals Oat, rice, and wheat breakfast foods together furnished about 2 per cent of the total food in protein, 1 per cent. of the total fat, and 4 per cent. of the carbohydrates of the ordinary mixed diet, as shown by the statistics cited. These percentage values are not high in themselves, but it must be remembered that they represent large quantities when we consider the food consumed by a family in a year [4]
If one’s work calls for extreme muscular exertion, the cereals may be eaten freely, but if one’s habits are sedentary, and the cereals are used in excess, there is danger of clogging the system with too much
starch. Indeed, for one whose occupation is indoors and requires little muscular activity, a very little cereal food, such as bread, cake, etc., will suffice; the carbohydrates will be supplied, in sufficient quantity, in vegetables.
Mineral matter is supplied in sufficient quantity in almost all classes of foods.
Cereals and legumes supply nutrients at less price than any class of foods; therefore a vegetarian diet involves less expense than the mixed diet. An entirely vegetarian diet, however, gradually induces a condition of muscular weakness in many people, resulting in a loss of strength. A well-proportioned mixed diet is best to give strength and activity of both body and mind.
Meat, eggs, and milk, which usually supply the proteins, are the most expensive foods, and when these, for any cause, are eliminated, a large proportion of proteins should be supplied by the legumes.
Perhaps no food is as commonly used as wheat in its various forms. It is composed of:
Wheat
1. The nitrogenous or protein compound, chiefly represented in the cerealin and the gluten of the bran. This is removed from white flour and from much of the so-called “whole wheat” flour.
2. The starch—the center or white part of the kernel.
3. The fats, occurring chiefly in the germ of the grain.
4. The phosphorus compounds, iron, and lime, found in the bran.
The kernel of wheat consists of the bran or covering, which surrounds the white, pulpy mass of starch within. In the lower end of the kernel is the germ.
Flour. In the old-time process of making flour the wheat was crushed between stones and then sifted, first, through a sieve, which separated the outer shell of the bran; then through bolting cloth,
which separated the white pulp from the inner bran coating. It was not ground as fine as in the present process, thus the gluten, phosphorus, and iron (all valuable substances) were, in the old process, nearly all left out of the white flour. The second bran coating, left by the second sifting, was not so coarse as the outer shell but coarser than the inner. Care was not formerly observed in having the grain clean before grinding, the bran containing chaff and dirt, so that it was not used as food but was considered valuable for stock, and was called “middlings.”
In the modern process of crushing the wheat between steel rollers, the white flour of to-day contains more of the protein from the inner coat of the bran than the white flour of the old process; hence, it is more nutritious.
Bran. Objection is sometimes made to bran because the cellulose shell is not digested, but bran contains much protein and mineral matter and even though it is crude fiber, as previously stated, this fiber has a value as a cleanser for the lining of the stomach and intestines, and for increasing peristalsis, thus encouraging the flow of digestive juices and the elimination of waste. In bread or breakfast foods, it is desirable to retain it for its laxative effect.
Bran has three coats—the tough, glossy outside, within this a coat containing most of the coloring matter, and a third coat, containing a special kind of protein, known as cerealin. The two outer layers contain phosphorus compounds, lime, and iron. All three coats contain gluten.
Gluten flour is made of the gluten of wheat. It is a valuable, easily digested food, containing a large proportion of protein and little starch. Gluten bread is used by those who wish to reduce in flesh and in diabetic cases.
Whole wheat flour does not contain the whole of the wheat, as the name implies; it, however, does contain all the proteins of the endosperm and the gluten and oil of the germ, together with all of the starch. As a flour, therefore, it is a more balanced food than the white flour, because it contains more nitrogenous elements.
