Fiber

Dietary fiber is a term used to describe a heterogeneous group of plant food components that are resistant to human digestive enzymes. It is as a non-starch polysaccharide, a type of carbohydrate. Fiber is found exclusively in plant foods. There is no RDA but we should eat at least 25 grams per day.

There are two basic categories of dietary fiber:- water insoluble and water soluble. These include - cellulose, hemicellulose, gums, pectin, psyllium and lignin.

Insoluble fibers are found in the skin, peel, and husks of fruit, vegetables and whole grain products. The inclusion of this fiber in a low-fat diet may reduce the risk for colon cancer. Insoluble fibers also aid in the treatment of constipation and diverticulosis.

Psyllium, oat products, barley and beans are good sources of gum, a type of soluble fiber. Gums and pectin influence absorption in the stomach and small intestine. By binding with bile acids, they decrease fat absorption and lower cholesterol levels. They coat the stomach lining, and by doing so they slow sugar absorption, regulating blood sugar levels, which is useful to diabetics since it reduces the amount of insulin needed at any one time.

Lignin also binds with bile acids, assists in lowering cholesterol levels and helps speed up food through the digestive tract.

Dietary patterns emphasizing foods high in complex carbohydrates and fiber are associated with lower rates of diverticulosis, reduced risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus, lower blood glucose and blood lipid levels, and some types of cancer.

Epidemiologic evidence suggests that frequent consumption of vegetables and fruits, particularly dark green and cruciferous vegetables (such as cabbage and broccoli), may lower the risk for cancers of the lung, bladder and alimentary tract. [The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health, Prepublication copy, 1988. 17:629-649]

Whole-grain cereals, whole-grain bread, other grain bakery products and pasta, legumes - kidney beans, lima beans, navy beans, and split peas, fruits, especially the skin and edible seeds are the best source of fiber.

If you think that the perilous conditions of our diet is worldwide in scope, just look at the 'underprivileged' areas of rural Africa. In the year 1975, the southern areas of rural Africa avoided the major scourges of the modern world. British doctors found in their research on rural African villages that cancer of the colon and the rectum is extremely rare, and that there is no appendicitis, hemorrhoids, obesity, heart attacks, varicose veins, phlebitis, or diverticulosis of the colon. As if this evidence were not enough proof that something is wrong with our diet, it has been shown that Africans develop the same diseases we have as soon as they adopt a Western diet-that is, as soon as they cut their intake of roughage. [David Reuben, 1975. The Save Your Life Diet.]

Gelatin

The most notable characteristic of gelatin is that it is soluble in hot water but forms a solid jelly when it cools. The Latin word gelatus means frozen, and is recalled in the Italian word for ice cream, gelati.

Gelatin is a protein, and is formed from collagen, which is the primary protein in connective tissue. Animal bones, skin and gristly meat are a major source of gelatin. By itself gelatin has a low biological value. Commercial jellies with their sugar and flavour make an attractive desert, but with their 2% of an inferior protein, it is unrealistic to suppose that because they are solid they add significantly to the nourishment of a convalescent.

Agar is a vegetable gelling agent, and since, unlike gelatin it is not derived from an animal source it is used as an alternative to gelatin, by vegetarians and people following a kosher diet, in many of the same foods. [Yudkin, J., The Penguin Encylopedia of Nutrition. 1985]

Gluten

Gluten is a mixture of two proteins, gliadin and glutenin. It is the presence of gluten in wheat and rye that makes these cerealssuitable for the production of bread. When mixed with water and kneaded, the gluten in wheat or rye flour becomes elastic and traps small bubbles of carbon dioxide from yeast fermentation. The flour of other cereals such as oats or maize, with little or no gluten, can be used only for flat cakes such as tortillas.

Children with coeliac disease, and some adults with a similar disease known as sprue, have a sensitivity to gluten which causes damage to the intestinal villi so that they are unable to properly digest and absorb some of the food components, especially fat. It has been suggested that several other unrelated diseases, including schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis, in some patients may be caused by a sensitivity to gluten. The evidence for these claims is not conclusive and has not been substantiated.

Nevertheless, it does seem as if some babies without obvious coeliac disease are sensitive to gluten although they lose this sensitivity gradually through their first few months or years. For this reason many manufacturers of baby foods avoid using gluten-containing items in their products. [Yudkin, J., The Penguin Encylopedia of Nutrition. 1985 ]

Lecithin

Lecithin is a phosphatide or phospholipid, a fatty substance found in animal and plant tissues. It is composed of choline, phosphoric acid, two fatty acids and glycerol.

Lecithin is produced by the liver and passes into the intestine, to be absorbed into the blood. As an emulsifying agent it allows fats and cholesterol to flow easily in the blood stream and through arterial walls.

It is essential in maintaining the surface tension of cell membranes, and in controlling cellular intake and secretion. It also helps in conducting impulses to and from nerve cells.

It has also been shown to control heart disease and atherosclerosis. If enough lecithin is present the disease does not occur.

The best natural sources of lecithin are eggs, wheat, soya oil and nuts. It is also readily available in supplement form.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

MSG, usually manufactured from wheat gluten, is used not because of its own flavor but because it enhances the favor of stews, soups, savory sauces and cooked vegetables. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid found in most proteins and thus present in the gravies of cooked meats and protein derivatives such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein.

MSG is found in many Chinese foods, partly because it is present in soya sauce and because the pure substance is often used. It is also found in dried soups and many other prepared foods. Some individuals react to MSG by what is called the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. This is characterized by pain in the neck, headache and perhaps palpitations. This condition is only transitory and individuals sensitive to MSG soon learn to avoid eating foods containing it. [Yudkin, J., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Nutrition. 1985]

Oxalic Acid (Oxalate)

In the small amounts normally present in food, the only importance of oxalic acid is that it combines with calcium in the diet and so reduces the amount of this mineral element that can be absorbed. Large quantities may cause poisoning by damaging the lining of the mouth and stomach, and interfering with the action of the nerves and muscles.

A few foods, notably unripe tomatoes and some varieties of strawberries, may have small amounts. However, beetroot has about 100 milligrams per 100 grams, parsley about 150 milligrams, and rhubarb and spinach between 300 and 600 milligrams.

As well as deriving oxalate from the diet, the body can synthesize it from citric acid. Some urinary stones contain calcium oxalate, as well as other calcium salts, but it is not known to what extent this is derived from dietary oxalic acid or from excessive synthesis. Nevertheless, if a person is known to excrete an excessive amount of oxalate in the urine, or to have had kidney stones containing oxalate, it is reasonable to restrict the consumption of spinach and rhubarb, as well as chocolate and cocoa. [Yudkin, J., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Nutrition. 1985]

Phytic acid (Phytate)

Phytic acid is a compound of inositol and phosphoric acid. It occurs partly as an acid and partly as salts such as calcium phytate in plant foods, especially in the bran of cereals, and in pulses and nuts.

It readily combines with minerals including calcium, iron and zinc, and if these are present in only marginally adequate amounts in the diet, phytic acid may reduce their availability sufficiently to cause deficiency. There are, however, a few ways in which this hazard is reduced.

Germination, soaking fermentation and cooking all reduce the effect of phytate in legumes. Flour has calcium carbonate added to it in amounts more than enough for all the phytic acid present to be converted to the insoluble calcium phytate. The yeast used for providing dough contains an enzyme, phytase, that breaks down much of the phytic acid. The body gradually adapts to much of the phytic acid in the diet, perhaps by an increase in the amount phytase in the intestine, so that after time its effect in reducing the availability of calcium and other elements diminishes. [Yudkin, J., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Nutrition. 1985]

Psyllium (Plantago ovata)

Psyllium is obtained from the seed husks of a plant grown in India and the Mediterranean region. It contains eight times the soluble fiber of oat bran. When included as a part of a low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet, psyllium has been found to be effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels, especially LDL-cholesterol.

Since 1930, the primary use of psyllium has been a bulk forming laxative. Approximately four million people in the United States use a commercial pharmaceutical form of psyllium. The acute toxicity of psyllium is very low. In 1981, a committee of the National Research Council concluded that "There is no evidence in the available information on psyllium husk gum that demonstrates or suggests reasonable grounds to suspect a hazard to the public when it is used at levels that are now current or that might reasonably be expected in the future." [Get A Taste For The Healthy Life - theme for Project Nutrition, Kellogg Company, 1990.]

Steroids

Steroids are a group of organic compounds including sterols, of which the best known is cholesterol. It has received attention in connection with circulatory ailments, especially hardening of the arteries. If excess cholesterol is present in the body, it tends to precipitate from solution in the gall bladder as gallstones, and in the blood vessels where the constriction thus formed reduces blood flow, causing high blood pressure.

Other sterols produced in the ovaries and testes, that control the physiology of the reproductive process and the secondary sex characteristics, are known as sex hormones. Although primarily involved with reproductive mechanisms, sex hormones are also significant as growth substances of general importance to body health and well-being.

The female sex hormones, the estrogen's are essential for the changes of the menstrual cycle, and progesterone which prepares the uterus for fertilization and is required for normal pregnancy. Progesterone, now produced synthetically, is used clinically to prevent abortion in certain difficult pregnancies.

The male sex hormones, androgens, regulate the development of reproductive organs and secondary sex characteristics such as beards, deep voices, etc.

Some steroids that are synthesized commercially are used for muscle and bone growth in athletes and body builders. The abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids has been well documented in bodybuilders, and the potential for harmful side effects clearly exposed. [ Position stand on the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids in sports. Indianapolis: American College of Sports Medicine, 1984.]

Adverse reactions may include increased risks of the following: liver diseases, including liver cancer, heart disease and stroke, decreased immune function, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), kidney stones and diseases, gall stones, hypertension, prostate enlargement, testicular atrophy, sterility, impotence, stunted growth in adolescents, psychological changes, irreversible virilization in women, and fetal damage.

The well documented negative effects far outweigh the short term benefits of steroid usage. There is no long term advantage of using steroids as ultimately they are going to cause harm to your system.

Tannins

Tannins are one of the phenolic compounds (phenolic acid, coumarins, flavonoids) that are widely distributed in plants, conferring increased resistance to pests. Tannin effects in human beings range from pharmacologic, therapeutic, and aesthetic benefits to anti-nutritional and other undesirable results. Plant tannins can complex with and precipitate proteins. Sorghum tannin can bind up to 12 times its weight in protein.

Condensed tannins, the major phenols in commonly consumed foods and beverages such as fruit, vegetables, tea, red wine, cocoa, legumes, certain grains (sorghum, millet), and pulses, are more nutritionally hazardous. Concern for potential nutritional hazards, therefore, is for populations that rely on sorghum, millet, or certain legumes as their dietary staple.

Decreases in growth rate, feeding efficiency, and protein digestibility are some of the effects caused by complexing of phenols with protein, starch, digestive enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Additionally, malnutrition enhances tannin toxicity. Attempts to inactivate or remove tannins from foods and feeds have had limited results.

Tartrazine

Tartrazine (FD&C Yellow No. 5) is used in foods, beverages, drugs and cosmetics. It has been estimated that about 100 000 persons in the United States are sensitive to this substance. Symptoms of allergy include generalized urticaria, swelling, often of the face and lips, runny nose, and on occasion even life threatening asthma. Since tartrazine is found in a large number of products,tartrazine-sensitive individuals are advised to read labels and avoid food containing "FD&C Yellow No. 5". [Sense and Nonsense in Nutrition. Jack Yetiv. 1988]

Water

Although water is often excluded from lists of nutrients, it is an essential dietary component, in that it must be acquired from the diet in amounts well in excess of that produced by metabolism in the body.

Water is the most abundant constituent of the human body, accounting for about four-fifths of body weight.

Waste products need to be excreted from the body. This process of excretion is done by the kidneys, where the nitrogen-containing products of protein metabolism, sulfates, phosphates and other electrolytes are dissolved in water and excreted as urine. To compensate for this loss, a thirst sensation is created. If this thirst sensation is not met with an adequate consumption of water, dehydration will occur.

Toxicity results from the ingestion of water at a rate beyond the capacity of the kidneys to excrete it. The manifestations usually include a gradual mental dulling, confusion, convulsion, coma and death.