Mini-Medical School #4
Food as Medicine
August 12, 2017
Stephanie Taylor MD PhD
The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his (her) patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” Thomas Edison
What is Food?
Protein, fats and carbohydrates=calories. Add a vitamin pill and you are all set, right? Not quite. Here is a list of the high nutrient value plants and their participating phytochemicals, which are not included in that simple formula.
PhytochemicalFood SourceHealth Benefits
| Carotenoids | Red, green, yellow fruits and vegetables | Antioxidants1, decreased cancer risk |
| Flavonoids | Most fruits and vegetables, tea | Antioxidants, antiinflammatory2 |
| Ellagic acid | Strawberries, grapes, raspberries, apples | Inactivates cancer causing chemicals3 |
| Phenolic acids | Citrus, whole grains, berries, tomatoes, most vegetables | Inhibits cell proliferation induced by carcinogens4, 1,2 |
| Indoles | Cruciferous vegetables | 3 |
| Isothiocyanates | Cruciferous vegetables | 4 |
| Lignans | Flax seeds, berries, whole grains |
1,4 |
| Diallyl disulfide | Garlic, onions, leeks, chives, shallots, scallions | 3 |
| Saponins | All plants | 2,4 |
| Terpenes | Oranges, lemons, grapefruit | 3, anti-ulcer |
| Capsaicin | Hot peppers | 2,3, pain reduction |
| Coumarins | Soybeans, Whole grains, cruciferous vegetables, cucumbers, squash, melons, flax seeds, green tea | 4 |
| Isoflavones | Soy |
1,3 |
| Organosulfurs | Garlic, onions, leek…. | 3, inhibit cholesterols synthesis |
| Phytosterols | Whole grains, legumes | 3, primarily steroid induced |
| Protease inhibitors | All plants | 2,4, antiviral and antibacterial |
Reference: Power Foods by Stephanie Beling, MD, HarperCollins, 1997.
Eat five different kinds of fruits and vegetables every day to recapture the disease preventing phytochemicals missing in the American diet. Taking vitamin and mineral pills will not prevent the diseases associated with a processed-food diet. Scientists cannot formulate into pills nutrients they haven’t yet discovered”. –Dr. James Duke, US Dept. of Agriculture
Step One: Start with Good ingredients:
Water: The Environmental Working Group just released its tap water analysis. Cal Am is in legal compliance, but has levels of arsenic, bromodichloromethane, chloroform, hexavalent chromium, dibromochloromethane, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, total trihalomethanes and above optimum health levels. Optimum health levels are not the same as legal limits. These chemicals are all carcinogens. https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/#.WY3VUVWGPIU
The fundamental error in safety testing is made by testing isolated chemicals for toxicity. The synergistic toxicity of simultaneous low doses of hundreds chemicals over a life-time is not evaluated.
Plants: Local, organic and fresh. Animal protein: Organic/grass fed and humanely raised.
EXAMPLE 1-APPLYING WHAT YOU KNOW TO HYPERTENSION:
Caution: Do not stop any medication without physician supervision!
The DASH Diet is endorsed by the National Institute of Health and research reports a BP reduction of 10.7/5.2 mm Hg, which is comparable or exceeds medication results. More information is at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/dash_brief.pdf
This table of the pharmacological actions of foods was prepared by a leading cardiologist:
BP MedicationAntihypertensive Food with similar mechanism
| ACE inhibitors | Egg yolk, Fish, Garlic, Gelatin, Hawthorne berry, Milk casein, whey and sour milk, Sake, Kelp, Wakame, corn protein |
| ARB | Celery, Fiber, Garlic, Olive Oil, Nuts, Avocados, Olives |
| Beta-blockers | Hawthorne berry |
| Calcium blockers | Hawthorne berry, Celery, Garlic, Olive Oil |
| Alpha-agonists | Celery, Fiber, Garlic, Protein |
| Diuretics | Hawthorne berry, Celery, Protein |
From: Houston, MD, M. Nutrition and Nutraceutical Supplement for the Treatment of Hypertension, 2013, J. of Clinical Hypertension.
EXAMPLE 2-APPLYING WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT HEART DISEASE: Mediterranean Diet, including the right olive oil. It is the one that tastes peppery. Learn more at the Quail and Olive, Carmel Valley Village. Exercise and social support are essential.
EXAMPLE 3-APPLYING WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT DIABETES: Refined Sugar is actually a drug and is part of the triad of compounds (salt, sugar, fat) that the processed food industry uses to assure a return customer. Check out: Salt Sugar Fat: how the food giants hooked us by Michael Moss
Lifestyle management is a more complex undertaking than just taking a daily pill. Change in diet, exercise, weight reduction, stress management, supplements are all part of this integrated treatment system.
August is National Coffee Month! Research supports many benefits of coffee and tea drinking, just hold the sugar! Research at the Coffee Institute: http://vanderbilt.edu/ics/coffee-news/ shows a reduction in Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer, liver cancer and Type II Diabetes.
Additional References:
Shanahan MD, Catherine. Deep Nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food. Flatiron Books, 2016.
Houston MD, M. What your doctor may not tell you about hypertension. Warner, 2003.
De La Fort, Rosalee. Alchemy of Herbs. Hay House, 2017.
Chinese Medicine has a rich and complex system of Food Cures. Here are some books from that tradition:
Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods: Asian traditions and modern nutrition. Encyclopedic book requiring a basic understanding for five element theory.
Thunderhawk, Denise L. Ac. The 5 Element Guide to Healing with Whole Foods. LuLu Press, 2016. This is a basic and quite good introduction to five element nutrition.