Focus on Ingredients

Bread:
Carbohydrates are compounds (starches and sugars) found mostly in plants. They are the leading source of energy in our diet. The best carbohydrates are complex carbohydrates like starches. Traditional European breads contain 50% starch on average.

The higher starch content of whole grains provides a more stable blood sugar level because the complex carbohydrates are processed more slowly. This, in turn, allows the glucose to enter the bloodstream more slowly, which satisfies hunger for a longer time and prevents cravings for sweets. Grains also positively influence cholesterol level. They bind with bile acids and eliminate them, causing the liver to use up more cholesterol.

Bread has many health benefits. Commercially mass-produced breads in the US rely on bleached, "enriched" white flour that has been treated with artificial preservatives and additives. These breads have minimal nutritional value. Indeed, many of the chemicals and additives used in commercial food production are increasingly being proven toxic and carcinogenic, or at the very least, unhealthy. In stark contrast, artisan breads are tasty, provide a wealth of health benefits, and come in a wide range of styles.

Breads are a great source of B-vitamins, in particular B1, B2 and niacin. B-vitamins are principally located in the germ and shell, so whole grain breads have much higher concentrations than breads made with more refined grains. They are important in brain and nerve function, the processing of carbohydrates, the development of enzymes and hemoglobin, vision, and the health of skin.

Roughage, or dietary fiber, is one of the most important requirements in the human diet. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most neglected and poorly understood requirements. Dietary fiber is composed of indigestible materials found in grains, fruits, and leafy green vegetables. It provides no energy to the body and cannot be processed by the digestive system. Yet dietary fiber offers an amazing range of health benefits.

Dietary fiber stimulates the production of vital digestive bacteria and strengthens the digestive system as a whole. In conjunction with complex carbohydrates, it also boosts metabolism by contributing to stable blood sugar levels. (This is of particular benefit to diabetics.) The average person only ingests a fraction of the recommended amount of dietary fiber (30 to 40 grams per day for adults). Inadequate roughage intake is the principal cause of constipation and other digestive disorders. It is also a major factor in stomach and intestinal cancer.

As in the case of minerals, proteins, trace elements, and vitamins, dietary fiber is concentrated in the outer layers of grain. Accordingly, whole grain breads, especially rye breads, provide the highest roughage content.

Olive Oil:
Olive oil is obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.), to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or re-esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds. It is marketed in accordance with the following designations and definitions:<

Virgin olive oils are the oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.

Virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are include:

Extra virgin olive oil: virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams, and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard.

Virgin olive oil: virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 2 grams per 100 grams and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard.

Olive oil: olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 3.3 grams per 100 grams and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard.

There are many health benefits to olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is not only a light and delicate addition to many wonderful dishes, it is one of the most health-promoting of oils available. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat; a type of fat that researchers are discovering has excellent health benefits. Just one ounce of extra virgin olive oil contains 86.2% of the daily value for monounsaturated fat, plus 17.4% of the daily value for vitamin E, a fat-soluble antioxidant that protects these healthy fats from damage by free radicals.

In many parts of the world, high fat intake is associated with degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, asthma, colon cancer, and arthritis. But in some parts of the world, a high fat intake is actually associated with lower rates of these conditions. A closer look at the foods eaten in the second type of place reveals that the high fat intake there is actually due to the generous use of olive oil. Comparing these areas, such as the Mediterranean, where olive oil is the main fat used, to other regions, like the United States, where other fats such as animal fats, hydrogenated fats, and vegetable oils like corn oil dominate, turns up some very interesting data. It turns out that people who use olive oil regularly, especially in place of other fats, have much lower rates of chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and asthma.

Studies on olive oil and atherosclerosis reveal that particles of LDL cholesterol (the potentially harmful cholesterol) that contain the monounsaturated fats of olive oil are less likely to become oxidized. Since only oxidized cholesterol sticks to artery walls, eventually forming the plaques that can lead to a heart attack or stroke, preventing the oxidation of cholesterol is a good way to help prevent atherosclerosis.

In addition, when people with high cholesterol levels remove the saturated fat from their diets and replace it with olive oil, their total cholesterol levels drop an average of 13.4%, and their LDL cholesterol levels drop by 18%. Note, however, that these benefits occur when olive oil is used in place of other fats, rather than simply olive oil added to a diet high in unhealthy fats.

Studies suggest that such heart-healthy effects of olive oil are due not only to its high content of monounsaturated fats, but also to its hefty concentration of antioxidants, including chlorophyll, carotenoids and the polyphenolic compounds tyrosol, hydrotyrosol and oleuropein—all of which not only have free radical scavenging abilities, but protect the vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) also found in olive oil.

Avocados:
Avocados are historically an important part of the traditional diets of the Americas, and now an ingredient of the diets of the Mediterranean and Asia. They are a fruit, a cousin of apples, pears, and bananas. Unlike most fruits, however - but like olives - they contain fat along with their other nutrients. For years, this fact has discouraged many people from eating avocados. But it now turns out that the fat in avocados - again, like the fat in olives - is monounsaturated fat, which is a "good fat." In fact, nutrition scientist and researcher Gene Spiller observed in his book The Superpyramid Eating Program that "the avocado can be considered the American counterpart of the European olive."

Avocados are usually eaten fresh, which means that their micronutrients and other trace ingredients are not lost in processing or heating and are a healthy alternative to butter in many of our most familiar dishes. The avocado is a rich source of a number of micronutrients: vitamin C, riboflavin, and vitamin E.

A measure for measure comparison among avocados, butter, and cream cheese produces startling results.

As is apparent from these comparisons, avocados can be a healthy substitute for butter or cream cheese - on bread, toast, bagels, or English muffins. They reinforce the wisdom of turning to traditional foods, and increased use of healthful ingredients such as avocados, for inspiration in designing guidelines for healthy eating.

Nuts:
Nuts are one of the healthiest snack foods out there. Researchers now know that nuts may have a myriad of health benefits, from preventing heart disease and diabetes to fighting cancer -- and furthermore, nuts are not as fattening as previously thought.

Nuts are generally the seeds or extensions of fruits, encased in a hard outer shell, and grow on flowering upright trees or shrubs. One common misconception about nuts is that peanuts are one of them. Well, peanuts may be crazy, but they certainly aren't nuts; peanuts are in fact legumes, like beans or peas (edible seeds that grow inside pods), and grow underground.

Nuts in general have several very important health benefits. Nuts are high in the healthy type of plant-based fat, monounsaturated fat, which helps lower blood cholesterol and prevent heart disease. Most nuts are also chock-full of protein, and the type of protein in nuts is rich in arginine -- a precursor to the substance nitric oxide, which helps relax blood vessels in the body, and lower blood pressure. Finally, most nuts are excellent sources of fiber and vitamins, which help keep your body running like a smoothly oiled machine.

For many years in the US and elsewhere, nuts were categorized as a high protein food - and, as such, lumped in with other high protein foods - in various healthy eating guidelines and communications materials. More recently, nuts have tended to be principally characterized - particularly in the popular press - as a high fat food, and as such lumped in with other high fat foods to be avoided except in small amounts. However, the oils in tree nuts are not saturated as they are in animal products, and may be beneficial as a result. Some epidemiologic studies now indicate a protective effect of nuts with respect to cardiovascular disease, possibly in part as a result of their established cholesterol-reducing capacity.

Though nuts are high in protein and high in fat, recent research suggests that these may not be the aspects of this complex food that should determine how they are principally characterized, and subsequently categorized. For example, many micronutrients in nuts - micronutrients not found in most other foods that are both high in protein and high in fat - are now being studied as possibly protective against certain cancers. The lessons that are emerging both from experimental data and from a critical review of the data on the Mediterranean, Asian and other traditional diets suggest that the primary consideration in grouping foods in terms of their likely health impacts ought to be whether or not a particular food comes from a plant source. A growing body of research on hydrogenation and trans-fatty acids suggests that some processing issues should also be included as factors in this determination.

• An ounce of mixed nuts has about 150 to 200 calories; an ounce of butter (2 tablespoons) has about 205 calories.
• An ounce of mixed nuts has about 10 to 20 grams of fat; an ounce of butter has about 23 grams of fat.
• About 11 percent of the fat in an ounce of mixed nuts is saturated fat; about 62 percent of the fat in an ounce of butter is saturated.
• An ounce of butter has about 62 grams of cholesterol; an ounce of mixed nuts has none.
• An ounce of mixed nuts has valuable micronutrients and fiber; butter has virtually none.

Raisins:
Raisins have been the objects of phytonutrient research primarily for their unique phenol content, but these delicious dried grapes are also one of the top sources of the trace mineral boron in the US diet.

The phenols found in fruit have repeatedly been shown to have antioxidant properties and to help prevent oxygen-based damage to cells in the body. The total antioxidant activity of many fruits and vegetables has been found to be exactly parallel to their total phenol content, and raisins take their place in this list right alongside prunes and apricots as an antioxidant-rich fruit. The flavonols (one type of phenol belonging to the flavonoid family) in raisins appear to be least affected by the grape-drying process, but raisins do contain fewer phenols than grapes since many of grape's phenols are lost in the conversion of grapes to raisins. These phenols include the hydroxycinnamics (caftaric and coutaric acids), procyanidins, and flavan-3-ols.

Although not often spotlighted in public health recommendations, boron is a mineral that is critical to our health, and has been of special interest in women in relationship to bone health and osteoporosis (bone softening). Boron is a trace mineral required to convert estrogen and vitamin D to their most active forms (17-beta-estradiol and 1,25-(OH)2D3 respectively). Estrogen levels drop after menopause causing osteoclasts to become more sensitive to parathyroid hormone, which signals them to break down bone. Studies have shown that boron provides protection against osteoporosis and reproduces many of the positive effects of estrogen therapy in postmenopausal women. Raisins are among the top 50 contributors to total dietary boron in the US diet.

Your mother may have told you carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child, but as an adult, it looks like fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study published in the June 2004 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

Raisins, despite being sweet and sticky, not only do not cause cavities and gum disease, but rather actually promote oral health. The phytochemicals in raisins, specifically oleanolic acid, are highly effective in killing the bacteria that cause cavities (Streptococcus mutans) and periodontal dental disease (Porphyromonas gingivalis).

Plus, the sugars raisins contain—mainly fructose and glucose—are not as likely to contribute to cavities as sucrose, the main culprit in oral disease. So, add raisins to your morning cereal, lunch time fruit salad, or tossed green salad with dinner. You can satisfy your sweet tooth without sacrificing healthy teeth and gums.