When I was pregnant with my first child, I bought a nutrition 401 book and learned how to combine foods to ensure that I was getting the maximum nutrition for my baby. I would eat brocolli and mushrooms for breakfast, which gave The Hubster morning sickness. A few years ago they came up with a name for this food science voodoo -- food synergy, which says that the key to health is not what you eat, but what you eat it with -- eating food combos that biochemically balance each other. It makes nutritious foods even more so.
Food synergy is like adding 1 plus 1 and getting 4 or 6 instead of 2; the total is greater than the sum of the individual parts (or nutrients).
For example, a study in the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, found that eating broccoli and tomatoes together offers better protection against prostate cancer than eating them separately.
The easiest way to take advantage of food synergies is to eat a wide variety of foods, especially fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains. But a few specific combinations can ensure that your body gets the maximum benefits from certain healthful foods.
Grapes and Apples: a Heart-healthy Combo
The next time you’re whipping up a fruit salad, make sure to include these naturally sweet goodies. Apples contain the flavonoid called quercetin, and grapes contain catechin. Studies show that pairing the two compounds may improve cardiovascular health by making blood platelets less sticky so they don’t clump together and clog arteries. “The combination tends to have a mild anticoagulant effect,” says Barry Halliwell, PhD, nutrition professor at the National University of Singapore, who co-authored a study on quercetin and catechin. Apples with the peel on! A bulk of the antioxidants are in the peel.
The Power of a Peanut Butter Sandwich
The grade-school lunch favorite is back—this time as a nutritional powerhouse. Pairing peanut butter with whole wheat bread enables the body to get the proper sequence of amino acids, which are important in making protein. “When your body is synthesizing proteins, it needs all the amino acids there at the same time,” says Diane Birt, PhD, a professor of food science at Iowa State University. “Wheat lacks some amino acids. Peanuts have the amino acids lacking in wheat. Together they make a whole.”
Add Some Fat to Your Salad
It may sound counterintuitive to healthful eating, but dropping your fat-free dressing in favor of a low-fat version may actually be a smart idea, nutritionally speaking. An Iowa State University study that was reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate salads with full- or low-fat dressings were better able to absorb lutein, a carotenoid (pigment-based plant compound) important in vision health. With fat-free dressing, they essentially saw no evidence of the carotenoid showing up in the blood.
If you’re fiercely loyal to your fat-free ranch, add some fat to your salad in other ways. Moderate amounts of cheese, nuts or avocado can replace the oils needed to get the maximum benefit from your salad veggies.
Spice Up That Burger
Ground beef—and many cuts of poultry and pork—often contains heterocyclic amines (HCAs), cancer-causing compounds that form when meats are cooked at high temperatures. So should you shun your beloved burger? Hardly. A recent study at Kansas State University found that sprinkling rosemary extract on ground beef before cooking it significantly reduces the formation of HCAs was presented at the March 2005 Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy meeting in Orlando, Florida.
J. Scott Smith, PhD, food chemistry professor and lead researcher on the study, says certain types of antioxidants in rosemary extract can block the formation of HCAs. Basil and oregano contain similar antioxidants, though they are not as plentiful, Smith says. Look for rosemary extract at health food stores.
Iron: Not Just for Carnivores Anymore
If you’re a regular consumer of red meats such as beef and lamb, your body’s probably getting all the iron it needs. But what if you prefer bean sprouts to steaks? The key is to combine foods rich in vitamin C with plant-based iron sources, says Pat Vasconcellos, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Foods such as spinach and chickpeas contain significant amounts of iron, but it’s not as readily available to the body as iron from animal sources. However, vitamin C makes it easier for your body to absorb plant-based iron. So adding C-rich orange segments to a spinach salad can increase the amount of iron your body gets.
Iron and vitamin C lurk in a lot of foods, so it’s not hard to come up with a great combination. Pair iron-rich chickpeas with Brussels sprouts or tomatoes—both are full of vitamin C—or drink some OJ with your bowl of iron-fortified cereal. Talk about “iron-clad” nutrition!
Once you have the combinations down pat, creating food synergy is easy and tasty. The recipes on these pages make lone broccoli seem boring.
Green tea and lemon: As healthy at green tea is by itself, there's a growing body of evidence that suggests adding citrus to your daily spot will promote even greater antioxidant absorption. Fewer than 20-percent of catechins (antioxidants found in green tea) are able to survive their passage through the small intestines. When combined with citrus -- specifically, and conveniently, lemon juice -- 78-percent of catechins were able to survive this perilous journey. Tea combined with orange juice (or drinking a glass of O.J. along with your cup of tea) kept 71-percent of catechins alive as they passed through the non-acidic environment of the small intestines. Phytochemicals in tea have a few hour half life. So drink every couple of hours.
Brains on Nutrition: The Mediterranean-style diet is a perfect example of food synergy because it includes several healthful food patterns. (It's rich in plant foods, whole grains, legumes and fish; low in meat and dairy products; and contains more monounsaturated than saturated fats because of its emphasis on olives, olive oil, and walnuts.) A recent study concluded that the Mediterranean diet may reduce the prevalence of both metabolic syndrome (a condition that includes excess body fat, high blood fats, and high blood pressure) and the cardiovascular risk that goes along with it. Another study found that a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 23% lower risk of early death from all causes.
Soy Milk and Regular Milk: For some reason I can't find the authority on this one, but I know I didn't dream it up. If somone has the source, please let me know.
Cooked tomatoes with the peel on, along with olive oil. Ninety-eight percent of the flavonols (powerful phytochemicals) in tomatoes is found in the tomato skin, along with great amounts of two carotenoids. Absorption of these key nutrients is much greater when the tomatoes are cooked and when you eat some smart fat (like olive oil) along with the cooked tomatoes.
Cruciferous vegetables. Two phytochemicals naturally found in cruciferous vegetables (cambene and indole 3-carbinol) were more active when combined, according to research that tested the compounds alone and together in rats. The researchers found that the two compounds were able to protect the rats against liver cancer much better together. Both cambene and indole 3-carbinol are known to activate important detoxification enzymes that help the body eliminate carcinogens before they harm our genes. Foods rich in cambene include Brussels sprouts and certain varieties of broccoli. And all cruciferous veggies are rich in indole 3-carbinol
Soy Milk and Cow's Milk: If someone knows the source for this, please drop me a line. Every morning I fill half of a frozen, frosted glass with cow's milk and top it off with chocolate soy milk. Yum. It tastes a little like milkshake.
Roast chicken and pasta: The folic acid in enriched pasta helps increase the absorption of vitamins.
Avocados and tomatoes: When used together, vitamin E and lycopene reduced the growth prostate cancer cells by 73 percent according to lab studies
Red wine and broccoli: The polyphenol compounds in red wine enhance the antioxidant potency of the vitamin E in broccoli to reduce LDL levels.
Once you have the combinations down pat, creating food synergy is easy and tasty. The recipes on these pages make lone broccoli seem boring.
Bon appetit!
Sources: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Web MD, Purdue University
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