As scientists search our genome to unlock the doors of longevity, they've discovered we've had one of the keys all along.  "Studies are lending scientific weight to what mothers have told us for years," says Dr. Paul Bickford, at the University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair. "Eat your fruits and vegetables.  They're good for you!" Evidence is mounting that certain foods can help prevent or relieve disorders that include heart disease, cancer, and even Alzeimer's disease. Fruits and vegetables head the list, but tea, coffee, grape juice and chocolate may also help. Their disease-fighting power comes from natural chemicals known as antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, trace elements like selenium and many less familiar compounds. They work by protecting us from the effects of chemicals known as free radicals--highly reactive substances we produce while metabolizing energy, breathing and digesting our food. When a bit of protein, fat or DNA is attacked by a free radical, it no longer functions properly in the cell. The only way to counteract the effects of free radicals is to destroy them, and that's where antioxidants come in. In one study, scientists report that free radicals trigger a key step in the plaque formation that can drive heart attacks. That plaque formation could be blocked with an antioxidant called lutein, found in spinach, red pepper and other vegetables. Other antioxidants can help as well. Tea is rich in a family of antioxidants called polyphenols. In a study of heart attack patients at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dr. Kenneth Mukamal found that patients who drank two or more cups of tea daily had a 44% lower risk of dying from any cause over the next four years than patients who did not drink tea. In yet another study, Marth Clare Clark of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging found that people over 65 whose diets included the most vitamin E in foods had only about one-third the chance of developing Alzheimer's as those with the least. Scientists also found that vitamin E protected against the milder cognitive decline that afflicts many who escape full-blown Alzheimer's. Finally, Frederick Ferris at the National Eye Institute, in Bethesda, MD, discovered that patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were 25% less likely to develop more severe diseases when taking vitamins E and C, beta-carotene--another antioxidant--and zinc. "Everyone can benefit from eating more fruits and vegetables," comments Dr. Harvey Arbesman, a dermatologist at the State University of New York at Buffalo, who has found that antioxidants help prevent some kinds of skin cancer. Red wine delivers antioxidants including resveratrol, which raises the drinker's level of beneficial HDL cholesterol.  Purple grape juice may do almost as well, without the alcohol.  Ripe, red tomatoes are loaded with beta-carotene, lutein and lycopene, all extremely potent antioxidants. Will stocking up on tomatoes and spinach really give you and easy route to better health?  "I am confident that antioxidants have benefit in the diet," concludes Harvard's Dr. Rimm.  "They have great potential. It's just that we have to figure out how each one works and where each antioxidant fits into the picture."

Source:  Owen Davies, Newsweek, October 7, 2002

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