Phytochemicals, found in edible plants, have been found to exhibit potential benefits in the prevention and tre a tm en t of disease. Scien
tists are only beginning to explore the healing properties of the th o u san d s of natu ral com pounds found only in the foods we eat.
According to the Journal o f the American Dietetic Association:
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) that specific substances in foods (e.g. phytochemicals as naturally oc
curring components and functional food components) may have a beneficial role in health as part of a varied diet. The Association supports research regarding the health benefits and risks of these substances. Dietetics professionals will continue to work with the food industry and government to ensure that the public has accu
rate scientific information in this emerging field.
The report goes on to say th a t phytochem icals are present in m a n y frequently consum ed foods, especially fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and seeds, as well as in such less com m on foods as licorice, soy, a n d green tea. In addition to naturally occurring phytochemicals, scientists are developing w h a t they call functional foods, w hich consist of any food or food ingredient providing h e a lth benefits beyond th e traditional n u trie n ts it contains.
Phytochemicals a n d functional food com ponents have been a s sociated w ith the prevention and/or tre a tm en t of at least three of th e leading causes of d e a th in this country— cancer, diabetes, and h e a rt disease— a n d w ith the prevention and/or tre a tm en t of other m edical ailm ents, including neural tube defects, osteoporosis, a b n orm al bowel function, a n d arthritis. Dr. J. F. Potter, professor of epidemiology an d director of the University of M innesota Cancer Prevention Research Unit, has been studying th e relationship b e tw een diet and cancer for m ore th a n fifteen years. Like scientists worldwide, he has found th at people w hose diets are heavy in fruits an d vegetables have lower rates of m ost cancers. Limonene in citrus fruits, for example, is k n o w n to increase the production of enzymes th a t help the body dispose of potentially carcinogenic substances.
Even the National Cancer In stitu te estim ates th a t one in three c a n cer deaths are diet related and th a t eight of ten cancers have a n u tr i
tional com ponent.
Phytochemicals have been actively used by pharm aceutical co m panies in m aking m a n y of their products. According to a report in Business Week, 25 percent of m o d ern pharm aceuticals are derived in some way from plants. The h e art medicine digitalis and the cancer drugs vinicistine a n d taxol are ju st some examples.
Pharm aceutical com panies m ay soon be m otivated to isolate com ponents in foods into pill or supplem ent form to m ark et the
138 Gary Null's Ultimate Anti-Aging Program
individual elem ents for their h e a lth benefits. However, due to re g u latory problems, such com panies will have to m a rk et naturally oc
curring com ponents as drugs.
W hat m akes phytochem icals n ew in the public ranks is their potential h e a lth benefits before people get sick, an d the saving of b o th lives and health-care dollars as a direct result of their use. U n fortunately, according to Dr. Stephen L. DeFelic, head of the F o u n dation for Innovation in Medicine, the field is still in its infancy because of too few large-scale clinical trials focusing on the health benefits of foods. Because phytochem icals can n o t be p a tented, co m panies are reluctant to finance som ething th at could cost as m u ch as $200 million for the testing and clinical trials required for FDA approved.
Nevertheless, epidemiological evidence and small, closely m o n i
tored h u m a n trials point to benefits th a t m ay well be sleeping giants w h e n it comes to prolonging life. Such is the case w ith licorice root.
In one USDA study, the extract ta k e n from the licorice root proved to be fifty times sw eeter th a n sugar w ith o u t prom oting tooth decay. It contains prostag lan d in inhibitors th a t m ay guard against cancer and ulcers, a n d it is being p u rsued by m a n y com panies th a t w a n t to use it as a food additive.
In a n o th e r study, M ichael Gould, professor of h u m a n oncology at th e University of W isconsin Medical School, has found th at d- lim onene, the major co m p o n en t of orange peel oil, protects rats against breast cancer. In addition to findings such as these, the ADA report notes th a t well-designed clinical trials indicate the beneficial effects associated w ith h igh fruit and vegetable diets cannot be d u plicated by n u tritional su p p lem en tatio n alone. Clearly, there are m ore benefits to be had in the h ealthy foods w e cat th a n is obtained from the m ost com m on n u trie n ts often associated w ith them , such as vitam ins C, E, beta-carotene, and niacin.
The m aterial on phytochem icals th a t follows has been obtained from the extensive electronic database assem bled by Stephen M.
Beckstrom and Jam es A. Duke at the National G erm plasm Re
sources Laboratory, Agriculture Research Service, United States De
partm en t of Agriculture. This database is accessible on the World Wide Web at: (h ttp ://w w w .ars-grin.gov/~ ngrlsb/).