On November 5, 2007 the New York Times published an article called, “The Case for Real Food”
Tony Cenicola of the New York Times asked, is there “More than just vitamins? Is there more to a carrot than beta carotene? Is lycopene the best we get from tomatoes? And when we heap our plates with salmon, are we serving up something other than omega-3s?”
Dr. Grandma points to this article as a concise answer to many questions. The article discusses the fact that the scientific community frequently studies a single nutrient in a food as the best that food has to offer. Mr. Cenicola makes the point that a number of studies have produced disappointing results. There’s a growing belief that food is more than just a sum of its nutrient parts along with growing evidence to support that belief.
Cenicola’s report turns to thoughts from University of Minnesota professor of epidemiology, David R. Jacobs, whose commentary was published in Nutrition Reviews. Jacobs argues that researchers should return to the study of whole foods rather than single nutrients. Jacobs suggests that ‘food synergy,’ the notion that the health benefits of certain foods aren’t likely to come from a single nutrient but rather combinations of compounds that work better together than apart. “Every food is much more complicated than any drug,’’ said Dr. Jacobs. “It makes sense to want to break it down. But you get a lot of people talking in the popular press about carbohydrates and fats in particular as if they were unified entities. They’re not. They’re extremely complicated.’’
For as long as observational studies have shown that diets rich in fruits and vegetables, unsaturated fat and fish, among other things, are associated with better health, nutrition researchers have been busily deconstructing these foods to identify the most potent nutrients.
When people ask Dr. Jacobs what vitamin they should take, he says, “Don’t take any. Just make sure you have a nutrient-rich diet.”
