THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510110054
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: Long : 170 lines
OPEN THE notebook, sharpen a pencil and listen closely.
An important new vocabulary word is on the blackboard in contemporary nutrition:
Phytochemical.
For about a decade, the word has been used in the labs of researchers with fancy degrees. These scientists' discoveries have been so significant they say it won't be long before ``phytochemical'' become as familiar to us as ``vitamin'' or ``cholesterol.''
No need to cram. No need to panic, even if your nutrition knowledge is at a 101 level.
The phytochemical lesson is quite simple, and the news is good.
From ``phyto,'' the Greek word for plant, phytochemicals are compounds or chemicals naturally in plant foods, such as fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes.
Unlike vitamins and minerals, they are non-nutritive, but they appear to have a potent biological effect. Unlike vitamins with simple names like A, B, C, they have intimidating names like polyphenols and isthiocyanates.
But they are friendly.
Recent laboratory research throughout the country verifies what worldwide epidemiological studies have long suggested: These plant-food substances can be used in the prevention and maybe even the treatment of cancer and other chronic diseases.
``Phytochemicals are the most exciting thing going on in nutrition today,'' said Dr. Mark Messina, a nutritional consultant in Port Townsend, Wash.
Messina, whose research focuses on the healthful attributes of soy products and plant-based diets, chaired the first international symposium on the role of soy in the treatment and prevention of disease. The author of several books on plant-based diets, he also spoke at last month's conference on the use of phytochemicals in cancer prevention and treatment. The conference was held by the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington D.C.
Messina's work and that of many of his colleagues indicate ``there is more reason than ever to eat plant foods,'' he said.
One exciting message delivered at the conference is that phytochemicals seem to play a large part in lowering risk of cancer development at every stage - from cell penetration by a carcinogen to the abnormal cell production that is diagnosed as cancer.
For example, allyl sulfides, in the garlic and onion family, increase enzymes that help the body get rid of cancer-causing substances. Isoflavones, in soy foods like tofu and soy milk, may inhibit cancer cell growth and division.
Certain phytochemicals also seem to protect against specific cancers. For instance, the indoles in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, kale and cauliflower appear to stimulate enzymes in women that may make the hormone estrogen less effective and thus protect against breast-cancer development.
Brought together at the conference, the first wave of research indicates that a diet rich in plant foods may be the reason certain populations have lower rates of some cancers.
``The Finnish people eat a high-fat diet and they have lots of cardiovascular disease,'' said Dr. Atif Awad. ``But they also eat lots of fruits and vegetables, which may be the reason why they have less colon cancer than we do.''
Awad, associate professor and director of the nutrition program at The State University of New York at Buffalo, studies the relationship of diet to colon cancer. In laboratory experiments, he found that adding phytochemicals to colon-cancer tissue inhibits the growth of cancer cells, while adding cholesterol prompts the growth of cancer cells.
No perfect food
All of this good news doesn't mean it's time to buy a truckload of tofu or a pile of the new broccoli pills appearing on the shelves of health-food stores. Most researchers season their optimistic findings with a grain of caution.
``There is no one perfect food,'' said Dr. Carolyn Clifford, chief of the diet and cancer branch of the National Cancer Institute. ``Until we have more information, the NCI thinks it's prudent to follow the dietary guidelines. That means increasing fiber, reducing fat and eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains.
``We still can't be sure whether the lower cancer rates of certain populations are due to something specific in fruits, vegetables and grains or to an overall eating pattern, one that is usually high in fiber and low in fat,'' she said. When a phytochemical is tested in its purified form, it has a different effectiveness than it does as a food, Clifford added.
The final word on phytochemicals probably will come out of a melting pot of many theories, according to Connie Diekman, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
Even if plant food is a cancer-fighting agent, ``we don't know for sure what it is about the plant - a single chemical or a combination of its chemicals,'' said Diekman, who has a private practice in St. Louis.
Many researchers speculate that the health benefits of plant food have to do with the plant's structure, she said. ``That may not be easy to bottle.''
In other words, a tomato pill from a bottle may not be the nutritional equivalent of a serving of fresh sliced tomatoes. Most nutrition experts would rather we eat the fresh tomato, which contains hundreds, and possibly thousands, of phytochemicals, all working together to deliver a protective punch. A phyto a day?
According to Dr. John Allred, professor of nutrition at Ohio State University, ``phytochemical'' is quickly becoming a marketing word, and the buyer should beware.
``A problem arises when some enterprising company extracts these chemicals so the consumer can have them by the ton,'' said Allred, co-author of ``Taking the Fear Out of Eating'' (Cambridge University Press, 1992). ``If these chemicals are helpful, they are helpful in doses we eat in our food.''
At some point, for some people, ``phytamins,'' or phytochemicals in pill form, may be useful, many researchers agree.
``In a person who has cancer or a high risk for cancer, there might be some potential for giving phytochemicals in the form of a pill,'' said Messina, the soy expert from Washington state. ``But you certainly can't be giving pills to the general healthy population. There would be concern about toxicity and other adverse effects.''
Dr. Ritva Butrum, vice president of research at the American Institute for Cancer Research and one of the original phytochemical researchers in the late '80s, agrees that phytochemical fortification and supplementation might be useful in the fight against disease someday.
``New information comes almost daily now,'' said Butrum. ``In 10 years we will know much more about the mechanism of phytochemicals and the synergism between them. We will have a better understanding of how they affect genes and molecules.''
Someday, phytochemical supplementation might enhance the effectiveness of traditional cancer therapies, said Butrum, and it might be just as useful in the treatment of other chronic diseases.
And one day, we may get some of our phytochemicals from foods like broccoli-flavored salsa and vegetable leather, a snack similar to a fruit roll-up. These future munchies are examples of what those in the field call ``designer foods,'' processed foods supplemented with ingredients naturally rich in phytochemicals and formulated to be stable, safe and palatable. For example, broccoli so well-disguised that even George Bush would say ``yum.''
The Designer Foods Research Project was announced in 1989 by Butrum, when she was chief of the National Cancer Institute's diet and cancer branch. To study and develop phyto-fortified foods, the institute contracted in 1990 with Arthur D. Little Inc., a research firm in Cambridge, Mass.
In addition to the salsa and the fruit leather, Little is testing sweetened broccoli-based vegetable juices, mint-and-lemon-flavored powdered broccoli juice mix and chocolate-flavored powdered broccoli-juice drink mix. According to a July story in The Wall Street Journal, the company's broccoli cereal is one of the ideas that went back to the drawing board.
Designer foods on supermarket shelves are still many years away, said Alegria B. Caragay, director of technology and product development in Little's food-development laboratories.
In an article in the April 1992 issue of Food Technology, Caragay wrote that the cancer institute's designer-foods project ``may even spawn a new industry - foods for disease prevention.''
``In the future,'' she wrote, ``we may see the emergence of phytochemical soups, phytochemical processed meats, even phytochemical cocktails and ice cream. It is not inconceivable that foods that once contributed to illness and disease may be reconstructed in the next decade or two to offer significant health benefits.''
Right now, however, the take-home message is simple: We need to eat more plant foods. We eat two or three servings of fruits and vegetables daily; we should have a minimum of five.
Instead of looking toward future foods as the magic bullet in the quest for health, we should concentrate on improving our overall diet, eating more of the foods we already know are associated with reduced cancer risk, said Messina.
``Supplementing with phytochemicals,'' he said, ``does not make up for a lousy diet.'' MEMO: Mary Flachsenhaar is a freelance writing living in Norfolk.
ILLUSTRATION: Color staff Ken Wright
by CNB