How much you REALLY need to eat five alleged foods to improve your health

Food provides us with the nutrients we need to survive and we know that a balanced diet contributes to good health.

Beyond that, many people are looking for different foods as "medications", hoping that some things can prevent or treat certain conditions.

It is true that many foods contain "bioactive compounds", chemicals that act in the body to promote health. These are in the study in the prevention of cancer, heart disease and other conditions.

But the idea of ​​food as a drug, while attractive, is easily surpassed in headlines, two researchers wrote in an article for The Conversation.

The stories tend to be based on studies done in the laboratory, on concentrated extracts of food. The effect observed in real people who consume the actual food will be different than that of a petri dish.

If you do the math, you will find that you really need to consume huge amounts of particular foods to get an active dose of the desired element. In some cases, it could put your health at risk rather than protect it.

These four foods, and a drink, show the common healing claims around the foods we eat are not always stacked.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon, which contains a compound called cinnamaldehyde, is believed to promote weight loss and regulate appetite.

Cinnamaldehyde has been shown to reduce cholesterol in people with diabetes. But this is based on studies of the chemical in high doses – do not eat the spice itself.

These studies give people between one and six grams of cinnamaldehyde a day.

Cinnamon makes up about 8% of cinnamaldehyde's weight – so you must consume at least 13 grams of cinnamon, or about half a supermarket pot a day. Much more than what you would add to your morning porridge.

Red wine

Titles on the benefits of red wine for health are usually due to a chemical in the skin of the grape called resveratrol. Resveratrol is a polyphenol, a family of chemicals with antioxidant properties.

Resveratrol is said to protect our cells from damage and reduce the risk of developing various conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and heart disease.

There is some limited evidence that resveratrol has benefits in animal models, although studies in humans have not shown similar effect.

This varies by wine, but red wine contains about three micrograms (about three million grams) of resveratrol per bottle.

Studies that have shown a benefit of resveratrol use at least 0.1 grams per day (or 100,000 micrograms).

To get as much resveratrol, you would have to drink about 200 bottles of wine a day. We can all probably agree that it is not very healthy.

blueberries

Blueberries, like red wine, are a source of resveratrol, but at a few micrograms per berry, you would need to eat more than 10,000 berries a day to get the active dose.

Blueberries also contain compounds called anthocyanins, which can improve some markers of heart disease.

But to get an active dose, you must consume 150 to 300 blueberries a day. More reasonable, but still a lot of fruit – and expensive.

Chocolate

The news that dark chocolate lowers blood pressure is still welcome.

Theobromine, a chemical found in chocolate, has been shown to lower blood pressure at doses of about one gram of the active compound, but not at lower doses.

Depending on the chocolate, you could eat 100 g of dark chocolate before you reach that dose.

Chocolate is a discretionary food, or "junk food". The recommended service for optional foods does not exceed 600 kilojoules per day, or 25 grams of chocolate. Eating 100g of chocolate would be equivalent to more than 2,000 kJ.

Excessive consumption of kilojoules leads to weight gain, and being overweight increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

So these risks would probably negate the benefits of chocolate consumption to lower your blood pressure.

Turmeric

Turmeric is a favorite. It's good in curries, and recently we've seen the hype around the turmeric latte. Stories arise regularly about its healing power, normally based on curcumin.

Curcumin refers to a group of compounds, called curcuminoids, that could have health benefits, such as reducing inflammation.

Inflammation helps us fight infections and react to injuries, but excessive inflammation is a problem in diseases such as arthritis and may be related to other conditions such as inflammation. heart disease or stroke.

The human trials on curcumin have not been conclusive, but most use curcumin supplementation at very high doses, from 1 to 12 grams per day.

Turmeric accounts for about 3% curcumin. Thus, for every gram of turmeric you consume, you consume only 0.03 g of curcumin.

This means that you must consume more than 30 g of turmeric to get the minimum active dose of turmeric.

Importantly, curcumin in turmeric is not very bioavailable. This means that we only eat about 25% of what we eat, so you may need to eat more than 100g of turmeric each day to get a reasonable dose of curcumin. It's a lot of curry.

What to eat then?

We all want food to heal us, but focusing on isolated foods and eating piles is not the answer.

Instead, a balanced and diversified diet can provide each food with a range of different nutrients and bioactive compounds.

Do not be distracted by quick fixes; focus instead on a variety of foods.