Healthy Eating for Life

By Meghan Yost, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

BALTIMORE, M.D. (Ivanhoe Newswire) Forty-five percent of the U.S. population is suffering from at least one chronic disease, such as heart disease, asthma and diabetes. These conditions are often preventable through diet, but with new fads continually popping up, eating healthy can sometimes be confusing.

One of the healthy-eating rules Cindy Geyer, M.D., the medical director of Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass., abides by is eating from the color wheel, or eating fruits and vegetables that come in a variety of hues. She says eating different colors will provide you with a variety of disease-fighters like phytonutrients and antioxidants. For example, green plants contain calcium, chlorophyll, fiber, folate and lutein, among other nutrients while yellow and orange plants contain beta-carotene, flavonoids, lycopene, potassium, and vitamin C. The most nutritionally-beneficial foods may be those that are black, such as black beans, black cod, black mushrooms and black rice.

As a healthy model for a good diet, Dr. Geyer also recommends following a Mediterranean diet, which involves consuming large amounts of vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish, cereal, and unsaturated fatty acids while restricting saturated fats, dairy, meat and poultry. Mild to moderate alcohol consumption is also a key element of the diet. This is emerging as one of the healthiest diets that we see, Dr. Geyer told Ivanhoe.

The health benefits are widespread. One study found men with metabolic syndrome who followed a Mediterranean diet for two years improved their erectile dysfunction. The diet combined with moderate exercise has also been shown to reduce elevated C reactive protein (CRP) levels by 72 percent. CRPs are inflammation markers that have been linked to diseases like colon cancer and macular degeneration. A Mediterranean diet has also been found to reduce the risk of Alzheimers disease by 40 percent.

To ensure your meals are well-balanced and nationally-dense, remember this plate trick: fill half of your plate with vegetables, a quarter with lean protein like chicken or fish and a quarter with a healthy starch or grain. For dessert, think fruit, Dr. Geyer said.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Cindy Geyer, M.D.; Food as Medicine Conference, Baltimore, M.D., June 12-15, 2008; Angiology, 2007;58:225-33; Annals of Neurology, 2006;59:912921; International Journal of Impotence Research, 2006;18:405-10

If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Lindsay Braun at lbraun@ivanhoe.com.

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