A nutritional scientist dude has finally come out in favor of making your vegetables taste good -- because people tend not to eat them if you don't (doh!).
Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., has a revolutionary idea: He thinks you ought to add butter, sugar and salt to your veggies -- and that you'll probably live longer as a result.
Dr. Drewnowski, who heads the nutritional sciences program at the University of Washington in Seattle, says that dietitians and cancer experts have been telling us for years to eat vegetables plain (either steamed or raw) for maximum goodness.
"But I say absolutely not," says Dr. Drewnowski. That's because his research has revealed that many of the cancer-fighting compounds in vegetables taste -- well, not so hot if we eat them plain.
But it gets worse. "When I read the research on phytochemicals, no one even talks about the fact that these compounds are bitter, bitter, bitter," he says. He's documented glucosinolates in broccoli, sinigrin in brussels sprouts, cyanogenic glycosides in lima beans, and dozens of other compounds that probably help us fight cancer (plus heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke, diabetes, and cataracts) but that just plain turns us off. No wonder only about 25 percent of Americans eat even the minimum five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Rediscover cheese sauce
Dr. Drewnowski's answer for that dilemma? Rediscover and put into practice the magic secrets that good cooks have known for centuries. Old-fashioned veggie cooks learned long ago to use butter, olive oil, sugar and salt to mask and mellow those bitter phytochemical flavors. And Dr. Drewnowski says that food scientists are now starting to document what cooks have always known. At a recent conference in Japan, scientists presented a paper showing that sphingolipids and phospolipids in milk fat could mask bitter tastes. "I thought, oh well, that's interesting. They've rediscovered cheese sauce," he says.
Dr. Drewnowski feels that we'll lose the veggie battle if we ask people to eat plain veggies for a health payoff 50 years down the road. "People are motivated by what they enjoy, so if you offer them raw spinach or chocolate cake, they'll take chocolate cake. But chocolate cake versus spinach cooked with butter and cheese -- now that's a contest!"
Can you go overboard, getting too many calories and more fat than is healthy by making veggies as good as dessert? Dr. Drewnowski says no, as long as you make veggies the main focus of your meal. A big plate of veggies with olive oil and glazed carrots will still be lower in calories than a big cheeseburger and fries -- and far better for you.
Get the full story at:
http://www.prevention.com/report/010301veggies/index.html (note this will probably not last forever)
-Alex