A rchive Date
[ 24-03-2005 ]
Category
[ Science ]
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[ Mass Media ]
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http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Mike_Strobel/2005/03/24/970617.html
It's good, it's bad, it's nuts!
By MIKE STROBEL -- For the Toronto Sun
Thu, March 24, 2005
SO, POMEGRANATES are the new wonder food. My Dominion puts up a display of the fruit's juice and I have reports of others across the city.
This week the radio says studies show the pomegranate is a super antioxidant, a shield against cancer and heart disease. The 680 News anchor says she's going right home to eat one. Break out the Tahitian noni juice. Gimme a break.
Maybe the pomegranate will turn out to be God's gift.
After all, it is believed to be the "tree of life" in the biblical Eden. Maybe Eve bit into a pomegranate, not an apple.
But we've been down this road too many times.
They used to say nice things about vitamin E, remember? Super antioxidant. Fountain of youth. Blah, blah.
Now a study shows it does not prevent heart attack, etc. In fact, it can make things worse for some people. Study shows.
You walk into a grocery or a pharmacy and you freeze in fear. Land mines in every aisle.
Coffee. A study finds daily coffee drinkers have half the risk of liver cancer.
But wait! Health Canada says coffee increases bladder cancer in men. And everyone knows it hikes blood pressure. Okay, so switch to ...
Decaf. But wait! Swiss study finds decaffeinated coffee raises your blood pressure, too. Well, the Swiss love smoked ...
Salmon. Ground control to Omega-3. Fatty acids are nutrition stars. Good for arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer's.
But, wait! Wild salmon good. Farmed salmon bad. (PCBs and other toxins, study says.) Confused? Wait'll you hear salmon farmed in the Pacific is actually Atlantic salmon. Fish farmers and fishermen "lobbing salvoes at each other," says Virginia Zimm, an exec at Faye Clack Communications, which specializes in food marketing.
Well, there's always ...
Tuna. Brain food. Chicken of the sea. But wait! Mercury alert! Don't eat tuna more than once a week. Once a month if you're pregnant or a kiddie.
And for gawd's sake, MAKE SURE IT'S DOLPHIN-FREE. Or become a vegetarian. Yum ...
Tofu. As much protein as meat. B vitamins, potassium, zinc. Study says it even reduces hot flashes.
But wait. Study in Hawaii says tofu-eating men are more likely to get Alzheimer's.
Well, at least you can top off your tofu with dark chocolate and a glass of red wine. Both are good for your heart.
But wait! You will be a fat drunk.
Ringing in the ear? I know just the cure ...
Gingko biloba. Popular herb. Brain medicine. But wait! Study finds a placebo fixes that ringing just as well.
Go way back. Cigarettes touted as good for your wind.
And don't get us started on the ups and downs of eggs, milk, wheat germ, carbs, yogurt, beta carotene, artificial sweetener, Atkins, peanut butter, St. John's wort, margarine...
"It's crazy," says Zimm, 48. "A lot of it is marketing machines at work. Where can we sell our stuff now?
Walk into a grocery. You have thousands of choices. "Something has to stand out and yell, 'hey, pick me, pick me,' " says Zimm.
Right now pomegranate juice is making a racket.
Zimm's bro, Scott Clack, 46, is a Mississauga naturopath.
He just read where cheeseburgers make you smart.
"A problem with studies," says Clack, "is they always try for an angle or a spin. It's attention-grabbing."
A study about cheeseburgers making you fat is not sexy.
Unless it's Super Size Me, the flick about growing fat on a diet of McDonald's.
But wait! A McDonald's fan struck back. He ate under the golden arches for 50 days and lost 40 pounds. Mind you, he ate only the salads.
"North Americans have a nutritionally challenged perspective on eating," says Clack. "Other cultures have a better balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat."
What about vitamin E, doc?
"The majority of research still favours vitamin E."
Time will tell. There's always something new, rushing to replace the fallen.
Clack is just back from Germany, studying mistletoe's use as a treatment for cancer. The plant is said to combat ills from nervous tension to skin sores.
It also increases your chances of getting smooched.
Mike Strobel can be reached at 416-947-2265 or by e-mail at : mike.strobel@tor.sunpub.com Letters to the editor should be sent to: editor@tor.sunpub.com
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