Food As Medicine

By Helene Berk, M.Ed.,  R.D.

Following Hippocrates’ advice to “let food be your medicine,” here are a few tips on   therapeutic cuisine. Whatever your condition, putting the right fuel in your system can help the healing process. The first and most basic rule is to make that ‘fuel’ non-toxic and high in nutritional value. Only when a commitment is made to stick to this step can we move on to using food therapeutically.

Whether you suffer from diabetes, metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes), high triglycerides, high LDL, low HDL, hypertension, hormonal imbalances, eating disorders or other addictions, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, inflammation, or cancer—to mention a few conditions that have been found to be affected by food, drink and environment—you can improve your condition and increase your energy level.

Let me share some secrets about possibly replacing all or some of the medications you might be on with foods that are quite as effective to reverse or relieve the condition(s) for which the meds were prescribed. It is worth mentioning that all pharmaceuticals have some detrimental side effects, so even if ‘food therapy’ might take a little longer to improve your health, at least you won’t have to worry about new problems being caused by drug side effects.

The way I see it, drug companies have an economic interest in keeping as many people as possible hooked on pharmaceuticals—especially since their side effects tend to be cumulative. By that I mean that the more meds someone takes, the more acidic his or her system becomes; which in turn aggravates inflammation, increases bone loss and often worsens the very conditions the meds where prescribed to heal.

While there are a multitude of foods endowed with medicinal properties, I want to focus here on one of the most popular delicacies that is not only tasty but yields a big health dividend as well: dark chocolate. Especially the organic, high-cocoa-content, non-alkalized (i.e. non-Dutched) dark chocolate, now touted to help manage blood pressures, increase good cholesterol (HDL), lower bad cholesterols (LDL and triglycerides), prevent inflammation—including the kind that triggers asthma attacks—as well as to encourage the body’s production of endorphins and thus shielding it from depression, anxiety and addictive impulses.

Besides having the highest ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) value of all foods on the planet, unprocessed cocoa and dark chocolate made with it are also super-dense nutrition.  What’s more, the natural high you get from drinking it as hot cocoa or eating it as dark chocolate in various forms, is due to anandamide, a chemical component found in both cocoa and marijuana. Except this one is legal.

Look for future postings about other medicinal foods and beverages on my Rx Grocery Blog—among them ones that help balance hormones without hormone-replacement therapy, and healing oils and fats.

In the meantime, you probably know enough to stay away from hydrogenated oils and other transfats, commercially refined oils, refined sugars, bleached flours, bio-engineered grains and over-processed foods. And now that even mainstream supermarkets and big-box outlets are carrying organic foods, eating for health is getting really easy.

For more information about buying good foods from “conscious companies,” farmers’ markets, directly from organic farms (some by subscription), or by mail order, for busy people who prefer their groceries drop-shipped to their front door, check out my web site and blog at www.healthypeople.com
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Helene Berk, M.Ed., R.D. is a veteran Registered Dietitian, Medical Nutrition Therapist, radio producer and host of “Healthy People Radio”; as well as a speaker and workshop presenter for the American Heart Association, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and other national health organizations; journalist, health reporter and author of books.
The above column is part of a more extensive posting on her blog at www.rxgroceryguide.blogspot.com