Food against diseases: What protects us – and what we should avoid

Clearly, how the food pyramid looks like, we all know that We should take less sweets and Junk food to us, but a lot of fruits and vegetables. Also protein – and fiber-rich meals are important, and meat and fish and much, much drinking.

But there are also foods that can do more than just stand far up or down on our dining list to a healthy and balanced diet to ensure you can fight disease or cause.

Example is salt healthy or unhealthy?

How much salt is really healthy, is always the occasion for discussion in the Congress of the German society for nutrition (DGE) in Fulda. There it is said that about a teaspoon of salt a day is fine. That’s all. Often, however, the individual love of the consumer, however, is not to salt the Problem, but the salt wasteful use of the industry. In bread, cheese, meat products and ready meals, is often much more salt than needed, complains of the DGE, and calls for other recipes.

However, a certain salt budget is of vital importance for our body. As so often, it says here: It depends on the dose. This is especially true for people with high blood pressure, liver cirrhosis or impaired kidney function. Because you can occur due to too much salt in fast cardiovascular problems or Edema.

There are foods for or against cancer

It is actually proven that certain foods can promote cancer. For example, those that make you fat. Because even a few kilograms too much on the scale increase the risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as uterine, gall-bladder, and kidney cancer.

Fiber-rich foods can help the Overweight to prevent, by saturate for a long time. The “American Institute for Cancer Research” (AICR) here, for example Grapefruits, Apples, grapes (juice), broccoli and several varieties of Cabbage.

Brassicaceae can also protect against and, in the case of cancer, because they contain mustard oils, which ensure that the tumor cells commit a sort of suicide – destroy themselves. In addition, the Oils prevent cancer, a favourable cellular changes.

Less conducive to sugar. Because tumor cells love sugar. You don’t even need to replicate. An international team of scientists from the Harvard Medical School Lewis Cantley researched plays, what is the role of sugar in the development of cancer cells. The biochemist believed that in many cases, a high consumption of sugar can cancer in the first place.

Chocolate against Depression helps?

A piece of chocolate may make you happy. But when it comes to a right with Depression, helps a lot of chocolate is not the same. Rather, patients should eat according to this study, certain foods on a regular basis:

Especially fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes can lower the risk of Depression. Also a regular supply of Omega-3 fatty acids can have a positive impact – they are mainly contained in fish or algae.

What protects against Alzheimer’s?

There are foods, which protect against dementia? Some researchers suggest that the onset of the disease through Sport and a healthy lifestyle. The disease occurs in the Mediterranean countries, and in much less than, for example, in Germany. There is also a study, which was published in the journal “ACS Chemical Neuroscience” of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The researchers report that the olive oil contained a substance Oleocanthal degrades the Alzheimer’s typical and dangerous Protein deposits in the brain.

In addition, green leafy vegetables to prevent – such as leaf salads, herbs or cabbage vegetable forms of dementia.

Scientists at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, have designed the MIND-the diet plan. The lists of ten food groups that are healthy for the brain, and to eat every day. In addition, there are five “unhealthy food groups”, which should be avoided whenever possible. In it Butter and Margarine, pastries, sweets and fried food surface, for example. Are you surprised?

Even if this is only a brief Overview of diseases and a health-promoting diet, quickly: It is the food are just unhealthy, of which we don’t actually know that they do us good. And those are exactly healthy, which we know it also.

Food, you to prevent diseases

There is no food that can be used to combat a specific disease. But there are those that act as a preventive measure, and should anyway appear on our dining plan. Extra virgin olive oil, for example. It can not only protect against Alzheimer’s but also has a positive effect on our cholesterol levels, hypertension, Depression or cancer. As well as many varieties of vegetables and fruit.

However, may be expected from these foods, no magic powers. Because diseases are an Interaction of many factors. Also environmental influences or genetic dispositions play a decisive role. Reduced to eat a healthy diet, certain disease risks. Safe protection, but do not provide.

Author: Hannah Fox

*The post “Which food us protection against diseases and what you should do without” is from Deutsche Welle. There is no editorial review by FOCUS Online. Contact with the executives here.