Jim Hiller presents: Exploring the Anti-Cancer Power of Fresh Produce

Jim Hiller presents: Exploring the Anti-Cancer Power of Fresh Produce (excerpt)

Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak, Ministrelli Heart Center, July 24, 2008 - Food, produce, vegetables are not medicine. They’re not an alternative to traditional medicine. But it is widely accepted that food choice does influence cancer and it does at every stage. It can have a suppressive effect at the development stage.

Before you eat fruit or vegetables, it must be washed carefully – particularly if you are under treatment or have a suppressed immune system. All fruit, even thick-skinned ones like bananas. We sell fruit washes, or you can use simple soap and water. It works on our hands well enough; it will work on our food.

Dirty fruit, fruit that has bacteria, may well kill you. During a period of treatment or when your immune system is compromised, stay away from salad bars and fruit in restaurants.

What is the risk today of fruit in supermarkets? We’ve all heard about the recent e.coli scares. One way to assuredly stay away from that problem is to buy produce grown hydroponically. E.coli outbreaks have occurred with produce grown in valleys because substances wash down from the hills and mountains and fertilize the vegetables. There is no way to get rid of e.coli bacteria in fruit and vegetables. It gets inside. Washing will not eradicate it.

In the Salinas Valley in California, the location of the e.coli outbreak a year ago with spinach, there were grazing cattle above the field. That was probably the case recently with tomatoes and peppers.

In my company, we have sought out hydroponic and organic growers. Our produce is grown under careful conditions.

Check the packaging and also ask the person at the produce counter to be sure. In my own stores, since recent reports of e.coli in tomatoes, I have started purchasing tomatoes exclusive from hydroponic, organic growers in Canada.

The sheer volume of consumption indicates that as time goes by we are going to see more outbreaks. Produce is being engineered less for its healthful benefits and more for its durability. We are paying the price for that. We can circumvent that by buying from small local farmers.

I have visited all the farmers we purchase from. Everything is done on a handshake – we know the source of the food we sell. If we are unsure of its source, then we should cook the hell out of it.

Israel is in the forefront of hydroponic growing. The Netherlands, Lemington, Canada, right across the border. A massive amount of fruit and vegetables come into our country. The path follows the analemma, the height of the sun – California in summer, then Mexico in winter. The decision I made is to be secure in the source.

Still, I don’t believe anything so I take everything I buy to the Detroit Testing Labs to make sure there are no residual pesticides. Everything should be washed.

Why are fruits good for us?

Why are vegetables good for us?

What makes them healthy?

We are just beginning to understand. Every talk of broccoli, every blueberry, is composed of hundreds of thousands of compounds and chemicals. Most have chemicals that have demonstrated to inhibit cancer. The brighter the color of the vegetable, the healthier it is. Strawberries, blueberries, the acai berry, a superfruit from South America. The deep colors represent a myriad of chemicals that interact in ways we don’t understand yet.

Some say it’s healthier to eat raw vegetables than cooked. Not for everyone. The values change when produce is cooked. Tomatoes, for example, only achieve their maximum benefit when cooked – they release lycopene, which is also found in watermelon.

(Lycopene gives the rich red color to tomatoes, guava, rosehip, watermelon and pink grapefruit. It’s a proven antioxidant.)

A combination of raw and cooked vegetables is probably best. Moderation is the best order of the day.

Vegetables are low-calorie and contain iron, fiber, potassium, folates and antioxidants. A nine-inch dinner plate should be three-quarters filled with vegetables, fruits and grains. They fill you up so you don’t eat the bad stuff.

Other foods also present rich concentrations of antioxidants, like tea, wine, nuts and oils.

There is anecdotal evidence that says tea is good for you. Possibly, green tea is the best. Green, black and white tea are all the same – the difference lies in how they are processed. Green tea is dried, black tea is fermented, white tea is young, from the top of the plant.

I drink a lot of green tea myself. It’s not a medicine, but it’s one way we can add an antioxidant to our diet, bolster the immune system and bring good health benefits.

I drink red wine because of its cardiac benefits. Red wine is the best wine to drink - the best and most helpful is Torus Madiran, which is sold at Hiller’s.

Many people thought wine was beneficial to health because of the existence of residual resveratrol from grape skins, a natural compound found in fruit skins that has cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties. But new research suggests that it’s the presence of oligomeric proanthocyanidins, or OPCs, that makes red wine such a powerful antioxidant.

Madiran is made from Tannat, the grape with the largest concentration of OPCs. It’s a thick-skinned grape found only in southwest France and sold locally only by us.

Don’t forget about nuts and oils. The healthful benefits of the olive are found in olive oil. Walnuts are heart-healthy, as are almonds. Appropriate fats should be included in a balanced diet, from natural sources, like nuts and good-for-you oils.

Aim for a spectrum of colors. Each fruit and vegetable, in its skin, contains the balance of vitamins, nutrients and minerals we are seeking. When we make a choice to live in a healthful way, we unlock our bodies’ ability to get rid of free radicals, to flush out the rust inside of us.

Whenever possible, get your vitamins, your nutrients, from your food. We’re talking about the most precious thing in the world - YOU!

We at Hiller’s pride ourselves in getting whatever you want. If there’s something you’d like, drop me an email and we’ll get it.