No surprise. Your Mom was right. You need to eat your veggies. Another study showing that eating vegetables has a tremendous benefit to health was just released. This one a large epidemiological study looking at the incidence of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Interestingly, vegetable consumption was inversely associated with BPH whereas fruit intake was not. However, consumption of fruit rich in ß-carotene , lutein , or vitamin C was inversely related to BPH.
Surprsingly a high vitamin C supplementation increased the risk of BPH, whereas eating foods high in vitamin C did not. Why might that be? I suspect that it may be the type of vitamin C source as it is most common to use straight ascorbic acid. I do not recommend this as it causes a more acidic environment and can be very pro-oxidant especially if a large amount of polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) are eaten. Vitamin C needs to be buffered or contain a large amount of bioflavanoids for beneficial effect.
To cut to the chase the most beneficial vegetables in this study were found to be: tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce, green pepper, yellow squash, peas, beans, broccoli, sauerkraut, cole slaw, cooked cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, carrots, celery, mixed vegetables, mushrooms, yams, cooked spinach, raw spinach, romaine lettuce, and garlic.
The most beneficial veggies were found to be: Cantaloupe melon, oranges, orange juice, grapefruit, grapefruit juice, strawberries, other juices,
You can read the entire research article in pdf format:Fruits Veggies BPH AJCN
In Health,
George Mandler
George Mandler
Licensed Acupuncturist & Nutritionist Dietitian
Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, & Nutrition
Boston, Jamaica Plain, Brookline, Massachusetts