Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center

If a new medication came on the market to help one lose weight, increase exercise, stop smoking and prevent heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory illness and diabetes, people would flock to physicians for a prescription and buy stock in the company, one expert believes.

But that’s not likely, according to Dr. David Katz, a physician and director of the Yale Prevention Research Center, who spoke at Texas A&M University today.

Yet, the knowledge already exists to prevent those ailments and few are taking advantage, Katz told about 200 people at the “Produce for Health” seminar conducted by Texas A&M’s Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center.

“It’s about lifestyle factors and a plant-based diet,” Katz said. “We’ve seen it in repetitive scientific studies.”

The Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center hosted Katz as part of the 20th anniversary of its collaborations among plant production scientists, medical researchers, farmers and food industry experts. The center was created in 1993 as researchers worldwide began to realize the connection between food consumption, food production and human health, according to Dr. Bhimu Patil, director.

“We’ve known for a long time the top five causes of premature death in humans—heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory ailments and diabetes,” Katz said. “What changed in 1993 was a scientific study that encouraged researchers to realize that these are effects not causes. That’s when we began to look for the causes and found that virtually all premature deaths are attributable to diet, exercise and tobacco.”

He calls them the feet, fork and fingers: failure to exercise, improper eating and smoking.

“In a study that compared people who eat poorly, have out-of-control weight and smoke to people who eat well, have their weight in control and do not smoke, we learned that reversing any one of those would increase one’s lifespan by 50 percent. Reversing all three would increase lifespan by 80 percent,” Katz said.

The U.S. fight over health care, he added, was about money not health.

“The whole thing (mandatory health care) is moot if we don’t solve this problem with obesity and the projection about what it will do to our future,” Katz said, pointing out that obesity in U.S. children may be linked to the recent 35 percent increase in strokes for children 5-14 years old.

A lifestyle change to eat well, exercise and stop smoking would cut heart disease by 80 percent, diabetes by 90 percent and cancer by 60 percent, he said.

Katz, who also is a medical consultant for ABC News, believes one reason the statistics and data from medical research have not led to massive change toward healthfulness in the nation is because they are “nameless, faceless and impossible to love.”

“Just think about you or someone you love having to deal with heart disease, cancer or diabetes,” he said, asking for a show of hands, which indicated virtually everyone in the audience had experienced one or more.

“We know what the problem is. Yet only 1.5 percent of the people in the U.S. are eating enough fruits and vegetables daily.”

Katz acknowledged that part of the problem is confusion caused by the multitude of diet information—much of it conflicting—on the market. A soon-to-be-released study by his prevention research center examined many of the diets being touted as the healthiest.

“All of the diets can be considered,” he said. “But instead, focus on the overlap of them all, which would be to eat food, but not too much and mostly plants.”

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Several of the nation’s leading food industry experts will convene here next week to discuss the latest findings on the connections between fruit and vegetable production and medical advances. The national conference will also mark the 20th anniversary of Texas A&M University’s Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center.

Anita Jones-Mueller, MPH, founder and president of California-based Healthy Dining, has been invited to share her expertise during the national, daylong conference, Produce for Health. The event will be held on Tuesday, February 25th, at the Texas A&M AgriLife Center.

Anita Jones-Mueller, CEO – Healthy Dining Finder

Jones-Mueller will participate in a panel discussion with other national experts on the subject of Improving our Health: How Research Can Help Increase Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables.

“I’m looking forward to sharing my insights into how America’s restaurants are steadily incorporating more healthful food options, including more fruits and vegetables, into their menus,” said Jones-Mueller. “The scientific advances made at Texas A&M are contributing immeasurably to our understanding of the importance of a nutritious diet, and I’m pleased to share that the restaurant industry, by and large, is taking note and improving their offerings.”

Healthy Dining’s web site, HealthyDiningFinder.com, arms users with the most comprehensive database of healthy meals handpicked by registered dietitians based on qualifying nutrition criteria that emphasize lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and unsaturated fats. More than 4,000 menu items served at more than 60,000 participating restaurants across the nation can currently be found on the site, and more are added weekly. A Kids LiveWell feature likewise provides a growing selection of healthful options that younger eaters are sure to enjoy.

The Vegetable & Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M is renowned for the interdisciplinary efforts of scientists to develop healthy, flavorful and tasty vegetables and fruits such as peppers, the maroon carrot, mild 1015 onion, cantaloupes, peaches and plums that also have higher health-promoting compounds.

“This center is unique because of our strong partnership between diverse industry and interdisciplinary scientists to improve the health and well-being of people,” said Dr. Bhimu Patil, the center’s director. “Our goal for the conference is to bring top-notch people from the food industry and medical research together so that consumers can hear different perspectives and dialogue.”

Also appearing at the conference is David Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, and Director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center. Dr. Katz offered his support for Healthy Dining’s groundbreaking mobile site upon its recent launch.

“My new book, Disease Proof, is all about the incredible power of diet and lifestyle over our health and even over our genes,” Katz said. “Tools like Healthy Dining Finder illustrate just the kind of innovations we need so more people can exercise that power and add both years to life and life to years.”

ABOUT HEALTHY DINING
Healthy Dining provides Americans with the digital tools and resources necessary to find the best restaurant choices for their dietary goals and healthy lifestyles. President and founder Anita Jones-Mueller, MPH, launched Healthy Dining in San Diego, CA, in 1991 by combining the brainpower and creativity of chefs, restaurateurs, health experts, registered dietitians and communication strategists. Now, in collaboration with the National Restaurant Association and scores of partner organizations, the Healthy Dining Program has grown to become the most powerful restaurant industry nutrition initiative in the nation. Healthy Dining’s signature website, HealthyDiningFinder.com, enables millions of nutrition-conscious restaurant diners, as well as those dealing with diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and other nutrition-related conditions, to easily find dietitian-recommended Healthy Dining and Kids LiveWell choices served at more than 60,000 restaurants. For more information please visit www.HealthyDiningFinder.com.

From Food & Beverage Magazine

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TEXAS A&M – The Texas A&M College of AgriLife Sciences held the 20th anniversary celebration for its Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center today, hosting national experts to discuss ways to promote healthy diets. Event speakers say the key to spreading health is not just through funding, but education as well.

“The application of that and getting it in the public use and educating the public, all the way from K-12 up into adulthood about the value of healthy eating and the role food plays in disease prevention and cure,” said Executive Associate Dean of AgriLife Sciences Dr. Alan Sams.

Experts also say that healthier diets will reduce the economic burden of healthcare costs.

“When we don’t take care of our children when we don’t have good healthy foods, fresh fruits and vegetables for them in schools or in homes, then I think their future is a little dimmer,” said Comptroller for the State of Texas Susan Combs.

“Frankly, the evidence is absolutely incredible. We absolutely could be adding years to life and life to years if we use lifestyle as medicine, and a big part of that is eating more fruits and vegetables,” said Director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center Griffin Hospital Dr. David Katz, a keynote speaker.

VFIC receives its funding from federal and state funding, which is where Combs comes in. They also receive money from grants and contracts awarded to faculty members in the course of their research projects.

Dr. Katz says eighty percent of chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, dementia are preventable when we don’t smoke, get plenty of physical activity, and eat an optimal diet rich in plant foods.

“You see people suffering, and in many cases paying with their lives for stuff that doesn’t need to happen,” Dr. Katz said.

There will be an open house of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center research facility Wednesday from 8:30 to 11. VFIC says this is an opportunity for donors to learn about ongoing research projects from researchers and students
“You see people suffering, and in many cases paying with their lives for stuff that doesn’t need to happen,” Dr. Katz said.

There will be an open house of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center research facility Wednesday from 8:30 to 11. VFIC says this is an opportunity for donors to learn about ongoing research projects from researchers and students

. . .

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Link to original article with video: KBTX.com News

Original article by Kessler McLaughlin, KBTX.com

COLLEGE STATION – There’s a lot more to agriculture than just driving a tractor.

And you might be surprised to know some of the carrots, onions and peppers you have in your fridge were developed right here at Texas A&M.

You are what you eat.

“There’s so much stuff out there, so many produce,” Jose Perez, a PhD student, said.

Researchers at Texas A&M have been at the forefront of finding connections between food and health.

“We gave the maroon carrot and the regular orange carrot to breast cancer recovery patients, so we found that their beta carotene levels were increased,” Bhimu Patil, director of the Vegetable & Fruit Improvement Center, said.

“I work with this asian vegetable called bitter melon, and it’s very true to its name, it’s very bitter, but it has a whole bunch of anti-diabetic properties,” Perez said.

To test the produce, the scientists freeze dry the fruits and vegetables and crush them into a powder.

The vegetable and fruit improvement center at Texas A&M celebrated twenty years of studying and developing produce.

“As we do the research, even if it tastes bad you’re not going to eat it so it’s important for us to develop fruits that are tasty and healthy,” Michael Harris, an undergrad researcher, said.

Americans consume less than two servings of fruits and veggies per day, and the center wants to see that number grow.

‘’Almost 30,000 people can be reduced of heart diseases or prevented with heart diseases if we increase one more servings per day of fruits and vegetables,” Patil said.

For Perez, the inspiration for his research with bitter melon hits close to home.

“I’m from South Texas and there’s a lot of diabetes down there.”

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From KAGS TV.com

by Emily Davis [emily.davis@theeagle.com]

The Texas A&M University Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center is celebrating 20 years of helping provide healthy food options to consumers.
The center began under the direction of former A&M professor Leonard Pike as a facility to research the health benefits of vegetables and how to produce ones that are healthier and more economically and environmentally efficient than regular vegetables. Fruit was added to the scope of research in 1999.

Bhimu Patil, center director, said that when it began, the center was the first of its kind to bring in scientists and medical doctors from different areas of expertise.

“There was no concept in the country at the time to bring in interdisciplinary scientists in the industry,” he said. “It was a unique thing.”
Kathleen Phillips said that in 20 years, the center’s influence has spread across the country.

“There’s a building out on Research Park where they have labs, but they extend all over Texas because that’s where crops need to grow,” she said. “We’ve got researchers all over the state, and the connections with the medical industry go all over the United States.”

On Tuesday, the center hosted a conference focusing on how to make people consume more fruits and vegetables, as well as a banquet celebrating its 20-year anniversary.
Though the center started out researching only vegetables and is most famous for producing the Maroon Carrot and the 1015 Onion, it expanded its research to include fruit. Research now includes peaches, nectarines, berries, peppers, melons, cantaloupe, grapefruit and more.

“When we started, we had one lab, now we have four quadrants of focus,” Patil said. “We have grown probably 20 to 30 times the size.”

The four quadrants the center focuses on are bioactive molecules, phytochemical and nutrient analysis, plant biotechnology and biological activity. Patil said that the broad spectrum of focus helps students at the center learn more in order to be more prepared for a career.

“Because of the interdisciplinary sciences and the four quadrants, our students are able to find jobs,” he said. “Almost all of the students that have graduated with us are now employed.”

Along with research and educating undergraduate and graduate students, the center also has a program directed at educating elementary and high school children.

“The children’s program focuses on age-related education about nutrition,” said Connie Sebesta, administrative coordinator for the center. “Now we are also adding segments on how fruits and vegetables play a part in sports medicine.”

Patil said that all of these educational and research factors help make the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center one-of-a-kind.

“It’s really unique,” he said. “No other state has this.”

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From The Eagle.com

“Everything in excess is opposed by nature.” – Hippocrates

Sometimes it seems that the health and fitness industry is hell-bent on turning itself into a cartoon. Every weight-loss and athletic training program is declared to be “the ultimate.” Outrageous claims are everywhere and extremism is the order of the day. Supplements, exercise machines and trainers are routinely advertised as “ferocious,” “insane,” “outrageous,” “alpha,” “maximum,” “mega,” “incredible” and “awesome.” Everything is bigger, faster, stronger and more scientific than everything else. Like the Lake Wobegon kids, everything and everyone in today’s health and fitness marketplace is somehow “above average.”

Most of the time, we can safely dismiss these claims as over-blown rhetoric, the familiar chest-thumping of primates looking to one-up the rest of the tribe or attract a better mate. Alternately, we might conclude that these hyperbolic boasts are merely practical strategies for survival in an increasingly crowded and over-heated marketplace; bigger claims attract greater attention and in turn, bigger sales.

But these exaggerated health and fitness claims are not neutral, nor are they harmless. In fact, they are outright violations of the very nature of health. Even worse, they send a dangerous message to people who desperately need a sense of balance and proportion in their lives. In short, health and fitness hyperbole is not healthy.

You don’t have to study physiology for very long before you discover that Goldilocks was right; there’s always a sweet spot between the extremes. Laboratory research and personal experience tell us that things that are beneficial in small amounts often become toxic in larger doses. Here we find ourselves drawn, again and again, to that iconic image of dose and response, the classic “inverse U” curve. Aristotle, Confucius and Lao Tzu would have instantly understood its meaning and its power. As the Buddha observed, the string on a musical instrument must be neither too tight or too loose.

We see it everywhere, both in the body and the natural world. There’s a period of increase in which a process builds on itself. Substances and efforts combine to produce a growth effect, a bounty or a payoff. This leads to a sweet spot of ideal or optimal function. Further increases in concentration or effort lead to diminishing returns as we approach a tipping point. This is followed by a reversal of the original benefit as the system begins to degenerate into illness and injury.

Today we find the inverse U in almost every encounter with life and living systems. We see it, for example, in our exposure to sunlight. At moderate levels, natural light is a powerful driver of Vitamin D production and has a profoundly beneficial effect on our mood and happiness. But beyond a certain point, these benefits begin to disappear, putting us at risk for heat stroke, dehydration and melanoma.
classic-inverse-U.

We see it the world of nutrition. Most nutrients follow the inverse U, with small amounts being beneficial, up to a tipping point. Protein, carbohydrates, red wine; beyond the sweet spot, substances that are nutritious in moderate amounts can become toxic. Even water.

We see it in the world of stress. When we’re under-stressed, memory, cognition and physical capacity are weak. If we add some pressure to the mix, we enter a domain called eustress and optimal function. But when we cross the tipping point, we enter into a world of distress, neurotoxicity, PTSD, sleep disruption, psycho-social disorders, immune dysfunction and disease.

We see it in the world of exercise. Vigorous movement is a powerful tonic for the entire mind-body-spirit, up to the tipping point. Once we cross over into the domain of over-training, exercise becomes a stressor and a health-negative.

We see it in the biomechanical properties of the human body. Every joint has an optimal range of motion. If that range is limited by tight muscles, tendons or ligaments, pain and injury are the result. But if the joint is hyper-mobile, it becomes vulnerable to dislocation and injury.

We see it in blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, hormone levels, neurotransmitter levels and every other dimension of our physiology. In fact, the inverse U curve is so common, we’d be hard-pressed to name any system or experience in biology or human life that doesn’t eventually turn back on itself. Sooner or later, everything runs its course, everything gets regulated by something else. In the world of health, extremism is almost always a vice.

The problem with hyperbole and exaggeration is that it leaves us with an illusion that we can defy the laws of physics, biology and even common sense. It suggests that by going to some sort of extreme, we can have a “breakthrough” to some higher level. But this is a dangerous illusion that does a disservice to our bodies, our clients and our culture. In reality, a breakthrough is more likely to become a breakdown.

Hyperbole is not a strategy or a training philosophy. Rather, it is an expression of fear, insecurity and inattention. It’s a reflection of our inability to live in the ambiguous present, with ourselves as we are. Ultimately, it’s our fear of death that drives us to claims of outrageousness and extremes of behavior.

But this sort of chronic envelope-pushing is doomed to fail; living on the right side of the inverse-U leaves us injured, diseased and frustrated, not to mention out of touch with the natural flux and flow of the natural world. Extremism puts everything at risk. As Gregory Bateson put it in Steps to an Ecology of Mind, “Lack of systemic wisdom is always punished. If you fight the ecology of a system, you lose–especially if you “win.”

Ultimately, health is about honoring and respecting the self-regulating nature of the systems that we inhabit. It’s a Middle Way, a Golden Mean. Balance and humility may not be sexy or lucrative, but they are consistent with the reality of our bodies and the world we live in. If you want to flourish, find the sweet spots.

Article by Frank Forencich of “Exuberant Animal: Training and Publications for Health and Performance” – Link to PDF: The End of Hyperbole As We Know It