From The Desk of T. Colin Campbell PhD Part 2

Nutrient Profiles, Nutrient Richness and Health

I have come to realize that the concept of nutrition is widely misunderstood, both by professionals and non-professionals alike. Experimental nutrition research is conducted and so-called nutritional products are marketed as if they represented the mere summation of the independent effects of individual nutrients. Although individual nutrients may produce specific effects that appear to be beneficial–both in laboratory and clinical settings, these effects are usually interpreted without considering the larger context, are short-term observations, are produced by unnatural chemical analogs and/or represent unnatural amounts.

These observations tend to suggest that we can get nutrition out of a pill instead of from food, a view that is primarily driven by marketing forces. This view is not consistent with what is known about nutritional biology, thus is not consistent with optimal health. These criticisms are supported by recent reports that have reviewed the long-term effects of nutrient supplements?including the more popular vitamin A, E and C supplements. These reports conclude that there is no convincing evidence that these supplements maintain long-term health and prevent chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease; indeed, some of these nutrients supplement effects in isolation, actually advance the further progression of disease.

What, therefore, is the correct interpretation of the effects of nutrition on health maintenance and disease prevention? These effects are quite profound. The more useful interpretation states that nutrition represents a highly interactive and synergistic effect on health of all nutrient-like chemicals when these chemicals are consumed in the form of whole food. There are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of such chemicals, only some of which have been identified. The nutritional effect is as if there is a natural biological symphony operating within our bodies?and within our cells?that integrates countless nutrient-like activities in a way that produces health when the right foods are consumed. With this understanding, we then can begin to understand why diet has such a profound effect on health.

We can begin to appreciate, for example, why food is able to reverse advanced degenerative diseases, to control the expression of mischievous genes and to control the toxicities of especially noxious chemicals, among other effects. We can also begin to understand why there are such marked differences in disease rates among different groups of people who use substantially different diets and why certain diseases cluster in the same geographic areas (i.e., they have a common dietary etiology). This symphony of effects (or reactions) is most impressive at the cellular and metabolic levels.

These reactions are highly interwoven and integrated in a way that minimizes energy utilization and harmonizes the collective effects of nutrients in a way that creates health on a wide variety of outcomes. The body is constantly regulating seemingly disparate reactions within cells, between cells and even between organ systems that lie far apart anatomically. The interactions among different nutrients and related chemicals are now well established, having been demonstrated in thousands of research studies during the past century. We know that these interactions exist but we fail to appreciate what they truly mean.

Given this view of nutrition, what, therefore, is the most useful way to appreciate which foods are best in optimizing health? One way to do this is to consider the patterns of nutrients in various foods that are already known to create health. We can call these patterns ‘nutrient profiles’ or we can classify foods according to their ‘nutrient richness’, meaning those foods that have the healthiest nutrient patterns. Comparing the concentrations of indicator nutrients in foods can do this. The nutrient composition of those foods producing the greatest health benefits can serve as the standard against which other foods are compared.

This is the essence of the concept of nutrient richness, indeed is the essence of the concept of nutrition itself. This essence embodies the synergy of nutrient activities that results in the biological symphony of health.

It is time that we worry less about the details of food and food activities and more about the larger messages. The Nutrient Rich Revolution is sending the kind of message that will undoubtedly become the future of our society if we are to have any interest in being healthy. It emphasizes the health-promoting power of a Nutrient Rich Diet and a successful lifestyle, while steering clear of the quick fixes and gadgetry that have mistakenly been promoted in the past. This is THE health message for the future.?

Good health for all!

T. Colin Campbell, PhD
Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus
Of Nutritional Biochemistry
Division of Nutritional Sciences
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.