About food and its conflict between science and experience

I was just translating Chris’ text about his eating and cooking habits today, a contribution for a cooking book for triathletes. As we all know, good food is a very essential part of health and performance. And I think there is not one athlete who does not know about the importance of food for peak performance, but probably few live this premise.

Living it is yet another story

May be a reason for this deficit that nature science has not really been able to understand the physiological processes the various foods induce as a whole? May be another reason that we are so “facts-driven” that we don’t trust our experience, and the experiences of human of hundreds of years?

It does not help to analyse the components of a food to understand its effects as a whole. We cannot simply compile the effects of every single element. The effects are an emergent phenomenon that is more than the addition of the parts – it means that food stuff is complex thing.
Because of this situation for many of us the healthiness of food is a rather vague and arbitrary term. The discrepancy, the split between scientific knowledge and experience is very pronounced in relation to food. The history of science of food is short, but experience dates back into ancient times. From food stuff medicinal products have been extracted ever since. Nowadays we have labs synthesizing compounds we know as ingredients of foods that we have identified as healthy or curing. From a chemical and biochemical viewpoint this products are the same. But there is a difference the compound from the lab are purer, they are mono-substances, they loose the properties of ingredients which are polyvalent. Purity does not necessarily mean better and more efficient. It may even be that the unharmed (healthy) complexity of the ingredients gives food its special power.

Main features of good=healthy food

• antioxidant
• antimicrobial
• anti-inflammatory
• anti-carcinogenic

Meat contains hormones, growth factors, iron other trace elements etc., fruits contain various vitamins, electrolytes etc., milk contains calcium, growth factors, and other peptides, so does biestmilch …. the list is endless … the conclusion simple: food contains everything we need to survive, and stay healthy, and protect us from chronic diseases.

I just read a short paragraph about herbs, herbs are a very good example for the above said. Oregano for example has been scientifically analyzed. Experience knows their health benefits since a long time, now science knows them too. What is the difference for you?

About the amazing effect of Oregano

Oregano is high in antioxidant activity, due to a high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids. Additionally, oregano has demonstrated antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. Both of these characteristics may be useful in both health and food preservation. In the Philippines, oregano (Coleus aromaticus) is not commonly used for cooking but is rather considered as a primarily medicinal plant, useful for relieving children’s coughs. Its main constituents include carvacrol, thymol, limonene, pinene, ocimene, and caryophyllene. The leaves and flowering stems are strongly antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic and mildly tonic (see explanations at the end of the article). Aqueous extracts, capsules, or oil extracts of oregano are taken by mouth for the treatment of colds, influenza, mild fevers, fungal infections, indigestion, stomach upsets, enteric parasites, and painful menstruation. It is strongly sedative and should not be taken in large doses, though mild teas have a soothing effect and aid restful sleep. Used topically, oregano is one of the best antiseptics because of its high thymol content.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used oregano as an antiseptic as well as a cure for stomach and respiratory ailments. A Cretan oregano (O. dictamnus) is still used today in Greece to soothe a sore throat.^[9]

Oregano has recently been found to have extremely effective properties against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), showing a higher effectiveness than 18 currently used drugs.

An antispasmodic (synonym: spasmolytic) is a drug or an herb that suppresses spasms. These are usually caused by smooth muscle contraction, especially in tubular organs. The effect is to prevent spasms of the stomach, intestine or urinary bladder.

A carminative, also known as carminativum (plural carminativa), is an herb or preparation that either prevents formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract, or facilitates the expulsion of said gas, thereby combating flatulence.

A cholagogue is a medicinal agent which promotes the discharge of bile from the system, purging it downward.

Diaphoretic is the state of perspiring profusely, or something that has the power to cause increased perspiration.

Emmenagogues are herbs which stimulate blood flow in the pelvic area and uterus; some stimulate menstruation.