Foods that Promote, Protect, and Promise Good Health

Abstract

Background Society knows that eating more fruits and vegetables are good for you yet this generation is the heaviest. In 2003-04, 17.1% of children and adolescents 2-19 years of age (over 12 and a half million) were overweight, and 32.2% of adults (over 66 million) were obese. Almost 5% of adults were extremely obese. (CDC 2009) The problem is overwhelming the solution seems to be simple decrease your calories, eat more fruits and vegetable and exercise. The objective of this study is to determine whether foods have healing properties or if they are better utilized for preventive measures. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted using the following electronic databases: Medline and CINAHL .The reference lists from retrieved articles were reviewed to identify additional studies. Data Extraction Data was abstracted based on search queries; diet, vegetarian, vegan, the hallelujah diet specifically, health foods, dietary supplements, and cancer. The years searched were from 1995 to the current year of 2009. Results Thousand of articles were retrieved for the review and the narrowing process is ongoing. Risk of cancer through diet and lifestyle change has been excluded, which aided in the narrowing of the subject. The present number is 11 articles, for further reference for the final paper, two have been reserved one is on determining questionnaire length and the other was dietary counseling how to change habits they do not pertain to current literature review but will be beneficial in the future. Conclusions In closing the hard fast reality remains constant a diet rich in fruits and vegetables enables the body to combat diseases. The studies show that our natural tendency is to wait until we are sick to change, subjects become highly motivated, yet the most benefit is seen as a preventive. We must change before we are sick to achieve the greatest reward.