Don’t Call These “Junk”

Pizza. You still hear it called “junk food,” but that label is ever harder to justify. Overflowing with tomato sauce and mounded with veggies, pizza can be a nutritional bonanza. The key: tomato sauce, super-rich in the antioxidant lycopene, which may help save you from heart disease, prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, according to many studies. You can further boost health-protecting antioxidants by piling on garlic, green pepper, onions, broccoli, herbs, mushrooms, spinach. Cut down on high-fat cheese, pepperoni and sausage — all pizza spoilers. Best bet: Vegetarian pizza with extra tomato sauce and less cheese.

Peanut butter. Its fat is so satisfying and healthful (in moderation) that peanut butter is being touted as a diet food. Purdue University research found peanut butter dampened the appetite, staving off hunger for 2 1/2 hours, compared with a mere half-hour for snacks such as rice cakes. In a study at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, dieters on equal calories lost as much weight on a diet high in monounsaturated fat, including peanut butter, as on a very low-fat diet, and kept it off longer. It’s heart-healthy, too. A Penn State study found higher intakes of monounsaturated fat (as in peanut butter) cut heart disease risk 21%, compared with 12% for a very low-fat diet. And peanut butter is rich in bone-protecting boron and anti-cancer trans resveratrol. Best bet: “Natural” peanut butter free of hazardous trans fatty acids. Two tablespoons of peanut butter typically has 190 calories, so limit intake.

Eggs. True, they’re high in cholesterol, but eggs don’t generally raise blood cholesterol or promote heart disease, experts say. In fact, egg yolks have newly discovered health assets. They are a major source of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, yellow pigments that may help prevent vision-robbing cataracts and macular degeneration, according to several studies. Further, lutein has anti-cancer activity. Egg yolks are also a rich source of choline, essential for optimal brain development in early life and intellectual functioning in old age, says Steven Zeisel, M.D., of the University of North Carolina. You need choline to make acetylcholine, a brain messenger. Best bet: Up to an egg a day (two a day during pregnancy).

Guacamole. Like peanuts, the avocado in guacamole is packed with good monounsaturated fats. So it curbs the appetite, lowers bad LDL cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease. Moreover, it’s packed with nutrients, including potassium, and antioxidants that may help neutralize bad fats. Japanese scientists recently discovered unique chemicals in avocado that are anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory. Some researchers believe the oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat) in avocado helps block inflammation in arteries, helping combat heart disease. It may even discourage arthritis. In animals, chemicals in avocado reduced cartilage destruction from osteoarthritis. French patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and hip had less pain and disability after taking avocado-soybean compounds. Best bet: Take your avocado plain or with a little garlic and olive oil or salsa. Don’t add fat-laden sour cream.

Sub sandwiches. It’s no joke: Subs can be low-calorie health boosters. Next to other fast food, a sub can look surprisingly healthful — if it’s not stuffed with ham, salami, bologna, sausage, meatballs, cheese and high-fat salad dressing. An obese 20-year-old student in Indiana claimed to have lost 245 pounds by eating mainly low-calorie turkey and veggie Subway sandwiches. Subway’s 6-inch turkey sub boasts 254 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. Not bad compared with a typical fast-food hamburger or fried chicken with 600 to 700 calories and 10 times the fat. Best bet: Make subs with whole- wheat rolls; turkey breast or tuna; a variety of veggies, including lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, squash, onions and cucumbers; and olive oil or no-fat dressing.

SCIENTIFIC SOURCES FOR THIS ARTICLE

Tomato sauce and lycopene
Levi F.,Int J Cancer 2001 Jan 15;91(2): 260-3
Roa AV,J Am Coll Nutr 2000 Oct; 19(5):563-9

Peanut butter and appetite
Mattes, R. Purdue U. International J. of Obesity, vol 24, Aug. 2000 Unpublished, reported in press releases.

Mononusaturated fat and heart disease
Kris-Etherton, Penny, Am J Clinical Nutr, 70, Dec. 1999

Peanut butter and bones
Medline sources in folder

Avocado is anticancer and anti-inflammatory
Kim OK, J Agric Food Chem 2000 May; 48(5): 1557-63

Avocado and heart disease
Massaro M. Cardiologia, 1999 Jun; 44(6): 507-13

Avocado and osteoarthritis
Drugs Exp Clin Res 1998; 24(1): 41-50
Arthritis Rheum 1998 Jan; 41(1): 81-91