In this video, Ms. Chace talks about which foods to consume (and which to avoid) if you're undergoing cancer treatment. For example, she discusses how enzymes in certain fruits -- pineapple's bromelain and papaya's papain -- can help support digestion. In addition, the video features foods that are important, both in preventing cancer recurrence, as well as in protecting against cancer in the first place.  

We'll carry a longer, print version of the interview in the next issue of the DNN. You may also want to explore some previous newsletter items on the nutrition-cancer link, such as "Top Ten Anti-Cancer Foods," "Nine Keys to Preventing Cancer," "Top Five to Fight Prostate Cancer," "Obesity Linked to Nine Types of Cancer," as well as our in-depth video interview with philanthropist and prostate cancer survivor Mike Milken.

British researchers have uncovered a link between certain "happy" brain chemicals (like serotonin and noradrenalin) and taste sensitivity. When levels are elevated, test subjects report that they are better able to taste their food, leading scientists to hypothesize that clinical depression actually dulls sense of taste. The day may be coming when a taste test could help support a diagnosis of depression.

How might muted taste buds affect your eating behavior? For some, a dulled sense of taste could lead to overconsumption -- whereas others might simply lose interest in the food that no longer tickles their taste buds. In either case, being watchful, even to the extent of keeping a food diary, could help prevent unwanted weight gain (or loss).

When it comes to stress, however, it seems that most folks (women and dieters in particular) react by increasing consumption of sweet, fatty foods. Another group of British researchers told test subjects to prepare a four-minute speech that would be filmed, after lunch. The result: Those with the speech assignment on their minds ate significantly more sweet, fatty foods than the control group (given no such speechwriting task). 

Researchers at Montclair State University found that gender plays a role, with females under stress are more likely than men to over-consume sugary, high-fat foods. Being on a diet also makes a difference: 71% of dieters vs. 35% of non-dieters eat more unhealthy foods under stress.

From the DNN Archives: Check out how low-carb dieting can make you cantankerous (by depleting serotonin). If you're feeling melancholic you may also want to check your folic, since low levels of folate are associated with depression. Finally, mellow out with our "Top Ten Stress Busters" instead of feeding your face with fattening foods, which will only lead to greater frustration down the line.

There's also the self-conscious factor: Ringing up their own purchases may make shoppers more mindful of their choices. Depending on how frequently you fall victim to last-minute purchases, your calorie savings could possibly prevent you from gaining several pounds a year! 

What if self-scanning hasn't yet come to stores in your area? Snack on fruit before you go shopping to avoid arriving at the store with a rumbling stomach; distract yourself during checkout time by listening to an audiobook on your iPod; or burn calories (and build muscle) by doing bicep curls with your grocery basket!

With a doubling of the number of Americans over 65 by the year 2030, Alzheimer's mortality rates will continue to soar. The obesity epidemic is another contributing factor, with weight-related ailments accelerating the aging of the brain.

Now for the good news: New research suggests that fruit and vegetable juice may offer powerful protection against Alzheimer's. A Vanderbilt University study found that those who drank fruit or vegetable juice more than three times per week were an astounding 75% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than once-a-week or non-juice drinkers. Researchers believe that the antioxidant polyphenols contained in the juice guard against the oxidation (or rust, if you will) of brain tissue.

You'll get even more healthy nutrients if you squeeze (or juice) your own fruit and vegetables. Different fruit and veggie drinks have different nutrient profiles with particular targeted benefits. Answer this issue's Dole Poll to tell us which juice you prefer, then check next month's DNN to learn more about the nutrients and health benefits of commonly consumed fruit and vegetable juices. 

For more ways to protect yourself against Alzheimer's, go to our Superfoods for the Brain page on dolesuperfoods.com, or browse the DNN archives to learn why a complex job may help maintain mental acuity, or how fish can keep you keen through the years.

One very recent animal study from the Montreal Children’s Hospital found that low folate may actually initiate the development of colorectal cancer tumors. Another Italian study linked a 50% reduction in precancerous lesions on the larynx with higher folate intake. Other advantages of adequate folate include:

• Mental health: Tufts researchers found that people with normal levels of folic acid are less likely to be depressed than those with low levels.
• Heart health: Folate helps to metabolize homocysteine (high levels of which can damage arteries).
• Bone health: By lowering homocysteine, folate may reduce incidence of hip fractures.

While folate fortification is now widespread, it was not actually implemented until the early 1990's (while fortification with niacin, thiamin, vitamin B6, etc. began at the end of World War II). However, you don't have to turn to supplements or fortified products to get adequate folate from whole foods.

Top sources of folate include: lentils; black-eyed peas; pinto; black and navy beans; spinach; broccoli; romaine lettuce; and fresh squeezed orange juice. You'll get 87% of your daily folate need with the featured Superfood Recipe: Black Lentil Soup. The USDA set the RDA at 400mcg per day; however, too much folate can mask the signs of vitamin B12 deficiency, so an upper limit (UL) of 1,000mcg was also set.

He was gracious enough to share his thoughts on how what we eat affects how we age. In particular, he explains his famous "triage theory of DNA damage," in which nutrition deficiencies cause our bodies to sacrifice the long-term health of our DNA in order to attend to the immediate needs of daily living. He also believes that such nutrition deficiencies may contribute to obesity, by interfering with the satiety signals the body needs to stop eating. Dr. Ames elaborates on these themes below.

DNI: Generally people have a positive association with metabolism in terms of weight loss. But you point out that there is a connection between aging and metabolism.

AMES:  My interest has been in disease prevention. Originally I focused on DNA damage, which got me into cancer research and then the study of aging. Most of our DNA damage comes from our own metabolism.

In reading about aging I became interested in mitochondria -- the power plants of the cell. Mitochondria harness the energy obtained from "burning" the fat and carbohydrates we ingest when we eat. This process forms ATP, high-energy molecules that power muscles, the brain, and metabolism. 

In the process of making ATP, there are small amounts of free radicals formed, which can damage the mitochondria and our DNA. Healthy, young mitochondria keep that to a minimum, but with age they are less efficient and they pour out more free radicals. It’s like an old car engine that’s pouring out black smoke and is less efficient.

DNI: As we age, does our ability to manage this oxidative damage decrease at a steady rate or at an accelerating rate?

AMES: We’re all aging exponentially; all the degenerative diseases like cancer go up as we age.  I believe much of this goes back to mitochondrial decay.

DNI:  Is it possible to return the mitochondria to their younger version -- i.e., to reverse the damage?  

AMES: Some of the damage is nonreversible but some of it, like the leaking of free radicals, may be reversible. As the aging process advances, acetyl carnetine (ALC) is not being made as effectively. We found that when you get more of ALC, it helps the mitochondria to function. We also found that alpha lipoic acid (LA) helped reduce the leaking of oxygen radicals, which occurs at a higher rate in the aging rat. 

DNI: So, in other words, once you have DNA damage it’s there. You can freshen up your mitochondria to keep you at the level you’re at -- but you can’t reverse the damage that has already been done, right? 

AMES: That's right, it’s there. In WWII during the Dutch famine, there was mass starvation, and the women who were pregnant at the time found that later in life all sorts of health issues affected their children. For example, many of their babies turned out to have heart disease when they grew up.  So, there are really long-term consequences.

The most important thing is the need to make sure we’re eating a good diet and getting exercise. But then there will be ways of tuning up the mitochondria. I think life expectancy is going to get a lot longer than anyone thinks. In 1900 we were living until 50 -- by the time the century was over we were living 25-30 years longer. We’re going to continue to see advances. We don’t know the limit of life expectancy.  

DNI: What kinds of things can people do to slow down -- or speed up -- aging?

AMES: Eating bad diets accelerates the aging process. I've been very interested in micronutrients -- the vitamins and minerals you need to keep your system going. There are about 15 minerals and 15 vitamins that are part of normal metabolism. Organisms don’t make these so you have to get them from the environment. We are finding that in cell cultures, if you deprive them of particular nutrients, the cells age faster and you get massive DNA damage. Lower-income and obese populations are eating extremely poor diets -- calorie-rich refined foods. Junk food, pastries, soda -- these are all empty calories, with few vitamins and minerals.

It’s the lack of these nutrients -- rather than the food itself -- that I believe causes most of the problems. What happens when you don’t have enough of a vitamin or mineral? You get DNA damage. The pesticides and chemicals people worry about -- that’s a distraction. If you don’t get your vitamins and minerals you get a lot of DNA damage and that leads to cancer down the road.

DNI: To what extent are these disease risks a function of genetics?

AMES: Whatever your genetics, you don’t want to smoke and you don't want to eat a bad diet. Smoking and poor diet -- those are the two things that age you faster. But getting adequate nutrients is key. For example, take folic acid: When you don’t have enough you get chromosome breaks. When NHANES and other surveys looked into who is getting this low level of folic acid -- it’s the low-income population. They tend to get more obese; they’re destroying themselves because they’re not getting the nutrients they need to keep their metabolism going.

DNI: Tell us what you mean when you talk about the "triage theory" of disease.

AMES: Think about the 15 minerals. Every living creature needs them -- but of course the minerals are not present in nature in equal amounts. In times of scarcity, the body starts to prioritize, taking care of immediate survival needs first. It's the DNA repair -- and the long-term health needs -- that get sent to the back burner. This is the triage theory: Nature attends to the immediate survival so the organism can successfully reproduce, rather than the long-term needs.

Long-term health benefits are sacrificed to get you through the short term. Life is a trade-off between long term and short term. In most of human history, calories were limited. The potato tripled the population of Europe. But now calories are dirt cheap and they’re not bringing in the vitamins and minerals. It’s not that excess calories are the only bad thing -- it’s the lack of vitamins and minerals.

Like the updated MyPyramid for adults, the children's edition seeks to communicate the new government guidelines about what constitutes healthy eating.  Replacing the familiar horizontal division of food groups with colorful vertical rays aimed at illustrating proportion (for example, the rays for fruit and vegetables are both wider than the ray for protein, indicating that children should consume more of the former in relation to the latter). Under the banner of "Eat Right. Exercise. Have Fun.," the key messages of this campaign include:

• Daily physical activity symbolized by the child climbing the steps to the left of the pyramid.
• Eat more dark green veggies and colorful fruit (fresh, frozen, dried or packaged).
• Make half your grains whole.
• Go lean with protein, and include more fish, beans, peas, nuts and seeds.

Recognizing that most people first learn about nutrition in elementary school, officials wanted to develop resources that would help teach students about the new Food Guidance System and whet young appetites to learn more about proper nutrition. Among the tools available to educators and parents are classroom materials, a MyPyramid for Kids poster, worksheets, coloring pages and tips for families. Kids will love the MyPyramid Blast Off Game: an interactive computer game where users fuel up their rocket by making healthy food choices, clicking, dragging and dropping icons into their "tank," which then gives them feedback on the nutrition value of their selections.

The Dole Nutrition Institute also provides a cornucopia of helpful information on children's nutrition via its Superkids web site and downloadable resources, such as our "Healthy Kids" brochure (#4 in our Health and Wellness series).