Green tea helps prevent certain cancers. So does lycopene, a phytochemical found in tomatoes. Various dietary supplements can impact your mood, improve your memory, lower your cholesterol, and reduce heart arrythmias. Even the timing of your food intake can temporarily change brain chemistry eat protein at breakfast, for example, and be mentally sharper for hours compared to eating carbohydrates.
People ought to be wary until the facts are in.
These days we expect food to protect us from disease as well as chase away hunger, says Bruce Watkins, a Purdue University professor of food science, quoted in a recent university newsletter. In the future, foods may be matched to an individual's risk for chronic disease. We'll be creating foods that are better for people. We'll be going back and looking at more food components that are not classical nutrients, but that seem to be health protectants. That's the wave of the future.