The New Complete Book of Food
Medical Uses and/or Benefits
Lower risk of some birth defects. As many as two of every 1,000 babies born in the United
States each year may have cleft palate or a neural tube (spinal cord) defect due to their moth-
ers’ not having gotten adequate amounts of folate during pregnancy. The current RDA for
folate is 180 mcg for a healthy woman and 200 mcg for a healthy man, but the FDA now
recommends 400 mcg for a woman who is or may become pregnant. Taking folate supple-
ments before becoming pregnant and through the first two months of pregnancy reduces
the risk of cleft palate; taking folate through the entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural
tube defects.
Lower risk of heart attack. In the spring of 1998, an analysis of data from the records for
more than 80,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study at Harvard
School of Public Health/Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, in Boston, demonstrated that a
diet providing more than 400 mcg folate and 3 mg vitamin B 6 daily, from either food or
supplements, more than twice the current RDA for each, may reduce a woman’s risk of heart
attack by almost 50 percent. Although men were not included in the analysis, the results are
assumed to apply to them as well.
However, data from a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association in December 2006 called this theory into question. Researchers at Tulane Univer-
sity examined the results of 12 controlled studies in which 16,958 patients with preexisting
cardiovascular disease were given either folic acid supplements or placebos (“look-alike” pills
with no folic acid) for at least six months. The scientists, who found no reduction in the risk
of further heart disease or overall death rates among those taking folic acid, concluded that
further studies will be required to ascertain whether taking folic acid supplements reduces
the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lower levels of cholesterol. Avocados are rich in oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat believed
to reduce cholesterol levels.
Potassium benefits. Because potassium is excreted in urine, potassium-rich foods are often
recommended for people taking diuretics. In addition, a diet rich in potassium (from food)
is associated with a lower risk of stroke. A 1998 Harvard School of Public Health analysis
of data from the long-running Health Professionals Study shows 38 percent fewer strokes
among men who ate nine servings of high potassium foods a day vs. those who ate less
than four servings. Among men with high blood pressure, taking a daily 1,000 mg potas-
sium supplement—about the amount of potassium in one avocado—reduced the incidence
of stroke by 60 percent.Adverse Effects Associated with This Food
Latex-fruit syndrome. Latex is a milky fluid obtained from the rubber tree and used to
make medical and surgical products such as condoms and protective latex gloves, as well as
rubber bands, balloons, and toys; elastic used in clothing; pacifiers and baby-bottle nipples;
chewing gum; and various adhesives. Some of the proteins in latex are allergenic, known