Two apples a day to he one food ‘prescriptio

Bioactives — naturally occurring compounds in certain foods — are able to act like medicines, as they influence our cells and the biological systems in our body in ways that resemble drugs.

and just as scientists are able to isolate the biochemical constituents of various drugs and analyse their impact on the way our bodies fight disease, we can now pick apart specific plant compounds in various foods, and use rigorous scientific methods to measure their drug-like effects on your cells.

this means, for the first time, it is possible to record the specific ‘doses’ of certain foods needed to achieve a measurable effect.

Quite simply, a ‘food dose’ is the amount of any food or drink that has been shown to be associated with, or lead to, a specific health outcome.

this dose can be relevant to disease prevention or treatment, long- term management of a condition, or suppression to keep the disease from returning.

My team has been able to make a head-to-head comparison of the potency of different foods versus drugs, in relation to one of the body’s key health defence mechanisms — angiogenesis (the creation of new blood vessels).

For example, we examined four cancer-fighting drugs and seven other common medications (such as anti- inflammatory drugs, statins, a blood pressure medication, and an antibiotic) against 16 dietary factors from foods associated with lowering the risk of various cancers.

Remarkably, we found that 15 of the dietary factors were more potent than one of the cancer drugs.

Most of the foods held their own ground, or were more potent than the other common medications.

statisticians and nutrition scientists might tell you this type of research does not nail cause and effect the way a drug study using mice or a clinical trial would.

But the associations that emerge can be very informative, especially when hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people are involved.

a mountain of research has revealed how specific foods can influence health and disease.

the science is continually evolving, but some extraordinary clinical and epidemiological findings give us new perspectives about not just the types, but also the quantities, of food that we should eat, as well as how often we should eat them.

our results must surely force even the most hardboiled cynic to pause and marvel at the potency of what Mother Nature has laced into her food.

i’ve found the concept of food doses to be especially impactful for patients battling cancer. For example, studies in people with colon cancer have shown eating two servings of nuts (14 walnuts) per week is associated with a 42 per cent lower risk of the disease returning. that statistic results in a no-brainer recommendation for a low- cost lifestyle change. For breast cancer, robust studies show consuming 10g of soya protein (equivalent to 235ml of soya milk) per day is associated with a 29 per cent decrease in the risk of death from the disease. You can’t ignore this kind of information once you witness the evidence. and it is helpful for guiding your diet choices if you are trying to prevent a disease such as cancer. NOTE: Foods are so powerful that they can interact with drugs, so if you are currently battling a disease, consult your doctor before changing how you eat.