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Eat the Rainbow to Protect Yourself from Environmental Pollution · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to talking facts,
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  what you need to know about family,
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  food,
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  finance and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized award winning podcast is hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and consumer sciences extension program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals,
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  families and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:24
  Hello and welcome to talking facts.
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  This is your host,
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  Dr jennifer Hunter,
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  Assistant Director for family consumer sciences extension at the University of Kentucky.
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  Today,
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  I'm pleased to welcome two guests.
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  Dr heather norman burdock extension specialist for food and nutrition and Dr Don brewer.
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  Associate professor in the department,
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  dietetics and human nutrition and core leader of the UK Superfund Research Center.
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  Community engagement core that is a title dawn.
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  So today we came to talk and I love the title of this,
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  Eat the Rainbow to protect yourself from environmental pollution.
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  But first Don,
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  I want to talk a little bit about the Kentucky Superfund.
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  So we are very fortunate within FCS extension to work closely with the University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center.
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  Can you tell us a little bit about what the Superfund does and how it benefits Kentucky communities or ken and thank you jennifer and heather for giving me this opportunity.
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  So,
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  the UK Superfund Research Center is federally funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
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  So NIH and it integrates multidisciplinary research and training and stakeholder engagement around the common theme of reducing health risks posed by environmental contaminants in vulnerable communities.
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  So what I mean by environmental contaminants or pollution.
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  It includes a wide range chemicals that can contaminate anything from our water,
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  land or air and it impacts the environment or human health.
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  So chronic diseases,
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  such cancer,
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  heart disease,
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  diabetes asthma and others have all been attributed to environmental pollutants.
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  So the UK Superfund Research Center,
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  uh since there's so many pollutants,
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  we just focus on a certain type which are halogen ated organics.
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  And the problem with them is that they're resistant to break down and they accumulate in the food chain.
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  So even if we don't live next to a hazardous waste site,
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  we're all exposed to environmental pollution.
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  So the best way to protect our health is to eat a healthy diet and be physically active because these behaviors help reduce cell damage,
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  which is brought on by these exposure to environmental pollutants.
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  So,
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  cell damage,
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  why we're so concerned about it is because it contributes to development of chronic diseases.
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  And research suggests that those most vulnerable to the health insults by these environmental pollutants are people with obesity that smoke have a poor diet or are physically inactive.
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  So,
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  as mentioned,
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  I lead the community engagement core,
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  which is housed within the UK Superfund Research Center.
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  And we use intervention and prevention strategies to pay promote healthy lifestyles to include healthy nutrition and increased physical activity as a means to reduce the disease risk associated with exposure to pollutants.
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  So we try to work close with communities to come up with these prevention and intervention activities?
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  So don what are some food choices when you start talking about protecting ourselves from environmental inflation?
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  What are some food choices that an individual can make to help protect themselves?
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  That's a great question.
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  And within the UK Superfund Research Center,
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  our biomedical research projects,
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  they tend to focus on how certain vital nutrients are protective against environmental pollution.
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  So well,
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  what we're finding is that plant based foods is the is the short answer.
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  So phyto nutrients are found in plant,
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  plant based foods and they are natural chemicals found in food that have been shown to provide positive health effects.
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  They don't provide energy and they're not vitamins or minerals,
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  but they still help us maintain our health.
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  So the word vital nutrients is used to identify,
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  you know,
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  thousands of compounds commonly found in plants.
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  So there's many,
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  many of them.
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  So some term people may have heard of before include flavonoids,
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  carotenoids,
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  polyphenols.
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  So the crux of it is that diets high in phyto nutrients tend to be associated with reducing inflammation and oxidation,
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  which again,
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  is associated with cell damage and the hallmarks to chronic diseases.
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  So,
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  heather Don has talked about phyto nutrients,
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  what are some of the best sources of phyto nutrients in our diet?
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  This is a great question because I'm sure listeners are thinking,
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  okay,
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  how do I get them right,
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  these sound great,
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  but what can I do?
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  So where do I find them?
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  Yeah.
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  So,
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  knowing they come from plants,
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  they are commonly found in fruits,
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  vegetables,
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  beans,
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  and grains.
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  So plant based food sources will vary in their type and their amount of phyto nutrients,
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  which means that they all will have various benefits for the body.
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  So rather than focusing on one type of food,
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  really,
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  just eating a variety of these plant based foods is gonna ensure that you're getting a variety of different phyto nutrients.
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  So when looking at fruits and vegetables focus on different forms and colors.
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  And this will ensure again you're receiving an abundance of those,
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  not only phyto nutrients,
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  vitamins,
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  minerals and fiber that those foods provide.
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  And this is why eating the rainbow is essentially associated with better health outcomes.
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  So for example,
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  blue and purple foods like blueberries and blackberries,
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  they're getting their color from different types of phytonutrients.
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  Like Don mentioned those polyphenols and flavonoids calls and we know there's evidence to suggest that these promote healthy aging and memory function.
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  They may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer and maybe even help manage blood sugar over time when choosing beans incorporate a variety.
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  Not only will this provide phyto nutrients,
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  but fiber and lean protein and then thinking about grains,
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  choosing those whole grains or whole wheat options,
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  especially when you're picking out your breads,
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  your cereals,
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  pastas and rices.
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  The phrase eating the rainbow,
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  I really think helps provide a visual about what to eat.
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  What resources do we have to help people understand how nutrition and food choices can protect them from environmental pollution.
• 6:40
  Yeah.
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  And it's not something that you naturally would think about how your food choices protect you from environmental pollution.
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  But here with an extension we actually have several Essentially.
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  It comes down to bulking up our diets with whole grains,
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  beans and fresh produce.
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  We want to encourage people to check out right off the bat that plate it up,
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  Kentucky proud recipes.
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  There's over 150 of those that are included on our website and they focus on consuming fruits and vegetables,
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  especially those that are grown right here in Kentucky.
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  And it's a win win because you're getting more fruits,
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  vegetables,
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  but you're also supporting our local farmers and producers that live right there in your community.
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  We also have several handouts and publications at the extension office that walk you through small changes and tips and tricks you can do to reduce your exposure to environmental pollution.
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  We can also link those in the show notes for today.
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  And then finally,
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  if you want to learn more about the UK Superfund Research Center itself,
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  we can also include a link there.
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  So you can explore and learn a little bit more about how the center here at UK is benefiting communities across the state.
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  Great,
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  thank you both so much for joining us today and sharing more information about the UK Superfund research center and the idea of eating the rainbow and both of you all mentioned different resources that could be available for a listener that would like to learn more.
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  In the show notes.
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  We'll have live the UK Superfund Research Center as well as the plated up recipes that heather referred to.
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  And I would also like to call attention to our listeners a publication that we have available through family Consumer Sciences Extension called Make Your Plate a Rainbow.
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  That will also have linked in the show notes.
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  Thank you both for joining us today.
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  Thank you,
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  jennifer.
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  Thanks jennifer,
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  appreciate it.
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