Health foods are becoming popular because, increasingly, they are thought to be better for us than commercially produced foods. But is there any trust in the claims made about them?

The term ‘health food’ can be confusing. It suggests that some foods are better at maintaining health than others. In fact all foods contribute some nutrients which, in the right combinations, form a diet that builds and maintains health.

WHAT IS MEANT BY "HEALTH FOODS" ?

Health foods - also called whole foods - are those which are grown and prepared in a more natural way than most commercially processed foods. Food is ‘big business’. Each food on the market has to compete with rivals. It often has to travel a long distance from source to store and since it must have as long as ‘shelf life’ as possible once it reaches the store, for the sake of profitability, it must not spoil quickly.

All these requirements mean that most of the items in ordinary food stores have been treated with additives of various kinds, such as colouring matter, synthetic flavorings and preservatives.

Some foods are ‘preserved’ by being highly refined so that they keep longer without being spoiled by bacteria, moulds or insects. Fruit and vegetables are treated with pesticides and chemical fertilizers so that the largest possible crop may be harvested from each plot of land.

The result of this commercial treatment of food is that much natural goodness may be lost, and people fear that even approved additives may, in combination, be harmful. Health foods are grown organically - that is, with the help of organic farmyard manure, but without chemical fertilizers, and without undergoing any refining process or being treated with additives. The object of all this is to retain as much of their natural goodness as possible.

KINDS OF HEALTH FOOD

Foods treated in this natural way tend to fall into one of five main categories.

The first includes stone-ground, whole wheat breads, cereals and flavours. White bread is made from grain from which the wheat germ and husk have been removed. These are the richest parts of the wheat in food value, containing vitamins, mineral salts, enzymes (agents which stimulate digestion), and proteins; the husk bran is necessary for healthy bowel action. Whole-wheat breads, cereals and flours which contain wheat germ are nutritionally more complete foods than their refined white counterparts. Flour that is stone-ground is milled between stones at slow speeds and low temperatures, and the wheat germ is evenly distributed in it.

The second category comprises cold pressed, unrefined oils, but butters to which no hydrogen, sugar or saturated (animal) fat have been added, and unsalted nuts. Many of the oils commercially available have hydrogen added to them to stop them from going rancid, and are refined, which takes away their natural vitamin E but produces the most oil from the seeds or nuts. When they are simply cold-pressed in a hydraulic press, they produce less oil (which consequently tends to be expensive), but it is rich in nutrients, colour and flavour.

In the third category of health food are yogurt and powdered milk - not the instant kind - made without preservatives. The fourth is free-range eggs, those not laid by battery hens. The extra goodness in these eggs is there because the hens are able to run about out of doors, on the ground, gathering worms and other tidbits of food that provides extra vitamins and nutrients which are not necessarily present in the food fed to battery hens.

The fifth category of health food includes fruit and vegetables grown in soil fed with humans-decayed organic matter such as farmyard manure and leaves-and not treated with artificial fertilizers or with pesticides, which can be harmful if they are not removed by washing before the food is eaten. Fruit and vegetables grown organically generally taste better, but are also more expensive, than those raised commercially.

HEALTH FOOD SHOPS

Health food and whole food stores vary as much in standard as other stores do, and the claim to be a ‘health food’ shop is no guarantee that the items on sale have been grown without the help of chemicals and are free of additives. A guide to the genuineness of a health food shop is the use of refrigerator: since health foods are not treated with preservatives they do not last as long as other foods, and many of them benefit from being kept under refrigeration-something that will be recognized by reputable health food stores.

Many health food shops sell vitamin preparations, tonics or other potions for which great curative powers are claimed. While vitamin supplements can be beneficial in appropriate amounts, it is possible to take too much of them with harmful effect, and anyone who has a health worry should discuss it with his or her doctor and not take health-shop products without medical advice.