New program that explores the beneficial compounds in foods.

Owl

https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2020/software-for-teasing-out-food-compound-benefits/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

I don’t have a lot of faith in this getting any traction because of the virtually limitless power of the pharma industry and its vested interest in not empowering people...but it sure does sound amazing!

ltwickey

That sounds fascinating! I hope it gets traction! Though those of us on this website already know "real" food is the answer to the majority of ailments! But having science to back it up, maybe we will see a change in the consumption of processed foods!

Owl

We might even see that stupid “pyramid” flipped over. The base of the food pyramid is wheat flour products, the most genetically engineered, sprayed with carcinogenic chemicals and engineered to be frankenfood substance I know of! Just imagine the change in our societal health if schools were no longer designing kid’s lunches using this pyramid and families stopped relying on bread to feed their children and sugars to make it palatable! I have zero faith that anything short of a complete loss of the electrical grid will make it happen but I will NEVER give up hope!

Torey

This seems to be more about big chemical/pharmaceutical companies looking to pull constituents out of food, test it and then market that particular constituent.

Whole foods are the way to go.

Not that I don't think supplements have their benefit; there is a time and place for usage. But I think this is a case of using technology for profit and not for beneficial outcomes for patients.

If it is used for reference by nutritionists as is suggested in the article, that would be a great thing. But I'm afraid I don't have that much trust that profit isn't a motivating factor in creating this type of technology.

Annie Kate

Yes, @torey , I think you are right to be cynical. Unfortunately.

Tave

I agree. The ones who have the money to fund this kind of research are not the companies that will handle the information responsibly.

Whole foods and herbs have additional constituents that make the nutritional or medicinal value absorbable by the body. When they start extracting and isolating certain constituents, they sometimes create poison instead of medicine. We'll see what happens with it.

Owl

It’s a crying shame that our tax dollars are often spent on studies like this and then used to perpetuate the whole ‘health in a pill’ mindset that just line the pockets of people who have a vested interest in keeping us sick and dependent!!