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The inadequacies of the modern diet were described by an Irish food scientist this week as being analogous to a famine. The Irish Food Safety and Technology Institute was informed that 10% of the Irish population will die prematurely from the consequences of “food poverty.”

Food poverty exists when an individual eats food of such low nutritional value that their health is adversely affected. Obesity can be a symptom of food poverty, according to food scientist Dr. Mary Upton, who made the presentation to the Food Institute.

Anthocynanins in red, blue and purple foods may be protective against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in the journal LWT – Food Science and Technology by a Cornell research team. The study found that consumption of red cabbage can be protective against Alzheimers.

Plaques that build up in the brain have been associated with degenerative diseases of aging, apparently damaging the brain through a process of oxidation. Anthocyanins are protective against oxidative stress.

This study echos a recent New Zealand report, which found blackcurrant extract to also be protective against Alzheimer’s. Anthocyanins are found in grapeseed extract, a popular food supplement with a history of use for neurological problems such as ADD.

High blood levels of Vitamin C reduced signs of inflammation by 45 percent in a new study published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study was conducted at a London university and involved over 3200 men between 60 and 69.

Researchers looked at C-reactive protein and t-PA, both markers for inflammation levels in the body. Inflammation has been linked to almost all the degenerative diseases of aging, including cancer, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, multiple sclerosis,Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. High blood levels of Vitamin C were also predictive of lower risk of blood clots, as indicated by factors such as blood viscosity.

Much current confusion about what foods are good for us comes from information derived from surveys of what people remember eating in, say, the past year or so. This data collection method is favored because it is inexpensive, but it has led to such anomalies as a recent Harvard “study” concluding that dietary iron and calcium levels were linked to lung cancer risk.

Stephen Daniells, a British food science reporter, says it’s time to abandon the food frequency questionnaire. Daniells, who has a PhD in Chemistry, notes that editors of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers voiced the same conclusion in a December editorial.