New frontier in dietary health revealed

Creating and marketing food products that prevent disease and obesity is the new frontier in dietary health, according to new findings.

"Blood vessels are critical to the health of every cell, every organ and for every function in the body," William W. Li, M.D., president of the Angiogenesis Foundation, said.

"Research is now showing it's possible to promote health and wellness using foods and beverages that influence angiogenesis," he said.

Angiogenesis is the formation of blood vessels that feed and promote disease, obesity and inflammation

Over 1 billion people throughout the world have an angiogenesis system that is "out of balance," Dr. Li said.

These individuals either have, or are at risk for developing, abnormal blood vessel growth and related heart disease, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and other diseases and conditions.

There are many antiangiogenic pharmaceutical products on the market today that are successfully fighting cancer and other diseases.

Many foods have the same powerful, naturally-occurring properties including tomatoes, green tea, garlic, broccoli, dark chocolate, turmeric, tuna and olive oil.

Recent studies have found that combining some of these foods like tomatoes and broccoli, heating some foods to a certain temperature (or not heating others), and/or cooking them in olive oil, may enhance their antiangiogenesis abilities.

These findings could impact food design and preparation, Vincent Li, MD, scientific director at the Angiogenesis Foundation, said.