Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 05

     
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     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Wait a minute.
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:  Can you just explain, "lack of integrity of the
     5        cells lining the circulations", is that the circulatory
     6        system?
     7        A.   Yes.
     8
     9   MR. MORRIS:  I am not sure if it is actually in the statement.
    10        It is an obvious question.  You are talking about the
    11        beneficial effect of anti-oxidants; is that correct?
    12        A.   Yes.
    13
    14   Q.   What are the source of anti-oxidants in the diet?
    15        A.   The primary source of the anti-oxidants in the
    16        photosynthetic system is in the green leaves of all
    17        plants.  That is where you will find vitamin C, vitamin E.
    18        You will also find betacarotene present and alpha-Linolenic
    19        acid, which is the parent of the omega 3 essential fatty
    20        acids, one of the polyunsaturated fatty acids used in this
         story.  They are stored in seeds in the plant but you do
    22        not find the water soluble betacarotene and vitamin C in
    23        the seeds.  So, generally speaking, the seeds contain
    24        vitamin E along with Linolenic acid.  It is not true for
    25        all seeds, but for the majority of seeds it is true.  Some
    26        of the legumes contain after alpha-Linolenic acid along
    27        with the -- in the seed itself.  Tubers can be quite rich
    28        in ascorbic acid, vitamin C.
    29
    30   Q.   We are basically talking about plants and vegetables?
    31        A.  Yes, but they go up the food chain.
    32
    33   Q.   Right.
    34        A.   In the sense that they do get into the animal system,
    35        obviously.
    36
    37   Q.   Right.  But if you want to strengthen your anti-oxidants in
    38        the diet, what would you have to increase?
    39        A.   The general recommendations that are sort of coming
    40        out from most quarters at the moment is that there is a
         need to increase the intake of fresh fruit and vegetables,
    42        which is based on two ideas.  One, the anti-oxidant story
    43        which has been emerging in the last decade; and two, the
    44        need for fibre, they both go together, but you could also
    45        argue that it is again, it is the converse of saying that
    46        one needs to have a diet which is rich in this type of the
    47        food chain and low in the sort of highly unsaturated fats,
    48        highly saturated fats, rather, and trans isomers which
    49        before were perceived as being causatively related to heart
    50        disease in western types of cancer.
    51
    52   MS. STEEL:  If I read on:
    53
    54        "Hence the evidence on anti-oxidants whilst broadening our
    55        understanding of the pathogenesis of vascular disease also
    56        strengths the view on saturated fats as causal.  What this
    57        new evidence on anti-oxidants does is to place the
    58        discussion into the context of foods and meals rather than
    59        the ingredients.  The type of meal that McDonald's served
    60        in the 1980s is rich in the atherogenic aspects and poor in