After some 12 years the current Federal Health Minister announced the new edition of the Canadian food guidelines. Gone are the 4 rainbows together with the details of the kind as well as the number of servings that we all should be taking each day. The other major change was for the protein food group where they recommended a shift from animal sources like meat from cattle, chickens, pigs, etc. to a plant source like lentils, nuts and beans.
As a current gerontologist, and a former geriatrician were a major portion of my practice were seniors, I was disappointed not to find in these new guidelines any mention of the role that antioxidant food supplements and/or free radical scavengers play in reducing many of the symptoms of degenerative diseases especially those in our elderly population The recent editorial comment in the Friday issue of the Winnipeg Free Press also has no mention of the role of anti-oxidants and/or free radical scavengers. Some biologists consider that the study of metabolism in human physiology of the reactive oxygen toxic species -( which include the superoxide radical, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen-ROTS for short ) - and are the main source of free radicals in our bodies are important enough to have their status elevated to be one of the disciplines in internal medicine calling it oxidology.Semeon B.Hrushovetz, B.Sc(Hons),M.Sc.,Ph.D., M.D.,CCFP
