Nutrition as Therapy

She hit the best-seller lists in 1998 with her book Smoothies for Life, co-authored with Maureen Keane, and followed it up in 2007 with More Smoothies for Life. Those delicious concoctions were created initially by Chace for cancer patients at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s facility in Seattle, Washington, when she was looking for a way to increase protein, antioxidants, minerals and essential fatty acids in the patients’ diets before and after treatment. Many of them had lost their appetites or had mouth sores, which prevented chewing, and smoothies provided the perfect vehicle for the nutrients they needed.

Daniella Chace is the author of numerous other books addressing specific health issues with nutrition, and she has two more—The Xeno Diet and The Nutrition Minute: Grocery Guide for Your Optimal Health—scheduled for release this year.

Along with the extensive range of her many activities, Chace continues to formulate additional smoothie recipes—and in fact has just created several for the new products from Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality, NutraRev! and Osteo Calm (see page 6).

Finding Specific Nutrition

If you’ve ever been working your way through a health food store wondering how particular items might help you, or perhaps even what they are, you may find Daniella Chace’s new program of interest. Not long ago, seeing the need for consumers to fully understand what types of food would best assist them with various health issues, she decided to put the considerable research she had amassed to work on a broad scale and launched a program called Nutritionist Approved, Inc. (NAI). “The goal of NAI is to empower people to improve their health with science-based nutrition information,” she told Organic Connections. “We position easy-to-understand, science-based point-of-sale interventions near appropriate food items where they are likely to influence healthy purchasing behaviors.”

Chace decided to provide a service to health food markets by which vital nutritional information was placed on shelf talkers (signs located beneath specific items on shelves) so that shoppers would know which products provide what benefits. The NAI shelf talkers, called NutriSigns, cover every department in the store, including whole foods (produce, bulk items, meat, seafood and dairy), wellness products, natural cosmetics, supplements and environmentally friendly cleaning and paper products. For example, a NutriSign placed in a wine section reads, “Wine tannins fight viruses. Tannins found in grapes and wine have been shown to have antiviral effects.” Another, posted on the yogurt case, states yogurt’s benefits in helping combat GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).

The information on these NutriSigns is derived from a comprehensive database of scientific research collected worldwide, known as the NAI Nutrition Knowledge Stream.

“Retailers such as grocery stores purchase the NutriSigns for their stores because they help answer shoppers’ questions and assist consumers in identifying which whole foods, food products and supplements meet their individual needs,” said Chace. “Nutrition information placed at the point of purchase dramatically increases the sale of the product it addresses. Retailers benefit, as their sales increase, and shoppers benefit, as they receive free nutritional information in the form of prevention and nutrition therapy.”

As part of the program, Chace is this year publishing The Nutrition Minute: Grocery Guide for Your Optimal Health, an A to Z reference for shoppers, organized by health condition, to give them access to many of the studies and dietary recommendations that are used to create NutriSigns.

Nutritional Challenges

Daniella Chace’s second book scheduled for release this year is entitled The Xeno Diet. “This book covers food politics, genetics and nutrition,” she explained. “It is primarily bringing awareness to the science of epigenetics [the study of influences on genes caused by environmental or other factors not part of the underlying natural genetic structure] and includes a prescription for using this information to increase health, improve energy and support weight loss. Our food contains countless bioactive substances, many of which are new to nature, which provide unique information or messaging that is translated to the cell through complex biochemistry, leading to alteration of gene expression and thereby altering the cell’s function in response to the message. Some of these food-derived messages are beneficial to our health, while others are detrimental.

“Modern industrial farming, as well as food manufacturing practices, has introduced new-to-nature molecules, examples of which are high-fructose corn syrup, unusual fat profiles in livestock and farmed fish, preservatives, artificial colors and sweeteners, genetically modified foods and much more. These molecules invariably send food-derived messages that are negatively altering our cellular signaling systems, and the resulting epigenetic changes represent the origin of many of today’s preventable diseases.”

One area of new bioactive substances that Chace is particularly concerned about deals with genetically modified produce, known in scientific circles as GMOs (genetically modified organisms). “In my opinion, genetically engineering food crops, and now animal food, is a brazen and irresponsible move in consideration of negligent lack of real safety testing,” said Chace. “Genetically modified or genetically engineered fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption are big business on an insidious worldwide scale. Backers of genetic modification believe it to be the only viable way to feed a growing global population without depleting natural resources. Critics of GM farming— and I am one of them—consider it eco-tampering and a threat to biodiversity. “It is important to keep in mind that most countries of the world have been much more cautious and have not allowed this kind of broad control of the food supply to be given over to corporations. We now know that genetically modifying foods is not an exact science and that we end up with unexpected effects; the two greatest we have sustained from this experiment have been the loss of nutritional value and the increase of chemical residue in the foods.

“No one knows the full extent of what can or will happen when GM fruits and vegetables are consumed for several years or generations. One thing we do know is that between 1994 and 2000, the same time GM foods flooded the market, allergic reactions more than doubled. Specialists are reporting a significant rise in the number of patients suffering from multiple food allergies.”

Another nutritional challenge that Chace is addressing deals with the need for supplements due to the loss of trace minerals and nutritional value in our food today. “According to recent research, the average vegetable in the US supermarket is anywhere from 5 to 40 percent lower in minerals, such as magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc, than those harvested 50 years ago,” she stated. “This loss of nutrients is due to genetic dilution from selective breeding to increase crop yield, resulting in the disappearance of traits such as amino-acid and mineral levels. Secondarily, commercial agricultural methods, which include a dependence on agricultural chemicals and improper land management, have led to nutritionally depleted soil.”

To make up the difference, she advocates the use of supplements—but is quite choosy in those she recommends. “I use only a small handful of products in my office that I learned to trust while I was interning at both the Bastyr Center for Natural Health and the Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center in Seattle, as well as in my private practice,” said Chace. “I really pay attention to feedback from clients when I send them home with supplements, to be sure they are getting long-term benefits. In addition, I rely on lab results, looking at lab work before and after mineral supplementation, to verify that my clients are at optimal levels.”

Continuing Excellent Work

Daniella Chace continues her research, writing, consulting and clinical practice in the direction of helping us all to be aware of how specific foods can assist us in living healthier lives. In a world rife with chemically treated crops and genetic modification, the time has certainly never been better!

To find out more about her work, visit her personal website at www.daniellachace.com. For more information on NAI programs, please visit www.nutritionistapproved.biz.