We are being bombarded with advice about the importance of increasing the amount of vegetables and fruits in our diets.

The American Heart Association, the American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the National Institutes of Health, and the USDA all include increasing produce consumption as part of their dietary recommendations for disease prevention.

The scientific evidence continues to build that fruits and vegetables can materially affect our risk of getting a variety of diseases.

The link between high produce consumption and reduced incidence of several kinds of cancer, heart disease, and birth defects is well established. There is a growing body of research that suggests links with several other conditions such as stroke, hypertension, cataracts, diverticulosis,
diabetes and several others.

All of this advice is pretty easy to live with. In the early days of concern about eating right for the prevention of disease, some of the recommendations were pretty disagreeable. There was a common sentiment that "I will eat anything save it be health food" a few decades ago. Had they known that the ultimate health food was what they were eating from their gardens, health food would never have gotten a bad rap.

But, times have never been better for eating the ultimate health foods than they are today. The key to maximizing the taste and nutritiousness of fruits and vegetables is freshness. The advances in logistics and handling of produce have assured us of very fresh and healthful produce at ourlocal grocery stores. Of course, the next step is to be able to extend that freshness when we get it home to our refrigerator.

The Ethylene Gas Guardian is there to help.