"Knowing what exactly was in our food was a very empowering feeling." Is there anything we can take to help fend off Australia’s leading causes of death – heart disease, stroke and dementia? Yes: it’s called food. A healthier diet (more vegetables, fruit, nuts and some low-fat dairy, for instance) can reduce high blood pressure as effectively as a drug – and keeping blood pressure down helps lower the risk of all three diseases. As for cancer, 7000 new cases each year in this country are linked to not eating enough fruit, vegetables and fibre and eating too much red meat, according to Cancer Council Australia. Giving highly processed food the flick is smart, too, with mounting evidence that it’s best left on the shelf – a French study of 45,000 people earlier this year linked high intakes to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. This is […]