Page 11 - InCommand Volume 30

Firehouse Nutrition of the Future
Contributions
Dr. Thomas Knobloch1, Dr. Irene Hatsu2, Dr. Olorunfemi Adetona1, Dr. Christopher Weghorst1, Assistant Chief Jack Rupp3
1Division of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; 2Department of Human Sciences, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; 3Plain Township Fire Department, New Albany, OH
If you spend any time at all reading
fire periodicals, you will certainly
find articles about firehouse nutrition and eating healthier. We see articles about foods for health, like cranberries supporting kidney health and foods that support a reduction in LDL and total cholesterol levels. Superfoods! So, in the future, what foods will adorn our massive kitchen tables? Will these foods become part of our daily firehouse regimen? Will they include functional foods, foods that provide additional health benefits beyond the basic nutrition? Also known as nutraceuticals, they are highly nutritious, and they may protect against disease,
and prevent nutrient and hydration deficiencies.
What if we had these foods as
snacks on the kitchen table? Snacks composed from multiple fruits that
could help prevent some cancers or
work in conjunction with other forms of treatment to improve cancer prognosis. Or an elixir that would help prevent
the dehydration experienced with an aggressive firefight linked to post incident cardiac events. As one of the largest land-grant agricultural universities in the U.S., The Ohio State University (OSU) has provided researchers unprecedented opportunities to improve health using such food-based strategies. Researchers at OSU have demonstrated the possibility through studies of biologically active compounds derived from foods in preclinical and patient-oriented studies for oral and digestive cancers for
decades – a crops to clinics approach to improving health.
In the same way that “cancer” is not a single disease, no single diet or nutritional change can be expected to
completely treat all the negative health outcomes of a complex disease. Like
any treatment, nutritional interventions need to be specifically crafted to an individual population. Functional foods containing phytochemicals have been shown to be strong antioxidants, able to decrease the oxidative stress and chronic, non-resolving inflammation markers that are hallmarks of many cancers, as well as cardiovascular disease. Proinflammatory states and elevated oxidative stress go hand-in-hand with firefighters’ roles as tactical athletes exposed to a complicated array of harmful combustion emissions, heat, stress and other occupational hazards. Finding the optimal functional food formulation and practical delivery method that will seamlessly fit into the occupational routine of the firefighter requires an invested partnership
between fire service personnel, basic scientists, and clinicians. An essential component of this partnership begins with systematically documenting what represents a “firefighter diet,” so that evidence-based nutritional intervention strategies can be designed specifically
for firefighters. Identifying, testing, and ultimately reducing risk factors associated with diseases, like cancer, is a long process requiring investment, communication, and trust between stakeholders. During this process, communication between
fire service personnel and research teams continuously informs the development
of effective, accepted practices that
reduce the risk factors associated with cancer in general – with specific cancers as a targeted long-term goal. Moreover, the process can enable the development of effective tools to educate about the positive role that a healthy dietary lifestyle
and culture can play in improving occupational health among the fire service.
It is important to remember
that a functional food is as much a natural-product “drug” formulation (“farmaceutical”) as it is targeted nutritional supplement, and is not a magic solution that ignores the impact
of risk-promoting behaviors or poor diet. Food-based interventions are best as preventive measures to reduce the risk of developing a disease (primary prevention). Once a disease is present, whether it be the early stages of cancer or cardiovascular disease, functional foods aim to reduce progression of that disease to more serious states (secondary prevention) or assist
in treatment and recovery following progression (tertiary prevention). Unlike
a surgical or pharmaceutical intervention with intent to cure, prevention strategies require significant behavioral and dietary changes on the part of the individual. Many in healthcare today quote Benjamin Franklin’s advice that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” in order to emphasize the value of preventive measures to promote good health. But what many don’t know is that Franklin was referring to fire safety in his native city of Philadelphia – and that’s the rest of the story.
APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2020 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org I n C o m m a n d 11