the red bodyguard                        

 

Why I wrote the book

During the decade leading to my retirement, at the end of the 20th century, I noted the appearance of several international health surveys, carried out by the World Health Organization, the International Cancer Research  Fund and others. All found that the frequency of severe chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, varied. Sometimes quite dramatically, between one continent and another, between one region and another, or even between locales with regions. This prompted me to take on the challenge of seeking out and identifying the factors that were influencing the variations. From the considerable and detailed data gathering that followed, one conspicuous factor emerged, which offered a viable explanation – dietary variation.

Subsequent comparisons of worldwide diets were made to seek out links, if any, that would directly associate individual dietary constituents with specific diseases, both in beneficial and adverse respects. Ultimately, as is well known, a direct link was identified between eating fruits and vegetables and lower risk of developing major chronic diseases. Conversely, diets high in animal fats were found to be associated with increased risk of heart disease. Hence the well publicised advice to eat five helpings of fruits and/or vegetables every day.

The appearance of that recommendation more or less coincided with my retirement.  My curiosity as to whether all fruits and vegetables were equal in this regard was aroused. If not equal, which were the principal contributors?. Moreover, had nature inadvertently created an elixir in edible plants that could help to guard the health of humans?   Hence the title of this book.

With time at my disposal and access to what is probably Europe’s leading medical and scientific library, at The Royal Society of Medicine, in London, I set about my own research project. This involved poring over several hundred studies, which had been carried out by medical and nutritional research centres throughout the world and published between 1980 and 2006.  Little by little I discovered that amongst the vast array of fruits and vegetables, one in particular had become the focus of increasing research attention. That it happened to be popular and cheap to grow across  the globe, I couldn’t help thinking that serendipity had played its part.

Thinking that once the identity of the fruit was made known, many might scoff at the suggestion that tomatoes could bring such dramatic health benefits, I decided the way forward was to provide the scientific evidence. I felt confident that empirical proof, rather than anecdotal evidence, should be enough to convince even the most sceptical. It was certainly more than enough to convince me that tomatoes could make a major contribution to the improved health of populations all over the world. So, the aim of this book is to reach people and tell them.