The article below is from the July 3 issue of The New York Times.

July 3, 2001

VITAL SIGNS / PREVENTION
Clues to Benefits of Fruit and Vegetables
By JOHN O'NEIL

A new study has found that vegetarians have high blood levels of salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. Given that aspirin can prevent heart attacks, the new findings may help explain other studies that have found lower levels of heart disease among people who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.

The study, published last week in The Journal of Clinical Pathology, compared the salicylic acid levels of a group of Buddhist monks (who are vegetarians), non- vegetarian residents of the same region and a group of diabetic patients taking 75 milligrams of aspirin daily.

One of the researchers, Dr. John Paterson of the Royal Infirmary in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, said that he was not surprised to find higher levels of the acid in the blood of the monks than in their neighbors'. He recounted an old joke: What's a Scotsman's favorite vegetable? A sausage. But Dr. Paterson said he was surprised that some of the monks had as much salicylic acid in their blood as some of the diabetics taking aspirin.

Eating foods rich in salicylic acid does not provide all the cardiac benefits of taking aspirin, Dr. Paterson said: aspirin helps block the formation of blood clots, while fruit and vegetables do not. But salicylic acid from either source reduces the kind of inflammation that can contribute over years to the hardening and narrowing of the arteries and to certain kinds of cancer, he said.

Before aspirin was synthesized in the late 19th century, Dr. Paterson said, doctors gave patients extracts of willow bark and other plants high in salicylic acid. The new study shows that significant levels of the chemical can come in a more palatable form.

[patch30]

Thanks for posting this. I love veggies and am wondering if there were any particular vegetables that raised those levels of salicylic acid more than others??

Another question totally unrelated but I noticed youraleader...

I love having popcorn at the the movies and have begun bringing my own. Either the Healthy Choice or the Orville Red 94% fat free. A gal on another Thread figured it out below and it came to 5 points. My WW leader has said it was 2-3 for the whole bag depending on the brand.

This gal calculated it to be 5 points per bag - Who's right?

OR Redenbudders Light Movie Theater Butter (1 bag yields 13.5 cups @ 20 cal/~.5 fat*/~.5 fiber# per cup)
(270 calories/6.75 fat/5 fiber)
equals: 5 points

[leader]

Hi. There has been much debate both among the leaders and the "Generals" at Weight Watchers and it's something we keep nailing them on in terms of the inconsistencies in the info listed in the book on popcorn.

Your instincts, to post the nutritional info are right -- go with the info on the bag. Because there are variables in popcorn brands, they way THEY measure and allocate servings, it's always better to rely on the bag. Also note that even the points formula, due to it's own variables yields some crazy data (if you look at the finder, after calculating something, you can see that if the food you checked had more fat, up to a point, it would still have the same number of points.)

So, we have no good answer for you -- in a way it's not a science but an art -- and I have to reinforce right here that none of us got FAAT (yes, it's a fourletterword!) worrying about popcorn being 2-3 or 5 points (or carrots at one point, for that matter. The fact that we are now paying attention is what makes the difference. Sorry this was so long and unwieldy. Bottom line: Go with the nutritional info, enjoy the popcorn, and don't sweat the small stuff. love ya,

[patch30]

Thanks, leader. And you're right none of us got faat on 2 extra points.

And getting back to your original message... are there any veggies that have more salicylic acid than others??