Pleasant Excursions Around The Midpoint

I've just started reading Dr. Weil's new book, Spontaneous Happiness. I've read almost all his books over the years, so the "Spontaneous" part I got, as he's used it before. But "Happiness?" Oh no, not another feel-good book. But Dr. Weil is a smart man with good ideas. I wondered where he would go with this.

It's the Introduction, and Weil is describing the benefits of recognizing and accessing our mental "midpoint:"

"It is perfectly normal to experience "the blues" just as it is perfectly normal to experience joy and bliss, but optimizing emotional well-being means gaining greater control of the variability of moods, damping down the oscillations, and enjoying the rewards of the midpoint."

Given my engineering background, that made me envision a graph with big amplitudes. But Weil has a better image:

"Imagine yourself on a see-saw. The goal is to have pleasant excursions around the balance point, not to endure violent swings or to stop moving. And you certainly don't want to get stuck on the ground."

Have you ever had your see-saw partner impulsively decide to jump on the swings instead? While you were in the up position?

Back to Weil, and bliss:

"I advise you to beware of the countless books, websites, television shows, seminars, religions, and drugs (especially drugs) promising ceaseless bliss. The notion that a human being should be constantly happy is a uniquely modern, uniquely American, uniquely destructive idea."

The image of ceaseless bliss may be personally destructive, but it sure can sell cruise ship vacations.

One last excerpt:

"A German friend recently told me that the American greeting ritual -- person #1 says, "How are you? and person #2 must summon a smile and respond, "Great! Great! -- strikes her as bizarre, artificial, and exhausting beyond measure. I agree. I am asked how I am all the time, and as I recite the obligatory "Great!" I can't help wondering what I'm doing. The question feels intrusive, the answer disingenuous, the whole exchange false."

________

Dehydration Affects Mood In Women, Memory In Men

Mild Dehydration Affects Mood In Healthy Young Women, Journal of Nutrition, 1 February 2012

"In conclusion, degraded mood, increased perception of task difficulty, lower concentration, and headache symptoms resulted from 1.36% dehydration in females."

If being down a half-liter of fluid causes healthy young women's moods to sour, I wonder what it does to the moods of women over 23.

Update, February 27: There was a parallel study done in men, which I failed to report, but should have! (Thanks, Shaun.) It found that while dehydration affected women's moods more, it affected men's memory more:

Mild Dehydration Impairs Cognitive Performance And Mood Of Men, British Journal of Nutrition, November 2011

"In conclusion, mild dehydration without hyperthermia in men induced adverse changes in vigilance and working memory, and increased tension/anxiety and fatigue."

________

Bill Gates Says We Can Alleviate World Hunger With Genetically-Engineered Seed

Bill Gates gestures during the IFAD meeting in Rome

From:
Bill Gates: We Need Genetically Modified Seeds, Common Dreams, 23 February 2012

At a forum of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome today, Microsoft founder Bill Gates pressed the need for genetically modified seeds in the developing world, and the need for a "digital revolution" to meet the needs of the world's farmers.

Gates' claims that genetically modified crops double or triple smaller farmers' yields have been challenged by recent research.

Gates announced $200 million in new grants from his foundation to finance research on a new type of drought-resistant maize.

However:

"Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of "superweeds", according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people."
- GM Crops Promote Superweeds, Food Insecurity and Pesticides, say NGOs, John Vidal, the Guardian

And:

“Bill Gates may be a smart guy in terms of computer programming, and an expert on how to become a billionaire, but he obviously knows nothing about agriculture other than what Monsanto and the biotech industry have told him.

Eighteen years after the introduction of the first genetically engineered crops, there is no evidence, including data from the pro-biotech USDA, that these energy and chemical-intensive crops increase yield, improve nutrition, or provide greater yields under adverse weather conditions of drought or heavily rains.

On the contrary hundreds of studies, including those by peer-reviewed scientists and the U.N.’s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) indicate that organic crops provide significantly higher levels of vitamins, nutrients, and cancer-fighting anti-oxidants; that organic crops have significantly higher yields during periods of drought and torrential rain; and that agro-ecological or organic farms produce 2-10 times great yields than industrial-scale chemical and GMO farms.

In others words, not only can organic farming and ranching feed the world, but in fact it is the only way that we will ever be able to feed the world.”
- Ronnie Cummins, International Director of the Organic Consumers Association, to Common Dreams

How does he come to these conclusions? It's like he's living in a bubble.
________

Chipotle's Fairy Tale

There's something about this advertisement for the Chipotle fast food chain that's as fairy-tale as the fairy tale the factory farms would have us believe:



I mean, can we ever return to this? Completely free-range, not even fences? No coops? (No foxes?) No animal waste or pollution? No industrial means of fortifying soil for pasture? No industrial feed? And increase "output?" (Ugh, "output" is such a derogatory word to use to reference life.)

I don't purport to know from whence Chipotle acquires its pork. But I have a feeling some pork suppliers are businesspeople with a eye for the black line at the bottom, and a willingness to, as former hog farmer Blake Hurst says, "join the entertainment industry, selling expensive pork chops with heaping sides of nostalgia," if it serves them.
________

The 8-Hour Chunk Of Sleep May be Unnatural

Roger Ekirch says this 1595 engraving
by Jan Saenredam is evidence of activity at night

From:
The Myth Of The Eight-Hour Sleep, BBC, 22 February 2011

Do you wake in the middle of the night and have difficulty returning to sleep? Historian Roger Ekirch says that before the Industrial Revolution, two chunks of sleep with a 1-to-2-hour period of wakefulness between was the norm.

"His book At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, unearths more than 500 references to a segmented sleeping pattern - in diaries, court records, medical books and literature, from Homer's Odyssey to an anthropological account of modern tribes in Nigeria.

These references describe a first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed by waking period of one or two hours and then a second sleep.

During this waking period people were quite active. They often got up, went to the toilet or smoked tobacco and some even visited neighbours. Most people stayed in bed, read, wrote and often prayed."

After the Industrial Revolution, we became more time-conscious and set aside the second sleep - as well we could since light was available throughout the night:

"And then, if they turn upon their ear to take a second nap, they will be taught to look upon it as an intemperance not at all redounding to their credit."

It may have come at a cost to health:

"For most of evolution we slept a certain way," says sleep psychologist Gregg Jacobs. "Waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology."

Jacobs suggests that the waking period between sleeps, when people were forced into periods of rest and relaxation, could have played an important part in the human capacity to regulate stress naturally.

"Today we spend less time doing those things," says Dr Jacobs. "It's not a coincidence that, in modern life, the number of people who report anxiety, stress, depression, alcoholism and drug abuse has gone up."

The article ends with: "Lying awake could be good for you."
________

The Brain Carbo-Loads After A Bout Of Exercise

Learn something every day...

How Exercise Fuels The Brain, New York Times Well Blog, Today

A century ago, when I was in school, they taught that glycogen was made mostly in the liver and muscles. That we carry a couple pounds of it in the liver alone (which is quickly depleted on a low-carb diet, along with many pounds of associated water). Glucogen is like animal starch, chains of glucose molecules that are assembled after we eat and packed away for quick energy later.

Now I learn that the brain makes its own glycogen:

"For many years, scientists had believed that the brain, which is a very hungry organ, subsisted only on glucose, or blood sugar, which it absorbed from the passing bloodstream. But about 10 years ago, some neuroscientists found that specialized cells in the brain, known as astrocytes, that act as support cells for neurons actually contained small stores of glycogen, or stored carbohydrates. And glycogen, as it turns out, is critical for the health of cells throughout the brain."

And that, during a bout of exercise, the brain taps that glycogen, and replenishes it quickly after eating ... to levels above and beyond the call of duty:

"After the single session on the treadmill, the animals were allowed to rest and feed, and then their brain glycogen levels were studied. The food, it appeared, had gone directly to their heads; their brain levels of glycogen not only had been restored to what they had been before the workout, but had soared past that point, increasing by as much as a 60 percent in the frontal cortex and hippocampus and slightly less in other parts of the brain. The astrocytes had “overcompensated,” resulting in a kind of brain carbo-loading."

Animals that exercised regularly had long-lasting increases:

"The “supercompensation” became the new normal, with their baseline levels of glycogen showing substantial increases compared with the sedentary animals. The increases were especially notable in, again, those portions of the brain critical to learning and memory formation — the cortex and the hippocampus."

Dr. Soya (senior author of the rat studies) says:

"It is tempting to suggest that increased storage and utility of brain glycogen in the cortex and hippocampus might be involved in the development” of a better, sharper brain.

So, if I want a better, sharper brain I should exercise and eat starch?
________

Beans! - Interview With Cresent Dragonwagon, And Cannellini Beans With Red Pepper And Rapini

Ben sent this interview with Cresent Dragonwagon:

The World Of Beans

The woman loves her beans! She's bean-infectious.

The interview is about 45 minutes. I listened while cooking, and eating, the stuff of that photo. It's a bean soup, some type of which I eat every day. I usually make a big pot and tap it while working, thus the small half-eaten bowl.

This was made with cannellini beans. I cook them to a paste and store in the fridge so they're available for soups. Here I lightly simmered, really just blanched for a minute or two:

• Onions
• Leeks
• Mushrooms
• Red bell pepper
• Cauliflower

Then added and heated for 1 minute:

• Green beans (frozen)
• Broccoli rabe (aka rapini, a leftover from a batch-cook)

Then added and stirred until it came to a simmer:

• Cannellini beans
• Tomato sauce (not much, couple tablespoons)
• Tamari (couple teaspoons)

While it's cooling I add spices. Done. Assembling the soup after the beans were previously cooked lets me keep vegetables colorful and crunchy. The red bell pepper and rapini add zing. I like some ancho chili or smoked paprika in the end.

Here's the podcast:
http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2012/02/onpoint_0216_2.mp3

Or, here's my attempt at embed:


________Thanks, Ben. I'm going to be on the lookout for her book.

Bill Hale Treats His Prostate Cancer With Plant-Based Diet, Wins

In 1996, Bill Hale's prostate was riddled with cancer (ultrasound, biopsy, PSA test). His physicians advised surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. He opted instead for a plant-based diet. This video was shot in 2008, 12 years after his diagnosis.



Since I saw this at T. Colin Campbell's site, I suspect the diet Mr. Hale was following was similar to that which Drs. McDougall and Esselstyn promote - a low-fat, plant-based diet. It excludes all food of animal origin - no meat, fish, eggs, dairy - no cheese, yogurt, butter, etc. There is no added fat or oil. It is essentially a diet of whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits.

He said he ate a lot of cheese. In previous posts I noted that a 2001 Harvard review of the body of evidence at that time on dairy intake and prostate cancer found:

"[Consumption of dairy products] is one of the most consistent dietary predictors for prostate cancer in the published literature."

________

Another Study Hints At increased Cancer Risk From Omega-3

This study investigated whether taking B vitamins or omega-3 fatty acids could reduce the risk of cancer. It found they didn't:

B Vitamin And/Or Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation And Cancer, Archives of Internal Medicine, February 2012

"We found no beneficial effects of supplementation with relatively low doses of B vitamins and/or omega-3 fatty acids on cancer outcomes in individuals with prior cardiovascular disease."

Participants (n=2501) took supplements for 5 years. They were divided into 4 groups:

1. B vitamins: Folate (0.56 mg) and Vitamin B6 (3 mg) and Vitamin B12 (0.02 mg)
2. Omega-3 fatty acids: EPA (400 mg) and DHA (200 mg)
3. B vitamins plus Omega-3s
4. Placebo

Researchers did, however, find a statistically significant increased cancer risk among women taking the omega-3s; a 3-fold greater risk of developing cancer (HR 3.02) and an over 5-fold increased risk of dying from cancer (HR 5.49).

The lead investigator, Dr. Valentina Andreeva, said:

"People should be very careful when deciding to self-medicate with these dietary supplements because they are active substances. The findings need to be confirmed and should be interpreted with caution, but there is some indication that they might have adverse effects. Taking these supplements without a physician's advice and over the long term might not be a good idea."
- Heartwire

Five years isn't long for cancer to develop and progress to the point of death, so the cancer was probably there already, small and undetected. If anything, the omega-3 may have hastened its progression.

This adds evidence to the possible connection between omega-3s and cancer. So far I've seen it linked to prostate cancer:
How Much Fish Oil Is Good?
Omega-3 Fatty Acid DHA Found To Increase Risk For Prostate Cancer

And colon cancer:
Fish Oil, Colitis, And Cancer

The mechanism? Who knows. Maybe a reduction in natural killer cells:
Can Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oil) Predispose Someone To Cancer?

Or maybe it's something about the manufacture of these supplements. How do you keep all that highly processed fish oil from going rancid?
________

Reducing Poverty: "There's No Secret Sauce"

Fareed Zakaria, in his recent article (video of same is below), says that we are paying dearly to care for citizens whose health was compromised in their youth, by "malnutrition and poor childhood health care."



Those were some eye-opening statistics:

• The US ranks 31st of 34 developed countries in percent of population that qualifies as poor. (US: (17.3%), UK (at 11%), Germany (8.9%), France (7.2%), OECD average is 11%.)
• Childhood poverty in US is 20.6%.
• Only 77% of US children graduate from high school. Switzerland (90%), UK (91%), Finland (93%), Germany (97%).

Zakaria began his story with a quote from Mitt Romney:

"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich; they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95% of Americans who right now are struggling."

To which Zakaria replied:

"By Romney's calculations, if 95% of Americans fall in the middle class, then there must be less than 5% of Americans who qualify as poor.

Well, no.

The number from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the association of the world's developed economies, is actually 17.3%."

I can't tell from this if Romney knows that 20% of US children are very poor, and will end up costing our country in the long run. I don't know if it's true, as he says, that we should not be concerned about them. ________

Environmental Pollutants Interfere With Vitamin D Metabolism

I've been curious about the calls for increased supplementation of vitamin D in recent years. The Institute of Medicine (IOM, a group that sets the DRIs/RDAs) after interrogating the vitamin D research barely budged in its updated recommendation last year, increasing it from 400 IUs/day to 600 IUs/day. (The RDA in the European Union is 200 IUs.) These numbers assume little to no sun exposure. Yet some groups such as the Vitamin D Council advocate for 5000 IUs/day and higher.

We determine deficiency or adequacy of vitamin D by measuring a compound in blood called calcidiol, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25(OH)D. Calcidiol is not the most biologically potent form of the vitamin. To make that form, our bodies attach another OH group to make calcitriol, also called 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D or 1,25(OH)D.

So, the vitamin D we eat in food, or in a pill, or make in our skin, or measure in our blood is not the active form of the vitamin. And unless we are truly deficient in these precursors (or prehormones), there is no guarantee that increasing any of them will increase levels of this active vitamin D hormone. It is active vitamin D which is responsible for the health benefits accruing from research, not what's in a pill.

Here's a study that supports the notion that taking extra vitamin D isn't helpful, in this case for bone:

Cholecalciferol Supplementation Throughout Winter Does Not Affect Markers Of Bone Turnover In Healthy Young And Elderly Adults, The Journal of Nutrition, March, 2010

"In conclusion, data from these randomized, controlled, double-blind, dose-related intervention trials in healthy 20- to 40-y and ≥64-y-old adults with relatively good calcium intakes would suggest that cholecalciferol [vitamin D] supplementation alone with up to 15 μg/d throughout winter, which achieved mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations of ∼70 nmol/L or more, had no effect on markers of bone turnover."

It found no improvement in markers of bone health from taking vitamin D3 ... in levels that at the time surpassed the IOM's recommendation.

By the way, the Vitamin D Council says:¹

"It is almost impossible to significantly raise your vitamin D levels when supplementing at only 600 IU/day (15 micrograms)."

This study clearly shows a significant increase in vitamin D levels when supplementing at 600 IUs. It also shows an increase in vitamin D levels when supplementing at lesser doses of 200 IUs and 400 IUs. (Remember, these are precursor vitamin D, not active vitamin D.)


Levels Of Active Vitamin D Are Tightly Controlled, Environmental Pollutants May Be Interfering With That Control

Levels of the potent hormonal vitamin D are tightly controlled, hanging around for just a few hours after being made. (That's one reason for measuring levels of the precursor 25(OH)D instead of the more active 1,25(OH)D. The precursor hangs around for several weeks.)

We make active 1,25(OH)D when, for example, we need more calcium since it promotes uptake of calcium from the intestine - we'll absorb more calcium from what we eat. Conversely, high levels of calcium and phosphorus (phos. sources: dairy, fish, meat, soda) inhibit conversion of 25(OH)D to active vitamin D through a feedback loop (managed by parathyroid hormone, see diagram to right and Vitamin D: The Active Form, And The Role Of Calcium)

What else controls how much hormonally active vitamin D we make? Or how efficiently its used? Prednisone and other steroidal drugs such as oral contraceptives. These drugs may impede conversion of calcidiol to calcitriol, or interfere with binding of calcitriol to its carrier protein or receptor. The result is disturbed vitamin D metabolism. Taking too much prednisone leads to lower bone density and osteoporosis.

The interference of steroidal drugs with vitamin D (a product of our endocrine system, also a steroid) has me thinking that other environmental chemicals could be crippling the activity of vitamin D in our body, things like pesticides and bisphenol-A in plastics which are known endocrine disruptors.

The Endocrine Society claims endocrine disruptors are "a significant concern to public health."

"There is growing interest in the possible health threat posed by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are substances in our environment, food, and consumer products."
- Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement, Endocrine Reviews, June 2009

Endocrine disruptors are found in:

• Pesticides
• Industrial chemicals
• Plastics (such as bisphenol-A)
• Fuels
• Drugs
• Food

Food is a prominent source of human exposure to endocrine disruptors, and EDs bioaccumulate such that higher concentrations are found further up the food chain. Many EDs are hydrophobic or fatty (steroids are a type of fat) and dissolve in fatty tissue. Thus, fatty foods often contain higher levels of these chemicals:

"Persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins, furans and polychlorinated bromides enter the human food chain through the diets of food animals. The source of these organic compounds for food animals is contaminated forage and soils and the animal feed. Once ingested, the dioxins and other compounds are absorbed and stored in the fat of the animal. By continually re-feeding fat from such animals back to other animals, the dioxins are concentrated more and more, a process called bioaccumulation. When humans consume animal fat in meat and dairy products, they are exposed to these pollutants that are carcinogenic and toxic to the developing nervous system of the foetus and to young children."
- Public Health Implications Of Meat Production And Consumption, Public Health Nutrition, June 2005

________
In the end, perhaps we don't need to take more vitamin D (which doesn't correlate well with the hormonally active vitamin D anyway); perhaps we need to minimize our exposure to chemicals that interfere with vitamin D metabolism.

A final thought ... Paradoxically, a food we are advised to eat liberally to maintain bone heath is dairy food -- which, of the foods we consume, contains some of the highest levels of calcium, phosphorus, protein, and fat-soluble pollutants including endocrine disruptors. They all conspire to weaken bone, through a reduction of hormonally active vitamin D and an acid load that depletes bone of its minerals. The National Dairy Council knows this but promotes dairy consumption anyway:

"Excess dietary protein, particularly purified proteins, increases urinary calcium excretion. This calcium loss could potentially cause negative calcium balance, leading to bone loss and osteoporosis. These effects have been attributed to an increased endogenous acid load created by the metabolism of protein, which requires neutralization by alkaline salts of calcium from bone."
- National Dairy Council

________¹ Vitamin D Council Statement On FNB Vitamin D Report: Today The FNB Has Failed Millions, November 2010

Some Carbohydrates Lower Blood Glucose At Subsequent Meals - The Second Meal Effect

The second meal effect (SME) is the ability of certain carbohydrates to lower blood glucose not only after the meal at which they were consumed but also at a meal later the same day or even into the next day. SME can depress postprandial glucose at subsequent meals even if those meals contain easily digestible carbohydrate, such as bread. This is a boon for people with diabetes.

I learned this about 5 years ago. Here's a recent review article by Janine Higgins:

Whole Grains, Legumes, and the Subsequent Meal Effect: Implications for Blood Glucose Control and the Role of Fermentation, Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, January 2012

From the abstract:

"Whole grains and legumes are known to reduce postprandial glycemia and, in some instances, insulinemia. However, the subsequent meal effect of ingesting whole grains and legumes is less well known. That is, inclusion of whole grains or legumes at breakfast decreases postprandial glycemia at lunch and/or dinner on the same day whereas consumption of a whole grain or lentil dinner reduces glycemia at breakfast the following morning.

This effect is lost upon milling, processing, and cooking at high temperatures.

The subsequent meal effect has important implications for the control of day-long blood glucose, and may be partly responsible for the reduction in diabetes incidence associated with increased whole grain and legume intake.

I encountered the second meal effect while writing about resistant starch (e.g. Bacteria and Blood Sugar, Types of Resistant Starch). The mechanism back then, and described in this paper 5 years later continues to be fermentation of carbohydrates in the colon.

"Fermentation of indigestible carbohydrates produces SCFA [Short Chain Fatty Acids] which have been associated with improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance due to decreased hepatic glucose output and free fatty acid concentrations."

Two types of carbohydrates that reach the colon undigested, and so, are available for fermentation by resident bacteria are:

• Oligosacharrides - Sources: legumes (beans, peas) and any member of the onion/garlic family.
• Resistant Starch - Sources: legumes, raw potato (but who could eat one!), green banana, cooled cooked potatoes, cooled cooked grains, cooled cooked pasta (cooling allows the heated starch to rearrange itself making it difficult for our bodies to digest), and high-amylose starch of the type found in some corn and rice.

This was interesting:

"When whole grain barley was milled into flour and served as porridge, there was a detrimental effect on subsequent meal glycemia despite the presence of the same amount of insoluble and total fiber as in the intact barley kernel which significantly lowered subsequent meal glycemia. Thus, it is unlikely that insoluble fiber per se plays a significant role in the mechanism responsible for the subsequent meal effect."

So it has to be the whole grain, not a flour made from the grain ... unless it's cooked, and cooled, like pasta.

For people with diabetes: If this is a bona fide quality of a food, the depression of blood glucose at subsequent meals, then meal-time insulin (bolus insulin) may have to be lowered to compensate (given individual variability). Indeed, long-term insulin needs may be reduced in the presence of long-term whole grain and legume consumption.
________Photo is of my barley. This is called hulled barley, not pearled. You can see the residual bran on it.

Flavonoids: Gaining Evidence-Backed Reputation For Improving Health

Sue Hughes has a great rundown of flavonoids:
The Flap Over Flavonoids, TheHeart.org, 2 February 2012

Flavonoids are a class of polyphenolic compounds which occur naturally in plants. There are several types of flavonoids. Hughes included this list:

• Anthocyanidins—In blueberries, red wine, and strawberries.
• Flavan-3-ols—In apples, black tea, blueberries, chocolate, and red wine.
• Flavanones—In citrus fruit and juices and herbal tea.
• Flavones—In celery, garlic, green peppers, and herbal tea.
• Flavonols—In blueberries, garlic, kale, onions, spinach, tea, broccoli, red wine, and cherry tomatoes.
• Proanthocyanidins—In apples, black tea, blueberries, chocolate, mixed nuts, peanuts, red wine, strawberries, and walnuts.
• Isoflavones—In soy products and peanuts.

Flavonoids are gaining an evidence-backed reputation for improving health. They've been associated with lower risks for hypertension, heart attack and stroke. And you don't have to indulge:

"Many of the associations observed were nonlinear, with low risks seen at even modest intakes, suggesting that consumption of even relatively small amounts of flavonoid-rich foods may be beneficial for reducing risk of cardiovascular death."

Dr. Marjorie McCullough, author of this recent study that found fewer deaths from heart disease in those eating the most flavonoids:
Flavonoid Intake And Cardiovascular Disease Mortality In A Prospective Cohort Of US Adults, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 2012

Said:

"This complements what we already know to some extent in that most of these foods fall under the category of healthy foods already . . . fruits and vegetables. But flavonoids are not just in fruits and vegetables. They are in nuts and seeds, tea, cocoa, and red wine."

"Yes, I think we can say that we should increase our consumption of these flavonoid-rich foods."

Some other points Hughes made:

Supplements aren't there yet: McCullough: "We don't know for sure which ones are the best, and we might need some of the other ingredients in the foods, too. It's much better to get these compounds from the diet."

Mix it up: "If you always eat an apple every day, try berries or other type of fruits instead. Try new vegetables—kale or broccoli—and introduce more nuts into your diet."

Other parts of the body may benefit: "There is also some suggestion of positive effects on the brain and cancer and other mechanisms beyond vascular."

Supplements lack the synergistic effect: In investigating red wine, Dr. Ramon Estruch said, "We believe it is all the polyphenols together that have the effect. It is not just one. There are maybe 1000 different ones in red wine that seem to have synergistic effect when taken together. ... So drinking red wine will be better than taking a pill, as you can't reproduce exactly what is in the wine."

It goes beyond chocolate and wine: Studies often highlight benefits from red wine or chocolate or tea. But that's because those were what had been studied most, not because other foods lack beneficial flavonoids. And they were studied most because there was flavonoid data on those foods. That's changing.

The best little item to come out of this article is the French and Canadian collaboration: The Phenol Explorer, which lists the polyphenolic content in over 400 foods ... in excruciating detail:



Beer? Coffee? Beans? It's in there.
________Photo of oolong tea from Serious Eats.

What Do You Think They Are Feeding The Cows?

Another Dr. Cinque post, because he has a way with words:
Lifestyle Blamed For 40 Percent Of Cancers

He's talking about a British study that said 40% of cancers in women, and 45% in men, were attributable to lifestyle, specifically smoking, diet, alcohol, and weight - in that order.

About diet he said:

"When it came to a lack of fruits and vegetables causing cancer, they found that men were twice as likely to be dietarily deficient in these foods than women. Do men still think that fruits and vegetables are sissy foods? Very well, more for me."

I never heard it put that way, sissy foods. Do men view foods along a continuum of virility? Do women? Where would cheese fall?

Here he went on about our lack of labeling of genetically engineered foods:

"But, since the state is busy waging the valiant War on Potheads, it should not be surprising to learn that the United States is one of the few developed nations in the world that does not to require the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Just think: even in Communist China you get to know if your food was genetically modified. It is required by law over there that they tell you. But, here in the good old USA, that’s one freedom we don’t have. Russia is another country that requires labeling of GM foods. You see, Monsanto does not have much power over there like it does here.

Well, I hope you are a health-fooder like me because it's estimated that 70% of processed foods contain some genetically engineered materials. Over 80% of the corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. are now genetically engineered. And if you think that’s a good reason to skip the corn and soybeans and go for the steak instead, what do you think they are feeding the cows? The vast majority of the livestock that Americans consume have been raised on genetically engineered grains. It’s higher than in any other country in the world.

I do not eat meat- at all- but if I did, I would not go to the supermarket to buy it. Instead, I would seek out special producers who guaranteed high standards of production through every step in the production process and no GM fodder. But, I am very content to live without it."

I wondered how much US grain goes to feed livestock. I found:

"According to American Corn Growers Association, ca. 80% of corn grown in US is used to feed livestock worldwide."
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison

If American consumers ever won their request for GMO labels, would it include meat? No wonder there's such a strong push-back from industry against labeling. These foods are everywhere.

I wish Dr. Cinque allowed comments. But strong opinions invite strong criticism, which is not always, in this venue, dished out civilly. ________

A Personality Type That Lends Itself To Heart Disease

When you were a teenager, would you have agreed or disagreed with the statement:

"I am an important person."

In the 1950s, only 12% agreed. By the late 1980s, 80% agreed.

Agreement with the following statement increased from the 1960s to the 1990s:

"I have often met people who were supposed to be experts who were no better than I."

If it's true that narcissism, or "unhealthy self-focus" can increase the risk for heart disease (Narcissism And Heart Disease), it indicates another element of the health equation which can be tweaked, compared to, say, genes which are less changeable. Maybe?

This study:
Egos Inflating Over Time: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, Journal of Personality, 2008.

Found that narcissism levels have risen in the last ~30 years (1979-2006), at least among college students. It was from this paper I picked up the statistics at the top of this post.

"The most recent college students score about the same on the NPI [Narcissistic Personality Inventory] as a sample of celebrities (Young & Pinsky, 2006)."

What is Narcissism?

From the paper:

"Narcissism is characterized first and foremost by a positive and inflated view of the self, especially on agentic traits (e.g. power, importance, physical attractiveness).

Narcissism involves a wide range of self-regulation efforts aimed at enhancing the self. These efforts can range from attention seeking and taking credit from others to seeking high-status romantic partners and opportunities to achieve public glory.

Those high in narcissism lash out with aggression when they are rejected or insulted.

Narcissism can be conceptualized as a self-regulating system, where self-esteem and enhancement are sought through a variety of social means but with little regard for the consequences borne by others."

When I was growing up, it was "Type A Personality" that was related to heart attack. Here it's narcissism. There does seem to be a particular disposition that lends itself to heart troubles.
________Thanks to D and M.

Whole Grains And Diabetes

I was scanning studies this morning, as is my wont, and stumbled upon:

Cereal Grains, Legumes And Diabetes, European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition, 2004

"This review examines the evidence for the role of whole grain foods and legumes in the aetiology and management of diabetes.

Epidemiological studies strongly support the suggestion that high intakes of whole grain foods protect against the development of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). People who consume approximately 3 servings per day of whole grain foods are less likely to develop T2DM than low consumers (< 3 servings per week) with a risk reduction in the order of 20–30%.

This is consistent with the results of dietary intervention studies that have found improvements in glycaemic control after increasing the dietary intake of whole grain foods, legumes, vegetables and fruit. The benefit has been attributed to an increase in soluble fibre intake. However, prospective studies have found that soluble fibre intake is not associated with a lower incidence of T2DM. On the contrary, it is cereal fibre that is largely insoluble that is associated with a reduced risk of developing T2DM. Despite this, the addition of wheat bran to the diets of diabetic people has not improved indicators of glycaemic control. These apparently contradictory findings might be explained by metabolic studies that have indicated improvement in glucose handling is associated with the intact structure of food. For both grains and legumes, fine grinding disrupts cell structures and renders starch more readily accessible for digestion. The extent to which the intact structure of grains and legumes or the composition of foods in terms of dietary fibre and other constituents contribute to the beneficial effect remains to be quantified.

I thought this was a fairly comprehensive and well-referenced article on diets, whole grains, and diabetes. I'm still scouring it. Here are two more bits I found informative, about insulin resistance:

"High intakes of fat, especially saturated fatty acids may increase resistance to the action of insulin, the underlying abnormality in many cases of T2DM."

"Considering the scope of these dietary intervention studies, there is little doubt that diets containing substantial intakes of whole grain foods, fruit, vegetables and legumes are associated with an improvement in insulin sensitivity and other indicators of carbohydrate metabolism including improved glycaemic control in people with diabetes."

They really drive home the point that grain should be in the unrefined, whole state. ________That's a photo of my brown basmati rice, rinsed, waiting for the water to boil before I drop it in.