Dr. Jonny Bowden

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  • Foods to Fight High Blood Pressure

    Foods to Fight High Blood Pressure

    About one out of three adults in the US has high blood pressure and the worst part of it is that at about one quarter of them don’t know it.

    Though there are no symptoms, high blood pressure (or hypertension) is responsible for over 56,000 deaths a year in the US alone, and is a huge risk for heart disease. In 90-95 percent of cases, the exact cause isn’t known, but it’s generally agreed that excess sodium in our diet is one of the villains, at least for a large number of people.

    But what’s less known is that there are some great food choices that can actually help you control your blood pressure, and that making these foods a regular part of your diet may be just as effective as cutting back on sodium.

    “People concentrate on sodium restriction”, explained Mark Houston, MD, director of the Hypertension Institute in Nashville, “but it’s equally important to look at the ratio of sodium to potassium in the diet”. Since at least 1972, research has shown that these two minerals have a symbiotic relationship, and that the balance of the two is critical to good health.

    Unfortunately the American diet is woefully high in sodium and typically low in both potassium as well as magnesium, another mineral important for regulating blood pressure. “Even if you had a very high sodium intake, you could negate some of the negative impact of that sodium by having a high intake of potassium and magnesium”, explained Dr. Houston.

    What foods are highest in potassium and magnesium? Fruits and vegetables, the very foods most Americans don’t get enough of. Though the current dietary guidelines recommend 5-13 servings of fruits and veggies a day (which comes to about 2 ½ to 6 ½ cups), average consumption among Americans is a paltry three servings daily.  Several studies- most notably the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) study—have shown that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can significantly lower blood pressure, which many experts attribute to the increased amount of potassium such diets provide. The Institute of Medicine now recommends that adults consume at least 4700 mg of potassium a day to lower blood pressure and blunt the effects of salt.

    The following foods are potassium heavyweights:

    • Swiss chard: One of the best-kept secrets in the vegetable world, swiss chard is a nutrient heavyweight that delivers a whopping 961 mg of potassium per cup. Bonus points for also delivering 150 mg of magnesium!
    • Bananas: One medium banana contains 422 mg of potassium (and 32 mg of magnesium). Added bonus: that same banana has over 3 grams of fiber!
    • Spinach: One cup of this nutrient-rich superfood contains a whopping 839mg of potassium, not to mention over 150 mg of magnesium.
    • Orange and grapefruit juice: One cup of orange juice contains 496 mg of potassium (more than a banana!), but at 378 mg per cup, grapefruit juice is almost as good. Tomato juice is a close runner up with 556 mg per cup, but check the label for sodium content!
    • Dried apricots: One of the great potassium heavyweights, dried apricots contain a whopping 1100 mg of potassium per half cup. (But don’t overdo—they’re high in calories!)
    • Yams and sweet potatoes: A cup of cubed cooked yams has 911 mg of potassium, making it one of the highest vegetable sources of potassium available. One cup also contains 5.3 grams of fiber! The easier-to-find sweet potato is also a great source, with one medium baked potato providing 542 mg.
    • Avocados: Don’t avoid these fruits (yup, they’re fruits) because of the fat, most of which is the same heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. A single avocado contains between 690 mg of potassium (for the California variety) and a chart-topping 1067 mg of potassium (for the Florida variety). Worth knowing: California avocados are quite a bit lower in calories than their Florida brethren (227 calories vs 365).
    • Cantaloupe: One quarter of a medium cantaloupe contains 368 mg of potassium, not to mention a significant amount of vitamin A and beta-carotene.
    • Figs: A half cup of figs delivers 381 mg of potassium. Bonus: they’re also very high in fiber (over 5 g per half cup).
    • Peaches: One large peach contains 322 mg of potassium.
    • Dates: The two varieties of dates widely available are both good sources of potassium. Medjool dates are higher in calories (66 per date) but contain 167 mg of potassium per date; Deglet noors are only 20 calories per date, but three of them deliver almost 150 mg of potassium.
    • Beans: Beans are incredibly high in potassium, and it almost doesn’t matter which kind you get. Per cup, kidney beans contain 717mg (and 74mg of magnesium), black beans have 611 mg (and 120mg of magnesium), chickpeas (garbanzo beans) have 477 mg (with 79mg of magnesium), and the less well-known adzuki beans top the charts with 1224 mg of potassium (and 120 mg of magnesium).
    • Kale: One cup of chopped raw kale contains only 34 calories yet delivers 299 mg of potassium (as well as 80 mg of vitamin C!). Try tossing with some olive oil, pine nuts and dried cranberries, suggests nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of “The Healthiest Meals on Earth”.
    • While the above list represents an all-star group of blood-pressure lowering foods, there are plenty of others that can help get you to your goal of 4700mg of potassium per day. Three pitted prunes, one kiwi or a cup of broccoli each deliver around 250 mg of potassium, a medium apple provides 195 mg and even a small 1.5 ounce box of raisins contains 322 mg. “A high intake of potassium- as well as the magnesium and calcium often found together in the same foods may improve blood pressure levels and reduce coronary artery disease and stroke”, Dr. Houston concluded.
    • In addition, some foods lower blood pressure through other mechanisms than their potassium content. Celery, for example, has been recommended in traditional Chinese medicine for high blood pressure for centuries and experimental evidence has confirmed its usefulness. In one University of Chicago Medical Center study, injecting lab animals with celery extract equivalent to 4 stalks of celery lowered their blood pressure by 12-14%.
    • Garlic also has a positive effect on blood pressure. The effect is not enormous, but it is significant. A number of analyses have concluded that garlic can modestly reduce blood pressure by 2-7% after four weeks of treatment, and a review article in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension called garlic “an agent with some evidence of benefit” in reducing high blood pressure. “Both celery and garlic are both foods we recommend for our patients at the Hypertension Institute”, said Dr. Houston.
    • Beet juice has also been found to be an effective tool for lowering blood pressure. Beet juice contains nitrate- a gas which is converted in the body into nitric oxidide which in turn relaxes the muscles in the walls of the blood vessels. This in turn causes them to dilate and allows for increased blood flow. Research from the Queen Mary University of London found that high blood pressure returned to normal levels when subjects were given 2 cups of beet juice per day.

    Recent research has also shown that compounds in brown rice protect against hypertension by blocking an enzyme (angiotensin ll) that increases blood pressure. Whey protein powder also has been found to lower blood pressure in those with hypertension (but to have no effect on those with normal BP).

    I didn’t ask Dr. Houston about supplements- though he is quite expert on that topic– but he volunteered one as being particularly important for blood pressure: Vitamin D. “Vitamin D is very important in BP control due to an effect on a hormone call renin, that controls blood pressure. If Vitamin D is low, renin is increased and this in turn causes the arteries to constrict and increase the blood pressure.”

  • The Whey to Weight Loss

    The Whey to Weight Loss

    Whey protein may be one of your best weapons in the weight loss war.

    A number of studies have shown that a low carbohydrate to protein ratio (<2) ratio in the diet with at least 100 grams of protein per day increases fat loss and helps maintain muscle during dieting.

    One analysis of 87 different studies found that diets consisting of between 35-41% carbs were associated with greater loss of body mass, greater loss of percentage body fat and greater loss of fat mass than diets with a higher percentage of carbohydrate. (The average American diet is around 60% carbs.)

    Whey protein is the perfect protein supplement during weight loss. It’s high leucine content (50-75% more than other common protein sources) coupled with its fast absorption make it perfect for those wanting to lose fat.

    And whey protein also influence several hormones, including insulin, that in turn have a great impact on body composition. One animal study found that whey protein reduced appetite (as evidenced by the fact that the animals consumed less food), as well as visceral and subcutaneous fat. They whey protein also reduced blood levels of insulin- the fat storing hormone- and increased insulin sensitivity!

    One recent study compared two groups of subjects both of whom were given ready-to-drink mixes as a supplement, and both of whom consumed the same diet for the duration of the study.

    The control group drank a supplement with no whey protein in it while the experimental group drank a supplement containing 10 grams of protein per serving from whey protein and peptides. Calories in both drinks were identical.

    After 12 weeks there were significant differences. Weight loss was consistently higher in the group drinking the whey protein supplement, and DEXA analyses showed that the weight loss was primarily from body fat. The whey protein group also lost significantly less muscle mass compared to the control group.

    Remember, whey protein powders are not all alike. A cheap commercial one found at the mall might contain all sorts of artificial ingredients and sweeteners, and since whey is an animal-based product, the conditions under which the animals were raised influences the quality of the final product.

    One of the whey protein powders I recommend, Whey Cool Protein, comes only from grass-fed cows with absolutely no hormones, steroids or antibiotics.  Another of my favorites, Dream Protein, is also very high quality, processed at very low temperatures, is sweetened with stevia and contains less than one gram of sugar!

    You can’t go wrong with either one.

    One of my favorite ways to enjoy whey protein powder is to cut up an apple and throw it in the blender with a scoop of protein powder and a little almond milk or water. You can also use frozen blueberries. For added nutrition, try adding a spoonful of Forti-Flax (for fiber and cancer-fighting lignans) and/or a scoop of PaleoFiber (for a high-protein and high-fiber drink that will satisfy for hours!)

    Whey protein drinks make an excellent post-workout mini-meal as well as a terrific breakfast or midday snack.

     

     

     

  • Featured Recipe: Apple Bean Breakfast Bake!

    Featured Recipe: Apple Bean Breakfast Bake!

    The following recipe is just for readers of this newsletter—it’s from “The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Meals on Earth” by myself and my co-author, chef extraordinaire Jeannette Bessinger. Enjoy

    Apple Bean Breakfast Bake

    My friends make fun of me when I suggest having beans for breakfast, but when they try this dish they see what I’m talking about! To me, the secret of managing weight (and eating less food in general) is to keep your blood sugar from going on a roller coaster ride. (When blood sugar shoots up- as it does when you eat high carb foods, it also crashes back down, leaving you ravenously hungry.) The best way to keep your blood sugar even (and keep cravings at bay) is to eat high fiber foods. They  enter the bloodstream slowly and keep you full and satisfied longer. And no food accomplishes this better than beans! Mix with some cheese, seeds and apples and you have an amazing breakfast.

    PS This also makes a quick but hearty snack with great staying power!

    Ingredients:

    • 2/3 cup water
    • 4 crisp apples (Gala or Pink Lady work well), cored and diced, unpeeled
    • 1 cup cooked chick peas (drained and rinsed, if canned)
    • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
    • 1 cup toasted, tamari sunflower seeds

    Directions:

    1. Bring water to a simmer over medium heat.
    2. Add apples and cook, uncovered, until water has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes.
    3. Add chick peas and toss gently to warm them.
    4. Sprinkle cheese over all and cook for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.
    5. Top with sunnies and serve immediately.

    Yield: 4 servings

     

  • Interval Training Better for Weight Loss Than Conventional Cardio

    Dr. Al Sears. Sears—a medical doctor, nutritionist and leading thinker in the field of integrative health—believes everything we think we know about cardio is just about 100 percent incorrect.

    Sears believes that the key to effective exercise for weight loss and overall health is not duration but intensity. He thinks the long slow constant speed aerobics that we’ve all been trained to believe is so good for us is exactly the wrong thing for us to be doing.

    “After 30 years of working with extremely fit athletes, patients with failed, diseased or injured hearts and average people in between, one thing is apparent: doing continuous cardio exercise is a waste of time”, he says.

    For many people in the exercise community those are fighting words. But Sears backs them up with some strong scientific arguments. “(Long slow constant cardio) just doesn’t build what your heart needs”, Sears says. “It doesn’t increase your heart’s ability to respond to real demands. In fact, for all your effort, you only reduce your ability to handle life’s stressful circumstances—the last thing you want!”

    Sears points to the Harvard Health Professionals Study which followed over 7,000 people and found that the key to exercise is not length nor endurance but intensity. According to that highly regarded study, the more intense the exertion, the lower the risk of heart disease. “When you exercise for long periods at a low to medium intensity, you train your heart and lungs to get smaller in order to conserve energy and increase efficiency at low intensity”, says Sears. “Intensity is the key”.

    Sears is one of the most outspoken critics of long slow aerobics, but he is hardly the only one. There has been quite  a lot of research in the last few years showing the clear advantage of interval training (which is by definition high intensity) over long slow aerobics, not only from the point of view of health measures (like VO2 max) but also in terms of fat loss.

    And most exercise physiologists I talk to at conferences now believe that interval training is a far more effective for weight loss than an hour on the treadmill.

    Sears himself has designed a terrific (and short!) interval training program that we recommend for the exercise portion of our own Diet Boot Camp program. It’s called PACE.

    PACE stands for Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion, but don’t let the long words scare you. It’s basically interval training, and from everything I hear from clients who are using it, it’s phenomenally effective.

    Oh, and one more thing.. it only takes 12 minutes a day!

    In his excellent book, “PACE: The 12-minute Fitness Revolution” Sears outlines three basic interval training programs and tells you how to customize them for your own needs. Here’s Basic PACE Workout number 1:

    Warm-Up: 2 minutes

    SET ONE

    • Exertion: 4 minutes
    • Recovery: X minutes

    SET TWO:

    • Exertion: 3 minutes
    • Recovery: X minutes

    SET THREE

    • Exertion: 2 minutes
    • Recovery: X minutes

    SET FOUR

    • Exertion: 1 minute
    • Recovery: DONE

    Note that this repeating pattern—exertion recovery—is at the core of every interval training program on the planet. The idea is you work really hard for a short period (in some programs only 30 seconds) then you do what’s called “active rest” or “recovery”—you’re still moving, but you work at a much lower intensity while your heart rate slows back down a bit. Then you do it all again.

    The idea then is to alternate periods of hard exercise with periods of not-so-hard exercise. So for example, if you’re used to running at a “5” on the treadmill, for the “exertion” period you might run at a “7” for 30 seconds, then at a “4” (recovery) for a minute and a half. Then you’d repeat.

    The reason the “Recovery” period is defined by X minutes in the PACE program is that how long you need to recover depends on your level of fitness.

    In any interval program you can increase the intensity in a number of ways:

    1. You can increase the difficulty of  the “exertion period”, either by going longer (like 4 minutes in the PACE program) or working at a harder intensity (running at a “9” instead of a “7”)
    2. You can reduce the number of minutes between exertion periods (the “recovery” period
    3. You can increase the number of “sets” (exertion/ recovery)

    In much the same way, you can make the program easier by extending the recovery period or making the exertion period less of an exertion (running at a “6” instead of a “7”, etc.)

    I’ve been recommending interval training for a long time. You can do intervals walking, running, swimming, jumping rope or using machines.

    Try it on for size and see what you think. And once you do, I’d love to hear what you thought about it.

    This kind of training is a way more effective (and streamlined) way to work out, and, coupled with strength training, will give you far better results in far less time than conventional long, slow aerobics.

     

     

  • Diet to Prevent Cancer, Alzheimer’s

    Diet to Prevent Cancer, Alzheimer’s

    United Press International

    03-08-11

    An epigenetic eating regimen uses specific food compounds to prevent cancer or Alzheimer’s disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers said.

    Epigenetics is the science of how environmental influences (including nutrition) affect and change our genes.

    Study co-author Trygve Tollefsbol said epigenetics research worldwide, including numerous studies conducted at the University of Alabama, have identified specific food compounds found in food such as broccoli and cabbage inhibit negative epigenetic effects that can help reverse or help prevent cancers and other aging-related diseases.

    “Your mother always told you to eat your vegetables, and she was right,” Tollefsbol said in a statement. “But now we better understand why she was right — compounds in many of these foods suppress gene aberrations that over time cause fatal diseases.”

    The epigenetics diet includes such foods as soybeans, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, green tea, fava beans, kale, grapes and the spice turmeric, Tollefsbol said.

    “The epigenetics diet can be adopted easily, because the concentrations of the compounds needed for a positive effect are readily achievable,” lead author Syed Meeran said.

    Meeran said sipping tea compounds called polyphenols in daily amounts that are equivalent to approximately three cups of green tea has been shown to reverse breast cancer in laboratory mice by suppressing the gene that triggers the disease. A daily cup of broccoli sprouts, which has sulforaphane as an active compound, has been shown to reduce the risk of developing many cancers, Tollefsbol said.

    The review is published in the journal Clinical Epigenetics.

    Dr. Jonny Comments:

    Epigenetics is the study of how genes are affected by things in the environment. As readers of this newsletter know, genes are not destiny, contrary to popular belief. Genes are more like light switches- they have to be turned on or turned off in order to “express” themselves (i.e. light the room). Our choices have a great deal to do with whether or not certain genes get “turned on” or “turned off”.

    For example, let’s say that scientists discovered a gene that increases your risk for lung cancer when you smoke. And for the sake of this discussion, let’s say that a smoker who has this gene has a 50% higher risk of getting lung cancer than a smoker who doesn’t have the gene. But if you have that gene- and you never smoke— it just doesn’t matter.

    Nutrition has a huge influence on our genes. The science of studying how nutrients can specifically interact with genes to turn them “on” or “off” is called nutrigenomics. Nutrients can “turn on” the light switches (or leave them untouched, much like not smoking leaves the “cancer” gene untouched in the above example).

    The research discussed above simply shows the power of certain nutrients (like the indoles in broccoli and cabbage, for example) to profoundly affect both genes and disease.

    Remember, genes loads the gun; but environment pulls the trigger.

    With a very very few exceptions, genes are not destiny. The course of your life is in your own hands, and in 99% of all cases, the choices you make trump the genes you were given.

  • Featured Recipe: Blackstrap Balsamic Steak Salad

    Featured Recipe: Blackstrap Balsamic Steak Salad

    This quick and easy recipe is from my latest cookbook, “The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth“, co-authored with Chef Jeannette Bessinger. Enjoy!

    Once you taste what blackstrap molasses does to food, you’ll want to find more ways to use this healthy sweetener. Molasses is actually the byproduct of sugar refining. It contains all of the nutrients found in the raw sugar-cane plant (those same nutrients that are completely lost in processed white sugar). Blackstrap molasses actually has a low amount of sugar—and a high amount of nutrients. (You might even call it the “anti-sugar.”) A good source of iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, and copper, it makes a sweet glaze, which Chef Jeannette used to liven up this simple steak. Note: Pan frying is a simple way to get some good lean protein on your plate and save some grill-heating time. Don’t forget to choose high quality grass-fed beef!

    —Dr Jonny

    Ingredients:

    • Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
    • 1 12–14-ounce sirloin steak (1–11/2 inches thick), trimmed
    • 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    • Pinch dried thyme
    • Pinch nutmeg

    Directions:

    1. Season sirloin with salt and pepper to taste.
    2. Spray a large skillet (or grill pan) with olive oil to lightly coat.* Heat the pan to medium-high (the pan is ready when you touch a fatty edge of the steak to the center and it sizzles quickly). Lay the sirloin in the pan and cook for 4–6 minutes per side for medium rare, slicing steak open to check for desired doneness.
    3. When the steak is finished, remove from pan, and reduce heat to low.
    4. Add the molasses, vinegar, thyme and nutmeg to the cooled pan and stir quickly for a minute or so until hot. Drizzle it lightly over the steak to serve.

    Yield: 4 servings

    From Chef Jeannette

    To Complete the Meal: slice the steak into thick strips and serve it over a chunky salad. Combine 4 cups of baby spinach (or chopped red lettuce), 4 quartered plum tomatoes, half a red onion sliced into rings, and chunky slices of peeled cucumber to make a bed for the steak.

    If you have 10 more minutes: Slice a whole yellow onion into rings and sauté until soft in 1 tablespoon olive oil with pinches of salt and pepper over medium heat (cooked onion will replace the raw red onion in suggested side).

     

     

     

     

  • Omega-3’s, Depression and Mood

    Omega-3’s, Depression and Mood

    Years ago, the late nutritionist Robert Crayhon was asked what the single best nutritional strategy for the health of the nation would be. His answer…

    “Make sure every pregnant woman supplements with fish oil!”

    He’s turning out to be right. Low levels of omega-3’s (the fats found in fish and flaxseed) have been linked to depression, ADD, lower intelligence, behavioral problems, concentration, violent behavior and even impaired vision(1,2).

    Fatty acids are considered “essential” when the body cannot make them, so it’s “essential” that you get them from the diet. There is one omega-6 (linolenic acid) that’s essential and one omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) but most people also include the other two omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA) under the heading “essential” even though the body can technically make those two fatty acids out of alpha-linolenic acid.

    The balance between omega-6 and omega-3 intake is utterly critical to human health. The perfect ratio is somewhere between 1:1 (omega 6: omega 3) and maybe 4:1. The average person in western society gets between 16:1 and 20:1 or even more. This has enormous consequences for a host of health conditions and symptoms.

    Researchers from INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and their collaborators in Spain recently put mice on a diet high in omega-6’s (vegetable oils) and low in omega-3’s (in other words, the mouse version of the standard American diet). This imbalance produced significant consequences (all of them negative) on both brain activity and emotional behaviors. The researchers also noticed a significant increase in depressive behavior amongst the omega-3 deficient mice.

    “Our results can now corroborate clinical and epidemiological studies which have revealed associations between an omega-3/omega-6 imbalance and mood disorders” said the researchers.

    This is the omega 3 fish oil I take everyday.

    Bottom line: Take your omega-3’s every day. The benefits of omega-3’s are legion—for heart health, brain health, circulation, behavior and mood.

    Remember, there are three omega-3’s.. ALA (found in flaxseed), EPA and DHA (found in fish.) Be sure to get some every single day, preferably at least 1000mg of combined DHA and EPA, which are the two most researched omega-3’s for heart health and brain function.  If you’re using flaxseed oil as your sole source of omega-3’s, take one tablespoon for every 100 pounds of bodyweight.

    1) Andrew Stoll, MD, “The Omega-3 Connection” (Fireside Books)

    2) Joseph Maroon, MD “Fish Oil: The Natural Anti-Inflammatory” (Basic Health Books)

     

     

     

  • Fiber Reduces Risk of Death!

    Fiber Reduces Risk of Death!

    Dietary fiber may be associated with a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases, as well as a reduced risk of death from any cause over a nine-year period, according to a report posted online February 14 that will be published in the June 14 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

    Fiber, the edible part of plants that resist digestion, has been hypothesized to lower risks of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and obesity, according to background information in the article. It is known to assist with bowel movements, reduce blood cholesterol levels, improve blood glucose levels, lower blood pressure, promote weight loss and reduce inflammation and bind to potential cancer-causing agents to increase the likelihood they will be excreted by the body.

    Yikyung Park, Sc.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from 219,123 men and 168,999 women in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire at the beginning of the study in 1995 and 1996. Causes of death were determined by linking study records to national registries.

    Participants’ fiber intake ranged from 13 to 29 grams per day in men and from 11 to 26 grams per day in women. Over an average of nine years of follow-up, 20,126 men and 11,330 women died. Fiber intake was associated with a significantly decreased risk of total death in both men and women — the one-fifth of men and women consuming the most fiber (29.4 grams per day for men and 25.8 grams for women) were 22 percent less likely to die than those consuming the least (12.6 grams per day for men and 10.8 grams for women).

    The risk of cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases was reduced by 24 percent to 56 percent in men and 34 percent to 59 percent in women with high fiber intakes. Dietary fiber from grains, but not from other sources such as fruits, was associated with reduced risks of total, cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory disease deaths in men and women.

    “A diet rich in dietary fiber from whole plant foods may provide significant health benefits,” the authors conclude.

    Dr. Jonny comments: In my book, “Living Low Carb: Controlled Carbohydrate Eating for Long Term Weight Loss” I have a section on the best supplements for weight loss. Here’s what I said then about fiber: “It’s not expensive, it’s not exotic, and it’s not sexy, but it works like a charm. It’s plain, old-fashioned fiber. More than a dozen clinical studies have used dietary fiber supplements for weight loss, most with positive outcomes”.

    So fiber for weight loss? Absolutely. But as this new research points out, fiber does a lot more than that, protecting against a host of diseases and even lowering the risk of overall mortality. Most health organizations recommend you get between 25-38 grams of fiber daily (more is better!) Our Paleo ancestors probably got more than 50 grams daily. The average American gets between 4-11.

    Fiber supplements can help, and are easy to add to shakes. It’s a great way to get additional fiber in your diet, something just about everyone can benefit from. An alternative to powdered fiber is the pretty tasty chewables known as Fiber Delights, which you can pop like candy. Each chewable contains 4 grams of fiber, about 1/3 to 1/4 the amount in a cup of beans! Not bad!

  • Lighten Up to Lose Weight!

    Lighten Up to Lose Weight!

    guest article by Craig Weatherby

    Rather than self-esteem, “self-compassion” may enhance health and ability to limit food intake.
    We were intrigued by the implications of a new body of research summarized by New York Times health correspondent Tara Parker-Pope in her “Well” blog.

    As she wrote, “… giving ourselves a break and accepting our imperfections may be the first step toward better health … self-compassion can even influence how much we eat …”

    Her article focused on research by Kristin Neff, Ph.D., of the University of Texas, and summarized a controlled trial from Wake Forest University, which found that planting self-forgiving notions in the minds of female college students reduced their junk-food consumption.

    Prompted by Parker-Pope’s blog post, we searched the literature, and uncovered additional relevant research published four years ago by Duke University researchers (Leary MR et al. 2007).

    The Duke team investigated the thinking and emotional processes by which people with self-compassionate attitudes deal with unpleasant life events.

    (The term “self-compassion” refers to people who forgive their own shortcomings, and tend not to beat up on themselves.)

    The five Duke studies grouped participants’ according to their attitudes toward themselves, then evaluated their behavior in various contexts:

    • Reports on negative events in their daily lives
    • Responses to hypothetical scenarios
    • Reactions to interpersonal feedback
    • Rating their or others’ videotaped performances in an awkward situation
    • Reflecting on negative personal experiences

    The results showed that people with self-compassionate attitudes had resilient reactions to negative events that buffered them against negative self-feelings when imagining distressing social events.

    When notions of self-compassion were planted in the minds of participants who ranked low in self-esteem, this intervention seemed to moderate negative emotions in response to ambivalent feedback from other people.

    People who ranked low in self-compassion undervalued their videotaped performances, compared with the perceptions of those performances by objective observers.

    Finally, when people were unknowingly nudged toward having a more self-compassionate perspective, they were more likely to acknowledge their role in negative events without feeling overwhelmed with negative emotions.

    The Duke team concluded that feeling kindly toward yourself is more psychologically beneficial than holding yourself in high regard:

    “In general, these studies suggest that self-compassion attenuates people’s reactions to negative events in ways that are distinct from and, in some cases, more beneficial than self-esteem.”

     

     

  • Heart Disease: Genetics or Lifestyle?

    Heart Disease: Genetics or Lifestyle?

    Guest article from Life Extension Institute:

    On November 15, 2010, the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2010 featured presentations of the results of two studies which indicate that lifestyle has a greater impact on whether one will develop cardiovascular disease than being genetically predisposed to acquire the disease.

    In the first study, researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine evaluated data from 2,336 men and women aged 18 to 30 upon enrollment in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults longitudinal study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Diet, physical activity, alcohol intake, smoking status, weight, and blood pressure and glucose levels were assessed at the beginning of the study and at the seventh and twentieth years of follow-up.

    Among participants who maintained five healthy lifestyle factors (having a healthy body mass index, limiting alcohol consumption, consuming healthy amounts of potassium, calcium and fiber and a low intake of saturated fat; participating in regular exercise, and never smoking) 60 percent had a low risk profile for cardiovascular disease after 20 years. That percentage dropped to 37 percent for those who had four factors, 30 percent for three factors, 17 percent for two and 6 percent for one or none. Separate analyses for men, women, Caucasians and African-Americans turned up similar findings.

    The second study, also conducted at Northwestern University, analyzed three generations of families enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study. The researchers determined that the majority of cardiovascular disease that developed in the subjects was caused by lifestyle factors, with only a small proportion due to heredity. “What you do and how you live is going to have a larger impact on whether you are in ideal cardiovascular health than your genes or how you were raised,” lead author and Feinberg School postdoctoral fellow in preventive medicine Norrina Allen concluded.

    “Health behaviors can trump a lot of your genetics,” noted Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, who is the chair and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern Medicine and a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “This research shows people have control over their heart health. The earlier they start making healthy choices, the more likely they are to maintain a low-risk profile for heart disease.

    “We really need to encourage individuals to improve their behavior and lifestyle and create a public health environment so people can make healthy choices,” he added. “We need to make it possible for people to walk more and safely in their neighborhoods and buy fresh affordable fruit and vegetables in the local grocery store. We need physical activity back in schools, widely applied indoor smoking bans and reduced sodium content in the processed foods we eat. We also need to educate people to reduce their calorie intake. It’s a partnership between individuals making behavior changes but also public health changes that will improve the environment and allow people to make those healthy choices.”

    Dr. Jonny comments:

    If I had a dollar for every person who’s ever told me, with a fatalistic sigh, “It’s in my genes.. nothing I can do about it”, I’d be typing this from an ocean villa in St. Martin.

    Here’s the truth about genes.

    Genes are not “fixed entities” that predetermine outcomes. (There are very, very few diseases that are determined by a single gene. Huntington’s Chorea is one- you can count the others on one hand).

    Genes are plastic, meaning they can be turned on or off, modified and changed, “expressed” or “not expressed” depending on their interaction with the environment. The emerging science of “Nutrigenomics” is about investigating the interaction between genes and nutrients. The bottom line- as the guest article points out- is that what you do, how you live and what you eat has far more of an impact on your life than your actual genes do.

    Earlier research from the Nurses Health Study showed that five factors- surprisingly similar to the five factors found in the above mentioned study—can lower heart disease risk by over 80%. There isn’t a drug in the world that can do that. The five factors?

    1. Maintain a healthy body weight
    2. Eat a Mediterranean style diet high in fish
    3. Exercise regularly
    4. Don’t smoke
    5. Alcohol in moderation (2 drinks max for guys, 1 drink max for women on a daily basis)

    My favorite supplements for protecting the heart are Fish Oil, Magnesium and Coenzyme Q10. (If you’re on a statin drug, you MUST take CoQ10 on a daily basis!) If you have any kind of heart disease, you should probably add to those three D-Ribose and Carnitine. (Cardiologist Steve Sinatra, MD recommends CoQ10, carnitine, ribose and magnesium as the “awesome foursome” for heart disease. I agree wholeheartedly.)