Dr. Jonny Bowden

Blog

  • Heart Healthy Foods: Savory Spinach Soup

    There’s been a ton of e-mail asking for food suggestions and recipes. So, by popular demand, I’m going to start featuring recipes in the newsletter as often as possible.

    By any definition of the term, spinach is a vegetable superstar. In addition to providing calcium and iron, it’s high in fiber and so low in calories that it’s virtually a “free” food on any diet. It’s also a great source of two nutrients from the carotenoid family that are the new superstars of eye nutrition- lutein and zeaxanthin. (more…)

  • Have You Been Exposed to a Chemical Cocktail?

    The President’s Cancer Panel is the Blue Ribbon Committee of all Blue Ribbon Committees. It’s part of the National Cancer Institute and it’s as mainstream (and conservative) as you can get. Its job is to monitor the activities of the National Cancer Program and to report directly to the President.

    Last week the President’s Cancer Panel issued a landmark, 200-page report declaring essentially that chemicals in the environment were a major threat to our bodies. (more…)

  • Research Findings: Fats Protect Your Brain

    Guest article adapted from the Life Extension Foundation

    The best strategy for treating mild cognitive impairment is to avoid it in the first place. This means getting plenty of exercise and good sleep, eating a healthy diet, keeping body weight down, avoiding diabetes, and taking the right nutritional supplements before you experience any signs of cognitive decline.

    Essential fatty acids are required for many biological functions, including protection from the oxidative effects of free radicals. (more…)

  • Vitamin D: Healer or Health Hazard?

    Is vitamin D dangerous?

    Get ready for a mainstream media headline proclaiming that vitamin D causes fractures.

    Yup, you read that right. Causes, not prevents.

    Is it true?

    Well, no.

    Let’s go to the videotape.

    Vitamin D is the new superstar of nutrients, having been found in recent years to be associated with lower rates of cancer, increased physical performance and strength in older adults, improved mood and stronger bones. (more…)

  • This Mineral May Reduce Your Risk For Colon Cancer!

    According to the American Cancer Society, the risk of a person having colorectal cancer in their lifetime is approximately 1 in 19, and it is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men and women.

    While cancer can strike even those who eat the healthiest diets and live the most exemplary lifestyles, we still want to do absolutely everything we can to reduce the risk of getting it as much as possible. A recent study suggests one way to do that is to consume a diet high in magnesium. (more…)

  • How Much Exercise Is Enough?

    A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association is making people nuts.

    If you don’t read the actual study and only listen to the sound bite headlines in the media, you’d walk away thinking that women need at least an hour a day of exercise to keep weight off. That’s understandably discouraging for a lot of people, especially those with busy lives. It also is about twice the current federal guidelines of 150 minutes a week (or 30 minutes five days a week). (more…)

  • Coconut Oil for Weight Loss?

    Coconut oil has long been demonized for being high in saturated fats, and therefore inherently “unhealthy”. People in the integrative medicine community have long known how great coconut oil is recently its reputation is starting to catch up with the mainstream. (I gave it a “star” in “The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth”!)

    Now researchers are investigating the potential effects of coconut oil on weight loss.

    Is there anything to this? (more…)

  • The Hidden Danger of Bread, Pasta and Rice

    The Hidden Danger of Bread, Pasta and Rice

    Consuming carbohydrates with a high glycemic index increases the risk of coronary heart disease in women, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

    If you’ve read my book “Living Low Carb: Controlled Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss” then you probably understand the meaning of glycemic index. If you haven’t read the book, here’s the executive summary on glycemic index: it’s a measure of how quickly food affects your blood sugar. (more…)

  • Vitamin D: The “Real” Fountain of Youth?

    Vitamin D: The “Real” Fountain of Youth?

    (source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology- FASEB)

    According to legend, it was The Fountain of Youth that the famed Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was seeking when he landed on the Floridian coast in 1513. It has long been said that he who drinks from the Fountain will have his youth restored. Without a doubt, the quest for eternal youth is as ancient as any pursuit. However, although we are now living longer than ever, there is now growing concern that quantity of years is not nearly as important as quality of those years.

    Indeed, as we experience the many joys of living longer, we also must deal with myriad consequences accompanying this aging trend. For instance, osteoporosis, arthritis, and other serious and often painful bone and joint diseases are much more common as we get older. And, not surprisingly, seniors often struggle daily with what was once the simple task of getting around. (more…)

  • The One Deadly Food Linked to Heart Disease, Obesity and Diabetes

    The evidence against sugar continues to mount– now there’s good evidence that sugar in the diet may contribute to heart disease risk.

    Researchers looked at the diets of over 6,000 people over the course of 7 years (from 1999-2006) and put each person in one of 5 groups depending on the percentage of added sugars in their diets.

    Those who consumed less than 5% of total calories as added sugars were the reference group; the second group consumed between 5-10% of total calories as added sugars, the third group 10%-17.5%, the fourth group 17.5% to just under 25%, and the fifth group consumed a whopping 25% or more of total calories as added sugars. (more…)