Dr. Jonny Bowden

Tag: diet

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.

March 12, 2011
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.”
March 5, 2011
“Should I Eat Before I Exercise?”
For as long as I can remember- from the first time I set foot in a gym, actually- I’ve been listening to folks debate the question…

“Should I eat before I exercise?”

Now a new study may finally shine some light on the matter. Researchers found that exercising on an empty stomach has several beneficial effects, including preventing weight gain and maintaining insulin sensitivity.

Researchers in Belgium took 27 healthy young men and fed them all a horrible diet, high in sugar and fat and calories. The particular diet was chosen because it was just about guaranteed to create both weight gain and a reduction in insulin sensitivity.

Insulin sensitivity, you may remember, is something good- it’s when the cells respond well to insulin, meaning that insulin does an excellent job of removing excess sugar from the bloodstream and getting it into the cells where it can be “burned” for energy. When someone is said to be insulin resistant on the other hand, this system doesn’t work well, and the person winds up with high blood sugar and high insulin and is on the path to either metabolic syndrome or diabetes. Most diabetics are insulin resistant, and most people who are insulin resistant are overweight, since insulin “shuts down” the fat burning process.

In the Belgian study, the researchers divided the men into three groups:
1. One group did nothing but eat the terrible diet (the control group). This group didn’t exercise at all during the study.
2. The second and third group did exercise, and did the exact same workout;
3. but the second group did it after breakfast and the third group did it before breakfast, exercising on an empty stomach.
The results were both surprising and dramatic.

The control group- not surprisingly- gained a lot of weight and also saw their insulin sensitivity plunge (meaning they became much more insulin resistant). The “exercise after eating” group also gained weight, but not nearly as much as the control group. And their insulin sensitivity went down, just as it did in the control group.

But the “exercising on an empty stomach” group was a whole different story. This group- despite eating a perfectly horrible, weight-gain inducing diet- did not gain weight. Not only that, their insulin sensitivity remained high and the bad diet did not make them insulin resistant. “This study for the first time shows that fasted (empty stomach) training is more potent than fed training to facilitate adaptations in muscle and to improve…. glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity…” said the study’s authors.

Conventional wisdom- which is not always so wise—has held that it’s always best to eat something before working out. Proponents of this way of thinking would always point out that you need “energy” for working out, energy which comes from—what else?—carbohydrates. “Fat burns in a flame of carbohydrate” they’d proclaim solemnly.

Problem is, the conventional wisdom is wrong.

It’s interesting that back in the days of “Stay Hungry” and “Pumping Iron” when the big meccas of bodybuilding like World Gym and Gold’s Gym in Venice were home to such legendary bodybuilders as Arnold Schwarzenneger, Lou Ferrigno and Franco Columbo, everybody exercised on an empty stomach. Bodybuilders of that era believed that you were more likely to mobilize your fat stores for fuel if you didn’t have to burn off a whole bunch of carbs that you just scarfed down for breakfast.

We now know that they were mostly right.

So should you forgo eating before working out? Not necessarily. “If you’re interested in performing better- like if you’re training for an event—you might want to eat first”, says my friend exercise physiologist Liz Neporent, MS, CSCS, author of “Fitness for Dummies”. “But for weight loss, evidence does seem to be trending towards not eating before working out”.

Neporent points out that as a practical matter, there are going to be a fair amount of people who don’t do well when they don’t eat before working out. “They get dizzy, sick, and even faint sometimes”, she told me. “But I’ve also had people eat right before working out that have felt exactly the same way!”

Bottom line, it’s going to be- like everything else- an individual thing and no one prescription is going to work for everyone.

But for those who want to try it- and who don’t get lightheaded or dizzy- exercising on an empty stomach might be just the thing to stop weight gain in its tracks. It did in the Belgian study, and those folks were purposely eating a really bad diet. It should work even better if you also couple it with a diet designed to help you reach your goals.

Watch this funny little video where I reveal my 5 favorite fat burning snacks that won’t trigger a high insulin response.
February 19, 2011
“Eat Every Three Hours”: Oh, Really?

On a recent blog I talked about a popular tactic advocated by many personal trainers called “The Cheat Day”. As I explained on last weeks blog, the “cheat day” is a “day off” from your weekly diet, a day on which you can eat anything you like.

Trainers who advocate this are clearly attempting to come up with a real-life weight-loss plan that works for their clients, and–as I pointed out last week– it may in fact work for some.

But it doesn’t for everyone.

Far from it.

Which got me thinking.

What other principles are being promoted out there that might have, shall we say, a less than perfect relationship with the truth?

As it turns out quite a few. And I’ll be visiting some of them in the coming months. But right now I want to deal with one I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, because virtually every personal trainer says it, and every magazine quotes it, and just about everyone believes it.

All together now: “Eat six small meals a day“.

OK, you say, you haven’t heard it said quite this way. But I’ll bet you’ve heard “eat three big meals and two snacks”. Or another variation, “eat every three hours”. Certainly sounds good doesn’t it? And so reasonable, too!

Trouble is, it’s just not true.

Or at least not always true. And it’s not true often enough to make it of very questionable value as a golden rule of dieting.

The “eat five (or six) small meals a day” concept came out of the same culture that the “cheat day” did- the bodybuilding culture of the 50’s. (In fact, many of the things we repeat as gospel today came out of that same culture- including the idea that you have to give each muscle group a couple of days off before training it again. But I digress.)

The theory of “six small meals” is based on the idea that your body actually uses some calories digesting food, and digestion is a metabolic process, so every time you eat a meal it theoretically “raises” your metabolism (which is pretty close to a magic talisman in the world of weight-loss). By eating small meals frequently, the thinking goes, you constantly keep your metabolism elevated.

Problem is that this is to metabolism and physiology what Dr. Phil is to psychological science.

Every time you eat a meal your blood sugar goes up and the pancreas responds with a shot of insulin. When people have absolutely normal metabolisms, with no issues around carbohydrate processing, the system works fine. But in people for whom blood sugar response to food- and even more important, insulin response to blood sugar– is kind of screwed up, eating frequently may actually work against you.

The constant elevation of blood sugar (and the subsequent raising of the fat storage hormone insulin) just about guarantees that your body will never have to reach into its stores of fat to find energy to burn since there’s a constant supply of glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream (thanks to that meal you ate a couple hours ago and are about to repeat).

Fact is– as many people can attest to from personal experience– it’s perfectly possible to do quite well on three squares a day.

Snacking isn’t necessary, and in some cases, may be counterproductive. For some people, keeping insulin low for most of the day sets up a favorable metabolic environment and may also keep cravings at bay.

And let’s not even talk about the fact that most people haven’t the slightest idea of what the “small” in “six small meals” refers to. Our sense of portion size has been so distorted by routine restaurant eating that many of us have come to classify a meal that would fill out the flat side of a Bosu ball as a “snack”.

The bottom line is this: If eating every three hours or so is working for you that’s great. If you really feel better on such a routine, by all means carry on.

But if you’re one of the many people who just don’t “get it”, and for whom frequent snacking (or the “grazing” way of eating) causes you to think about food all the time, produces cravings, and results in overeating, don’t beat yourself up. You may be one of the people for whom the mantra about eating “to keep your metabolism up” just isn’t true.

And if that’s so, don’t be afraid to go back to basics. Three definite meals, each with a beginning and an end, each nutritionally dense and filling.

And nothing in between.

January 22, 2011
Trans Fat Free Foods? Don’t Believe the Label!

NEWSWISE:

Did you know that when you pick up a product promoted as trans fat free, you may still be ingesting a significant amount of this potentially harmful substance? An article by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine student Eric Brandt, published in the January/February 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, reveals that misleading labeling practices can result in medically significant intake of harmful trans fat, despite what you read on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labels. Indeed, consumers’ inability to identify high-risk foods may cause individuals to exceed the daily recommended value of 1.11 grams of trans fat from processed foods and lead to adverse long-term health side effects.

Ingestion of trans fat is a known public health concern. Top national health organizations, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and American Heart Association, suggest trans fats be ingested in limited quantities. However, current FDA labeling protocol and policy prevents the public from accessing the true amount of trans fat contained in their food products.

Current law requires that fat content of greater than five grams be listed in one gram increments, less than five grams be listed in .5 gram increments, and lower than .5 grams as containing zero grams of fat. Meaning, if a product has .49 grams of trans fat, the label can list the trans fat content as zero, thus masking a significant amount of trans fat that can exceed recommended limits and potentially lead to various adverse health effects.

Trans fat consumption has been linked to increased risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes, and sudden cardiac death. Because the daily recommended amount of trans fat from processed foods is only 1.11 grams, one would only need to consume a few deceptively labeled trans fat foods to exceed the healthy recommended intake. As few as three deceptively labeled trans fat items would exceed the healthy recommended intake; for example, consuming three serving sizes each with .49 grams of trans fat, totaling 1.47 grams. Despite what seems to be a small amount of trans fat to ingest, research shows that increasing daily trans fat consumption from .9% to 2.1%, or from two grams to 4.67 grams, will increase one’s risk of cardiovascular disease by 30%.

In an effort to adhere to its mission and responsibility in “helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to maintain and improve their health,” Brandt recommends the FDA revise its labeling protocol in order to prevent misleading the public about the amount of trans fat they are consuming. He recommends the FDA require food labels to report trans fat content in smaller increments, enabling consumers to recognize significant levels of trans fat in food products and allow one to properly manage their consumption. The suggested change will increase awareness of accurate food trans fat content, empower informed food choices, and improve public health outcomes.

January 10, 2011
Top Ten Ways to Jump-Start Weight Loss
These ten tips for jump-starting weight loss will serve you well!

They are simple and easy to follow. Give them a try and watch what happens!
1. Eat protein at every meal, including breakfast.
2. Eliminate wheat– and flour-based products for the time being. And yes, that definitely includes bread and pasta.
3. Eliminate “food products”. Ninety percent of what you eat should be food that could have been hunted, caught, gathered from the ground, plucked from a tree or grown
4. Reduce starch. When you do eat starches, choose from “real” carbohydrates. Best choices are oatmeal, sweet potatoes, beans and legumes.
5. Don’t eat unlimited amounts of fruit and be careful with the extra-sweet, extra-ripe variety. For now, keep fruits to two a day, and choose the low-sugar, high-fiber variety. Apples, grapefruits and especially berries all are good choices. For now, fruit should be eaten alone or with something light like nuts or a little cheese. Lose the fruit juice.
6. Reduce or eliminate dairy for the time being, especially cow’s milk. Exceptions: reasonable amounts of cheese and occasional portions of yogurt, but not the fat-free kind (it contains way too much sugar).
7. Try eliminating alcohol. You can always go back to moderate drinking later on if it works for you.
8. Stop using vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower and corn. The supermarket kinds are highly refined, and oxidize easily when heated, contributing to arterial plaque.
9. Worry less about the amount of fat you eat and pay more attention to the kind of fat you eat. The worst are fried foods, margarine and foods that contain hydrogenized or partially hydrogenized oils. The best is omega-3, found in fish and flaxseed oil.
10. Drink at least eight or more large glasses of pure water a day. Every day. No excuses.
This is just one of the “Top 10 Lists” that is included with my Diet Boot Camp
December 18, 2010
Featured Recipe: Fast and Fiery Smoked Trout Wraps

The following recipe is just for readers of “In Step With Jonny”—it’s an advance preview of our forthcoming book, “The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth” by myself and my co-author, chef extraordinaire Jeannette Bessinger. Enjoy!

Trout, found in rushing streams of cold clear water, are probably one of the most sought after sport fish. If you’re lucky enough to eat one of these guys, you’ll understand why fisherman stand for hours in the water wearing big high uncomfortable rubber boots trying to outsmart them. They’re simply delicious- (the fish not the boots!)

They’re interesting too- some species actually spend part of their lives in fresh water and part of their lives in salt. (Unfortunately most of the trout in America is farm raised and the taste varies considerably depending on the food that they’re fed and the conditions under which they’re rasied.)

But enough of trout trivia. Trout is a protein powerhouse (about 20 grams in a mere three ounces), low in calories (144 calories for 3 ounces cooked fish) and an excellent source of both niacin and vitamin B12. I’m particularly fond of the yogurt based sauce in this recipe which complement the fish wonderfully– the snap of the horseradish and the tang of the lemon nicely mellow the salty smokiness of the trout in this elegant and delicious wrap. Enjoy!

Fast and Fiery Smoked Trout Wraps with Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish sauce, or to taste

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

4 roasted red peppers, drained (prepared) and diced

2 7-ounce cold-smoked trout fillets, flaked

4 large whole grain wraps (or can serve open face on toasted slices of hearty bread, such as Mestemacher Sunflower Seed or Rye Bread)

4 cups watercress or baby spring greens

1/3 English cucumber, peeled and grated, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, horseradish, lemon juice, and pepper.

Add diced peppers and flaked trout and mix gently to combine.

Lay out the wraps and place 1 cup of greens in the middle.

Divide the cucumber, if using, evenly among the wraps and add to the greens.

Spoon one quarter of the dressed trout/pepper mixture over the greens and cucumber, roll the wraps closed, slice in half and serve them, edged-down, on the plate.

Yield: 4 wraps

From Chef Jeannette:

To complete the meal: serve these wraps with modest portions (3/4 ounce) of prepared roasted vegetable chips, such as Terra Exotic Vegetable chips and/or fresh, ripe Anjou pears.

November 29, 2010
Featured Recipe: Decadent Better-Fat Walnut Brownies

The following recipe for decadent, healthy brownies is just for readers of this newsletter, “In Step With Jonny”—it’s an advance preview of our forthcoming book, “The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Meals on Earth” by myself and my co-author, chef extraordinaire Jeannette Bessinger. Enjoy! (more…)

October 19, 2010
Are Gourmet Salts Better For Your Health?

There are an awful lot of claims being made for gourmet salt and they fall into two categories: health benefits and taste. The wide variety of tastes and textures available in gourmet salts is undeniable (more on that in a moment). The health benefits… not so much.

Many integrative medicine experts — like David B, MD and Edward Group, ND — have gone on record as saying that common table salt is empty of any nutritional value, as all the valuable minerals have been removed in the processing. (more…)

October 12, 2010
Featured Recipe: (No-Cooking!) Creamy Waldorf Slaw in Seconds

The following recipe is just for readers of this newsletter, “In Step With Jonny”—it’s an advance preview of our forthcoming book, “The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Meals on Earth” by myself and my co-author, chef extraordinaire Jeannette Bessinger. Enjoy! (more…)

October 5, 2010