Global Secrets

Making Your Diet Go Global
“Traditional food is an integral part of cultural identity. In Italy, for example, food is not just about sustenance, but also about family, community, and tradition. The Italian food experience centers not only on taste, but on sharing meals with loved ones, the pleasure of cooking, and pride in their culinary heritage.”
“Similarly, in Japan, food and cultural identity are closely tied. Japanese cuisine is known for its simplicity, elegance, and attention to detail. The preparation and presentation of traditional Japanese dishes like sushi, tempura, and ramen are considered an art form. Japanese food culture pays attention to the aesthetics and symbolism of food, and honors culturally rooted respect for nature and tradition.”
In these ways, food can define and perpetuate culture. Yet food customs and dining etiquette are not only important for preserving cultural identity, but also for promoting cultural diversity and understanding. Food can serve as a bridge between different cultures, allowing people to learn about and appreciate other ways of life.”
From a variety of sources of healthy eating from all parts of the globe, foods from a global approach/menu can increase your well-being, extend your longevity and contribute your compression of morbidity as you age. Diet is not dependent on only what we eat, but how and even when we eat. Culturally, we can examine how other parts of our globe that contribute to the keys of lasting health from our vast choices and global difference in enviornments and lifestyle habits.
“In addition to fostering cultural preservation and belonging, cultural foods and traditional food customs can also promote good nutrition and health.
Traditional foods are often made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and prepared using traditional cooking methods that have been passed down for generations. As a result, they tend to be healthier and more nutrient-dense than processed or fast foods. Traditional diets are also typically rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, which can help lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and . cancers.”

The Traditional Mediterranean Diet
Rich in “healthy fats” including olive oil and omega- 3 fatty acids
Vegetables abound, meat is minor
Loads of beneficial herbs
Moderate drinking (red wine, e.g.)
Slower pace of life.

“The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health is a book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II. The book argues for health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet. It was first published in the United States in January 2005 and had sold over one million copies as of October 2013, making it one of America’s best-selling books about nutrition.[2][3] “
Low rates of many chronic diseases
Compared to North Americans, the Chinese report significantly lower rates of breast, colon and rectal, and lung cancers, and a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes.
Packed wtih produce: less meat, more grains (Plant-hased)
Tea is beverage of choice.
Too high in sodium

Note: Source is 30 Secrets of the world’s Healthiest Cuisines, by Linda Sephen Jonas, MD and Sandra Gordon, 2000
These are post-covid data. (Sally Feltner, PhD)

France: The Good Life Savored
Moderate drinking
Lots of fruits and vegetables
No snacking or dieting: Weigh self only every month
Somewhat of a permissive diet, e.g. relatively high in saturated fats: lower rates of heart disease.

Japan: Embracing the East and West with Beauty and Health

The diet is one of the world’s lowest in fat.
Fish is a mainstay of the traditional Japanese diet.
Soy foods also play a manor role.
Style counts — but not over substance. Food presentation is important.
The Japanese report low rates of major chronic diseases.
The Japanese live longer and boast the world’s highest life expectancy (76 or men and 82 for women.)

Note: Life expectancy rates may have negativley shifted due to the pandemic.

Scandinavia/Nordic Countries: The Benefits of Dairy and Grains
Whole grain breads and cereals are staples of Scandinavian Diet.
Studies show that high fiber may reduce the risk of heart disease, some forms of cancer, constipation, and other intestinal problems.
More fruits and vegetables.
Lower-fat dairy products.

Note:
Increase fiber into the diet gradually; include with intake adequate water consumption. Your body needs time to adjust. Consult your doctor, dietitian or health coach.

Source:
Steven Jonas, MD. Sandra Gordon 30 Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Cuisines. 2000.

Note: The data for this post needs an update; but after some fact checking, appears to be still generally acceptable on the topic of Diet and Health. (Sally J. Feltner, MS, PhD).

What’s Cooking?

Canola Oil

Is canola oil a healthy fat? Rightfully so since it had a bad reputation for awhile due to its association with a toxic acid called eurucic acid. More currently due to newer breeding processes reulted in its removal of this acid, making canola on the list of what is now called “healthy fats.” It is primarily an unsaturated fat and very low in omega-6 (fat and contain the same type of oil found in olive oil. However, Americans are awash in omega-6 fats and should be attempting to increase their intake of omega-3 fats instead.

But to its credit, it has a very mild flavor (unlike olive oil) and has been called a “neutral” oil so its very versatile for cooking and stands up fairly well to heat.
Bittman, Mark and Katz, David L., M.D. How to Eat” All your Food and Diet Questioned Answered.

Roasting Vegetables

Roasting has become a cooking favorite lately, but questions do arise due to the higher temperatures (400 degrees) needed for best results. Many people wonder if this type of cooking can destroy some nutrients, especially in some originally healthy vegetables? This may help.

All forms of cooking can destroy some nutrients. It’s impossible to avoid. However, there is some good news since cooking actually helps by releasing the nutrients from plant cell walls. These include lycopene (iin tomatoes), red peppers and beta-carotene in carrots, spinach, and kale. Therefore, eating cooked tomatoes as a sauce or juice should be the preferred way for optimum health and help the cell use its benefiial properties. Mushrooms, asparagus, and cabbage all supply more antioxidants when cooked, also.

On the other hand, Vitamin B6 and folate in broccoli and the polyphenols in onions that help protect against cancer and heart disease are better preserved in raw vegetables.
Sharon Palmer, RDN, author of Plant-Powered for Life, Duate, California. SharonPalmer.com

World Health Organization (WHO)

Switching to a healthier diet linked to improved longevity

Source:

Republished by Food, Facts, and Fads. Eatwell Guide, 2016 United Kingdom

More emerging evidence suggests that improving one’s diet could help prolong a person’s life.

Poor diet and lack of physical activity are “leading global risks to health,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source.

In order to improve diet globally, the WHO is working with countries to commit to a number of initiatives, including the elimination of trans fatsTrusted Source, reducing salt intakeTrusted Source and developing guidelines around food labellingTrusted Source and the use of artificial sweetenersTrusted Source.

The United Kingdom Government published its Eatwell Guide in 2016 to help people follow a healthy, balanced diet. It outlines the importance of eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, reducing salt and saturated fat intake, and promotes the consumption of whole grains and pulses, alongside suggestions for portion size and caloric intake.

Despite this guide being published to ensure policy in the U.K. is developed in line with these dietary aims, research published in BMJ Open suggests that less than 0.1% of the country’s population follows a diet that adheres to the guide’s recommendations.

How healthy diets impact longevity

The U.K. Biobank is a database set up in 2006 that tracks the health of half a million people, aged between 40 and 69 years, and living in the U.K. The Biobank collects data on the diets of participants, as well as on their overall health.

A recent study by a team of researchers based at the University of Bergen, Norway analysed U.K. Biobank data from over 465,000 participants to determine the impact of adherence to the diet outlined in the Eatwell Guide on their life expectancy. Its results appear in Nature Food.

Dietary patterns of participants were assessed, with intake of all food groups split into five quin tiles, from lowest to highest. Dietary patterns associated with longevity were the quin-tiles for each food group with the lowest mortality risk.

Unhealthy dietary patterns were characterized by limited amounts of whole grains, vegetables and fruits, fish, and white meat, but a high intake of red and processed meats, eggs, refined grains and sugary drinks. Outcomes were also reported based on adherence to the dietary pattern recommended by the Eatwell Guide.

Researchers adjusted the data for factors including age, sex, area-based sociodemographic deprivation, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity level, and body mass index (BMI).

Their analysis indicated that a 40-year-old man changing his diet from an unhealthy diet to one following the Eatwell Guide dietary recommendations would add 8.9 years onto his life expectancy. For a woman of the same age, this change led to an 8.6-year increase in life expectancy.

For a 70-year-old man the change would correspond to a 4-year increase in life expectancy, and a 4.4-year increase for a woman of this age.

When these results were adjusted for BMI and energy consumption, the overall increase in life expectancy that could be attributed to improvements in diet dropped somewhat.

Meat consumption linked to higher death risk

Lead author Prof. Lars Fadnes of the University of Bergen, research group leader at Haukeland University Hospital, told Medical News Today:

“Our analyses and other research indicate that what we eat is linked to the risk of obesity, which again is a contributing risk factor to premature deaths. Our analyses could indicate that the risk for premature deaths related to overweight/obesity was about a quarter of the dietary increased risk from unhealthy eating and mortality.”

Researchers also looked at which foods had the greatest impact on decreasing the overall mortality risk.

They found that consuming more whole grains and nuts and less red meat and sugary drinks was associated with the biggest improvements in life expectancy.

Your Gut and Immune System

YOUR GUT Supports Immune Defenses

Eighty percent of your immune system is in your gut, so it makes sense that a well functioning gut is critical for a clean bill of health. An essential job of the gut is to arm the digestive tract against inflammatory and other harmful disease causing substances, for example in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). When there is a breakdown in the microbial lining that in banding together kept the lining strong, a loss of that strength is said to create a “leaky” gut that starts a whole inflammatory response to create chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, obesity, cognitive disorders and depression.

Your Gut Influences your weight and weight maintenance.

A 2021 study published in Scientific Reports tested the effects of a probiotic (“good” bacteria”) on weight loss in 70 subjects who were all overweight. 35 adults took probiotics and the remaining 35 took a placebo. After nine months with no exercise or diet interventions, 40% of the probiotic group had lost a clinically significant amount of weight compared with 3 percent in the placebo.

Dietary fiber is associated with promoting weight loss. In the body, fiber is fermented in the intestine creating short-chain fatty acids thatt help promote healthy metaboilisms. A healthy blood sugar balance and fat storage is also reported that affects weight maintenance that is so important in weight loss. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA’s) also help alleviate or lessen inflammation by acting on hormonal and satiety receptors.

“Whole person health starts in the gut, says Supriya Rao, M.D., managing partner at integrative Gastroenterolgy Consultants, Rao explains the importance of getting enough exercise to improve gut health. Being sedentary or sitting is the new smoking” he says. Your gut health will thank you.”

Is eating fast food a Dementia Risk?

The health risks of eating ultra-processed foods _________ including sausages and burgers as well as pizza and ice cream ____________ are well documented. They have been shown to raise the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cancer among other ailments. (CNN.com )

In a new study, researchers followed more than 10,000 Brazilians with an average age of 51 for more than 10 years. They found that people who consumed more than 20% of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods had a 28% faster cognitive decline compared to those with less than 20%. Unfortunately, that 20% is not a high threshold; just 400 calories out of the 2000 calorie diet. And most Americans are well over that, getting on average a whopping 58% of their calories from ultra-processed foods.

“The sample size is substantial and the follow-up extensive, Dr. David Katz, a nutrition specialist who was not involved in the study. While short of proof, this is robust enough that we should conclude ultra-processed foods are probably bad for our brains.”

Source: The Week. December 23, 2022, Volume 22, Issue 110.

What’s Cooking?

Canola Oil

Roasting Vegetables

All forms of cooking can destroy some nutrients. It’s impossible to avoid. However, there is some good news since cooking actually helps by releasing the nutrients from plant cell walls. These include lycopene (iin tomatoes), red peppers and beta-carotene in carrots, spinach, and kale. Therefore, eating cooked tomaotes as a sauce or juice should be the preferred way for optimum health. Mushrooms, asparagus, and cabbage all supply more antioxidants when cooked.

Vitamin B6 and folate in broccoli and the polyphenols in onions that help protect against cancer and heart disease are better eaten as raw vegetables.
Sharon Palmer, RDN, author of Plant-Powered for Life, Duate, California. SharonPalmer.com

Is DNA Your Destiny?

NUTRITION AND GENE INTERACTIONS: Is It More than Just Genes?

The Human Genome Project has identified millions of gene defects and variants in human DNA. The average person has 250 to 300 defective genes, plus an average level of 75 variants associated with disease. Nutrient avalibility, particular in early life, can modfiy the functional level of specific genes thereby influencing disease risks. Increased understanding of epigenetic processes as well as a person’s genetic status without changing gene structure is becoming an interesting phenomenon. Gene activity can be shut off or turned on, or slowed or sped up by epigenetic mechanisms, many of which are environmental. Search Genetics and or Epigenetics on http://www.foodfactsandfads.com.

Cancer
Most types of cancer are related to environmental exposures such as high fat and alcohol intakes, low fruit and vegetable intakes, high levels of body fat, smoking and other toxins. A number of research studies suggest that a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables may lower rates of a variety of cancers, including breast, pancreatic, bladder, lung, prostate and colon cancer. This family of vegetables is led by broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage to mention a few.

Certain enzymes in cruciferous veggies may help protect cell DNA from damage, and others may have antioxidant properties. Crucifers may also help to counteract cancer-causing nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are found in charred, cured or barbecued fish or meats.

Obesity: Opinions?
“Over 40 gene variants have been related to obesity development in people exposed to Western-type diets and low levels of physical activity. The current obesity epidemic appears to be driven by a mismatch between multiple components of our 400,000 year old genetic endowment (i.e., what our ancestors ate) and current food and activity environments.

Genetic traits that helped our early ancestors survive times of famine and that encouraged food intake rather than discouraged it, and that set up metabolic systems around unrefined and unprocessed foods are at odds with much of today’s food supply and physical activity requirements.”
Reversing the world wide trend in obesity rates willl not be easy. We need to lessen our triggers that favor processed food intake and increase environments that favor heathly physical environments – how about just increased walking environments. No need to go to the gym.

Expanding availability of healthier foods and increasing earlier nutrition education to encourage healthier lifestyles is desperately needed and the earlier the better. As Michael Pollan suggests in his book, “In Defense of Food” : “ Eat food, Not too Much, Mostly Plants.” See how easy it is??? (SJF )

Nutrition Now, Judith E. Brown, 7th Edition

… What in the heck are the “dirty dozen?”

Should I Eat Organic?

Organic foods have shown lesser interest but still have outpaced conventional foods while still racking up more than 50 billion dollars in annual revenues, according to the Organic Trade Association. Almost 1/2 of U.S. adults believe that organic produce is healthier than non organic. But is it?

In a French study in 2018 published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a survey of 70,000 adults, organic consumers presented 25% fewer cancers than those who never ate organic. And a meta-analysis in the British Journal of Nutrition found that organic meat and milk provide 50% more omega 3 fatty acids than non-organic products. In addition, more organic farming is better for the environment, generating fewer chemicals that leach into soil and water. Organic foods generally cost more than conventional ones and still can carry traces of pesticides.

One way to compare which organics are worth the added costs is to consult the Environmental Working Group’s annual lists of the “Dirty Dozen List “- conventional produce that have shown higher rates of pesticide residue (strawberries, spinach, e.g. There is also a “Clean Fifteen List”- that typically includes thicker skinned fruits such as avocados that are first on the list and have cleaner pulp.”to be part of a plant-based diet. The vitamins and phytochemicals in the Dirty Fifteen can still provide the needed nutrients necessary for a healthy diet. All produce should be washed thoroughly. The differences between organic and non-organic are negligible.

Nutrition and lifestyle in healthy aging: the telomerase challenge

Aging is defined as the progressive decline in physiological functions which leads to increased vulnerability to diseases and death [1]. This is a universal process underlying by many mechanisms and different pathways, whose burden rises to three different phenotypes: normal aging, accelerated aging and successful aging [2]. Despite variability among definitions, “successful aging” is as a multidimensional process encompassing major chronic diseases, major impairments in cognitive, in physical function and sustained engagement in social and productive activities [2,3]. However, reaching old age in good health is not just a “fate effect” but the result of a complex interweaving between environmental and genetic factors [4]. Studies conducted in twins have estimated that approximately 20-30% of an individual’s lifespan is related to genetics, while the rest is due to individual behaviors and environmental factors [5,6]. In this contest, nutrition and lifestyle are the most important contributors to longevity and healthy aging [7–11]. Follow a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oil, fish, a small amount of red wine and exercise at least 20 minutes a day three times a week, avoiding obesity, smoke and alcohol, represents the working recipe for long and healthy life. Many mechanisms and pathways underlie nutrition, lifestyle and longevity including telomere length modulation [12–15].

Telomeres are long sequences of nucleotides at the end of our chromosomes, forming with specific proteins complex, an “end caps” which preserve genome stability and lead a cell to correctly divide [16–18]. Telomeres have been compared with the plastic tips on shoelaces, since they are able to keep chromosome ends from fraying and fusion to each other, which would destroy or interfere genetic information. At each cell division or replication event, telomeres lose some of their length and when they get too short, the cell is no longer able to divide becoming “senescent” [19]. This shortening process triggers a sustaining damage response scrambling with cell health leading to disease risk and cell death [20]. In 1962, Leonard Hayflick revolutionized cell biology when he developed a telomere theory known as the “Hayflick limit”, which places the maximum potential lifespan of humans at 120 years, the time at which too many cells with extremely short telomeres can no longer replicate and divide [21,22]. Fifty years later, new science came out opening the door to maximizing our genetic potential. In fact, published data suggested that extremely short or dysfunctional telomeres can be repaired by the enzyme “telomerase”, which working as a reverse transcriptase, adds nucleotides at the end of each chromosome promoting its stability [22,23]. In 2009, Blackburn, Greider and Szostak received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of “how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”. These discoveries had a great impact within the scientific community, supporting that aging can be potentially delayed by telomerase activation and telomere erosion rate reduction.

In contrast to stem cells which constitutively express low levels of telomerase, normal somatic human cells repress its expression immediately after birth [24–27]. Thus, for a long time, telomere length has been considered as an indicator of cellular senescence, and a potential biomarker of human aging, but studies supporting this role are still contradictory and inconclusive [22,28,29]. More recent genetic studies in animal models have demonstrated that short telomeres rather than average telomere length are associated with age-related diseases and, their rescue by telomerase is sufficient to restore cell and organismal viability [30,31]. In humans, circulating telomerase activity rather than telomeres length is inversely associated with the major cardiovascular disease risk factors [32]. Thus, another concept is coming up, the “telomere stability”, a quite different concept from telomere length. For example, patients with Alzheimer’s disease do not invariably have shorter telomeres, but their telomeres have significant signs of dysfunction [33–38]. Improving the activity of telomerase enzyme -that can add length back to shorter telomeres, and, in the meantime, protect longer telomeres to ensure stability- seems a way to actually turn back the biological clock. Telomerase has also extra-telomeric functions influencing various essential cellular processes, such as gene expression, signaling pathways, mitochondrial function as well as cell survival and stress resistance [40,41]. Therefore, the presence of active telomerase in stem cells, and potentially in all cells, may be helpful for longevity and good health.

Lifestyle factors known to modulate aging and age-related diseases might also affect telomerase activity. Obesity [42], insulin resistance [43,44], and cardio-vascular disease processes [45,46], which are related to oxidative stress and inflammation, have all been linked to shorter telomeres. Smoking, exposure to pollution, lower physical activity, psychological stress, and unhealthy diet significantly increase the oxidative burden and the rate of telomere shortening [47–53]. So, what a better way to counteract the “biological clock” by reactivating telomerase trough diet and lifestyle interventions? There is a recent paper showing that with intensive lifestyle modification, with a low fat diet, regular physical activity, and mental stress reduction (by yoga and meditation), telomerase activity increases significantly in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) [54]. Again, people living in the Mediterranean countries have longer and healthier life as compared with people living in other industrialized countries, and we previously demonstrated that they have also claim longer telomeres and higher telomerase activity in PBMC [55]. It is still unclear if there is a single nutrient or a factor responsible of Mediterranean diet anti-aging properties or the whole, single ingredient foods and lifestyle are the key to “healthspan”.

Today, researchers are struggling to find a compound or an “elixir” for long life, while common people are taking dietary supplements with the intent to preserve mental, physical, and emotional health into old age. Most dietary supplement programs include combinations of vitamins, antioxidants, and other constituents, some of which have been shown to have significant health benefits in controlled clinical studies. Specific nutrients provide all the necessary building blocks to support telomere health and extend lifespan. This is the case of folate [56,57], vitamins (B, D, E, C) [58] zinc [59] and polyphenol compounds such as resveratrol [60], grape seed extract and curcumin [61]. Several foods -such as tuna, salmon, herring, mackerel, halibut, anchovies, cat-fish, grouper, flounder, flax seeds, sesame seeds, kiwi, black raspberries, green tea, broccoli, sprouts, red grapes, tomatoes, olive fruit- are a good source of antioxidants. These, combined with a Mediterranean type of diet containing fruits, vegetables and whole grains would help protect our chromosome ends [62–70].

In conclusion, what we eat, how we eat and how much we eat, together with lifestyle significantly, can affect our telomerase/telomere system with a great impact on healthspan. “Similes cum similibus curantur” and in nature is still hidden the secret of healthy and long life whereas telomerase could represent the distinctive target.

Nutrition and Lifestyle in healthy aging: the telomerase challenge

Virginia Boccardi, Gluseppe Paolisso, and Patricia Mecocci. Aging, January 2016, Vol.8 No 1

The Brain-Gut Connection?

YOUR GUT Supports Immune Defenses

Eighty percent of your immune system is in your gut. An essential job of the gut is to arm the digestive tract against inflammatory and other harmful disease causing substances, for example, in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). When there is a breakdown in the microbial lining that in banding together kept the lining strong, a loss of that strength is said to create a so-called “leaky” gut that starts a whole inflammatory response to create chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, obesity, cognitive disorders and depression.

Your Gut Influences your weight and weight maintenance.

A 2021 study published in Scientific Reports tested the effects of a probiotic (“good” bacteria”) on weight loss in 70 subjects who were all overweight. 35 adults took probiotics and the remaining 35 took a placebo. “After nine months with no exercise or diet interventions, 40% of the probiotic group had lost a clinically significant amount of weight compared with 3 percent in the placebo.”

Dietary fiber is associated with promoting weight loss. In the body, fiber is fermented in the intestine creating short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that help promote healthy metabolisms. A healthy blood sugar balance and fat storage is also reported that affects weight maintenance that is so important in weight loss. It is futile to lose weight, then regain it back which establishes a pattern of what is called Yo-Yo Dieting. Short-chain fatty acids also help alleviate or lessen inflammation by acting on hormonal and satiety receptors in the body.

“Whole person health starts in the gut, says Supriya Rao, M.D., managing partner at Integrative Gastroenterology Consultants. He explains the importance of getting enough exercise to improve gut health. “Being sedentary or sitting is the new smoking” he says”,