Category: General

Nutrigenomics

What is Epigenetics?

Epigenetics refers to the inheritable changes in your DNA that don’t change the actual DNA sequences. That means these changes are potentially reversible.

What is DNA Methylation?

Your DNA consists of four bases called cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine. A chemical unit called a methyl group (designated by CH3 or one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms) can be added to cytosine.

When that happens, that area of the DNA is methylated. When you lose that methyl group, the area becomes demethylated.

DNA methylation often inhibits the expression of certain genes. For example the methylation process might stop a tumor-causing gene from “turning on”, preventing cancer.

Researchers are currently working to better understand the factors that affect DNA methylation. Based on some earlier findings, there is some evidence that diet plays a role. This opens up the potential to reduce genetic risk of developing certain conditions such as breast cancer or heart disease through simple lifestyle changes.

The patterns of DNA methylation change through out your life, from fetal development to end of life. Studies suggest thqt DNQ methylation slows down as we age. Genes that were once repressed by methylation start to become active and possibly result in a variety of diseases. Interestingly, another study found that participants”who consumed more alcohol were more likely to have decreased DNA methylation. In contrast, those who consume a lot of folate were more likely to have increased methylation.

“Can Diets Change Your DNA? The question is “are you really what you eat? The answer appears to be No. However, we have known for years that gene expression influences metabolism. A study published in Nature Microbiology in 2016 indicates that nutrition may play an important role in how some DNA sequences are expressed. The study that how genes behave is strongly influenced by the food we eat. Even so, we are still a long way from the kind of personalized medicine that will furnish nutritional therapies to treat a wide spectrum of conditions.” Stay tuned for the future. Source: You Are what Your Grandparents Ate. Judith Finlayson, 2019.

You may want to search my blog for a simple description of the association between nutrigenomics and diet with the Agouti yellow mouse.

CLICK HERE.

Diet, Exercise, and Diabetes

Diet and Exercise

There have been several studies in the past that promote lifestyle factors and compare them to drug treatments like metformin. For diabetes type 2 including pre-diabetes – here is another one – too bad more physicians are not “prescribing” this intervention instead of putting their patients on one drug after another to control diabetes type 2.

“Researchers randomly assigned 100 sedentary adults aged 65 to 85 with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity to either an intensive lifestyle intervention or a control group that only had monthly sessions about a healthy diet.  

A dietitian helped the intensive group consume a diet with sufficient protein, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and 500 to 750 fewer calories a day. The group also did 90 minutes of aerobic and resistance training three times a week.

After a year, the intensive group had lost 18 pounds and the control group lost virtually zero. The intensive group also gained more strength and fitness and had lower hemoglobin A1c (a long-term measure of blood glucose) and better insulin sensitivity.

The authors recommended that if you have diabetes type 2, Medicare covers behavioral therapy for obesity, and some Medicare Advantage plans offer gym memberships.”

Diabetes Care 2022. doi: 10.2337/dc22-0338.

In the News: Vitamin D

Low levels of vitamin D linked to poor cognitive function

Source: Medical News Today, Sunday, December 11, 2022
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“There is growing evidence for how your body relies on vitamin D to ward off inflammation, cancer, and heart disease. Having enough of it in your blood is linked to a lower risk of dying prematurely. But what about vitamin D and the brain? What is its role in cognition, or dementia, if any? As one researcher told Medical News Today this week, “we did not know if vitamin D was even present in the human brain.”

The researcher, Kyla Shea, PhD, is lead author of a study offering the first evidence that vitamin D is not only present in the brain, a healthy level of it is associated with better cognitive function and a lower risk of dementia in older adults.

The evidence comes from the postmortem study of the brains of 290 individuals who had agreed to donate their organs after death. Researchers found that higher concentrations of vitamin D across the brain were associated with up to a 33% lower chance of developing dementia.

It is early days, so precisely how vitamin D supports healthy cognitive function is not yet understood. Dr. Shea sees signs that it is involved in cell-signaling pathways that may be part of neurodegeneration, but more research is needed to build on this groundbreaking study.” Stay tuned???

Who Needs Vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12 helps maintain nerve tissues, aids in reactions that build up protein tissues

Needed for normal red blood cell development.

Older people, those who have had stomach surgery and vegans are at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency. Some people become deficient in B12 because they are unable to absorb it.

Vitamin B12 is found in animal products and microorganisms only.

SOURCE:

GAPLES INSTITUTE

Author: Stephen Devries, MD

CLICK HERE.

A Brief Look at Diet Culture

Soure: Social and Health Research Center

Written by: Timandra Rowan

April 21, 2022

Diet culture has a long history of fads and facts. In the U.S., there have been multitudes of “diets” designed for health with more emphasis on weight loss than in other countries over the last century. Why is our national obsession on the relationship of dietary fat been the prominent discourse? A little history may help.

CLICK HERE.

One in two US adults have diabetes or prediabetes

In the latest edition of Nutrition Action from Center for Science in the Public Interest, December 2022, there is a very comprehensive article on Diabetes type 2. Here are the important takeaways. The article was written by Bonnie Liebman.

“Fifteen percent of U.S. adults have diabetes. Another 38% have prediabetes (and 8 out of 10 of them don’t know it). The good news: Many cases can be prevented and, in some people, even reversed.”

        Prevention is the key with the practice of lifestyle changes in diet and exercise.

The Bottom Line:


“The best way to dodge prediabetes is to lose (or not gain) extra pounds.

Cutting carbs –  especially white flour, potatoes, juice and sugary drinks- may help lower blood sugar even if you don’t lose weight.

Replace unhealthy carbs with unsaturated fats like olive oil or canola oil, nuts, avocado, and fatty fish.

Fill half of your plate with nonstarchy vegetables.

Aim for at last 30 minutes of brisk walking or other aerobic exercise daily.

If you have type 2 diabetes, don’t try a very-low-calorie or a low-carb diet without a doctor’s or dietitian’s help. They may cause dangerously low blood sugar, and your doctor may need to adjust your medications.

If you have prediabetes, find a CDC-recognized-in-person or online Diabetes Prevention Program. (Go to cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention.)”

Source: Nutrition Action\ December 2022.

Happy Thanksgiving – Bon apetit.

English: “The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth” (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“ The turkey is certainly one of the most delightful presents which the New World has made to the Old.”  Brillat Savarin.

Most of the traditional Thanksgiving foods we now eat on this holiday are foods that originated or were Native to the Americas. The word for turkey in French is dinde, short for poulet d’inde since they thought that the turkey came from the West Indies of Columbus days.  The turkey was popular in England before the Pilgrims came in 1620.

Turkeys don’t migrate so they were some of the first Native Americans and were available all year.  Turkeys are easy to hunt – when one is shot, the others freeze in place.  Don’t get me wrong – I don’t encourage shooting turkeys – we have lots of wild turkeys here in Western North Carolina. Many times I’ve had to stop and wait until they cross the road.  I once encountered a few hens walking in the woods, followed by a male who wanted to impress them by making a racket and spreading his tail feathers – of course, the “girls” totally ignored him and went on without a nod – I kind of felt sorry for him

Potatoes had reached Europe early in the Columbian Exchange (thanks to Christopher Columbus).  Potatoes had an interesting history – they were native to Peru, a Spanish colony and enemy of England, and went from Peru to Europe and then returned to New Hampshire with Scottish-Irish settlers in 1723.  It is thought that the idea of mashing them with butter and milk also came form Scottish-Irish influence.

Cranberries were native to New England. Cranberries and blueberries were mashed with sour milk and used as paint as well as for food.  To this day, these colors or variations of these colors are used in New England colonial homes.

Many types of squash had reached Europe, but pumpkin was unknown at that time. Pumpkin was used in the early colonies, but did not appear in cookbooks until Amelia Simmons in 1796 wrote the first printed American cookbook.  She referred to it as “pomkin”.  You may prefer pecan pie – and these are also of American origin.  Originating in central and eastern North America and the river valleys of Mexico, pecans were widely used by pre-colonial residents.

Cornbread and sweet potatoes (both being native to the Americas) round out our traditional Thanksgiving fare. Archaeological studies indicate that corn was cultivated in the Americas at least 5600 years ago and American Indians were growing corn long before Europeans landed here. The probable center off origin is the Central American and Mexico region but since the plant is found only under cultivation, no one can be sure.

The sweet potato has a rich history and interesting origin. It is one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind. Scientists believe that the sweet potato was domesticated thousands of years ago in Central America. Christopher Columbus took sweet potatoes back home to Europe after his first 1492 voyage. Sweet potatoes spread through Asia and Africa after being introduced in China in the late 16th century.

So as you enjoy your Thanksgiving this year, give thanks to the Americas for our traditional foods that are truly “made in America”.

BTW –Many of the foods we find on our Thanksgiving table today, weren’t  available back when the colonists celebrated the First Thanksgiving in Plymouth.  The first historical descriptions of the first Thanksgiving do not mention turkey – only “wild fowl” (not identified) and five deer.  The party was in 1621 with fifty-one Pilgrim men, women, and children hosting ninety men of the Wampanoag tribe and their chief, Massasoit.  It was in the fall to celebrate the good harvest of corn (wheat and barley weren’t as successful) and lasted three days.

Have a great Thanksgiving Day from Food, Facts & Fads and STAY SAFE.  SJF

Ultra Processed Foods: A Study from Brazil

Every year, the average American eats 33 pounds of cheese and 70 pounds of sugar. Every day, we ingest 8,500 milligrams of salt, double the recommended amount, almost none of which comes from shakers on our table. It comes from processed food, an industry that hauls in $1 trillion in annual sales.

Michael Moss, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.

CLICK HERE.

A Very Short Guide to Live the Mediterranean Way

How to Live the Mediterranean Way and How to Feed Your Microbiome: Rules to Live By:  

“Each country around the Mediterranean Sea offers a rich bounty of delicious ingredients. Many authors have written about the Mediterranean Diet in terms of the health benefits that have been shown by an exhaustive array of scientific studies on its merits. The diet is now recognized as an “intangible cultural heritage” in Italy by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is a way of life and a way of eating, which the Italians call “Cucina genuine” or “cuisine of the poor”.  This is the diet of those who work the land and feed themselves using seasonal ingredients grown in their small plots outside the kitchen”.

The following characteristics attempt to describe the “Americanized” version of how to live and eat the Mediterranean way – it is not just a diet but a gift to a healthier lifestyle.”

DIET: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. (Michael Pollan). Whole grains, unprocessed foods, fruits, and vegetables. It is not a diet but a lifestyle.

Eat meat in moderation. Limit your saturated fat, sugar and salt intake. Snack on nuts. Reduces inflammatory foods

Practice mindfulness, smaller servings, early light dinners.

Try yogurt, beans, chickpeas (hummus (fermentable foods) like sauerkraut – gives us a diverse microenvironment

Maintain a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) 19.0 – 25.0

Drink plenty of water

EXERCISE:

Take a walk. Enjoy the sunshine.

Stay active. Get gardening.

Exercise improves cognition and stress reduction

BEHAVIORAL, SOCIAL

1-2 Glasses of red wine (daily): Optional (if you don’t drink wine, don’t start) 

Have a purpose in life (a reason to get up in the morning).

Laugh with friends.

Keep your brain active (read, puzzles, learn a language) card games

Focus on family, God, camaraderie, nature

Reduce stress and avoid eating when angry or sad.

Enjoy the secret pleasures and social aspect of foods.  Become more expert at listening to your gut feelings. (mind/body).  

Citations: 

Diane Phillps, The Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook, Chronicle Books, 2012.

Emeran Mayer, MD. The Mind-Gut Connection, Harper Collins, 2016.

Dan Buettner The Blue Zones Challenge, National Geographic, 2021.