Here Comes Another Study: Telomeres and Heart Disease

Telomeres protect your cells, so the longer your telomeres, the better. As we get older, the shorter they become as a natural process. In 2014, researchers looked at a group of people who regularly consumed 20 ounces (600 mlL) or more of soda daily. The study, was published in the American Journal of Public Health reported that the soda drinkers’ telomeres shortened much more quickly than the norm – the equivalent of more than four and one-half years in addition to the normal aging that would take place over the course of a year.

The subjects of the study included only healthy adults with no history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease. The authors recommended that additional research (as it always does in diet studies) may have linkage between diet and disease.

It’s important to examine the pathways from “soda” to cell” including telomeres and their role in aging as well as understanding them might improve risk factors for cardio metabolic disease, one of the major associations of diet and heart disease. Please search for telomeres in the blog (that have some interesting diagrams of telomeres and their structures.

Source: You Are What Your Grandparents Ate. Nutrition, Experience, Epigenetics, & the Origins of Chronic Disease Judith Finlayson 2019.

Food and Mood? Neuronutrients

Good Mood Foods: How Diet Affects Happiness

Lani Muelrath is a bestselling author, speaker, and TV host known for her expertise in plant-based, active, and mindful living. This article is adapted from her newest book, The Mindful Vegan, a 30-day plan for shedding old thinking patterns and living more joyfully with food.

If you are presently piling plenty of colorful plants on your plate, you are already at a better mood advantage. Research tells us that plant-based diets are associated with healthier mood states. The more fruits and vegetables people eat, the happier, less depressed, and more satisfied they are with their lives. Today, we’ll focus on how, grounded in your biochemistry, eating more plants and eliminating animals and their products from your diet creates greater mental well-being and resilience.

Plantified Plate = Mood Elevator Up

A recent study of nearly 1,000 men and women examined the mood impact of obtaining dietary antioxidants. Antioxidants are health- and disease-protective bioactive chemical compounds produced by plants. In the study, those who ate three or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day reported significantly greater optimism than those who ate less. Eating lots of veggies also bumps up the B vitamins in your diet, positively affecting mood states.

Another recent, large-population, multi-wave study — taking place five times over the course of nine years — focused on the impact of fruit and vegetable intake on depression, anxiety, and mental health disorders.

Results were consistent across all five waves: greater fruit and vegetable consumption was positively associated with reduced depression, less psychological distress, fewer mood and anxiety problems, and improved perceived mental health.

Study after study corroborates. A large Swiss survey reported significant associations between higher fruit and vegetable consumption and reduced distress levels. People who ate less than the five-servings-a-day recommendation had a higher likelihood of reporting stress and anxiety than those who didn’t. A recent study on women’s health from Australia followed over 6,000 women. The findings? Reduced depression among women who simply ate more than two pieces of fruit a day. And the benefit increased when accompanied by higher intakes of vegetables.

Can Cutting Meat Improve Your Mood?

We get it — eating more plants boosts your mood. What if we look at it another way — cutting out the meat? How might that affect your state of mind? As it turns out, emotional resiliency and elevated mood states arise for more reasons than simply because you know you are doing the right thing. There’s a deeper biochemical component that underpins well-being that comes with veganizing your plate.

According to research, reduced intake of animals and their products has mood benefits in addition to those that come with a robust daily intake of fruits and vegetables. Avoiding meat, fish, and poultry leads to more frequent reports of positive states of mind. And vegans report lower anxiety and less stress than omnivores.

Inflammation and Increased Risk of Depression

Putting it all together, the Western diet — characterized by scanty consumption of plant foods, yet heavy on the animal products — is associated with increased risk of depression. Depression is related to inflammation in the body. Arachidonic acid, found only in animal products, is a precursor to inflammation. Research shows that high intakes of arachidonic acid promote changes in the brain that can disturb mood.

Here’s how it works. By eating chicken, eggs, and other animal products high in arachidonic acid, a series of chemical reactions is triggered in your body that results in inflammation. When inflammation reaches the brain, feelings of anxiety, stress, hopelessness, and depression follow. No wonder people who avoid animal flesh and products report a happier, more positive mood. And plant foods — to the rescue, once again — naturally lower inflammation due to their naturally high antioxidant content, antioxidants being one of nature’s most powerful anti-inflammatory agents.

Nutrients provide the biological building blocks for neurotransmitters — the chemicals in your brain that deeply affect how you think and feel. When you aren’t eating enough vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, and related nutrients found in plants — known in this context as neuronutrients — you can’t make adequate mood-enhancing transmitters. These gems of plant nutrition, by the way, are the same goodies proved to be brain protective against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Diets rich in the kind of saturated fats that are abundant in animal products — and deficient in antioxidants and vitamins — appear to promote the onset of the disease, whereas diets rich in plant-plentiful vitamins, antioxidants, and polyphenols suppress its onset. All the colors plants bring to your plate are evidence of the nutrients your brain needs for better disposition. No wonder just seeing your luncheon salad makes your mood brighten.

_{Author Sources:}

_{1. Bonnie L. Beezhold, Carol S. Johnston, and Deanna R. Daigle, “Vegetarian Diets Are Associated with Healthy Mood States: A Cross-Sectional Study in Seventh Day Adventist Adults,” Nutrition Journal 9, no. 26 (2010), doi:10.1186/1475-2891-9-26.}
_{2. Ciara Rooney, Michelle C. McKinley, and Jayne V. Woodside, “The Potential Role of Fruit and Vegetables in Aspects of Psychological Well-Being: A Review of the Literature and Future Directions,” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 72, no. 4 (2013): 420–32, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24020691.}
_{3. Juila Boehm et al., “Association between Optimism and Serum Antioxidants in the Midlife in the United States Study,” Psychosomatic Medicine 75, no. 1 (2013): 2–10, http://aging.wisc.edu/pdfs/3006.pdf.}
_{4. Ulka Agarwal, “A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of a Nutrition Intervention Program in a Multiethnic Adult Population in the Corporate Setting Reduces Depression and Anxiety and Improves Quality of Life: The GEICO Study,” American Journal of Health Promotion 29, no. 4 (2015), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24524383.}
_{5. Seanna E. McMartin, Felice N. Jacka, and Ian Colman, “The Association between Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Mental Health Disorders: Evidence from Five Waves of a National Survey of Canadians,” Preventative Medicine 56, no. 3–4 (2013): 225–30, doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.12.016.}
_{6. Aline Richard et al., “Associations between Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Psychological Distress: Results from a Population-Based Study,” BMC Psychiatry}
_{endnotes 15, no. 213 (2015), http://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-015-0597-4.}
_{7. S. Mihrshahi, A. J. Dobson, and G. D. Mishra, “Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Prevalence and Incidence of Depressive Symptoms in Mid-age Women: Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69, no. 5 (2014): 585–91, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25351653.}
_{8. Tamlin S. Conner, et al., “On Carrots and Curiosity: Eating Fruit and Vegetables Is Associated with Greater Flourishing in Daily Life,” British Journal of Health Psychology 20, no. 2 (2015): 413–27, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25080035.}
_{9. Bonnie L. Beezhold et al., “Vegans Report Less Stress and Anxiety Than Omnivores,” Nutritional Neuroscience 18, no. 7 (2014),}

The Blue Zone

A look inside the United States’ first-ever certified “Blue Zone” located in Minnesota

By Erin Hassanzadeh

Updated on: December 1, 2023 / 12:45 PM CST / CBS Minnesota

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Living to 100 may seem like a major feat, but there are communities around the world where it’s common — they’re called “Blue Zones.”

Minnesota native Dan Buettner is one of the foremost experts on how they work. Buettner’s new Netflix documentary and New York Times bestsellers reveal the secret recipe to longevity.

“It’s really what they’re not doing. They’re not doing anything consciously, and there’s where we get it wrong,” Buettner said. “We think we can resolve to get on the right diet, the right exercise program, supplement plan, superfoods, and get healthier. But it never works.”

Buettner said that the “superagers” are often walking outside, having spontaneous conversations with the people they bump into, having a smaller dinner, and eating mostly a whole food, plant-centric diet.

Several years ago, a Minnesota community decided it wanted families to follow his guidance. Albert Lea made headlines in 2016 when it became the first community in the country to be a certified Blue Zones community.

“I came to Albert Lea in 2008 with this crazy idea of doing this pilot project to help us live longer and better,” Cathy Malakowsy said.

Neighbors like Mary Jo Volkman hopped on the bandwagon, living the Blue Zone life — with more movement, socializing and healthy eating habits.

“I remember people getting together and walking all the time and going to people’s homes to have meals together,” Volkman said.

The community added more events, healthier school lunches and community spaces like dog parks— encouraging people to get together and get moving,

The Mayo Clinic in Albert Lea hopped on board as the largest employer in town with similar values.

“Getting people on board was easy. I think our challenge has been keeping it alive over this time. With anything, it’s going to ebb and flow,” Tricia Dahl with the Mayo Clinic said.

Part of the blue zone build-out was constructing a walkway along the highway in Albert Lea so it allows residents to walk to the local Walmart and do their errands if they want. It’s also safer for pedestrians and cuts down on emissions from cars, moving them closer to their climate action goals.

“We’ve added almost 13 new miles of sidewalks and user trails in town,” Malakowsy said.

Employers like Arcadian Bank keep Blue Zones alive with their healthy vending options. They also have break rooms for nursing moms and workout spaces for movement and respite throughout the workday.

“That’s what we’re trying to do is just make healthy habits available to people,” Jessica Tomschin said.

According to the results of a self-reported survey, residents’ overall well-being, sense of community and sense of purpose is up.

“So many people report that they are thriving. Albert Lea has really dropped in the percentages of people with high blood pressure, same with high cholesterol. For some reason we’re lagging with exercise,” Malakowsy said. “Our tobacco use has dropped down.”

Of course, there are headwinds too.

“Food continues to be our big challenge — access to food on our south side of town,” Malakowsy said.

But community leaders say trying to make life better for everyone brings the “it” factor to Albert Lea.

“We figured out we’re a Blue Zones community, which is all about being a great place to live,” Malakowsy said.

Why do some people get Covid more severely than others?

COVID-19 strikes with alarming inconsistency. Most recover quickly while others die. The disease devastates some communities and spares others. Understanding why and how COVID-19 preys on some and not others is essential to limiting its spread and mitigating its impact.

Prevention, averting, detecting, and restricting disease, is always better than even the most effective treatment. In the first place, We need answers to verify the findings of any new promising study.

Ever wonder why some places on the globe suffer from the virus so differently than others? Can the Blue Zones populations give us some answers?

https://www.bluezones.com/2020/05/why-covid-19-hits-some-people-and-places-differently/#

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.

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???

In the News: Keto diets and cancer?

Medical News Today:

New research explores the benefits of keto diets for reversing colorectal cancer in mice.

“Colorectal cancer (CRC) is reported to be the third most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. Studies have shown that high-sugar diets, and excessive consumption of animal protein — especially red meat — increase CRC risk.

On the other hand, studies show that diets involving fasting and caloric restriction are against intestinal tumors in animal models. Whether they may translate over to humans remains unknown.

Recently, researchers conducted a series of mouse studies investigating the underlying protective mechanisms behind a low-carb diet for CRC. A new study demonstrated in a mice model that it prevents colorectal cancer by activating a growth slowing receptor which is found in the lining of the bowel. This receptor may play an important role in preventing cell growth within the intestine,”

Understanding more about the mechanisms underlying the effects of various diets on tumor growth could help researchers develop treatments and preventative options for CRC.“

The new study was published in.

Dmitrieva-Posocco, O., Wong, A.C., Lundgren, P. et al. β-Hydroxybutyrate suppresses colorectal cancer. Nature 605, 160–165 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04649-6

Lifestyle and Longevity

Does chronological age always match biological age? According to a recent study, 1500 elderly women aged 64 to 95 years who sit for more than 10 hours a day have cells that are biologically older by 8 years compared to women who are more active. These women had shorter telomeres which are found on the ends of DNA strands. These structures protect chromosomes from degradation and normally shorten with age but more progressively with unhealthy lifestyles such as obesity or smoking.

Aladdin Shadyab. Lead author. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The research was partly funded by the National Institute on Aging.

Is Fake Meat “Dead”?

CLICK HERE.

Why Should We Care About Epigenetics?

Epigenetics is a hot topic right now and appears more in news articles as science makes further associations. It is becoming more obvious that our lifestyle and experiences can affect our genes and can be passed down to our children and grandchildren through genetic pathways.

Factors that can influence epigenetics can include: Diet, physical activity, sleep, stress, inflammation, chemicals products, UV rays, and environmental pollution.

DNA is the blueprint for the instructions for the entire body, but chemical tags called methyl groups make up what is called the epigenome to decide which genes are active – this is called methylation or gene expression. It is often referred to as an “on and off switch” that turns on or off certain genes. It is what makes identical twins different over time. Although our DNA code does not change, the epigenome is flexible and reacts to our environment. Our experiences help shape how genes are expressed.

DNA methylation works by adding a chemical group to specific places on the DNA as “tags” where it blocks the proteins that attach to the DNA to “read the gene”. This chemical group called a methyl group can be removed through a process called demethylation. Typically, methylations turn genes “off” and demethylation turns genes “on”.

Women are not solely responsible for the health of their future children. Science is finding that the health of a man’s unborn children can be affected by things like the man’s diet, life experiences and trauma, exposure to toxins and how old he is at conception.

DNA is not our destiny. Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affects the way your genes work. Through epigenetic tags, parents’ experiences and lifestyle can affect the genes that are passed down to their children and grandchildren.

A proper lifestyle “turns on” protective genes and “turns off” disease-producing genes by their positive impact on the epigenome.

Citation:

Why Should I Care About Epigenetics? Utah Valley Pediatrics, September 30, 2013