Nutrition information is abundant but often confusing. Food, Facts and Fads helps you to separate the sense from the nonsense
“Indeed, the already booming nut-milk industry is projected to see continuous growth. Much of this is driven by beliefs about health, with ads claiming “dairy free” as a virtue that resonates for nebulous reasons—many stemming from an earlier scare over saturated fat—among consumers lactose intolerant and tolerant alike.”
Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are conditions that are strongly related to the development of heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and other diseases leading to disabilities and death in the U.S. today. The following are types of foods that increase inflammation: oxidative stress, or both.
Decreased: Colorful fruits and vegetables, dried beans, whole grain, fish and seafood, red wines, dark chocolate, olive oil, nuts, coffee.
Increased: Processed and high-fat meats, high-fat dairy products, baked products, snack foods with trans fats, soft drinks, other high-sugar beverages.
“The prevalence and severity of today’s hypertension crisis cannot be overstated. Too many people over ages 65 and 75 have dangerously elevated systolic blood pressure. On the basis of the available evidence, we can roughly estimate years of life lost attributable to hypertension. From the data we were able to collect and analyze, we estimate that approximately 37,712,740 years of life may have been lost between 1980 and 2014 due to hypertension as an underlying cause in adults aged 45 to 85+ years.”
Source: Add Five More Years with One Therapy, Life Extension, The Science of a Healthier Life”. Executive Summary, 2021
Blood pressure has typically been measured by a doctor visit and if needed, the patient is given at least one (or two) prescriptions for lowering your blood pressure if necessary)(like a diuretic, e.g.) These drugs have served us fairly well in blood pressure control; however, one therapy is hardly mentioned as part of prevention or treatment along with the proper drug therapy, that if followed could enhance this goal.
That would be a diet that has been tested by research and shows up in the popular media as the second most popular diet known as the DASH Diet (Dietary Approach to STOP Hypertension not only for weight control but for blood pressure control also. In the list below, hypertensive disease ranked third as the top underlying medical conditions linked with COVID-19 deaths often associated with a more severe infection.
The following are the top underlying medical conditions linked with COVID-19 deaths.
* Influenza and pneumonia
* Respiratory failure
* Hypertensive disease
* Diabetes
* Vascular and unspecified dementia
* Cardiac Arrest
* Heart failure
* Renal failure
* Intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning and other adverse events
* Other medical conditions
For more on the DASH CLICK HERE.
“The evidence that too much steak is bad for the heart continues to pile up. A new report finds consuming red meat and processed foods, like sausages and bacon, leads to patients with poorer heart function.”
This study was interesting since it examined some vital structures of the heart by various imaging methods.
Glossary:
Apoptosis: the death of cells which occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism’s growth or development. Also called programmed cell death.
Senescence: the state that cells reach when they stop dividing but do not die.
Telomeres: bits of DNA at the end of a chromosome that protects it during the process of cell division.
Telomerase: an enzyme, often referred to as “anti-aging” that maintains telomeres, helping to keep them long.
Telomeres shorten with age and progressive telomere shortening leads to senescence and/or apoptosis. Older people with shorter telomeres have three to eight times increased risk to die from heart disease and infectious diseases, respectively. Rate of telomere shortening is therefore critical to an individual’s health and pace of aging. Smoking, exposure to pollution, lack of physical activity, obesity, stress, and an unhealthy diet increase oxidative burden and rate of telomere shortening. To preserve telomeres and reduce cancer risk and pace of aging, we may consider to eat less; include antioxidants, fiber, soy protein, and healthy fats (derived from avocados, fish, and nuts) in our diet; and stay lean, active, healthy, and stress-free from regular exercise and meditation.
Healthy foods such as tuna, salmon, herring, mackerel, halibut, anchovies, catfish, grouper, flounder flax seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, kiwi, black raspberries, lingonberries, green tea, broccoli, red grapes, tomatoes, olives area excellent choices. These combined with a Mediterranean type of diet containing whole grains would help protect telomeres.
Source: Telomeres, lifestyle, cancer, and aging
Current Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2011 Janurary; 14(1):28-34
A study published in 2018 looked at fiber intake and telomere length in over 5,000 U.S. adults.
Researchers found there was a significant linear relationship between fiber consumption and telomere length. The more fiber subjects consumed, the longer their telomeres tended to be.
Here’s what the authors found:
“A difference of 4.8 to 6.0 years in cell aging was found between those in the lowest compared with the highest quartiles of fiber intake. Overall, the present study highlights the risk of accelerated aging among U.S. women and men who do not consume adequate amounts of dietary fiber.”
The study reported subjects were eating an average of 13.6 grams of fiber per day before starting the study, which is less than 50% of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends the intake of 14 g of fiber per 1000 calories.
The best part is some of the most healthy and delicious foods pack the fiber.
It seems a few servings of high fiber foods per day keeps the telomere shortening at bay.
Source: Dietary Fiber and Telomere Length in 5674 U.S. Adults: An NHANES Study of Biological AgingDietary Fiber and Telomere Length in 5674 U.S. Adults: An NHANES Study of Biological Aging
Greater Cruciferous Vegetable Intake Associated with less Aortic Calcification
To Define:
“Aortic calcification, also known as aortic valve calcification (or sclerosis) is a condition where large calcium deposits get accumulated in the aorta of the heart. These calcium deposits can cause the opening of the aortic valve to become narrow and reduce the flow of blood to the heart resulting in chest pain and heart attack.”
“Aorta – the main artery of the body, supplying oxygenated blood to the circulatory system. In humans. “
A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed an association between an increased intake of Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and other cruciferous vegetables and less extensive abdominal aortic calcification (AAC defined above) in older women. The study population included 684 women with a mean age of 75 who previously had enrolled in the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study (1998) conducted at the University of Western Australia. Diet intake questionnaires were given to participants and calcification detected as extensive or not extensive was determined by imaging techniques.
A correlation was observed between greater cruciferous vegetable intake and a reduction of AAC. Women whose intake of the vegetables was more than 44.6 grams a day (equivalent of 1/4 cup of steamed broccoli or 1/2 cup of raw cabbage had a 46% lowered adjusted risk of extensive AAC, compared to those whose intake was less than 15 grams a day. Total vegetable intake, including other types of vegetables, was not related with risk.
Interestingly, cruciferous vegetables have had positive results with lessening disease risk not only in heart calcification but in cancer prevention. Vegetables in this family not only include broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, but bok choy, kale, kolrabi, and Swiss chard. These vegetables are excellent sources of a family of anticancer phytochemicals called isothocynates that fight cancer by neutralizing carcinogens.
Broccoli also contains high levels of a phytochemical called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane increases the activation of enzymes known as phase-2 enzymes, which help fight carcinogens. According to the Department of Urology at Stanford University published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, sulforaphane is the most potent inducer of phase-2 enzymes of any phytochemical known to date.
SOURCE: Life Extension, February, 2021
Bowden, Jonny, Ph.D., C.N.S. The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, 2007
Pre diabetes linked to cognitive decline
“People with higher than normal blood sugar called prediabetes, are more likely to experience cognitive decline and vascular dementia according to a study published in Diabetes, Metabolism, and Obesity.
Researchers analyzed UK biobank data from almost 450,000 people averaging 58 years old who underwent an HB A1C test, which determines average blood sugar levels over the past two to three months.
Based on these results, they were divided into one of five groups: low normal blood sugar, normal blood sugar, pre diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, and diabetes. Pre diabetes was classified as having a hemoglobin A1C blood test reading of 6.0% – 6.5% %. Ideal A1C levels are under 5.5%
Results show that people with above normal sugar levels were:
42% more likely to experience cognitive decline over four years and 54% were more likely to develop vascular dementia over eight years. Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.
People with prediabetes and diabetes had similar rates of cognitive decline 42% and 39% respectively.
MRI brain scans revealed that pre diabetes was associated with a smaller hippocampus in the brain and more strongly associated with having lesions on the brain, both of which are associated with age related cognitive impairment.”
Editor’s note: ‘Previous research has found a link between poor cognitive outcomes and diabetes, but our study is the first to investigate how having blood sugar levels that are relatively high but do not yet constitute diabetes – may affect our brain health”
Source: Diabetes Obes Metab. 2021; 1-10.
Life Extension, May 2021
Americans don’t live as long as people in most other high-income countries. We hear so much about how healthy habits are the recommendations of the medical community, but often they come across as vague and not specific enough. How many times has your doctor said, “watch your diet” as you leave his/her office. Here are the highlights of a study that actually investigated the adherence of these habits and how they related to longevity rates.
Researchers found that people who maintained five healthy lifestyle factors lived more than a decade longer than those who didn’t maintain any of the five.
A Study led by Frank Hu at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed data from more than 78,000 women and 44,000 men who participated in two nationwide surveys (Nurses Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.)
The study was funded by NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and National Cancer Institute and published in Circulation on April 30, 2018.
Data identified five different low-risk lifestyle factors and compared health outcomes for those who adopted all five with those who didn’t adopt any.
The Factors:
1. Maintaining a healthy eating pattern (like the Mediterranean Diet) The DASH Diet or the MIND Diet are also healthy choices. You can find details on Amazon Books.
2. Moderate drinking (2 glasses for men and 1 glass for women) daily.
3. Not smoking
4. Getting at least 3.5 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week
5. Maintaining a normal weight (18.5 to 24.9) BMI
Each participant’s medical history: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, age at death (when applicable).
Results:
At age 50, women who did not adopt any of the five healthy habits were estimated to live on average until they were 79 years old and men until they were 75.5 years.
In contrast, women who adopted all five healthy habits lived to 91.1 years and men lived to 87.6 years.
From the medical histories, Independently, each healthy lifestyle factor significantly lowered the risk of total death, death from cancer, and death from heart disease.
Source:
Tianna Hicklin, PhD. Healthy habits can lengthen life. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“There’s good news and bad news. Although Americans are suffering fewer heart attacks as a whole, the rate of heart attacks for people under 40 is increasing.
For the last several decades, aging has been established as one of the biggest risk factors for heart attacks, typically affecting men 50+ and women 65+. Now, people in their 20s, 30s and 40s are more often falling victim to these cardiovascular attacks.” Healthessentials; Cleveland Clinic, April 26, 2019
Prevention is so important – and a healthy lifestyle is the key.
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Over the past 20 years, many observational studies have found that people who regularly eat red or processed meats have higher rates of several cancers, notably of the colon and rectum. And lab studies have shown that compounds formed when meat is processed (that is, smoked, salted, or cured) or cooked at high temperatures can cause cancer in animals or cells. One of these compounds is called Advanced Glycation Endproducts or simply AGE’s. They may be a piece of the puzzle as to why meats are often associated with certain cancers.
That said, there are plenty of other reasons to moderate your intake of red and/or processed meats. There’s strong evidence linking them to cardiovascular disease. Also eating more plant-based foods and less meat is better for the environment resulting in less greenhouse gas production.
For more information on foods and AGEs, CLICK HERE.
FOOD, FACTS and FADS 