“It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.”    Bob Dylan.

I feel like that sometimes.  Heck, what do I eat?

In the last blog I told my readers that “low fat” dieting was dead.  Low fat dieting doesn’t help you lose weight or improve your health.

So, of course that raised the question, “If not low fat, then what?”  What is a healthy diet?   In the not-so-recent past, our health authorities got it wrong:

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

• Eat margarine/trans fats – they are “heart healthy.”
• Low or non-fat is good for you.
• Eggs are bad for you; they raise cholesterol.
• Red meat is bad for you: it’s bad for the heart and too much protein is bad      for bones.
• All foods, including sodas and junk foods, are okay in a balanced diet.
• Eat lots of carbs.
• Avoid tropical oils like coconut oil.

After a lot of research, here are my personal conclusions on what to eat for maximum pleasure and health. And really, don’t forget the pleasure.  Our enzymes and brain chemistry start to react in a good way when we see beautiful, well-prepared, colorful food.  Taking the time to enjoy is part of the healthy experience of eating.

Eat the Right Amount of High Quality Protein

This is especially important for people over 60. Older people need to eat 20 – 30 grams of protein three times a day to prevent muscle wastage. Recent research indicates that unless you eat enough protein at one time, your body won’t turn it into muscle.  And there is some research that says don’t eat carbs with your protein if you want to maximize muscle building. So eat the 4 oz steak and ditch the potato and bread. (Robinson, 2012)

Here is what I mean by “high quality.” Avoid deli meats.  Eat home grown eggs and real free range chickens if at all possible.  Get the best you can find. Eat range fed beef – it’s higher in omega-3s and tastier. Eat wild-caught Alaskan salmon – avoid farmed, it can be inflammatory and low in omega-3s. Canned salmon is one of the best cost/benefit proteins available.

Here is a good list of what 20 – 30 grams of protein looks like http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/highproteinfood.htm

Don’t Eat Gigantic Portions of Protein – It’s a Waste of Money

In general, an ounce of meat has 7 grams of protein.   Four ounces of meat at one meal is about right for maximum muscle building.  Eating more than 30 grams of protein at one sitting will not make more muscle.  Four ounces of meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards.

One study compared eating 4 oz of lean beef (about 30 g of protein) to 12 oz.  The 4 oz serving increased the building of muscle by approximately 50% in both young and older volunteers. Eating the 12 oz portion did not increase the amount of muscle in either young or elderly. (Symons, 2009)

Eat Fruits and Veggies

Fruits and veggies deliver antioxidants, vitamins, and trace minerals. However, I am not particularly in favor of the extreme raw food diet.  I think most people, especially older people, do better with vegetables well cooked in soups, stews, and crock-pot type meals.

Cut Back on Grains  

This is the hardest recommendation for most Americans.  Americans love their wheat and corn – chips, cookies, pasta, pizza, pies, bagels, and pastries.  It’s American food!

I really don’t know if it is the type of wheat and corn being grown these days (GMO, hybrids) or not, but it seems that when people go on a gluten-free or low-grain eating plan they feel better. I’ve looked into the research and it is not convincing either way – that grains are either all-good or all-bad.  Obviously if you have celiac disease, gluten is bad.

I’d say try cutting out grains for 3 weeks and then add them back in and see how you feel.

Alternatives to grains are acorn and butternut squash, spaghetti squash, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, quinoa (not a grain), and some of the lower-glycemic legumes like lentils.

Cut Back on Carbs

The research is growing that eating a diet high in carbs spikes blood sugar, disrupts weight chemistry, slows metabolism, and triggers food cravings.  I’m not in favor of severely low-carb diets, but just about every American can probably benefit from cutting back on carbs.

Eat Nuts.

Nuts are rich in good fats and protein and are a very satisfying food.

Eat Good Fats

Eat good fats like avocados, olive oil and coconut oil.  Don’t be shy.  Oils will increase your satisfaction and you’ll probably end up eating fewer calories and enjoying them more. Coconut oil is an excellent fat-burning food.

Eat Naturally Fermented Foods

These are pretty hard to find unless you make them yourself.  Commercial “fermented”  foods are usually pasteurized which kills all the good bacteria you’re fermenting them for in the first place.  Eating homemade sauerkraut, pickles, kimchee, yogurts, and more will   deliver healthy, good bacteria to your digestive system.  Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon is a good guide to home fermentation.

Of course where there’s food there’s controversy these days.  What about dairy?  Huge hunks of processed cheese and gallons of pasteurized milk — probably not so good.  Small portions of sheep, goat or traditionally made cheeses, fermented yogurts and kefirs, goat milk and organic milk – probably good.

Change Is Good!

Changing food habits is one of the most difficult changes to make – and it pays off in the biggest rewards.  Do your best to identify the unhealthy foods you love and find a substitute that is just as satisfying.  For example, switch from sodas to soda water and a splash of fruit juice, then just flavored soda water.  It may take some time to retrain your taste buds from the zing of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, carbs, grains, and trans fats to naturally tasty foods.  It’s worth it.

Robinson S, et al. Nutrition and Sarcopenia: A Review of the Evidence and Implications for Preventive Strategies. J Aging Res. 2012; 2012: 510801. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3312288/

Symons TB,  A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):1582-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.06.369.

Here I am at my credit union and super market:  “No thank you, no receipt” as I draw my fingers back in horror like they are offering me poison. In fact, they are.

 The credit union cashier looks at me like I’m nuts.  I feel nuts.  Taking a receipt, and even crumpling it up and throwing it away, is an automatic habit.  It’s a habit I’m trying to break.

Why?

The coating on receipts, the liner inside canned foods, and clear plastic containers are common sources of a poisonous chemical, BPA, that increases your risk of getting fat.  This type of chemical is called an “obesogen”  (obese-oh-gen).

BPA disrupts hormones, especially estrogen.  It increases excess amounts of toxic forms of estrogen. When you have too much estrogen, it upsets your sugar balance, insulin release, pancreatic health and your fat cells.   All of this can increase your risk of getting fat – even if you don’t overeat.  When I first heard of this a few years ago, I could hardly believe it.  Environmental chemicals can make me fat?

Breaking News – Government Scientists Admit
Environmental Chemicals May Be Linked to Weight Gain

Now, even conservative governmental scientific organizations say it’s probably true. The following is from a review paper published by scientists representing the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in 2012.

 “There has been increasing interest in the concept that exposures to environmental chemicals may be contributing factors to the epidemics of diabetes and obesity.”

BPA

“Overall, this breakout group con­cluded that the existing data, primarily based on animal and in vitro studies, are suggestive of an effect of BPA on … adipogenesis [fat cells].”

Conclusion

“Overall, the workshop review of the existing literature supports the plausibility of the “obe­sogen” hypothesis …”

BPA at even tiny, tiny amounts (a quarter of a billionth of a gram of BPA caused metabolic disorders in mice) can throw both men’s and women’s hormones out of whack.  And when you crumple up that receipt?  It’s worse.  Because it’s usually warm, crumpling it up forces the BPA into your skin where it’s absorbed into your body. Ugh.

Okay, and this is really scary – BPA is found in some toilet paper!  Ugh Ugh.

Estrogen Excess Increases Risk of Breast and Prostate Health Problems

Weight gain isn’t the only scary side effect of too much estrogen.  Scientists are discovering that too much estrogen in breast and prostate tissue can lead to an unhealthy shift in normal cell replication and balance.  Keeping your breasts and prostates healthy is an estrogen issue.

I’m No Saint

It’s easier to say “avoid BPA” than to do it.  I find myself just taking the darn old receipt – and yes, crumpling it up — instead of looking like a fool.  I look at my new burr grinder for coffee beans which I love and I just know that clear plastic tray has BPA in it.  Sigh.

And I do love making salmon patties from canned salmon for an easy “healthy” dinner.

The Lignan Solution to Estrogen Excess

So I’ve decided to reduce my exposure to BPA as best I can (I’m keeping my coffee grinder but not touching those receipts), and do something to help clear unwanted, excess estrogen out of my tissue. I’ve found that some foods and supplements that contain a compound called lignans may be my best bet.

There are three main sources of  lignans that are safely turned into a protective compound in the body called enterolactone:  flax seed, sesame seed and a supplement made from knots of the Norway Spruce tree called HMR Lignan.

Men Who Eat More Lignans Have Healthier Prostates

Large population studies with middle aged and older men have found that increased intake of lignans and higher blood levels of enterolactone  are associated with helping promote prostate health.

Women Who Eat More Lignans Have Healthier Breasts

Large population studies have found that higher intakes of lignans and especially higher blood levels of enterolactone are associated with promoting breast health in both younger and older women.

 What About Fat Prevention With Lignans?

I’ll keep you posted.  There are no studies that I know of right now that have connected a higher intake of lignans with weight loss or weight stability, but just because they haven’t studied it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.  Meanwhile, I’m eating my sesame seed butter, grinding up a few flax seeds daily, and taking a supplement of HMR Lignan.  The dietary amount thought to keep breasts and prostates healthy is 50 mg a day.  Most Americans get 1 mg.  There’s room for improvement.

I just got back from some traveling and I wasn’t doing my regular Tai Chi class and I wasn’t taking my joint supplement and my knees got stiffer and ached more.  Coincidence?  Hmmm. Probably not.

The scientific evidence in favor of doing Tai Chi to reduce pain in arthritis sufferers and promote mobility and balance is so strong that the conservative Arthritis Foundation is actually promoting classes. http://www.arthritis.org/tai-chi.php

People with arthritis who do Tai Chi have significantly less pain.

Why does Tai Chi work so well at slashing pain and improving symptoms of arthritis?  No one really knows.  Those who teach Tai Chi say that it activates healthy energy channels in the body.  I’ve been doing it for 10 years and it has really helped my sore knees feel better – the trick is I’ve got to do it.

ARTHRITIS IS NOT A “WEAR-AND-TEAR” PROBLEM

The scientific evidence clearly shows that exercise does NOT make arthritis worse, and in fact makes it better.  Tai chi, water exercises, tango, walking, strength training, yoga, rubber band resistance training — all help reduce arthritis pain and improve functioning.

Exercise for arthritis may sound strange.  Many experts are still calling arthritis a “wear and tear” problem. They are wrong. You don’t get arthritis by moving your joints a lot.

An article in Time magazine reported on a 21-year study at Stanford University.  Researchers matched runners with healthy non-runners.  None of the participants had arthritis when the study began.  After 21 years, the researchers found that runners did not have more knee arthritis than the non-runners.

Runners who ran longer distances – an average of 2,000 miles a year – did not have worse knees than those who ran 200 miles a year.

Arthritis is not a problem of using your joints too much.  It’s a problem with inflammation that breaks down cartilage. Cartilage is the padding between the bones in your joints.

Scientists aren’t sure what exactly causes the start of this inflammation in the cartilage and the fluid surrounding it.  Some possible culprits are: an earlier injury; obesity which is an inflammatory state; taking pain pills like ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen which can damage cartilage cells, inflammatory foods like trans fats and sugar.

DEFEND EVERY SCRAP OF CARTILAGE YOU’VE GOT

When an inflammatory cycle starts in the joint, it can eat away the cartilage until you end up with “bone on bone” and lots of pain and probably a joint replacement in your future.

Save your cartilage!

5 Ways to Protect Your Cartilage   

1. Keep your weight down.  It’s not the heaviness of the extra weight that causes the damage, but the inflammation.  Obesity cells are highly inflammatory throughout your body. People with extra weight have more knee arthritis.

2. Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen if at all possible.  Most people don’t know it, but these common pain pills can damage cartilage.  You may have less pain temporarily, but you may be damaging your precious cartilage in the long run.

3. Take a natural supplement that blocks inflammatory enzymes. The main compounds that destroy cartilage are inflammatory enzymes in the MMP3 family.  There is good evidence that a concentrated form of boswellia blocks these MMP3 enzymes.  Protecting cartilage from destruction helps slow the progression to “bone-on-bone.”

4. Do Tai Chi, water aerobics, tango, strength training, walking, qigong, yoga, etc…..  Exercise reduces inflammation, strengthens muscles, brings healing blood circulation to the joints, reduces pain and fights cartilage destruction.

5. Eat healthy. Avoid inflammatory foods like trans fats and high levels of sugar.  Eat fruits and veggies high in antioxidants.

WHAT ABOUT REBUILDING CARTILAGE?

I really want to believe there is a way to rebuild cartilage, but so far the evidence has not convinced me.  At one time we thought glucosamine might work.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be effective at rebuilding cartilage.  A 2010 review of 10 published studies found that glucosamine/chondroitin had no impact on the narrowing of joint space.   BMJ 2010;341:c4675

It is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard.  In fact, I first learned about it in a children’s science fiction book* – and for years thought it was just that, fiction.

Nope.  It’s real.

You can get more energy by increasing the number and health of your mitochondria (mite-oh-con-dree-ah).

What? You never heard of them? You, me and the rest of the world.

Well, you just might want to learn about the “care and feeding” of your mitochondria because they make nearly all the energy in your body. 

This is the weird part.  Up to 10,000 of them live inside just one of your heart cells. Thousands live inside each one of your muscle, brain and liver cells.  Only a few hundred live inside a skin cell.  (Skin cells don’t use much energy.) They’re everywhere – in every cell — and without them your body simply cannot make energy.

Mitochondria are tiny, tiny, reeeeeally tiny sausage-shaped “things.”  You can imagine how tiny they are because thousands of them can fit inside one cell.

They produce nearly all of the energy you use to hammer a nail, get up out of your chair, brush your hair,  walk around the store, move your eyeballs to watch TV, remember where you left your glasses, and keep your heart beating day and night, day and night, your whole life.

Here’s a quote from a scientific paper on mitochondria:

“The continuous circulatory pumping of blood by the heart …is dependent on healthy mitochondrial function [2].”

Got that? Your heart (and every other organ in your body) is dependent on healthy mitochondrial function. If you want that heart to keep going ka boom, ka boom, ka boom, ka boom, your brain to keep working and your muscles to keep moving – keep the mitochondria healthy.

Soooo…. Just how exactly do we do that? Most of us have never even heard of mitochondria, much less learned how to keep them healthy.

Care and Feeding of the Mitochondria

1. Protect them from damage. Mitochondria can be damaged by too much oxidation.  Because they burn oxygen for energy, they can get burned themselves.  Protect your mitochondria with specific mitochondrial antioxidants.  Not just any ol’ antioxidant will do (Rucker, 2009).  One spectacular mitochondrial antioxidant is PQQ.  Another really good one is N-Acetyl Cysteine or NAC. 

PQQ is a compound found in star dust that may be responsible for the physical origin of life on earth.  It can be found in small amounts in plants and fermented in the laboratory.  NAC is an amino acid.

Why you need protection: One team of researchers found that the muscle tissue of a 90-year-old man contained 95% damaged mitochondria compared to almost no damage in that of a 5-year-old. (Linnane, 1998)

2. Encourage the birth of NEW mitochondria to replace ones that die off.  This may be especially important as you get older.   Think about it. What does “youth” look like?  Lots of energy. Moving fast.  Lots of mitochondria.

What does “old age” look like?  Not much energy. Moving slowly.  Not so many mitochondria.

Grow more mitochondria and you increase your chance of having more energy.  So far, scientists say two excellent ways to “grow new mitochondria” are

• Moderate aerobic exercise
• Supplement with PQQ

A very recent scientific paper says PQQ stimulates new growth of mitochondria and may be the key to having lots of energy as you age  (Chowanadisai, 2010)

Take care of your mitochondria, and they will take care of you.

*A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engel.  The book is great.  Madeleine did make an error in her description of mitochondria though.  She said they “make oxygen.”  Not correct. Mitochondria use oxygen to make energy.

Fight over calcium?   Whaaat?   Who would have ever thought that the biggest fight happening in the supplement world right now would be about…. plain ol’ calcium supplements.

For years, just about everyone – including many doctors — agreed that taking supplemental calcium for bone health was a good idea.  Hardly anyone was questioning that even taking a LOT of calcium was a good way to strengthen bones – especially in women as they got older.

Now, three studies are making people question how much calcium in supplement form is good to take.  Taking too much may increase risk of heart problems.  Not having enough calcium may lead to weak bones. Weakening bones is no joke and so reducing your calcium intake is a big decision.

(I know how we Americans think.  Calcium is good for you? Take a LOT.  Too much calcium isn’t good?  Don’t take ANY.)   Well, noooo.

Should you stop taking calcium supplements?  After reading the news about the recent calcium/heart studies, my conclusion is no.

If you keep taking calcium supplements, how much can you safely take for bone health and heart health?  The large 2010 meta-analysis on calcium and the heart found that taking supplements of 500 mg a day or more resulted in a nearly 30% greater risk of heart problems. So, take less than 500 mg a day of calcium in supplement form.

And here’s the good news! The 2012 study published in the journal Heart found that people who took 820 mg a day of calcium from BOTH diet and supplements had a roughly 30% LOWER risk of heart issues than those with very low calcium intake.  Taking more calcium did not lower risk further.

So the take home message for me is:

• Take 300 – 400 mg a day of calcium from supplements. (Multi-vitamins are a good way to do this because they have magnesium, D3, K2– all good for balancing the calcium)
• Take about 500 mg a day or more of calcium from food.  There’s no indication that you can overdo calcium from food.

Taking a mixture of both supplements and calcium-rich foods will LOWER your risk of heart issues by about one third while supporting the strength of your bones. (Heart 2012,  NY Times O’Connor, 2012)

Not Just Calcium … There’s More!

What’s causing the problem?  Researchers are theorizing that just taking a calcium supplement alone without the buffering of all the other good things in foods may cause blood levels of calcium to spike and damage the arteries. They say you need minerals like magnesium, boron, and phosphorous and vitamins like vitamin D3 and K2 to support a healthy balance of calcium in the blood.

Vitamin K2 helps move the calcium out of the blood into the bone.  Just what you want. A just released human clinical study adds to the evidence from animal studies that 180 mcg (that’s micrograms) of vitamin K2 (best from supplements) helps support flexible and healthy arteries.

So, bottom line is, the current evidence supports the safety of taking a COMBO of 300-400 mg of calcium supplement plus 500 mg of food calcium a day.  Plus, it’s optimal to take vitamin D3, magnesium, K2 and other minerals and vitamins – from food and a good multivitamin.

The Green Way to Get Calcium

Cooked greens are good sources of calcium, especially kale and collards that don’t contain oxalic acid that block calcium absorption. But lets’ face it, most Americans aren’t going to eat cooked greens every day.

Here is a nifty and delicious way to get your “green calcium”  — make calcium vinegar.  It has a delightful “nutty” flavor. Use in vinaigrettes.

“Green” Calcium Vinegar

Take a quart jar and stuff it full of cut-up kale and/or collard leaves.

Cover all the way with apple cider vinegar. Put lid on.

Let sit for 6 weeks.

Strain and use in salads, soups, etc.

Some herbalists estimate that 1 Tablespoon of Calcium Vinegar can have up to 250 – 300 mg of calcium – about the same as a glass of milk.  http://botanical.com/site/column_susun/susun_vinegars.htm

Eating vinegar with meals may also help balance your blood sugar – an added benefit!   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1785201/

 Oh, you might want to cut out the “mega fortified” breakfast cereals that contain up to 1,000 mg of calcium. These are not “food sources” but supplement sources.

So, don’t panic.  Take 300 – 400 mg of supplemental calcium in your multi – along with all the other good stuff like D3, K2, and magnesium, and enjoy calcium in your food as well.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm#source

Heart 2012; 98:895-896.

New York Times blog

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/taking-calcium-may-pose-hart-risks/?pagemode+print

Calcium Supplements may be bad for your hearts: study

Reinbers S. Health Day