EARLY PROTEIN INTAKE AND LATER OBESITY RISK (08-04-08)
Early protein intake and later obesity risk: which protein sources at which time points throughout infancy and childhood are important for body mass index and body fat percentage at 7 y of age?
We have a perception in this society that the foods we eat today will have an effect on us in a few days, weeks or months, but the association with our health years down the line is very poor. Unfortunately, the choices we make today have massive implications for future health.
In this particular study, animal based proteins at 12 months led to an increased risk of being overweight at 7 years. And yes, dairy was particularly bad.
IS ALL GRASS FED MEAT THE SAME?
The easy answer is no. There are many people who are trying to improve their diets, but without knowing a single small detail it can be derailed quickly, even at stores like Whole Foods.
First, we need to address the “red meat” issue. We clearly have hunter gatherer genetics. We spent some 55,000 generations as hunter gatherers and it’s just not that easy to change. But, let’s face it–we probably weren’t the greatest hunters. Sure, we all envision our ancestors in a well disguised lean-to in camouflaged gear sporting a hunting rifle ready to take out a 12 point buck. In reality, our ancestors were probably better at hunting squirrels and insects than big game, although I’m sure the occasional hunter got lucky.
Overall, though, a plant based diet with <20% animal protein seems to be the best for us. Our choices for the animal protein we take in are critical and need to be of high quality. This last aspect is what is severely missing in our country and we’re paying the health price for it. When most people think of meat, they think of chicken, beef and pork. Or rather, commercially grown, hormone laden, grotesquely large-breasted chicken, corn fed, highly stressed, living in their own feces beef or pork. And we won’t even begin to get into the concept of xenohormesis in this post…
The greater our protein options are, the better. When we choose animal proteins, these need to be of the highest quality. That means organic, free range chicken. It means wild game. It means grass FINISHED beef.
The last is an important factor that many are not aware of. Even if an animal is raised as grass fed, if they grain finish (most commonly with corn), the ranchers have completely undone the benefits of the grass feeding. This will raise the omega 6 content of the meat, instead of the higher omega 3 content found in animals grass fed throughout the entire life cycle.
This particular study, although it is a mouse study, illustrates this point beautifully. Researchers looked at the effect of different feeding practices of animal proteins (grass fed, grain finished, wild) and how they affected prostaglandin levels. Prostaglandins can be pro- or anti-inflammatory depending on the type. PEG2 will promote inflammation while PGI2 will help to keep our blood clot free and lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The results, after 2 weeks on specific diets, are summarized as follows:
- chicken-based diet increased PGE2 (bad)
- PGE2 was lowest in with range-fed beef, range-fed bison, and elk (good)
- PGE2 was highest with grain-finished beef (bad)
- elk meat had the greatest PGI2 (good)
The bottom line is that we should maintain a plant based diet with our animal protein < 20% of our intake. If we take in animal proteins, they need to be of the highest quality and consist ideally of locally grown, grass fed throughout the entire life cycle beef, wild caught fish or wild game. The extra cost will be offset by the small quantities.
January 10, 2002
James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiropractic.com
www.lifecarechiropractic.com
Physical and psychological correlates of headache in young adults.
Sometimes I am amazed at just how prevalent headaches are in today’s society, both in research studies and in my own practice. Not that it’s any great surprise, but this study finds that neck and back injuries before age 12 were linked to tension HA in young adults. I would like to change this to improperly treated neck and back injuries. HA originated from the neck muscles is an incredibly common cause of HA, and yet I cannot tell you how many patients come into my office that have had HA for literally decades, and NO ONE HAS EVER TOUCHED THEIR NECK!! It just makes me want to throttle someone that a significanct portion of this patient’s HA could have been eliminated decades earlier if someone had just addressed the cervical spine and musculature. JNNP — Abstracts: Waldie and Poulton 72 (1): 86. Click here for more information.
Dietary Antioxidants and Asthma in Adults.
I’m not going into a long tirade about fruits and veggies being an integral part of a healthy life and how very few people here in the US even come close to 5+ servings per day. Instead, I will use this article to press a very important issue. Rarely is asthma treated with anything other than pharmaceutical drugs that deplete bone and stunt growth, and yet there is compound research that shows that asthma indeed can be affected by lifestyle choices. We need to start making those recommendations. AJRCCM — Abstracts: SHAHEEN et al. 164 (10): 1823. Click here for more information.
Sex hormone binding globulin as prepubertal marker for hyperinsulinaemia.
This is an interesting article that may give us some insight on preventing the startling rise in Syndrome X prevalence. Exactly what role SHBG plays is not yet known, but lower levels may increase free concentrations of hormones such as testosterone, and this hyperandrogenicity may be the real player. Either way, I feel that finding markers for those at risk so they can make lifestyle changes would be a moot point if everyone make healthier lifestyle choices… ADC — Abstracts: Galloway et al. 85 (6): 489. Click here for more information.
Hypothalamic involvement in chronic migraine.
This is a very interesting article that relates hormonal dysregulation between the hypothalamus and adrenal glands as a causative factor in chronic migraines. The article suggests that delayed melatonin release and hypercortisolemia may be factors causing the HA. It always bothers me when I have patients that come in with HA that have been put on pain meds or antidepressents. Headaches are a sign of unbalanced physiology, and these meds in no way address this. I remember one of my “longest enduring headaches” patient. She had HA for forty plus years. We addressed dysfunction in her neck, balanced insulin and cortisol levels, and fixed her constipation and she became HA free. She was happy her HAs were gone, I was happy we restored normal physiology and lowered her risk for any number of chronic diseases. JNNP — Abstracts: Peres et al. 71 (6): 747. Click here for more information.
Reproductive hormonal dynamics in the perimenopause.
This is an older article but one I had to throw in just to blow apart standard thinking. So many people (and physicians included0 believe that perimenopausal symptoms are a result of lack of estrogens. The treatment? More estrogen, of course (in the form of equine estrogens foreign to the human body). Unfortunately, the reality is that perimenopause is associated with elevated estrogens. The symptoms of perimenopause are from rapid changes in estrogen levels, not elevated estrogen. Blunt the peaks with progesterone cream (downregulates estrogen receptors and makes cells less sensitive to estrogen) and fill in the troughs with phytoestrogens and most of the symptoms and signs of perimenopause disappear… JCEM — Abstracts: Santoro et al. 81 (4): 1495. Click here for more information.
Mucosal Flora in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
This article suggests that patients with IBD have a decreased ability to keep bacteria from growing along the mucosal layer of the gut. A few things to consider here. First, this article does not suggest it, but I would consider the makeup of that flora incredibly important as to the manifestations of the disease. Second, I have seen in several Crohn’s patients that yeast infiltration plays a major role in symptoms. Maybe it is possible that IBD patients have decreased ability to fight off bacteria at the mucosal layer. Maybe in these patients it is incredibly important to maintain high levels of non-pathenogenic bacteria (probiotics) and avoiding lifestyle behaviors that alter that balance negatively… Gastroenterology — Abstracts: SWIDSINSKI et al. 122 (1): 44. Click here for more information.
Hypochlorhydria, Inflammation, Parietal and G-Cell Populations.
This study has incredible implications. This is a mouse study, but if it holds true in humans (and if this concept ever makes it out of this journal…) it could blow a hole in one of the highest prescription classes in Western civilization. This article suggests that the normal stomach upregulates its ability to make MORE acid in response to inflammation caused by bacterial infection. On the other hand, stomachs with impaired gastric acid production (hypochlorhydria), are more suseptable to infection and further injury from bacteria. The hypochlorhydria can be genetic or from treatment with acid suppressive drugs. The bottom line–we need to seriously re-evaluate or use of acid suppressive therapy in patients with gastritis and ulcers and especially H. pylori infection. Gastroenterology — Abstracts: ZAVROS et al. 122 (1): 119. Click here for more information.
October 8, 2001 Research Update
James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiropractic.com
www.lifecarechiropractic.com
Alteration of DNA methylation in gastrointestinal carcinogenesis
I know this sounds a little technical, but the take home message is that alterations in the body’s ability to methylate DNA may lead to cancer. Methylation helps to protect DNA from damage. Slow methylation can come from a variety of sources, with dietary alterations and genetic sluggishness at the top of the list. Combine the two and it’s not a pretty picture. Folic acid and Vit B12 are some of the most important players in this game. Making sure you eat lots of whole grains and fresh fruit will provide high levels of these nutrients. However, in patients with genetic sluggishness, high doses of folic acid may be needed in supplement form. Synergy : Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 16 (9), 960-968 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1440-1746.2001.02554.x/full
Evaluation of GI function from expired CO2 after oral C-putrescine
Putrescine?? Doesn’t sound too pleasant, does it? This substance is a result of the degradation of animal proteins in the GI tract. This study uses the idea that healthy cells of the intestine can break down putrescine and we can check for the by products of this breakdown. Even more important is the question that, if the cells lining the GI tract are not healthy the putrescine doesn’t get broken down and actually can begin to rot (hence the name…). A strong digestive system is also very, very important in braking this stuff down. Synergy : Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 16 (9), 986-990 http://www.breath-solutions.com/downloads/CO2%20Laser%20Cryptolysis%20by%20Coagulation%
20for%20the%20Treatment%20of%20Halitosis.PDF
Dietary Protein and Weight Reduction
It’s so nice to know that the American Heart Association is so current and up to date with dietary recommendations. All sarcasm aside at how slow the AHA is to adopt any position that may be considered new or different, this article really does highlight some of the dangers of a high protein diet. Circulation — Abstracts: St. Jeor et al. 104 (15): 1869http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/104/15/1869
Fat distribution in associated with alterations of the HPA axis activity
More and more the importance of our adrenal glands in many systemic diseases is coming to light. An adrenocortical stress profile is so incredibly easy and yields potentially important information in obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, fatigue…this list goes on. The information obtained can many times then be treated nutritionally with certain vitamins and glandulars as well as avoidance of caffeine and refined carbs. Synergy : Clinical Endocrinology 55 (4), 447-454 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2265.2001.01384.x/abstract
Evaluation of HPA axis in fibromyalgia
This article suggests that in patients with fibromyalgia, adressing adrenal function can be very important. This would also hold true for all patients with fatigue, regardless of cause. Synergy : Clinical Endocrinology 55 (4), 455-459 http://www.fibro-myalgia.com/science.html
Starch-Based Glove Powder Promotes Intra-Abdominal Tumor Growth
Need I say more? Make sure that you ask your surgeon what kind of gloves he or she uses and insist that they use non-starch gloves. The best alternative, of course, would be to avoid surgery altogether…
Br J Surg 2001;88:1258-1263 Starch-based surgical glove powder appears to promote postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation and tumor cell adhesion and growth, according to animal study results reported in the British Journal of Surgery for September. “Despite the evidence in support of starch-induced complications, a considerable number of general surgeons continue to wear starch-powdered gloves,” Dr. J. Jeekel and colleagues from University Hospital Dijkzigt, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, note in their paper. The researchers performed laparotomy on female rats and exposed the uterine horns to powder from surgical gloves, pure starch or no powder. Either minimal or severe trauma to the peritoneal surface was inflicted in a standardized manner. Exposure to glove powder led to significantly more adhesion formation after minimal peritoneal trauma compared with no exposure, as did exposure to pure starch (p < 0.001), Dr. Jeekel’s group found. This was true even in the presence of severe peritoneal trauma. Tumor load at the uterine horns was significantly increased after exposure to glove powder or pure starch compared with no exposure (p < 0.001). “As good powder-free alternatives are available, there is no longer any justification for the use of powdered gloves during intraabdominal surgery,” Dr. Jeekel and colleagues conclude.
NVIC Says IOM Report Confirms 1999 FDA/EPA Order for Mercury-Free
If just seems interesting that chiropractors have been warning about the dangers of vaccines for decades and been called heretics, unscientific and worse for this belief. And yet, as time progresses, we see more and more stuff arising about the dangers of the mass-immunization practice here in the US. How could anyone ever have considered mercury as safe to use at any level? The whole concept to me seems unfathomable. Now we see much backpeddling on the part of the governement agencies–thimerisol is safe, but we still need to spend millions getting rid of it. See any dichotomy here???
The nation’s oldest and largest vaccine safety advocacy organization, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), today called the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report evaluating whether mercury preservatives in vaccines have caused developmental delays in children a “confirmation” that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were justified in ordering drug companies to take mercury out of childhood vaccines in 1999. Although the IOM’s Immunization Safety Review Committee concluded there is not enough evidence to prove or disprove the hypothesis that mercury-containing vaccines have caused children to develop learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism, the IOM Committee found enough evidence that mercury can damage the human brain to recommend that mercury preservatives be removed from all vaccines and over-the-counter consumer products.”This IOM report confirms the obvious: mercury is bad for you and we shouldn’t be injecting our babies with it. Even though there have been too few controlled studies to confirm the relationship between mercury-containing vaccines and various kinds of brain dysfunction, the bottom line is that drug companies should have come up with a non-toxic way to preserve the stability of vaccines a long time ago. Now we need a comprehensive analysis of the potential toxicity of all other vaccine additives, starting with aluminum,” said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of NVIC.NVIC has recently joined with SAFEMINDS, founded in 2000 by parents who believe their children were harmed by mercury in vaccines, in calling for the removal of all mercury-containing childhood vaccines from the market in the United States and for doctors to warn pregnant women that the flu vaccine contains mercury.
