More Benefits Of DASH

The DASH diet can reduce depression along with all of its other health benefits.

The popular Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet was created to lower blood pressure, but new research says it can also reduce the risk of depression later in life.

A study, to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 70th Annual Meeting in April, shows that the popular diet -- rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy products and very few foods that are high in saturated fats and sugar -- does more than what has been shown in multiple studies: Lowering blood pressure, bad cholesterol (LDL) and body weight.

Keep on eating those Big Macs though!

In all seriousness, people have a choice between healthy and unhealthy eating, and this choice should be reflected in health insurance premiums.

Food Quality Over Quantity

Following up on this post, read this about the same study.

Paying attention to the quality of the food is more effective for weight loss than religiously counting calories, according to a new study.

Researchers at Stanford University found there is no significant difference in weight change between a healthy low-fat diet versus a healthy low-carbohydrate diet.

The 12-month weight loss study of 609 individuals found the tactic of choosing whole, unprocessed foods and not worrying about calories resulted in similar weight loss for people following both diets.

The study also found there is no specific insulin levels associated with the dietary effects of weight loss and no specific gene pattern that affected which diet made an individual lose weight.

Again, the take home points about weight loss: food quality is more important than counting calories, genetic excuses are not justified, and fad diets are not required.

PUT THIS MUFFIN DOWN

Have you heard about Michael Mosley, the British GP who introduced the concept of intermittent diet in England? I just found this talk by Dr. Mosley: How to stay healthy: Michael Mosley, All About Women 2016.

The talk is entertaining, informative, and hilarious. It has very useful and updated information on healthy food habits (I do not want to use the word "diet", as it has a negative connotation).

Actionable
Learn and stay healthy and free!

 


 

The Freshman 15

With the new college year starting, it is timely to consider the diet and weight of our young students.

From this Wikipedia page, one can learn that there is much controversy about the so-called "freshman 15," the notion that college freshmen tend to gain weight due to unhealthy eating habits, poor food choices, alcohol consumption, stress and other overall unhealthy habits.

There seems be a disconnect between studies on the topic, personal anecdotal observations and common sense interpretations of this topic.

My own person experience living away at college - oh those many years ago - is more consistent with the anecdotal observations than with anything else.  Besides the poor everyday habits (little rest, lack of consistent schedule, partying), and the typical consumption of pizza and soda, the truth of the matter was that the dining hall food was horrendous.

The best meal of the day was breakfast, and there the healthiest choices were eggs, hash browns, bacon sausage, white toast with butter and/or jelly, and oatmeal.  At least some of the egg meals tasted reasonably well, as long as the eggs did not feel not "rubbery".

Lunch was a step down in quality, but was still halfway edible - typically the healthiest choices (the adjective "healthy" is in a relative, not absolute, sense) were a bowel of salty soup and a hamburger with cheap gristle-filled meat.

But breakfast and lunch paled compared to the horrors of dinner.  Yegads!  Some sort of unidentifiable, tough meat, drowned in vomit-like "sauce," accompanied by plastic-like frozen vegetables, stale bread, maybe a salad with wilted lettuce and sugar-laden dressing.

At some point, the dining service started serving cereal and ice cream as a main meal for dinner - the students would line up in front of huge bins filled with Captain Crunch, before moving on the the ice cream dispensers.  The cereal was the main meal and the ice cream was the dessert, or vice versa, I can't remember.

So, the tastiest choices were relatively unhealthy, and the overall lousy quality prompted students to order from outside: the usual pizza with the ever present bottle of soda.  After the pizza, the next item on the agenda was partying and beer drinking.  Weight gain?  Are we surprised?

Rats and Colon Cancer

A study shows that dietary risk factors thought to contribute to colon cancer in humans induce early stage colonic lesions in rats.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated clear associations between specific dietary and environmental risk factors and incidence of colorectal cancer, but the mechanisms responsible for these associations are not known. An animal model could facilitate such an understanding.

Both genotoxic and nongenotoxic carcinogens induce aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in the colons of F344 rats. F344 rats were provided with diets that contained putative risk factors for CRC: low calcium and low vitamin D, high iron, high fructose, and decreased light (UV) exposure or a control diet for 14 wk. The rats were then assessed with biochemical measures and by topological examination for evidence of colon abnormalities. Circulating ionized calcium was decreased from 2.85 to 1.69 mmol/L, and ACF were increased from 0.7 to 13.6 lesions/colon (both P < 0.001).

Rats exposed to the multiple environmental conditions associated with colon cancer, developed ACF similar to the heterogeneous or ill-defined ACF in the human colon. Heterogeneous ACF are the type most frequently seen in humans, and are also seen in rats shortly after exposure to the non-genotoxic colon carcinogen, dextran sulfate sodium. The rodent model could be used to assess the pathways from diet and environment to colon cancer and to provide guidance for clinical studies.

Consider carefully the results with "high fructose" - do we really need high fructose corn syrup in our diets? Also, the "high iron" is another warning shot about red meat.

Three healthy meals stretched for the week

Take a look at this.
 

Those are some ideas on how to balance healthy eating and economical eating: good food stretched out for a week's eating. One can try variations of these, or develop new recipes on the same principle. One does not need to spend large amounts of money to eat healthy, assuming normal portion sizes and economical cooking.
 

Related to his, I strongly advise packing lunch to work, to avoid the expense of buying lunch (which adds up day after day, week after week, year after year) and to also avoid the usually unhealthy, calorie-laden, and fat/sugar-enriched meals available outside. I usually have for lunch a potato roll with a piece of cheese (reduced fat) and some mustard, a few reduced fat Triscuits, an apple, and a bottle of water. One or twice a week I may add a small bag of pretzels to the mix - yes, I know they are "empty calories" and have added salt, but a small serving occasionally will not "make or break" a diet.
 

And, of course, eat breakfast at home. There is no need to waste time and money buying some (typically extremely) unhealthy fast food breakfast outside.  Save money, eat healthier.

Top Ten Health Discoveries For The New Year

Some things to think about

The issues revolving around saturated fats vs. carbohydrates are important.  The possibility exists that the current epidemic of obesity and diabetes type 2 may in part be due to the saturated fats scare, and the consequent advice to eat more (whole) grains.  It's not that whole grains are bad in moderation, but in reality the "grains" people started eating were not, I think, for the most part "whole."  Therefore, people substituted highly processed carbs, "white starches," sugar, etc. for all that fat they weren't supposed to eat.

In fact, at one point, all fat - not just the saturated kind - was considered "the enemy" and I know people who avoided nuts and nut butters, olive oil, avocados, etc., because they were "high in fat."  Instead, low fat, high-carb foods were consumed with the results we see today.

Going in the opposite direction (high fat, low carbs) will, in my opinion, not be prudent either. True, some people may be eating too many carbs, particularly of the "simple" variety; however, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc. make up a crucially important part of a healthy diet.  One extreme or the other is not good. A small-to-moderate amount of saturated fat as part of a healthy diet is good and normal for most healthy people. Eating carbs in moderation is also healthy, as is, of course, sufficient quality protein, and unsaturated fats from plant sources.

Eat Your Walnuts

It’s time to eat some walnuts!

When people in the study added 56 grams of walnuts (2 ounces, or about 14 walnuts) to their daily diet for six months, they improved blood vessel function and reduced “bad” LDL cholesterol that builds up in blood vessels and leads to blood clots and heart attacks.

“Adding walnuts to your diet will improve your diet quality and health – cardiometabolic health specifically – and you can add walnuts without fear of weight gain because they are very satiating and appear to bump out other calories quite reliably and make room for themselves,” said study author Dr. David L. Katz of the Yale University Prevention Research Center in Derby, Connecticut.

Walnuts of course cannot help with everything: 

The nuts didn’t seem to improve high blood pressure and high blood sugar, two other risk factors for diabetes, Katz and colleagues reported in BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care.

Which is why walnut consumption needs to be part of an overall healthy diet. 

After taking into account factors such as age, exercise habits, calorie consumption and fatty acid intake, the study found that walnuts were linked to improved diet quality regardless of whether people received nutrition counseling.

Please keep in mind this: 

The California Walnut Commission funded the study and has compensated Katz for speaking engagements.

One limitation of the research is that participants weren’t given specific foods to consume and diets were assessed based on self-reported surveys asking people at several points to recall what they ate in the previous 24 hours, the authors acknowledge. The study also wasn’t designed to show whether walnuts could prevent diabetes, which makes the results less reliable.

Even though the data from the study suggest that adding walnuts to the diet can help maintain overall healthy eating habits, more research from larger and longer-term studies is still needed to fully understand the potential benefits of walnuts, said Roberta Holt, a nutrition researcher at the University of California, Davis, who wasn’t involved in the study. Results from the periodic diet surveys aren’t enough to prove walnuts caused the changes in LDL cholesterol or blood vessel function, Holt added by email.

“While the intake of walnuts improved LDL cholesterol and vascular function from baseline, the control (no walnuts) also improved,” Holt noted.

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There is plenty of research linking consumption of walnuts to improved markers of heart health and lower risks of diabetes and heart disease. Deirdre Tobias, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston noted that “Walnuts and other tree nuts are a healthful source of plant-based protein and fat,” and “They are a food that (is) consistent with overall dietary recommendations and can easily be incorporated into a patient’s diet, if they like walnuts and are not allergic.”