Don’t Blame Your Genes

It’s not your genes, it’s your appetite and eating habits.

But weight loss averaged about 13 pounds over a year, regardless of genes, insulin levels or diet type. Also, some people lost as much as 60 pounds and others gained 15 pounds — more evidence that genetic characteristics and diet type appeared to make no difference.

What seemed to make a difference was healthful eating. Participants on both diets who consumed the fewest processed foods, sugary drinks, unhealthy fats and ate the most vegetables lost the most weight.

The results suggest that "precision medicine is not as important as eating mindfully, getting rid of packaged, processed food" and avoiding unhealthy habits like eating while watching television, said lead author Christopher Gardner.

So, excuses about “it’s my genes” do not justify BMI realities, and fad diets are a waste of time, if key essentials are met: “Participants on both diets who consumed the fewest processed foods, sugary drinks, unhealthy fats and ate the most vegetables lost the most weight."

I for one cut out sugary drinks – including orange juice and other fruit juices – cut back on saturated fats, cut back on foods with lots of added sugar, eat a bit less “packaged food,” while increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grain as opposed to white.

Apigenin's Anti-Cancer Properties

The dietary factor apigenin has anti-cancer properties, affecting important cell signaling pathways.  Note this factor is found in many fruits and vegetables, once again showing the importance of those foodstuffs. Also note the comment: “Apigenin appears to have the potential to be developed either as a dietary supplement or as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent for cancer therapy.”  Abstract:

Apigenin is a common dietary flavonoid that is abundantly present in many fruits, vegetables and Chinese medicinal herbs and serves multiple physiological functions, such as strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral activities and blood pressure reduction. Therefore, apigenin has been used as a traditional medicine for centuries. Recently, apigenin has been widely investigated for its anti-cancer activities and low toxicity. Apigenin was reported to suppress various human cancers in vitro and in vivo by multiple biological effects, such as triggering cell apoptosis and autophagy, inducing cell cycle arrest, suppressing cell migration and invasion, and stimulating an immune response. In this review, we focus on the most recent advances in the anti-cancer effects of apigenin and their underlying mechanisms, and we summarize the signaling pathways modulated by apigenin, including the PI3K/AKT, MAPK/ERK, JAK/STAT, NF-κB and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. We also discuss combinatorial strategies to enhance the anti-cancer effect of apigenin on various cancers and its use as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent to overcome cancer drug resistance or to alleviate other adverse effects of chemotherapy. The functions of apigenin against cancer stem cells are also summarized and discussed. These data demonstrate that apigenin is a promising reagent for cancer therapy. Apigenin appears to have the potential to be developed either as a dietary supplement or as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent for cancer therapy.

Vegetable Extracts And Colon Cancer Cell Growth

Broccoli. By Fir0002 - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5772317

Here is an interesting paper about colorectal cancer (CRC) that examines the effects of extracts enriched in isothiocyanates (ITCs), which are known to have anti-CRC properties, on different cell culture models of CRC, including more advanced 3-D spheroid approaches. Spheroids are more analogous to actual tumors and represent a useful methodology for analyzing the effects of different agents.  

Abstract:

Colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence is often attributable to circulating tumor cells and/or cancer stem cells (CSCs) that resist to conventional therapies and foster tumor progression. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) derived from Brassicaceae vegetables have demonstrated anticancer effects in CRC, however little is known about their effect in CSCs and tumor initiation properties. Here we examined the effect of ITCs-enriched Brassicaceae extracts derived from watercress and broccoli in cell proliferation, CSC phenotype and metastasis using a previously developed three-dimensional HT29 cell model with CSC-like traits. Both extracts were phytochemically characterized and their antiproliferative effect in HT29 monolayers was explored. Next, we performed cell proliferation assays and flow cytometry analysis in HT29 spheroids treated with watercress and broccoli extracts and respective main ITCs, phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) and sulforaphane (SFN). Soft agar assays and relative quantitative expression analysis of stemness markers and Wnt/β-catenin signaling players were performed to evaluate the effect of these phytochemicals in stemness and metastasis. Our results showed that both Brassicaceae extracts and ITCs exert antiproliferative effects in HT29 spheroids, arresting cell cycle at G₂/M, possibly due to ITC-induced DNA damage. Colony formation and expression of LGR5 and CD133 cancer stemness markers were significantly reduced. Only watercress extract and PEITC decreased ALDH1 activity in a dose-dependent manner, as well as β-catenin expression. Our research provides new insights on CRC therapy using ITC-enriched Brassicaceae extracts, specially watercress extract, to target CSCs and circulating tumor cells by impairing cell proliferation, ALDH1-mediated chemo-resistance, anoikis evasion, self-renewal and metastatic potential.

Therefore, these vegetable extracts inhibited the growth of the CRC 3-D spheroid cultures, possibly due to damage to cell DNA induced by the ITC component of the extracts.  Other indicators of CRC cell growth and cancer-causing potential were also suppressed, particularly by the watercress extract.  These findings suggest the potential of such extracts for CRC therapeutics.

More about watercress, including possible health concerns about consumption (which need to be noted and considered) is at the link.   For me, I’ll continue eating my broccoli.

Unachievable feat

Here is a perfect example of how Americans are misinformed and confused: 

The science behind why some fruits help your waistline

This article of AOL discusses a recent study on how consumption of fruit and veggies might help you obtain/keep normal weight. The article also refers to a link that does not lead to any particular study (so I have no idea who did the research and how it was done). The interpretation of the mysterious study is that fruit have flavonoids, and some, but not all flavonoids help you stay in shape. 

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

But do we really care why eating fruit keeps us healthy, as long as it really does? (I could write a few pages on the mechanisms, by which this type of diet is beneficial – but again, who cares?)

What we should be concerned about is not spending money on more and more bizarre explanations why eating veggies and fruit helps, but on studies why eating just three fruit a day seems to be an unachievable feat for most Americans.

By the way, the current recommendation is to consume FIVE servings of veggies and fruit a day (each serving is approximately a handful of the cut fruit/vegetable).