A very healthy camping food!

I just came back from a fantastic trekking tour in the marvelous forests and mountains of South Islands of New Zealand. We did a Routeburn + Greenstone + Caples trek of 7 days and 6 nights, camping in the most beautiful spots that nature offers in this part of the planet. 

Three of us, one tent, a total of 148 years of age, all fit but not athletes, normally spending most of our time on books, computer or in labs, being three scientists in different disciplines: fisheries, genetics and natural medicine. 

While planning for things to put into the packs before leaving Matapouri, one of the major issues was the weight that food items for 7 + 1 (emergency day!) would have and if we could manage more than 100 km charged like donkeys. We browsed the different possibilities for feeding while tramping in the market of camping food (very few options indeed: one brand in New Zealand?) and we distorted our noses from reading labels on freeze-dry food packages for campers. I am after all a nutritionist and things like preservatives, artificial flavors, thickeners, sugar, salt, vegetable oil (not better identified), hydrolysed vegetable protein from maize and soy, glucose, fruit oil (?), milk powder, acidity regulators…did not have the sound of healthiness. 

I decided to ask Google for help in finding the easiest, lightest, and healthiest way to feed three hard walking people in the bush. I ended up preparing my own menu, using my knowledge of what is a real good food (for your belly and for your arteries), my Italian cooking tradition and a little bit of creativity, along with tidbits from Universities on how to dry your own food! It took a few hours of shopping in supermarkets, bulk shops and health food shops and a day in the kitchen and our meals were ready, individually packed in ziplock bags for each of us, breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner, and even a dessert and cordial for the harshest days! 

I did it for fun, economy (freeze-dry food IS expensive – this is the common comment you get on the web), and to test if we could construct a good enough diet to feed and satisfy ourselves in our little camping-trekking adventure! What I did not expect was the enthusiasm and acclamation form my trekking buddies (well, a bit of a skewed sample of reviewers since one is my husband and the second one a dear friend of mine who came all the way from UK to visit NZ!). Nevertheless everybody enjoyed the fresh gingeroot tea and sweet and spicy sugarless porridge in the morning, the fruity-chocolaty-nutty snacks, the lovely hearty homemade cookies, the buckwheat and quinoa with veggies as well as the polenta with mushroom for the cold nights! Not to speak about our dark chocolate and finally grappa…for when a herbal tea was not enough to put us to sleep!

I loved everything about this trip, the people, the environment, the forest – rivers – mountains – bush, sleeping out, and eating our funny savory and nourishing meals!
 
I am also grateful to Kinesio-tape that protected my usually fragile knees and the back of my thighs. No lactic acid could stop us with the help of this protective and corrective tool!

Can stress mess up our body?

Stress has become a word used colloquially in many circumstances of minor or major complaints. An annoying person is a ‘stress’, work is ‘stressing’, the weather can be ‘stressful’ etc. It is a common saying but it is all also anatomically true; all these are real stresses, or better, stressors. The use of the word stress in biology and medicine is precise and indicates a ‘response to any threat to life or wellbeing’ (therefore the pressure at work would be a threat and the persistent rain another one). 

Stress can be brought on by either physical strain (the stressor): a long run, exposure to toxins or environmental poisons, heat or cold; or by emotional strain: a divorce, a move, a marriage, bereavement, academic pressure, loosing a job, deadlines at work, etc. The physical and physiological reaction is identical in the two cases. Stressors of both types elicit a sequence of reactions by the body, which is called the “stress response” or “fight-or-flight response”. We learned this type of reaction when humans had to face attacks from ferocious predators or had to survive in face of extreme conditions (life in a cave, hunting in a jungle). Although most humans don’t face such threat anymore, the reaction to modern life stressors (traffic jams, playing a rugby match – or sometimes just watching it!-, buying a house) has remained the same. 

The fight-or-flight response is initiated by nerve impulses from the hypothalamus (a part of the brain that controls most involuntary responses like body temperature, hunger, fatigue, attachment behaviors etc.); such nerve commands reach the adrenals (glands that sit on the kidneys) directly, stimulating release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, which increase heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate: they get the body ready to fight or to run. Impulses from the hypothalamus reach also the endocrine (hormonal) system, via the hypothalamus-pituitary tract, to stimulate the pituitary gland (or hypophysis) and the adrenals again. The adrenal glands, stimulated both by the nervous system and by hormones, release cortisol (the major stress hormone), which, along with the growth hormone released by the pituitary gland, stimulates catabolism or production of glucose, aminoacids and fatty acids from fat stores and proteins to provide the necessary energy for movement (fight or run), repair or defense. The pituitary gland also promotes the secretion of thyroid hormones T3 and T4 that increase use of glucose as well, while the insulin response (insulin is the hormone needed to store glucose inside the cell) is shut down so that increased sugar can remain in the blood ready for energy need. Pancreatic release of insulin is thus depressed.

All these reactions aim to put the body in action with increased breathing, increased heart rate, increased muscular contraction needed for the fight or for the flight in front of the threatening predator or office boss or running competitors. At the same time the activity of the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems, quite useless in those situations, is depressed.  

Stress in moderation is not harmful and can be necessary as an incentive in some actions (positive stress or eustress), like getting ready to win a match.

However, when stress is prolonged, repetitive and not dealt with, it can become harmful and lead to diseases: constant stress in fact brings hormonal changes in the body, lowers the immune functions and can lead to many diseases including auto-immune diseases. It is the individual response to stress that can make a difference between a healthy happy life and a miserable life threatened by chronic illness.  This is because it is not the type of stressor that initiates a response but the “perception” of such a stressor by the individual. The perception of an experience determines how we feel when it is happening and how our bodies will be affected (Martino, 2011). What is terribly difficult to endure for one person can be easily managed without consequences by someone else. 

Since constant or repetitive stress can have adverse effects on the body, in order to avoid stress-induced illnesses one should become more relaxed about life and always try to see issues in perspective. Since avoiding stress is rare or impossible, it is important for all to apply measures to release the tension: deep breathing, relaxation techniques, massages, cardiac coherence etc.  

 

How does stress cause disease? Stress has impact on the nervous system, the immune system and the hormonal system. In an emergency situation immediate responses from these systems are needed, but in an unnatural prolonged state of stress they harm the individual. A physical or psychological stress affects the functioning of cells and can have long-lasting influences on physiology and behavior. 

- Impact on the nervous system: prolonged or repetitive stress can lead to physical changes in the brain, such as shrinking of the amygdala (center of emotions, decision making, memory) or the hippocampus (memory). Learning, memory and behavior are thus affected. 

- Impact on the immune system: it is well accepted and understood how a psychological stress is directly correlated to the prevalence of diseases such as infections. The immune cells have receptors for the hormones released during the stress response by the adrenal glands, the pituitary gland and the autonomic nervous system: cortisol, adenocorticotropic hormone, endorphins, noradrenalin, growth hormones, prolactin all influence the immune system. This explains the mechanism of the direct effect of stress on the immune system functioning. Cortisol triggers an increased “innate immune response” represented by high inflammation, a high allergic response, an increase in viral infections and a higher cancer risk. These are responses that you do not wish on a long term. (As a comparison, therapeutic cortisol (cortisone) instead lowers inflammation and suppresses immune and allergic reactions).

- Hormonal system: a continuous stress or a frequent presence of even smaller stresses drain the adrenal glands from which the main stress hormone, cortisol, is released. Prolonged stress can also lower the level of sex hormones like oestrogens and testosterone. Pancreatic production of insulin is interrupted and this, on the long run, can lead to diabetes type 2.

As many as 80% of all major illnesses have been related to stress as a contributor.

Chronic stress, especially through the high level of cortisol released, causes wasting of muscles, suppression of immune system (by cortisol, which suppresses part of the immune system), generation of auto-immune diseases (like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple-sclerosis), cancer, hyperlipidemia (high fat content in  the blood and wrong types of fats), atherosclerosis, increase of cholesterol, hypertension, hyperglycemia, diabetes mellitus, abdominal obesity (metabolic syndrome), osteoporosis, mood-behavioral changes, ulceration of GI tract (peptic ulcer, liver damage, irritable bowel syndrome, and ulcerative colitis and Chron’s disease, which are precursors of colorectal cancer), insomnia, anxiety, depression.  

Stress is a significant factor also in the birth of certain psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. 

Anxiety is one of the most serious emotional manifestations of stress and is caused by expectations of anything that threatens a person’s body, job, loved ones, values. It occurs in situations perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable, but that are not really so. It is a state of inner apprehension, often accompanied by nervous behavior, like pacing back and forth, foot tapping, teeth grinding etc.  Anxiety can also be a response to a past mismanaged stress.

Symptoms of stress are high blood pressure, neck-ache, backache, muscles tension, muscle twitching, being unable to sit still or relax, fatigue, insomnia, lack of concentration, teeth grinding, nail biting, suppressed anger, feeling unloved, lack of self-esteem, low sex drive, irritability, tearfulness, loss of appetite or overeating, constant anxiety, frequent infections, allergies, blood sugar disturbances appearing with irritability and sugar cravings.

As many as 77% of people in Western countries complain of stress, and many are related to work. Many young people (younger than 18 years of age) are affected by stress. Some people are stressed but they are not aware of it, but the consumption of their teeth for example is testimony of it. Alert!

Stress also causes body mineral changes: it causes sodium retention, which in turn increases blood pressure. Adrenalin also causes a loss of Mg, Ca (from the bones), K and P. Also, during stress, nutrients are not efficiently absorbed. A nutrient deficiency is thus created with deleterious consequences for many organs. Many of the diseases related to stress are not due to stress alone but to the loss of nutrients: vit C, K, P, B and minerals.

Some people are more at risk of chronic stress depending on their genetic pattern but also on their innate and acquired inability to face challenges and respond properly to increased demands from work, financial issues, surgery or illnesses, society, pollution (noise, atmospheric, toxins), allergies, etc. Nutrient deficiencies from other causes, like improper nutrition, ex lack of B vitamins or Mg, make an individual more at risk of succumbing to chronic stress. Age, gender, social status, social support, religious/spiritual beliefs, personality traits, self-esteem, past experiences are all factors contributing to such susceptibility.

Again, there are many tools that help in learning to managing and coping with repetitive stress: regular exercise, both moderate low-intensity aerobic exercise to boost immunity (too much exercise increases inflammation) and physical practice that balances the immune system reactions and boost an antibody response (suppressed in stress condition): walking, jogging, biking, yoga, tai chi, chi gong; relaxation, breathing practice, like cardiac coherence or pranayama (yoga breathing exercises), meditation and massage are all useful tools that should be relied upon on a regular basis to improve the reaction to stressors.

 Stress: "The best care for the body is a quiet mind". Napoleon.

Bibliography

Mifsud KR¹, Gutièrrez-Mecinas M, Trollope AF, Collins A, Saunderson EA, Reul JM., Epigenetic mechanisms in stress and adaptation.Brain Behav Immun. 2011 Oct;25(7):1305-15. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.06.005. Epub 2011 Jun 14.

Craft, J., Gordon. C., Tiziani,. A. et al. 2012 Understanding Pathophysiology, Elsevier, Houston pub.

The Free Library, 2009. Exercise is medicine: using exercise to manipulate TH1 and TH2 immune function. The Townsend Letter Group 06 Jul. 2014 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Exercise+is+medicine%3a+using+exercise+to+manipulate+TH1+and+TH2+immune...-a0202661767

What lies behind the prostate test?

The prostate is a gland of the male reproductive system, of the size of a walnut, found just below the urinary bladder, which secretes a juice that is 50 to 70% of the semen.

The need to undertake the prostate tests which men are commonly supposed to do in order to detect presence of prostate cancer after 50 years of age has been shattered by recent research. In  2010 even the Dr. Ablin himself, the doctor who invented such test in 1970, attacked the prevention philosophy which presses men, even those who are perfectly healthy, to undertake these tests. These blood exams, called PSA (prostate specific antigen), are never 100% sure (they diagnose only 3.8 % of cancers) and they can often detect problems that are not real or of a different form and concern than a cancer. Levels of PSA > 4 ng/mL are considered abnormal by the majority of urologists and doctors, but 80% of men with levels between 4 and 10 ng/mL have either a BHP(1) (benign prostatic hyperplasia), which is not a cancer but an inoffensive enlargement of the prostate, or no conditions at all. In fact, the levels of PSA can be increased by the use of over-the-counter drugs like Ibuprofen, as well as by infections!

Early screening and results that suggest the (3.8%) possibility of cancer often lead to unnecessary treatments: painful, dangerous and expensive exams (biopsies) and potentially dangerous treatments (prostectomy, followed by hormonal therapy that reduces testosterone). These procedures would be mostly useless, as stated by a research published in 1993 in the highly respected medical journal The Lancet: in this research, 33% of autopsies on a pool of men showed presence of prostate cancer but only 1% of such individuals died from it. Also, according to two studies found in the New England Journal of Medicine, prevention through PSA does not reduce (in USA) the rate of mortality of men older than 55 years of age, or slightly reduces the rate of mortality (in Europe), but in this case 48 men over 100 would need to be operated to save 1 life; the other 47 will undertake a surgery that most probably will make them impotent, even without need! And also, according to a research published in 2008, only 2% of men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer and 5% of men with high-risk cancer die in the 10 years after diagnosis. Men with a low-risk prostate cancer live at least 10 years longer than men who are never diagnosed.

Why would such a cancer have a minimal risk of causing premature death? In the prostate, like in all organs, there are always sick and possibly carcinogenic cells, but a well functioning immune system constantly eliminates them. With age, the number of carcinogenic cells can increase, especially in the prostate. But this growth is so slow in this gland that the 80% of men with prostate cancer do not even realize they have it. 

Prostate cancer treatment can cause permanent damage, including impotence (50 % of cases), heart attacks, incontinence and even death: and these risks are related to a treatment of a disease that is statistically unlikely to kill them.

Dr. Ablin never stated that PSA tests could detect prostate cancer and even less that they could make a difference between a high-risk cancer and a low-risk cancer. He believes that the present enhancement of such testing is driven by economical interests.

* BHP is very common, 50% of men over 50s are touched by it and almost all men at 80-90 years of age have it. It usually does not cause major problems, except for some cases of urinary dysfunctions. Even if a minimal issue compared to cancer, it has to be considered that some of these dysfunctions could lead to infections, inflammation or calculi in the bladder. However, it is interesting to note that 10% of problems of urinary functions are the result of undesired effects of some drugs (ex. treatment for asthma and emphysema, antidepressants, anti-allergy or anti-hypertension). 

What causes BPH? “DHT” (di-hydrotestosterone) is considered being the culprit. With age, production of testosterone decreases and DHT replaces it and increases. This DHT is responsible for the proliferation of prostate cells after puberty, proliferation that takes off with such increased levels of the hormone with age. Another hormone, oestradiol, also stimulates cell proliferation; such hormone is present in men as in women and it is produced by fat cells, which explains how being overweight is a risk in prostate cancer. Diabetes also increases the risk of BPH.

What to do to prevent both BPH and prostate cancer? As any other condition, there is a genetic component in the prevalence of prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. However, controlling the environmental factors (diet, lifestyle, emotional status) can change the chances. 

So, the recommendations for keeping your risks low: 
-    keep a stable weight, exercise regularly. Eat healthy: i.e.: 

-    decrease consumption of farmed animal products (milk products, salted meat and meat from battery beef) that have been related with a 31% increase of risk of BPH.

-    replace red meat with fish or vegetable proteins (they reduce growth of prostate by15%)

-    eat many fresh fruits and vegetables, especially apples, broccoli, green beans, bell peppers and red onions, and drink green tea: catechines and quercitine contained in high amounts in green tea and red onions and in these vegetables limit the activity of the enzyme that synthesizes dehydrotestosterone, and thus prevents overgrowth of prostate cells. Quercitine would also reduce night time needs to urinate; as a plus it is also a strong anti-inflammatory. 

-    consume capsules of the mushroom Reishi, which has been proven to block cancerous growth in breast, prostate, bone marrow, lungs, liver and bones, even when cells become resistant to chemotherapy. Reishi is considered by science to be a natural chemotherapeutic agent

-    increase fiber intake (insoluble and from legumes) that was found to be inversely associated with prostate cancer risk

-    avoid coffee, heavy alcohol and sodas which irritate the bladder. Two glasses of wine protect prostate, with an associated 33%lowered risk of BPH

-    use the power of medicinal plants: the plant saw palmetto contains anti-inflammatory components and molecules that inhibit transformation of testosterone into DHT. Also nettle (Urtica dioica) contains steroids that inhibit enzymes in the prostate and limits or reduces the prostate volume while relieving symptoms. Another plant product, rye flower pollen (Secale cereale), inhibits DHT formation and growth of prostate cells

-    supplement with key vitamins and minerals: vitamin E (α-tocopherol, contained in wheat germ, leafy vegetables and seeds) plays a key role in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation and has been studied as a potential chemo-preventive agent for prostate cancer. Using magnesium regularly prevents cancer growth. Magnesium chloride allows the body to better face carcinogenic aggressions.






ALWAYS ask your doctors what values really means. There are alternative tests that can be done to assess the condition of the prostate.


Some references:
Lifetime occupational physical activity and incidental prostate cancer (Canada). Cancer Causes Control. 2000

Dietary Total and Insoluble Fiber Intakes Are Inversely Associated with Prostate Cancer Risk Journal of Nutrition 2014

Genetic Variants Reflecting Higher Vitamin E Status in Men Are Associated with Reduced Risk of Prostate Cancer, Journal of Nutrition 2014

Ganoderic acids suppress growth and invasive behavior of breast cancer cells by modulating AP-1 and NF-kappaB signaling. International  Journal of  Molecular Medicine, 2008
 
The development of human benign prostatic hyperplasia with age. Journal of  Urology 1984

The prevalence of prostatism: a population-based survey of urinary symptoms. Journal of  Urology 1993

Obesity and benign prostatic hyperplasia: clinical connections, emerging etiological paradigms and future directions - Journal of  Urology 2013

Diabetes and benign prostatic hyperplasia/lower urinary tract symptoms--what do we know? Journal of  Urology 2009

Contribution of common medications to lower urinary tract symptoms in men. Archives of Internal  Medicine 2011

Physical activity, obesity, and lower urinary tract symptoms. Eur Urolology 2011

Cholesterol control, right fats in your diet, carbohydrates…

....What is finally the right food to enjoy a long healthy life, i.e. to protect you from atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke, thrombosis, infarction, heart failure and others?

The increasing rate of cardiovascular diseases of the past few decades has given a strong incentive to research in biomedicine, biochemistry, epidemiology to try to find the culprit of such a devastating raise of coronary heart diseases, strokes, heart attacks… However what is the ‘right food’ to avoid such medical conditions has been and is still a maze of different and often opposing recommendations. 

Association of saturated fats to increase of serum cholesterol and this one, in turn, to cardiovascular disease has been the accepted picture, that led to dietary recommendations supporting “safe” consumption of unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and carbohydrates, at the expenses of cholesterol-rich food and saturated fats which would be avoided like the pest! 

However, now we can state that saturated fat can actually improve – and not damage - our health: saturated fats are now saved from the trash because needed by the brain and to protect us from dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.  Likewise we now know better about PUFAs: of the once acclaimed health-protecting unsaturated fatty acids, the omega 6 are now feared because known to promote inflammation (including the one responsible for atherosclerosis and heart diseases) and increase many illnesses, while the omega 3 appear to be the winners, countering negative effects of other fats. 

Now most (although not all) of the molecular mechanisms are better understood and the adverse effects of refined carbohydrates and PUFAs clarified. We now understand why, after saturated fats were declared demons to be avoided, in the 60s and 70s, and were replaced with PUFAs and carbohydrates in diets, we now observe an increased level of global obesity and other health complications like inflammatory diseases, and at the same time a lack of the expected decrease of cardiovascular diseases. 

These confusing recommendations drove and drive many attentive eaters mad while trying to convince them every other decade that what they eat is wrong and that the new fad diet of the moment is the ‘real’ health-promoting and long-life assuring diet.  

In this whole history of dietary inconsistencies and wars between good fats, bad fats, high carbohydrates versus high protein diets, the present focus on cholesterol control is another giant system of contradictory statements and misunderstood explanations. 

I’ve been bathing for the past few years in studies of anatomy, physiology, physiopathology and researches or reviews of researches designed to explain the importance (necessity?) of lowering cholesterol (Cho) levels in the blood for preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). I’ve found many things being illogic, unexplained and harmful. I’ve seen a lot of discrepancies, contradictory research and inconclusive analysis on the matter Cho-heart. 

At the same time I’ve watched people being prescribed drugs without a real knowledge of the cause of their condition, if there even is one. I’ve been following healthy people being prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs almost automatically with appearance of menopause or at later age, often without need.

Thus I’ve been feeling more and more compelled to share with people what I learned by the reading of research and reviews on the connection between Cho and CVDs and on the real need and effects (expected and collateral) of the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, as well as on the real need to avoid saturated fats.

I will try to trace what is known by biochemistry at the present day and what seems to be the logical application of such understanding to our feeding behavior, in order to help avoid the most serious and common – old and new - diseases of the 21st century society and the need to use expensive and heavily-impacting drugs.

I am a strong believer of the need of educating ourselves to understand what health is and to accept our individual responsibility to our own health, to avoid to unconsciously fall into acceptance of drugs prescriptions without understanding what they are for and how they function and what secondary effects they might cause. I hope that this story on fats will help in this process of understanding of the human body.   

This reading will be presented in chapters, delivered to your e-mailbox when ordered through the web site in What we do/Lectures.
Thank you.

coconut oil miracles?

I would never have thought that my coconut cookies had such beneficial effects for so many ailments and were preventative for disastrous diseases! I recently dove into research on the properties of coconut oil and discovered some very interesting results. 

Coconut oil ameliorates the cholesterol1 profile: it reduces total cholesterol1, triglycerides, phospholipids, LDL, and VLDL and increases HDL cholesterol.
 
Coconut oil is strongly antioxidant2 due to the presence of lauric acid and phenolic compounds, as was measured in the liver, heart and kidneys. It has antimicrobial effects, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-mycotic (treats infections from Candida): some of the viruses that have been destroyed by a derivative of lauric acid contained in coconut oil include HIV, measles, herpes simplex virus-1, vesicular stomatitis virus, influenza and cytomegalovirus. For its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects it is used in treating acne. 

There is also evidence that the coconut oil prevents osteoporosis, stimulates the thyroid functions, is thermogenic, helps reduce body weight and abdominal fat, is hepatoprotective, protects the heart by protecting heart mitochondria (producers of energy on all cells), alleviates arthritis, and has shown to improve Alzheimer’s disease condition and cognitive functions and to attenuate progression of weakness and spinal cord motor neuron loss in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Most of the properties of coconut oil derive from it being a saturated fat3 (yes a SATURATED fat, you read well!). Moreover, it contains medium chain fatty acids (and not long chain as in most vegetable oils). Beside their beneficial chemical properties, MCfas are burned for energy and do not accumulate as body fat!


So…my cookies. I am never a good deliverer of recipes because I never measure ingredients but mix them by eye and feel. So let’s say I will approximate a recipe which changes at every time, but which always gives good results!

Hearty Coconut Cookies
3/4 cup of wholewheat flour (you can replace with spelt or any other liked flour)
1/2 cup of buckwheat flour
1/2 cup of coconut flour
3 spoonfuls of coconut oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup of raw sugar
¼ cup of raisins
1/4 cup of dark (80%) chocolate chips
1 teaspoonful of cardamom
2 teaspoonfuls of cinnamon

(if the dough is too brittle, you can add 1/2 cup of oatmeal milk or soya milk)
 
Work the dough with your hands until smooth, flatten with roller, cut cookies at a 3 mm height, place in over at 180 degree Celsius and cook for 15-20 minutes. Taste after cooling!

1 Soon to appear on this blog, a summary of latest research on cholesterol and why, according to many doctors and researchers, it is not always a good idea to lower it.
2 In a future post I will be talking about oxidation and the deeds caused by such a devastating chemical event
3 In an imminent post I will discuss about saturated fats, the not so bad (the best?) fats to better include in the healthy diet.

Fats and health, Part I: cholesterol and other fats

News have been flowing through the papers, tv and the web that fats are not our worst enemies. Nutritional research has been claiming this for the past 20+ years. But as usual, the information to the normal public through media (mainstream and alternative) arrives - even if with interpretational errors - with a little delay compared to science.

CHOLESTEROL is not all bad, and not even the splitting between LDL (bad?) and HDL (good!) tells the whole metabolic tale of cardiovascular disesases risks. So, should we lower it or not? Check this research done in Australia project that disclosed that at higher serum LDL and TOTAL cholesterol corresponded better memory in women bewteen 52 and 63 years old.

There is also information that in people over 60, the rates of death and dementia go UP if cholesterol is lowered beyond 250. (btw. why did it used to be 350?). Simple to understand, the brain NEEDS fats and it is high in cholesterol, which acts as precursor of neurotransmitters. Take away those fats and the brain does not function that well.


But here come the so ever popular statins, which DO reduce cholesterol, but also cause neuropathies and myopathies, by lowering the level of CoQ10, highly demanded by the heart (!). Statins lower CoQ10 by up to 40%. So, we lower the fats that are needed for good functioning of the brain and the same time lower a substance that is essential for optimum health and longevity of all cells, and especially those of the heart (Wait a minute, don't we take statins to prevent CARDIO vascular problems??).

Anyway, coming back to the fats and how their reputaion has incredibly improved so that they are considered our passport to a good health.... Let's consider the fact that in the past 40 years we have been told to stop eating butter and move to margarine, to stop eating lard and cook with vegetable oils, and yet, the rates of obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, cardiac disease, hypertension and cancer have been skyrocketing. Now the culprit is understood to be grains, or charbohydrates or complex sugars, which have been replacing the free slot left by low fat diets. 

So, the 'new' diet recommendation tells us to move to high proteins, low or no carbs, and high fat (including SATURATED animal fats!) diets: the Paleolothic diet. This regime, with its compelling logic, is taking the place of the low fat diets of the 80s and 90s.

PALEOLITHIC: in the past 10,000 years, our DNA hasn't YET had the time to adapt to the grain and milk farming of the pastoral civilizations, therefore we should still be eating grass-fed meat, nuts, roots and berries. Right. Without going to extremes and excesses and depriving ourselves of self indulging and short-term rewarding carbs-rich foods, we should keep in mind that QUALITY is more important than QUANTITY. We do not have to sacrifice our cooking pleasures to measure and weight grams of proteins and avoid all grains as the devil. However, we should be aware of choosing the good foods. The GOOD FATS, to undo the mistakes of the low-fats preaching, should be NATURAL, not man-made, not saturated and industrially-manipulated- such transformations are mostly introduced by the food companies for getting longer-lasting packages that can sit on shelves for months and NOT to provide the healthiest foods.

Still in terms of quality, the rate between OMEGA 3 (craved by the brain) to omega 6 fatty acids has been decreasing in western diets from 4:1 during the processed food revolution, to 8:1 in WWII times, to 20:1 as today, while this same ratio should be 1:1!!! Now, the problem with omega 6, is that they are favoring inflammatory states, which are implicated in issues like atherosclerosis, asthma, arthritis, thrombosis, cancer, autoimmune diseases and dementia! Where do we get such omega 6? Seeds oils! Soybean, sunflower, cottonseeds, peanut, grapeseed, corn oils etc. The under-represented omega 3 are found in linseeds  (flax), canola, cold water fish and nuts such as walnuts and few others.


So, coming down to few simple recommendations: avoid processed food (which always contain processed omega 6 rich oils), cook with coconut butter (or, if you are not lactose intolerant, a little butter, organic and from grass-fed cows) and use extravirgin olive oil for crude condiment. Eat tons of antioxidants in the shape of vegetables. Eat few grains and focus on others than wheat (which has been loosing its protein content with farming processes and gives gluten intolerance or low tolerance to many) such as buckwheat (not a grain), whole oats and barley, quinoa, amaranth.


This article is not to be taken as a suggestion to stop using statins. Please keep to your doctor's recommendations, while you are always free to ask clarifications.

where to find iron when vegetarian

Here is a list of food items containing iron in good amounts , especially important for vegetarian people:
  

molasses, kelp, brewer's yeast,

wheat germ,

almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, pumpkin s., squash seeds, sunflower s.,

millet, lentils,

parsley, green leafy veggies,

quinoa, oats, amaranth,

natto, miso, soybeans

 
  

fats: are they good or bad?

Which  fats are necessary, which harmful?

Ask to see the informative slide show

diet influencing mood?

Diet and the choice of what we eat influence our mood and behaviour. Selecting the right food to be happier and healthier.

Seminars on health held by Silvia