green tea Archives

Jun

2024

Metabolism Can Vary in People

By Ray Schilling | Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, Diabetes, diet, exercise, fasting mimicking diet, Fitness, green tea, Hormones, lifestyle, mitochondria, Obesity, Smoking, Weight loss

Weight loss is easier for some than others, because metabolism can vary in people. In the following I will outline this in more detail. A biochemist recently published an article in “the conversation”, which is the basis for my review.

Everybody has their own metabolism

It is important to realize that everything that our body comes in contact with influences our physical characteristics like our blood pressure and our energy. Together all the biological characteristics have the name phenotype. The most important factor that influences our phenotype is our metabolism. It matters what you do like eating, whether you are taking medication, smoking, or exercising. This all influences your metabolism. On a molecular level it starts when your digestive system breaks nutrients down into each component: carbohydrates, fats and protein. When your digestive juices break down these food components, electrons are released from chemical bonds. These are transferred to the mitochondria, the energy packages in all of our cells. It is important to note that we do not all have the same metabolism as our neighbour. There are different types of metabolism.

Metabolism of an elite athlete

Elite athletes are not born that way. They have to practice hard physically for many hours a day and do that over several years. Their bodies adapt to the regular training by creating extra mitochondria in every cell of their body. Their body also learns how to burn fat, carbs and amino acids into chemical energy effectively. The elite athlete has superior energy production.

Metabolism of a Covid-19 patient

At the other end of the spectrum is the metabolism of a Covid-19 patient. Researchers found by examining patients who got sick from Covid-19 that their fat metabolism was impaired. This inability to burn fat persists in long Covid patients. The fatigue from long Covid is due to a dysfunction of the mitochondria. The mitochondria are not producing enough energy.

The in-between metabolism of blood donors

Travis Nemkov is an assistant research professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. His team investigated blood from 13,000 blood donors. They found that the metabolism of blood donors placed between the metabolism of elite athletes and that of Covid-19 patients. They also found a lot of variation of a metabolite by the name of kynurenine, which is due to a breakdown of the amino acid tryptophan. The researchers found that blood from donors with higher kynurenine levels was unable to restore blood levels of blood recipients. In addition, they found that kynurenine levels were higher in older donors and also in patients with obesity (higher BMI’s). Kynurenine was also a strong predictor for Covid-19 severity.

Weight loss problems when the metabolism is slow

We all know people who have a problem shedding their weight compared to others who loose weight with only a few days of food restriction. “People might have fast, slow, or average metabolism, regardless of their body size and composition,” says Dr. Chih-Hao Lee, professor of genetics and complex diseases at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This Harvard University website explains this in detail. How do we speed up a naturally slow metabolism? We can exercise a bit more, and watch the quality of our food intake. This means cutting out added sugar, too much fat, too many carbohydrates and processed foods. The Harvard website says: “Studies have found green tea contains a compound called epigallocatechin gallate, which may increase the calories and fat you burn. “By making these small changes mentioned you can rev up your metabolism.

Hormones and body weight

Our metabolism and body weight depend on a number of hormones: leptin, insulin, estrogens, androgens and growth hormone play a crucial role in weight control. Additional hormones, such as the thyroid hormones are involved in maintaining our weight in a healthy range. Researchers have noticed that patients with hypothyroidism gain weight and burn less calories in their mitochondria. On the other hand, patients with hyperthyroidism stimulate their metabolism, lose weight and burn more calories. The exact mechanism of how thyroid hormones interact with the other hormones is unknown.

Metabolism Can Vary in People

Conclusion

I came across a review about metabolism and weight control, written by a biochemist. He pointed out that different people have different metabolisms. Examples he gave were the metabolism of elite athletes and the metabolism of Covid-19 patients, who are at the low end. His team investigated the metabolism of 13,000 people who were blood donors. He called them people with an in-between metabolism.

How to speed up naturally slow metabolism

How do we speed up a naturally slow metabolism? We can exercise a bit more, and watch the quality of our food intake. This means cutting out added sugar, too much fat, too many carbohydrates and processed foods. Your physician can also tell you whether your thyroid hormones and your human growth hormone are adequate. Other hormones that regulate your metabolism are leptin, insulin, estrogens and androgens. When you look at the factors that are responsible for your metabolism, the genetic factors come first. Your hormone status, eating pattern and exercise status come second. But by making small changes to the factors mentioned you can rev up your metabolism significantly.

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Mar

2024

Regular Exercise Makes you 9 years younger

By Ray Schilling | diet, fish oil, green tea, lifestyle, Mortality, omega-3 fatty acids, telomeres

A recent publication noted that regular exercise makes you 9 years younger. The researchers meant that the biological age is 9 years younger than your chronological age. They went one step further and proved that regular exercise elongates your telomeres, which is why people who exercise regularly live longer. Specifically, they found that sedentary people had 140 fewer base pairs at the endpoints of their telomeres compared to people who engaged in regular physical activity. In other words, the biological age of a person who exercises regularly is lower than that of a sedentary person. This difference can be measured in leukocyte telomeres. With regard to the base pairs contained in telomeres the highest physical activity group showed the most elongation of the telomeres. There was a 9-year difference in terms of biological age between the highest exercise group and the sedentary group.

Other means of elongation of telomeres

Apart from regular exercise lifestyle factors can also modify the length of telomeres.

Smoking, a lack of regular exercise, exposure to stress and intake of polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids, especially linoleic acid shortens our body telomeres. Soybean oil, sesame seed oil, walnut oil and cotton seed oil are containing 45 to 50 % of linoleic acid, and for this reason should be avoided. The antioxidant effect of omega-3 fatty acids elongates telomeres by reducing the rate of telomere shortening. Antioxidants like vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene were associated with longer telomeres and a lower risk to develop breast cancer.

A few dietary recommendations

Here are a few healthy food recommendations that will elongate your telomeres.

Include antioxidants, fiber, organic soy protein and healthy fats (derived from avocados, fish, and nuts).
Stay lean, active, healthy, and stress-free.
Eat foods such as salmon, herring, mackerel, halibut, anchovies, cat-fish, flounder, flax seeds, chia seeds, kiwi, black raspberries, lingonberry, green tea, broccoli, sprouts, red grapes, tomatoes, olive fruit, and other vitamin C-rich and E-rich foods. They are a good source of antioxidants. Avoid tuna and grouper fish (too rich in noxious mercury).
These combined with a Mediterranean type diet containing fruits, and whole grains will help protect your telomeres.
There are certain individuals who live longer than the rest of us. They may have a certain advantage, which is a longevity gene that makes the telomeres longer. Resveratrol also works through elongation of telomeres.

Telomerase can also lead to telomere length

He pointed out that shortened telomeres are causing cells to behave like old cells. In the lab we can lengthen telomeres. Telomerase activated animals regrew their brains! In the human situation the goal is to find ways to preserve the length of our telomeres in all our key organs. Alternatively, this can also be reached by inhibiting the breakdown of the enzyme telomerase, which will lead to a lengthening of telomeres. In his research Dr. Sears found at least 123 nutrients, vitamins and natural compounds that will elongate telomeres, often by stimulating telomerase.

Lengthening of critically shortened telomeres

Testing for critically short telomeres is clinically more important than using average telomere length tests. Dr. Sears said when a patient has been shown to have short telomeres and this patient is started on telomerase stimulating supplements, telomere lengthening can be documented within one month of starting the supplementation. Acetyl-L-carnitine and resveratrol are two substances that reliably elongate telomeres.

Vitamin C and other telomerase stimulators

Vitamin C will significantly delay shortening of telomeres, which translates into delayed aging. Age-dependent telomere shortening is slowed down by enrichment of intracellular vitamin C via suppression of oxidative stress. In addition, vitamin C has recently been shown to stimulate telomerase activity in certain stem cells. There is an herb, called Silymarin extract, which was found to increase telomerase activity threefold. N-acetyl cysteine is a building block for glutathione, a powerful antioxidant. In addition, it has been shown to turn on the human telomerase gene. Other telomerase stimulators are green tea extract, ginkgo biloba, gamma tocotrienol (one of the components of the vitamin E group), vitamin D3 and folic acid. Telomerase Inhibitors from Natural Products and Their Anticancer Potential.

Regular Exercise Makes you 9 years younger

Conclusion

A research paper found that regular exercise makes a person 9 years younger in terms of the biological age. The underlying process is that telomeres get longer with regular exercise. Specifically, the researchers found that sedentary people had 140 fewer base pairs at the endpoints of their telomeres compared to people who engaged in regular physical activity. I listed other factors that elongate telomeres and help with longevity. When you combine regular exercise with dietary factors that also elongate telomeres, you are better off than with exercise alone.

Jan

2023

Repairing epigenetic Defects can Slow down Aging

By Ray Schilling | Anti-aging medicine, green tea, regenerative medicine, Stress management

A new publication found that repairing epigenetic defects can slow down aging. This is a newer concept, which is gaining momentum in the longevity research world. David Sinclair is a professor of genetics at the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School. He is also co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research.

Here is the summary of how epigenetic factors can slow down aging:

Double-stranded DNA breaks can erode the epigenetic landscape
Loss of epigenetic information accelerates the hallmarks of aging
Epigenetic reprogramming changes aging into more youthful appearance
Researchers can manipulate the epigenome, thus driving aging forward and backward

Professor Sinclair said that the conventional thinking about aging is no longer sustainable. The old theory was that genetic mutations undermine our DNA, creating a junkyard of damaged cellular tissue that leads to deterioration, disease and death. Instead, Dr. Sinclair said: “We believe it’s a loss of information – a loss in the cell’s ability to read its original DNA so it forgets how to function – in much the same way an old computer may develop corrupted software. I call it the information theory of aging.”

Here is what Dr. Sinclair and his team have established

DNA in the cells function like the body’s hardware. The epigenome is the software.
Proteins and chemicals make up the epigenes that sit “like freckles on each gene”. It is the epigenome that turns genes on and off. Pollution, environmental toxins, human behaviors such as smoking, eating an inflammatory diet or suffering a chronic lack of sleep will all trigger a change in the epigenetic information. Dr. Sinclair added: “And just like a computer, the cellular process becomes corrupted as more DNA is broken or damaged.”
“The cell panics, and proteins that normally would control the genes get distracted by having to go and repair the DNA,” he explained. “Then they don’t all find their way back to where they started, so over time it’s like a Ping-Pong match, where the balls end up all over the floor.”
“The astonishing finding is that there’s a backup copy of the software in the body that you can reset,” Sinclair said. “We’re showing why that software gets corrupted and how we can reboot the system by tapping into a reset switch that restores the cell’s ability to read the genome correctly again, as if it was young.”
Sinclair went on to say: “It doesn’t matter if the body is 50 or 75, healthy or affected by disease. Once that process has been triggered, the body will then remember how to regenerate and will be young again, even if you’re already old and have an illness. Now, what that software is, we don’t know yet. At this point, we just know that we can flip the switch.”

History of longevity research

Dr. Sinclair started his research into longevity as a graduate student by working with yeast cells. He studied the genes that controlled aging in yeast. After he identified the aging gene, he also could determine the same gene in mice. He developed ICE, short for “inducible changes to the epigenome”, basically temporary, fast-healing cuts. They mimic the aging process due to exposure to pollution and sunlight. Mice treated with the ICE method for one year looked like regular mice would look after two years. The Sinclair team of researchers were able to age tissues in the brain, eyes, muscle, skin and kidneys of mice using the ICE method.

Mice turning younger again

But what is more important, they also showed that these aged mice could turn younger again. Dr. Sinclair’s researchers took human adult skin cells, reprogrammed them to behave like embryonic or pluripotent stem cells and injected them into the older mice. To their surprise this triggered the test animals to become younger again. Dr. Sinclair said that fortunately they went back to an age between 50% and 75% of the normal life span. None of the animals developed cancer. The researchers injected the cocktail into damaged retinal ganglion cells at the back of the eyes of blind mice. Then they activated the rejuvenation process of the retinal ganglion cells by feeding the mice antibiotics. Surprisingly, the mice regained most of their eyesight. In a similar way the researchers could rejuvenate aged muscle cells, skin cells and kidney cells of mice.

Human longevity

We are not at the point yet where human research similar to mouse research is being done. But Dr. Sinclair is convinced that more human data will be on the way. He pointed out that telomere tests of leukocytes in blood tests of individuals with healthy lifestyles already show that they have a significantly lower biological age compared to their chronological age. His advice for longevity is this:

Focus on plants for food and eat less often
Get sufficient sleep
Exercise regularly and get short-winded for 10 minutes at least three times a week
Regular exercise will also help you to maintain your muscle mass
Don’t get upset about unimportant things. In other words, manage your stress
Have a good social support group

Other ways to reduce your biological age

I attended the 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine In Las Vegas (Dec. 10-14, 2014) that dealt with telomere length and how nutrition can positively influence what our genes express. This ultimately determines how long we live. Dr. Al Sears gave one of the talks at the conference. He pointed out that shortened telomeres are causing cells to behave like old cells. In the lab we can lengthen telomeres. Telomerase activated animals regrew their brains! In the human situation the goal is to find ways to preserve the length of our telomeres in all our key organs. Dr. Sears said a patient with short telomeres who starts telomerase stimulating supplements, develops longer telomeres in leukocytes within one month of commencing the supplementation.

The following supplements lengthen telomeres

Dr. Sears pointed out that the following supplements lengthen telomeres in humans.

Acetyl-L-carnitine and resveratrol are two substances that reliably elongate telomeres.
Vitamin C will significantly delay shortening of telomeres resulting in delayed aging.
In addition, researchers showed recently that vitamin C stimulates telomerase activity in certain stem cells.
The herbal Silymarin extract increases telomerase activity threefold.
N-acetyl cysteine is a building block for glutathione, a powerful antioxidant. In addition, it has been shown to turn on the human telomerase gene.
Other telomerase stimulators are green tea extract, ginkgo biloba, gamma tocotrienol (one of the components of the vitamin E group), vitamin D3 and folic acid.

The following link lists Dr. Sears’ recommended daily doses of these telomerase stimulating supplements.

Repairing epigenetic Defects can Slow down Aging

Conclusion

Epigenetic defects appear to be more important than genetic abnormalities. The problem is that epigenetic changes through pollution or sun exposure can switch off genetic switches. This makes us age much faster than healthy controls. In this review I described mouse experiments that Professor David Sinclair did. He is professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. He demonstrated in mice that he could age them faster with the ICE method, short for “inducible changes to the epigenome”, basically temporary, fast-healing cuts. They mimic the aging process due to exposure to pollution and sunlight. He also showed that these aged mice could turn younger again.

Rejuvenation of older mice

Dr. Sinclair’s researchers took human adult skin cells that have been reprogrammed to behave like embryonic or pluripotent stem cells and injected them into the older mice. To their surprise this triggered them to become younger animals again. None of them developed cancer and they turned back to 50% to 75% of their original age. There is no application to humans yet, but Dr. Sinclair’s team is planning to address this issue next.

Sep

2019

What Makes Us Sick And What Keeps Us Healthy

By Ray Schilling | diet, food, green tea, lifestyle, Nutrition

An article in Nature Communication essentially asks what makes us sick and what keeps us healthy? The publication is about eating enough flavonoids to protect you from heart attacks and cancer.

The publication appeared on Aug. 13, 2019. It is a prospective study involving 56,048 participants of the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health cohort. The medium age of the participant in the beginning of the study was 56 (range 52 to 60). This was cross-linked with Danish nationwide registries. The observation time was 23 years during which 14,083 participants died. As this study had a high number of participants and had a long observation period, the data are quite robust.

The researchers found that when people consume 500 mg of flavonoids from vegetables and fruit per day, they are dying significantly less from heart attacks and cancers.

Details of the study on flavonoid intake

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds in plant-derived foods and beverages such as vegetables, fruit, dark chocolate, coffee, tea, and red wine. There are six major subcategories of flavonoids: flavonols, flavan-3-ols, flavanones, flavones, isoflavones and anthocyanins. But it does not matter, which ones we consume, just that we consume enough (more than 500 mg per day).

The results were obtained with much stratification. For instance, in one set of results they normalized for age and sex. They called this model1. In another set they adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol intake, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, social economic status (income), diabetes, and prevalent disease. They called this model 2.

Participants with 536 mg of daily flavonoid intake had a reduction of 39% of heart attacks according to model 1. Using model 2 this changed to a reduction of 18% of heart attacks.

Cancer mortality reduction

The investigators did a similar analysis for cancer mortality reductions. At 536 mg of daily flavonoid intake model 1 showed a 36% reduction of cancer mortality. Model 2 still calculated a 21% reduction of cancer mortality. In both cases, the cardiovascular mortality risk and the cancer risk showed that more than 500 mg of flavonoids per day were not necessary as no more lives were saved by increasing the flavonoid dose beyond that. Unfortunately the opposite is true: people eat too many processed foods devoid of flavonoids, and they die of heart attacks and cancer prematurely.

Reducing the risk of heart attacks and cancer is not new

Many studies have shown what researchers found in this study, namely that vegetables and fruit can prevent heart attacks and cancer. Here is a brief summary with links to show this.

We heard many times that small amounts of alcohol consumption will keep the arteries clear of fatty deposits. This prevents heart attacks and strokes, but as the following study shows even small amounts of alcohol can cause various cancers.

Small doses of alcohol are still cancer producing

Dr. Timothy S. Naimi from Boston University Medical Center was the main investigator of an international team of scientists. The study found that every year 18,200 to 21,300 cancer deaths in the US (that is 3.2% to 3.7% of all US cancer deaths) are due to alcohol consumption. The authors of the study determined that every person who dies from alcohol related causes lost on average approximately 18 years of his/her life (scientists call this “years of potential life lost”). 51% of women developed breast cancer from alcohol exposure, 62% of men came down with upper airway and esophageal cancers. Less than 1.5 drinks per day caused between 26% and 35% of alcohol-related cancer deaths. There was no safe lower margin. The authors concluded, “Reducing alcohol consumption is an important and underemphasized cancer prevention strategy”.

Lifestyle important for longer life expectancy

I am reminded of a talk that Dr. David Katz delivered in a keynote address. He said that lifestyle improvements create profound changes in our system. This talk took place at the 22^nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine in Las Vegas Dec. 10-14, 2014. One study that was mentioned showed that in men who adopted a healthy lifestyle 35% of heart attacks could be prevented. With healthy lifestyle the authors meant consuming a healthy diet, not exceeding moderate alcohol consumption, no smoking, regular physical activity and having a normal waist circumference (less than 95 cm).

The ingredients you need to make it to age 100

A Swedish longevity study that went on for 50 years gave me the idea to write a blog about the factors that can help you to turn 100 and still have your mental capacity and good health.Let me introduce you to this study. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Göteborg, Sweden (which is located at the University of Gothenburg) decided back in 1963 to follow a group of 855 Gothenburg men born in 1913 until they would either die or turn 100. The idea was to find out what killer diseases are in the way to reach such a ripe old age and if they would survive, what was it that made them reach this age. Think of it as a race to turn 100.

What diseases killed at older age and what led to longevity?

The researchers had checkpoints along that journey: various surveys were conducted at the age of 54, 60, 65, 75, 80 and 100 to analyze the factors that lead to longevity. 27% (232) of the original group reached the age of 80, and 13% (111) made it to 90. Only 1.1% of the men made it to the age of 100. What were the causes of death for the other ones who did not make it? 42% of deaths after the age of 80 were due to heart attacks, 20% due to infectious diseases, 8% due to strokes, 8% due to cancer, 6% due to pneumonia and 16% due to other causes. 23% of the men over 80 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Factors that made people survive were refraining from smoking, maintaining a healthy cholesterol level and limiting coffee consumption to not more than 4 cups per day.

Beneficial effects of green tea and black tea

A meta-analysis involving 194,965 people and 4378 strokes found that there was a reduction of strokes with increasing tea consumption. Those who drank 3 or 4 cups of green tea or black tea per day were the experimental group. Researchers compared them to the control group that drank less than one cup of tea per day. The experimental group had a 21% lower risk of getting a stroke than the control group.

A meta-analysis of 18 studies from China showed that green tea and black tea consumption was beneficial for prevention of cardiovascular disease and for cancer prevention. The highest consumption of green tea reduced cardiovascular mortality (heart attacks and strokes) by 33%. The highest black tea consumption lowered mortality by 12%. Cancer mortality turned out different. Green tea did not produce a reduction in mortality, but black tea lowered it by 21%. I suspect that the different subcomponents of the bioflavonoid content in green and black tea are key to those findings.

Plant-based diet versus animal protein based diet

A 2016 study that had gone on for 49 years was involving 131,342 participants. Animal protein intake showed an association with higher mortality from heart attacks and strokes. The investigators substituted 3% of energy from processed red meat by an equivalent amount of plant protein. This reduced the all-cause mortality by 34%. For unprocessed red meat the 3% substitution reduced the all-cause mortality by 12%. If 3% of egg consumption is reduced, all cause mortality drops by 19%.

British Medical Journal study

A new study has shown that you can save lives when you replace red meat and processed red meat. The replacement was with fish, poultry or protein from vegetables. The study appeared in the British Medical Journal on June 12, 2019. It involved 53,553 women nurses and 27,916 male doctors in the United States and ran from 1986 to 2010. Here is my summary of the blog where I reviewed this study in detail. A new study in the British Medical Journal showed that an increase in red meat consumption of only ½ serving per day for 8 years caused an increased mortality of 9% over the following 8 years. With regard to processed red meat the mortality was even bigger, namely 13%. The researchers replaced some of the meat with white chicken meat or vegetables and the mortality normalized.

In contrast, a Japanese study showed that there was no increase in cardiovascular disease with the consumption of up to 100 grams of beef or other meat products per week. The study went on for 16 years.

Using antibiotics as growth promoters is illegal in Japan and Europe

I pointed out before that there is literature explaining why there is a discrepancy: the beef industry in the US feeds the animals antibiotics as growth promoters. This changes the bowel flora in humans who eat the beef. The changed bacterial strains in the gut use carnitine from beef and make trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). This is a toxin that causes both cardiovascular disease and cancer. This explains why in the US beef is one of the culprits that cause heart attacks and colorectal cancer. In Japan this is not the case. Both Japan and Europe do not use antibiotics as growth promoters in the cattle industry, as it is illegal.

In the US it is likely safe to eat organic meats (beef, chicken) as these meats will not contain antibiotics. Due to the numerous additives in processed red meat, it is a sensible idea to skip these products altogether, as they produce cancer.

What Makes Us Sick And What Keeps Us Healthy

Conclusion

Several studies have pointed out the importance of eating less animal protein and increasing vegetables and fruit in your diet. Heart attacks, strokes and cancers are still the major causes of death in all of the developed countries. The Danish study mentioned in the beginning showed that keeping the daily intake of bioflavonoids at 500 mg or more prevented 18% to 39% of heart attack mortality and 21% to 36% of cancer mortality.

In other studies we learnt that deaths between the ages of 80 and 100 were mainly due to heart attacks, strokes and cancer (these accounted for 58% of deaths). Only 1.1% of the men in that Swedish study made it to the age of 100.

More evidence that flavonoids and plant protein save lives

Another study measured the effect of green and black tea consumption: There was a 21% reduction of strokes with green or black tea consumption.

Another study found reduced cardiovascular mortality by 33%. Green tea reduced cancer mortality by 21%.

Another study showed that when plant protein replaced red meat there was an astounding drop of the all-cause mortality by 34%.

All of these studies show that you must eat enough flavonoids to protect yourself from heart attacks and cancer. Of course you also need to engage in a regular physical exercise program to stay fit and healthy.

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Aug

2019

The Best Ways To Prevent Cancer

By Ray Schilling | alcohol, andropause, breast cancer, Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, coffee, Diabetes, diet, exercise, fiber, food, green tea, heart attack, Hormones, lifestyle, lung cancer, Menopause, Nutrition, Obesity, omega-3 fatty acids, Prevention, Processed food, prostate cancer, sleep, Smoking, Stroke, sugar, testosterone, Vitamins and supplements

Cancer is the second leading cause of death, that’s why it is important to learn about the best ways to prevent cancer. Generally speaking you want to remove cancer-producing substances (carcinogens) from your diet. But diet is only part of your lifestyle that can contribute to cancer. I shall list some of the more important dietary factors below and briefly touch on important other factors.

Avoid burning your meat

When you use the BBQ, you should avoid burning your meat. Even though the marks of “charring” are considered desirable on meat from the grill, this is really burnt! As a matter of fact it is a lot better to use a slow cooker at low heat and simply cook your food longer. This way you don’t create carcinogens. Avoiding to burn your meat is particularly important for the red meats.

Sugar and an overabundance of starchy foods can cause cancer

You never thought that sugar and an overabundance of starchy foods could cause cancer, but they do. The reason is that the metabolism of cancer cells is using 10- to 12-times more sugar than the metabolism of normal cells. The worst thing a cancer patient can do is to over-consume sugar. Replace sugar by stevia, which is a harmless, plant-based sweetener and does not lead to an insulin reaction. Avoid all other sugar substitutes, as there are other heath problems with most of them.

Avoid phthalates

Those who have a craving for macaroni and cheese are out of luck. This food contains phthalates that are part of the ingredients of almost every sample of cheese powder used to manufacture macaroni and cheese. Phthalates can cause infertility and breast cancer. So you must definitely avoid macaroni and cheese, at least the stuff from the box. Prepare your own!

A high fat diet

What does a high fat diet do? It increases the risk for breast cancer. But it can also increase colorectal cancer risk. Limit your fat intake to about 10% of saturated fat. That is the recommendation of the FDA. Increase your consumption of fish and seafood. Only one proviso: predator fish like shark, marlin, tilefish, swordfish and grouper are high in mercury. But wild salmon, sardines and oysters are low in mercury. You can also enjoy shrimps and prawns.

Take high dose vitamin D3 supplements

High dose vitamin D3 supplements help you to avoid cancer. There are strong statistics showing that vitamin D3 is a powerful tool to lower your risk of developing cancer. Your family doctor should take a blood test called 25-hydroxy vitamin D level to make sure that you absorb enough vitamin D3. There are slow and fast absorbers and the only thing to know how well your gut absorbs vitamin D3 is in doing this blood test.

Also, curcumin (turmeric) 500 mg once per day is good for cancer prevention.

Take enough fiber

Make sure you take enough fiber, which does not only reduce colorectal cancer, but also many other cancers. When you eat plant-based food, you automatically get fiber in it. North Americans are not consuming enough fiber in their diet.

Avoid processed meat and too much red meat consumption

Processed meat and red meat cause cancer.

Beef, lamb and pork seem to contribute to causing cancer according to the WHO. Use common sense and eat fish, chicken and turkey. Reduce your beef consumption. My grandmother served beef as a Sunday dish.The rest of the week simple, plant-based foods appeared on the table. Ask your grandmother, what she used to cook. Or ask your mother what she ate as a child.

Eat moderate amounts of fruit and vegetables

The claim that fruit and vegetables would protect you from cancer is not as solid as researchers thought of in the past. Newer research has shown that a basic intake of fruit and vegetables is needed for nutrients, but consuming more than that will NOT protect you from cancer.

This link explains that eating more vegetables or fruit beyond a certain point will not do harm, but will not protect you further from cancer.

Drink green tea or black tea

If you like tea, drink green tea or black tea. Sweeten it with stevia, but not with sugar. Tea has been shown to have cancer prevention properties.

Avoid alcohol consumption to prevent cancer.

Coffee is a healthy drink and it has mild anti-cancer effects as well. It does not matter whether you drink it caffeinated or decaffeinated.

Other lifestyle issues

Quit smoking

If you are still smoking, quit smoking! Smoking is by and large the biggest risk for developing lung cancer, throat cancer, esophageal cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Watch your calorie intake

Eat smaller meals more often. This way the production of your digestive juices will consume some calories. In addition your taste buds are satisfied, so your hunger for food is more controlled. The end result is that you will not gain weight.

Prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes

This will help prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes, both of which are established risk factors to develop cancer. Here is a review that shows you, which cancer types are caused by obesity. With regard to diabetes, there is a strong association to developing liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and endometrial cancer (=uterine cancer). There is a lesser risk (only 1.2 to 1.5-fold) to develop cancer of the colon and rectum, breast cancer and bladder cancer.

Pollution

Poor air quality with pollution can also be a factor in causing cancer. Pollution does not stay local, but travels through the stratosphere around the globe. The result is that now 10 to 15% of lung cancer in the US occurs in patients who never smoked. This translates into 16,000 to 24,000 deaths annually of never-smokers in the US. In certain cities such as Beijing lung cancer rates have doubled in 9 years between 2002 and 2011. Lung cancer in non-smokers can be caused from exposure to radon, to second-hand tobacco smoke, and other indoor air pollutants.

Bioidentical hormone replacement

When males do not replace missing testosterone in andropause they are much more prone to develop prostate cancer. Similarly, when women are menopausal and do not get progesterone supplementation, they develop a higher amount of breast cancer due to estrogen dominance. It follows from this that bioidentical hormone replacement in menopause and andropause will help to prevent prostate cancer and breast cancer.

The Best Ways To Prevent Cancer

Conclusion

There is strong evidence that certain foods can cause cancer. Other foods including supplements like curcumin and vitamin D3 can help prevent cancer. Basically, you want to avoid all that is known to cause cancer and eat more of the healthy foods that do not cause cancer. This will help to decline your cancer risk. I suggest that in addition you should quit smoking, avoid pollution as much as possible, reduce excessive alcohol intake and watch your calorie intake. By doing this you prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes, and you will move into the low-risk cancer group. We all need to work on this on an ongoing basis.

Practical hints regarding the best ways to prevent cancer

The best ways to prevent cancer is to avoid processed red meat and all other processed foods. Eat more vegetables, fruit, wild salmon and other seafood. Don’t eat red meat more often than once a week and make it red meat from grass fed animals. In addition exercise regularly, get enough sleep and practice some form of relaxation (yoga, Tai Chi, self-hypnosis etc.). This lifestyle will not only prevent heart attacks and strokes, but also the majority of cancers.

Previously published here.

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Sep

2018

The Best Foods For Your Heart

By Ray Schilling | Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, coffee, diet, fiber, fish oil, Fitness, food, green tea, heart attack, Heart Disease, Nutrition, omega-3 fatty acids, Stroke, sugar, Vitamins and supplements

In the following I will describe 16 foods, which are the best foods for your heart. I will also comment as to why I believe they are best. This review is based on this article in “Medical News Today”.

But I have added many other comments to it.

Heart disease is still the number 1 killer. We need to change what we eat.

Vegetables

The regular intake of green leaf vegetables and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage) has an association with the preservation of cognitive function. In the Nurses’ Health Study starting in 1984 women were asked about their usual intake of a specified portion of food items, including 15 fruits and 28 vegetables. At a later date, between 1995 and 2001, researchers decided to ask the oldest participants (70 years and older) to participate in a cognitive function study. Two years later researchers repeated these tests.The main finding of the study is that women with the highest intake of green, leafy vegetables had the least decline in their cognitive function. The vegetable lovers, who consumed five serving of cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower had less decline in their cognitive function. On the other hand the highest decline showed up in the group that averaged only 2 servings per week.

Asparagus

Asparagus is a source of fiber, folate, multiple vitamins and chromium. Chromium enhances the function of insulin to transport sugar into cells. Asparagus contains glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals and carcinogens. It is said to help prevent lung cancers, larynx cancer, and bone, breast and colon cancers.

Berries

Berries like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are full of bioflavonoids. These are antioxidants, which prevent cardiovascular disease.

It is the anthocyanines, which prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Berries also have bioflavonoids and reduce lipid formation in the blood. Berries contain fiber, folate, iron, calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Broccoli

This fiber rich vegetable helps to prevent hardening of the arteries. Broccoli and kale likely have preventative effects against colon cancer.

Chickpeas, beans, peas and lentils

Legumes or pulses are a great way to consume plant-derived protein. People who are on vegan diets should be eating them for a protein source. They also contain lots of fiber, vitamins and minerals. We know that they lower cholesterol, which prevents heart disease. Other healthy nutrients they contain are bioflavonoids, which have antioxidant properties and help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Dark chocolate

This is a food rich in antioxidants. Dark chocolate is chocolate with more than 70% cocoa content. Please note: “milk chocolate” is nothing better than candy and devoid of any health benefits. Dark chocolate increases the protective HDL cholesterol and prevents oxidation of LDL cholesterol. It is said to prevent atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Don’t exceed eating 1 to 2 oz. per day, as chocolate has some sugar in it and the fat content would be detrimental with higher consumption.

Chia seeds and flaxseeds

Chia seeds and flaxseeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids in the form of α-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA reduces LDL cholesterol and it dissolves plaque in the arteries. ALA also reduces blood pressure to a certain degree. All of this helps reduce cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes). Note that flaxseeds must be ground to powder to release the nutrients from its tough shell. Both chia and flaxseeds can be used as an egg replacement in vegan cooking.

Fish high in omega-3s

Omega-3 fatty acids are abundantly present in fish. It has plaque-reducing properties and also reduces the risk for abnormal heart beats. Overall this means less cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends a 3.5 oz. serving of fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring or sardines) twice per week.

Coffee

A Brazilian study from 2018 showed that drinking 3 cups of coffee a day would stop coronary artery calcification. Many other studies have shown reduced mortality from heart attacks and strokes with increased coffee intake.

Green tea

Green tea is known to reduce blood pressure slightly and to reduce cholesterol. Both effects are beneficial for the cardiovascular system (prevents heart attacks and strokes). Green tea also prevents many cancers. Whatever we know about coffee consumption seems to also be true for green tea consumption.

Nuts

Nuts contain healthy fatty acids (omega-3). But they also contain fiber, protein, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Use them in desserts, in salads and as a quick food on the go. They are definitely healthier than protein bars.

Liver

Liver is one of the nutrient rich foods. It is rich in iron, phosphorus, vitamin A, folate, vitamin B12 and biotin.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is rich in soluble fiber. It has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol. This is important for prevention of heart disease.

Red wine (may be)

The bioflavonoids of red grapes have been the subject of much research. There is a dose-response curve showing a protective effect with regard to heart attacks and strokes with the consumption of 1 to 3 glasses of red wine per day. But unfortunately there is also a dose-response curve with respect to alcohol consumption and cancer causation. Personally, I take resveratrol from the health food store, 500 mg daily and consume white wine or red wine very rarely.

Tomatoes

There are a number of beneficial phytochemicals in tomatoes. Carotenoids like lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthine and beta-carotenes are helping to prevent prostate cancer and colon cancer. Potassium and folate are cardioprotective.

Spinach

Eating spinach regularly will provide you with magnesium, iron and bioflavonoids. Magnesium is good for a regular heart rhythm. The other nutrients are good for skin, bone and hair health.

Discussion

I have reviewed why these 16 foods are the best foods for your heart. We have seen that many foods that are rich in antioxidants are also cancer preventative. People who eat a Mediterranean diet will get these 16 foods, because their meals are balanced with nutrients. But if you eat a hamburger or a pizza you will not get balanced nutrients. The more one-sided your food intake, the more dangerous your lifestyle becomes. This is the problem with the Standard American diet (“SAD”). You need all of the components of the 16 foods described here. Junk food won’t do, as it consists only of empty calories.

The Best Foods For Your Heart

Conclusion

It is useful to review healthy foods as was done above. Now it is a matter of including them in your daily food intake. If this is overwhelming you, start with baby steps. One or two healthy foods here or there are a good start. Increase this until you cover all the 16 foods mentioned. The more balanced your food intake is, the more antioxidant vitamins you will get. And the more heart disease and cancer prevention you will experience.

Apart from good, balanced nutrition we also need regular exercise for heart disease and cancer prevention. Go to a gym, go for a walk, climb some stairs. Get away from the computer and television. Together with best foods for your heart this will keep you healthier for longer.

May

2018

The Benefits Of Drinking Green Tea

By Ray Schilling | Anxiety, Cancer, coffee, depression, green tea, heart attack, High Blood Pressure, Inflammation, Stroke

Chances are you heard about the benefits of drinking green tea to reduce heart disease. But the polyphenols of green tea also prevent cancer, depression and cognitive decline.

Green tea lowers cardiovascular mortality

A study in the Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy consisted of 807 men and women aged 65 years and older. They had urine tests for metabolites of green tea in the beginning of the study. The study went on for 12 years. 274 participants died, which was 34% of the total study group. Tests measured the total urinary polyphenol (TUP) concentration in both groups, the survivors and the participants who died. Those participants whose TUP was in the highest tertile of the TUP values had the lowest all-cause mortality. And those participants whose TUP was in the lowest tertile had the highest all-cause mortality.

High blood pressure and stroke

A Taiwanese study from 2004 examined the blood pressure of 1507 subjects. There were 711 men and 796 women with a recent diagnosis of high blood pressure. The investigators looked at tea consumption (green tea and oolong tea) and blood pressure reduction. They found that those who drank 120 to 599 mL/day of green tea or oolong tea decreased their blood pressure by 46%. Those who drank more than 600 mL/day of green tea or oolong tea lowered their blood pressure by 65%.

Another meta-study involving 194,965 people and 4378 strokes found that there was a reduction of strokes with increasing tea consumption. Those who drank 3 or 4 cups of green tea or black tea per day were the experimental group. Researchers compared them to the control group that drank less than one cup of tea per day. The experimental group had a 21% lower risk of getting a stroke than the control group.

Cancer prevention more with black tea than with green tea

A meta-analysis of 18 studies from China showed that green tea and black tea consumption was beneficial for prevention of cardiovascular disease and for cancer prevention. The highest consumption of green tea reduced cardiovascular mortality by 33%. The highest black tea consumption lowered mortality by 12%. Cancer mortality turned out to be different. Green tea did not produce a reduction in mortality, but black tea lowered it by 21%.

Another study, this one from Shanghai, China, points out that there are 15 polyphenols in green tea that likely work on different target areas of the body. They target 200 different genes in humans affecting diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, muscular disease and inflammation.

Other cancers like prostate and breast cancer benefit from green tea

This study shows evidence that habitual green tea drinkers do prevent prostate cancer and breast cancer to a certain extent.

Another study investigates the effect of tea on health. One of the studies from the same authors have shown that the oxidative damage to cells from cigarette smoking can come out in a urine test. Those smokers who drank 4 cups of tea per day had a 31% decrease in their urinary biomarkers to indicate DNA damage. As DNA damage is often the first step in cancer development, these findings are important to note.

Cognitive effects of green tea consumption in dementia patients

A 2017 review of dietary supplements to improve cognitive impairment pointed out several supplements that will improve cognition. Green tea is one of them, but omega-3 fatty acids (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are also useful supplements to restore neuronal functioning.

A 2017 study from Basel, Switzerland found that green tea improved memory, reduced anxiety and activated the working memory, which could be made visible on functional MRI scans. These researchers also pointed out that green tea has this effect as a whole, you cannot attribute it to a single constituent. Separate tests of caffeine or L-Theanine showed that the beneficial effect was smaller than when green tea as a whole was tested.

2016 study on severe Alzheimer’s patients

This 2016 Iranian study looked at 30 patients with severe Alzheimer’s disease. A baseline assessment was first, and 2 months after taking 4 green tea pills daily another assessment followed. A blood test measured the oxidative stress before and after, so was the antioxidant level from the green tea. The oxidative stress test showed an improvement during the study. The antioxidant level in the blood was higher than before the start of the study. The cognitive function test improved only slightly.

A 2018 study from Singapore looked at the effect of drinking tea (black tea or green tea) regarding symptoms of anxiety or depression. In a group of 614 subjects who were elderly individuals, aged 60 years and above; 59% consumed tea for longer than 15 years. These tea-drinking people were significantly less depressed and significantly less anxious when they underwent psychological tests, compared to non-tea drinkers.

Depression and green tea consumption

There is a 2018 study from South Korea that looked at the link of beverages from 15 studies with depression. 347,691 participants were part of these 15 studies, and 20,572 cases of depression developed. Comparing a high consumption of tea or coffee to low consumption, the following statistics were the result: coffee consumption reduced depression by 27%, green tea consumption by 29%.

The Benefits Of Drinking Green Tea

Conclusion

Bioflavonoids are powerful antioxidants. But there are many more substances in green tea and coffee that are all beneficial for our health. One of the studies mentioned identified 15 polyphenols in green tea. But another study said that trying to identify one of the components as more active than the others would be a waste of time. They measured some of the factors by themselves and found that the overall effect was much smaller than green tea as a whole.

Other research has shown that the components of green tea activate several genes. This includes anti-inflammatory effects, prevention of heart attacks and strokes, lowering of blood pressure, anti-cancer effects, improvements of cognitive function, as well as improvement of depression and anxiety. As you can see the effect of green tea is diversified. Don’t hesitate to consume another cup of tea!