Are you feeling fat after eating so much over the Thanksgiving holiday?  If so, you may be tempted to try some of the impressive weight loss diets advertised on the internet.

The advertisement above shows some pictures of a woman’s remarkable transformation after losing 44 pounds.  In your eagerness to click on the advertisement, you may overlook the fact that the picture is a fake.   Here are some ways to tell that the claims are fake:

1) The advertisement claims a 44 pound loss.  For every loss of weight of 6 or 7 pounds there is a waist size reduction of about 1 inch.  A person could only lose about 6 or 7 inches at the waist by losing 44 pounds.  With the pants folded in half, the slack would be only three or four inches.  But look at the picture.  There are about 6 inches of slack or about 12 inches in circumference.  That would correspond to a weight loss of around 80 pounds.

2) Notice the width of the pant legs in both pictures.  The legs of the pants on the right are much wider than the legs of the pants on the left.  Do you seriously think that the model in the picture would be able to put her hips and both legs into one pant leg?  Since the face is not shown, we have to ask: is it the same girl in both pictures?

Avoid weight loss scams.  The only way that you can lose weight is by avoiding junk food and cutting calories.

Antonio Zamora - Age 66

Once a year, it is good to have a physical check up.  The purpose of the check up is to determine if something is not quite right, and if so, to take steps to correct it.  The most common thing that people find out from a yearly checkup is that their weight has increased.

Gaining a few pounds each year may not seem like a big deal, but over time it can lead to obesity.  An increased amount of fat tissue starts releasing hormones that change the metabolism, and obesity is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

Over the last year I gained two pounds.  Two pounds may sound trivial, but an increase of two pounds per year over 10 years would be 20 pounds.  By reducing my food by 100 Calories per day, I should be able to lose those two pounds in about two months while maintaining my current level of activity.  Life is full of choices.  Should I give up my daily slice of home-made bread with raw honey or the dark chocolate square?  Maybe I will just cut my portions in half.

We always have to sacrifice for what we want.  In the past, I have been overweight, but I feel healthier when I am lean.  I have to seek the right balance between asceticism and hedonism.  In any case, by next year I expect to be at my normal weight.  That’s my Thanksgiving Resolution.

Dr. Leonard Guarente

Today, I attended a lecture at the National Institues of Health by Dr. Leonard Guarente of MIT.  Dr. Guarente has dedicated his career to the study of the molecular mechanisms that affect life span and the development of the diseases associated with aging.  One of his particular interests is the study of mammalian SIRT genes that are involved in changes in stress resistance and metabolism known to be associated with Calorie Restriction (CR). The CR diet not only extends life span in rodents, but also protects against many diseases of aging, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, cancer and osteoporosis.

Dr. Guarente described recent findings in his laboratory regarding SIRT1 function in specific mammalian tissues and in specific disease models.  Dr. Guarente’s lab has recently shown that genetic interventions that enhance the activity of the mammalian sirtuin SIRT1 can mitigate major diseases of aging in mice, such as neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.  Increased expression of the SIRT1 gene in experimental animals was able to decrease cancer, decrease the formation of beta amyloid plaque in the brain, and decrease osteoporosis, but overexpression of the gene was fatal.  It seems that there is an optimum amount of gene expression which promotes health, and that too much is actually worse.

Dr. Guarente posed with me for this photograph.  When I told him that I was a member of the Calorie Restriction Society, he said: “You don’t look too thin.”  I answered that I was not an extreme dieter, and that I only restricted about 10 percent.

 

Last weekend I visited a friend who had unwittingly bought a carton of what he thought was 2% Reduced Fat Milk.  When I poured some of the product on my cereal, I noticed that the liquid did not have the smooth texture of milk.  It appeared to have small lumps like milk that is starting to curdle from spoilage.  Since he had just bought it, I looked at the label more closely.  It was not milk.  It was a “dairy beverage”.

The first ingredient in the Ingredient List of the label was water, followed by ultrafiltered fat free milk, cream, inorganic calcium and phosphorus salts, and emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides), thickeners (carrageenan, locust bean gum), and artificial sweeteners (sucralose and acesulfame potassium).  Food labels are required to list the ingredients in decreasing order of concentration.  Since water is listed before the fat free milk, this means that the product contains more water than milk.

What scared me about this product was that the label said that a one-cup serving had 8 grams of protein — the same as skim milk.  If the product is half water and half skim milk, I would expect it to have half the protein.  Where is the extra protein coming from?  The ingredient list did not say.  This made me think about the recent scandal in China where watered down milk was adulterated with melamine to fool the standard tests for protein.

The discrepancy between the ingredient list and the nutrition facts indicates that something is wrong with this product.  Unfortunately, the FDA does not have enough resources to track down all labeling violations.

Amyloid plaques consist of protein strands misfolded
as beta-pleated sheets through hydrogen bonding

Alzheimer’s disease affects approximately 4.5 million Americans, according to The U.S. National Institutes of Health.  About 5 percent of people ages 65 to 74 and almost half of those ages 85 suffer the disease.  There is no cure for Alzheimer’s. People with the disease experience memory loss, difficulty remembering recent events or the names of familiar people or things.   This disease does not result from normal aging.

Autopsies of people suffering from Alzheimer’s have shown a substantial number of amyloid plaques in their brains.  Amyloids are insoluble clumps of fibrous proteins that have misfolded into beta sheet structures.  Amyloids may also accumulate in other organs and cause amyloidosis which is determined by microscopic histological examination and is characteristic of several different diseases such as inclusion body myositis, a muscle disease, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

The increase of Alzheimer’s disease and the increase of obesity in the last 20 years, have caused scientists to explore the idea that specific diets may be beneficial or harmful for brain function.  Indeed, it has been proven that obesity-related leptin levels contribute to the formation of beta amyloid plaques[1,2], and that caloric restriction prevents age-related neuronal damage.[3,4]

If you are overweight, now is the time to get back in shape.  Don’t wait until your body has been damaged beyond repair.  You should exercise regularly and adopt a nutritious, low-calorie diet to maintain your ideal body weight.  You will be a little bit hungry, but you will be healthier.

[1] Fewlass DC, Noboa K, Pi-Sunyer FX, Johnston JM, Yan SD, Tezapsidis N., Obesity-related leptin regulates Alzheimer’s Abeta. FASEB J. 2004 Dec;18(15):1870-8. PMID: 15576490

[2] Jefferson Scientists Discover Mechanism Tying Obesity to Alzheimer’s Disease

[3] Gillette-Guyonnet S, Vellas B., Caloric restriction and brain function, Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Nov;11(6):686-92. PMID: 18827571

[4] Qin W, Yang T, et al, Neuronal SIRT1 activation as a novel mechanism underlying the prevention of Alzheimer disease amyloid neuropathology by calorie restriction, J Biol Chem. 2006 Aug 4;281(31):21745-54. Epub 2006 Jun 2. PMID: 16751189

I saw a bottle of honey at a discount store with a very low price.  When I looked at the label, I realized that it was syrup and not honey.  The trade name was something like Honey Bear syrup.  The word “syrup” was in small letters.  The ingredients were high fructose corn syrup with artificial flavorings.  Always read the labels and don’t buy this junk food.

Real raw honey, which consists mostly of carbohydrates, differs from syrups in that it has enzymes from the flowers and from the bees.  Some of the most important honey enzymes are invertase, diastase, and glucose oxidase. The most prominent enzymes are added by the bee during the conversion of nectar to honey. In some countries, such as Germany, the specification of enzymes is a binding legal indicator that prevents the adulteration of honey.  The diastase content varies according to floral source, the length of the storage period and exposure to high temperatures.

We have heard this advice since childhood:  If you have a sore throat, drink some hot tea and take a spoonful of honey.  Don’t put the honey in the hot tea!  The high temperature will degrade the enzymes, and these enzymes have antifungal and antibacterial properties.  Scientists have found that the enzymes in raw honey are effective against fungi such as Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger[1,2] and against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus[3].  If you think about it, bees would not have been able to survive for millions of years without evolving a method of preserving their food from fermentation and spoilage by microorganisms.

My friend, Vladislav Oleynik, learned beekeeping (apiculture) from his father.  Not too long ago, he established some hives and began a small operation called Pittsboro Honey in North Carolina.  He brought me some samples of his honey when he visited me recently.  What a delight!

[1] Boukraâ L, Bouchegrane S., Additive action of honey and starch against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger, Iberoam Micol. 2007 Dec 31;24(4):309-11.

[2] Boukraâ L, Benbarek H, Ahmed M., Synergistic action of starch and honey against Aspergillus niger in correlation with Diastase Number, Mycoses. 2008 Mar 3, PMID: 18331445

[3] Kwakman PH, Van den Akker JP, Güçlü A, Aslami H, Binnekade JM, de Boer L, Boszhard L, Paulus F, Middelhoek P, te Velde AA, Vandenbroucke-Grauls CM, Schultz MJ, Zaat SA., Medical-grade honey kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria in vitro and eradicates skin colonization.
Clin Infect Dis. 2008 Jun 1;46(11):1677-82, PMID: 18433338

A Canadian study has found an association between tomato intake and prostate cancer risk.[1]  Not only that, vegetable juices and ketchup were also associated with prostate cancer.  According to the study, “Tomato intake had a significant positive association with prostate cancer risk for highest versus lowest quartiles (OR=1.6; 95 percent CI: 1.2-2.0).”  The abbreviations OR and CI stand for odds ratio and confidence index, respectively.  Ninety five percent confidence index is very high.

Isn’t this contrary to everything that we know about eating vegetables?  Aren’t vegetables supposed to prevent cancer?  Tomatoes are found in almost everything we eat including salads, soups, hamburgers, and pizza.

Studies seem to flip-flop a lot about conclusions.  Meat is good.  Meat is bad.  Dairy is good.  Dairy is bad.  Vegetables are good.  Vegetables are bad.  Whenever some study comes up with unusual results, we have to wonder about their methodology and their sample sizes.  This study does not concern women.  Women don’t need to worry, but what should men eat?

Tomatoes are native to America, and they have been eaten by millions of people for hundreds of years.  Maybe, in the past, the association between tomatoes and prostate cancer could not be detected because men died before they got sick.  Now that we live much longer, prostate cancer is more common because it affects older men, and there are enough cases to associate tomato consumption with prostate cancer.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to change the way I eat based on just one report.  Life is eventually fatal anyway, and much worse without tomatoes and ketchup.

[1] Darlington GA, Kreiger N, Lightfoot N, Purdham J, Sass-Kortsak A., Prostate cancer risk and diet, recreational physical activity and cigarette smoking, Chronic Dis Can. 2007;27(4):145-53.  PMID: 17623560

Kool-Aid drink, Fruit Loops cereal, jelly beans, M&M chocolates, Jell-O gelatins and many other commercial foods, candies, medicines, and cosmetics are loaded with food dyes.  At home, we use food dyes for Easter eggs, cake frostings, and cookies.  What are these dyes doing to our health and the health of our children?

In the early 1970s, scientific studies raised questions about the safety of Red Dye No. 2. The Toxicology Advisory Committee of the FDA evaluated numerous reports and decided there was no evidence of a hazard. The committee then asked FDA to conduct follow-up analyses and they concluded that FD&C Red No. 2 at a high dosage resulted in a statistically significant increase of malignant tumors in female rats.   Red Dye Number 2 was banned by the FDA in 1976.

In 1993, John E. Bailey, Ph.D., acting director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors said that food colors were “very” safe because by law, industry must prove the safety of the colors that it sells.  But are these dyes really safe?  For some time, evidence has been accumulating that food dyes are not really innocuous and can affect sensitive individuals.  Children seem to be more at risk.

In one experiment, forty children were given a diet free of artificial food dyes and other additives for 5 days. Twenty of the children had been classified as hyperactive and the other 20 were normal.  The children were then given doses of 100 or 150 milligrams of FD & C approved food dyes or placebo.  On the day that the hyperactive children received the dye their performance was impaired relative to their performance after they received the placebo.  The performance of the nonhyperactive children was not affected by the food dye.[1]

Another study found that 40 children out of 220 suspected of hyperactivity improved after a 6 week trial of the Feingold diet which eliminates artificial colors, artificial flavors, aspartame, and some preservatives.  Children who had shown the greatest reaction to the dyes had behavior problems that featured extreme irritability, restlessness and sleep disturbance, rather than attention deficit.[2]  A study published in 2007 also concluded that artificial colors or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population.[3]

Eliminate foods with artificial dyes from your home.  You may find that you and your children can think more clearly.

[1] Swanson JM, Kinsbourne M., Food dyes impair performance of hyperactive children on a laboratory learning test, Science. 1980 Mar 28;207(4438):1485-7.  PMID: 7361102

[2] Rowe KS., Synthetic food colourings and ‘hyperactivity’: a double-blind crossover study, Aust Paediatr J. 1988 Apr;24(2):143-7. PMID: 3395307

[3] McCann D, Barrett A, Cooper A, Crumpler D, Dalen L, Grimshaw K, Kitchin E, Lok K, Porteous L, Prince E, Sonuga-Barke E, Warner JO, Stevenson J., Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, Lancet. 2007 Nov 3;370(9598):1560-7.  PMID: 17825405

Genistein - an isoflavone

For many years, soy foods have been promoted as vegetarian health foods.  Soy products like tofu, textured vegetable protein, and soy milk continue to gain shelf space in grocery stores.  The massive use of soy in the diet is relatively new, and evidence is starting to accumulate that soy foods may actually be unhealthy.

Soy foods are usually highly processed.  Tofu is made by grinding soy beans to make a slurry (soy milk) which is then coagulated with calcium sulfate (gypsum) or magnesium chloride.  The problem with soy is not its processing, but its content of the isoflavone genistein which can mimic natural human estrogens and may have a variety of harmful effects when eaten in sufficient quantities.  In addition, some bacteria in the digestive system can metabolize soy products to produce equol, another phytoestrogen.

Plant-produced chemicals that mimic hormones have been previously suspected of altering sexual development.  Dr. William Campbell Douglass II writes that girls have become sexually mature at younger ages and that their breasts start to develop in the first and second grade while the boys are experiencing delayed sexual development.  He goes on to say that he believes that this is the reason why boys and men are becoming gay and infertile.

A scientific study at North Carolina State University (NCSU) found that exposure to phytoestrogens alters the sex-specific organization of the hypothalamus, which is the region of the brain that regulates puberty and ovulation.[1]  The two hormone-like compounds from soy-based foods can cause irreversible changes in the structure of the brain, resulting in early-onset puberty, symptoms of advanced menopause, and reproductive health problems.   The NCSU study suggests that humans might be more at risk during gestation.

In light of the available evidence, it seems reasonable that women should avoid eating soy products during pregnancy, and that young children should not be given soy products which may alter their hormonal balance.

[1] Bateman HL, Patisaul HB., Disrupted female reproductive physiology following neonatal exposure to phytoestrogens or estrogen specific ligands is associated with decreased GnRH activation and kisspeptin fiber density in the hypothalamus,
Neurotoxicology, 2008 Jul 6, PMID: 18656497 [news release]

Ipomoea batatas cv. Ayamurasaki

The Japanese island of Okinawa is famous for the longevity of its inhabitants.  One of their traditional foods is a native sweet potato with a deep violet center.  The color of the Okinawan sweet potatoes is due to anthocyanins which act as antioxidants in the body and are supposed to have a multitude of health benefits.  These sweet potatoes are avidly sought by practitioners of Calorie Restriction who are interested in longevity and optimum nutrition.

The Okinawa purple sweet potato was introduced to Hawaii and is occasionally found in the mainland, mainly in Asian markets.  The potatoes take a deep purple color when cooked.  They have a slightly sweet, starchy taste.

Baked Salmon with Okinawa sweet potatoes

The baked salmon illustrated here was prepared by basting with lemon juice, and sprinkling salt, pepper, and fresh dill.  It was baked at 350°F for 20 minutes.  The sweet potatoes were cut into 1-inch cubes and steamed for approximately 15 minutes until they were fork-tender.  Slices of tomato and avocado were used as garnish.