Tag Archives: High Impact Nutrition

17 HEALTHY GRAINS

Disease Prevention, Grains, Greg Feinsinger M.D., Healthy Carbs, Nutrition, Nutrition and Disease, Plant Based Foods,

Whole grains contain endosperm, germ, and bran and are good for us; processed grains are not. Below is a list of 17 whole grains from Web MD. Some can be found at City Market and Whole Foods; more can be found at Natural grocers; the rest can be purchased on the internet.

BROWN RICE, like other whole grains, helps lower cholesterol, controls blood sugar, and promotes good gut bacteria. Avoid rice grown in Texas and the Southeast due to high arsenic content, and even with brown rice grown in regions such as California, don’t eat it more than 2 or 3 times a week.

SORGHUM is an ancient grain, is a staple in Africa, and is used in bread and couscous in the Middle East.

BUCKWHEAT technically is not a grain or wheat, but is considered a kind of grain because it’s used like one. It is used to make Japanese soba noodles and healthy pancakes. Toasted buckwheat adds crunch to salads and makes a good substitute for less-healthy croutons in salads.

BARLEY is an ancient grain which is often used in soups. It has the most fiber of all the whole grains. Whole and hulled barley contain more micronutrients than the pearled version.

OATS:  Oat groats are completely unprocessed; steel cut and rolled oats are minimally processed and still healthy. Quick rolled oats are not recommended because they are more processed.

MILLET refers to a group of related grasses with small seeds, including pearl, foxtail, proso, and finger. It’s used to make flatbreads in India and porridge and beer in Africa. In the U.S. millet flour is used for gluten-free pancakes and muffins.

QUINOA can be used in salads and soups, can be substituted for rice when stir-frying, and can be used as a breakfast cereal. Consider rinsing it before you cook it to remove a natural, bitter plant chemical called saponins.

WILD RICE an aquatic grass seed and technically is not a rice. It can be used in soups and salads or as a stand-alone dish.

FARRO is an ancient grain eaten by Roman soldiers. It is the main ingredient in some pastas, and can be substituted for pasta or rice. Avoid the pearled version, which is processed.

TEFF is an ancient grain that is a small seed from grass that grows mostly in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is used to make the African flatbread injera, and it can be sprinkled on vegetables or in soups.

RYE can grow in cold, wet climates and is used to make bread—which often contains caraway seeds– in Scandinavian countries. It has fiber in both the endosperm and bran of the whole grain, and has a very low glycemic index (doesn’t cause elevation of blood sugar). Rolled rye can be added when cooking oatmeal.

WHEAT GRAINS:  WHEAT BERRIES contain gluten, a protein that helps bread stretch and rise. Whole wheat flour comes from wheat berries, but the processing involved with grinding wheat or other whole grains into fine flour changes its structure and behavior. Dr. Joel Fuhrman calls whole wheat bread “white bread with a tan.” FREEKEH is made from roasting young wheat, which gives it a smoky flavor. It’s chewy and nutty, cooks quickly, and works as a porridge or pilaf. It is a staple in the Middle East. SPELT is a particular kind of wheat with a higher protein content. It can replace rice or used to make pasta or bread. BULGAR is the pre-cooked kernel of wheat, which “comes to life” after soaking for 10 minutes in hot water. It is chewy and has a nutty taste. It’s used to make the Mediterranean salad tabbouleh, and can be used in other soups and other salads.

MAIZE (corn) is a grain and a vegetable. It is not high in fiber or protein, but has lots of antioxidants. It’s used to make polenta, tortillas, and popcorn.

People with celiac disease and “gluten sensitivity” should avoid the wheat grains, spelt, barley, and rye. Although oats don’t contain gluten, but sometimes gluten get into oats in the milling process—no problem though if the oats say gluten free.

REDUCING BREAST CANCER RISK by Greg Feinsinger, MD

Cancer, Disease Prevention, Greg Feinsinger M.D., Nutrition, Nutrition and Disease, Plant Based Foods, ,

The International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine was held virtually this year from August 6th through 8th. One of the talks was by Kristi Funk, M.D., who is a breast surgeon, co-founder of the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Los Angeles, and author of the best-selling book “Breasts, The Owner’s Manuel.” She began her medical training in the early 90s and–as is all too common–she learned nothing about the power of healthy food to prevent cancer and many other diseases in all her years of medical and surgical training. Finally, in 2017, as she was doing research for her book, she found out about the strong link between lifestyle and breast cancer.

There has been a slow rise in breast cancer since 2004. Ninety five percent of breast cancer occurs in women over age 40. The median age is 62. One out of 8 women eventually get breast cancer. The incidence goes up with age, with women age 70-80 having the highest incidence, and risk gradually dropping off after age 80.

Women often think they don’t have to worry about breast cancer if they have a negative family history. However, although women with the BRACA gene mutation have an 87 percent increased risk of breast cancer, only 5 to 10 percent of breast cancer has a genetic component. Almost 90 percent of women with breast cancer don’t have a first degree relative (sibling or parent) with breast cancer.

Although many lay people as well as medical professionals don’t know this, regular exercise and a plant-based, whole (unprocessed) food diet lowers the risk of breast cancer. For example, Japanese women on their traditional diet used to have a very low rate of breast cancer compared to women on a Western diet. As Western food became more prevalent in Japan, the incidence of breast cancer increased dramatically. Another example is a study in which 193,742 women were followed for 9.4 years, and those who ate red and processed meat (ham, bacon, lunch meat, sausage) had a 25 percent increased incidence of breast cancer. Eating grilled meat  increased breast cancer risk even more.

Following are lifestyle factors that increase risk for breast cancer:

  • post-menopausal estrogen treatment other than occasional locally-applied vaginal estrogen cream
  • obesity: fat cells make estrogen and obese women have a 50-250 increased risk
  • alcohol, which increases estrogen levels, impairs immune function (optimal immunity kills off cancer cells as soon as they form), and interferes with DNA repair
  • eating meat including chicken and seafood; processed meat (bacon, sausage, ham, lunch meat) increases risk the most and eating grilled meat increases risk even further
  • eating dairy, which contains IGF1 (insulin growth factor 1, which is important for growth of baby cows and baby humans but in adult humans causes cancer cells to propagate)

Following are lifestyle factors that decrease risk:

  • regular exercise
  • dietary fiber (as opposed to fiber supplements), which flushes excess estrogen out of the body
  • eating a variety of vegetables, fruit, and unprocessed grains, which contain antioxidants and other cancer-fighting micronutrients
  • soy products, which attach to estrogen receptors, preventing stronger, cancer-causing estrogens from attaching—Asian women on traditional high soy diets have a low risk of breast cancer

Following are Dr. Funk’s 10 breast superfoods:  1) cruciferous and green leafy vegetables; 2) dietary fiber, which is found in plant but not animal-based foods; 3) berries; 4) apples; 5) tomatoes; 6) mushrooms; 7) allium family vegetables—garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, chives scallions; 8) seaweed; 10) cacao.

For more information from Dr. Funk, go to her website LetsBeatBreastCancer.org, or read her book.

FAST CARB GENOCIDE IN AMERICA by Greg Feinsinger, MD

Cancer, Disease Prevention, Greg Feinsinger M.D., Nutrition, Nutrition and Disease, Plant Based Foods,

The idea for this column’s title came from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s latest book: “Fast Food Genocide.” We should be eating slow carbs—unprocessed vegetables, fruit, and whole grains that are full of health-promoting micronutrients. Slow carbs are digested in the part of the intestines where satiety (a feeling of fullness) is triggered, and where nutrients enter the blood stream slowly, keeping blood sugar and insulin levels in check.

We should avoid fast—also known as ultra-processed—carbs. Fast carbs require little to no chewing, and are digested in the upper part of the GI track, above where satiety is triggered, so people eat more and more of them. These essentially pre-digested foods enter the blood stream rapidly, causing disease-promoting spikes in blood sugar and insulin. Furthermore, food companies add salt, sugar, and oil to make these unhealthy fast carbs more addictive, so that people eat more, buy more, and profits increase. Examples of fast carbs are doughnuts, cakes, cookies, muffins, chips, most crackers, white bread, buns, energy bars, sugary drinks, white flour tortillas, and breakfast cereals sold in boxes.

How did we end up with a situation where the majority of calories most Americans eat every day are from ultra-processed fast carbs, resulting in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and other chronic diseases? In the 1960s a rise in heart disease caused nutrition experts and government guidelines to advise people to cut back on cholesterol-raising animal products and to increase carbs, including products containing processed white flour. To make up for the loss of nutrients due to processing, these products were enriched with vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, Big Food saw this as an opportunity to make higher profits, resulting in grocery store shelves filled to this day with addictive, disease-causing products containing fast carbs with added salt, sugar, and oil.

How does this relate to genocide and social injustice? Here’s an example: Before they were placed on a reservation in the late 19th century, Hopi Indians had no obesity, diabetes, heart disease, or alcoholism. At the end of the 19th century, the Hopi were forced onto a reservation, and were given government commodities:  white flour, sugar, and shortening (butter, lard, vegetable oil), with “Indian fry bread” quickly becoming a favorite. Now 80 percent of Hopis have diabetes by the age of 30, and life expectancy is 53. A disproportionate number of American Indians are now dying from COVID-19.

In his book “Food Fix,” Dr. Mark Hyman says that “More African Americans, Hispanics, and poor people are killed by bad food than anything else. Drive-through fast food kills far more people than drive-by shootings.” He goes on to say that “your zip code is a bigger determinant of your health outcomes than your genetic code.” “Food Fix” discusses the science linking fast carbs to obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, dementia, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. Studies also show a strong link between ultra-processed food and depression, anxiety, violence, ADHD, and poor school performance. Currently, poor people and people of color are dying disproportionately from COVID-19.

Unhealthy eating is the new tobacco. Dr. Hyman calls Big Food “food pushers”—like drug pushers. They shamelessly “selectively target the poor and minorities with junk food.” Furthermore, these disadvantaged groups often live in “food deserts,” where it is very difficult to find healthy “slow carb” food. Meanwhile, our government officials fail to stand up to Big Food and Big Ag. Why do tax dollars continue supporting soy, wheat, and corn crops—the main source of fast carbs–instead of slow carb crops such as spinach, broccoli, carrots, and fruit? Why do government-guaranteed loan programs support fast-food outlets, which as Dr. Hyman says are “far more prevalent in poor communities of color. Why should government loans pay for the expansion of food that kills Americans?”

Food companies are not only making Americans sick and killing them, but they’re now targeting people throughout the world and harming them as well.

There are a few examples of hope, such as the People’s Grocery in Oakland, the Black Urban Growers in the Bronx, and Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, New York. And maybe there’s hope in Britain, based on a recent newspaper article with the headline “Nation looks at limiting junk food ads.”

Signs that the Medical Establishment may be Starting to get Healthy Eating by Greg Feinsinger M.D.

Greg Feinsinger M.D., Heart Disease, How to, Meat, Nutrition, Plant Based Culture: Trends, Plant Based Foods, Plant Based Nutrition, Uncategorized,

In the 1940s Dr. Walter Kempner proved that severe hypertension could be reversed by diet. Over 25 years ago Dr. Dean Ornish, and later Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, proved that our biggest killer—heart disease—can be reversed by plant-based, whole food nutrition with avoidance of salt, sugar and added oil. But unfortunately, the medical field is bound by tradition; doctors are paid well to do procedures but not for counseling; and physician training and practice are unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical and food industries. As a result, the power of food to prevent and reverse disease has been neglected by traditional medicine.

Finally, there are some hopeful signs that this may be changing. Dr. Kim Williams, who was recently the president of the American Collage of Cardiology, decided to go plant-based a few years ago, after reviewing several different diets. When people asked him why, he said “I don’t mind dying so much, but I don’t want it to be my fault.”

The American Heart Association publishes the respected medical journal “Circulation.”  In the June 5th issue there is an article titled “Medical Nutrition Education, Training and Competencies to Advance Guideline-Based Diet Counseling by Physicians.”  The article notes that “training physicians to provide diet and nutrition counseling as well as developing collaborative care models to deliver nutrition advice will reduce the health and economic burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease to a degree not previously recognized.” It goes on to note that “despite evidence that physicians are willing to undertake this task and are as credible sources of diet information, they engage patients in diet counseling at less than desirable rates and cite insufficient nutrition knowledge and training as barriers to carrying out this role…These data align with ongoing evidence of large and persistent gaps in medical nutrition education and training in the United States…”

The American Family Physician journal is getting on board as well. The June 1st edition contained an article titled “Diets for Health:  Goals and Guidelines,” which reviewed the pros and cons of various diets that are touted as being healthy. The article points out that plant proteins are preferable, and cites the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, legumes (beans, lentils, chick peas), whole grains, healthy fats and spices. In a high-lighted box titled “What is New on This Topic:  Diets For Health,” the article notes:

  • Large, prospective cohort studies show that vegetarian diets reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and that vegan diets offer additional benefits for obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.”
  • “Eating nuts, including peanuts, is associated with decreased cardiovascular disease and mortality, lower body weight, and lower diabetes risk.
  • “In a prospective cohort study, consumption of artificially sweetened beverages increased the risk of type 2 diabetes…”

Of course, Drs. Esselstyn, Fuhrman, Greger, McDougall, Barnard and others have been telling us these things for years—this information really isn’t new. What’s new is that the medical establishment is finally listening.

At my 50th medical school reunion in Denver last month, graduating medical students told me they still aren’t being taught much about nutrition or prevention. But maybe this will finally change, and in the near future medical students will learn that health isn’t all about pills and procedure—that inexpensive, low-tech lifestyle changes can prevent and reverse many of the chronic, costly diseases that afflict so many Americans.

 

How to Avoid and Survive Breast Cancer (by Greg Feinsinger M.D.)

AVOID BREAST CANCER, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Greg Feinsinger M.D., How to, Nutrition, Nutrition and Disease, Plant Based Foods, SURVIVE BREAST CANCER, ,

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, after skin cancer. Every year about 230,000 women in this country are diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,000 die from it. Mammograms and self-breast exams supposedly lead to early detection, but in reality, this is “late detection” because breast cancer has been present for years—up to 4 decades– by the time it is diagnosed. Some of the 2-billion cells in our bodies are always mutating. We evolved to eat plants, and plants contain micro-nutrients that destroy these mutant cells before they propagate– animal products lack this ability.

Caldwell Esselstyn, M.D. is one of the two doctors (Dr. Ornish was the other) who proved that plant-based, whole food nutrition with no salt, sugar or added oil reverses heart disease.  Dr. Esselstyn, now in his 80s, started out as a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic decades ago. He was operating on young women who presented with breast cancer, and the treatment back then was radical mastectomy—a very disfiguring operation. Dr. Esselstyn started looking for a way to prevent breast cancer and found out that populations who ate a plant-based diet had an extremely low rate of breast cancer.

If you are a woman and want to do everything you can to prevent breast cancer, read the chapter on breast cancer in Dr. Greger’s book “How Not to Die,” and search breast cancer on his website NutritionFacts.org. If you are a breast cancer survivor, read “The Cancer Survivor’s Guide, Foods That Help You Fight Back!” by Neal Barnard, M.D. Following are some of the points made in these two books:

  • In 2014 the World Health Organization upgraded its classification of alcohol to “a definitive human breast carcinogen.”  The culprit is acetaldehyde, a toxic breakdown product of alcohol. Dr. Greger notes that the skin of grapes used to make red wine contains a compound that “may help cancel out some of the cancer-causing effects of the alcohol.”
  • Melatonin, the “sleep hormone,” appears to have a protective effect against breast cancer. Melatonin levels are lowered by bright lights including computer and TV screens during pre-bedtime hours and by eating meat (for unknown reasons). Eating vegetables raises melatonin levels (again, for unknown reasons).
  • Excess estrogen increases breast cancer risk, and women need to be hesitant about taking post-menopausal hormones (“bio-identical hormones” have not been proven to be any safer). Body fat produces estrogen, and therefore people who are overweight are at increased risk for breast cancer.
  • Diets high in saturated fat from added oil (coconut oil has the most), meat, dairy products and eggs increase breast cancer risk.
  • Regular exercise such as brisk walking for an hour a day lowers the percentage of body fat, and for that and other reasons exercise lowers breast cancer risk.
  • Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are carcinogens produced by cooking beef, pork and other meat—and fish and poultry– at high temperatures, such as roasting, pan frying, grilling and baking. According to Dr. Greger, PhIP,  “one of the most abundant HCAs in cooked meat, was found to have potent estrogen-like effects, fueling human breast-cancer cell growth.”
  • Lignans are phytoestrogens that “dampen the effects of the body’s own estrogen” according to Dr. Greger. Lignans are particularly plentiful in flaxseeds, and are also found in berries, whole grains and dark, leafy greens. Flaxseed has even been shown to reduce breast cancer tumor growth. Antibiotics kill health-promoting gut bacteria which are important in activating lignans.
  • According to Dr. Greger, some studies have shown a link between high cholesterol levels and breast cancer risk, thought to be due to our bodies “using cholesterol to make estrogen or to shore up tumor membranes to help the cancer migrate and invade more tissue.” Using statins to lower cholesterol does not decrease breast cancer risk.
  • Fiber, which is found only in plant foods, helps remove estrogen via the GI tract and lowers breast cancer risk. For every 20 grams of fiber intake per day, there was a 15 percent lower risk of breast cancer in several studies.
  • Apple peels contain a compound that activates a breast tumor-suppressor gene.
  • Cancerous stem cells may be why breast cancer can sometimes recur years after apparently successful treatment. Sulforaphane, a component of cruciferous vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower), “suppresses the ability of breast cancer stem cells to form tumors” according to Dr. Greger. Cooking destroys the enzyme that activates sulforaphane so some cruciferous vegetables should be eaten raw (or eat some raw ones before eating cooked cruciferous vegetables).
  • Soybeans contain weak phytoestrogens (phyto = plant) called isoflavones, which attach to estrogen receptors in breast tissue, preventing stronger estrogens from attaching, thereby lowering breast cancer risk. It is thought that high soy intake is why the incidence of breast cancer is low in Asian women. If you are a breast cancer survivor, you should know that according to Dr. Greger, “women diagnosed with breast cancer who ate the most soy lived significantly longer and had a significantly lower risk of breast cancer recurrence.”

 

Water, Walnuts and Gold

Disease Prevention, Heart Disease,

As noted in recent news lately, walnuts are water guzzlers. While California’s water crisis soars, agricultural acreage devoted to walnuts has grown 30 percent in the state over the past 10 years.

What California farmers may eventually lose to conservation may trickle down to a global walnut drought, depriving us an abundance of one the healthiest foods on the planet.

The nutritional benefits in walnuts are amazing in their reach, ranging from heart health and cognitive function, to prevention of cancer and diabetes  One of the mighty nutrients inside the walnut are Omega-3 fatty acids.

According to Dr. Frank Sacks Professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), one of the two major types of omega-3 fatty acids vital to our health. A handful of five or six walnuts is enough to meet our daily requirements for ALA. They also serve up key antioxidants that protect our health and help block our consumption of bad cholesterol.

Walnuts are a nutrition packed, guilt free snack. And with higher prices looming, just may be worth their weight in gold.