Why Those Who Dislike Broccoli Ought to Give It Another Try Eighteen years ago, the leader of the free world made a bold declaration that sent shivers down the spines of health conscious consumers and broccoli lovers everywhere:  “I don’t like broccoli…I’m the President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.”

According to the U.S.D.A, the president’s denouncement of all things broccoli, and the subsequent ban he put on the cruciferous veggie in the White House (as well as Air Force One), was the precursor to a 15 percent decline in broccoli consumption across the country that year.     

Fast forward to today – a year in which the former president turns 84 and who’ll likely ring in his birthday celebration by skydiving again – and you have to wonder whether the former first lady has gotten her husband to eat his broccoli.

I say this because according to new research out of UCLA, eating broccoli may help to reinvigorate the body’s immune system, in effect slowing the aging process.

According to the research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the age-fighting miracle worker found in broccoli is called sulforaphane.  Sulforaphane works in tandem with a protein the body makes naturally called Nrf2.  This protein and sulforaphane team up and increase the body’s ability to produce additional antioxidant genes and enzymes that ward off the hazardous effects free radicals have on the body.  Free radicals are byproducts of the various bodily functions the body goes through every day.  These free radicals are believed to be one of the largest contributors to the aging process and how quickly one ages.  This helps explain why some people in their mid 80s look younger and have more vitality than those in their 60s or 70s.

“Our defense against oxidative stress may determine at what rate we age, how it will manifest and how to interfere in those processes,” said the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Andre Nel, chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  Nel went on to say that this study may help in the discovery of new medicines that can aid the elderly in boosting immune system function as they age. 

Of course, if you’re taste preferences are similar to the former president’s, there are other vegetable options containing sulforaphane, including cabbage, kale, cauliflower, turnips, cabbage, brussel sprouts and bok choy.  But if you’re looking for the most sulforaphane bang for your buck, broccoli is your best bet – the sprouts, in particular. 

This isn’t the first time sulforaphane has made its strange name known to medical researchers.  Past research has shown sulforaphane to be an effective protection against UV radiation damage and as a cancer-fighting antimicrobial.

It may be that the former president hasn’t eaten his cruciferous vegetables and his vitality is attributable to something else entirely.  And if that’s the case – fine.  Just think: imagine the vigor you’ll have by the time you reach 84 – simply by eating broccoli!

Relax! Responsible parents’ primary concern is the health and well-being of their children. Usually, the health of parents’ children—both mental and physical—is contingent upon the manner in which they conduct their lives when it comes to the things they put into their bodies and the people they surround themselves with. But there’s a new body of evidence from the science world suggesting that the mental health of parents has just as much of an impact on them as it does on their children.

All of us are burdened by stress.  Stress isn’t always a bad thing.  In fact, some stress is a good thing (it’s called eustress).  But the meaning we typically associate with stress – the kind you feel when a crucial deadline needs to be met at work and you worry about the ramifications if you miss it, that kind – is a leading cause for illness in the workplace.  In fact, according to the Health and Safety Commission, a third of all ill health incidents reported at the workplace are attributable to stress, and an estimated 13.8 million work days were lost in 2006 due to stress.  That kind of number corroborates survey findings indicating that stress causes more work absences than the common cold.

Just as common colds are easily spread, apparently, so is stress.  Recently published in the New Scientist magazine, researchers observed 120 families and asked the parents of the families to keep a journal of their kids’ illnesses over the course of three years.  In addition to keeping track of their kids’ bouts of sickness – all of whom were between the ages of 5 and 10 – parents were also asked to fill out questionnaires every six months about their own mental health, as well any incidents of family conflict.

Almost uniformly, researchers found a correlation between the number of times children got sick and the level of anxiety parents felt.  In short, the more stressed parents were, the more sick kids were.

Regarding the findings, researchers said this should help the scientific community better understand “the biological impact…of chronic stress in families on specific immune functions in a sample of generally healthy children.”  The findings are published in the most recent edition of the journal Brain Behavior and Immunity.

It’s so important to relax, take a deep breath and try to convince yourself that things will be all right.  This isn’t such an easy thing, though – talking yourself into relaxing.  To help yourself relax, try meditation and exercise.  Exercise is an especially great way of lowering stress levels as it increases blood flow to the brain and helps get your mind off of everyday stressors.

There are also a number of things you can eat to help reduce stress.  The best foods are ones rich in vitamins like B complex (e.g. leafy green vegetables and fresh fish like snapper) and minerals like selenium (e.g. mushrooms and fresh fish like snapper or salmon) and manganese (e.g. spinach, raspberries and pineapple).

A healthy family is a stress-free family.  Though the stresses in life are impossible to avoid, with a little effort (and some deep breaths), we can reduce the impact stress has on our families’ well-being.

Note to Olive Oil: ‘Eat Like Popeye’ It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables provide the body with the essential vitamins, nutrients and minerals that help keep the body free of disease. But how great would it be if specific foods warded off specific illnesses? Well, based on some recent research, that could very well be a reality.

Published in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers have discovered that the compounds found in specific vegetables may prove as an effective deterrent to one of the most prevalent cancers among women today: ovarian cancer.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause in cancer-related deaths, preceded by lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic.  Though there hasn’t been a significant rise in the number of ovarian cancer diagnoses over the past 20 years in the United States, in 2004 alone, nearly 15,000 women died from it, despite the estimated $2.2 billion annually spent on treating the disease.    

Before I get to some of the salutiferous (i.e. healthful) cruciferous (some of them) vegetables cited in the research, you may be wondering what it is about these vegetables that make them cancer fighting. Researchers believe the flavonoids found in the vegetables are the likely purveyors of protection as they not only shield the body from disease upon consumption but ward off diseases from infecting the vegetable as well.

Researchers came to their conclusions after reviewing the diets of 67,000 women over 14 years and found that women who consumed the most flavonoids were 40 percent less likely to develop ovarian cancer.  Though all flavonoids are considered good for you and disease fighting, kaempferol was singled out as the most effective in fighting ovarian cancer.  This odd-sounding flavonoid is naturally-occurring and some studies suggest it has anti-depressant properties.  But for ovarian cancer purposes, kaempferol is particularly dense in vegetables like broccoli, kale and spinach (I guess Popeye was on to something).

Another particularly effective flavonoid is luteolin.  Frequently found in leaves and bark, this other odd-sounding flavonoid is found in salad vegetable faves like peppers, cabbage and carrots.  Women who consumed these kinds of vegetables were 34 percent less likely to develop ovarian cancer than women who consumed the least amount of flavonoids.

Another food with ovarian cancer-protective qualities due to its flavonoid density is – you guessed it – blueberries.  The blue beauties have a flavonoid called myricetin, which is also found in grapes and walnuts.

While these findings suggest women eat some vegetables over others, researchers are reluctant in advising this because there is still some question as to the exact source of the cancer-fighting properties.  Hopefully, women (and men) have the means and desire to eat a wide variety of vegetables, as just about all of them have carved out their own niche in the disease-fighting department.

Lack of Sleep No Yawning Matter  There are few things more natural to the human body—or any body for that matter—than sleep.  Researchers don’t know why we need it, or why some beings need more of it than others, all they know is the body craves it, just as much as food and water.  And according to research being done on the topic, a lack of sleep may be responsible for more accidents, more health concerns and more incidents of impaired functionality than previously believed.

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have an entire lab dedicated to the science of sleep and some of their findings demonstrate just how important sleep is to our ability to recall things.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Matthew Walker, who serves as the director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging lab at the University of California, talked about how one’s ability to remember the content of a conversation from just a few hours ago is actually better recalled the next day, after a good night’s sleep, than if someone were asked to recall the content of the conversation a few hours from now!

“Sleep, we’ve been finding, can enhance your memories, so that you’ll come back the next day even better than where you were the day before,” said Walker to 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl.

And if a poll conducted by The Sleep Foundation in late 2007 is any guide, we’re not improving ourselves much.  This is because despite the well-publicized eight hours of sleep recommended per night, most of us are getting nearly an hour and a half less than that—just 6 hours and 40 minutes to be specific!

Not only does a lack of sleep inhibit our ability to function at peak performance at school, at the gym or at the office, some suggest a lack of sleep may be responsible for some of the biggest environmental disasters in recent history:  like the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez in 1989. 

After doing some investigative digging, 60 Minutes confirmed that the Exxon Valdez was driven by a man who slept just four hours the night before he and the ship spilled approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil into the waters off the Alaskan coast in the early morning hours of March 24th.  This corroborates one of the findings made by the National Transportation Safety Board at the time, indicating fatigue may have played a role in the ship’s grounding.

Luckily, most of us aren’t commanding ships loaded with millions of gallons of crude oil or working the third shift security detail for the  $250,000,000 Hope Diamond.  But a lack of sleep doesn’t have to affect the world’s environment or the survival of a famous archaeological finding before it should be taken seriously.   Because as you might imagine, given the fact we’re all about health here, a lack of sleep affects our long-term health.  Research conducted out of the University of Chicago’s School of Medicine shows that after just six days of inadequate sleep time (i.e. four hours) can send blood sugar levels into a pre-diabetic state.  What’s more, the less you sleep, the more weight you’re likely to put on!  This is due to a decrease in leptin levels, which are hormones that regulate appetite.

Want more?  A lack of sleep is linked to a diminished sex drive, stroke and heart disease—the leading cause of death in America!

Yes, we’re all busy.  And yes, we all want to do as much as possible in the 24 hours granted us each day.  But the facts keep piling up that the less we sleep today, the less we’ll be able to do 24 hours from now, whether it’s due to diminished capacity (short-term) or adverse health effects (long-term).

Hit the sack early tonight—and make it a habit!

Smile – It’s Yogurt! When it comes to nutrition, you probably don’t think of how eating better will brighten your smile. But as you might imagine, what we eat plays a significant role in whether or not we’ll be making a return visit to the dentist after our annual check-up. With that in mind, I use this space to address what is the most common chronic childhood disease in America today: tooth decay.

Did you know that one in 10 children will go to school every day despite tooth aches?  Or that three out of four children will suffer from tooth decay before graduating high school?  It’s true, and it’s why dentists have dedicated an entire month to children’s dental awareness (February), hoping to enlighten parents about the importance of promoting healthy habits at an early age through brushing and flossing twice daily, as well as eating foods that contribute to good oral health.

What foods promote good oral health?  Well, two of them are cranberries and blueberries, as they contain a natural sweetener, xylitol, which dentists believe is the best sweetener there is as it eliminates the bacterial infections that cause tooth decay.

But another food that promotes oral health is yogurt.  Researchers say that yogurt may prove beneficial in eliminating gum disease, another common oral health malady, thanks to yogurt’s high lactic acid content.  But in particular, researcher and Doctor Yoshihiro Shimazaki says the lactobacilli in yogurt—a genus that helps convert sugars to lactic acid—may be the chief bacterium worthy of dentists’ praise (remember…not all bacteria is bad!).

Researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing the diets of nearly 950 men and women with periodontal disease.  What they found was that the men and women whose periodontal disease was the least advanced consumed foods with high amounts of lactic acid.  And those men and women whose periodontal disease was the most advanced?  You guessed it – their intake of foods with lactic acid was low, comparatively speaking.

What’s interesting, though, is that not all foods with high amounts of lactic acid, such as milk and cheese, reduced the severity of periodontal disease.  In other words, dairy is not necessarily a “mouth-healthy” food group.  To this point, the findings are restricted to yogurt.

As with all of these studies, more research needs to be done before the researchers can say definitively that the continued eating of yogurt prevents the progression of periodontal disease.  In the meantime, when selecting yogurt (preferably blueberry flavored), make sure the brand you buy is branded “organic.” Since 2002, companies that claim their products to be organic must meet strict federally-mandated guidelines before being certified.  In other words, if it says organic, rest assured it is.

Sweet’N ‘Gro’? You know that saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”?  It’s a saying that winds up being true more often than not.  Here’s the latest evidence of its truthfulness…

Research conducted by scientists from Purdue University has found that those artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas, desserts, bottled waters and cereals does not help in the battle of the bulge.  In fact, artificial sweeteners may even contribute to weight gain and obesity!

Published in the February issue of the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, the Boilermaker (Purdue’s mascot) researchers fed lab rats two different kinds of yogurts:  one group with regularly sweetened yogurt, the other sweetened with the zero-calorie sweetener saccharin.  Across the board, the rats that ate the yogurt flavored with saccharin put on more weight, more fat, and ate more food later on than the rats that ate the regular yogurt.

What explains such a finding?  Well, the researchers don’t know for sure, but they believe it has something to do with the fact that zero-calorie sweeteners are digested in a fashion that the body doesn’t recognize.  When we consume food, our bodies respond through the feeling of satiety, or fullness.  This is the body’s own way of saying, “Ok, I’m full, enough is enough.”  With zero-calorie sweeteners, however, that satiety factor is taken away, often leading one to eat more than they would were they to eat a food sweetened with regular sugar. 

As with nearly all of these studies, more research needs to be done before making any broad based conclusions, but their theory makes a lot of sense, especially considering the fact that one in three Americans are considered obese, despite the widespread consumption of these so called “guilt-free” foods.

Another interesting finding by the researchers was the fact that the group of rats that ate the saccharin-sweetened yogurt did not show an increased core body temperature.  Of course, the body’s temperature and metabolic rate increase when we consume calories as calories are a unit of heat.  How fast the body’s metabolic rate is often determines one’s propensity to gain weight (an increased metabolic rate is one of the many reasons why exercising regularly is so beneficial).  The fact that the rats’ metabolic rate did not increase in the saccharin group may help explain the observed weight gain.

If this sounds counterintuitive to you—eating fewer calories yet putting on more weight—fear not:  It sounds counterintuitive to the scientists as well, especially considering the fact that millions of people can eat diet foods and no-calorie sweeteners without putting on a pound.  But for millions of other people—people who are eating these no-calorie sweeteners, exercising regularly, and not losing weight—this finding helps explain the lack of results  (it also corroborates a finding on diet soda’s link to obesity I wrote about last year).

So, does this finding mean you should start drinking regular soda and foods saturated with sugar rather than no-calorie sweeteners?  Certainly not.  What it means is that just because a food or drink without added calories may seem like you can eat more of it, you can’t.  After all, as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true…well, you know the rest. 

Why Children Should Pass on the Salt, Too

One of the things many people overlook when scanning the nutritional facts on food cans, canisters, boxes and bags is the sodium content.  So many food companies tout their product’s low calorie, low fat and low sugar levels—all good things..  But what virtually all of these food companies fail to point out is their product’s high sodium levels.  Canned soups and frozen food novelties are particularly negligent in this area.

While all of us need sodium in order to maintain proper electrolyte balance, too much sodium can cause a number of health issues, such as high blood pressure, often a precursor to heart disease.  And according to new research, warning of high sodium levels is advice children need to follow as well.
 
Some of you may remember the clarion call made by the American Medical Association in late 2006, warning of the high levels of sodium found in processed foods.  Some companies listened, but not nearly enough, particularly food companies that appeal to children’s taste buds.
 
In the Journal of Human Hypertension, a medical journal based in the United Kingdom, researchers examined the sodium levels of over 1600 children between the ages of 4 and 18.  Not surprisingly, their sodium levels increased with age, the young ones consuming approximately 5 grams of sodium a day, while the 18-year-olds consumed an average of just under 7 grams of sodium a day.  That may not sound like a lot, but we’re talking grams here folks, not milligrams (1000mg=1g). 

The recommended daily allowance of sodium for children in the United Kingdom is comparable to the United States’ RDA levels.  And as you might imagine, the observed average sodium levels for all ages exceeded the recommended RDA levels.  Though this finding is disquieting, what makes this finding resonate is the fact that for every extra sodium gram in children’s blood that exceeded the RDA level correlated with a 0.4mmHG rise in their blood pressure levels (mmHG=millimeters of mercury, the measurement unit used to measure blood pressure).  In other words, the more salt consumed, the greater chance there is for hypertension, the greater chance for heart disease.

The researchers admit that this increase isn’t extremely high, but small increases like these add up over time, especially for children who don’t exercise regularly.  Proactive parents would be well-advised to keep track of their kids’ sodium levels by either reducing the number of processed foods they consume (no doubt the Culprit in Chief of excessive sodium levels), remaining vigilant on the checking of food nutrition labels, and/or encouraging their kids to exercise more, as sodium is an essential component to extended exercise.  Of course, encouraging children to exercise is a good idea by itself, but it’s a particularly good idea for those children who consume excess sodium.  Sodium levels diminish through sweating.

In summary, keep track of your kids’ nutrition by targeting foods that have healthy sodium levels.  What’s considered healthy?  For soups, aim for a sodium content level of 480 mg or less. 

Vitamin D is a strong and complex vitamin that can be significantly found through sunlight and several different studies have been completed to suggest that vitamin D can in fact prevent different types of cancers. Dr. Louise Parker is a well known epidemiologist as well as expert when it comes to the environmental exposure that can affect the expansion and occurrence of cancer and has recently published her studies and thoughts on vitamin D and cancer prevention.

Dr. Parker is not the first researcher to state and confirm that the strongest source of vitamin D is from the sun through your skin. Published in The Science Daily, Dr. Parker was quoted as stating that 1,000 units a day is safe and can help reduce the risk of colon cancer as well as many other types of cancer.

Vitamin D is a large factor that has been turning up in study after study over the past few years and looking back at many of these studies patients suffering from colon cancer did experience a vitamin D deficiency. Several other studies showed that women who took vitamin D supplements had much stronger bones than women who did not, therefore reducing their risks of osteoporosis. Dr. Parker as well as many other researchers have gone back through these many cancers and bone related studies and found that many of the patients were in fact vitamin D deficient.

By combining your sun intake with your daily diet and supplement routines you could in fact be in taking close to 1,000 units per day which has been shown to not only be safe but to help prevent and reduce the risks of different types of cancer in your future. You can find vitamin D in foods such as: tuna, salmon, pure cod liver oil, dandelion greens, oatmeal and sweet potatoes. As you can see this amount is far beyond what you can obtain through your diet and this is where proper vitamin D supplements come into play.

Before taking any vitamin D supplements you need to always consult a professional naturopathic to confirm your own research before taking any supplements. A naturopathic professional can tell you what to take, what not to take and examine your current diet and nutrition habits to make sure your new supplements will not be altered or affected by any foods or other medications you are on. This is a very important step to take to ensure your safety as taking the wrong vitamin supplements can be just as dangerous as taking none at all.

It’s important to point out that calcium should be taken with Vitamin D as excessive amounts of supplemental Vitamin D can result in toxicity.

A nutritional expert, Bruce Ames has completed several different series of tests and studies to reach his newly published conclusion that taking certain vitamin supplements on a daily basis can not only prevent premature aging but can also help prevent the illnesses which are commonly experienced through our elderly years. Many illnesses including heart disease and aging itself have been found to be

related to vitamin deficiencies. With the constant reliance on fast food today many people are not getting the nutrients they need to combat the signs of aging and future ailments.

Dr. Ames has stated to address this problem everyone should be taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement on a daily basis. His studies have shown these relations between vitamins and late-life diseases:

1. Low magnesium intake related to bowl cancer, low blood pressure, osteoporosis  and diabetes
2. Lack of vitamin D has been linked to breast, bowel and prostate cancer
3. Calcium deficiency has been linked to diabetes
4. Lack of potassium related to heart disease
5. Low vitamin B12 has been linked to multiple sclerosis

This is not the end of the Dr. Ames studies; he has also found that daily vitamins increase the energy and memory of elderly rats used for this study. This is significant information for our society which focuses so much on quick and easy meals that have been known to lack vitamins and nutrients which are required to live a healthy life throughout our elderly years.

When it comes to choosing the vitamins and supplements you need to increase your nutrients and get away from any vitamin deficiencies it is important to speak to a naturopathic professional before buying or taking any vitamins. There are so many different supplements on the market today that it can be easy to lean towards the cheapest bottle and hope it does its job but this can be quite dangerous to your health. Without taking the time to conduct proper research on what you are putting into your body there is a good chance you are not improving your health but possibly harming it.

Alive! Multivitamin is a great place to start with your research as many naturopathic professionals will recommend this Multi-Vitamin/Whole Food supplement to you. Research what is best for your current health conditions and your diet so you are enhancing your nutrients and health for your elderly years.

More Reasons to Keep Trim   Let’s face it, when it comes to working out and eating right, most of us do it because we want to appeal to the opposite sex.  Sure, it might be a vain reason, but in the words of Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”  Whatever motivation it takes to keep trim and holding true to the exercise habit, I say, is worthwhile. But there’s a

growing body of evidence showing that exercise and eating right is as fundamental to living well and free of disease as it’s ever been. Simply put, living free of disease may replace vanity as the number one reason to exercise and eat healthfully.

British researchers have concluded that obesity—a leading cause of preventable death around the world, accounting for nearly 300,000 annual deaths in the U.S. alone—significantly increases the likelihood of getting several different kinds of cancers. 

Doctors and the health conscious public have long known of the increased risk obese people have in getting heart disease and diabetes, the first and sixth leading cause of death in America in 2004, respectively, according to the CDC.  This most recent finding links obesity with mortality more closely than ever before (if that’s even possible), as cancer is the second leading cause of death in America, just below heart disease.

The study looked at approximately 285,000 men and women, finding that both sexes are more susceptible to different forms of cancer (including those that aren’t as frequently diagnosed) than previously thought.  These cancers include non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, as well as cancers of the esophagus, kidney, thyroid, bladder and uterus.  One of the more interesting findings of the study was that the prevalence of these cancers differed depending on the gender of the person tested.  For instance, cancer of the gallbladder was more pronounced in obese women than obese men.  For obese men, cancer of the thyroid was more pronounced than it was in obese women.

Other interesting findings of the study?  The risk of acquiring cancer appears to correlate with where someone lives geographically.  For instance, women who live in Asia and are obese are more susceptible to breast cancer than obese women living in Europe. 

What explains these variations aren’t known, so these uncertainties are sure to serve as fodder for doctors and researchers to ponder over in subsequent studies.

Obesity is a scientific term and is determined by one’s body mass index.  One’s body mass index is determined by dividing weight in pounds by the squared value of one’s height in inches.  That number is then multiplied by 703.  People are considered to be obese if that number is higher than 30.

The point here is not to frighten or to say one’s self-worth is measured by the scale.  The point is to enhance one’s quality of life, which immediately improves with a healthy weight (“Healthy weight” is a BMI score between 18.5 and 24.9).  At the risk of sounding macabre (i.e. gruesome) enhancing one’s quality of life can’t be done if you’re dead.  And obesity has never been linked closer to death than it is with the release of this latest study.