Jun
06
2015

The “Macaroni And Cheese” Myth

By | Cancer, Heart Disease, Hormones, Inflammation, lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins and supplements

There is hardly a child that did not go through the macaroni and cheese phase. Now the maker of the Kraft’s dinner is in the news for their plan of removing artificial coloring and artificial flavors. This in itself is a positive step in the right direction. Although Kraft’s is painting the positive image of being concerned about the food quality for children, I think that the trigger for the change lies in the downward spiral of the sales of junk foods. Kraft’s is not alone with this. McDonald’s has been in the news having to close down franchises and losing business to Chipotle.

Chipotle has a slogan: “whole or nothing”, meaning whole foods, no antibiotics in their meats, everything fresh.

There also has been pressure from the informed consumer. Kraft’s probably responded to the Change.org petition where 365,000 signatures were collected asking Kraft’s to remove dyes from macaroni and cheese.

Kraft did some research and found that it was indeed possible to keep the taste the same, while improving food quality by replacing food coloring with paprika, annatto and turmeric.

Food value of macaroni and cheese

So, let’s assume that this switch will be successful, which itself is positive. But what are kids actually eating? Are noodles (essentially a form of pasta) and processed cheese healthy? What about missing protein, vitamins, vegetables and lettuce?

Macaroni

I have explained before that starchy food is essentially the same as sugar. Would you say that sugar is healthy? No, because it oxidizes LDL cholesterol causing hardening of arteries leading to inflammation in the body and causing the pancreas to produce a whole load of insulin leading to hyperinsulinism with reactive hypoglycemia. This also undermines adrenal gland function causing adrenal fatigue.

Cheese

Since 1993 it is legal for the dairy industry in the US to use bovine growth hormone from Monsanto. And, yes, it is contained in processed cheese that finds its way into the cheese portion of macaroni and cheese. In Canada or Europe cheese does not contain bovine growth hormone, as it is illegal.

Here is a link that states that bovine growth hormone from dairy in the US is one of the causes of breast cancer. Now the Kraft’s macaroni and cheese story takes on a completely different twist: the longer you are exposed to this weak carcinogenic effect of cheese (due to rBGH or rBST) the higher the likelihood of developing breast cancer in girls later in life. In boys a similar glandular tissue is the prostate gland and prostate cancer in older men is common. According to the American Cancer Society research has already shown a connection between rBGH/rBST and prostate cancer later in life. I find the increased risk of breast and prostate cancer in the US concerning. However, starchy foods (the macaroni part of macaroni and cheese) are known to cause cancer of any kind because of the insulin response. So, macaroni and cheese is not an appropriate, healthy food.

Missing vegetables and salad

We need the vitamins from vegetables and salads to counter any effect of the carcinogenic effects of macaroni and cheese. Don’t stop at the pasta aisle of the supermarket.

You will need to pick up some vegetables before you go home. Often kids are reluctant to consume vegetables. One alternative is to run green leaf vegetables through the blender, add an orange and a piece of banana for better flavor and offer it as a smoothie drink. What does this do? It adds Vitamin A, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, folate, fiber, phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Organic food

Despite the effort of changing macaroni and cheese and skipping artificial colors and flavoring substances, it does not measure up as a healthy food. Introduce new options that pack more flavor than any bland pasta product. Shop for organic food to avoid traces of pesticides and herbicides. Get used to the flavor of a Mediterranean diet without starchy foods or sugar. This diet has been associated with a long life and less disabilities in old age. So, replace the macaroni with a piece of chicken or lean grass-fed beef. Replace the cheese with vegetables. Buy an imported cheese (Parmigiano or cheddar, either organic or imported from Canada or a European country), which can be used over the vegetables. And –voila! – You got another meal, not macaroni and cheese!

The "Macaroni And Cheese" Myth

The “Macaroni And Cheese” Myth

Reasoning

It seems that concentrating solely on changing coloring and food additives, we lost our vision of what healthy food really is. We get so worked up about the old, familiar tastes, even calling it “comfort food”, that we do not care any more about the quality of our food. This should be something, which the consumer is entitled to have, and it should not be left to the maneuvering of the food industry. We need to take the control of our kitchen back into our own hands. Dr. Victoria Maizes, executive director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and a professor of medicine and public health, asked a simple question: “What’s wrong with Girl Scout cookies?” In this article she explains her concern about GMO, sugar and trans fats in the cookies Girl Scouts sell. She makes the link between cookie consumption and obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. You may not know all the intricacies of the human body, but whatever food you decide to swallow will decide which way your metabolism goes. Do you want to become hypoglycemic, diabetic or do you just want your metabolism to stay normal?

Conclusion

Macaroni and cheese is a topic that leads to a discussion of what quality nutrition should be in general. The gold standard is a Mediterranean diet, as this is associated with longevity. At the same time it is tasty. Adults need to be aware of the side effects of junk food that I mentioned above. Despite advertisements otherwise, macaroni and cheese is not a quality food as it is deficient in vital nutrients, such as quality protein, minerals and vitamins.

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May
23
2015

Treating Menopausal Symptoms

By | Anti-aging medicine, Hormones, Menopause, Osteoporosis, Prevention, Women’s Diseases

There has been a lot of confusion since the Women’s Health Initiative that was prematurely abandoned because the women in the group that were treated with PremPro developed heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer. The clinical trial was supposed to confirm that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with synthetic hormone supplementation would be heart protective, but it did the opposite.

I have addressed the problem of menopause and andropause in another blog.

Here I will review what can be done for a woman who enters menopause, has symptoms of hot flashes, lack of energy, sleep disturbances etc., but wonders whether not something could be done without introducing any risks as mentioned above. The answer is yes. I will review first what bioidentical hormones do and then discuss a bioidentical hormone replacement plan.

Hormones

The normal hormone action in a woman gets regulated through a complex interactive cycle between the stimulatory releasing factors of the hypothalamus that release pituitary hormones, which in turn stimulate the ovaries to produce estradiol and progesterone in a cyclical fashion. When salivary hormone levels are measured, there is a hormone ratio of 200:1 of progesterone to estrogen. According to Dr. Lee who researched this in detail in his books estradiol is potentially cancer producing in the breast and in the lining of the uterus. However, when the ratio of 200:1 (progesterone to estradiol) or more is found in a woman’s saliva the carcinogenic estrogen effect is neutralized by progesterone (Ref. 1 and 2). When a woman approaches menopause, less progesterone is being produced by the ovaries, as there can be anovulatory cycles. This means that a corpus luteum is not developing and progesterone is missing (Ref. 3 and 4). The change of cyclical hormone changes causes the pre- and postmenopausal symptoms.

There are a lot of effects that estrogens are having: estradiol is involved in neutralizing free radicals that age your cells; it maintains libido, supports bone health, prevents Alzheimer’s, prevents cataracts and skin wrinkling, prevents hot flashes and much more. Progesterone on the other hand keeps your hair from falling out, protects from blood clots, has an antidepressant effect, protects myelin sheaths (prevents multiple sclerosis), reduces cholesterol, prevents diabetes and much more. A table with all of the properties of these two hormones can be found here (scroll down).

Testosterone is also necessary in women for normal libido. However, the dose is much smaller than in the male. These traces of testosterone are produced in the adrenal glands and in the ovaries. These can be tested in either blood or saliva.

Safety of hormone replacement

Immediately when hormone replacement is discussed, the question of safety comes up. I have discussed this in detail here. Briefly, there is a 25 year collective experience in the US with bioidentical hormone replacement with no case of breast cancer, uterine cancer or other complications. In Europe bioidentical hormones have been used since the 1960’s, on a larger scale since the 1970’s. So the European experience of safety of bioidentical hormones is presently about 40 to 50 years. Again no breast cancer, uterine cancer, blood clots, heart attacks or strokes have occurred.

In contrast the synthetic hormones promoted by Big Pharma and approved by the FDA have caused the problems of the Women’s Health Initiative.

There has been a review of the Women’s Health Initiative in Postgraduate Medicine 2009 that clearly described that only bioidentical hormones are safe.

Bioidentical hormone replacement

Basically, what is missing should be replaced with the same hormones that were in your body all along. The reason for this is that each cell of your body has specific hormone receptors. There is a key/lock fit with regard to the hormone and the fitting hormone receptor in the cell that will stimulate necessary biochemical reactions to sustain cell function in every corner of your body. Why would you use a false key (synthetic hormone) that does not fit? Just because a regulatory body, Big Pharma and a physician who was influenced by Big Pharma say so? This does not make sense. Your body requires the bio-identical hormone that your body used to make when you were younger. With the gentle replacement of bioidentical hormones that youthfulness will come back. Based on hormone tests, the first hormone that usually needs to be replaced is progesterone, which can be applied as a skin cream or can be taken as Prometrium, a tablet that can be taken by mouth. After two to three months the hormone levels can be repeated and the ratio of progesterone to estradiol can be calculated (as stated above should be greater than 200:1). If testosterone levels are missing and this is clinically verified by symptoms, a small amount of testosterone cream can be applied as well. DHEA levels, cortisol and thyroid levels are also determined and what is missing is replaced. Fasting insulin is often also measured, particularly in a person who may be overweight or obese. A naturopathic physician or an anti-aging physician (A4M) can help you with the management of bioidentical hormone replacement.

New consensus rules

In 2012 a new HRT consensus statement was published allowing postmenopausal symptoms to be treated for 5 years. It was endorsed by 15 agencies. But when you read this with an open mind, it has NOT changed the synthetic hormones, but argues that up to 5 years of treatment would be relatively safe. There is no clear distinction made between natural progesterone and the synthetic progestins, which produce clots, heart attacks and strokes. Bioidentical hormones have been with women all their lives; when menopause sets in, there is a lack of progesterone, and estrogen dominance causes cancer problems. In Europe postmenopausal women can use bioidentical hormones as long as they feel they need it, in North America there is a consensus statement that postmenopausal women should not use  HRT with synthetic hormones from Big Pharma for longer than 5 years. This does not make sense! Why still synthetic hormones? I smell influence peddling worn out on the shoulders of postmenopausal women.

Treating Menopausal Symptoms

Treating Menopausal Symptoms

Conclusion

A lot of women have been unnecessarily scared by hormone replacement because of the Women’s Health Initiative, which was just a confirmation that synthetic hormones are noxious substances for the body. The recommendations from the consensus statement did nothing to clarify the situation.  All their lives women have been under the influence of their own bioidentical hormones produced by their hormone glands. So replacement with bioidentical hormones (structurally identical to the natural hormones in women) is safe and will bring back the vitality of the past, remove all postmenopausal symptoms and help women live a longer life without Alzheimer’s, heart disease or cancer (Ref.5). I agree with the European studies, the studies presented at many of the A4M conferences I have attended and the Postgraduate Medicine article mentioned above that stated that bioidentical hormone replacement is safe.

 

References:

Ref.1: Dr. John R. Lee, David Zava and Virginia Hopkins: “What your doctor may not tell you about breast cancer – How hormone balance can help save your life”, Wellness Central, Hachette Book Group USA, 2005. On page 256 and 257 Dr. Lee describes how progesterone can be used as a cream to treat PMS.

Ref. 2: Dr. John R. Lee: “Natural Progesterone- The remarkable roles of a remarkable hormone”, Jon Carpenter Publishing, 2nd edition, 1999, Bristol, England.

Ref. 3: Dr. John R. Lee and Virginia Hopkins: “Hormone Balance Made Simple – The Essential How-to Guide to Symptoms, Dosage, Timing, and More”. Wellness Central, NY, 2006

Ref.4: Dr. John R. Lee, David Zava and Virginia Hopkins: “What your doctor may not tell you about breast cancer – How hormone balance can help save your life”, Wellness Central, Hachette Book Group USA, 2005. Page 29 – 38 (Chapter 2): Risk factors for breast cancer. Page 360 to 374 explains about xenohormones and how they cause estrogen dominance. Pages 221 to 234 (chapter 12) explains why Tamoxifen is not recommended and bio-identical progesterone is more powerful in preventing breast and uterine cancer

Ref.5: Dr. John R. Lee: “What your doctor may not tell you about menopause: the breakthrough book on natural hormone balance”. Sept. 2004.

Mar
21
2015

What Alcohol Does To You

By | alcohol, Cancer, heart attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, lifestyle, mitochondria, Prevention, Stroke, telomeres, Vitamins and supplements

The media has praised alcohol  for preventing heart attacks, but let us examine what alcohol does to you. There are other articles in which we hear about alcoholic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis, both of which can be killer diseases. To get some clarification, let us discuss the various facts.

Dr. Finnel points out that 7.9% of all emergency room visits in the US are due to alcohol related conditions (Ref.1). When the causes of deaths that are a consequence to alcohol are listed, the top 8 causes are: cancer of the mouth and pharynx, alcohol abuse disorders, coronary heart disease causing heart attacks, cirrhosis of the liver, traffic accidents, poisonings, falls and intentional injuries. This is not what you read in the news. What you do read about is that one glass of red wine per day would be good for women and up to two glasses of red wine would be good for men to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Bioflavonoids

It is the bioflavonoids , and among those in particular resveratrol, that are the active ingredients responsible for heart health. Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that protects against ischemia-reperfusion injuries. It is responsible for the cardio protective properties of red wine known as the “French paradox” (Ref.2). According to this reference resveratrol contributes to at least 3 processes that stabilize the metabolism.

Toxicity of alcohol

Alcohol toxicity is a complex problem. According to the WHO 5.3% of all deaths worldwide are a consequence  to alcohol. In 2012 the WHO recorded that 7.6% of deaths in males were due to alcohol. In comparison, 4% of female deaths were due to alcohol. Toxicity comes from the breakdown product acetaldehyde, which all cells can convert from alcohol, but liver cells are especially able to do this. According to Ref. 3 alcohol diffuses easily through all of the cell membranes and reaches every organ in the body. The toxicity of acetaldehyde is the reason  for shutting down the mitochondria which affect the energy metabolism and causing cell death. The immune system reacts with inflammation, when it attempts to repair the damage.

So, what are the major problems what alcohol does to you? These are the processes: First fat accumulation (steatosis), next chronic inflammation followed by necrosis (dying of cells) and fibrosis. An example of fibrosis is liver cirrhosis, where non-functioning connective tissue replaces liver cells.

Different tissue sensitivity to alcohol

Certain tissues are more susceptible to alcohol toxicity than others. As the concentration of alcohol is highest in tissues that are in direct contact with alcoholic drinks, cancers related to alcohol consumption develop in the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and in the colon and rectum. The pancreas is particularly vulnerable to inflammation and fibrotic changes with subsequent degeneration into cancer of the pancreas. The heart tissue and the arteries are very sensitive to alcohol; hypertension, heart attacks, stroke, cardiomyopathy and myocarditis as well as irregular heart beats (arrhythmias) can develop. The brain is very sensitive to toxic effects of alcohol as well. This causes major depression, personality changes with violent behavior, car accidents and injuries.

Other toxic effects of alcohol on organs

Kidney disease (alcoholic nephropathy) is another alcohol caused illness. 5% of breast cancers in northern Europe and North America are directly related to the toxic effects of alcohol (Ref.3). Finally, the liver being so active in detoxifying alcohol is affected by developing liver cirrhosis, which accounts for a lot of premature deaths at a relatively young age (typically in the mid to late 50’s).

Ref. 3 goes on to say that literature exists which claims that 1 to 2 drinks per day would be useful for prevention of heart disease. But the observation of the authors is that people will not discipline themselves to stick to these limits and very quickly enter into the zone of alcohol toxicity. The authors further noted that with regard to causing any kind of cancer there is no safe lower limit; the risk is directly proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed and the risk starts right above the zero point.

The pathologist has the last word

When I studied medicine at the University of Tübingen, Germany I attended lectures in the pathology department where Professor A. Bohle, M.D. demonstrated pathology findings of deceased patients. Dr. Bohle had a special interest in Mallory bodies. These are alcohol inclusion cysts within liver cells that can be stained with a bright red dye.

Histological documentation of toxic effects in livers of corpses

I will never forget when Prof. Bohle pointed out that the livers of this most diverse population whose bodies we had the privilege as medical students to study had a rate of 25% positive Mallory bodies. He wanted to impress on us as medical students to watch out for the alcoholics that are usually missed in general practice. Obviously 25% of the pathology population was affected by the consumption of alcohol. It was Prof. Bohle’s hope that we could perhaps interfere on the primary care level before things went out of control. Many of these corpses belonged to traffic accidents that could have been prevented (now seat belts and alcohol limits are standard, in 1968 they were not).

Alcohol as an aging substance

Consistent use of alcohol on a regular basis will slow down cell metabolism and hormone production significantly. The major effect of alcohol leads to poisoning of the mitochondria in multiple organs, which translates into faster aging and a shortened life expectancy. This in turn results in a change of appearance. An older person who has abused alcohol for a number of years may look 5 to 10 years older than their chronological age.

50% of people above the age of 65 drink daily (Ref.4). Some more statistics: alcohol abuse in elderly men is 4-times higher than in elderly women. 5% to 10% of all dementia cases are related to alcohol abuse. About 15% of older adults are experiencing health risks from abusing alcohol. And about 90% of older adults are using medications and close to 100% of medications can adversely interact with alcohol (Ref.4).

Social pressure

These are the scientific facts , and then there is social pressure when you are invited to a party.

When you are young and invincible, do you care what the science says? You want to have a “good time” and not worry about consequences. The data about long-term exposure and a slowly increasing cancer risk is there. The wine industry will remind you that 1 drink for women and two drinks for men will protect you from heart attacks. They will withhold the cancer information from you, as they don’t really want to hear about that (yes, it’s bad for their business!).

Resisting social pressure and doing what is good for you

Can you have a good time at a party without drinking alcohol? Yes, you can. You can talk and you can listen; you are probably more with it than those who had too much to drink. I like mineral water and hold on to a glass of that.

I explained in a blog before how I was convinced by three speakers at an A4M conference to join those who abstain from alcohol.

Socializing without alcohol is doable. You may at times miss it, but you can warm up even to a crowd that had a few drinks too much. It is about choice: we can choose what we want out of life.

What Alcohol Does To You

What Alcohol Does To You

Conclusion

I have attempted to show you the toxic effects of alcohol. Although alcohol has played an important role in the social lives of millions over the centuries, it is becoming more apparent that alcohol is a cell poison and shortens our lives. The beneficial effect of the 1 or 2 drinks marketed by the beer and wine industry and some cardiologists does nothing to counter the threat in terms of a whole array of cancers at much smaller amounts of alcohol. Fortunately, resveratrol and omega-3 fatty acids as supplements as well as exercise will more than make up for the 1 or 2 drinks that you do not really need. And neither exercise, omega-3 fatty acids, or resveratrol are cell poisons. The choice is yours!

References

Ref. 1: John T. Finnell: “: Alcohol-Related Disease“ Rosen’s Emergency Medicine, Chapter 185, 2378-2394. Saunders 2014.

Ref. 2: “Hurst’s The Heart”, 13th edition, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2011. Chapter 54. Coronary Blood Flow and Myocardial Ischemia.

Ref. 3: Ivan Rusyn and Ramon Bataller: “Alcohol and toxicity”, 2013-08-01Z, Volume 59, Issue 2, Pages 387-388; copyright 2013 European Association for the Study of the Liver.

Ref. 4: Tom J. Wachtel and Marsha D. Fretwell: Practical Guide to the Care of the Geriatric Patient, Third Edition, Copyright 2007 by Mosby.

Mar
14
2015

Frail Mitochondrial DNA Equals Frail People

By | Anti-aging medicine, Hormones, lifestyle, mitochondria, Nutrition, Vitamins and supplements

Introduction

New research on mitochondria has shown that “frail mitochondrial DNA equals frail people”. More specifically, researchers from the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD found that mitochondrial DNA content varies according to age (less mitochondrial DNA in older age), sex (yes, women have more than men) and mitochondrial DNA even has an inverse relationship to frailty and a direct relationship to life expectancy. The publication of this paper was in February of 2015.

Mitochondria are the powerhouses within each cell and there are between 10 and several thousand mitochondria per cell, depending on what the power needs of a cell type are.

Each mitochondrion has its own mitochondrial DNA contained in 2 to 10 small circular chromosomes that regulate the 37 genes necessary for normal mitochondrial function.

Johns Hopkins University clinical trial regarding frailty

In order to track mitochondrial DNA and its relationship to frailty and old age, the Johns Hopkins University researchers accessed data from two large clinical trials. One study was the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), which took place between 1989 and 2006. The other one was the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study spanning from 1987 to 2013. Blood tests with determinations of mitochondrial DNA were available from both studies.

In multi ethnic groups it was apparent that mitochondrial DNA content followed the age of a person.

Researchers defined frailty as a person who had aging symptoms including weakness, a lack of energy in comparison to the past, activity levels that were much lower than before and loss of weight. Persons with frailty according to these criteria in the two studies had 9% less mitochondrial DNA than non frail study participants.

Prevention of  frailty through early intervention

Another subgroup were white participants. Researchers compared their bottom mitochondrial DNA content to the top mitochondrial DNA content. Frailty was 31% more common in the bottom DNA content group. This means that white people are more prone to frailty and they should take steps early on to prevent this.

Mortality data were also examined and it turned out that those study participants who had the highest level of mitochondrial DNA lived 2.1 years longer on average than those with the lowest level of mitochondrial DNA.

The study also found that women in the two clinical trials had 21% more DNA in their mitochondria on average than men.

Prevention of DNA loss from mitochondria

The study did not suggest any preventative steps against mitochondrial DNA loss. But there is ample evidence in the literature that this can be achieved through supplements that can both help multiply mitochondria as well as stimulate the metabolism of mitochondria. Lifestyle changes are also effective.

I am not supporting the specific brands of supplements mentioned in the Dr. Whitaker link, but find the common sense explanations useful, as they explain what the supplements do.

Frail Mitochondrial DNA Equals Frail People

Frail Mitochondrial DNA Equals Frail People

You may find the scientific data too tedious to delve into. Here is a list that may be of help to you to preserve your health and your vitality:

List to help you preserve your health and vitality

  1. Ubiquinol (=CoQ-10) slows down mitochondrial aging.  I take 400 mg per day. CoQ-10 repairs DNA damage to your mitochondria.
  2. Another supplement, 20 mg of PQQ (=Pyrroloquinoline quinone) per day stimulates your healthy mitochondria to multiply. Between the two supplements you will have more energy as optimal mitochondrial function is ensured.
  3. There are simple lifestyle changes you can make: eat less calories as this will stimulate SIRT1 genes, which in turn stimulates your cell metabolism including the mitochondria.

    More supplements to help prevent frailty

  4. Resveratrol, the supplement from red grape skin can also stimulate your mitochondria metabolism. Exercise more and regularly as this will also stimulate your mitochondria to multiply similar to the effects of PQQ. I take 500mg of trans-Resveratrol once daily.
  5. Alpha-lipoic acid is an antioxidant that counters the slowdown of mitochondrial metabolism. I recommend 300mg per day.
  6. L-arginine is an amino acid that is a precursor of nitric oxide (NO). I prefer taking NO as the NEO-40 supplement where nitric oxide is directly released into your system. I take 1 lozenge of Neo-40 twice per day.

Reference

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/jhm-aom121614.php

Dec
27
2014

Stem Cells, Telomeres, Hormones And Lifestyle

By | Hormones, lifestyle, stem cells, telomeres

I recently attended the 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine in Las Vegas (Dec.10 to 14, 2014) and stem cells, telomeres, hormones and lifestyle were the highlights this year. Every year there seems to be something new to learn. Truly, there were a lot of talks about stem cell treatments, about how lifestyle changes can be healing and how telomeres are in the center of epigenetics. It is important to realize that epigenetics is anything a person can do with lifestyle to help the body work better. In the center of many talks were telomeres, the small caps at the end of the DNA. Indeed, with all cell divisions telomeres get shortened a bit until at the end of our lives our telomeres are significantly shorter.

Shortened telomeres means shortened life

In one talk a slide was shown where the measurements of white blood cell telomeres from blood tests of a population from 20 to 100 years were shown. At the age of 100 the average telomere length was only 40% of the average length of telomeres of the group at the age of 20.

In the past it was thought that our genes and how they function was something constant. Well, we have to rethink this both in positive ways as well as negatively. Using telomere blood tests, it has been shown that certain diseases are associated with shorter telomeres. But on the other hand, positive lifestyle changes and certain supplements can elongate telomeres by stimulating an enzyme called telomerase.

Positive changes of our epigenetics can elongate telomeres

Drinking excessively, doing drugs, smoking and even using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) shorten your telomeres. This is what epigenetics is all about. It is true that you cannot change your genetics, but you can change the epigenetics (meaning the length of telomeres).

As this topic is so large, I have decided to give an overview about the conference in this blog and in future blogs provide more details about some of the key talks.

A review like this is always personal. Other people probably would find other talks more illuminating. So here are my personal impressions about the topics that I found most fascinating.

Stem cells

There were several talks about stem cells. Dr. Joseph Purita talked about the rejuvenating effects of PRP (platelet rich plasma) on stem cells that he injected into patients. This was a fairly technical talk, but pointed out how important it is to provide the appropriate growth factors to nurture transplanted stem cells for a long-term success. The sources of stem cells can be from fatty tissue around the “love handles” or the abdominal fat. A stem cell separator is used to separate stem cells from the rest of the tissue. This is combined with PRP coming from centrifuged blood and is combined with the stem cells and injected.

Soft lasers can activate stem cells

The newest insight is that short-term exposure to red, green and blue soft lasers further activates stem cells. Another source for stem cells is the bone marrow, usually from the pelvic bone, particularly for orthopedic surgical problems like non-healing fractures or torn ligaments. Slides were shown of completely healed avascular necrosis following stem cell treatment. At other lectures on prolotherapy combined with stem cell therapy completely torn anterior cruciate ligaments in the knee and a complete rotator cuff tear in the shoulder in another patient were healed (MRI scan shown before and after treatment).

Lifestyle

Dr. David Katz gave a presentation about “Integrative Medicine: A Bridge Over Healthcare’s Troubled Waters”. He pointed out that the first three things on the actual causes of deaths in the US in 1993 were tobacco use, poor diet and lack of exercise. In 2004 the revised list no longer contained tobacco as the number one killer. All of the public campaigns had changed the culture of smoking so that the average American has changed the lifestyle. Stopping smoking has become desirable, and people know the devastating consequences of smoking. Dr. Katz stated that there is no magic pill to reduce mortality. However, if a healthy lifestyle were a pill, this is exactly what would reduce mortality by 80%. If you exercise on a regular basis, eat a Mediterranean type diet, and avoid sugary drinks you will prevent 80% of heart attacks, strokes and many cancers.

Telomeres

Dr. Sandy Chang gave a talk about “Telomere measurement as a diagnostic test in cardiovascular and age-related disease”. He pointed out that there is a large body of literature showing that telomere length is directly related to health. The shorter the telomeres are, the higher is the probability to experience problems: early menopause, infertility, diabetes, wrinkles, arthritis, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, cancer, stress, a lack of stem cells. These are a number of factors that shorten telomeres: stress, poor diets, smoking, obesity, chronic inflammatory diseases, metabolic disorders like diabetes, over consumption of alcohol and lack of sleep.

Telomere elongation leading to longer life

Dr. Chang mentioned that there is a whole host of factors that can elongate telomeres by stimulating telomerase. His research group showed in humans that increased physical activity elongates telomeres. So did vitamin C, E and vitamin D3 supplementation, resveratrol, a Mediterranean diet and marine omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. In addition, higher fiber intake, bioidentical estrogen in women and testosterone in men, relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation are also elongating telomeres.

Stimulation of telomerase can elongate telomeres

Other speakers also talked about telomeres: Dr. Al Sears’ talk was entitled: “Telo-Nutritioneering: The latest generation of telomere modulators”. He mentioned that in his research he has identified at least 123 nutrients, vitamins and natural compounds that will elongate telomeres, often by stimulating telomerase. Vitamin C will significantly delay shortening of telomeres, which translates into delayed aging. In addition, researchers recently showed that vitamin C stimulates telomerase activity in certain stem cells. Also, there is an herb, called Silymarin extract. Researchers found that this increases telomerase activity threefold. N-acetyl cysteine is a building block for glutathione, a powerful antioxidant. In addition, research showed how 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.

Methylation defects

Dr. George Rozakis gave a talk entitled “Nutrigenomics” where he mentioned that many diseases are due to methylation defects, a cellular pathway that required vitamin B2, B6 and B12. People with this defect have minor genetic variations that lead to elevated homocysteine in the blood. For instance, migraine sufferers often have methylation pathway problems, which involves histamine overproduction and 92% of them can be helped with a histamine-restricted diet. Correcting a methylation pathway defect with the help of L-methylfolate can cure other diseases like depressive illness that does not respond to conventional antidepressant medication.

 

Stem Cells, Telomeres, Hormones And Lifestyle

Stem Cells, Telomeres, Hormones And Lifestyle

Hormone changes with stress

Dr. Thierry Hertoghe gave a lecture on “Burnout: A multiple hormone deficiency syndrome”. He said that burnout is a common condition where several hormones are affected, with the cortisol axis being the main one, but other hormone glands being stressed as well. As a result, endocrine glands age prematurely. Symptoms are fatigue, exhaustion, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety, depression and aggressiveness. The underlying hormone abnormalities are a lack of cortisol, thyroid deficiency, growth hormone deficiency, testosterone and estrogen deficiency and oxytocin deficiency. Burnout is common in teachers and there is a questionnaire that has been developed for teachers. It has the name  “teacher’s burnout scale” and monitors them whether they are heading this way.

Burnout and PTSD

Soldiers who return from combative situations often suffer from burnout or from PTSD. In suspected cases laboratory tests that measure hormone levels give concrete answers about deficiencies. There was a discussion of treatment protocols in detail. Multiple bioidentical hormone replacements are necessary, possibly for prolonged periods, if not lifelong. In addition, supportive counseling sessions from a counselor or psychiatrist will help to tone down increased brain activity and help regain the internal balance. Why is this important? Because hormones are necessary on a cellular level and regulate the energy metabolism of every cell in the body.

Conclusion

This year’s conference was a very interesting combination of new information on stem cell therapy, telomeres and lifestyle intervention. As we age we lose hormones, which makes us age faster as the telomeres shorten faster. Shorter telomeres lead to inflammation in the body, which cause a myriad of disease processes. Patients can counter this aging process by adopting a healthier lifestyle with regular exercising, a Mediterranean diet and abandoning unhealthy habits like smoking, excessive drinking or taking illicit drugs. Vitamins and supplements, particularly resveratrol, CoQ-10 and omega-3 fatty acids will help to elongate and stabilize our telomeres. As Dr. Katz said: “A healthy lifestyle will reduce your mortality rate by 80%”.

Nov
05
2014

How To Cope With Time Switches

By | Hormones, Insomnia

This review is about how to cope with time switches. In Europe daylight saving time begins on the last Sunday in March and wintertime starts on the last Sunday of October. Here in North America we start daylight saving time on the second Sunday of March and end it on the first Sunday of November each year.

With the time switch just last weekend I thought it would be worthwhile to comment in a blog how our bodies, particularly our hormones suffer from this.

You may have heard about the circadian rhythm with respect to hormones. The changes of the sun causing the day/night cycle have profound influences on our hormones, called the diurnal hormone changes or the circadian rhythm.

How do circadian rhythms work?

In the morning when you open your eyes, light enters our eyes and the hypothalamus registers this in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (see Ref.1). There are also links from the hypothalamus to the pineal gland, where melatonin is synthetized and stored. The light signal stops the secretion of melatonin from the pineal gland, although it is still being produced during the day in the pineal gland, but stored there until the evening hours set in. You may have noticed that you start yawning when the light dims in the evening. That’s when melatonin is released into your system to let you know its time to go to sleep.

Of course, we have electrical light and can turn night into day if we choose to! This works for a limited time, but eventually tiredness sets in, and melatonin wins the upper hand. Melatonin is the master hormone of the circadian rhythm.

Cortisol and melatonin are natural opposites

It is interesting to note that cortisol does exactly the opposite. Cortisol is the adrenal gland hormone that helps us cope with stress. When we are fully awake, we need cortisol to cope with stress. Melatonin inhibits cortisol secretion and cortisol inhibits melatonin secretion, so they are natural opponents working together for your common good. This is part of the circadian rhythm. We can measure these hormones and this is how researchers have found out how this works.

How To Cope With Time Switches

How To Cope With Time Switches

Time switches affect the circadian rhythm

When we switched time back by one hour on our wristwatch and clocks, the internal time in our body did not accept that right away. The body needs to gradually adjust to this by reading the external signals: when are we opening our eyes? What is the light intensity when we get up, what is the light intensity when we go to sleep?  Some people find it easy to adjust; others find it very difficult to adjust. Some individuals breeze through the adjustment process in a day or two. For others it can as much as 1 or 2 weeks before the hormonal adjustment is completed.

Symptoms of problems adjusting the circadian rhythm

Symptoms due to time switch are a feeling of hangover on the first one to two days after the switch. This is despite you having gotten enough sleep, but the quality of sleep was not the same as before the time switch. Your head feels heavy, you are irritable, and you may feel mildly depressed. You also may find it more difficult to concentrate on one thing and you experience fatigue. Some experience insomnia. What is behind this is a disturbance of your cortisol levels. Your cortisol level is normally highest in the early morning hours, just before you wake up. As a male your testosterone level is also highest when you wake up thanks to the circadian rhythm. Both cortisol and testosterone recover their hormone storage during your deepest sleep.

Our hormones are linked to the internal diurnal clock

In women the ovarian hormones have not only a monthly rhythm, but also a 24-hour diurnal rhythm, based on the internal 24-hour clock. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland have an intimate involvement in both sexes regarding this diurnal rhythm. They are in communication with the pineal gland that produces melatonin to regulate all of the major hormone systems. So, when we switch our watch back by one hour in the fall or forward by one hour in the spring, our body clock is out of sync with the new time that rules the world. This state of being out of sync may last for a few days. We still get tired according to the old time and we still wake up according to the old time until our internal clock has readjusted. People have genetic differences on how quickly they readjust.

Jet lag

When we travel eastward or westward through time zones a phenomenon of being “out of sync” occurs as well, very similar to what happens with time switches. It is the same re-adjusting process of the internal circadian rhythm that our bodies have to come to terms with. Some people are affected more when they travel west though time zones, and it may take them longer to adjust to it compared to traveling east. But other people complain that for them it is just the opposite, and traveling east is the problem for them. North-south travel does not cause jet lag as the internal time and the external time remain synchronized. A very similar phenomenon is happening with the spring and fall time switches. Some people find it nervier when in spring the clock is advanced by one hour and others complain that fall is their difficult time when the time is switched back by one hour. There are genetic differences of how we adjust with our internal clocks.

Shift workers

Shift workers experience problems with the circadian rhythm as well. The switch between working day shifts and night shifts leads to a condition called “shift-work sleep disorder” (Ref.3). Similar to jet lag this is due to the fact that there is a disruption of the synchronization between the body’s inner clock and external cues. The work rules do not allow enough time for recovery. It would be much more cost effective, if unions and employers allowed those who are naturally born to cope with night time shift to work those shifts and allow those who are sensitive to shift-work sleep disorder to work only day shifts. We live in an age of political correctness, but we tend to overlook how our bodies work.

What you can do to ease yourself into the time switch

1. As there is a lack of deep sleep with the time switch, it is not a bad idea to take a short nap when you feel tired during the day. Catch a nap on the weekend or on a day, when you are off work! It’s good for you! This will build up your adrenal gland hormones and give you the extra surge of energy you are craving for.

2. At the end of the day though, you need to go to bed according to the new time to train your pineal gland and your entire hormone system about the new time situation. Your body needs the cues from you, when you start and end your day, so that it can sync your internal clock with the outside time.

Melatonin restores the circadian rhythm

3. A simple remedy that fits right into your hormone rhythm is to take a melatonin tablet (about 3 mg for an adult), available at your health food store or drugstore 30 minutes before bedtime. Ref. 2 states that melatonin “restores the circadian rhythm “. This helps your circadian hormone rhythm by giving it an evening boost of melatonin. This tells your system it is time to go to sleep. At that time when you close your eyes the signals  through the optic nerve shut down. This gives the circadian rhythm yet another signal about what time it is. In just a few days (for very sensitive people in 1 to 2 weeks) your entire hormone system including the circadian 24-hour undulations will be reset. Now your internal clock has been reset and is in sync until the next time switch.

More about hormones: http://nethealthbook.com/hormones/introduction-hormones/

References

1. Melmed: “Control of Hormone Secretion” in: Williams Textbook of Endocrinology, 12th ed.Copyright 2011 Saunders, An Imprint of Elsevier

2. Rakel: Integrative Medicine, 3rd ed. Copyright 2012 Saunders, An Imprint of Elsevier

3. Daroff: Bradley’s Neurology in Clinical Practice, 6th ed. Copyright 2012 Saunders, An Imprint of Elsevier

Sep
24
2014

Two Approaches To Heart Disease

By | Anti-aging medicine, Fitness, heart attack, Heart Disease, Hormones, Nutrition, Prevention, Stroke, Vitamins and supplements

Over the years I noticed that there are two approaches to heart disease that people and physicians seems to subscribe to.

1.The conventional approach to heart disease

The patient essentially ignores health advice, may smoke cigarettes and eat in a lot of fast food restaurants. People who do not care about their heart drink sodas, eat lots of sugar, starch and processed foods. They may think that they are invincible. Famous politicians have subscribed to this type of approach including former vice president, Dick Cheney.

But the big surprise comes when acute chest pain hits and an ambulance has to be called. We are lucky in the industrial countries where a 911 service is available. You call that number when in distress and an ambulance with all the modern equipment will rush to you. The problem though is that you have neglected your arteries for all those years and it is likely that one or two of the three coronary heart vessels are severely narrowed so much that your heart reported chest pain. This pain signals that one area of the heart muscle was not getting enough oxygen and nutrients.

On arrival at the hospital the emergency physician sees you. Nurses put monitors up, attach electrodes to you, and IV-lines are put into your veins, just in case things get worse and they would need to give you quick life-saving medicine intravenously. They have also given you an oxygen mask, and after 30 minutes or so you feel much better. A cardiologist has been called in by the emergency physician and will assess you.

This will very likely be the verdict: “We have to do a coronary arteriogram where I advance a thin catheter through your femoral artery backwards to where the coronary arteries originate from. We can then study each coronary artery separately and determine whether an angioplasty needs to be done.” Upon your questioning he explains that an angioplasty is a procedure where a catheter is advanced through a new clot that often forms during a heart attack and a stent is left behind that will keep the previously blocked off coronary artery open.

Within an hour the procedure will be completed. The cardiologist will explain that he found significant narrowing, such a san 85% narrowing in the anterior descending coronary artery and a second lesion in the right coronary artery with maybe 55% narrowing. He has stented both of these arteries successfully. But he warns you that the stents may close off, if you are unable (or rather unwilling) to change your lifestyle. He also will be very specific with what he meant: Quit smoking immediately, get into a regular exercise program and adopt a strict heart healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet. They would keep you overnight just to observe your heart rhythm and blood pressure. In the morning, if everything is OK he will likely discharge you.

Comment: Unfortunately this scenario is all too familiar to me having worked as a family physician doing my rotations as an emergency physician in a community hospital for 16 years. I found that people tended to NOT think preventatively unless they were forced to. When an acute event like a heart attack happens, a higher percentage of people is committed to prevention, but medical people call this “secondary prevention” as this prevention was only started after a close call. Our sample patient above could have developed a serious arrhythmia (irregular heart beats after a heart attack) and suddenly slipped into a coma and died before the interventional cardiologist could have placed the stents.

Primary prevention is much more powerful and this is what I like to cover next.

Two Approaches To Heart Disease

Two Approaches To Heart Disease (Placement Of Stent Shown)

2. The preventative approach to heart disease

Most people never have to be rushed to the hospital with chest pain. They engage in various ways of “primary prevention”.  So, what exactly is this?

They keep very active, like walking or jogging, dancing, working out in a gym, biking or swimming etc.

They also like a healthier than normal lifestyle: eat at home as much as possible, and many adopt to buy only organic food. Why, you may ask? Organic food does not contain insecticide residues that resemble estrogenic substances (so-called “xenoestrogens” which accelerate hardening of the arteries). But organic food also does not contain GMO (genetically modified food). We know enough about GMO now to indicate to us that autoimmune diseases with inflammation of the arteries and the gut can occur. But the full impact on people’s health will not be known for several more decades. So why experiment with yourself? Buy organic instead. It is known to be safe.

Vitamins and minerals can be very useful supplements that also prevent premature aging of our blood vessels.

Anti-aging research has shown that with aging come various hormone defects. Melatonin is one of the first to go (in your twenties). But melatonin tables that are widely available in drug stores and health food stores can come to your rescue:  3mg of melatonin at bedtime will give you a good night sleep and provide powerful anti-oxidant effects. DHEA is an adrenal gland hormone that can be measured in your blood (or in saliva). In case it is low, it can be easily replaced with supplements. In the 50’s or 60’s women and to a lesser degree men will start to show thyroid under-functions. We call this hypothyroidism. Have your TSH and T4 levels checked and talk to you doctor about whether you need thyroid replacement, if the values are off.

It is somewhat more difficult to explain the rest of the hormones. But you know that women get into menopause and men about 10 to 15 years later will hit andropause, which is the male equivalent of menopause in women.  An easy way to check this out is by doing a hormone panel from just one tube of spit. Yes, it is a saliva hormone panel I am talking about. For women it is estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, DHEA and testosterone that should be analyzed. For men it is testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, estrogen and progesterone. I am aware that these are the same 5 hormones, but I listed them in the order of importance for women and men. In this blog you find more details about bio-identical hormone replacement.

I have followed a primary heart attack prevention program since 2001 and it seems to suit me well.  Just to check things out I had a carotid intima test, which showed no hardening of the arteries. Just two weeks ago my optician took images of the retinal vessels and found hardly any hardening of my retinal arteries. I scored high on a Bruce treadmill protocol in March of 2013 and my lipid VAT values were excellent indicating a low risk for a heart attack.

I have delved into this subject in more detail in my book entitled “A Survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging” (Ref. 1).

Conclusion

Prevention of a disease is always better than curing a disease, this applies to heart attacks as well. While you do something good for your heart, you are at the same time preventing strokes and many degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease. In addition you also prevent cancer. It really is a good deal!

More information on prevention of heart disease: http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/heart-attack-myocardial-infarction-or-mi/prevention-heart-attack/

Reference:

1. Dr. R. Schilling: “A Survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging“. Paperback through Amazon.com, 2014.

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014

Jun
21
2014

Older Grumpy People Have Higher Risk Of Dementia

By | Alzheimer’s disease, Anti-aging medicine, Health, Hormones, Men's Health, Women’s Diseases

Although in this recent study from Finland researchers found that grumpiness in older age seems to lead to dementia at a faster rate, I like to emphasize here that there may be an under lying problem of hormone deficiency.

Other studies have shown that in males low testosterone levels are associated with grumpiness and dementia is setting in sooner in those males who are deficient for testosterone. For older grumpy females it is the lack of progesterone that has been found to be deficient and when you replace it, memory comes back, symptoms of menopause reverse themselves and the grumpiness is gone. Testosterone replacement may be required by as many as 1 in 4 men in the their 40’s as is summarized in the article from Great Britain.

How can we tell whether there is a change in an older man? There are quite a few symptoms that can be seen by loved ones around this man: an increase in abdominal girth, shrinking muscles, lack of energy, irritability. The key is to get him to the doctor and ask the doctor to order a bioavailable testosterone blood test.

According to medical research 84% of men and 62% of women in the age group of 57 to 64 have been sexually active in the previous 12 months. Take an older age group of 65 to 74 and still 67% of men and 40% of women are sexually active. Fast-forward to age 75 to 85 and the rate has dropped to 39% of men and 17% of women (Ref.1). A person’s sexual activity is a barometer how well the hormones are balanced. These figures show that bioidentical hormone replacement has not been well accepted. Women have a reason as they were misled by Big Pharma as was shown in the

Older Grumpy People Have Higher Risk Of Dementia

Older Grumpy People Have Higher Risk Of Dementia

Women’s Health Initiative:

The National Institutes of Health had funded a large study (the Women’s Health Initiative) to clarify what was going on with regard to side effects and effects of HRT.

Unfortunately, synthetic non-bioidentical hormone products were used in these studies (Premarin and Provera) instead of bioidentical estrogen and progesterone. The results of the Women’s Health Initiative were devastating. In 2002 doctors were warned that Premarin and Provera used as HRT would cause increased heart attack rates and breasts cancer, which led to premature death. Overall the placebo group did better than the experimental group and this is why the trial was prematurely stopped.  As a result of the wide publicity regarding the negative results of the Women’s Health Initiative postmenopausal women either do not see their physician for hormone replacement or are advised by conventional doctors that only small amounts of Premarin could be used for not more than 5 years for fear of causing breast cancer. Medico-legal considerations are at play and the whole issue of HRT after menopause has been politicized.

Problems now for HRT:

It is like a negative shadow has been cast forward with regard to hormone replacement because of the Women’s Health Initiative. People are still confused and don’t understand that the synthetic hormone-like drugs from Big Pharma are like an ill-fitting key for the hormone receptors in the body whereas bioidentical hormones are the perfect fit.

Otherwise there would not be a 45% drop-off (from 62% to 17%) in sexual activities in women from age 60 to 80. Men have it somewhat easier: their drop rate between age 60 an 80 is also 45% (from 84% to 39%), but as they entered into male menopause 10 to 15 years later than women did with menopause, their sexual activity is still double that of women at the age of 80.

However, if people could overcome their unrealistic fear of bioidentical hormones, hormones that fit the body’s hormone receptors a lot more people would be encouraged to use bioidentical hormone replacements.

What, if the grumpy, old man is willing to see his doctor?

The doctor should look at all of the hormones including a fasting insulin level as hyperinsulinism often complicates hormone replacement. Thyroid, which often is also lowered at an older age should be also tested (T3, T4 and TSH). A saliva hormone test can show a panel of 5 hormones: cortisol, DHEAS, testosterone, progesterone and estradiol. As hormones are in a balance with each other this allows to compute the testosterone to estrogen ratio, which ought to be 20 or higher. But hormones alone are not the answer. There needs to be a combination of proper nutrition (cut out sugar, starchy foods, preferably switch to organic foods to escape the xenoestrogens that foul up your hormone balance), also exercise and use vitamins and supplements. I have summarized all of this in my recent book “A survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging” (Ref.2).

When the hormone tests come back the doctor will likely order the missing hormones (hopefully as bioidentical hormones).

It can take 2 to 3 months before the full effect of bioidentical hormone replacement is seen. But most men will be astounded how well they can feel. He will notice that he does not tire with exercising. His muscle mass builds up; his posture improves. His stamina comes back. He will find that the previously foggy thinking is gone and his thought processes have become clear again. And yes, his sex live comes back. So now he has to talk to his sex partner about her bioidentical hormone replacement so they both can enjoy the benefits!

Hidden benefits of bioidentical hormone replacement:

The bones become stronger, the heart beats harder and better, the brain thinks clearer, because the key organs like the brain, the heart and the bones have the appropriate hormone receptors (in both sexes).  No, this is no exaggeration. This can be measured by an exercise tolerance test (for the heart). Bone density can be measured and has been done (2% to 4% increase per year). Brain function is indirectly visible to the people around the person: apart from new vitality, improvements in mood and more energy, the grumpiness is gone and the person is perceived as a pleasant person once again.

Conclusion:

The observation of an “old, grumpy man” when he entered the male menopause is accurate, but should not distract from the fact that he has a responsibility to look after himself. It is important to recognize that it is not only women who enter the menopause, but that men 10 to 15 years later will do the same. Both sexes enter a state of hormone disbalance that is treatable. The answer is to replace the hormone deficiency with the missing bioidentical hormones.

More information on male menopause (=andropause): http://nethealthbook.com/hormones/hypogonadism/secondary-hypogonadism/male-menopause/

References:

1.Rakel: Textbook of Family Medicine, 8th ed., copyright 2011 Saunders

2.Dr.Ray Schilling: “A Survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging“, Amazon.com, 2014

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014

May
31
2014

Industry Sponsored Diet Soda Study Deceptive

By | Health, Hormones, Nutrition, Prevention, Vitamins and supplements, Weight loss

Recently an industry sponsored study was reviewed by the media with this headline: “Diet soda helps weight loss, industry-funded study finds”. Before you get too excited about this study, let me tell you that you are being deceived. Essentially the study compared 150 overweight or obese people on water and a similar group of people on diet sodas. Both groups were counselled on the benefits of exercise and a healthier diet. At the end of 12 weeks the water group that did not drink diet sodas had lost 9 pounds, while the diet soda group that continued their former habit lost 13 pounds. The question now is why this 4 pound difference? The sponsor of the study would like you to think that the soda diet drink is healthier, because it helps you to lose weight. Let me explain to you that there are a few flaws in the study as follows.

1. Most often there are confounding errors in industry-sponsored studies. Even though it looks on the surface that the two groups were comparable, researchers should have checked out various parameters like sex distribution, other underlying illnesses, mental state (depressed or not etc.), diabetes and other factors to make sure that there is no metabolic bias between the two groups from the start of the study.

2. Deception built into study: we know from other studies that on the long-term diet sodas lead to weight gain by stimulating your appetite for sweets and their subsequent consumption. Often short-term studies show the opposite effect, so it would be false to assume that long-term results would be similar. But most readers who read this quickly would be tempted to think “so it must be OK to continue to consume diet soda drinks!” Off you go to the grocery store and buy another 6 or 12 pack. That’s exactly what the industry-sponsored study set out to do. Somewhere in the back-room of a big soft drink corporation the executives discussed among themselves that their statistics were bad; the sales of diet soft drinks were down; there was too much negative press fuelled by the health food industry. They had to do something about this, so they designed a study where the good guy was the diet soft drink. If the consumer is not buying the results, at least the study helped to confuse people and whenever there is confusion, at least part of the confused population will return to their old habits. After all the study showed “ it is OK”.

Industry Sponsored Diet Soda Study Deceptive

Industry Sponsored Diet Soda Study Deceptive

3. Excitotoxins are not OK. Unfortunately all artificial sweeteners are toxic to your brain, they are excitotoxins. MSG is another excitotoxin. The only exception is the natural sweetener stevia, a plant product, which is OK. Splenda is an insecticide, so this is belongs to the xenoestrogens, bad for you as it acts like a foreign estrogen and has cancer-promoting qualities when exposed to it for several decades. The rest of the artificial sweeteners are excitotoxins: they burn your brain cells very slowly and can lead to dementia. Unfortunately they are addicting and your brain will make you feel good when you drink more of it. So, the real reason why the study group on diet sodas did better than the water group is because they did not have to change that habit, there was no withdrawal to deal with and they felt fine. So they could concentrate on dieting and exercising and of course you would lose 13 pounds in 12 weeks doing that. The water group on the other hand had to cope with diet soda withdrawal and on top was challenged by an exercise and weight loss program. As there was no diet restriction, they could compensate a bit for their trouble of withdrawal and eat a few muffins or some extra bread to make up for the lack of their comfort diet drink fix (the satisfaction of consuming the excitotoxin). This slick short-term study design is what should have alarmed the publisher to ask a few hard questions.

4. There needs to be an internal logic in the study: Let’s do a thought experiment where we repeat the study and start with two comparable overweight/obese groups of people and put them on no sugar and no refined carbs for 2 weeks and also on no diet sodas for the same time. After two weeks they are both accustomed to this diet and the no diet soda habit and they have probably lost the same amount of weight from the calorie restriction. Now we start the one group on diet sodas and the other group on water, but strictly controlled for a similar calorie intake in terms of other foods or drinks as much as is humanly possible. I would predict that after 12 weeks the water group will have at least lost the same weight as the diet soda group, if not more. The diet soda group likely will have had some problems with sugar craving and may have had more dietary indiscretions (sneaking in snacks and underreporting them), but this would show up as weight gain.

You may be proud of having completed this well controlled study. The trouble is that your industry sponsor that produces the diet drinks will not like this outcome and would not allow the results to be published. In fact that kind of result would be actively suppressed.

Conclusion:

The diet soda study discussed here is a lesson in biased publishing. We are constantly bombarded by an endless string of meaningless publications that are designed to make the consumer insecure, or bias us for accepting a company’s product in the hope of achieving a certain result (like high sales). Even, if this is not accomplished the company has sold enough of their product just for giving it a try. Beware of the door-to-door sales person. This figure is very much present right in this publication. In this case it is the sales pitch of the diet soda manufacturers! You are looking at a study that was designed to make you buy more of the excitotoxin (aspartame or other artificial sweeteners), which likely contributed to your extra weight or obesity in the first place. It’s up to you to shut the door on this sales pitch. Instead of a diet soda I suggest you make your own drink: squeeze half an organic lemon and top this with mineral water of your choice. Sweeten it with a tiny amount of stevia. This has no calories and does not stimulate you to eat more sugar and starchy foods; but it quenches any thirst and you even get some water-soluble vitamins in the process.

Last edited May 31, 2014

May
10
2014

The Full Story About Testosterone

By | Heart Disease, Hormones, Men's Health, Obesity, Osteoporosis, Prevention, Stroke

Much has been written about what happens when women get into menopause. This begs the question: do men experience a change of life? As a matter of fact, they do. It is called “andropause”, and they can experience problems as a result. Here is a study from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Sept. 2013) describing in detail what happens when men get into andropause (the male equivalent of the menopause).

We know from other studies that in obese men testosterone is converted into estrogen because of the enzyme aromatase that converts testosterone into estrogen resulting in erectile dysfunction and loss of sex drive. In lean men above the age of 55 there is a true testosterone reduction because the testicles produce less testosterone. This results in less sex drive, moodiness and lack of energy. But these men will do well with bioidentical testosterone replacement.

Main findings of the Massachusetts General Hospital study:

  1. Testosterone was responsible for thigh muscle development and leg press strength, for erectile function and sexual desire.
  2. Surprisingly, estradiol (the main estrogen component in both sexes) plays a significant part in sexual desire in the male. This became particularly apparent in the post-andropause male who desired hormone replacement. When bioidentical testosterone is used to replace what’s missing there was no problem with sexual desire or erectile function as a small amount of the testosterone was aromatized into estradiol. The researchers were able to measure both testosterone and estradiol levels.
  3. Here is a surprising fact: a lack of estrogen leads to abdominal obesity. This could also be verified by hormone measurements.
  4. In the past doctors used synthetic testosterone products like methyltestosterone, danazol, oxandrolone, testosterone propionate, testosterone cypionate or testosterone enanthate. The problem with these synthetic testosterone products is that the body cannot metabolize a portion of them into estrogen that is desirable for a normal sex drive, so the testosterone compounds alone are not doing their job as well as the bioidentical testosterone that the body can aromatize.

In obese men the problem is that there is too much estrogen in the system, which leads to a disbalance of the hormones in the male with a relative lack of testosterone. Overweight and obese men produce significant amounts of estrogen through aromatase located in the fatty tissue. Aromatase converts testosterone and other male type hormones, called androgens, into estrogen. Excessive levels of estrogen cause breast growth, muscle weakness, lead to abdominal fat accumulation, heart disease and strokes. Dr. Lee described what happens in men who enter andropause years ago as indicated under this link.

The Full Story About Testosterone

The Full Story About Testosterone

Testosterone to estrogen ratio:

Dr. Lee indicated that in his opinion saliva hormone testing is more reliable than blood tests (Ref. 1). One of the advantages of doing saliva hormone tests of estrogen and testosterone is that you can calculate directly the ratios of these two hormones. In hormonally normal younger males the testosterone to estrogen ratio is larger than 20 – 40 (Ref.2). The testosterone to estrogen ratio in obese men is typically less than 20 meaning it is too low. But lean men in andropause produce too little testosterone and their testosterone to estrogen ratio is also less than 20, because they may still have enough estrogen in their system from aromatase in the fatty tissue, but they are lacking testosterone due to a lack of its production in the testicles (Ref. 1 and 2).

When a man in andropause is given bioidentical hormone replacement with a testosterone gel or bioidentical testosterone cream this is absorbed into the blood and body tissues and then partially metabolized into a small amount of estrogen. This can be seen when saliva hormone tests are done; a higher level of testosterone is detected and much lower estrogen level so that the testosterone to estrogen ratio is now 20 to 40 or higher and the affected person will no longer be the “grumpy old man” that had been a source of distress to his partner before.

This New England Journal of Medicine study is important because it confirmed what anti-aging physicians had been saying for years: a small amount of estrogen is necessary for the male for bone health as estrogen receptors will regulate the bone density, it also helps for a normal sex drive. The same is true for women: a small amount of the opposite hormone (testosterone) will help a woman’s sex drive, but she needs the right mix of progesterone to estrogen (a progesterone to estrogen ratio of 200:1 using saliva tests) to feel perfectly normal as a women.

Health and well-being of a man depend on normal testosterone levels:

It is important to realize that testosterone is not only supporting a man’s sex drive and libido, key organs like the heart, the brain and blood vessels contain testosterone receptors as well. The body of a man was designed to respond to testosterone all along. It is when testosterone production is no longer keeping up that premature aging becomes apparent, as the target organs do no longer receive the proper signals.

A healthy heart in a man depends on regular exercise and testosterone stimulation whether he is young, middle aged or old. The same is true for the lining of the arteries where testosterone receptors are present to help with the normal adjustment to exercise and relaxation. The brain cells have receptors for all of the sex hormones and in a man they are used to higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of progesterone and estrogen. If you take the balance away, the aging man will feel miserable and grumpy. Depression will set in. Here is a brief review how one man’s life has been changed by testosterone replacement.

So, bioidentical hormone replacement is not just a matter of replacing one hormone, you need to pay attention to all of the hormones. Lifestyle issues enter the equation as well. I have reviewed the issue of bioidentical hormone replacement for women and men in this blog.

Conclusion:

When a man reaches the age of 55 or older there comes a point where a lack of testosterone and estrogen sets in. It is wise to start doing intermittent blood or saliva hormone tests before this point is reached in order to gage when bioidentical hormone replacement treatment should be given. Along with an assessment regarding the hormone status it would be wise to also assess lifestyle issues as often other factors play a role in premature aging. I have reviewed these factors systematically in a recent publication (Ref. 3). It is best to combine bioidentical hormone replacement with life style interventions to achieve optimal preservation of a man’s health.

More information about male menopause (=andropause): http://nethealthbook.com/hormones/hypogonadism/secondary-hypogonadism/male-menopause/

References:

  1. John R. Lee, MD: “Hormone Balance for men- what your doctor may not tell you about prostate health and natural hormone supplementation”. 2003 by Hormones Etc.
  2. George Gillson, MD, PhD, Tracy Marsden, BSc Pharm: “You’ve Hit Menopause. Now What?” 2004 Rocky Mountain Analytical Corp. Chapter 9: Male Hormone Balance (p.118-148).
  3. Dr.Schilling’s book, March 2014, Amazon.com:“A Survivor’s Guide To Successful Aging: With recipes for 1 week provided by Christina Schilling”.

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014

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