Some people dismiss it as a myth, others believe it’s the sole cause of heart disease.

The truth lies in between.

Cholesterol is real, it matters, and the way we understand it can have a profound impact on cardiometabolic health.

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Myth 1: All cholesterol is bad

Cholesterol itself isn’t harmful. In fact, your body needs it to build cell membranes, produce hormones, and aid in digestion. What matters most isn’t whether cholesterol is present, but how it’s carried in your bloodstream.

LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol can contribute to plaque buildup in arteries if levels are too high.

HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol helps remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream.

Although the balance matters, your LDL level is probably the most important value when it comes to avoiding heart disease. The lower your LDL, the lower your risk for cardiovascular events.

In fact, data from multiple randomized controlled trials show that populations with lower LDL levels consistently experience fewer cardiovascular events.

Myth 2: Cholesterol is a “myth”

At Step One, I sometimes hear from people who insist cholesterol doesn’t matter, or worse, that it isn’t even “real.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

High cholesterol is one of the most extensively studied risk factors for cardiovascular disease, with incredibly consistent results: lower LDL levels translate to better outcomes, no matter how you get there — through medications, diet, or favorable genetics.

There are even rare individuals who are genetically unable to make PCSK9, the enzyme that slows LDL receptor activity. Their LDL levels hover around 30 mg/dL for life. And they almost never get cardiovascular disease. That’s not myth — that’s biology.

Myth 3: Dietary cholesterol is the main cause of high cholesterol

For years, foods like eggs and shellfish were villainized for raising cholesterol. But dietary cholesterol has much less impact on blood cholesterol than most people think.

Your liver produces the majority of cholesterol circulating in your body. What influences blood cholesterol more strongly is the type of fat (and types of carbohydrates) you eat.

Saturated and trans fats can raise LDL cholesterol.  These fats are all solid at room temperature and include butter, cheese, the marbling in beef, the fat in chicken, coconut oil and all hydrogenated fats.

Unsaturated fats (found in foods like nuts, seeds, and olive oil) are liquid at room temperature and can help improve cholesterol levels.

The bigger picture: food has the power to harm and the power to heal. Poor nutrition doesn’t just raise LDL — it also drives up blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and inflammation. Eat right, and you improve all of these risk factors at the same time.

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Myth 4: Cholesterol is the only thing that matters

Cholesterol is important, but it isn’t the only player. Cardiovascular disease is multifactorial. High blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, chronic inflammation, and genetics all layer on top of cholesterol to influence risk. Even with high LDL, some people may avoid disease, while others with normal levels may still experience events.

This is why reductionist thinking — blaming everything on a single risk factor — misses the mark. Cholesterol matters, but so do the other pieces of the puzzle.

Myth 5: Medication is the only solution

Statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs can be transformative for some people. But they’re also an incomplete solution, because they only target one factor. If you lower cholesterol through medication but ignore blood sugar, blood pressure, weight, or inflammation, your risk remains elevated.

Nutrition, on the other hand, is comprehensive. Eat poorly, and you worsen multiple risk factors at once. Eat well, and you lower LDL, improve blood pressure, stabilize blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and support healthy weight — all in one step.

The bottom line

Cholesterol is not a myth. It’s a proven, powerful risk factor for disease. But it’s also not the only one, and it shouldn’t be viewed in isolation. The good news is that food gives us an opportunity to improve cholesterol while simultaneously improving overall cardiometabolic health.

At Step One Foods, we’ve made it easier to take control of your nutrition with convenient options proven to help support cholesterol management. 

The post What everyone gets wrong about cholesterol appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The argument? Seed oils contain high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, which some experts have suggested may contribute to inflammation — a condition considered a root cause of disease.

In fact, some research has shown these oils increase the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

But what if everything we’ve been told about seed oils is wrong?

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Linoleic acid and cardiometabolic health

Linoleic acid is the primary omega-6 fatty acid consumed from vegetable oils, particularly seed oils.

“There has been increasing attention on seed oils, with some claiming these oils promote inflammation and raise cardiometabolic risk,” says Dr. Kevin C. Maki, a professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington and chief scientist at Midwest Biomedical Research.

Maki and other investigators analyzed data from almost 1,900 people in an observational cohort study. Their findings were surprising:

• Higher levels of linoleic acid in the blood were consistently associated with lower levels of biomarkers for risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
• Specifically, participants with higher levels of linoleic acid demonstrated lower levels of glucose and insulin as well as HOMA-IR, a biomarker of insulin resistance.
• They also had reduced levels of inflammation biomarkers, including C-reactive protein, glycoprotein acetyls and serum amyloid A.

These results are consistent with those from observational studies that have found a link between higher intake of linoleic acid and lower risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.

The findings of this latest study are believed to be even stronger because of the measurements taken…

“Although other studies have assessed relationships between linoleic acid and cardiometabolic risk factors, our study used objective biomarkers rather than diet records or food frequency questionnaires to assess linoleic acid intake,” Maki says. “We also measured a range of markers of inflammation and indicators of glucose metabolism.”

In summary, instead of fueling disease, linoleic acid may actually help protect against heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

“We saw consistent results across the different biomarkers measured,” Maki says. “People with higher levels of linoleic acid in their blood tended to have a healthier overall risk profile for heart disease and diabetes.”

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Should you eat more, less or seek balance?

The researchers say these results support the need for additional research. But one thing’s for sure: Since omega-6 fatty acids are found in popular vegetable oils like canola oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, and soybean oil, many of us already get a significant amount of them in our diet.

That means you don’t need to focus on getting more. Instead, balance may be what to aim for. Your ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids should be 1:1.

In fact, the experts at Harvard recommend: Eat more omega-3s, not fewer omega-6s. But the American Heart Association reports that intake of omega-3s by US adults is “abysmally low.”

So, even though we’re discussing omega-6 fatty acids here, it’s important to consider the amount of omega-3s in your diet. Omega-3s help balance the possibility of inflammation connected to omega-6.

However, there are still considerations when using seed oils for cooking…

Absolutely avoid partially hydrogenated oil, which is high in trans fats — the worst kind of fat for your health. That means avoiding them in ultra-processed foods, such as baked goods, fried foods and some shortenings, makes good sense.

And, if cooking with seed oils, choose cold-pressed seed oils rather than heat-processed ones. The cold-pressing process does not involve chemical solvents like hexane.

Hexane is used in the chemical extraction of refined or commercial oils. Though exposure in cooking oil is very low, hexane can cause symptoms ranging from mild dizziness to severe, potentially permanent nerve damage.

Best yet, look to whole-food sources of omega-6, like sunflower seeds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds as well.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Try it for $1! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

Myth-busting study shows controversial seed oils reduce inflammation — ScienceDaily

Are seed oils bad for you? A registered dietitian explains the facts — Colorado State University

The post Do seed oils really deserve their bad reputation? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Women often face dramatically higher risks for certain health dangers, and even very different symptoms for conditions that men may also suffer from, leading to confusion over diagnoses and treatment, and poorer outcomes.

It’s a phenomenon that has been most recognized in women’s heart health. However, the female brain also faces unique risks…

For decades, researchers have been trying to identify the exact reasons why two-thirds of people who develop Alzheimer’s are women.

Along the way, they’ve found that…

• Changes in a female hormone, known as follicle-stimulating hormone (or FSH), during menopause contribute to brain changes associated with memory loss and other Alzheimer’s symptoms.
• The loss of estrogen with age reduces energy to the brain and can cause it to age more quickly, leading to the formation of amyloid plaques, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Women with increased numbers of large particle HDL (even though it’s known as ‘good cholesterol’) run a higher risk of developing dementia.

But there’s more…

According to scientists from King’s College London and Queen Mary University London, a startling omega-3 deficiency may explain women’s Alzheimer’s risk — another risk factor that men do not share.

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A noticeable loss of essential fatty acids

For their research, the scientists analyzed blood samples and measured brain inflammation and brain damage in 841 participants, divided into three groups: those with Alzheimer’s disease, those with mild cognitive impairment, and cognitively healthy individuals.

They then focused on the lipid (fat) content in the blood to determine the balance of unhealthy, saturated fats to healthy, unsaturated lipids (omega-3 essential fatty acids).

According to senior study author Dr. Cristina Legido-Quigley, “Women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and are more often diagnosed with the disease than men after the age of 80. One of the most surprising things we saw when looking at the different sexes was that there was no difference in these lipids in healthy and cognitively impaired men, but for women, this picture was completely different.”

In fact, the scientists say that not only did women with Alzheimer’s show a steep increase in harmful lipids, they also experienced a sharp loss of healthy omega fatty acids.

The researchers believe this marked drop in protective omega fats found in female patients could explain why women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia more often than men.

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Feed your brain what it needs

The good news is that, despite the increased risks women face regarding cognitive decline, this provides a good starting point for reducing those risks…

As Dr. Legido-Quigley points out, “Our study suggests that women should make sure they are getting omega fatty acids in their diet — through fatty fish or via supplements.”

The Mediterranean-style diet focuses on fatty fish, olive oil, lean meats and plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. This type of diet has been shown to reduce cognitive decline.

But for brain-saving omega-3 benefits, past research has shown that dosage matters. That’s because only a small percentage of the omega-3s, specifically DHA and EPA, reach your brain from the bloodstream. And if you’re a carrier of the Alzheimer’s gene APOE4, even less makes it to the brain.

Aim for at least 2 grams daily, and that can be as a combination of fish oil supplements and fish in the diet a couple of times a week. The FDA says that you can safely take up to 3 grams of omega-3 supplements containing EPA and DHA per day. 

However, many people who start supplementing with fish oil stop for reasons that include indigestion and fish burps. I found a way around that by taking krill oil supplements instead. It’s a cleaner source of omega-3s and sits much better on your stomach.

Krill is also rich in astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that challenges aging by protecting against oxidative stress and the inflammation that’s considered the root of disease, from Alzheimer’s to heart disease.

If you are on blood thinners, talk to your physician before adding fish oil or krill oil supplements to your daily routine.

Sources:

A startling omega-3 deficiency may explain women’s Alzheimer’s risk – ScienceDaily

The post The startling deficiency behind Alzheimer’s in women appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

“Good fat” is found in foods like olive oil and avocados (monounsaturated fats) as well as in fatty fish and walnuts (polyunsaturated fats). Eating these foods will actually help lower your risk of heart disease.

“Bad” fats, or triglycerides, are found in processed foods, fatty meats and fried foods.

The scientific community has considered having a high level of triglycerides to be a biomarker of risk for vascular disease and stroke.

But new research is sounding an alarm, finding that, in fact, high triglycerides play a direct role in causing a serious and potentially life-threatening condition…

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High triglycerides promote abdominal aortic aneurysm

A University of Michigan study has shown that high levels of triglycerides play a direct and pathogenic role in the development, growth, and rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).

An AAA is a bulge in the part of the aorta that travels through the abdomen. The bulge forms in an area where the aorta’s wall has grown weak, putting it at risk of bursting under the constant pressure of blood flow.

Signs of an AAA include abdominal pain, back pain, groin pain, and a pulsating feeling in the abdomen. If the aneurysm ruptures, massive bleeding can cause death within minutes.

The research at Michigan Medicine using three different mouse models demonstrated a triglyceride dose-dependent effect on AAA severity:

• Moderate elevations in triglycerides accelerated aneurysm formation, while higher levels led to aortic dissection.
• Mice with severely elevated triglyceride concentrations developed more severe complications consistent with aortic rupture.

The investigation also revealed that elevated triglycerides and related fatty acids, particularly palmitate, impaired the maturation and activity of lysyl oxidase. This critical enzyme maintains the structure and integrity of the aortic wall. The dysfunction caused by palmitate helped to weaken connective tissue and promote aneurysm progression.

Palmitate is the most common saturated fatty acid, found in both animals and plants, and is abundant in foods such as meat, milk, cheese, and particularly palm oil. It has some beneficial roles in cellular processes but is known to contribute to inflammation and insulin resistance.

Palm oil is a cheap substitute for butter or other refined vegetable oils, making it especially common in pastry dough and baked goods. These, along with other ultra-processed foods, have already been identified as drivers of disease.

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Lowering triglycerides could save your life

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are more common in men and among people age 65 and older — and are usually caused by atherosclerosis.

And if you haven’t guessed, high triglycerides are linked to the increased risk for atherosclerosis — or hardening of the arteries.

Of course, we know the best way to keep your arteries clear is to eat healthily. Start with avoiding ultraprocessed foods, like:

• Sweets and baked goods
• Refined grains
• Fried foods
• Unhealthy oils, including palm oil
• Fatty and processed meats, including bacon and sausage
• High-fat dairy
• Processed snacks like chips and crackers
• Alcohol

Instead, reach for:

• Leafy greens like kale and cruciferous veggies (broccoli and cauliflower)
• Black beans
• Fresh fruit on pancakes instead of syrup
• White meat chicken and fish, like salmon and cod
• Oils like olive oil, flaxseed oil and fish oil (canola oil can be a healthy substitution as well)
• Avocados, berries, citrus, apples, bananas and kiwi contain fiber and antioxidants that help lower triglycerides (avoid fruit juices high in sugar)

For more tips, see what cardiologist Dr. Elizabeth Klodas recommends for lowering triglycerides and how to know when high triglyceride levels are genetically driven.

Sources:

High triglycerides drive life-threatening aortic aneurysms, study in mice finds — Eureka Alert

Hypertriglyceridemia as a Key Contributor to Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Development and Rupture: Insights From Genetic and Experimental Models — Circulation

Lifestyle changes to reduce triglycerides — National Lipid Association

Foods to Avoid If You Have High Triglycerides — Web MD

The post High triglycerides linked to abdominal aortic aneurysm appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But this belief about eggs has turned out to be much ado about nothing. In fact, research indicates that the opposite may be true — and that it’s another side on your breakfast plate that could be the real villain in the cholesterol war…

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The dietary paradox of the egg

In a world-first study, Australian researchers examined the independent effects of dietary cholesterol (like the kind in eggs) and saturated fat (like the kind in bacon and sausage) on LDL cholesterol. LDL is the “bad” kind of cholesterol that causes plaque buildup in the arteries.

The participants in the study were assigned to three different diets, each of which was followed for five weeks. The first was a diet high in cholesterol (660 mg/day) and low in saturated fat (6%) that included two eggs a day. The second was a low cholesterol (300 mg/day), high saturated fat (12%) diet without eggs. And the third was a diet high in cholesterol (600 mg/day) and saturated fat (12%), which included one egg a week.

What the researchers discovered put the lie to the egg’s bad reputation. By separating the effects of cholesterol and saturated fat, they found the high dietary cholesterol from eggs wasn’t the problem.

“Instead, it was the saturated fat that was the real driver of cholesterol elevation,” says lead researcher Jon Buckley, a professor at the University of South Australia.

That wasn’t all. The researchers discovered that eating two eggs a day, as long as it was part of a diet low in saturated fat, can actually reduce LDL cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease.

Buckley says this evidence shows it’s time to rethink the egg’s bad reputation.

“Eggs have long been unfairly cracked by outdated dietary advice,” he says. “They’re unique – high in cholesterol, yes, but low in saturated fat. Yet it’s their cholesterol level that has often caused people to question their place in a healthy diet.”

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Hold the bacon

This is excellent news for people who love having eggs for breakfast, but it’s more bad news for those who prefer a side of bacon or sausage with their eggs.

These processed, fatty meats have already been linked to CVD and a host of other health problems, including cancer and a significantly higher risk of memory loss and dementia.

The bottom line: as delicious as these breakfast meats are, it’s best to skip them and take your eggs with a side of fruit or whole-grain toast.

What about having cheese with your omelet or scrambled eggs? Unfortunately, many cheeses are high in saturated fat, including cheddar (19%), American (13%) and Swiss (8%). The good news is that there are low-fat versions of these cheeses available, so use one of those, and you can enjoy your cheese omelet guilt-free.

Finally, make sure you cook your eggs in a heart-healthy, non-tropical oil like olive oil. The American Heart Association also recommends heart-healthy canola oil, but bear in mind this oil has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Sources:

Eggs are off the hook—study reveals bacon’s the real heart risk — ScienceDaily

Impact of dietary cholesterol from eggs and saturated fat on LDL cholesterol levels: a randomized cross-over study — The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Which Cheeses Are Low in Fat and Cholesterol? — Verywell Health

The post The real cholesterol culprit cracked: It’s not eggs appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But did you know that with obesity also comes an increased risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease?

That’s right. All those fast-food meals can cause brain inflammation that leads to cognitive impairment and memory loss.

But is obesity the cause, or is it the food itself?

Well, it takes some time to become obese, no matter how bad a person’s diet. So, if obesity were the main factor, it stands to reason that it would take that same amount of time before cognitive deficits start to appear.

However, new research presents evidence that the effects of a high-fat diet on the brain show up in as little as three days.

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High-fat eating creates cognitive changes in just 3 days

A few years ago, researchers at Ohio State University showed that just one meal high in saturated fat (like the kind you’d get in a fast-food drive-thru) is enough to mess with your mental performance and focus.

These researchers didn’t investigate the “why” of this, but a more recent study has.

“We’re really looking for the effects of the diet directly on the brain. And we showed that within three days, long before obesity sets in, tremendous neuroinflammatory shifts are occurring,” says senior study author Dr. Ruth Barrientos.

Dr. Barrientos is an investigator in the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University.

This study investigated the impact of a high-fat diet in rats after three months (to model diet-induced obesity) as well as after just three days (to model the rapid changes that occur when we eat fatty foods).

After just three days, the rats showed negative inflammatory changes in the brain and two types of memory impairment common in older people with dementia:

• Contextual memory is the ability to remember emotional or social circumstances related to an event and is controlled by the hippocampus, the primary memory center of the brain.
• Cued-fear memory (recalling a stimulus that has signaled danger in the past) originates in the amygdala, the fear and danger center of the brain.

“The results dispel the idea that diet-related inflammation in the aging brain is driven by obesity,” says Dr. Barrientos.

“Unhealthy diets and obesity are linked, but they are not inseparable. We’re really looking for the effects of the diet directly on the brain. And we showed that within three days, long before obesity sets in, tremendous neuroinflammatory shifts are occurring.”

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Preserving your brain power

The MIND diet was created by researchers from Rush University Medical Center and is based on decades’ worth of brain health research.

In a 12-year study, people who ate a diet that resembled the MIND diet reduced their risk of being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (the precursor to dementia) or dementia by 19 percent.

Another study indicated that, when it’s strictly adhered to, it can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 53%.

So, what can you eat on the MIND diet?

• Berries are emphasized over other fruits due to their high antioxidant content.
• Eating fish, a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, is recommended at least once a week.
• Leafy greens are especially emphasized. Compared to other vegetables, they are especially linked to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline.
• A daily 5 oz. serving of red wine.

Are you surprised by the red wine? There’s certainly science there…

Barcelona-based researchers discovered that the antioxidant resveratrol, found in the skin of grapes, protected mice against memory loss induced by a high-fat diet and prevented memory loss in mice altered to have Alzheimer’s. The antioxidant also reduced amyloid plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles, both of which are manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease.

Other foods allowed on the MIND diet include whole grains, poultry, beans, lentils, soybeans and olive oil.

The MIND diet does include a few “unhealthy” foods that you’ll need to limit. You can only eat ½ teaspoon of butter a day and not more than one serving of fried food or pastries per week.

If this sounds like a plan you can stick to and you want to save your brain, then give it a try.

Sources:

Memory is impaired in aged rats after 3 days of high-fat eating — Eureka Alert

Obesity-associated memory impairment and neuroinflammation precede widespread peripheral perturbations in aged rats — Immunity and Ageing

The MIND Diet — Barrow Neurological Institute

The post What a high-fat diet does to the brain in just 3 days appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

You can read about eight benefits you can only get from extra virgin-olive oil, right here — but there’s just one in the list I want to focus on right now…

According to a study published in the Journal Foods, Greek men and women over 70 who exclusively used olive oil in food prep and cooking had higher scores on a scale of successful aging attributes, including particularly good body mass index (BMI) scores.

In other words, less body fat and a healthier weight.

I feel this is important to talk about because I’m constantly reading about the wave of semaglutide weight loss drugs that people are clamoring for. I guess they’re not reading the same reports I’m seeing about the many adverse and dangerous side effects these drugs pose.

Could some people swap a dangerous drug for olive oil and enjoy the weight loss they’re looking for?

I believe the answer is yes….

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5 reasons to choose olive oil over weight loss drugs

You hear many stories about the health of people living in the Mediterranean. Books have been written about the longevity of people living in this Blue Zone and others. There’s even a Blue Zone diet and a popular Netflix series based on the book, which chronicles the travels and experiences of author David Buettner.

I’ve never been to Greece, but I’m a fan of one of its most well-known daughters, Chef Maria Loi, who is considered the official Ambassador of Greek Gastronomy.

I read in an interview that she grew up in a family that took daily doses of olive oil, much like most people take vitamins. But what really interested me is what she shared about the one time in her life when she stopped the olive oil ritual: “When I stopped, I gained 40 pounds. But I went back to my roots, and the weight just fell off.”

So I began digging… just what are the super slimming secrets of olive oil? Actually, the more apt question may be: Where should I start?

1. A key compound of the Mediterranean diet. Not only is olive oil a staple of the Mediterranean diet — a diet linked to better health and weight loss — its role is well-established as one of the most essential components of the diet. It is the primary fat source and exceptionally rich in nutrients.
2. Boosts metabolism. Thermogenesis is the body’s process of generating heat, primarily through the burning of calories. Diet-induced thermogenesis happens when you eat certain foods that help your body burn more calories during digestion and throughout the day. A 2-month study found that daily consumption of extra-virgin olive oil reduces body weight and waist circumference in people with metabolic syndrome. Research by Brown University found that women on an olive oil-rich diet can actually consume hundreds more calories a day and still lose significantly more weight than their counterparts on a traditional low-fat diet.
3. Suppresses appetite. Both Wegovy and Ozempic are synthetic versions of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), a hormone made in the gut that influences the satiety centers in the brain. Well, the monounsaturated fats in olive oil regulate appetite through the natural release of GLP-1 and PYY to communicate to the brain that you’re full. The benefit without the drawbacks.
4. Supports insulin levels. European researchers found that two tablespoons of olive oil daily alters cell membranes in a way that can significantly improve blood sugar control. Better blood sugar control reduces fat storage, particularly in the belly. 
5. Slows the digestive process. Slowing the digestive process is one way semaglutide drugs work to help people feel fuller longer. But you may have read how they’ve led to pancreatitis, gastroparesis and bowel obstruction. Olive oil slows the digestive process and triggers the release of natural serotonin — a neurotransmitter associated with fullness — with none of those uncomfortable side effects. Nature’s way is always gentler and better.

Olive oil for a healthy weight and a healthy body

Dietary fat used to be the scapegoat for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, premature aging — you name it. All the bad things got blamed on fat.

But we were just eating the wrong fat. Eating the right fat is one of the best things you can do to stay fit and healthy, lose and maintain weight and avoid disease.

If you’ve been eating the standard American diet, which is substantially higher in fat (and not the good ones), you might wonder if olive oil can help you drop the weight and the ill effects of a high-fat diet. Yes, it’s not too late.

A sluggish liver is the result of a high-fat diet. But incorporating olive oil can even turn that around. Hydroxytyrosol, a polyphenol found in extra-virgin olive oil, reversed the effects of poor eating, prevented insulin resistance, reduced the signs of fatty liver disease, as well as adverse effects seen in other organs, like the heart and brain.

If you’ve tried olive oil and didn’t like the taste, don’t be discouraged. I found most of them bitter until I made the switch to extra virgin olive oil. Below, there’s an editor’s note where you can learn about my favorite kinds and even receive a special offer to try a bottle.

It could be the beginning of positive changes you’ll see not only on the bathroom scale, but in the health of your entire body.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Please take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Try it for $1! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

Olive Oil for Weight Loss: One Chef’s Happy Experience — Yahoo!life

Daily Use of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with High Oleocanthal Concentration Reduced Body Weight, Waist Circumference, Alanine Transaminase, Inflammatory Cytokines and Hepatic Steatosis in Subjects with the Metabolic Syndrome: A 2-Month Intervention Study — Journal Metabolites

The Effects of Diets Enriched in Monounsaturated Oleic Acid on the Management and Prevention of Obesity: a Systematic Review of Human Intervention Studies — Advances in Nutrition

The post The super slimming secrets of olive oil appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

From nutrition to skin care, this “ancestral fat” is definitely having its moment.

So, should you just jump on the bandwagon?

What Is Beef Tallow and How Is It Made?

Beef tallow is created by taking the fat that surrounds the internal organs of a cow, cooking that fat down, and straining out the impurities. It’s a way for beef processors to use every part of the animal in order to make useable products — and turn a bigger profit. 

Beef tallow is stable both at room temperature and high heat and, until relatively recently, was the go-to fat for frying and baking. It’s also been used to make candles and soap.

When concerns around the health effects of saturated fats emerged in the 20th century, vegetable oils and margarines largely replaced beef tallow in industrial food production. Around the same time, rates of chronic disease and obesity rose, providing ammunition for beef tallow evangelists — especially within the keto, paleo and carnivore communities.

But as we learned from the seed oils blog series and my post on lectins, one data point does NOT an open and shut case make.

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Beef Tallow Nutrition Facts: Saturated Fat, Calories, and Vitamins

Beef tallow is made up of about 55% saturated fatty acids (SFAs), 40% monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and 5% polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). 

By comparison, canola oil is made up of about 5% SFAs, 65% MUFAs and 30% PUFAs.  Tallow also contains fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K2), though in relatively small amounts.  

With such a high percentage of SFAs, beef tallow is classified as a saturated fat and falls in the same nutritional category as butter, cheese, cream, lard and coconut oil.

Does Beef Tallow Raise Cholesterol and Heart Disease Risk?

Saturated fat can be a strong down-regulator of LDL receptors. If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, you already know that LDL receptor function is important for clearance of LDL from the bloodstream. In other words, if LDL receptor function is diminished, LDL levels go up. Sometimes way up. I have seen patients that go on a keto diet and end up with LDLs in ranges typically reserved for those with Familial Hypercholesterolemia!

But please don’t be fooled by claims that the high LDL you get by eating saturated fat is OK because LDL is now all “big” particles! A high LDL reading means that there are still lots of LDL particles circulating in your bloodstream, and particle size does not rescue you in that setting. Most importantly, if your LDL receptors are downregulated such that you’re not using the LDL for other functions, the only place that cholesterol can go is into artery walls. 

And make sure you also ignore the rhetoric that some of the saturated fat in beef tallow is stearic acid and that makes it better. Stearic acid is a saturated fat found in high amounts in cocoa beans and chocolate and does NOT raise LDL cholesterol. However, beef tallow contains much less stearic acid compared to chocolate — and the rest of the saturated fatty acids in beef tallow DO raise LDL.  

Beef Tallow, Fatty Liver, and Insulin Resistance: What’s the Link?

Like all fats, beef tallow is calorie dense, delivering 9 calories per gram. So overdoing it even modestly but consistently can get you into trouble… fast. Turns out saturated fat is especially good at accumulating in the liver — much more so than unsaturated fat.  

Liver fat accumulation sets off a vicious cycle of metabolic changes that leads to insulin resistance, which can lead to prediabetes and, eventually, type 2 diabetes. Liver fat accumulation can also damage the liver itself, causing fatty liver disease, a condition as serious as liver disease caused by chronic excess alcohol consumption.  

Can Beef Tallow Cause Inflammation?

Although seed oils have been maligned for being pro-inflammatory, saturated fats — including beef tallow — also influence inflammatory pathways.

Saturated fats have been found to “short circuit” immune cells, upregulate pro-inflammatory cytokines, and negatively affect the microbiome, all leading to a higher inflammatory load. 

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Beef Tallow and Chronic Disease: Why Context Matters in Nutrition

Advocates of beef tallow and other saturated fats point to the relative absence of chronic disease in traditional societies with high animal fat consumption. However, these societies also:

• Engaged in high levels of physical activity
• Ate minimal processed food
• Had overall balanced calorie intake 
• Ate a greater variety of foods in general, including various plants, leading to a more diverse microbiome 

In other words, as I’ve noted before, we can never look at one nutrient or ingredient in isolation. We are complex organisms living in complex environments while consuming a complex mixture of foods. It’s not the beef tallow or the seed oils that is the problem. It’s the “with what” and “instead of what” that is the bigger concern. 

Should You Eat Beef Tallow? The Bottom Line

Beef tallow is a real food, derived from natural sources. As such, it is not inherently toxic. However, it is NOT a “health food” nor the answer to all our ills. Context matters.

Occasional beef tallow consumption may be benign as part of a nutrient-rich, calorie-controlled, plant-inclusive diet. (Need I say it? Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Honestly, never gets old.)  However, regular use in the setting of a nutrient-poor or calorie-excess diet poses real long-term health risks. 

So much so that individuals favoring high beef tallow (or other saturated fat) consumption, should be regularly monitored with lab tests, including cholesterol, blood sugar, and liver function parameters.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, has declared that beef tallow is healthier than seed oils and is encouraging food companies to use it preferentially. Restaurants like Steak ‘n Shake and Sweetgreen have already made the switch.   

And as far as his opinion, it’s just an opinion. Made by an individual who is not a healthcare provider or nutrition expert. Although I applaud his stance on food additives and ultra-processed foods, as someone who takes care of patients and witnesses what happens with various dietary approaches, I can say without hesitation that he doesn’t get everything right.

Oh — and in case you’re wondering whether you should put this stuff on your face, beef tallow acts like an occlusive barrier rather than a moisturizer. So, it won’t eliminate wrinkles outright although it might aid in the absorption of what you put underneath — like vitamin C serum or retinoic acid. But I suspect you won’t much enjoy the scent! And if you are prone to acne, you might truly regret it.

The post Beef tallow: Benefits, risks and truths behind the trend appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

For that reason, anyone with MS is likely to make note of things that can trigger their flares, like:

• Stress
• Lack of sleep
• Infections (like a urinary tract infection)
• Increased body heat

It’s also not uncommon for certain foods to trigger MS flares. Typically, experts recommend avoiding saturated and trans fats, refined sugar and alcohol — all of which can contribute to inflammation. Dairy, gluten and salt are also suspect, though evidence is mixed regarding the connection between these foods and MS flares.

Within the scope of saturated fats are animal products like red meat and full-fat dairy. But many plant-based products contain saturated fat as well. Surprisingly, this is where we find a food trigger that is especially bad for people with MS…

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A not-so-benign oil

Palm oil is a vegetable oil made from the fruit of oil palm trees. It’s considered a high-yield/low-cost crop, so it’s used in more than half of processed and packaged foods — from pizza, donuts and chocolate to even deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste.

Previous research has looked at the toxic effect of a high-fat diet on the severity of MS symptoms. MS causes extensive damage to the myelin sheath that insulates and protects nerves throughout the body. Current MS treatments focus on controlling the immune system’s response.

However, the exact mechanisms that contribute to neurodegeneration in MS have remained poorly understood. That’s why a group of international researchers focused on how a diet rich in palm oil could impact neuronal health in MS.

They used the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of inflammatory demyelination. They found that a diet high in palm oil led to a more severe disease course in mice — and narrowed the reaction down to two enzymes present in neurons: ceramide synthase 5 and 6 (CerS5 and CerS6).

According to principal investigator Patrizia Casaccia of the City University of New York (CUNY), these enzymes convert palm oil into a toxic substance known as C16 ceramide, which is responsible for inflicting damage to the mitochondria. This damage then deprives the neurons of the energy they need to counteract inflammation in the brain.

Casaccia says the researchers subsequently explored whether inactivating these enzymes would be neuroprotective. They discovered that when they genetically deleted CerS5 and CerS6 in neurons, neurodegeneration was prevented in their experimental MS model. This was true even when the mice were fed a palm oil-rich diet.

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In short, the researchers have made a significant breakthrough by pinpointing a specific metabolic pathway through which dietary fats like palm oil can worsen MS symptoms. This knowledge empowers individuals with MS to make informed nutritional choices that can positively impact their health.

How to avoid palm oil

Hopefully, this research will expand to the development of MS therapies.

Right now, though, the best course of action for anyone with MS is just to obliterate palm oil from their diet.

But truthfully, anyone—period—may want to avoid palm oil…

Researchers in Spain discovered that a diet rich in palmitic acid triggers the spread of cancerous tumors. They found it makes these tumor cells more aggressive.

Of course, avoiding palm oil is not easily done. As noted earlier, palm oil is in hundreds of foods, making it a significant component of the Standard American Diet. The good news is the vast majority are prepackaged foods, so following a whole-food diet is the best course for eliminating palm oil.

It’s less likely that using personal care products containing palm oil has the same impact as ingesting foods made with palm oil. However, environmental reasons, specifically deforestation, have made palm oil-free alternatives more available — particularly oral care products such as toothpaste.

Sources:

New research identifies ways to protect neurons from the negative effect of high-fat diet on multiple sclerosis progression — ScienceDaily

Neuroprotective effect of neuron-specific deletion of the C16 ceramide synthetic enzymes in an animal model of multiple sclerosis — Glia

Managing Relapses in Multiple Sclerosis — National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Multiple sclerosis diet: Foods to eat and avoid — Multiple Sclerosis News Today

Worried About MS Flares? 4 Triggers That Can Worsen Your Symptoms — Everyday Health

8 things to know about palm oil — WWF-UK

The post Palm oil’s toxic trait that fuels MS appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Chronic inflammation increases cancer risk. But in the case of colorectal cancer, something else is happening that is both astounding and terrifying.

Researchers have uncovered some disturbing facts about how ultra-processed foods help to “feed” colon cancer…

“A wound that won’t heal”

Previous research from Tufts and Harvard Universities had already proven that men who live on ultra-processed foods are increasing their risk of colorectal cancer by nearly 30 percent.

And now we have a big clue how it works…

A new study suggests that ultra-processed foods and inflammatory seed oils used in packaged food products may contribute to chronic inflammation, fueling colorectal cancer.

“It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have increased inflammation in their bodies,” said Dr. Timothy Yeatman, a renowned physician-scientist and professor of surgery in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and associate center director for Translational Research and Innovation at the TGH Cancer Institute.

“We now see this inflammation in the colon tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won’t heal — if your body is living off of daily ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow.”

When the researchers used advanced techniques to identify trace amounts of lipids in 162 tumor samples, they saw an excess number of molecules that promote inflammation and a shortage of those that promote healing.

Dr. Yeatman added, “A human’s immune system can be extremely powerful and drastically impact the tumor microenvironment, which is great if harnessed correctly for health and wellness,” he says, “but not if it’s suppressed by inflammatory lipids from processed foods.”

Eating to prevent colon cancer

The colon is the “last stop” in your digestive system, so it stands to reason that what you put in your mouth will affect the health of your colon.

“Our bodies are designed to actively resolve inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds derived from the healthy fats, like avocados, that we consume,” said Ganesh Halade, associate professor in the USF Health Heart Institute and a member of the Cancer Biology Program at TGH Cancer Institute.

“Bioactive lipids are very small molecules derived from the foods that we eat and, if the molecules are coming from processed food products, they directly imbalance the immune system and drive chronic inflammation.”

So, the first place to start is to eat more of those healthy fats and ditch the bad ones when you eat fewer processed foods. Healthier fats also include omega-3s from fatty fish.

In fact, Dr. Yeatman’s team saw promise in early trials using specialized derivatives of fish oil to address inflammation at its root cause.

The next step is removing bad oils from your diet…

Seed oils were particularly mentioned for fueling cancer — so that’s the ingredient you to avoid. Seed oils include a group known as the “hateful eight”:

• Canola oil (aka rapeseed oil).
• Corn oil.
• Cottonseed.
• Grapeseed oil.
• Soybean oil.
• Sunflower oil.
• Safflower oil.
• Rice bran oil
• Peanut oil.

According to nutrition experts at the Cleveland Clinic, seed oils have high levels of omega-6 fats, which can lead to inflammation. Everything that’s unhealthy about seed oils is compounded when they are used in processed foods.

Sources:

Ultra-processed foods may drive colorectal cancer risk, study finds — Science Daily

Integration of lipidomics with targeted, single cell, and spatial transcriptomics defines an unresolved pro-inflammatory state in colon cancer — BMJ

Seed Oils: Are They Actually Toxic? — Cleveland Clinic

The post The processed food ingredient found in cancer tumors appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

However, there’s a hidden type of visceral fat you hear less about that could be just as dangerous to your health, if not more.

Known as epicardial fat, this fat surrounds your heart and has the potential to cause deadly cardiac problems.

Luckily, scientists have discovered a 100% non-invasive test to analyze a person’s epicardial fat to determine just how much of a threat it poses…

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Getting to the heart of the issue

Every single one of us naturally has a layer of fat around our hearts known as “epicardial adipose tissue.”

When you’re in good health, this fat serves as protection for your heart and is necessary for normal heart function.

But a cascade of common health problems can turn its protective function on its head…

If you’re living with health issues like obesity, diabetes or high blood pressure, or you smoke or have a poor diet, the amount of epicardial fat can build, become inflamed and even undergo harmful changes in composition.

In fact, according to cardiologist, Amit R. Patel, MD, “… depending on its makeup, the fat which surrounds the heart has the potential to release damaging substances directly into the heart muscle, leading to serious heart problems”— including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) and heart failure.

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Poison fat: Analyzing the composition of epicardial fat

Doctors at the University of Virginia Health System set out to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the amount and composition of the fat that surrounds the heart.

MRI has allowed them to analyze not only the amount of heart fat itself but also the amounts of saturated fatty acids, monosaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids — fats commonly associated with our diets — in the epicardial adipose tissue.

The UVA team has already tested their technology in both the lab and human patients.

They were able to determine that the fat around the heart in patients who were obese and had suffered heart attacks was comprised of an excessive amount of saturated fatty acids.

“That suggests that this new MRI technique could become a useful clinical tool for identifying at-risk patients and predicting their outcomes,” Dr. Patel said. “Being able to see the composition of the fat that surrounds the heart will improve our understanding of heart disease and may lead to the development of new treatment strategies in the future.”

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Is there too much fat around your heart?

The good news is doctors can at least see how much fat is surrounding your heart on an echocardiogram or cardiac MRI or CAT scan — even if they can’t analyze its composition yet.

As a rule of thumb, doctors start to worry if that fat is greater than 5 millimeters, or the size of a pencil eraser. But you don’t necessarily need to rely on an MRI…

You can get a good idea of how much epicardial fat you might have simply by looking in the mirror. That’s because studies have linked epicardial thickness to abdominal visceral fat thickness, which is also linked to abdominal subcutaneous fat — and can be measured by BMI and waist circumference.

A BMI greater than 25 puts you at a higher risk of unhealthy epicardial fat. Additionally, a waist circumference higher than 40 inches in men or 35 inches in women could indicate too much fat around the heart.

The good news is that if you lose weight, epicardial fat will decrease too! And some healthy foods are quite good at helping decrease heart fat…

Research in 2022 found that eating a diet rich in healthy fats, fish, nuts, seeds and fresh vegetables worked to lower the amount of epicardial fat in patients with atrial fibrillation.

You might also consider adding avocados as part of that heart-healthy diet, since a study found that women who consumed avocado as part of a daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat.

Sources:

Unlocking the secrets of the heart: Simple scan could identify patients at risk for serious heart problems — EurekAlert!

Understanding Epicardial Fat — Premier Health

Differential relationship between waist circumference and mortality according to age, sex, and body mass index in Koreans with age of 30–90 years; a nationwide health insurance database study — BMC

A Comparative Study of Epicardial Fat Thickness and its Association with Abdominal Visceral Fat Thickness in Obese and Nonobese Type 2 Diabetes Subjects — NIH

Effect of Aerobic and Resistance Exercise on Cardiac Adipose Tissues — JAMA Network

Comparison of reducing epicardial fat by exercise, diet or bariatric surgery weight loss strategies: a systematic review and meta-analysis — NIH

PO-696-08 MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND EPICARDIAL ADIPOSE TISSUE IN PATIENTS WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION TREATED WITH ABLATION — Heart Rhythm Journal

The green fruit that keeps deep belly fat away — Easy Health Options

The post The unseen fat that’s your heart’s biggest threat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Number one, they are common.

And number two, they are the leaders of hospitalization, disability and death — consequences we’d all prefer to avoid!

Stroke is perhaps the scariest of all vascular conditions because it can creep up on you unexpectedly. And since a stroke leads to the destruction of brain tissue, in some cases, the consequences can be severe and disabling.

The cold, hard truth is that one in six people are at risk of suffering a stroke at some point in their lives — so the odds are pretty high that it could be you.

These statistics have prompted researchers to explore whether dietary factors could provide protection.

And it turns out there are two particular elements of a healthy diet that can not only help lower the risk for the development of stroke but reduce the severity of a stroke should one happen…

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Your overall diet is important

Diet is one of the major factors that contribute to neurovascular disease.

A Western diet high in processed foods, added sugar, salt and hydrogenated fats is one of the fastest routes to both heart disease and stroke.

Conversely, the Mediterranean diet is a dietary pattern that has been shown time and time again to promote heart health.

The key divider between these two dietary patterns is the food sources the diets provide…

A stroke-protective diet is one made up of natural, whole food sources, particularly foods high in fiber and low in carbohydrate content.

Take the Mediterranean diet as an example. It’s made up of fruits, legumes, vegetables, whole grains, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, milk, nuts and olive oil.

These foods are low glycemic index foods rich in bioactive compounds such as fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols and antioxidants.

If you compare this to a modern Western diet of highly processed foods, you simply won’t consume any of these beneficial compounds.

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Feed your brain healthy fats to lower stroke risk

Once you’re eating a natural, whole foods diet, you’ll be making significant headway in consuming beneficial fats — and thank goodness, because the brain is made up of around 60 percent fat!

Two main kinds of fat that protect against stroke are oleic acid and omega-3 fatty acids.

Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, avocado and almonds. It’s been shown to reduce the risk of stroke, protect nerve cells in the brain and reduce the after-effects of stroke if one should occur.

Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, fish oils, chia seeds, flax seeds and walnuts.

Omega-3s support optimal nervous system function and make up a large proportion of the membrane of nerve cells in the brain — or at least they should.

Where there is a lack of omega-3s, synaptic dysfunctions occur between brain cells and alterations in the nerve cells can occur.

But according to researchers, the fantastic thing about consuming more omega-3s is that you can restore optimal cell membrane function and prevent stroke development!

More than that, the combined effects of oleic acid, omega-3s and bioactive compounds called polyphenols protect the nerve cells in the brain, so that if a stroke does hit, the severity will likely be reduced.

When it comes to stroke, the message is clear: researchers are absolutely sure that your diet makes all the difference.

All it takes on your behalf is a switch to healthful, natural, whole food sources!

Source:

Ayuso MI, et al. Neuroprotective diets for stroke. — Neurochemistry International. 2017;107:4e10.

The post Two kinds of fat your brain needs to reduce stroke risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And that’s a big deal in today’s diet-crazed world, where, from one day to the next, this diet or that diet is being pushed by dieticians, fast-talking TV personalities and other so-called experts, onto desperate people looking for one answer to solve all their health and weight problems.

Of course, the diet industry is a huge money-maker. So, it’s easy to see why greedy wannabes are quick to weave together some pseudoscience to produce the next best-selling diet book — complete with a weekly eating plan (that’ll cost you extra) and an exercise component (that’s extra, too) — and rake in a cool million before the next fad topples them from the best-sellers list.

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Now, you might think this rant is odd because it comes from someone like me who is a self-professed fan of the Paleo diet — or, in all actuality, a Paleo-styled diet. Even though I feel the basic guidelines have many benefits, I fudge them just a little.

Because the thing about a paleo-style diet is, I consider it to be a little more well-rounded (those eating nothing but meat are doing it wrong!) than say Atkins (low carb)… or Keto (severely limited carbs)… and definitely more so than a strict vegan (no animal products), or slightly-less strict vegetarian diet (no meat, but dairy/eggs ok) or plant-based diet.

And it all has to do with the fact that pork fat has been given a much higher nutritional score than kale, broccoli or Coho salmon — but most of you are afraid to eat it.

Food groups come together for the best nutrition

You see, most all-natural foods provide a benefit to the human body… even pork fat.

That’s why any diet that advises severely limiting or quitting one food group entirely is going to have repercussions eventually. The same goes for diets where too much of one food is eaten. My friends who used the Paleo diet as an excuse to eat meat, meat and more meat, with scant fruits or veggies, are looking for trouble. And here’s why…

Researchers, as reported in PLOS ONE, have dug deep into quantifying the nutrient balance of foods, which is referred to as “nutritional fitness.”

It was these researchers who assigned a higher nutritional score to pork fat (8 on the list of 100 foods) and assigned kale 31, broccoli 94, and Coho salmon 54.

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Then they went further and looked at food combinations, seeing how eating, for instance, two foods together had a synergistic effect—meaning that even if two foods had little nutritional impact when eaten separately, eating them together was nutritionally valuable.

So what happens when there’s not enough diversity on your plate to make these nutritional combinations happen?

Most diets where one food group, like carbs, is severely limited, are fairly new. Who’s to say that 15 years down the road, we’ll see very negative health issues resulting in people who followed these kinds of diets to a T?

There has already been research reporting that eating too much and too few carbs can increase your risk of dying early — a strong indication that moderation and a well-balanced mix of whole foods are preferable.

Years ago, hordes of people gave up healthy fat for low-fat, drinking dairy alternatives and skipping cheese. Then we were told to give up meat to the point that if you eat it, you’re considered a caveman… and we wonder why we, as a country, are sick.

It’s becoming more apparent that a less diverse food plate is not the way to achieve health.

That said, there is one food to avoid no matter what: ultraprocessed food.

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Learning from past mistakes

The low-fat craze is probably why you may be surprised to learn that pork fat is not nearly so bad. Pork fat is more unsaturated and healthier than lamb or beef fat. It’s also a good source of B vitamins.

However, the perpetrators of the low-fat myth did a great job convincing generations that all fats are bad and should be avoided.

Fat helps the body absorb nutrients better. So, if you enjoyed a kale salad with your pork dinner, your body would benefit more from the phosphorus, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C that the kale has to offer. Add a small sweet potato (ranked 100), rich in beta-carotene and a complex carb (avoid refined carbs), and you’d have a nutritionally balanced plate that wouldn’t set you up for diabetes and heart disease.

My aim here is not to endorse the pork industry, but to provide a view beyond the narrow scope of diet crazes.

It’s easier to just eat a variety of whole foods than constantly worrying about what you should and shouldn’t eat. Consider moderation and portion sizes if weight is your primary concern. Avoid processed foods at all costs.

Go ahead and view the complete list of foods and their nutrient fitness scores I referenced for this post. Unless you have an illness or allergy that merits avoiding a specific food group (I gave up grains due to gluten sensitivity), start mixing them up on your plate.

Sources:

Uncovering the Nutritional Landscape of Food — PLOS One

The post How pork fat contributes to your nutritional fitness appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Yet, for many of us, the idea of cutting these foods out of our diets completely and eating healthy seven days a week is just too big of a challenge to tackle.

But, what if you could enjoy them on occasion and still remain healthy, stave off liver disease and even avoid diabetes?

Well according to scientists, there’s a way…

And, it all starts with a simple cooking oil you probably already have in your kitchen pantry right now…

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Ancient oil protects against fatty foods

You see, the problem with those high-fat foods stems from their tendency to cause your liver to accumulate more fat cells, including triglycerides (the same thing your doctor is looking at when he checks your cholesterol), and pump more of them into your bloodstream.

When these triglycerides build up bad things happen, and you can end up with what’s known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, a build-up of extra fat in your liver cells that’s not caused by alcohol.

And, while it’s normal for your liver to contain some fat, if more than 5 percent to 10 percent of your liver’s weight is fat, then you have a fatty liver.

NAFLD tends to develop in people who are overweight or obese or have diabetes or high cholesterol. Even rapid weight loss and poor eating habits can cause NAFLD.

However, some people develop NAFLD even if they don’t have any risk factors. In fact, the disease affects up to 25 percent of people in the U.S.

Symptoms of a fatty liver include fatigue, weakness, weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, spider-like blood vessels, yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), itching, fluid build-up and swelling of the legs and stomach and confusion.

You may even have fatty liver disease and not know it, since some people never have symptoms. But, once you have it, NAFLD can cause your liver to swell and lead to scarring, called cirrhosis.

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The Mediterranean answer to a fatty liver

You don’t have to end up with a swollen, sluggish liver just because you occasionally enjoy high-fat foods — as long as you incorporate olive oil into your daily diet.

You see, scientists decided to test the power of extra-virgin olive oil to combat or even reverse the effects of a high-fat diet, and the results were impressive.

The researchers found that hydroxytyrosol, a polyphenol found in extra-virgin olive oil, which is known to have antioxidant properties, actually protects your liver.

Adding hydroxytyrosol to a high-fat diet, reversed the effects of poor eating, and reduced the signs of fatty liver disease, as well as the negative effects seen in other organs, like the heart and brain.

And as a bonus, the hydroxytyrosol even prevented insulin resistance, the first step toward diabetes.

This could be the reason why research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet, including olive oil, reduces the risk of heart disease and the “bad” cholesterol that can build up deposits in your arteries.

In fact, a meta-analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults demonstrated that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality, as well as overall mortality.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should give up eating healthy. If you occasionally crave those high-fat foods that you know aren’t good for you, make sure you’re getting a regular daily dose of extra-virgin olive oil — at least one to three tablespoons — to combat the effects of a high-fat diet the Mediterranean way.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

NAFLD Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease — American Liver Foundation
Olive oil consumption and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease — World Journal of Gastroenterology
Diet could REVERSE negative effects of high-fat food — and CURE liver disease — Daily Express
Mediterranean diet: A heart-healthy eating plan — Mayo Clinic

The post Olive oil: The easy antidote for a high-fat diet appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

On one hand, low-carb, high-fat diets like paleo, keto and carnivore have been linked with weight loss and improved inflammation, cholesterol, blood sugar and insulin levels — not to mention a 20 percent reduction in glaucoma risk.

On the other, there is a proven link between a high-fat diet and several serious health threats.

Diets high in fat, particularly saturated and trans fats, also can lead to heart disease, metabolic syndrome and an unhealthy gut environment.

Now, there is another disorder to add to the “bad” side of high-fat dieting…

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High-fat diet, leaky gut and anxiety

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder used an animal model to see the impact of a high-fat diet on the gut microbiome and behavior. Half the rats in the study were fed a standard diet of about 11 percent fat for nine weeks, while the others got a high-fat diet of 45 percent fat, consisting mostly of saturated fat from animal products. 

The typical American consumes a diet of about 36 percent fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After nine weeks, the group eating a high-fat diet gained weight, as expected, compared to the control group. The high-fat diet group also showed significantly less diverse gut bacteria and hosted far more Firmicutes bacteria and fewer Bacteroidetes bacteria. A higher ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes is associated with obesity.

These rats also showed higher expression of three specific genes (tph2, htr1a and slc6a4) involved in the production and signaling of serotonin, particularly in a region of the brainstem associated with stress and anxiety.

We usually think of serotonin as the “feel-good” brain chemical. However, when activated, certain subsets of serotonin neurons can prompt anxiety-like responses in animals, notes lead author Christopher Lowry, a professor at CU Boulder.

Notably, heightened expression of tph2 in the brainstem has been linked with mood disorders and suicide risk in humans.

In short, the study found a diet high in fat appears to influence brain chemicals in ways that trigger anxiety.

“To think that just a high-fat diet could alter expression of these genes in the brain is extraordinary,” Lowry says. “The high-fat group essentially had the molecular signature of a high anxiety state in their brain.”

According to Lowry, an unhealthy microbiome may compromise the gut lining. This can result in a condition known as leaky gut and may enable bacteria to enter the body’s circulation and communicate with the brain through the vagus nerve, a pathway from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain.

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Get the “good” dietary fat

So, is fat good or bad for you? As Lowry stresses, it all depends on the type of fat. Healthy fats like those found in fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds — the essential omega-3 fatty acids — can be anti-inflammatory and good for the brain.

Lowry advises us to ditch pizza and fast food and eat as many different fruits and vegetables as possible. Ultra-processed foods are also sources of saturated fat. He recommends adding fermented foods for a healthier gut microbiome.

If you do indulge in the occasional burger, Lowry suggests adding a slice of avocado to it. Some research indicates “good” fat can counteract some of the “bad” fat, and avocado is loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats.

Also, you could take the antioxidant resveratrol to help counteract the effects of unhealthy fat, since it’s almost inescapable. According to previous research resveratrol can correct the harmful effects of a high-fat diet on the brain and may be a potential therapeutic agent against obesity-related disorders.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

Study shows a high-fat diet may fuel anxiety — EurekAlert!

High-fat diet, microbiome-gut-brain axis signaling, and anxiety-like behavior in male rats — Biological Research

The post Explained: How a high-fat diet fuels anxiety appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But a low-fat diet has never been tied to a reduced risk of lung cancer.

Until now…

Quitting smoking IS the best way to prevent lung cancer (and BTW, it’s never “too late” to quit).

But now there’s new evidence that you can prevent lung cancer through your diet as well…

Unsaturated fat means less risk of lung cancer

When Chinese researchers analyzed data from a cohort of over 98,000 people taking part in a U.S.-based cancer study, they found a 24 percent lower risk of lung cancer in people who had the lowest amount of fat in their diets.

And get this: for smokers, the reduced risk was even greater at 29 percent.

The study authors shared that saturated fats were particularly associated with increased lung cancer risk, but not unsaturated fats.

Catherine Rall, a registered dietitian not involved in the study, explained why that may be…

“The key here is saturated fatty acids. These produce an inflammatory response in the body, and chronic inflammation is one of the key underlying causes of cancers of all types. It makes sense that reducing fat intake, including saturated fat, would lead to a lower risk of cancer, including lung cancer. It also makes sense that, if we’re comparing smokers to other smokers, factors like diet would be the deciding factor in whether or not they develop lung cancer.”

The findings of this study echo those of a 2021 study, where a high intake of fruits, vegetables, breakfast cereals and dietary fiber, as well as a low intake of red and processed meat, was associated with a lower risk of lung cancer.

Saturated fats and deadly small cell cancer

This study also found that diets high in saturated fats were associated with a 35 percent increased risk of lung cancer in general but double the risk of small-cell lung cancer.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is rare, accounting for only about 15% of lung cancers.

In SCLC, abnormal cells in your lung grow fast and uncontrollably. It’s an aggressive form of cancer that often starts in your airways and then spreads, or metastasizes, to other parts of your body.

For most people, by the time you’re diagnosed with SCLC, it has already spread to other parts of your body, including your adrenal glands, bones and bone marrow, brain, liver, and lymph nodes, to name a few.

But even when this form of lung cancer is still in the lungs, the five-year survival rate is only 30 percent.

Clearly, a cheeseburger and fries aren’t worth the risk of doubling your chances of dying in the next five years.

How to eat more cancer-killing fat

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the healthiest unsaturated fats out there. But there’s another reason it’s especially relevant concerning cancer…

It has the highest concentration of oleocanthal — a potent natural anti-inflammatory phenolic compound that has been shown to kill cancer cells.

A good rule of thumb: if your olive oil has a slightly bitter taste and a greenish hue, it has higher levels of oleocanthal.

The easiest way to ditch saturated fats is to cut out ultraprocessed food. Most all of it is made with saturated fat and those foods are known to be connected with over 30 dangerous or deadly health conditions, including cancers, diabetes, anxiety and hypertension.

Stay away from any product with unrecognizable ingredients, including frozen pizza, soda, frozen chicken nuggets and even some cereals. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.

If that seems daunting, start small. Researchers took a 30-year look at the health impacts of ultraprocessed food and identified the 2 worst you should ditch now.

Remember, smokers aren’t the only people who can get lung cancer and the symptoms are not always what you might expect, such as respiratory issues. Be aware of these 7 unusual signs of lung cancer just to be on the safe side.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

Low-fat diets may help lower lung cancer risk, particularly in smokers — Medical News Today

Adherence to the low-fat diet pattern reduces the risk of lung cancer in American adults aged 55 years and above: a prospective cohort study — Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging

What’s the difference between small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)? — Medical News Today

Small-Cell and Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: What’s the Difference? — Web MD

Hunter Study Shows That Certain Olive Oils Kill Cancer Cells — Hunter CUNY

The post The low-fat answer to lung cancer, even for smokers appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And unfortunately, modern medicine is still trying to catch up. Their latest attempts, despite FDA approvals, leave much to be desired as both lecanemab and donanemab are linked to swelling and bleeding on the brain.

Luckily, research continues to arm us with easy dietary do’s and don’ts we can put to work to reduce our risks — including the Mediterranean diet, full of nutrients that cross the blood-brain barrier that have been seen in the blood work of super-agers, and foods like blueberries that improved brains in just 6 months.

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On the other hand, they’ve warned us against canola, the oil that cooks up Alzheimer’s, and the sugar that supercharges brain inflammation.

Now, there’s one more recommendation researchers have backed up with proof.

Diets high in saturated fats are a no-go if you want to keep your brain sharp and ward off dementia.

Here’s what you need to know…

Fats and your RNA

Previous studies in mice had demonstrated that after a diet high in saturated fats the mice developed Alzheimer’s much earlier than mice on a conventional diet. However, no one knew exactly why.

This led a group of scientists in Spain to set out to find the mechanism behind the damage.

Specifically, the team zeroed in on the expression of 15 miRNAs, small molecules of RNA related to insulin that play a crucial role in genetic regulation in both plasma and brain tissues.

After feeding mice a high-fat diet for six months, they discovered that not only did their body weight increase significantly, but their response to glucose and insulin decreased dramatically.

Both of these changes are ones you would expect to find in people with obesity or type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, they found that significant changes occurred in the various miRNAs in both the blood and the brain. These changes were related to processes that can cause brain damage, including:

• The accumulation of β-amyloid plaques (protein deposits that form in the brain and which are markers of Alzheimer’s);
• Excessive production of the tau protein (which can damage brain cells when it gets out of control);
• And inflammation in the brain.

In other words, just six months of saturated fats led to Alzheimer’s-like changes in the brain.

When asked about the research, lead author Mònica Bulló had this to say, “The results of this study are a step forward in our understanding of this disease and may explain the relationship between obesity, type 2 diabetes and the onset of Alzheimer’s. The findings also offer new targets for the possible prevention and treatment of the disease.”

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Switch to brain-supporting fats

Saturated fat is considered an unhealthy fat — and that should come as no surprise after what we just read.

Foods that are high in saturated fats include red meat, cheese, butter and other full-fat dairy foods and pre-packaged baked goods, like snack cakes.

So if supporting your brain health is top of mind, those are foods you should eat less of. And maybe while you transition to a more brain-friendly diet, take a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) daily — straight up, or like I do — on a piece of toast, instead of butter.  

EVOO is an unsaturated fat, and Harvard researchers found that consuming at least 7 grams of olive oil every day was associated with a 28 percent lower risk of dementia-related death compared with those who never or rarely consumed olive oil.

In fact, replacing around 1.2 teaspoons of margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil daily was linked with an 8 to 14 percent lower risk of death from dementia. 

Olive oil is also loaded with phenolic compounds that combat the oxidative stress and inflammation that kicks off insulin resistance and can ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes.

Olive oil has been shown up to stand up to to heat to retain it’s nutritional magic, so it’s a good option to cook with as well.

Other healthy unsaturated fat options include fish, like salmon, and nuts and seeds.

Sources:

Researchers discover the mechanism that links a diet rich in fats with Alzheimer’s disease – EurekAlert!

The post Why high fat adds up to high Alzheimer’s risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I always feel a little guilty when I snack outside of mealtimes. But I’m far from alone. According to one survey, nearly 3 in 4 Americans report snacking at least once a day, most frequently in the afternoon.

Snacking in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, we don’t always choose the healthiest options as the day goes on. The same survey found people’s snacking choices tend to get less healthy later in the day, with 40 percent of people who snack in the evening picking savory or salty snacks and 38 percent opting for candy, chocolate or other sweet treats.

But if we eat healthy most of the time, having an occasional indulgent snack should be fine, right?

Not so fast…

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Unhealthy snacking can tank otherwise healthy eating habits

Researchers in the U.K. analyzed the snacking habits of 854 people from the ZOE PREDICT study.

Not surprisingly, results found that 95 percent of those in the study snacked. Their average daily intake was 2.28 snacks a day, and snacking contributed 24 percent of their daily energy intake.

But the quality of those snacks made a bigger difference than anyone probably expected to see…

People who frequently ate high-quality snacks like nuts and fresh fruit were more likely to have a healthy weight compared not only to those who snacked on unhealthy foods — but also to those who didn’t snack at all. Healthy snacks also resulted in better metabolic health and reduced hunger.

However, 26 percent of participants reported eating healthy main meals and poor-quality snacks like highly processed foods and sugary treats. These unhealthy snacks left people feeling hungry and were linked with…

• higher BMI;
• greater visceral fat mass;
• and higher post-meal triglycerides.

All these markers are associated with metabolic diseases such as stroke, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

The most popular snacks were cookies, fruit, nuts and seeds, cheese and butter, cakes and pies and granola or cereal bars. Cakes and pies contributed the most to calorie intake, followed by breakfast cereals, ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, donuts and pastries, candy, cookies and brownies and nuts and seeds.

Also, snacking after 9 p.m. was deemed to have the absolute worst effects. Cheating this late in the evening was connected with poorer blood markers compared with all other snacking times. Those who snacked at this time also tended to eat energy-dense foods high in fat and sugar.

“This study contributes to the existing literature that food quality is the driving factor in positive health outcomes from food,” says Dr. Kate Bermingham from King’s College London and senior scientist at ZOE. “Making sure we eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, protein and legumes is the best way to improve your health.”

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What to snack on, and when

Bottom line: if you’re going to be a snacker, it’s best to reach for something healthy.

For instance, instead of a packet of potato chips, take a handful of crunchy almonds, which studies show can reduce weight, lower cholesterol and slash heart disease risk by 32 percent.

If you’re craving a late-night bowl of ice cream, swap it out for a small bowl of cottage cheese instead. I know it sounds weird, but cottage cheese before bedtime can increase your metabolic rate and improve muscle recovery.

A handful of berries can put you back in control of your cravings — and they are great atop cottage cheese.

Another good way to keep your snacking options healthy is to snack earlier in the day when you’re more likely to make good choices. According to the survey I mentioned earlier, 52 percent of respondents reported having at least one snack in the morning, with a majority (43 percent) of those morning snackers choosing to eat fruit instead of pastries or other less-healthy options.

Sources:

1. A quarter of people are undoing the benefits of healthy meals by unhealthy snacking — EurekAlert!

2. 2022 Food and Health Survey Spotlight: Snacking — Food Insight

The post Snacks that come with a license to cheat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Most types of cheese are also high in fat, prompting many heart health experts to recommend staying away from all but low-fat or nonfat versions.

Well, if you’ve been missing cheese or riddled with guilt when you sneak a piece, I’ve got news you’re going to like…

Turns out that low-fat dairy advice has more holes in it than a hefty slice of Swiss cheese.

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Full-fat cheese appears to reduce death risk

A study conducted in 80 countries examined the relationships between new diet scoring and health outcomes. This healthy diet score was created based on six foods that have been linked with longevity.

And guess what was one of them? Whole-fat dairy!

The other six “longevity” foods included in the PURE diet referenced in the study included:

• Two to three servings of fruit per day
• Two to three servings of vegetables per day
• Three to four servings of legumes per week
• Seven servings of nuts per week (consider a  handful a day)
• Two to three servings of fish per week
• And a whopping 14 servings of whole-fat dairy products per week (but not necessarily butter or whipped cream — think cheese, milk and yogurt).

A diet score ranging from 0 to 6 was assigned to each participant, with each of the six food components being rated 1 for healthy or 0 for unhealthy depending on intake. Participants in the top 50 percent of the population on each of the six food components attained the maximum diet score of 6; the average diet score was 2.95.

The PURE study also tested associations of the diet score with mortality, heart attack, stroke and total cardiovascular disease (CVD). Compared with those with the least healthy diet (a score of 1 or less), people who had the healthiest diet (a score of 5 or more) had:

• a 30 percent lower risk of death;
• an 18 percent lower likelihood of CVD;
• a 14 percent reduced risk of heart attack;
• a 19 lower risk of stroke!

To boot, these associations were confirmed in five independent studies and are in line with earlier PURE study data showing a connection between the consumption of fat and lower risk of death!

Experts say these results call for a re-evaluation of guidelines to avoid whole-fat dairy products…

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“Our results show that up to two servings a day of dairy, mainly whole-fat, can be included in a healthy diet,” says study author Dr. Andrew Mente of the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. “This is in keeping with modern nutrition science showing that dairy, particularly whole-fat, may protect against high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome.”

Interestingly, the associations were strongest in areas like South Asia, China and Africa, where calorie intake was low and dominated by refined carbohydrates.

“This suggests that a large proportion of deaths and CVD in adults around the world may be due to undernutrition, that is, low intakes of energy and protective foods, rather than overnutrition,” says Professor Salim Yusuf, senior author and principal investigator of PURE. “This challenges current beliefs.”

Another fascinating side note is that the addition of unprocessed red meat or whole grains had little impact on outcomes. This suggests they can be included or left out of a healthy diet depending on preference.

“Our findings suggest that the priority should be increasing protective foods such as nuts (often avoided as too energy dense), fish and dairy, rather than restricting dairy (especially whole-fat) to very low amounts,” Mente adds.

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What exactly is a serving of cheese?

This isn’t the first time we’ve shared the benefits of whole-fat dairy. Just a couple of years ago the Mediterranean diet bought cheese back and other research demonstrated how milk does a heart good.

Before you start working your way through an entire cheese plate, bear in mind that one serving of cheese is 1.5 ounces. That’s roughly the size of a nine-volt battery and a little more than a slice of sandwich cheese. The PURE diet calls for no more than two servings of cheese per day, so be careful not to overdo it—besides you may want to leave room for whole milk and full-fat yogurt (just watch the sugar content in yogurt).

As for which cheeses are healthiest, stick with those that are as minimally processed as possible and avoid ultra-processed types like American cheese as well as those labeled reduced fat.

You may also want to choose cheeses that offer additional health benefits — like full-fat cheddar, which is rich in heart-healthy vitamin K, and goat cheese, which promotes healthy gut bacteria and has lots of vitamin A. And don’t forget this old-school favorite — cottage cheese.

Sources:

1. Global diet study challenges advice to limit high-fat dairy foods — ScienceDaily

2.  Diet, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 80 countries — European Heart Journal

3. Selecting Cheese for Health — PennState Extension

4. What is the Healthiest Cheese? — Medical News Today

The post That low-fat dairy advice has more holes than Swiss cheese appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But this little organ does a lot, storing bile until it’s needed by the small intestine to digest fats and carry away toxins produced by the liver.

Several years ago, my mom had to have her gallbladder removed in a procedure known as a cholecystectomy. She just had too many gallstones, and they were starting to cause a painful and dangerous blockage in the bile duct.

She didn’t suffer too many short-term side effects after the procedure, and the ones she did diminished over time.

However, growing research indicates the long-term repercussions of gallbladder removal may be a lot more serious — including cancer.

Gallbladder removal and cancer risk

For instance, one study showed in the year before their diagnosis, 4.7 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer had a diagnosis of gallstone disease, with 1.6 percent of them requiring gallbladder removal. By contrast, only 0.8 percent of non-cancer patients had gallstones, with 0.3 percent having their gallbladders removed.

Now there’s evidence of a second and bigger cancer risk associated with gallbladder problems…

Drawing on data from large prospective cohorts using Mendelian randomization — a method that uses measured variation in genes of known function to strengthen the causal effect of a modifiable exposure on disease in observational studies — an international team of researchers conducted a large two-part analysis exploring the link between gallbladder health and kidney cancer.

In the first part of the study, the researchers examined the risk of kidney cancer in more than 16 million individuals from a Swedish database who were followed for about 13 years. During that time, some experienced gallbladder removal. They took into account the age at which the cholecystectomy occurred, as well as the time between the gallbladder removal and kidney cancer diagnosis.

Next, the researchers studied the causal effect of gallstones on kidney cancer risk based on data from more than 400,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank.

In their analyses, the team discovered that:

• In the first 6 months after gallbladder surgery, the risk of developing kidney cancer shot up by a whopping 279 percent.
• Patients who had a cholecystectomy before the age of 40 saw a 55 percent increase in their kidney cancer risk compared with those who did not.
• The risk of kidney cancer increases by almost 10 percent for every doubling of gallstone prevalence.

Excess bile acids could be the problem

The researchers have a couple of theories about the gallstones-kidney cancer link…

Study leader Dr. Justo Lorenzo Bermejo of the Institute of Medical Biometry at Heidelberg University in Germany told MedPage Today that it’s possible gallbladder removal could result in increased excretion of bile acids, which could lead to oxidative stress and damage to the kidneys that could lead to kidney cancer.

“Another possible explanation is that excess bile acids lead to increased synthesis of secondary bile acids, which in turn can alter Wnt/β-catenin signaling and promote cancer,” Bermejo says. “The Wnt gene pathway regulates a huge array of cellular functions, including proliferation, differentiation, renewal and apoptosis [cellular death].”

The results also suggest type 2 diabetes and smoking may mediate the effect of gallstones on kidney cancer. Cigarette smoke releases harmful chemicals that spread to the kidneys and can damage DNA, making it harder for kidney cells to repair themselves.

Bermejo told MedPage Today the study emphasizes the compelling need to screen for and rule out kidney cancer before and during gallbladder removal. “It would also be important to inform patients undergoing cholecystectomy in their 30s about their increased risk of kidney cancer 25 to 30 years after surgery,” he adds.

Keeping a healthy gallbladder

This study is just one more reason to consider our gallbladders before things go bad. Start by understanding your risks…

The risk of gallbladder disease is higher for women, especially if pregnant, on hormone therapy or using birth control pills, or over the age of 60.

Other risk factors include a history of rapid or significant weight loss using very-low-kilocalorie diets,  increased fat and sugar intake, high cholesterol, diabetes, bariatric surgery and a sedentary lifestyle.

My colleague Joyce Hollman writes about six natural ways to reduce your risk of gallstones. The herb milk thistle has also been found to raise the solubility of bile, deterring the formation of gallstones.

The perfect diet for avoiding gallstone would look something like this:

• Five servings of fruit and vegetables
• Several servings of carbohydrates, preferably whole grain
• Two to three servings of low-fat milk or dairy products
• Lean protein, such as chicken, fish or beans

Focus on foods high in fiber and low in fat and sugar. Flax seed, salmon, walnuts and other foods high in omega-3 fatty acids can also help lower your cholesterol. Gallstones are usually made up of cholesterol or bilirubin.

Sources:

Patients With Gallstones Should Undergo Kidney Cancer Screening — MedPage Today

Justo Bermejo on the Gallstone-Kidney Cancer Connection — MedPage Today

Gallstones, Cholecystectomy, and Kidney Cancer: Observational and Mendelian Randomization Results Based on Large Cohorts — Gastoenterology

Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) — Mayo Clinic

Can you recommend a diet after gallbladder removal? — Mayo Clinic

Anti-gallstones Diet: What Foods to Eat and What to Avoid — University of Maryland Medical System

The post The crazy high cancer risk that comes after gallbladder surgery appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It isn’t your fault. The modern American diet has made you the victim of a tragic nutrient deficiency.

Oh, sure, you’ve probably heard all your life how important it is to eat your fruits and veggies. But you’ve also heard that you should avoid fat — thanks to the wrong-headed advice of American nutritionists.

And that lack of dietary fat is a big fat problem for more than 90 percent of Americans who are missing out on the incredible health — and weight loss — benefits of omega-3 essential fatty acids.

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Healthy fats help you lose fat

Guess what? If you struggle with stubborn weight around your midsection, there’s a good chance you’re falling short in the essential fatty acids department.

That’s because without the helpful long-chain fatty acids found in omega-3s — eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — the cells in your body become sluggish. When that happens, your metabolism plummets.

With the addition of EPA and DHA, however, activity within cells increases. That’s because these building blocks of omega-3s give the cells in your body what they need to operate most efficiently.

Researchers have proven that increasing omega-3 intake in obese people reduces belly fat by actually shrinking the size of individual fat cells. And here’s how it works…

Just as people who are more active tend to be leaner, the omega-3s have the amazing ability to increase metabolic activity within fat cells — so the more active cells stay in leaner shape than sluggish ones.

The benefit of kicking cellular activity into high gear is huge when it comes to sustainable weight loss. That’s because the smaller and more active fat cells that remain as you begin to shed pounds respond far better to diet and exercise.

This means that by adding more omega-3s to your diet, you actually can lose weight and keep it off without unsustainable fad diets and unrealistic exercise regimens.

Optimizing your diet with omega-3s…

A big reason so many Americans are deficient in omega-3s is that our diets are low in healthy, oily fish like salmon and mackerel. But adding more omega-3s to your diet doesn’t mean you must start buying and preparing expensive seafood dinners several times each week.

Fish oil supplements are an option, but my preference is krill oil. Krill are small, shrimp-like crustaceans packed with EPA and DHA. Because they are at the bottom of the food chain and found in the cleanest oceans on the planet, it’s a source of omega-3s virtually free of toxins that are commonly found in larger ocean fish.

Beyond its clean composition, what makes krill oil such a better ‘delivery method’ for omega-3s than fish and fish oil are the phospholipids that bind its fatty acids.

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Because your body naturally produces phospholipids, EPA and DHA delivered through krill oil’s phospholipid structure makes it easy for your body’s cells to get the most nutritional benefit from the oil. In fact, compared to fish oil — which delivers EPA and DHA in triglyceride form — krill oil is absorbed 10 to 15 times better.

That means your cells get packed with plenty of EPA and DHA needed for the peak metabolic function that promotes healthy weight loss.

While krill oil is an excellent weight loss aid, you’ll benefit in many other ways by making it part of your daily routine. That’s because krill oil also contains astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that’s not found in fish oil. Its antioxidant potency — in terms of ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) values — is 48 times more potent than fish oil.

That means along with quick and sustainable weight loss results, krill oil can also provide:

• Better skin, hair and nail health
• Mood enhancement and improved cognitive function
• Heart benefits
• Improved joint health and relief from arthritis

To get the most out of krill oil for weight loss and overall good health, a dose of around 1000mg per day of a quality supplement should do the trick.

The post Energize your cells to shrink fat—literally appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But there’s a problem with that assumption…

The truth is what your body absorbs from food can range from 10 to 90 percent. And many factors, such as time of day, other foods eaten at the same meal, preparation methods, the health of your digestive system and your age, affect how much nutrition you may or may not be getting.

Ease of absorption — or bioavailability — can also depend on the nutrient. Certain vitamins like A, D, E and K are all fat-soluble vitamins, meaning they dissolve in fat. If you want to soak up those important nutrients, you need to consume supplements or foods containing them with some dietary fat.

Then there are phytochemicals (or phytonutrients), which may be the most powerful source of antioxidants. Their potential benefits include strengthening the immune system, reducing inflammation, guarding against DNA damage (and repairing it!), regulating hormones and preventing damaged cells from reproducing and spreading.

They come from plants, but unfortunately, phytochemicals can be tough to free up from the fruits and vegetables that contain them. But because they’re far too important for us to miss out on, researchers looked into what we can do to make that easier…

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Help your smoothie give up the goods

According to Rosanna Chung, assistant professor in the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences at Linköping University, “Lutein is a bio-active compound. We have studied lutein in a similar way to studying a pharmaceutical drug.”

That means lutein is one powerful phytochemical…

In the world of science, a bio-active compound is a type of chemical found in small amounts in certain foods that have action in the body that may promote good health. These compounds are being studied in the prevention of cancer, heart disease and other diseases. 

Spinach is a great source of lutein, but as we discussed earlier, just eating spinach, even lots of it, doesn’t ensure you’ll get your fair share of lutein. Plus, there are additional complications…

Previous research has found that lutein degrades when heated. So cooking spinach can cheat you of this powerful compound.

That’s why Prof. Chung and fellow researchers at Linköping University (LiU) decided to explore different ways to prepare smoothies using raw spinach.

One thing they discovered was that lutein is fat-soluble, not water-soluble. So lutein requires gastric juice and/or other food components to free it from the plant material and allow it to be absorbed in the intestines.

They also discovered that the liquid you choose to blend up with your spinach makes a huge impact on how much lutein gets freed up…

Out of 14 different dairy and plant-based liquids used in the smoothie preparations, only four increased the release of lutein from spinach compared to water:

• Smoothies made with high-fat cow’s milk and medium-fat cow’s milk increased lutein liberation by 36 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
• Coconut milk was even more effective, increasing lutein release by 42 percent.
• Coconut milk with additives showed a 25 percent increase in lutein liberation.

Most plant-based “milk” beverages did not affect lutein release. Neither did yogurt, which could be due to the fermentation process. And soymilk actually reduced lutein liberation by 61 percent compared with water.

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Remember the fat

One reason the cow’s milk and coconut milk were so effective at increasing lutein release could be because they both contain fat. It works for fat-soluble vitamins, so makes perfect sense.

If you’re not a fan of smoothies, consider a raw spinach salad made with a dressing made from olive oil. Remember to steer clear of cooking it — if the nutrition is what you’re after.

One more important note the researchers made: Spinach smoothies should be consumed as soon as possible because lutein breaks down quickly. So don’t let it sit around too long or store in the refrigerator, or else all your hard work liberating lutein goes down the drain.

Sources:

The best liquids to maximise antioxidant content in spinach smoothies — Linköping University

The Effects of Dairy and Plant-Based Liquid Components on Lutein Liberation in Spinach Smoothies — Nutrients

How Much Nutrition Do You Absorb from Food? — Scientific American

Fat-Soluble Vitamins — National Library of Medicine

Are You Eating Too Many Antioxidants? — Prevention

Nanoscale Delivery Systems of Lutein: An Updated Review from a Pharmaceutical Perspective — Pharmaceutics

The post The surprising reason your smoothie isn’t that nutritious appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Fats give your body the energy it needs to work properly. Certain vitamins need fat for your body to absorb them properly. Fats also control inflammation and blood clotting and keep your brain functioning well. These are just a few of the reasons fat is an essential part of a healthy diet.

The key is to consume healthy unsaturated fats. These include oils from olives, nuts and seeds, avocados and fish. In most people, these fats have a reputation for helping lower LDL, raising “good” HDL cholesterol and lowering triglycerides.

But when it comes to sauteing your dinner, what’s the best oil to use?

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Cooking for better cholesterol

Surprising, considering all the studies establishing that mono- and polyunsaturated fats are better for cholesterol, there’s not been one really large study comparing them all to see which comes out on top. The majority of these studies just looked at the benefits of one oil or food source at a time.

That’s why a team of researchers used a new study technique called a network meta-analysis to see the big picture. They sought to combine the results of several existing studies that met specific criteria: They had to have compared the effect of two or more oils or fats — from a list of 13 — against the participants’ LDL or other blood lipids like total cholesterol, HDL or triglycerides over a period of at least three weeks.

That gave them total results of 55 studies to analyze and identify those oils with the greatest impact on LDL cholesterol and other blood lipids.

Unsurprisingly, the final ranking indicated that solid fats like butter and lard are the worst choice for LDL levels. The best choices, by contrast, are oils from seeds.

“Sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, safflower oil and flaxseed oil performed best,” says Lukas Schwingshackl, a researcher at the German Institute of Human Nutrition.

“Some people from Mediterranean countries probably are not so happy with this result, because they would prefer to see olive oil at the top,” Schwingshackl adds. “But this is not the case.”

The researchers cautioned that this study didn’t present “a hard clinical outcome.” Schwingshackl said, “LDL is a causal risk factor for coronary heart disease, but it’s not coronary heart disease.”

However, he added, that it might be difficult to conduct a study comparing those clinical outcomes. Study participants would need to eat one type of fat for years at a time, to compare results.

One risk of meta-analyses like this one is they could mislead by combining several pieces of low-confidence data into one falsely confident-sounding ranking. In this case, for instance, there wasn’t enough evidence to choose a single seed oil that was most beneficial. Also, the oils that were best at lowering LDL were not the most beneficial for triglycerides or HDL.

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Not all saturated fats are bad

Interestingly, the meta-analysis showed that beef fat and coconut and palm oils, all of which are classified as saturated fats, were more effective at reducing LDL than butter. What’s more, palm oil had the best impact on triglycerides, and coconut oil was best for elevating HDL levels.

So what does this mean? Should we treat all fats as the same, even those classified as less-healthy saturated fats?

The answer: it depends on the type. Using a plant-based saturated fat like coconut oil is probably fine in moderation.

The worst trouble seems to lie with trans-fats, which are types of fats classified as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. These chemically created fats are designed to give oils and processed foods a longer shelf life.

These “fake” fats are terrible for our cholesterol levels, raising the “bad” LDL while lowering the “good” HDL. They also fuel inflammation, disrupt cell signaling and interfere with numerous critical bodily functions. Worse, because the body doesn’t recognize them, it has a difficult time processing and eliminating them.

The FDA banned the use of trans fats in food in 2020 but they warn they may still appear in some foods. You can find a list here, and of course, they’re processed foods. They advise checking labels. We’d advise avoiding processed foods as much as possible.

Sources:

Seed oils are best for LDL cholesterol — ScienceDaily

Effects of oils and solid fats on blood lipids: a systematic review and network meta-analysis — Journal of Lipid Research

Blood Cholesterol: Causes and Risk Factors — National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Coconut oil and palm oil’s role in nutrition, health and national development: A review — Ghana Medical Journal

Saturated Fat — American Heart Association

Trans Fats — American Heart Association

The post High LDL? Seed oils may help best appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But even though we know they’re bad for our health, we still crave them.

So much so that you might even think that sugar hijacks your brain, causing you to eat more and more of it.

Well, according to the latest research, you’d be correct.

Eating fats and sugars just makes you eat more

“Our tendency to eat high-fat and high-sugar foods, the so-called Western diet, could be innate or develop as a result of being overweight. But we think that the brain learns this preference,” says Dr. Sharmili Edwin Thanarajah of the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany.

Along with other scientists from the Institute, Dr. Thanarajah tested her hypothesis that eating high-sugar and high-fat foods changes our brain in ways that make us eat more of those foods instead of choosing healthier ones.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers gave one group of volunteers a small pudding containing a lot of fat and sugar once a day for eight weeks, in addition to their regular diet.

They measured volunteers’ brain activity before and during the eight-week period.

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Brain changes were observed in the group that ate the puddings. Specifically, it activated the dopaminergic system, the region in the brain responsible for motivation and reward.

Dr. Marc Tittgemeyer, the study’s lead author, explains:

“Our measurements of brain activity showed that the brain rewires itself through the consumption of [fat and sugars]. It subconsciously learns to prefer rewarding food. Through these changes in the brain, we will unconsciously always prefer the foods that contain a lot of fat and sugar.”

Even if you’re a healthy eater, it won’t take much to affect your brain

Even if you’re not a habitual candy and chip eater, these researchers warn that all it takes is one binge to create these changes in your brain.

And once your brain has been rewired, you’re way more likely to binge again. And again.

Your brain will reward you with a dopamine “hit” for eating that candy, while it won’t give you any such reward for a healthy meal.

It’s easy to see how this can lead you down a path of craving sweets, even if you’ve spent your life avoiding them.

How to control those cravings

Clearly, the best way to avoid eating too much sugar is not to start in the first place.

Or, if you do indulge from time to time, here’s some advice on how to keep your brain in balance and avoid sugar cravings.

Chromium supplements can help curb sugar cravings. So can cinnamon, ginger, and other herbs found right in your kitchen.

And if you do slip, here’s how you can quiet the resulting sugar cravings.

Sources:

Sweets change our brain — Science Daily

Habitual daily intake of a sweet and fatty snack modulates reward processing in humans — Cell Metabolism

The post The brain-changing effects of one more fatty, sugary treat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Considering their nutritional value, there’s good reason to hold them in such high regard…

Over the years we’ve learned that eating walnuts can slash the risk of heart and blood sugar problems, cut the risk of metabolic syndrome, protect against free radical damage and promote living healthier longer.

But some of the most interesting research on the mechanism behind their benefits has to do with a special relationship between this treasured nut and your gut…

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The impact of walnuts on your gut

Previous research has shown that walnuts are great for the gut because they have a probiotic effect.

“Research has shown that walnuts may have heart-healthy benefits like lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure,” says Mansi Chandra, an undergraduate researcher at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. “This motivated us to look at how walnuts benefited the gut microbiome and whether those effects led to the potential beneficial effects.”

To determine this, the researchers needed to study the gene expression of gut microbes using samples from a previous controlled-feeding study. That study put participants with high cardiovascular risk on a two-week standard Western diet, then randomly assigned them to one of three diets for six weeks with a break between each.

The first of the three diets incorporated whole walnuts. The other two diets included the same amounts of certain nutrients found in walnuts, but not the nuts: the second diet included omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids; the third diet partially substituted another fatty acid known as oleic acid for the same amount of ALA found in walnuts.

Shortly before participants finished their diets, fecal samples were collected to analyze gene expression and the bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. And this is where the researchers saw the gut’s contribution to the walnut’s biggest benefit…

According to the analysis, participants on the walnut diet saw their gut microbiome altered in a way that increased the body’s production of the amino acid L-homoarginine. Homoarginine deficiency has been linked to higher risk of heart problems.

“Our findings represent a new mechanism through which walnuts may lower cardiovascular disease risk,” Chandra says.

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Walnuts: Whole food health benefits

This study is supportive of the fact that eating a whole food, as opposed to picking and choosing specific nutrients, may be key to grabbing all the benefits.

The participants who received some of the same nutrients found in walnuts, but did not consume the nut, didn’t benefit the way the walnut eaters did. That should be plenty of incentive to start adding them to your diet regularly.

How many walnuts should you eat daily? Most experts say one ounce of walnuts should do it. That’s equal to roughly a quarter cup, or one handful. They make the perfect replacement snack for those greasy chips and sugary treats.

Have you found walnuts don’t always sit well with you? Try this tip: Soak walnut kernels (that’s the meaty part removed from the shell) overnight first. By soaking them, you lower their level of phytic acid and make them easier to digest. Also, soaking promotes better metabolism and nutrient absorption.

Sources:

The heart benefits of walnuts likely come from the gut — EurekAlert!

History — California Walnuts

Walnuts: A worthy addition to your daily diet? — Harvard Health Publishing

How Many Walnuts Should You Eat in a Day? — Healthier Steps

The post The amino acid deficiency tied to heart problems and the nut that fixes it appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

A stroke happens when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or ruptures. When that happens, part of the brain is deprived of the oxygen it needs, so those brain cells start to die.

Once a stroke is treated, it’s expected the damage stops at that point. But research indicates that the damage from a stroke can actually get worse over time due to a situation inside the brain’s blood vessels…

The exosome buildup

Scientists have discovered that a stroke activates exosomes traveling in the blood. These nano-sized biological porters carry molecules that cells swap, such as proteins and fats, and are normally smooth and travel easily through the circulatory system.

A stroke increases the number of these exosomes and alters them so that they become less smooth and start clinging to the lining of the blood vessels. Then, platelets start getting caught on those trapped exosomes, causing a buildup that can form another blockage, stop blood flow to the brain and cause additional damage. This process can happen days — or even months — after a stroke has occurred.

Usually, traveling exosomes have a smooth label that marks their intended destination, says study co-author Dr. Zsolt Bagi, vascular biologist in the Medical College of Georgia’s Department of Physiology.

But when these external destination tags become “sticky” following a stroke, not only do these exosomes fail to reach their destination, they can worsen stroke outcome, he notes.

In the study, scientists show how exosomes pick up RGD, a protein that’s key to the buildup that can cause additional brain damage in stroke victims. Exosomes typically carry a tiny amount of RGD, which plays an important role in holding together the extracellular matrix that helps cells connect and form tissue. A stroke damages both cells and this extracellular matrix, and RGD is effectively set free.

Now that exosomes are carrying larger amounts of RGD, once they began adhering to the blood vessel walls, they expose passing platelets to RGD. Since platelets aren’t normally exposed to RGD, they become activated and “sticky” in response.

“There is always a problem when platelets become activated,” Dr. Bagi says.

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Another piece of the puzzle

The other piece of the pileup is a receptor called alpha-v-beta-3 which plays an important role in the relationship between the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels and the extracellular matrix supporting them. This receptor, found on the lining of blood vessels, naturally binds to RGD as part of its role in the extracellular matrix, so when exosomes carrying RGD pass through, the alpha-v-beta-3 receptors grab and hold on to them.

Once these RGD sequences were identified as key contributors to secondary stroke damage, the researchers began testing ways to intervene.

“We can’t prevent the initial stroke, but what we are trying to do is prevent further damage,” Dr. Bagi says.

One way in which the scientists tried removing or masking the adhesive quality of the exosomes was by administering synthetic exosomes, which compete with the same binding sites and help internalize the abnormal exosome labels. Giving the patient synthetic exosomes right after a stroke may one day be a treatment option, Dr. Bagi says.

Future research could examine whether this “sticky” exosome process also contributes to the initial stroke when combined with inflammation-producing conditions like high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Dr. Bagi notes that the secondary damage initiated by altered exosomes may be a helpful effort gone wrong.

“I think exosomes are not supposed to stick to the surface of the endothelium, but when damage happens they may try to pick up the damage and take it to the liver for elimination,” he says.

This study supports the likelihood that you’ll experience a second stroke once you’ve had a first, making it important to lower that probability as much as possible.

Preventing stroke

Some supplements have shown the capacity to lower stroke risk in general…

• In one study over a 14-year period, women who took in more calcium through diet and supplements were less likely to have a stroke. However, don’t supplement calcium without talking to your doctor. Too much can be just as problematic.
• Vitamin K2 is associated with inhibiting arterial calcification and arterial stiffening because it activates a protein that inhibits the deposits of calcium on vessel walls. Natto, a traditional Japanese food, is the highest food source of vitamin K2.
• People with low levels of magnesium, vitamin C and/or vitamin E are also believed to be at higher risk of stroke, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough of those vitamins and minerals.

Study evidence also suggests that taking omega-3 fatty acids helps protect against stroke caused by plaque buildup and blood clots in the arteries that lead to the brain.

In fact, eating at least 2 servings of fish per week can lower the risk of stroke by as much as 50%. But it’s important not to get more than 3 grams of omega-3s (or 3 servings of fish) per day or you could raise your risk of hemorrhagic stroke, the type of stroke caused by a burst or leaking blood vessel.

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Olive oil should definitely be part of a stroke prevention strategy. Previous studies have shown that it can affect the platelet activity that Dr. Bagi referred to above.

In one notable study, Dr. Sean P. Heffron of the NYU Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease used food frequency surveys to find out how often a group of 63 obese, non-smoking, non-diabetic adults was eating olive oil. Those who reported eating olive oil at least once a week had lower platelet activation than those who ate it less frequently.

In 2017 a similar study was carried out on a smaller level. That study, published in the Journal of Functional Foods, found that olive oil demonstrated antiplatelet effects in 10 healthy men in a randomized trial.

It’s important to know that lot of the same lifestyle changes you make for good heart health can also help prevent stroke: stop smoking, drink alcohol in moderation, manage your blood sugar and lower your blood pressure and cholesterol through a healthy, low-sodium diet and daily exercise.

You should also have your doctor check you for a condition called atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots and cause a stroke. AFib is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots and cause a stroke. If you do have AFib, your healthcare provider can help you manage it.

Sources:

Sticky situation inside blood vessels can worsen stroke damage — EurekAlert!

Explaining Stroke — American Stroke Association

Stroke — PennState Hershey

The post The after-stroke danger to be aware of: ‘Sticky’ blood vessels appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

After all, dipping tortilla chips into the tasty green Mexican food staple doesn’t really scream low calorie.

However, according to a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, if you’re on a diet, avocados could be your new best friend.

That’s because they’ve been shown to make people feel fuller faster — and that makes it much easier to diet and stay on track to reach your goal weight…

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Push away from the table for fewer calories

The scientists followed 72 Mexican families (a total of 231 individuals) looking at how avocados made them feel after eating, how many calories they consumed, what other foods they ate and the quality of nutrition they received.

And hands-down, they discovered that families who ate 14 avocados per week for a period of six months grabbed some important benefits that not only impacted their waistlines but their overall health, too.

First and foremost, the researchers say that eating avocados sped the feeling of fullness after eating.

This effect could be due to the fact that avocados are packed with two amino acids that have been shown to send the “full signal” to your brain in less than 30 seconds.

And as you might imagine, this led to avocado eaters consuming significantly fewer calories than those who ate less of the green fruits.

Additionally, families who hit that magic number of 14 avocados per week also reduced their weekly consumption of processed meat compared to those who ate three or less avocados in the same timeframe.

That’s a serious boon for your health when you consider that processed meat’s disease links stretch from cancer to asthma. And eating processed proteins like bacon can raise your dementia risk by up to 44 percent!

It looks like eating more avocados could save your life as well as your diet.

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High-quality fat makes dieting easier and healthier

So if you’re looking to lose weight, don’t fall for the myth that you need to cut out all fats.

High-quality fat, like what you get from avocados is not only good for your diet — this study demonstrated that it’s downright helpful.

For men, keeping the fat in meals during dieting can also help prevent problems like low testosterone which can steal your libido and destroy your sex life.

And eating avocados can help reduce LDL — bad cholesterol — and raise your good cholesterol (HDL). This improved ratio can shrink heart disease risk.

So add an avocado a day to melt belly fat away.

For an easy way to get more of the green fruit in your diet — and one of the tastiest egg salads you’ll ever have — try this recipe for egg salad with avocado and chickpeas.

Sources:

Effects of Different Allotments of Avocados on the Nutritional Status of Families: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial – MDPI

The post The ‘diet’ fruit that makes you feel full faster appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, Alzheimer’s is the only disease where existing treatments don’t really help.

But a group of European scientists has been busy trying to change that.

For the past three years, they have been working on a way that nutrition could help slow the progress of Alzheimer’s, prevent dementia, and add quality years to the lives of those with the disease.

The LipiDiDiet Study

For three years, a group of 46 scientists from several European countries conducted the LipiDiDiet study, to test the outcome of a nutritional intervention they believed might slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease.

In this trial, 311 patients with prodromal Alzheimer’s (also referred to as mild cognitive impairment, or MCI) were given either 125ml of a multi-nutrient drink, or a placebo drink, once a day.

After three years, a neuropsychological test battery measured a 60 percent reduction in cognitive decline and a 76 percent reduction in memory decline in those who drank the multi-nutrient drink product containing:

• Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
• Uridine monophosphate
• Choline
• Vitamins B12, B6, C, E,
• Folic acid
• Phospholipids
• Selenium

Looking more closely at the results, the researchers found that those who had better cognitive performance when the trial started benefited more from the nutritional drink. In other words, the earlier in the course of the disease the nutritional intervention began, the better the results.

Also, brain shrinkage, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, showed improvement as well. The rates of shrinkage of the hippocampus (the part of the brain involved in short-term memory) were 33 percent less than in the control group, and shrinkage of the whole brain was 20 percent less.

Overall, patients who were given the multi-nutrient drink suffered between 40 and 70 percent less cognitive impairment than those who received the placebo.

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The role of lipids in the LipiDiDiet and Alzheimer’s disease

Based on previous observations that lipids change the risk for dementia, the European LipiDiDiet project addresses the impact of nutritional lipids on neuronal and cognitive performance in aging, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

So, what are lipids? Lipids are fats, oils, fatty acids, phospholipids and cholesterol. Healthy oils, like olive oil and fish oil, are lipids that have been shown to improve health.

You’ll notice if you look back up at the list of nutrients in the special dietary drink, that the first two are DHA and EPA which are omega-3 fatty acids — or lipids — with a reputation for lowering Alzheimer’s risk. That was no accident…

The connection between Alzheimer’s and lipids goes back over one hundred years when Alois Alzheimer first described what he saw in the brains of his patients: abnormal protein deposits and altered lipid (fat) composition.

That relationship between lipid imbalance and Alzheimer’s was confirmed decades later. We now know that the strongest genetic risk factor for the disease is linked to apolipoprotein E, the major lipid transporter in the central nervous system.

Also, lipids seem to block the formation of the amyloid-β precursor protein, a large membrane protein that, in its normal state, is part of the process of repairing and growing neurons.

When it is altered, though, this is the substance that turns into β-amyloid plaques, which destroy nerve cells and result in the loss of cognition and memory experienced with Alzheimer’s disease.

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What to eat to keep your brain healthy

Research is ongoing into the role that lipids play in the progression, and prevention, of Alzheimer’s disease.

But you can start to adjust your diet NOW, to support your brain’s health and possibly prevent the deterioration that signals the beginning of Alzheimer’s.

The M.I.N.D. diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets. Research has shown that it can turn back your brain’s clock almost eight years in terms of cognitive function.

To follow the M.I.N.D. diet, here’s what you should be eating every day:

• At least three servings of whole grains
• A green leafy vegetable and one other vegetable
• A glass of wine
• A snack of nuts

Fatty fish, full of healthy lipids, should be eaten at least once a week.

The M.I.N.D. diet is also about what you shouldn’t eat:

• Limit butter to less than 1 1/2 teaspoons a day (try olive oil instead)
• Eat less than five servings a week of sweets and pastries
• Limit whole fat cheese and fried or fast food to one serving (or less) per week

Sources:

LipiDiDiet study finds possible nutrition intervention for early Alzheimer’s — Integrative Practitioner

LipiDiDiet finds broad and sustainable effects of nutrient intervention in early Alzheimer’s disease: Data published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association — lipididiet.eu

E.U. funded research consortium “LipiDiDiet” finds a way to impact Alzheimer’s Disease before it’s too late: data published in The Lancet Neurology — lipididiet.eu

Alzheimer’s statistics — alzheimer’s.net

The LipiDiDiet trial: what does it add to the current evidence for Fortasyn Connect in early Alzheimer’s disease? — Clinical Interventions in Aging

Lipids are major players in Alzheimer’s disease — Atlas of Science

The post 3-year study proves lipids keeps Alzheimer’s at bay appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And while you may think those cravings are all about your taste buds, research is telling us that they’re not really about your tongue at all…

That’s because scientists have identified a connection between other body parts that can send your fatty food cravings into overdrive.

The far-reaching effects of the gut-brain axis

While it may sound a little whack that some weird connection between your gut and brain could be to blame for unhealthy food cravings, it’s actually simple science.

In fact, researchers have not only proven the existence of what is known as a gut-brain axis, they’ve been able to demonstrate the extensive role it plays in many aspects of our lives and health.

They’ve shown it’s the key to getting better sleep.

They’ve identified it as the link between bowel problems and dementia.

They’ve found that it can be a surprising cause of chronic headaches.

And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Now, Columbia University researchers have found that the same connection also drives our fatty food desires, which can lead to obesity and metabolic disease.

What’s really driving your desire for fatty foods

Previous research has even been able to connect our need for all things sweet to how glucose activates the gut-brain axis to make us happy. Calorie-free artificial sweeteners do not have this same effect and leave us feeling unsatisfied.

Well, it turns out, fatty foods do something similar…

The researchers set out to explore how mice respond to dietary fats in their drinking water, comparing it to water containing sweet substances that have no impact on the gut.

And they weren’t surprised when after just a couple of days, the rodents developed a distinct preference for that fatty water, leaving the sweet water sitting untouched.

But was it just because it tasted good?

Nope, the researchers had genetically modified the mice to remove their ability to taste fat on their tongues.

“Even though the animals could not taste fat, they were nevertheless driven to consume it,” said Charles Zuker, PhD.

So why were the mice craving all things fatty?

After measuring brain activity in the mice while they consumed the fats, the researchers found that fat literally made their brains light up thanks to activity along the vagus nerve, a nerve that links the gut to the brain.

“Our research is showing that the tongue tells our brain what we like, such as things that taste sweet, salty or fatty,” said Dr. Zuker. “The gut, however, tells our brain what we want, what we need.”

Help for cravings from a surprising source

So if your gut-brain connection is telling you to order another vanilla shake or reach for some deep-fried nuggets, is there anything that can be done to keep your healthy diet on track?

The answer may be in choosing healthier fats, ones that support your heart, mind and body, including your weight (not the kind in processed foods, which can make obesity a foregone conclusion).

Healthier fats include:

#1 – Omega-3s

Hands down, one of the top healthy fats to include in your diet are the omega-3s you’ll find in fish oil.

Not only can omega-3s help control your appetite, but they may also support a healthy metabolism so that you can burn off the calories you eat.

Plus, because your brain is your body’s most fuel-hungry organ, feeding it brain-loving fat could have a positive influence on the communication between your brain and your gut.

You can find omega-3s in fatty fish, like salmon and sardines, or grab more through a daily supplement.

#2 – Avocados

Avocados are packed with good fats, including oleic acid, which helps combat inflammation in the body.

#3 – Olive oil

A staple of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil is a big winner when it comes to your health.

So instead of battling your fatty food cravings, why not work with them instead?

Feed your body good fats to satisfy your desires, while supporting a healthier weight and body.

Sources:

Cravings for fatty foods traced to gut-brain connection — ScienceDaily

Fish oil-supplementation increases appetite in healthy adults. A randomized controlled cross-over trial — NIH

A diet rich in long chain omega-3 fatty acids modulates satiety in overweight and obese volunteers during weight loss — NIH

Effect of dietary fish oil on body fat mass and basal fat oxidation in healthy adults — NIH

The post Hacking your gut-brain axis to defeat fatty food cravings appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In people living with scleroderma, their immune system tricks tissues in the body into thinking they’ve been injured.

As a result of the inflammation this causes, the body goes into overdrive, producing too much collagen, which leads to fibrosis — or a buildup of scar tissues — that hardens the skin and damages blood vessels and internal organs.

And like with other autoimmune conditions, there currently is no cure.

However, thanks to research at the University of Michigan, there may be a way to slow, or even walk back, the damage and help scleroderma patients everywhere live better…

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It’s called the SAD diet for a reason

The western diet most Americans follow has never topped the list of healthy diets. Also known as the standard American diet (SAD diet), it’s been linked to everything from a high risk of sepsis to heart disease.

And because the diet is linked to metabolic diseases that also impact blood vessel health, Michigan researchers began to wonder how it may also impact the damage scleroderma does to the body’s blood vessels.

And they found a connection — a metabolite produced in the guts of people who eat a Western Diet.

The compound, called trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO, actually has the power to cause changes to cellular processes in scleroderma that trigger fibrosis or scarring, inflammation and vascular injury.

Scary, right?

Well, here’s where it gets worse…

You see, TMAO is formed in your liver when your gut metabolizes nutrients like choline and carnitine, which are abundant in our meat-heavy Western diet.

When that happens, TMAO goes to work, reprogramming cells in the body to become scar-forming myofibroblasts, which leads to the scarring of the blood vessels.

Now, this happens whether you have scleroderma or not, to a degree. TMAO has already been linked to cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

But if you’re already living with the autoimmune disease, things get much worse fast…

That’s because the enzyme responsible for the formation of TMAO, called FMO3, is elevated in patients with the autoimmune condition.

In other words, your body is already primed to produce TMAO, putting you at an even higher risk for vessel damage if you choose the wrong diet.

Not surprisingly, people with scleroderma are at increased risk for heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

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The two-step approach to beating back the damage of scleroderma

So where’s the good news in all the bad?

Well, the first answer is pretty obvious…

If a Western diet accelerates the damage caused by scleroderma, embracing a diet that’s the complete opposite, such as the Mediterranean diet, may offer hope for keeping blood vessel scarring, as well as the other ravages of the disease, at a minimum.

This means avoiding foods that are common in the Western diet, like red or processed meats, refined grains and oils, and instead eating more:

• Fruits and veggies
• Nuts, seeds and legumes
• Whole grains
• Seafood
• Extra virgin olive oil

That last one might be the most important food item to consume more of. Here’s why…

When asked about the study and what their next steps will be, John Varga, M.D., senior author of the paper and chief of the Division of Rheumatology at University of Michigan Health had this to say: “We will next examine whether drugs, or food products like virgin olive oil, can be used to block formation of this compound in the gut to treat fibrosis.”

Yup, the researchers think that adding more olive oil to your diet could be the answer to relieving the scarring caused by scleroderma.

And they could be on to something: Previous research has shown that dimethyl butanol, a compound found in olive oil, was capable of reversing the arterial damage caused by TMAO, and possibly even blocking its production.

So if you’re living with scleroderma, or simply want to protect your blood vessels, ditching the SAD Western diet for a Mediterranean way of eating, with plenty of blood vessel-loving olive oil could be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Sources:

 Scleroderma — Mayo Clinic

Scleroderma — NIH

10 Facts and Statistics About Autoimmune Diseases — Scleroderma News

How the western diet and gut bacteria can lead to scarring, vessel damage in scleroderma — ScienceDaily

The post Scleroderma: The autoimmune – heart disease diet link appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But it’s late. You’ve had a busy day, and you’re too tired to cook. And that burger, fries and soda combo is quick, easy and tasty. So you hit the drive-thru and promise yourself you’ll do better tomorrow.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

More than a third of Americans, or about 84.8 million, eat fast food on any given day. And while that percentage does decrease with age, nearly a quarter of adults age 60 and older are still consuming fast food on a given day.

And this addiction to convenience doesn’t stop at the drive-thru. Many Americans have pantries and refrigerators at home that are bursting with ultra-processed foods high in added sugar, fat and salt and low in protein and fiber.

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Some of these ultra-processed foods, like soft drinks, salty and sugary snacks, ice cream, sausage, ketchup, mayonnaise, deep-fried chicken and flavored cereals, are clearly bad for you. But even items like yogurt, canned baked beans and tomatoes, packaged guacamole, hummus and bread aren’t as benign as they appear because of the processing they’re subjected to.

For the past several years, scientists have been examining the health impact of these ultra-processed foods. So far, studies have linked a diet that’s heavy in ultra-processed foods with insulin resistance, obesity and cellular damage.

And consuming ultra-processed foods may not be good for your brain, either. A team of Chinese researchers recently examined data from the UK Biobank health information database to determine whether eating ultra-processed foods could lead to dementia. And what they found is alarming…

Ultra-processed foods on the brain

The researchers selected 72,083 people from the UK Biobank for their study. Participants were aged 55 and older and had no dementia at the beginning of the study, which followed them for an average of 10 years. By study’s end, 518 of the participants had been diagnosed with dementia.

During the study, participants filled out at least two questionnaires recording the food and drink they had consumed the previous day. The researchers identified how much of that food and drink was ultra-processed by calculating the grams per day. Then, they compared that measurement to the grams per day of other foods to determine what percentage of each participant’s diet was made up of ultra-processed items.

Once that percentage was calculated, participants were divided into four equal groups ranging from the lowest percentage of ultra-processed foods to the highest. Ultra-processed foods made up an average of 9 percent of the daily diet of people in the lowest group, or an average of 225 grams a day. In the highest group, the average daily percentage of ultra-processed foods was 28 percent, or an average of 814 grams per day.

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For comparison, one serving of items like pizza or fish sticks equaled 150 grams.

The main food group contributing to high ultra-processed food intake was beverages, followed by sugary products and ultra-processed dairy.

In the lowest-consumption group, 105 of the 18,021 people developed dementia, compared to 150 of the 18,021 people in the highest-consumption group.

The research team adjusted for age, gender, family history of dementia and heart disease and other factors that could affect risk of dementia. After taking all that into account, they found that for every 10 percent increase in daily consumption of ultra-processed foods, people had a 25 percent increase in dementia risk.

The researchers also used study data to project what would happen if a person swapped 10 percent of the ultra-processed foods they consumed with unprocessed or minimally processed foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes, milk and meat. According to their findings, this substitution was associated with a 19 percent reduction in dementia risk.

Study author Dr. Huiping Li of Tianjin Medical University in China says results also indicate that substituting 50 grams of ultra-processed foods for 50 grams of unprocessed or minimally processed foods can lower dementia risk by 3 percent. For instance, an individual could swap out a chocolate bar for half an apple, or a couple of fish sticks for a bowl of bran cereal.

“It’s encouraging to know that small and manageable changes in diet may make a difference in a person’s risk of dementia,” Li says.

It’s important to note the study didn’t prove that ultra-processed foods cause dementia; it only shows an association. Further research is needed to confirm the findings.

Li also observes that in addition to added fat, salt and sugar, ultra-processed foods may contain food additives or molecules from packaging or that are produced during heating. These additives and molecules have been shown in other studies to have negative effects on thinking and memory skills, he says.

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What exactly qualifies as “ultra-processed”?

If you’re like me, you may be confused by the inclusion of seemingly healthy products like hummus, canned tomatoes, avocado-rich guacamole and yogurt in the “ultra-processed” category (except we know that the addition of lots of sugar or salt is problematic). That’s because nutrition science is still figuring all this out.

Dr. Maura Walker of Boston University notes that nutrition research now faces the challenge of categorizing foods as unprocessed, minimally processed, processed and ultra-processed. “For example, foods like soup would be classified differently if canned versus homemade,” she says.

“Plus, the level of processing is not always aligned with diet quality,” Walker adds. “Plant-based burgers that qualify as high quality may also be ultra-processed. As we aim to understand better the complexities of dietary intake, we must also consider that more high-quality dietary assessments may be required.”

Until then, the best rule of thumb is to include as many whole foods as possible. That means consuming foods that look like the real thing, versus a stick of fish — foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, beans and legumes, fresh meat, poultry, fish and dairy. Following an eating plan like the Mediterranean diet is a great way to ensure your diet consists mostly of whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

Sources:

Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods Associated With Increased Risk Of Dementia — American Academy of Neurology

Association of Ultraprocessed Food Consumption With Risk of Dementia — Neurology

Fast Food Statistics — The Barbecue Lab

The post Ultra-processed foods: The more you eat, the higher your dementia risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s also used in household and personal care products like soap, laundry detergent and cosmetics.

Unfortunately, the widespread use of palm oil hasn’t been kind to the environment.  Thousands of acres of rainforest have been cleared to make way for palm oil plantations, endangering many plant and animal species.

But that’s not the only reason you should be wary of palm oil…

It’s high in palmitic acid, a saturated fat that can lead the brain to ignore the appetite-suppressing signals from insulin and the hunger hormone leptin.

Consuming high quantities of palmitic acid also can raise the risk of heart disease.

But it gets even worse… research has linked it with promoting aggressive cancer metastasis.

Palmitic acid and metatastic “memory”

Researchers in Spain discovered that a diet rich in palmitic acid triggers the spread of cancerous tumors. They found it makes these tumor cells more aggressive.

If that wasn’t concerning enough, the cells also retain a sort of metastatic “memory” that can prompt them to spread even months after exposure to the fatty acid.

“In 2017, we published a study indicating that palmitic acid correlates with increased risk of metastasis, but we didn’t know the mechanism responsible for this,” says study lead Dr. Salvador Aznar-Benitah, an ICREA researcher at IRB Barcelona. “In this study, we detail the process and reveal the involvement of a metastatic capacity ‘memory’ factor, and we point to a therapeutic approach to reverse it. This is promising.”

In the study, oral tumor cells and melanomas taken from patients were exposed to a palmitic acid-rich diet. These cells were then transplanted into mice, where the scientists observed they had a greater ability to metastasize — even when the diet was administered for only a short period prior to the transfer.

Several “memory” markers were also identified — left behind in tumor cells after they’re exposed to palmitic acid. This means that even months after palmitic acid exposure, these cells retain the capacity to spread aggressively.

The results indicate a diet high in palm oil could favor the development of cancer even if exposure to palmitic acid occurs in a very early stage of the disease in which the primary tumor hasn’t been detected yet.

Forming a tumor-spreading network

For cancer to spread, its cells must first detach from its parent tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. If the cancer cells survive by the time they reach another organ, cancer begins to grow there.

The researchers discovered palmitic acid helps tumor cells to form a neural network around the tumor. Then, the cells with the most “memory,” or metastatic ability, attract the nervous system, allowing the tumor’s neural network to form an environment that supports the cells in growing and spreading.

One of the key elements in the formation of this neural network are the Schwann cells that surround and protect neurons. According to study results, various approaches to block these Schwann cells can inhibit the development of this neural network and prevent metastasis.

“This discovery paves the way for research into and the development of therapies that specifically block cancer metastasis, a process that is almost always the cause of death by cancer,” says Dr. Gloria Pascual, associate researcher in the stem cells and cancer lab at IRB Barcelona and co-first author of the study.

Eating to avoid palm oil

Clearly, palm oil is bad news for your health. And the quickest way to avoid consuming palm oil is to banish foods containing it from your diet.

If you’re already following a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy oils, you’re in good shape.

But if you do buy packaged foods, check the label to see if they contain palm oil. Typical culprits are margarine, bread, cookies, chocolate, grain bars, pastries and certain brands of peanut butter and ice cream. Try to find natural, organic versions of these foods, which often replace the palm oil with healthier fats.

Some good news is that the study also found this capacity for expansion and colonization did not occur when exposed to two other fatty acids: oleic acid, found in olive oil; and linoleic acid, found in flaxseed.

So, going for healthier oils, like olive oil is a clear win. It’s super easy to incorporate into cooking methods and salads. And ground flaxseed is a great healthy addition to yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal and even cereal.

Other foods that contain oleic acid and linoleic acid include sunflower seeds, eggs, milk avocados, olives, chicken, pork, nuts and seeds, soybeans, corn and canola oil.

While palm oil is a major source of palmitic acid and appears in larger quantities in processed foods, it does occur naturally at low levels in other foods, including coconut oil, red meat (particularly high-fat choices like rib eye, prime rib and ground beef), full fat cheese and butter and milk. So it’s wise to keep your consumption of these foods to a minimum as well.

Sources:

Palmitic acid promotes cancer metastasis and leaves a more aggressive “memory” in tumour cells — IRB Barcelona

Palmitic acid — PubChem

Is the Palmitic Acid in Coconut Oil Unhealthy? — Healthline

Ice Cream May Target The Brain Before Your Hips, Study Suggests — ScienceDaily

Saturated fat, regardless of type, linked with increased heart disease risk — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

What is Palm Oil? Facts About the Palm Oil Industry — WWF

Cancer spread is increased by a high fat diet, ground-breaking evidence shows — ScienceDaily

The post Metastatic memory: Another reason to avoid palm oil appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And that may be driving them to make questionable health choices in their younger years, figuring they’ll have plenty of time to clean up their act when they’re older and it matters more.

But recent research suggests this attitude may be extremely unwise for your long-term brain health and your risk for Alzheimer’s…

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High cholesterol at 35 can lead to Alzheimer’s

When it comes to Alzheimer’s, we already know that high cholesterol and blood glucose levels can raise your risk of developing the disease in your elder years.

But although previous studies have found a connection between high LDL and Alzheimer’s risk, the link between HDL levels (the good cholesterol) and Alzheimer’s was inconclusive. This could be because most research examining these relationships involved people who were 55 years and older.

That’s where recent research at Boston University differs. They measured correlations of Alzheimer’s with multiple known risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes at exams and during three adult age periods: early (ages 35-50), middle (ages 51-60) and late (ages 61-70). The risk factors included HDL, LDL (or “bad” cholesterol), triglycerides, glucose, blood pressure, smoking and body mass index (BMI).

And they found a link between lower levels of HDL and high triglyceride levels — measured in blood as early as age 35 — and a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease several decades later.

In addition, high blood glucose measured between the ages of 51 and 60 was associated with future risk of Alzheimer’s.

“While our findings confirm other studies that linked cholesterol and glucose levels measured in blood with future risk of Alzheimer’s disease, we have shown for the first time that these associations extend much earlier in life than previously thought,” says senior author Dr. Lindsay A. Farrer, chief of biomedical genetics at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health.

For their study, the Boston University researchers used data from participants in the Framingham Heart Study. These individuals were examined in four-year intervals throughout most of their adult lives.

Results showed lower HDL in early and middle adulthood can predict Alzheimer’s. High blood glucose levels — a precursor of diabetes — during mid-adulthood are also predictive of Alzheimer’s.

Farrer points out the researchers were able to link Alzheimer’s to risk factors for heart disease and diabetes measured much earlier in life than possible in most other cognitive decline and dementia studies.

“Intervention targeting cholesterol and glucose management starting in early adulthood can help maximize cognitive health in later life,” Farrer says.

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Start managing cholesterol, blood sugar early

Clearly, it’s important to start to manage your cholesterol and blood sugar as early as possible in adulthood. We have a few recommendations that center around the beneficial nutrition of oily fish…

One, in particular, was found to:

• Reduce the insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes
• Increase “good” cholesterol (HDL)
• Reduce levels of triglycerides
• Increase levels of hormones that accelerate the breakdown of glucose
• And lower blood pressure

What one fish could do all that? Sardines!

If you’re not a fan of sardines or fish in general, you could add a good omega-3 supplement to your daily regimen. There are plenty to choose from, including omega-3 supplements made with krill oil, which may have several advantages over other marine oil supplements, including better absorption for fewer fish burps.

Another krill oil advantage is a unique combination of omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids and extremely potent antioxidants. This combination provides a host of health benefits such as helping to manage cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Also, studies show krill oil outperforms fish oil supplements when it comes to lowering LDL cholesterol levels. Patients who took 1 to 1.5 grams of krill oil a day demonstrated a significantly greater decrease in bad cholesterol than patients who took three times the amount of fish oil.

And lastly, krill oil contains astaxanthin, an antioxidant that’s 100 times more potent than vitamin E and can help fight the damage free radicals can do to your brain and nervous system.

The bottom line: It’s not too early to start taking care of your brain for the years to come.

Sources:

Lipid, Glucose Levels at Age 35 Associated with Alzheimers Disease — Boston University School of Medicine

Midlife lipid and glucose levels are associated with Alzheimer’s disease — Alzheimer’s & Dementia

A Look at Krill Oil’s Benefits — Cleveland Clinic

The post Alzheimer’s in your future? Cholesterol and blood sugar at 35 hold clues appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s what happened this week when I read a study published a few weeks ago about avocados.

Now, it’s no secret that avocados have a lot of health benefits wrapped up in one little package.

Half an avocado has more potassium than a banana and about 7gm of fiber. Avocados have phytochemicals that protect your eyesight and are known cancer-fighters.

And, they’re good for your heart. Eating avocados regularly can help keep your “good” cholesterol levels up while reducing the “bad,” including triglycerides.

But some new research may just be the first long-term study that supports a connection between eating avocados and lowering your risk of heart disease.

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Avocado slashes coronary heart disease risk

Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health followed more than 68,780 women and more than 41,700 men for thirty years. Female participants were drawn from the Nurses’ Health Study and men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Both men and women were free of cancer and heart disease at the start of the study. During the thirty-year follow-up period, there were 9,185 coronary heart disease events and 5,290 strokes.

Participants’ diets were assessed using food frequency questionnaires every four years.

Here are the two major findings:

• Participants who ate at least two servings of avocado each week had a 16 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart failure and heart attacks, and a 21 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease, a type of cardiovascular disease affecting the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood.
• Replacing half a serving a day of margarine, butter, egg, yogurt, cheese or processed meats such as bacon with the same amount of avocado was associated with as much as a 22 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease events.

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Why is this important?

Avocados contain dietary fiber and healthy fats — including unsaturated and monounsaturated fat — as well as other components that have been associated with good cardiovascular health.

Previous clinical trials have found avocados have a positive impact on cardiovascular risk factors including high cholesterol. And this study is the icing on the cake.

Dr. Cheryl Anderson, chair of the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, explains the importance of these latest findings…

 “Although no one food is the solution to routinely eating a healthy diet, this study is evidence that avocados have possible health benefits. This is promising because it is a food item that is popular, accessible, desirable and easy to include in meals eaten by many Americans at home and in restaurants.”

In other words, avocados are becoming more and more popular in the United States, and a serving a day would not be difficult to include in your diet.

Here are half a dozen delicious ways to do just that…

Stuffed avocados for two

Avocado and onion salad

Easy healthy guacamole

Chickpea, avocado and feta salad

Mexican-style deviled eggs

Tuna salad with avocado

Sources:

Eating two servings of avocados a week linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease — Eureka Alert

Avocado Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in US Adults — Journal of the American Heart Association

The post Long-term proof: An avocado a day keeps heart disease away appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And since it has the word “diet” in the name, you might expect me to write it off. 

But this is one of the rare eating approaches I can get behind — with caveats…  

What is the Nordic diet

As you might guess, the diet is based on the way people in Scandinavia have been eating for years. So while the Nordic diet highlights more lingonberries and fewer olives, the premise is the same: Similar to the Mediterranean diet (my other endorsed method of eating), the Nordic diet is all about eating local, seasonal, mostly plant-based whole foods.

In fact, the biggest difference between the two diets may be the go-to oil, the Nordic diet relies on canola oil, whereas the Mediterranean focuses on olive oil. Both are high in healthier unsaturated fat.

But here’s my big caveat –- conventional canola oil is extracted using a process that can reduce the overall health properties of the oil while leaving unhealthy chemical residues behind. Always look for versions that are “cold pressed”, which means the oil is extracted from seeds using pressure only.

Both the Mediterranean and Nordic approaches de-emphasize meat, but the Nordic diet allows for some game meat (venison, rabbit, bison).

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How should you adapt to this diet if you live in the U.S.?

You could transfer the principles to your local area. For me, in Minnesota, that means more Nordic and less Mediterranean (yes, I can occasionally find lingonberries at my grocery store!) If you’re in California, you can take advantage of year-round produce. If you’re in Maine, load up on those beautiful blueberries and have some lobster from time to time.

Wherever you live, if you eat lots of local produce and cut down on meat, you’ll likely naturally follow the tenets of the Nordic diet. Expect to eat lots of:

• Whole grains, including rye, barley and oats
• Whole fruits (not just the juice)
• Vegetables, including root veggies
• Fatty fish
• Low-fat dairy, such as yogurt
• Legumes

And while they may be prevalent in Nordic countries, you should still consume eggs and game meat in moderation — and alcohol and other red meats only rarely.  And always avoid added sugar, processed meat, foods high in sodium, and fast food (yes, they do have McDonald’s in Sweden, and no, it does not count as local or Nordic.)

According to the Cleveland Clinic, eating the Nordic way should add up to way less sugar than you’d get on a typical American diet, and about twice the fiber and seafood. You’ll reap lots of heart-healthy benefits, too, including reduced inflammation, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and maintenance of a healthy weight

Best of all, this isn’t a diet that you need to make a resolution to follow. In fact, the Nordic diet and the Mediterranean diet aren’t really diets at all. They’re lifestyles, which is why you probably won’t fail when you adopt them.

The post The Nordic diet: Fad or lifestyle? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s why when I’m making dinner, instead of reaching for vegetable oil, I turn to the Mediterranean secret for a healthier heart — olive oil.

Now, research out of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that looked at the diets of 92,000 people for 28 years, is proving that the decision to stick with extra virgin olive oil is providing protection far beyond my heart…

A long history of benefits

Olive oil has long been acknowledged as one of the healthiest oils.

• One observational study presented to the American Heart Association strongly suggested that consuming olive oil at least once a week is associated with less platelet activity in the blood. In other words, Mediterranean oil could reduce the risks for blood clots.
• Additional research found that adding a dash of olive oil to dark chocolate is kryptonite for heart disease.
• And a study from the University of Barcelona found that olive oil delivers potent antioxidants that guard your heart and blood vessel health, even when it’s heated.
• But heart health is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to olive oil, with research proving, again and again, its health impact on everything from pancreatitis to diabetes.
• The oil has even been shown to help reduce issues of erectile dysfunction or ED.

Now those Harvard researchers are finding how valuable olive oil is — not just for the heart — but for reducing premature death from numerous threats…

Lowering threats across the board

The researchers followed 92,000+ participants from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study for over 2 ½ decades, monitoring their diets and their consumption of olive oil versus other oils specifically.

And what they found came down to this…

Consuming just seven grams (just over a half tablespoon) of olive oil per day is enough to significantly reduce your risk of dying due to heart disease!

And those seven grams are also enough to lower your risk of death from multiple other conditions, including respiratory and neurological diseases.

In fact, when the researchers compared those who rarely or never consumed olive oil, those in the highest consumption category had a:

• 19 percent lower risk of cardiovascular mortality
• 29 percent lower risk of neurodegenerative mortality
• 17 percent lower risk of cancer mortality
• 18 percent lower risk of respiratory mortality

That’s a lot of bang from ½ tablespoon!

Additionally, their results showed that switching up just 10 grams of your normal margarine or butter for olive oil lets you grab an 8 – 34 percent lower risk of death from all causes.

That olive oil’s looking better and better all the time, isn’t it?

More tips for heart health

So if you want to cut your risks for these significant health threats, it seems clear that olive oil should be part of what’s for dinner tonight and every night.

If heart problems are particularly top of mind for you, don’t forget these other small changes that can provide additional support:

• Eating more fish – The omega-3s found in fish have been shown to reduce heart disease risk. If you don’t eat enough fish or are concerned about mercury and other contaminants from fish oil, krill oil is a cleaner option.
• Staying active – Exercise has been shown to strengthen your heart, even in the face of bad genes that boost your risks.
• Choosing your saturated fats wisely – While some saturated fats, like the ones in red meat, can increase your chances of cardiovascular disease, others appear to confer heart disease protection.
• Increasing your flavonoids – These potent antioxidants found in fruits like apples, blueberries and grapes, as well as teas have been found to reduce risk of death due to heart disease.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

Higher olive oil intake associated with lower risk of CVD mortality — ScienceDaily

Heart Disease Facts – CDC

The post Olive oil tied to reduced mortality from 4 major health threats appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

True or false: Saturated fats cause heart disease

True or false: Everyone should avoid eating saturated fats.

If you answered “true” to all of these, welcome to the club.

As far back as the late 1940s, scientific studies began showing a correlation between high-fat diets and high cholesterol levels, leading us to the conclusion that a low-fat diet might prevent heart disease in people at high risk.

By the 1960s, a low-fat diet was recommended not only for high-risk heart patients but for all of us, partially due to the influence of the sugar industry, which paid scientists to play down the link between sugar and heart disease and promote saturated fat as the culprit instead.

By the 1980s, doctors, health media, and the food industry began promoting the value of “eating low-fat” as an indisputable truth. Many of us subscribed to this approach.

There was only one problem: while there was evidence that a high-fat diet increased risk factors for heart disease, there was no clear-cut evidence that cutting out saturated fats prevented heart disease.

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Saturated fat doesn’t make heart disease more likely, but…

A large group of medical researchers from universities in eleven European countries looked at data from the University of Cambridge’s EPIC-CVD study.

This 2007 study looked at the cardiovascular health of middle-aged people in ten European countries. This included 10,529 participants who developed heart disease during the study, who were compared against 16,730 participants who did not. 

As part of the analysis, the researchers looked at subjects’ dietary habits, as well as various factors that could be related to heart disease, such as a person’s age, sex, physical activity levels, whether they smoked or drank alcohol, and whether they were overweight or obese.

They came to two important conclusions…

First, the researchers found no overall link between the amount of saturated fats participants consumed and their risk of developing heart disease.

However, the picture was very different when they examined foods that are typical sources of saturated fats. They found that:

• People who ate more saturated fats from red meat and butter were more likely to develop heart disease…
• But those who ate more saturated fats from cheese, yogurt and fish actually lowered their risk of heart disease.

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The saturated fat truth? The source matters

This study aimed to investigate which foods containing saturated fats are associated with heart disease — rather than considering saturated fat alone.

Their researchers believe their findings reveal that foods are more than just the sum of their parts. They contain many different nutrients, vitamins, minerals and properties — including different subtypes of saturated fat — that may act together to prevent or cause certain diseases.

For example, palmitic acid is more abundant in red meat, while pentadecanoic acid is more commonly found in dairy foods.

Research shows that palmitic acid may have a detrimental effect on the levels of cholesterol circulating in the blood (a well-known risk factor for heart disease). In contrast, pentadecanoic acid has been generally linked with a lower risk of heart disease.

Your total diet matters, not just one factor

Based on their findings, the study authors concluded that our health is affected by a combination of all the nutrients present in the food we eat.

This means that it makes more sense to consider the nutritional content of the foods we choose to eat, not just their fat content.

For example, although cheese and yogurt contain saturated fats, they also contain nutrients such as vitamin K2 and probiotics.

The Rotterdam Study, a renowned research project, found that higher vitamin K2 intake was associated with a 57 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 52 percent lower risk of arterial calcification.

The message: rather than hyper-focusing on your fat intake, you’d be better off working to eat a balanced, natural diet that nourishes all parts of your body. That way, you’ll have all your bases covered.

Sources:

Major Discovery Challenges Decades of Advice to Avoid All Saturated Fats — Science Alert

Dietary Fatty Acids, Macronutrient Substitutions, Food Sources and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease: Findings From the EPIC‐CVD Case‐Cohort Study Across Nine European Countries — Journal of the American Heart Association

The post Why giving up saturated fats can lead to heart trouble appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

So how does insulin resistance develop?   

Through consuming excess calories and, especially, excess fat.

Our bodies are incredibly efficient energy storage machines. We are evolutionarily pre-designed to always be prepping for surviving lean times.

This may have been exceedingly useful when we lived on the savannah and faced periods of starvation. It’s far less helpful when we’re surrounded by food everywhere we go. In fact, it can be downright counterproductive.

Here’s what happens…

How it begins

When we consume fats, they get broken down into triglycerides in the digestive system and are then absorbed. Triglycerides are also formed inside our bodies when we consume excess calories. 

Triglycerides are sources of concentrated energy. And regardless of whether they’re absorbed or formed internally, they end up circulating through our bloodstreams and then get stored in three main places — in adipose tissue (fat cells), in muscles and in the liver. 

Fat cells are designed for fat storage and can accept as many triglycerides as we throw at them. Liver and muscle? They also accept triglycerides readily, but at some point, they start to rebel. After all, liver and muscle cells have much more to get done in a day than just store energy!

Turns out, it’s hard to stop triglycerides from getting into liver and muscle cells for excess energy storage. So the body pursues an alternative strategy and starts to blunt cellular entry of other forms of energy. What’s another form of energy? Glucose.   

Normal cells listen to insulin when it comes knocking to ask for a glucose molecule to enter. Triglyceride-laden cells become progressively hard of hearing and need insulin to knock louder and louder to respond. In other words, they become resistant to the requests that insulin makes. The body’s response? Make more insulin so it knocks harder! The cellular response? Become progressively even more hard of hearing. 

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The hidden dysfunction

And this manifests in a predictable blood sugar profile decline. Initially, the dysfunctional metabolism is hidden by more and more insulin being pumped out by the pancreas. Your blood sugar level might be normal, but you need way more insulin to get it into a normal range. At this point, you are insulin resistant.

Eventually, the pancreas can’t make enough insulin to knock as loud as it needs to, and blood sugar levels start to rise. At this point you are pre-diabetic. 

Finally, the pancreas gets tired, can’t keep up and gives up — eventually pumping out less and less insulin — and voila!  You’re a type 2 diabetic.

A few things that should become obvious to you:

1. Pre-diabetes is a giant misnomer because it’s not a pre-disease! It’s a sign that your metabolism is a LONG way from normal.
2. Waiting for diabetes to develop before you take your blood sugar levels seriously is a highly flawed strategy. The sooner you start an all-out effort to get your metabolism right, the better. Don’t wait until your pancreas is exhausted!
3. A high-fat diet, especially the ketogenic approaches that are in vogue for diabetic patients these days, might not be such a good idea. After all, a high-fat diet directly contributes to triglyceride stores. The reason ketogenic diets “work” is because they limit carbs, meaning it doesn’t matter if your cells remain deaf to insulin! There’s nothing to knock about: blood sugar levels may improve — but this belies the underlying dysfunctional metabolism which stays unchanged. 

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In fact, it’s estimated that the average American eats approximately 22 teaspoons of extra sugar each day. That’s more than double the amount recommended for men and a whopping three times the allowed amount for women!

And while we all know that having a sweet tooth can lead to Type 2 diabetes and other health problems, scientists and doctors have long been in the dark on exactly how sugar leads to metabolic disease.

Well, not anymore…

Now, thanks to research from scientists at the Van Andel Institute, we know more about the mechanism behind the sugar/diabetes connection at the cellular level…

Even better, we now have insights that may shape prevention and therapeutic efforts…

Surplus sugar and your mitochondria

The research leveraged a model to demonstrate how taking in too much sugar affects the powerplants in every cell in your body — known as your mitochondria.

And what it came down to was this…

When your mitochondria have plenty of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in their membranes, they can work efficiently. This means that they’re able to generate the energy your body needs to not only live but also stay healthy.

However, when you take in too much sugar, the excess glucose that’s coursing through your body gets turned into a different type of fatty acid, replacing those helpful PUFAs. It’s a fatty acid that is less efficient than PUFAs, and less flexible.

This upending of your mitochondria’s lipid balance puts stress on them, leads to damage and impacts their performance.

The result?

Powerplants that are less efficient and can’t send out as much energy to your body. And that’s when diabetes and other metabolic diseases can start.

“Although we may not always notice the difference in mitochondrial performance right away, our bodies do,” explained Ning Wu, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Van Andel Institute and corresponding author of the study. “If the lipid balance is thrown off for long enough, we may begin to feel subtle changes, such as tiring more quickly.”

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Getting more PUFAs

So what exactly are the PUFAs that are so vital to your mitochondria? And is there a way to increase them in your body to help your personal powerplants function optimally?

Let’s tackle one question at a time…

PUFAs are polyunsaturated fatty acids — or simply healthy fatty acids such as the omega-3s you can get from oily fish.

As for the second question, the answer is YES.

You can add fish rich in omega-3s to your diet. If you’re concerned about getting enough fish in your diet (or too much mercury), you might add in a PUFA supplement, specifically an omega-3 supplement, to support your mitochondrial function.

But one warning…

The same research that found why your sweet tooth could be leading you down the path to a metabolic disaster also found that the beneficial effects of PUFAs are greatly reduced if you’re also eating too many carbs.

So if you want to get the most from omega-3s, be sure to watch your carbohydrate intake as well as cutting out as much added sugar as possible.

Rolling back the damage of too much sugar

The study revealed one more therapeutic way that might halt the detrimental effects of too much sugar…

The keto diet.

The researchers say that when they fed their mouse models a low-sugar keto diet, they were able to restore normal membrane lipid composition in order to support healthy mitochondrial integrity and function.

But the Keto diet can be difficult to follow. However, you can take baby steps and cut down on sugar and carbs while increasing PUFAs by eating more oily fish, like salmon, to increase your omega-3s.

Sources:

An overactive sweet tooth may spell trouble for our cellular powerplants — EurekAlert!

The post How sugar drains our mitochondria and sets the stage for disease appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

However, a widely cited study from a few years back cast doubt on whether omega-3s actually do help protect against heart problems by concluding omega-3 supplements provided little to no benefit. Some experts believe the result had less to do with the omega-3 fatty acids themselves and more to do with participants’ omega-3 levels being too low even after supplementation to obtain cardioprotective benefits.

Since that study was published, researchers have been trying to unravel the conflicting data they’ve received on whether omega-3s can lower the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and irregular heartbeat. According to a recent meta-analysis of more than three dozen studies, the answer appears to be yes — especially for a specific type of omega-3…

EPA: especially effective for lowering cardiovascular risk

There are three omega-3 fatty acids, all of which the human body does not synthesize, meaning it’s important to get them through diet. The most crucial are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which primarily find their way into our bodies through a diet that includes fish. The third, ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) is sourced from some plant foods, like nuts and seeds.

Researchers recently analyzed 38 randomized clinical trials of omega-3 fatty acids covering a total of more than 149,000 participants. The analysis included trials that focused solely on EPA, as well as a combination of EPA and DHA.

EPA can be used by the body to produce eicosanoids, signaling molecules that reduce inflammation and influence other physiological processes. DHA is essential for childhood brain development, as well as brain function in adults.

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During their analysis, the researchers evaluated key cardiovascular outcomes, including cardiovascular-related deaths, non-fatal cardiovascular outcomes, atrial fibrillation and bleeding. Overall, omega-3s proved to be heart-healthy, lowering cardiovascular deaths and improving cardiovascular outcomes.

However, they also discovered trials of EPA alone showed higher relative reductions in outcomes such as cardiovascular mortality, non-fatal heart attack and coronary heart disease events than trials studying a combination of EPA and DHA.

These results confirm those from a 2018 study demonstrating that a high dose of a purified ethyl ester of EPA in patients with elevated heart risk significantly lowered cardiovascular events. One of the earlier study results, known as REDUCE-IT, was the approval of a prescription omega-3 supplement. It also led to an update to worldwide guidelines for omega-3 use in managing cardiovascular risk.

“REDUCE-IT has ushered in a new era in cardiovascular prevention,” said senior author Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, the executive director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lead investigator of the REDUCE-IT trial. “This [most recent] meta-analysis provides reassurance about the role of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically prescription EPA.”

Bhatt adds that the results of the meta-analysis should encourage investigators to further explore the cardiovascular effects of EPA across different clinical settings.

The evidence from the analysis that combination EPA-DHA supplements still lower cardiovascular risk, though not as dramatically as EPA alone, helps counter the mixed results these supplements have shown in previous studies.

Researchers note that while EPA and DHA are both omega-3s, they have biological differences that influence their stability, as well as the strength of their effect on cholesterol molecules and cell membranes. So far, researchers have not studied the impact of DHA alone on cardiovascular outcomes.

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Getting enough omega-3s is key

It’s clear from this and other studies that the benefits of omega-3s outweigh their risks. We’ve written extensively about how omega-3s lower the risk for heart attack, coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac death. They also improve survival outcomes in people who have had a heart attack.

It can be challenging to get enough omega-3s for their heart-health benefits to fully kick in. Dietary guidelines recommend you eat at least 8 ounces of fish per week, and some experts recommend even more than that.

If you aren’t a fan of fish or have legitimate concerns about mercury levels, you can also get omega-3s from plant sources like chia seeds, flaxseeds and walnuts, as well as flaxseed, soybean and canola oils. But again, you’d have to consume large amounts of these foods to reach optimal omega-3 levels.

That’s why many people choose to take omega-3 supplements. Supplements containing krill oil are a great choice because krill oil’s structure makes it easier for cells to absorb. This means you need less krill oil than fish oil to get the same levels of EPA and DHA. Also, as we noted in an earlier article, krill oil tends to be cleaner, lacking the high mercury levels and other contaminants often found in fish oil.

Interestingly, the recent meta-analysis found omega-3s reduced incident atrial fibrillation. This appears to contradict a European study from earlier this year that found omega-3s raised the risk of atrial fibrillation in patients with elevated triglycerides who are at a higher cardiovascular risk.

Still, to be safe, it may be wise to talk to your doctor before taking omega-3 supplements if you’ve already been diagnosed with heart disease or are at high cardiovascular risk.

Source:

Meta-Analysis Finds that Omega-3 Fatty Acids Improved Cardiovascular Outcomes — Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Effect of omega-3 fatty acids on cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis — EClinicalMedicine

Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation and risk of atrial fibrillation: an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials — European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy

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