Junk food surprise?

Something that is a constant amazement to me is how keen researchers are to prove what we already know – somebody must be giving them grants but in this case I strongly suspect it wasn’t McDonalds or Burger King. This particular study has taken place in Sweden at Linkoping University and made the amazing discovery that just one month of too much junk food and too little exercise can significantly harm the body.

I know we could all have told them that, but they put their volunteers on a diet where they ate fast food twice a day for 30 days and not surprisingly gained 14lb on average, with one volunteer putting on two stones in two weeks.

As a believer in a varied diet, I don’t have a problem with the occasional junk food meal, but how many people eat it twice a day every day? If you know anyone then pass on to them that the biggest initial problem, besides putting on weight, being constipated and prone to spots, all of which are enough to put most people off, then they are also prone to suffer damage to their livers as most of the Swedish study did. Varuna Aluvihare, a consultant hepatologist at King’s College Hospital in London, said that for him the most startling thing about the study is how fast it (liver damage) happens.

BREAK OUT THE POMEGRANATES!

Every supermarket chiller has pomegranate juice as it is the new ‘superfood’ and studies have shown numerous health benefits ranging from protection against prostate cancer, slowing cartilage loss in arthritis, and potentially preventing Alzheimer’s. Although I personally don’t drink it as it doesn’t suit my ‘blood group’ type there is even more evidence that it can be good for you. According to the results of a new study done in China – where they seem to have cornered the market in anti-ageing as I presume they glug the stuff down while doing their early morning tai chi – pomegranate juice is more effective than apple juice in boosting the body’s antioxidant defences, which decline naturally with age.

They gave their research subjects (average age 63) a 250ml glass of pomegranate juiced every day for a month and found that the anti-oxidant capacity of their blood was increased by almost 10% while a control group, who drank apple juice, showed negligible changes.

Alert – The placebo effect and antidepressants

Five centuries ago, the Swiss alchemist and physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) wrote: “You must know that the will is a powerful adjuvant of medicine.” In a nutshell that sums up the effect that placebos can have on our bodies: they can effect change without containing any active chemical ingredients that could medically make a difference to the state of our health, and yet they often can provoke therapeutic effects – both positively and negatively – when administered to patients.

Researchers now believe that belief in the placebo as being part of a curative treatment seems to stimulate the body’s own healing mechanism – if we believe it is doing us good, then it is. Our belief stimulates certain bio-chemical responses and reactions and increases our ability to initiate our own healing process.

The term placebo literally means “I shall please” and was used in mediaeval prayer in the context of the phrase Placebo Domino (“I shall please the Lord”). Much later, during the 18th century, the term was adopted by medicine and was used to imply preparations of no therapeutic value that were administered to patients as “decoy drugs.” Over time it became recognised as having an important role in the therapeutic treatment of patients and in more recent studies, the placebo effect was estimated at 60% of the overall therapeutic outcome. In a recent review of 39 studies regarding the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs, psychologist Guy Sapirstein concluded that 50 per cent of the therapeutic benefits came from the placebo effect, with a poor percentage of 27% attributed to drug intervention. Now an even more startling study by the FDA has revealed that the new generation of SSRI anti-depressant drugs are even less effective than Sapristein’s study showed.

I have a vested interest in the subject as I have been treated for depression since my teens and now 50 years on have tried many drugs, therapies and natural alternatives and finally discovered that I just have to learn to recognise it and live with it as for me nothing has proved effective over the long term and the side effects of antidepressants have seriously affected both my creativity and natural personality. Depression is a serious medical illness caused by imbalances in the brain chemicals that regulate mood. I am certainly not alone with my experience of depression as it affects one in six people at some time during their life, making them feel hopeless, worthless, unmotivated, even suicidal.

Doctors measure the severity of depression using the “Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression” (HRSD), a 17-21 item questionnaire. The answers to each question are given a score and a total score for the questionnaire of more than 18 indicates severe depression.

Mild depression is often treated with psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioural therapy to help people to change negative ways of thinking and behaving. For more severe depression, current treatment is usually a combination of psychotherapy and an antidepressant drug, which is used to normalize the brain chemicals that affect mood.

Antidepressants include “tricyclics,” “monoamine oxidases,” and “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs). SSRIs are the newest class of antidepressants and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the USA has reported on both published and unpublished trials on SSRIs submitted to them during their licensing process. The findings have rocked the medical world as it has indicated that these drugs have only a marginal clinical benefit. On average, the SSRIs improved the HRSD score of patients by just 1.8 points more than the placebo. The most effective clinical rating for SSRI’s was for severely depressed patients and the FDA again reported that this reflected a decreased responsiveness to placebo rather than an increased responsiveness to antidepressants. I am not saying don’t take antidepressants, I have done so myself, but I am saying think before you go down the drug intervention route.

That ‘will’ that Paracelsus referred to that certainly has a powerful role to play, particularly in the area of whether we regard our treatment positively or negatively, regardless of what it contains. Positive or negative thinking seems to be a decisive risk factor for every treatment, perhaps even more important than medical intervention, so looking at our attitude to life could be the first place to start. Research clearly indicates that positive thinkers live on average 6 years longer than those who always respond negatively to life – it’s not about being a ‘Pollyanna’ and forever looking on the bright side but it is about taking those lemons life hands out and making some lemonade, or in my case lemon curd, rather than leaving them in the bowl to rot and decay.

Smoothies go green

Breakfast is always a difficult meal for me as I don’t like cereals and am not mad about yoghurt or fruit or vegetables. It is a miracle I am as healthy as I am, and part of that miracle is that I take in my daily 5 in liquid form from my juicer or blender. Now in colder weather I am not so keen on chilled fruit smoothies, but I have found a way to have a healthy breakfast in minutes that gives me healthy carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll – sound dreadful but it can be made to taste great with the addition of fruit.

I also find as I have got older I need protein in a morning so I add a scoop of protein powder for a complete meal. If you want to get out the blender this recipe could help you be bright eyed and bushy tailed whatever time of day you drink it – in fact it is a great pick me up for that mid-afternoon slump too.

If you want to have a go, the rule of thumb when making green smoothies is to use slightly more vegetables than fruits, say about 60/40 in favour of the green stuff. What goes in it? Well good greens to use might be romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, and chard. For the sweetness you might add fruit peeled and chopped fruit such bananas, pears, apples, blueberries, mangos, papayas, and pineapples.

Put your favoured fruit and veg into a good blender and add just enough water to allow the blender to bring vegetables and fruits together into a smoothie-like consistency. Personally I don’t use water, but cranberry juice as its slight tartness seems to bring out the flavour and I don’t like my drinks too thick so I add a good glug – personal taste so experiment to see what you like.

If you feel you need some extra antioxidants in your diet then you could also add a teaspoon or so of acerola cherry powder and then just drink it down. Don’t let it stand as the ingredients will separate and you get the most goodness immediately it has blended. If you do like a cold drink, then add some ice.

Key point: If you don’t have any problems digesting fruits and vegetables, you can mix and match any combination of the vegetables and fruits listed above. If you have a sensitive digestive tract, it is best to combine only one vegetable and one fruit at a time.

Cranberries – Not just for sauce

For many of us, cranberries are forever associated with turkey and Christmas, but this small red berry has a range of health benefits. Research conducted by Tel Aviv University professor Itzhak Ofek and his colleagues is revealing a surprising array of benefits beyond their well-known role in helping prevent urinary tract infections, Dr Ofek has discovered that cranberry juice can help prevent cavities, fight influenza, and reduce the recurrence of gastric ulcers. However, the berries appear to provide a greater benefit to women than men. Apparently it is a compound known as non-dialyzable material or NDM in the berries that appears to coat some of the body’s surfaces which prevents the adherence of infectious agents while not affecting the body’s beneficial bacteria.

In simple terms what this means is that there is specific inhibitor in cranberry juice that doesn’t let infections adhere to a woman’s bladder. Many women drink cranberry juice as a precaution against bladder infections, and if you can find it then try to get one without artificial sweeteners or an unsweetened one and add honey to taste.

A trial at Tel Aviv University’s School of Dental Medicine has revealed other benefits as they found that NDM inhibits oral bacteria from sticking to tooth surfaces and this helped reduce the number of cavities in the mouth, and therefore the number of fillings too.

Last June in the journal of Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, an article coauthored by Dr Ofek described how effect of cranberries helped reduce or get rid of H. Pylori, the bacteria that causes ulcers. Though again the benefits only seem to apply to women – sorry chaps.

Lets hear it for nuts!

This is another natural food that can get a bad press. They are shunned because people – particularly those on a diet – believe that they are bad for you as they are high in natural fats and oils, but this is far from being the case. Raw, not processed or salted, nuts can help fight depression, heart disease and bad cholesterol. That last one may be a bit of a shock, but although it is true that nuts in general contain as much as 80 per cent fat, but there are good fats and bad ones. The type of fat found in nuts is unsaturated fat – specifically monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat and both of these unsaturated fats are known for their ability to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also called “bad” cholesterol, when consumed in moderation.

A few months ago in the USA, a survey examined and reported on the diets of more than 31,000 Seventh Day Adventists – chosen for the similarity of their lifestyle choices – and it was found tha t those who ate nuts more than four times per week experienced 51% fewer heart attacks compared to those who ate nuts less than once per week.

If you want to stick to the most healthy nuts around, these are the top 5 to go for:

1 Pistachios can produce a 10 point drop in your triglycerides and a 16 point decline in your LDL (bad) cholesterol, according to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

2 Walnuts Contains omega 3s which may help ward off depression and heart attack, according to Harvard research. Maybe you should stuff those sardines with lemon and walnuts for extra benefit!

3 Brazil nuts contain selenium, a mineral linked to prostate cancer protection, according to scientists at the University of Arizona.

4 Pecans have the most antioxidants of any nut. Could help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

5 Hazelnuts a handful daily boosts HDL (good) cholesterol levels by 12 percent, according to a study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Avoid a visit to casualty – sweep the room!

Naturally I am not insinuating that your house needs cleaning, but it’s a visual sweep I am talking about. If you have small children, or visiting grandchildren, there is a potential hazard that often goes unmissed. Babies and toddlers love to put things in their mouths so I thought it might be useful to list the apparently most frequent things that Casualty departments are called on to remove so you can avoid a visit to them.

Naturally you keep the floor and coffee clear of small items that can be swallowed or pushed into a nose or ear – the favourite places – but things fall on the floor or they are so natural to see in that place that you actually don’t notice them and these three fall into that category:

1. Pieces of lego, beads, caps for pens, and coins. If you have older children, Lego pieces are probably the most common things left around or they fall out of pockets behind cushions. Coins creep between magazine covers and down the sides of chairs. Never underestimate the tenacity of a toddler to root out something unsuitable so include these items when doing a scan of the room.

2. Batteries. Everything nowadays seems to require them and in the process of changing them or opening the device to check them they can go missing. These are potentially fatal to children so always dispose of used batteries immediately and safely.

3. Leaves that have fallen from indoor or outdoor houseplants can be too big for small throats and cause choking or an allergic reaction. As my cats will try and eat every fallen houseplant leaf I have got this one cracked, as they are usually violently sick afterwards I make sure I remove them as soon as I see them.

Ginger up your diet

Ginger may be the single most important ingredient you can add to your diet for maximum health effectiveness. It has proven to be so valuable because it not only has antioxidant and cancer fighting properties, but a new study has also found that the ginger component gingerol exerts anti-inflammatory effects by mediating NF-KB, a protein complex that regulates your immune system’s response to infection.

Not only all that, but it may also prove to be useful for treating and preventing ovarian cancer, according to a new study just reported in the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journal. Chinese researchers tested the effect of ginger on cultivated ovarian tumour cell growth. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women. They found that ginger inhibited growth and modulated the secretion of angiogenic factors, which is a fundamental step in the transition of tumours from a dormant to a malignant state.

This is good news and ginger is only one of a number of foods that when found in good quantities in the diet are thought to thought to contribute to the decreased incidence of colon, gastrointestinal, prostate, breast and other cancers. The other cancer-fighting foods are garlic, soy, cumin, chillies and green tea so sounds like switching to cooking up some Asian food might be a healthy option.

Is snoring a health risk?

Certainly can be if you are moved to violence by the sound of your partner’s snoring. One friend of mine regularly pushed her husband out of bed and claimed it was a reflex action to thinking she was hearing a burglar breaking in and she was defending herself! Fear not they had a very thick sheepskin rug next to the bed and he occasionally stayed there and carried on sleeping!

Seriously though, the emotional toll of sharing a bed with a chronic snorer has always been clear and if you haven’t managed to persuade the guilty party to take action then maybe this extra health risk might encourage them.

A recent study by Chol Shin, M.D., Ph.D., of Korea University’s Ansan Hospital supported by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Japan hs reported that regularly snoring may significantly increase susceptibility to chronic bronchitis.

The range of risk was a 25% to 68% of getting bronchitis, compared to people who never snored and the combination of smoking and snoring almost tripled the likelihood of chronic bronchitis compared with those who did not smoke or snore. Being overweight was also another risk factor so no more late night snacks, stay away from dairy foods to reduce mucus and try olbas oil to inhale before sleep to open the nasal passages.

More on the coffee debate

My piece on coffee has sparked some debate, and this week I saw an interesting post this week from Ray Collins who writes The Good Life Letter and happily for those of us who cannot start the day without a cup of coffee it’s not all doom and gloom. I did tell you about the risks pregnant women run of miscarriage through coffee drinking, but if you are not pregnant then read on.

It’s the caffeine content which is at the root of the argument and like most things it has its good and bad sides. On the pro side there is evidence that it may lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and headaches. Caffeine also has a stimulating effect on the brain and studies have shown that it can also improve your attention span, boost your brainpower and also help balance your moods.

I mentioned in the last newsletter that the optimal dose of coffee a day is no more than 200 milligrams, or two average size cups of coffee, in a day. For me, I have a small cafetiere of organic ground coffee to start my day then I switch to white or herbal tea and that seems to work for me.

Oh, and if you are up for a major purchase, then don’t take the offer of free coffee that the salesman may make. Apparently, according to Pearl Martin of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, she claims that doses of caffeine can make you more easily convinced by arguments that go against your beliefs. This comes from a paper she authored in 2005 which suggested that the brain stimulators in caffeine improves your ability to understand the reasoning behind strong arguments.

In practice, that could make you more likely to end up agreeing with something that goes against your typical views. So if you are against gas-guzzling cars and you have a couple of free java’s then beware, because it might help the salesman change your mind!

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