Fighting Free Radicals

In the past, I’ve discussed free radicals.  In the chemistry world these are molecules in the body with unpaired electrons that will attack nearby cells hoping to steal an electron thereby damaging healthy cells.  In your body, the damage of free radicals can be related to numerous diseases from arthritis to cardiovascular disease to cancer or any other form of degeneration.  Antioxidants are molecules that will neutralize free radicals by giving them the extra electron they so desperately desire. 

A new laboratory test known as ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is one of the most accurate ways to measure the ability of antioxidant to absorb free radicals. The higher the ORAC score, the better the food is for the body.  Researchers have found that consuming a combination of foods that provide a daily ORAC score of 50,000 or greater will provide the antioxidants necessary to prevent disease and reduce aging.  But what foods will deliver the most bang for your buck?  I thought it might be helpful to give you a list of the most powerful antioxidant foods based on this ORAC score.

Oddly enough, 60 grams or unprocessed and unsweetened Cacao (for dark chocolate) yields a score of 16,800.  A cup of blueberries provides 9700.  A half cup of black beans, kidney beans, lentils or pinto beans all yield an average of around 7500.  Broccoli, artichokes, or a Granny Smith apple are around the 7000 mark as well.  A cup of raspberries or strawberries both score around 6000.  And pomegranate juice is near 3000.  Obviously the key is various raw fruits and vegetables and plenty of them to get 50,000 ORAC points each day.  This is one of the many reasons why I’ve always stressed the importance of committing to 5-8 serving of raw fruits and vegetables as a staple of your daily diet.

Inflammation Part 2

Last week we began the discussion of how to reduce inflammation in the body in order to help prevent all forms of disease.  In our diets, with every bite we eat or sip we take, we are either deflaming or inflaming.  Since the diseases that result from chronic inflammation develop very slowly until it’s too late, learning to make the right choices can be the biggest factor for better health.

Last week we discussed that all grains, even whole wheat, will increase inflammation in the body.  This week, it should not come as a surprise that all oils dramatically increase this same inflammation.  In the 70’s and 80’s, we were sold the lie that margarines, corn oils and vegetable oils were good for us.  The truth is that when we use these trans fats, it is like drinking arthritis and disease.  In fact, all oils, all fried foods, and all foods made from oils such as salad dressing and most pre-packaged foods will increase inflammation in the body.  Corn oil specifically will cause a 70:1 ratio of inflammation.  This means it would take nearly 70 servings of broccoli to balance the inflammatory effect of one tablespoon of corn oil!

The lesson here is the same as with grains – moderation and good choices.  When using oils we should gravitate toward products such as extra virgin olive oil (11:1 ratio) or better yet, coconut oil.  When using olive oil, be careful not to cook at high heat as olive oil will degrade into a trans fat (hydrogenated oil) at extreme temperature – try not to let it smoke.

Inflammation...

If there were one thing that every person could do to promote health and prevent all forms of disease it would be to “deflame”.  Nearly all experts agree that the common denominator of every disease is inflammation in the body.  Chronic inflammation will cause everything from pain and arthritis to cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.  In the next few weeks, I will be discussing how to decrease inflammation in the body.

Most of the process of reducing and avoiding inflammation in the body will start with diet.  Stated simply, we need to increase the foods that decrease inflammation and decrease the foods that promote inflammation.  One food that promotes inflammation may surprise you is grains.  But whole grains are supposed to be good for us, right?  The nutrients and fiber in whole grains certainly are beneficial and whole grains are much better than white bread and products made from white flour.  However, all grains are inflammatory.

Most grains contain two ingredients that are the source of the problem.  You’ve likely heard of gluten.  This protein will often cause a type of allergic reaction in the body that begins in the bowel.  Grains also contain a substance called phytic acid that will reduce the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc.  Likewise, all grains will cause the pH of our body to become more acidic which is known to cause inflammation.

Limiting the intake of grains is a great solution for reducing inflammation.  In the next few weeks I’ll discuss other strategies.

The Pain Problem

According to an article in The Back Letter, from 1996 to 2006, the total amount spent on prescription pain killers has more than tripled.  We now spend $13.2 billion on these medications every year.  The researchers are not certain, but they believe that the trend is due to increased utilization as a result of higher rates of obesity, higher perceived stress levels, and a generally poorer American lifestyle.  I’m certain all this is true, but as someone who deals in peoples’ pain every day, I find it important to understand what pain really is in order to better deal with it.

Regardless of a person’s condition, understand that the pain is not really the problem.  Pain is merely a symptom of a problem.  Think of pain as your own personal smoke alarm or check engine light.  We are hard wired through our nervous system to feel pain at a brain level most every time that we have dysfunction or some kind of imbalance in our body.  In other words, pain is there to alert us that something is not right and to keep us from doing even more damage to that injured area.  So again I say that the pain is not the problem.  And any time you are taking a pain reliever, you are merely covering up the symptom of the real problem.  It is exactly like shutting off the smoke alarm and going back to bed.

So what should you do if you are in pain?  Find the problem.  Often times the pain can be the result of something you are doing repeatedly or a problem in your lifestyle (diet, exercise, stress).  It could be something from work, the way you sit, or the way you sleep.  If you can’t find the problem, make certain you find a doctor, chiropractor, therapist, etc. who does.  Do not settle for pain pills as a solution.  Pain is often the result of inflammation (swelling) in the body.  People who are in chronic pain need to deal with the chronic inflammation.  This is where changes in diet, beginning light exercise, reducing stress, improving sleep are all critical.  Drinking more water and reducing sugars, grains, and corn/vegetable oils can be effective as well.  As I’ve said so many times, the omega 3 fatty acids that are found in fish and krill oils are essential and necessary for reducing any inflammatory process in the body.  One thing is for certain; continuing to take increased amounts of pain pills is not solving the problem.

Exercising Better School Grades

In staying true to the back-to-school theme, I found this information.  Middle school students who perform more vigorous physical activity than more sedentary students tend to do better in school, according to a new study done by researchers from Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University.  Does this mean that P.E. class is the answer?  “Physical education and activity during the school day reduce boredom and help keep kids’ attention in the classroom,” said Dawn Podulka Coe, the study’s lead author, “but enrollment in PE alone did not influence grades.”

The researchers did find that students who took part in more vigorous physical activities – such as organized sports like soccer or football, or non-organized after-school activities such as skateboarding – did approximately 10 percent better in core classes such as math, science, English and social studies.  According to Coe, “The students who performed better academically in this study were the most active, meaning those who participated in a sport or other vigorous activity at least three times a week.”

The difference between vigorous activity and moderate activity is thought to be related to heart rate. Moderate activities, such as walking or raking leaves, don’t increase the heart enough. Vigorous activities, such as running or swimming for exercise, increase heart rate, causing the exerciser to breathe harder and increase oxygen to the brain.

With school about to start, I urge all parents to take this new study to heart. Get your kids out doing vigorous exercise.  And while this study was performed only on sixth graders, I’m confident the benefits will work for the parents as well!  Be the example for your kids and schedule time for exercise together.

The Backpack Dilemma

With the start of school right around the corner, it’s a good time to discuss backpack safety.  While I don’t believe that backpacks are inherently evil, it is common knowledge that overloaded and improper fitting backpacks can lead to numerous spinal problems and symptoms including back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, and headaches.  In fact, the journal Spine reported that 74% of backpack users complained of such symptoms and also had “poorer general health” than those not using a backpack.

The professional weight recommendation is that a backpack should not weigh more than 15% of the child’s body weight due to the risk of serious back pain and scoliosis complications.  For most kids, this is not a great deal of weight!  Both straps need to be worn over both shoulders and the bulk of the pack should rest upon the lower back.  If you can find a pack with elastic in the shoulder straps, this also relieves some stress/shock of the upper back and neck.

See the chart below to determine how heavy your child's, or your backpack should be.

Apples and Pears

As we put on weight and our body changes shape from an ideal anatomy, we assume two basic body shapes based on two different types of fat.  We either become an apple shape or a pear shape.  There are different health risks and complications with each of these types.  But, as I recently learned, there are different strategies on how to combat these types of fat and body shapes and failure to recognize these will make weight loss more difficult.

The apple shaped body is the result of belly fat otherwise known as visceral adipose tissue.  This is dangerous as this fat gets deep inside the abdomen and crowds the organs.  This apple shape is associated with a greater risk of heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes, gall bladder problems, high blood pressure, and colorectal cancer.  The pear shape has fat that is more superficial and surrounds the muscles of the hips and thighs.  This fat is associated with osteoporosis, varicose veins, life-threatening blood clots, and menopausal symptoms.  In both instances, a person is carrying excess fat and both instances need to include a better diet with exercise programs that include high-intensity cardio training as well as strength training.  Both types of weight are complicated by the stress hormone cortisol.  Research shows that mild exercise such as walking will not affect this hormone levels.  However, high intensity exercise can blast the fat away by increasing human growth hormone.  This means you have to push yourself and work hard, but you also need to take measures to reduce emotional stress as well.  Regarding both body types, sugars and processed carbs must be reduced while protein and vegetable carbs must be maintained.

The difference between apples and pears is that the apple shape is largely from a sedentary lifestyle and high glycemic foods such as sugars and processed grains.  A low glycemic diet coupled with the exercise and stress reduction mentioned above will generally produce results.  Recent research has shown that the pear shape is more involved with various toxins and this toxic stress to the system will alter the adrenal and thyroid hormones.  For this reason, weight on the hips and thighs may be less life threatening, but it’s also harder to lose.  Detoxification protocols are the most effective way to address the fat stored with the pear-shaped body.  These programs include a low-glycemic, healthy diet, but add various supplements to clean the liver, colon, kidney, and gall bladder.  Most experts believe the source of toxicity in these cases is from various pesticides and even heavy metals.  Your detox program needs to address these sources.  Avoiding soy, coffee, alcohol, lunch meats, and the trans-fats will also help when dealing with a pear shape due to their influence on estrogen levels.  Flax seeds, cruciferous vegetables, organic meats, artichoke hearts, broccoli, beets and bean sprouts are foods that have been proven effective in lowering estrogen levels to aid in fat loss.  

Weight loss can often be a challenge, but I’ve seen the difficulty first hand with the pear-shaped body type.  Likewise, I’ve seen these detoxification programs produce results.  We use a 10-day detox by Metagenics.  This is the best program I’ve found over the years to relieve the toxic stress.  However, ten days is often just the jump-start and continued supplementation may be required for 6-12 months when dealing with excessive weight on the hips and thighs.  There are many detox programs out there.  Look into these as a strategy for weight loss and better health.