I am home from a conference where I heard a few great motivational speakers. The one today, Barb Bancroft is a Nurse Practitioner from the U.S. Check out her website at www.barbbancroft.com.
She gave us two humorous sessions with the first being about nutrition and all the myths and what we need to relearn. We all know how the nutritional guidelines have jumped from one extreme to another over the years....mostly decades worth now...On the subject of weight gain and nothing to do with myths, for instance, she said if you eat a cup of walnuts, you won't gain nearly the weight you would if you ate the same amount of mashed potatoes.
I hope that was a joke, because what?? Why would I or anyone for that matter deliberately substitute mashed potatoes for walnuts? Doesn't just about everybody love the taste of mashed potatoes? I can't even feature having walnuts with a steak or pork chop, could you? The bad news is that mashed potatoes, potato chips, and french fries are the absolute worst culprits for weight gain. Who doesn't love them? She told us that trans fats, carbohydrates and saturated fats light up the same brain areas that cocaine, alcohol and nicotine do. Keeping that in mind, it doesn't take much to figure out how fast food and the brilliant marketing ploy of "super sizing" emerged. She said that by 15 months old, the most popular vegetable has become the french fry....oh my goodness, I hope not!
Her next topic was that there may be more to the concept of obesity than meets the naked eye. Simply put there are two types of bacteria living in our guts. Scientists found that if they injected extra "firmacutes" into rats rather than the other kind of bacteria, "bacterioides", those rats gained 20% more weight. Humans are not all created equally. Apparently, if your gut is comprised of more firmacutes than bacterioides, that could be the reason why you have a weight problem. Interesting....because I have thought all along that there is more to obesity than simple supply and demand. Supply to eat the food and the demand for the muscles to burn off the calories..People don't plan or like to be overweight, so the situation really is more complex than we thought. The good news is that apparently, there may be probiotics one day in the future made up of billions of bacteriodes (the good bacteria) that just might help with weight loss. So bring on the bacteriodes!
And by the way, eggs are once again not bad for you...they go in and out of fashion like shag rugs and toupees. Do you know adults can safely consume 14 eggs per week with children at half that number? (7 per week). It is recommended that diabetics follow the children's guideline too. Did you know there's a connection between eggs and brain function? Without eggs, you may be facing dementia. Eggs have a connection to acetylcholine which is what helps make you think. Every egg also has 41 IU of Vitamin D ...not alot but better than nothing. There are things in eggs that prevent macular degeneration which is a disease of the eyes. Also, buy the omega-3 fortified ones because those chickens are fed flaxseed...You can find them for sure at Costco. Why didn't we know this when we were raising chickens on the farm? My grandpa lost his sight due to macular degeneration, so guess what kind of eggs I will be buying from now on?
The whole idea of drinking 8 glasses of water a day is also flawed....Don't get me wrong, if you can do so, then go for it. Apparently, the guideline was supposed to be 8 glasses of any kind of fluid...coffee, water, soup, Jack Daniels...And remember, serve your elderly friends and family fluids without asking if they want something to drink. First off, if you ask, they'll tell you they aren't thirsty...and that's because of the decrease in osmoreceptors in their hypothalamuses...They usually never say no to ice cream, so serve it on up. Water does increase your metabolism and can help you burn calories so keep on drinking. It's great for diabetics too. Barb reminded us that if you feel hungry to remember you might just be thirsty...She talked about a toddler who kept drinking out of the dog's dish and trying to get at the water in the toilet bowl.....guess what? He was little diabetic in the making.
The myth that saturated fats are bad for you was clarified that it's trans fats that are bad for you. In moderation saturated fats help protect you from atherosclerosis. LDL cholesterol is the bad kind and comes in two forms - large and fluffy or small, dense and BB like (remember the BB gun?). The small and dense ones are the ones that pack themselves into your artery walls. Oh joy, all diabetics are said to have the BB-like ones. She absolutely preached that all diabetics should be on a statin. She knows all about the side effects, (scoffed at them in fact), but when she said the statins change the BBs to the large and fluffy kind, I saw the light. I have tried several statins, with big side effects, but after her talk, I met with my doctor and am trying 1/2 of the smallest dose of prevastatin. My cholesterol is high and all I could take was something called ezetrol, which I doubt is doing much good.
Something else I found interesting was that the mammary artery is the only one in the body that does NOT fill up with fat. That is why they use it for coronary bypass surgery now. The other thing is that women don't routinely need added iron after menopause. Men don't ever need it if they are healthy. For children it is essential for vertical growth.
There is little evidence that multivitamins help protect you from heart disease, stroke, cancer, memory or cognitive function. Even if you take multivitamins, you are just as apt to get colds and other infections and stay sick just as long as anyone else. Vitamins we do need more of are B12 and Vitamin D.
B12 makes red blood cells, helps to maintain nervous system myelin and contributes to serotonin production along with folic acid. Essentially folic acid and B12 make you happy. It takes five to seven years to deplete B12 stores in the body. Vegetarians, those over 55, those with autoimmune disease such as pernicious anemia, those with malabsorption like Crohn's Disease. People on protein pump inhibitors like for GERD and finally Type 2 diabetics on Metformin
are all those who should consider going to GNC or some place to get some.
B12 supplements come in a variety of preparations...but, don't exceed 3,000 mcg per day or you may experience anal itching like you've never had in your life.
If your B12 stores are depleted you could become demented, depressed, anemic and with peripheral neuropathy. Vitamin D is something essential for absorption of calcium and phosphorous. In our part of the country we don't get enough sunlight. If you do get sun, about 30 minutes gives you 10,000-12,000 IU of Vitamin D. Kids should have 600 IU/day. Adults at least 800 IU/day. Don't go beyond 10,000/day x 3 months, or it can be toxic. Vitamin D is found in several foods like salmon, tuna canned in water (not Albacore Tuna because too much mercury...buy the cheap stuff), milk, orange juice, yogurt, sardines canned in oil, and egg. Finally, portobello mushrooms are good because they are grown under a UV light. Take Vitamin D with the largest meal of the day. It's a fat-soluble vitamin so fat in the meal boosts absorption by 57%. Higher doses are needed for the elderly.
Muscle aches and pains can be from thyroid dysfunction, statins, exercise, and the erectile dysfunction drugs. Generally when men in a doctor's office find out that their muscle aches are related to viagra the pain tends to subside!
Vitamin D boosts your immune system, prevents falls by increasing strong muscle growth. It may improve asthma control by blocking lung inflammation and may also improve MS and Crohn's.
Another myth is about taking calcium supplements. Evidence shows an increased risk of heart attacks when taking calcium supplements from increased coronary artery calcium. They recommend no more than 700/day. Adults 19-50, 1,000 mg/day; over 50 1,200-1500 mg/d. Two to three glasses of low fat milk works just as well. Cardiologist are saying no supplements is best, since you can get calcium from so many foods - yogurt, skim milk, tofu, broccoli, sardines, black-eyed peas, spinach, white beans, salmon, almonds, Total raisin bran, and corn flakes. Incidentally, the broccoli floret has eight times more calcium than the stem.
Newest research says fish oil - omega-3 fatty acids basically don't help to prevent a first heart attack, a second, or subsequent ones. It does help protect brain white matter, eyes, is anti-inflammatory, and slows the aging process. Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids are salmon, mackerel (not King), tuna (not Albacore), Atlantic cod, sardines, Krill oil (Omega red). Fish capsules stored in the freezer help reduce breath odor. Non-fishy sources are flaxseed, omega 3-enriched egg, chia seeds, and walnuts.
Use olive oil. It is a potent anti-inflammatory food. Almost any kind of berry is great.
Nuts are not bad for you. They are potent vasodilators but are high in calories. Good nuts are walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, chestnuts, and pecans. NOT brazil nuts, cashews and macadamias. Almonds and walnuts are sources of Vitamin E. The macadamia nut is the highest nut in fat and calories. Two brazil nuts = 200 calories. Remember you need portion control when it comes to nuts because one ounce is about the size of an Altoid mint tin.
Coffee appears to clean the liver and reduces risk and symptoms of Parkinson's. Coffee can be a potent bronchodilator for asthmatics.
Well folks, that's the end of the list and the end of Barb Bancroft's tale. Being a primary health care nurse in the past with a mandate for health promotion and prevention, I understand the importance of spreading the word when it comes to our health.
Until we meet again!
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