Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Milk

A bit more on conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) found in milk and beef and it's properties. I talked yesterday about building muscle and decrease abdominal fat. CLA also boosts the immune system to help us fight off disease. CLA is a polyunsaturated Omega 6 fatty acid.

In addition, CLA tends to lower food allergies. This can be very beneficial especially since we are seeing more and more food allergies these days.

Sources of CLA

I've mentioned that beef is one of the main sources of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). The problem being that in order for cows to produce CLA they need to be grass fed. Hay and silage fed cows do not produce as much CLA. Other grass fed ruminants such as sheep, goats, deer, antelope and buffalo also produce higher levels of CLA.

Another source of CLA is eggs, but they should be coming from free range chickens.

Because most of food supply is not free range animals these days, supplementation is often necessary for us to get good amounts of CLA. I've found a great source for the supplement CLA, just click here.

Hydrogenated Fat and Heart Disease

I found an interesting fact when reading up on hydrongenated fat. I've mentioned before that you should avoid foods with hydrongenated oils or fats. This is not an easy feat, as most of our foods today contain these. Why? Because they increase the shelf life of the food.

Here's the interesting fact, before 1911 when crisco was developed - hydrogenated cottonseed oil - very few people died of heart disease. One has to know that we have been the cause of our own demise. Read labels when you go to the store. It is difficult to find anything that does not have hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil in it.

Goat's Milk

Laurie asked about Goat's milk and CLA. Yes, Goat's milk does contain CLA as long as the goats like cows are fed grass. The chemistry is that part of the grass is transformed in the ruminants stomach (for those who may not remember, ruminants have several stomachs.) So the key ingredients for CLA and ruminant's digestion fo grass.

This is one reason it is important to eat free range beef, lamb or mutton. We as humans are able to eat the meat of these animals and obtain the CLA we require.

If you think about this, wild game is obviously the best. Makes me feel a whole lot better remembering that I was raised on wild game. But then, when I was young, the cattle were all free range.

Milk and CLA

CLA is conjugated linoleic acid. Raw milk contains this if the cows have been feeding on grass. So why is it important?

One of the things that CLA does for us is to help us build muscle. Most of the beef and milk that you buy these days comes from beef that are raised in pens and fed specific feed. If you look at the pens, there is not a blade of grass to be found. So the beef that we buy does not contain CLA or very little, and we are becoming CLA deficient.

In addition to helping us build strong muscle, CLA helps remove abdominal fat. You will sometimes see it advertised as a weight loss supplement. While it does help decrease abdominal fat, you won't see huge drops in weight by taking it. What you will see is loss of inches. CLA also helps increase the metabolic rate which will assist in weight loss also. These two assests in turn help the body utilize insulin more efficiently and you will see a decrease in insulin resistance.

Milk and Vitamin D

Vitamin D is essential for you to actually absorb calcium and assimilate it into bone. That is why you see milk fortified with Vitamin D. I won't get into all of the physiologic components here, but there are several components to vitamin D which are required to process calcium into our bones.

The natural source of vitamin D are fish, egg yolks and liver. These are usually not in everyone's diet on a regular basis. Supplementation is helpful to ensure that you get vitamin D to help with the processing of calcium in the body.

You may recall from your health class that Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin. This occurs naturally through the skin. It only takes about 20 minutes of sun exposure to produce enough Vitamin D. Remember, if you live in a cold climate and you are bundled up in the winter time, you may not get the 20 minutes of exposure. Also if you have darker skin ( more melanin pigment in the skin), you will need more than 20 minutes.

Raw Milk and Lactase

Thank you for the question about raw milk and lactase. Raw milk - that is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized - does contain bacteria and enzymes, lactase being one of them. More importantly, the bacteria in raw milk produces lactase which breaks down the lactose. This is why lactose intolerant individuals can drink raw milk. It is also why raw milk is better for our body in that it contains enzymes which help the body digest it and get the nutrients the body needs.

Why Milk?

Here is another thought on milk for you to ponder. Why do we drink milk as adults? Yes it is a good thing, but the main reason that most of us give for drinking milk is that it is a great source of calcium. Actually this is not true. There are better sources of calcium such as black strap molasses which contains other important minerals as well. Two Tablespoons of molasses gives you more absorbable calcium than 1 cup of milk. Also, remember form yesterday, what pasteurization does to calcium.

The best source of calcium is Tofu.

If you think about the animal world, once an animal is weaned, they don't drink milk. Of course they will if we give it to them, but the rest of the animal world gets along just fine without it after weaning. One thing to consider is that drinking milk is far better than drinking a carbonated soft drink!

Raw Milk - Raw Deal?

I just read an article about raw milk and the FDA saying that there are "dangerous pathogens" in raw milk. I grew up on raw milk from the farm. Although I wasn't raised on the farm, we used to drive out to the country and get milk from the farm twice a week. Sometimes it was so fresh it was still warm when we got it.

So why do we "have to have pasteurized milk?" If you look at what pasteurization does, it actually makes milk more difficult to digest. Specifically we usually hear about drinking milk so we can "get our calcium" so we don't develop osteoporosis. The pasteurization process renders calcium more difficult for the body to absorb. That's helpful don't you think?

Another thought here is, those who are lactose intolerant can actually drink raw milk. Pasteurization breaks down lactase. Lactase is an enzyme that helps digest the milk sugar lactose. So if lactase is broken down it is not there to help with the digestion and lactose intolerant individuals will have difficulty with the milk. Raw milk still contains lactase and assists in the digestion of the lactose, thereby allowing lactose intolerant individuals to drink it.

Ciliac and Gluten

Most of us are familiar with the fact that those who have ciliac disease have an allergy to gluten. Once gluten is removed from the diet these individuals do quite well. What many people do not know is that you can actually have a gluten sensitivity without having ciliac disease.

Many of the symptoms are the same and you can feel much better if you avoid gluten.

Most of us know that gluten is found in wheat. Rye and barley are two of the other big gluten grains to avoid. There is controversy over oats and it may be that oats are actually gluten free, but become contaminated in processing.

Lupus and Soy

In extensive studies actually looking at some of the components of alfalfa, there is a chemical found in alfalfa that is also found in soy beans. So soy products can exacerabate Lupus symptoms. Here is where reading labels can be vital to helping the person with lupus avoid symptoms.

I really didn't talk about what Lupus was yesterday. Lupus is often labeled as a collagen disease. The underlying factor is that it is also an autoimmune disease in which the immune system begins to attack one's own body tissues.

The disease tends to have dire consequences when the heart and/or kidneys come under attack.

Lupus and Diet

I've had several questions over the past couple weeks about Lupus and diet, so thought I would take a few moments to address some of these.

There are studies that show a link between gluten containing grains, like wheat, rye, barley and oats, being a factor in lupus. People who were diagnosed and treated for lupus got much better when gluten was removed from their diet. While they may not have a full gluten allergy, there seems to be a gluten sensitivity.

More on this tomorrow.

Water

I'm on the road to northern Wisconsin to see my 93 year old mother. Obviously she has done some things right to still be with us. She is a cancer survivor but she never saw the disease as being a big part of her life - she just went on.

So how does this relate to water. She spent most of her later years from 65 - 85 living at a cabin on a lake in northern Wisconsin. The cabin is basically 2 rooms and has it's own well. No chlorine or fluoride in that water. My husband asked about taking water along on the trip and I said yes to get us to the cabin and then we can drink that totally untreated water!

I'll be missing tomorrow as we will be traveling some more and it will be our arrival day, but I will be back with you on Thursday.

Water and Chlorine

Yesterday I mentioned Fluoride and it's affect. Today I'm going to mention a little about Chlorine. There is controversy as to it's affect on the thyroid, but chemically, it is similar to Fluoride and so may also compete and block thyroid function.

More importantly for women is the fact that women who drink chlorinated water tend to have higher serum cholesterol levels. While men have also have a rise in serum cholesterol when drinking chlorinated water, it is less than in women.

Yet another reason for us to be drinking purified water!

Water Fluoridation and Thyroid

I mentioned recently that the best thing to drink is purified water. I realized that I really didn't tell you why purified water is so important. The problem with regular tap water is that it contains fluoride and chlorine. Fluoride competes with thyroid hormones and blocks the function of the thyroid gland.

The studies done regarding fluoridation of water were conducted in the 1940s and are very questionable as to the scientific information purported in these studies. Supposedly, fluoridation was to help decrease tooth decay in children, but that has not been shown to be effective from just drinking fluoridated water. What we have seen in the last 50 years in a dramatic increase in thyroid disease which can be directly linked to the fluoridation in water.

Another word of caution about fluorides, they are also found in toothpastes and mouth washes, so use these with caution that you may be affecting you thyroid gland.

Disease and Omega 3

More and more research is being done on the effect of omega 3 and many diseases. Most of us are aware of omega 3 and coronary artery disease. The thing that intrigues me the most is the link between omega 3 and brain and psychiatric disorders, especially ADHD and autism.

When I was in training, it was rare to see a child with autism and there was no such thing as ADHD. So what's happened in the last 40 years? We are eating more processed food which means less omega 3 and more omega 6. There are new studies out now that indicate that children with these disorders who are given more omega 3 show less symptoms of ADHD and autism.

The old adage that we are what we eat may well becoming true in yet another arena.

Getting Omega 3 in Your Diet

So how do we get more omega 3 in our diet? One of the best sources is fish, like salmon (wild salmon is best), herring, mackerel, and sardines. Tuna also contains omega 3, but less than the other fish mentioned. Another excellent source of omega 3 is flax. You can add fresh ground flax to your smoothie to increase your omega 3.

Word of caution about flax. To be it's best, you should not buy ground flax as it needs to be refrigerated once it is ground. If not it will spoil quickly. Flax seed that you grind and add to a smoothie or shake type drink will help to counteract the bad effects of processed foods which give us way too much omega 6.

Omega Three

One can't talk about fats without talking about the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. The American public gets way more than they need of the omega 6 fatty acids and usually way less of the omega 3. So what's the difference?

Omega 3 includes linolenic acid which I mentioned the other day. The ones that you may be most familiar with are EPA and DHA. I won't confuse you with the scientific name, because many of you have probably heard of EPA and DHA. There are other fatty acids included in the group, but these are the main ones.

Omega 6 are fatty acids that are found in most of what we eat today. In fact the ratios are that we get 10 times more Omega 6 than Omega 3 and that the Omega 6 may block the good effects of Omega 3.

Essential Fatty Acids

There are 2 essential fatty acids that you may be aware of, linoleic and linolenic. Your body requires 2% of your caloric intake to be linoleic acid. Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fat, so you might think it's a good idea to load up on the polyunsaturated fats. Not true. Eating more than 10% of your calories in polyunsaturated fats can result in the suppression the production of good cholesterol.

Linoleic acid is the most important fatty acid and your body cannot produce it on it's own. The body requires you to get it from foods that you eat. Best foods to eat for linoleic acid are nuts, seeds and some vegetable oils. Watch the vegetable oils for hydrogenation.

Linoleic acid is important for growth and development as well as producing hormones that can help the body maintain a good blood pressure.

More on Good Fat and Bad Fat

Let's talk a little about good fats. Best fat is coconut oil. Get unrefined, virgin, organic coconut oil. Yes, it is a saturated fat, but it is easy for the liver to break down into usable cholesterol for the cell membrane. It will spoil if you leave it for a period of time after you have opened it.

Another good fat/oil is olive oil. Similar to coconut oil, you want the extra virgin olive oil. The reason is that virgin or extra virgin oils may not contain any processed oils. Extra virgin means that the olives were cold processed, so the oils extracted have not been exposed to heat.

Smart Balance is one of the buttery type spreads that does not contain hydrogenated oils. There are some others out there, but you will need to read the label. If they contain hydrogenated oils, find something else.

Good Fat, Bad Fat continued

Yesterday I was talking about hydrogenation of fat. What forms when a fat is hydrogenated in trans fatty acids, which are chemically altered or processed fats. These trans fatty acids are the ones that increase are cholesterol to higher levels of the bad cholesterol while lowering our good cholesterol.

So why do manufacturers do this? Because it extends the shelf life of the product. The problem is that it is nearly impossible to find any foods today on the grocery shelf that do not have hydrogenated fat in them. I know there are labels on foods out there that say "No trans fatty acids." Well they may not contain trans fatty acids, just like margarine doesn't contain cholesterol, but we also know they were made with fats that have been hydrogenated to preserve the food. It is almost impossible today, in fact I would say it is impossible today to buy a loaf of bread at the store that does not contain hydrogenated oil. Makes you want to get a bread machine and make your own.

Before you go out for the bread machine, look in your cupboard. What kind of oil do you have there? Do you have margarine or butter in your refrigerator?

Good Fat Bad Fat

I think we're all aware of the fact that there are good fats and bad fats out there. I always laugh when I go by the butter and margarine dairy case at the store. All of the margarine containers say in big letters "No Cholesterol." Of course if you look at the fat content, well there you have it. Fat converts into cholesterol which is in every cell membrane. In fact it is an essential part of the member and required in order for the cell membrane to function properly.

Yes we do need some fat in our diet. Women require more than men. There are a few things about fat that you should be aware of when you're reading labels at the grocery store. First is to avoid any product that has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in it.

Hydrogenation is the process where a normally unsaturated fat such as corn oil is heated to a high temperature and pressure processed. What this does is make the fat in a more solid form at room temperature. Or as the margarine ads say, it's a soft spread.

More on this tomorrow.

Cholesterol continued

I'm still digging to find the original research, but I did find one of the statistics on the issue of increased cancer risk when taking Vytorin. The report gives the statistic of 106 cases of new cancer in the drug treatment group and 67 cases of new cancer in the group who did not receive any active drug.

There is argument out there that this drug could not be responsible in such a short period as three years. But I ask, what if it is responsible? I would not want my loved ones taking this drug.

More on the cholesterol story

After yesterday's post, I just received some information about Vytorin and it's relationship to an increase in cancer risk. I have not seen any hard data here, but I will look for it to see what is out there and let you know what I find.

Today's words of caution are, if you are on Vytorin and are not feeling well, get to your doctor and possibly stop taking the medication. It's not OK for you to feel ill, have muscle aches and pains while on these types of medications. These are potentially serious side effects that may affect your future health.

This is just more proof that children should not be put on these medications. Let's find out what they really do before we start giving them to our children.

Cholesterol

More on the cholesterol scene. The slick ads on the TV are to get you to purchase a product. Or as the pharmaceutical ads say, "ask your Doctor if this drug may be right for you." I have seen many patients since these ads started who come to the office purely to see if they need to be on the drug. Some patients actually get angry when I have told them no. As a scientist, I look at the research on the drugs to see what the actually numbers are. You and I both know that you can make statistics say whatever you want. The statistics may say that there is a significant difference, but when you actually look at the numbers, it may not be the picture that you think.

The example is Vytorin, a cholesterol drug. Looking at the numbers, I wouldn't say that this drug is any better than some other cholesterol drugs that are out there. If fact, it may not work as well. So why do the drug companies put these ads on TV? They are looking to you the public to ask the doctors to switch you to the latest and greatest drug, which, oh by the way, is going to cost you more and make more money for the drug company.

Be cautious of the TV ads for any drug. My premise has always been that the less medicine you are on the better for you. Yes, sometimes you do need medicines, but not always.

Cholesterol and Children

Recently there was an item in the news about how children were developing high cholesterol and should be treated with statin drugs. This is basically a push from the drug companies to sell more drugs. Drugs that have not been tested in children and are not recommended for children.

Look at the underlying problem here. It is not the high cholesterol. The problem is the increasing obesity in this country. Children are not the only ones, but the drug manufacturers already have the drugs for adults. Now they need a new place to market, so they have chosen the children.

For more on this topic, click here.

One more thing on sodas

Since school is starting, I wanted to give you some thoughts about what alternatives you can offer your children. If your kids are just starting school, you are in the prime educating and modeling phase. If your kids are older and have already developed the soda habit you may face bigger challenges. Remember that teenagers feel invincible, so they may not relate to the medical issues that will face them in the future if they continue drinking sodas. The first step with teens is to get them to cut back on the amount. Have them try some of the things I mentioned in the last entry.

One thing to remember is that kids are looking for energy, perhaps not consciously, but their bodies are craving energy that they are using to grow. One basic food to help them get some of the nutrients they need to grow is fruit. Fruit serves a couple of purposes, one being giving them some good nutrition, but also the natural sweetness in fruit gives them the sweet fix. You too may want to try this to meet your sugar craving.

There is a site specifically for healthy snacks for teens. Check it out for some great suggestions.