Lung Cancer and Greens

I just read a study about lung cancer and eating leafy green vegetables. Before I read the study, I was fairly certain what it would show, since leafy greens are rich in antioxidants which can help prevent cancer.

Indeed, the findings were that eating leafy greens and taking multivitamin supplements demonstrated fewer changes in the cells of lungs from smokers and ex-smokers. While we know that it takes at least seven years of not smoking for lungs to at least recover somewhat from smoking, this seems to indicate that lots of antioxidants could help, certainly during the recovery phase once smoking has ceased.

Best leafy greens to eat are spinach, bok choy and kale.

Good Foods to Eat Vegetable

My last vegetable in this list but by no means does it mean that there aren't other really good vegetables out there. This one is unique because it is listed as a vegetable, but really is a fruit. It is the tomato.

Tomatoes are very rich in lycopene which helps with heart health and reduces the risk of certain cancers like pancreatic and prostate. You don't have to eat just the tomatoe to get it's good nutrients. You can also get the nutrients in tomato products such as tomato paste, sauce, juice, soup and ketchup.

Tomatoes also contain Vitamins A, C, and K, potassium, phytonutrients and fiber.

One thing to keep in mind is that eating the tomatoes with fat helps the body to absorb the lycopenes. Of interest is that organic ketchup has three times more lycopene than non-organic ketchup.

More Good Foods to Eat

You may have noticed that my list here of healthy foods, with the exception of the first one, sardines, the rest have all been vegetables. Well they are the healthiest foods. Beside today, I have one more vegetable to talk about. Today I'm going to talk about brussel sprouts. You know, those tiny little cabbages.

Growing up my mother did what most people do to brussel sprouts. They cook them into oblivion! They should be tender, but not mushy!

Brussel sprouts contain a compound called glucosinolate which has cancer fighting properties. In fact brussel sprouts contain the highest amount of this compound. Additionally, they contian Vitamin A, B1, B6, C, and K, and folate.

Hint, when you cook them, try tossing them in some olive oil, garlic and salt and then bake them. The less water involved in the cooking the better.

More Healthy Foods

My food for today is broccoli. Yes, I know we have had presidents who don't like it. But the fact is that broccoli contains lots of antioxidants and is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Broccoli has anti-cancer properties and contains Vitamins A, C, & K as well as folate and fiber. It is a great source of fiber.

Additionally, broccoli has properties that kill Helicobacter pylori (H pylori). H pylori plays a role in stomach ulcers and stomach cancer.

Eating it raw is great because all of the nutrients are there. But you can also cook it, steam it, or add it to casseroles, chili, sloppy joes and soups.

A word about the Vitamin K. If you eat broccoli on a regular basis say 2-3 times per week and you are pu on coumadin or warfarin, continue to eat the broccoli just as you have. While it will interfer with the coumadin, your dose will be adjusted by the doctor according to blood tests. It is far better to continue eating the broccoli that to stop it because of coumadin. Just be consistant with how much you eat each week.

Healthy Foods Continued

Next in my list of health foods is cabbage. Usually the only way people will eat cabbage is as cole slaw - beware of the dressing. Cabbage is one vegetable that if you are going to cook it, be extra careful not to over cook it. Not only will it smell bad, but you have cooked all of the good parts out of it.

Cabbage contains lots of fiber and very few calories. In addition to the fiber, cabbage is loaded with phytonutrients, minerals, and vitamins. These nutrients can help you reduce your risk of cancer and protect your brain.

Some of you may be thinking, well what about sauerkraut and kimchi, aren't they from cabbage. Yes indeed they are. Sauerkraut is an excellent non-dairy source of probiotics or bacteria that have a health benefit. The lactic acid in sauerkraut helps in the absorption of iron.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #4

I mentioned yesterday that minerals are necessary for vitamins to do their job. So you might guess that the next essential nutrients are vitamins. Vitamins are organic substances that are only found in living things. Vitamins help activate chemical processes that release energy within the cells.

The most important function of vitamins is their reaction with oxygen which makes them able to neutralize free radicals which cause damage to the DNA structure. The vitamins are essential to your having a strong immune system. In and of themselves, vitamins do not contain energy, but what they will do is help your body convert fat and carbs into energy.

Best sources are fresh organic fruits and vegetables. If you are not eating organic, be sure that you are on a reputable brand of vitamins. Remember you get what you pay for - if they are very inexpensive, they may not have quality control and your batch may be lacking some of the ingredients.

Weight Loss Prescription Drugs

I have often been asked by patients for a prescription for a weight loss drug. My usual answer is no for several reasons. Mostly it is no because of the side effects of these drugs. First and foremost you need to know that no drug whether it is prescription or over the counter is going to be a majic pill for weight loss. Taking a pill to lose weight just is not going to do it.

The economy being what it is currently, for you to lose a significant amount of weight with any of the major prescription drugs is going to cost you upwards of $1000 a year. So cost in my mind is an issue for many, but it is not the most disturbing issue about these drugs.

The most disturbing is the side effects. Here's some of the side effects of the more common drugs out there. Orlistat (Xenical, Alli) cause oily stools which can leave oil spots on your underware and often causes a very uncomfortable urge to have a bowel movement. In addition it may cause a decrease in the absorption of vitamins which you normally get from foods that you eat. The studies have shown that an individual will lose about 6 pounds a year. That's not very impressive folks and you would do better to just eat sensibly and get some exercise in your life.

More tomorrow on some of the other weight loss drugs.

Vitamins Good, Bad, or No Effect

As a researcher, I always go crazy when the news media picks up on some bit of research and runs with it, without really looking at whether the study is valid or not. A prime example is the Women's Multiple Vitamin study. I was some what surprised to see that this was actually published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Of course what the media picked up on was that the study "showed" that multivitamins are useless against cancer and heart disease in women.

Now, let's take a look at the study. This was actually a survey, which means that the results are only as good as the questions asked of the participants and the truth of the answers. What am I talking about here. If you really want to know if vitamins work, then you need to design a study in which you actually give the participants vitamins. This published study did not give anyone vitamins, merely asked the question, "do you take a multivitamin?" Most people would answer this question yes. But if you go look and count how many times a week they actually take the vitamin, it will likely not be every day. Now I know there are us out there who would rather not eat than to miss our vitamins, I'm one of those, but this is not the average person out there. The other question you have to ask is what kind of vitamins were they taking. Was it the cheapest brand they could get? Was there any quality control behind the vitamin they were taking to say that they were actually getting what it said they were getting in that vitamin. Oh, and here's another thing, were the components in the vitamin actually able to be absorbed by the body.

The interesting thing about all of this is that here is a "study" that says vitamins have no effect towards cancer and heart disease. The conclusion is that if vitamins don't have an effect, then you must need to take the expensive, toxic medications of big pharma. Well, I for one am not buying this one. Until they can put together a decent study, this does not show me anything and there are far more studies that do show the effects of vitamins.

Pluot

A new fruit out there. Over the past couple of months I have received Pluots with my fruit and vegetables that get delivered to my home. I wasn't sure what a Pluot was. What it is, is a hybrid cross between a plum and an apricot.

There isn't much information about the nutritional value of these fruits. Because apricots and plum have Vitamins C and A in them, one would think these fruits would be a good source of these vitamins. They should also be a good source of fiber.

They are actually quite tasty.