Dietician’s Blog

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

As you age, expect to lose muscle fibers and strength unless you exercise. A study from the University of Florida in Gainesville shows that a program of exercise training later in life helps aging rats to reverse this age-related loss of muscle size and strength (American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, November 14, 2007). The study also showed that short-term administration of growth hormone late in life does not prevent loss of muscle strength. Previous studies show that it may help people get rid of fat.

At this time, there is not enough evidence for an older person to take growth hormone to improve muscle strength, and there is no long-term data on safety. Sudden deaths reported in athletes who have taken growth hormone are probably due to the effect of enlarging the heart muscle without also adequately enlarging the blood supply. The larger heart requires more blood and cannot meet its needs for oxygen, so it starts to beat irregularly. More on growth hormone; growth hormone releasers; growth hormone and aging

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by The Food Doc Journal

Increased mast cells have been reported in association with eosinophils in the gut in patients with celiac disease and inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease condition. Mastocytic enterocolitis (entero=small bowel, colitis- colon + -itis= inflammation) is a newly recognized disorder defined specifically by the microscopic presence of increased mast cells (>20 mast cells/high power field) in the gut, typically associated with abdominal pain and diarrhea diagnosed as IBS-D.

Mast cells are a type of white blood cell important in immune defense. These “covert” cells are hard to see in the lining of the gut without special stains. Therefore, they have been not recognized as being increased in the gut until recently when this association was found with IBS.

Mast cells have granules that contain chemical mediators such as histamine. These mediators are released resulting in pain due to irritation of nerves. Diarrhea is most commonly noted but impairment of nerves can result in opposite effects on gut movement.

Since routinely looking for mast cells in small bowel and colon biopsies about a year ago I have diagnosed more 35 patients with mastocytic enterocolitis. Interestingly, there appears to be a very strong correlation of this condition with HLA DQ2 and DQ8, white blood cell protein pattern types genetically determined and inherited that are highly associated with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. In my experience, those with this condition have a high risk of gluten and other food protein sensitivity or intolerance. A combination of food elimination based on food allergy and sensitivity testing (Signet Diagnostic Corporation, MRT or Alcat food intolerance testing) with use of histamine blockers, oral steroids including budesonide (Entocort EC), or the mast cell stabilizer sodium Cromalyn (Gastrocrom).

Unfortunately, most patients undergoing evaluation for abdominal pain, diarrhea, gas-bloat or nausea either do not have biopsies of normal appearing intestinal tissue or that tissue is not stained with special stains to look for mast cells. As a result I believe many with this treatable condition are being missed despite undergoing invasive diagnostic endoscopy (scope) exams. Further studies are needed to look into the association of HLA DQ genetic patterns and the helpfulness of food intolerance tests combined with specific elimination diet based on these results.

I am attempting to get a research protocol designed, approved and funded to look into this link. There continues to accumulate mounting evidence of the role of food proteins, dietary yeast and gut bacteria and yeast in the development of a wide variety of symptoms and diseases, especially inflammatory bowel disorders including celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, microscopic colitis, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, and now irritable bowel syndrome. Our goal is a “healthy gut, healthy life” and to provide useful information to those who follow the Food Doc blog to achieve this goal.

Jakate S, Demeo M, John R, Tobin M, Keshavarzian A. “Mastocytic enterocolitis: increased mucosal mast cells in chronic intractable diarrhea.” Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2006 Mar;130(3):362-7.

Barbara G, Wang B, Stanghellini V, de Giorgio R, Cremon C, Di Nardo G, Trevisani M, Campi B, Geppetti P, Tonini M, Bunnett NW, Grundy D, Corinaldesi R. “Mast cell-dependent excitation of visceral-nociceptive sensory neurons in irritable bowel syndrome.” Gastroenterology. 2007 Jan;132(1):26-37.

Park JH, Rhee PL, Kim HS, Lee JH, Kim YH, Kim JJ, Rhee JC. “Mucosal mast cell counts correlate with visceral hypersensitivity in patients with diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome.”
J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006 Jan;21(1 Pt 1):71-8.

Barbara G, Stanghellini V, De Giorgio R, Cremon C, Cottrell GS, Santini D, Pasquinelli G, Morselli-Labate AM, Grady EF, Bunnett NW, Collins SM, Corinaldesi R. “Activated mast cells in proximity to colonic nerves correlate with abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome.” Gastroenterology. 2004 Mar; 126(3):693-702.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy with Uri Feast

SHOULD YOU USE AN ENEMA WHILE JUICE FASTING?

There is a lot of controversy in America about the use of enemas while fasting. There are some doctors and clinics in America that condemn the use of enemas completely while fasting. They insist that enemas are unnatural, unnecessary, habit-forming, and harmful.

On the other hand, virtually all European fasting authorities agree that using enemas while fasting is beneficial and advisable. They do warn against the regular use of enemas and colonics when not fasting because it is habit-forming. However, the exceptions to this general rule include times of fasting, treating of acute constipation, and treating acute infectious illnesses when the patient is bedridden for long periods and their bowel movements become sluggish.

According to Dr. Paavo Airola, “During fasting, the natural stimulation of the defecation-reflex from food is missing and therefore all the impurities, wastes, and toxins will remain in the body and may cause auto-toxemia, or self-poisoning. The main purpose of fasting is to help the body to cleanse itself from accumulated toxic wastes. By the process of autolysis, a huge amount of morbid matter, dead cells, and diseased tissues are burned; and the toxic wastes which have accumulated in the tissues for years, causing disease and premature aging, are loosened and expelled from the system. The alimentary canal, the digestive and eliminative system, is the main road by which these toxins are thrown out of the body. Since, during fasting, the natural bowel movements cease to take place, the toxic wastes would have no way of leaving the system, except with the help of enemas.”

It is for the above mentioned reasons that virtually all biological doctors in Europe administer enemas to all fasting patients (once, twice, or even three times daily). During both juice fasting and water fasting, using an enema will assist the body in its cleansing and detoxifying effort by washing out all the toxic wastes from the alimentary canal.

One of the most common and harmful ailments of modern civilized man is CONSTIPATION. The digestive tract, especially in the colon and lower bowels, becomes stagnant and slack with hardened residues clinging to the walls of the colon and filling its many folds and pockets as a result of long-term constipation.

One of the most common complaints of people over 50 is a condition called “Diverticulitis,” which is a chronic condition whereby small pockets of the colon are packed with feces. Often what happens is that the complete length of the colon is packed with hardened old fecal matter, cemented to the wall and pouches, leaving only a thin, narrow channel for soft feces to pass through. It would be unwise for a person to fast without making an effort to cleanse their body of these toxic tissues which are a constant source of auto-intoxication or self-poisoning. In addition, if these toxins are not eliminated through the alimentary canal, the body will try to get rid of them through other eliminative organs such as the kidneys. As a result, these toxins can overload the kidneys and even damage them.

According to Dr. Airola, here is what the European fasting specialists advise for their fasting patients.

1. All of their fasting patients are given DAILY ENEMAS, in addition to WEEKLY COLONIC IRRIGATIONS.

2. To assist the body even further in its detoxification and elimination processes, fasting patients are given DRY BRUSH MASSAGE twice a day. This is very important because it stimulates the eliminative capacity of the skin, which is the biggest eliminative organ of the body.

3. And finally, all fasting patients are advised to WALK and EXERCISE in FRESH AIR as often as possible to help the lungs in their blood-purification work.

For more information on juice fasting, watch for my next posting.

Fasting is a very healthy and healing habit to develop and one that you should consider establishing as you start the new year. I personally practice and recommend fasting one day a week (consistently on the same day) and fasting for cleansing, regenerating, and rejuvenating purposes twice a year. Always remember, juice fasting is one of the keys to good nutrition and eating healthy with the Uri Feast.

Thank you for vising my nutrition blog. Please check back often for my most recent postings on good nutrition and on eating healthy, and consider adding my RSS FEED to your computer so that you can be kept up to date on all of these health and nutrition articles.

As a defender of your health, I am dedicated to providing you with the Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy. I am also devoted to encouraging you to eat 5-9 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day, and the best way to do that is by drinking the Feast, by Uri International, which is a live whole food based InstaFresh super juice powder drink.

For more information, click here:
The FEAST - The Single Most Nutritional Experience of Your Life! http://www.UriLife.net/jfriberg

To your health, longevity, and prosperity,

Josiah Friberg
Health and Nutrition Educator

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by The Food Doc Journal

A new report suggests that a sugar found in Cow’s milk, contributes to the development of Crohn’s disease. This sugar mannan is also produced by the dietary yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae or common Baker’s or Brewer’s yeast used to bake bread and brew beer. Mannan has been shown to make white blood cells lazy and allow overgrowth of the bacteria E. coli. Both Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and E. coli bacteria are linked somehow to Crohn’s disease based on the presence of antibodies in the blood to them found in most people with this chronic incurable bowel disorder.

Interestingly, antibodies to the yeast abbreviated ASCA are found in many people with Celiac disease and in some people with IBS. I have several patients with ASCA antibodies who have Celiac disease, mastocytic enterocolitis, microscopic colitis, IBS and other undefined conditions that I believe are a form of a leaky gut disorder. Many of these people have evidence of multiple food intolerance and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Most improve with a gluten free diet combined with probiotics and when necessary steroids, or other Crohn’s and colitis type medications.

There has been a theory for years that Crohn’s disease results from an infection. A cousin to the TB bacteria known as mycobacterium paratuberculosis is high on the suspect list because it causes a disease in sheep called Johannes’s disease that is nearly identical to Crohn’s disease in humans. Some researchers have reported evidence of this bacterial infection in patients with Crohn’s disease though I could not find evidence of DNA of this bacteria or RNA of the measles virus in biopsy tissue using PCR techniques during research I did while in my GI fellowship training. Treatment directed against M. paratuberculosis has helped some Crohn’s patients further fueling the debate about its role.

More recently the focus on the role of a dietary yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is heating up since up to two thirds of Crohn’s disease sufferers have antibodies to this yeast in their blood, abbreviated ASCA. In addition the presence of antibodies to the outer membrane protein (OmpC) and flagella (anti-CBir1) of the bacteria E. coli has it in the fray as well along with the yeast Candida albicans that may somehow assist in the toxicity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Mycobacterium paratuberculosis apparently sheds mannan, this yeast sugar also found in Cow’s milk. M. paratuberculosis bacteria and the other suspect yeast in the digestive tract, Candida albicans, also apparently trigger the development of ASCA antibodies. These researchers theorize that the presence of ASCA antibodies found in Crohn’s disease patients indicate prior infection with M. paratuberculosis bacteria. It is interesting to wonder if such an infection is a trigger for leaky gut that can precipitate various digestive symptoms as well as diseases, depending on the location of the gut injury and a person’s genetic make up and environmental influences including stress, diet and gut bacteria levels.

Mannan shed by this bacterium causes white blood cells known as phagocytes (phago-eat, cytes-cells) that normally eat foreign invaders become lazy. Granulomas, collections of dead cells and debris, and abnormal connections between tissues known as fistula typical of Crohn’s disease result.

Currently, there is no cure for Crohn’s disease and the only treatments involve suppressing the body’s immune system with powerful drugs such as the steroid prednisone, biologics Remicade and Humira, and anti-cancer/anti-inflammation drugs Immuran/azothioprine, 6-mercaptopurine or methotrexate. More recently, probiotics have been showing great promise. Probiotic bacteria in preparations such as VSL#3 and the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii, a cousin of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are effective in preventing and treating Crohn’s disease to some degree in laboratory rats and humans.

Of interest is that the carbohydrate specific diet espoused by Elaine Gottschall in her book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” limits dairy and yeast intake. This diet advocated by many for treatment of Crohn’s disease based on numerous patient testimonials of its effectiveness. Since no controlled trials have been done proving it is effective, it is not advocated by most traditional medical practitioners. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America reviews the diet on its website pointing out the pros and cons. Many of us open to the role of diet in bowel inflammation suggest it to our patients as an option.

This new data on yeast sugar mannan, found in Cow’s milk, and gut bacteria is further support of the role of diet, bacteria and yeast in bowel damage and injury. The leaky gut and hygiene theory continue to become entwined with food, bacteria and yeast proteins and sugars in human disease. What you eat and what is living in your gut are important to your health. That is why the Food Doc motto is a “healthy gut, healthy life”.

Reference: Gastroenterology 2007;133:1487-1498

Copyright © 2008, The Food Doc, LLC, All Rights Reserved.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

A study from The University of Bern in Switzerland shows that a high carbohydrate, high-fat diet for three days before competition can help athletes store more fat in their muscles and use much more muscle fat for energy during exercise (European Journal of Applied Physiology, November, 2006). Endurance-trained athletes exercised for three hours to empty sugar and fat reserves from their muscles. Then they ate a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet for 2.5 days or the same diet with lots of added fat for the last 1.5 days. Athletes who ate the high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet stored 55 percent more fat in their muscles and used more than three times as much of that fat during exercise.

The data on fat storage may have no practical value for endurance athletes because the authors were not able to show that the extra fat stored in muscles increased endurance. This is probably because there is almost an unlimited amount of energy available from a person’s own body fat. Changing the percentage of fat use from body fat to muscle fat would not increase energy sources and therefore would not increase endurance.

Carbohydrates are another story. Normally there is only a small amount of carbohydrates stored in the muscles, liver and bloodstream. Storing extra carbohydrates in muscles is beneficial because when a person runs out of stored muscle sugar, his muscles hurt and are more difficult to control. In the 1940s, Per Olaf Ostrand showed that a high carbohydrate diet for several days before athletic competitions helps a person store more sugar in muscles, which does increase endurance. Since then athletes have eaten high-carbohydrate diets before competition and often have pre-race pasta parties. Subsequent studies showed that highly-conditioned endurance-trained athletes can maximally fill their muscles with sugar just by eating their usual meals and cutting back on their heavy workloads for a few days before competition.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Being in shape helps to prolong your life, even if you are overweight and even if you store fat primarily in your belly, which is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart attacks, and probably certain types of cancers (JAMA, December 5, 2007). As people age, most gain weight and become progressively less active. Researchers at the University of South Carolina in Columbia showed that a person’s fitness level was a far stronger predictor of premature death than body fat. Those who were fit suffered less than half the death rate of those who were out of shape. They also showed that those who store fat primarily on their bellies are at significantly greater risk for dying early and that people with abdominal obesity who exercise are far less likely to die early than those who did not exercise.

The authors describe fitness as walking briskly at least five days a week. Abdominal obesity is defined as having a waist circumference over 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women. In this study, the least fit 20 percent had a death rate twice as high as people who did 30 minutes of walking five days a week. Those who were more fit had an even lower death rate. Furthermore, higher levels of fitness were inversely related to all causes of death in both the normal-weight and overweight groups.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Why are some people skinny, even though they eat large amounts of food, while others become fat? Jeffery Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis thinks it’s because some people have types of bacteria that cause them to absorb more calories from their food.

You have two absorption systems in your body. You absorb most of your food as it passes through your small intestines. Food that is not absorbed in the small intestine goes to your colon. The colon contains a huge colony of bacteria that work to ferment undigested carbohydrates such as soluble fiber into short chain fatty acids and simple sugars that can then be absorbed through the colon walls into the bloodstream. Most people get about ten percent of their total calories from food absorbed through their colons.

Animal studies lead us to the next step. The dominant bacteria in the gut of obese mice are Firmicutes, types of bacteria that have more genes for breaking down the complex starches and fiber. Mice who are thin have more Bacteroidetes in their guts, and these bacteria are not as efficient in breaking down fiber and complex carbohydrates. Transplanting Firmicutes bacteria into the guts of lean mice made them fat.

These researchers also found that fat humans had far more Firmicutes bacteria than thinner ones. They then asked their overweight subjects to go on a low-fat, low-refined- carbohydrate diet for one year. As they lost weight, their bacteria changed to predominantly Bacteroidetes.

Today you may be able to lose weight by changing the composition of your diet in a way that changes the bacteria in your gut so you absorb fewer calories. In the future, you may be able to get a pill that contain primarily Bacteroidetes bacteria, take it daily and watch the pounds melt off because of the change in intestinal bacteria. Fitness, Nutrition and Health newsletter

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Clementines are the small citrus in boxes or mesh bags that appear in markets during the winter months. This year’s crop is tasty, juicy and plentiful (prices are low!).
They’re great for snacking, dessert or in fruit salads. Clementines also make a wonderful addition to almost any green salad. Or try Diana’s Recipes Using Clementines.

In Canada and perhaps elsewhere clementines may be called mandarins. Technically clementines are a cross between mandarins (Citrus reticulata) and Seville oranges (Citrus auratium). Recipes using clementines can be made with any of the tangerine-sized citrus or with oranges sections cut into bite-size pieces.

To prepare clementines for salads, just peel and section. If they are large or you want more flavor from the juice in your salad, cut the peeled fruit in half cross-wise before you separate the sections.

Look for boxes of small, firm fruit. I find that the smaller clementines often have the best flavor, although they may be more difficult to peel. If you get a box with poor flavor, look for another “brand” (from the box labels) and try again. They come from Spain, Morocco, South America and various other countries; I haven’t found any reliable way to tell which will taste best. If you can find the ones from California (often labelled “California Cuties”, in mesh bags), they seem to be consistently good.

Just a few years ago no one had heard of clementines; now they’re everywhere and they sell like hotcakes. I hope that food marketers will take note that SHOPPERS WILL BUY healthful foods if they are tasty, attractively packaged and reasonably priced. Vote with your pocketbook; buy lots and enjoy!

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Fifty percent of North Americans are lactose intolerant. They lack the enzyme to split the double sugar, lactose, found in milk and other dairy products. Since you can only absorb single sugars, if you can’t split the double sugar, it passes to your large intestine where it is attacked by bacteria and fermented, causing gas and cramping. Some people deal with this by adding the lactase enzyme to their diet.

You can eliminate all dairy products and still have a perfectly healthful diet. Yes, milk is a good source of calcium, vitamin D, protein and other nutrients, but it is far from essential. You can get all the calcium you need from a variety of other foods.

Many doctors, dieticians and vegetarians oppose the use of dairy products, and back their position with extensive research data. Check the Physicians Committee for Responsible Nutrition web site, www.pcrm.org, for some interesting articles and journal references.

You can get plenty of calcium in your diet if you include lots of leafy green vegetables, a wide variety of beans and whole grains, and perhaps fortified products such as soy milk, cereals and juices. The RDA for calcium ranges from 800mg for young children to 1500mg for older people and pregnant or nursing women. If you’re not sure you are getting that amount in your diet, it won’t hurt to take a calcium supplement.

Here’s the calcium content of some typical beans, vegetables and fruits (Portion size is 1 cup, cooked, unless otherwise noted):

Black beans - 103 mg
Chick peas - 80 mg
Pinto beans - 82 mg
Soybeans - 175 mg
White beans - 161 mg
Broccoli - 94 mg
Collard greens - 358 mg
Spinach - 244 mg
Swiss chard - 102 mg
Dried figs (10)- 269 mg
Orange (1) - 56 mg
Raisins - (2/3 cup) - 53 mg
Tofu (½ cup) - 258 mg.)

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Animal studies suggest that exercise may be even more important for older people than for younger ones. A report from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that exercise significantly decreased wound size and increased healing rate in older mice. However, exercise had little effect on the rate of wound healing in young mice. (American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, November 14, 2007).

Mice ran on a treadmill at moderate intensity for 30 minutes a day for eight days. They then were given four full- thickness skin wounds and the rate of wound healing was checked daily for 10 days. Compared to age-matched non- exercising mice, the older exercisers healed faster.

The leading theory is that aging delays wound healing presumably because aging causes your body to produce more free radicals that damage the genetic material in cells. After you eat, food travels into mitochondria, small areas in cells that turn food into energy. They do this by removing electrons and hydrogen from nutrients. The electrons then attach to oxygen to form free radicals that stick to and damage the genetic material DNA in cells. This can delay healing and presumably even shorten life. Exercise causes the mitochondria to turn food into energy without producing as many free radicals, and therefore could hasten healing from any type of injury or illness. More on mitochondria and aging

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Stretching the leg muscles improves muscle flexibility and strength, running speed, and jumping distance, according to a study from Louisiana State University. Stretching elongates muscles and tendons. Longer tendons allow muscles to exert a greater torque on the joint to exert more power to help you lift heavier, jump higher and run faster.

However, other studies show that you should not stretch before a competition involving speed and strength. The longer the athletes stretched, the weaker they became. Prolonged stretching fatigues muscle fibers so that they contract with reduced force. Do slow deliberate stretches lasting a few seconds to several seconds, rather than rapid hard pulls on your muscles that can tear them. Stretching cold muscles can also tear them and increase risk for injury. Warm up before stretching or stretch after your workout, but realize that prolonged stretching before a competition can harm performance. Journal references; more on stretching

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Some people think that we should let athletes take performance-enhancing drugs because they think that these athletes can only harm themselves and do not harm others. We already know that anabolic steroids can cause liver damage, heart attacks and strokes, and that growth hormone causes heart attacks by causing the heart muscle to outgrow its blood supply. Now a two-year study of former East German athletes shows that athletes who take these drugs can harm their children.

In the 1970s and 80s, almost all government sponsored East German athletes were forced to take anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. A study of 69 children of 52 of these athletes showed that seven had birth defects and four were mentally retarded, an unusually high incidence for a group of this size. More than 25 percent had allergies and 23 percent had asthma. The women suffered 32 times the normal incidence of miscarriage and stillbirth, 25 percent suffered cancer and 61 percent had therapy for mental disorders. The study was conducted by Dr. Giselher Spitzer at Humbolt University in Germany.

Many people are not aware that at this time, there is no test to catch athletes who take growth hormone. The winner of the 2006 Tour de France and the leader of the 2007 tour were disqualified for allegedly taking performance-enhancing drugs. This was just the tip of the iceberg. Martial Saugy, director of the Swiss Laboratory for Analysis of Doping in Lausanne, Switzerland, told a Belgian newspaper that 47 of 189 riders raced on blood transfusions or EPO in the 2007 Tour de France. The tests did not meet standards necessary to disqualify the riders. He also suspects that the riders also took testosterone and growth hormone. More

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.