Tag Archives: polyphenols

What is Cellular Inflammation?

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People (including virtually all physicians) are constantly confused what cellular inflammation is. So I decided to take the opportunity to explain the concept in more detail.

There are two types of inflammation. The first type is classical inflammation, which generates the inflammatory response we associate with pain such as, heat, redness, swelling, pain, and eventually loss of organ function. The other type is cellular inflammation, which is below the perception of pain. Cellular inflammation is the initiating cause of chronic disease because it disrupts hormonal signaling networks throughout the body.

Definition of Cellular Inflammation

The definition of cellular inflammation is increased activity of the gene transcription factor know as Nuclear Factor-kappaB (NF-κB). This is the gene transcription factor found in every cell, and it activates the inflammatory response of the innate immune system. Although the innate immune system is the most primitive part of our immune response, it has been resistant to study without recent breakthroughs in molecular biology. In fact, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for the earliest studies on the innate immune system and its implications in the development of chronic disease.

There are several extracellular events through which NF-κB can be activated by distinct mechanisms. These include microbial invasion recognized by toll-like receptors (TLR), generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), cellular generation of inflammatory eicosanoids, and interaction with inflammatory cytokines via defined cell surface receptors. We also know that several of these initiating events are modulated by dietary factors. This also means that appropriate use of the diet can either turn on or turn off the activation of NF-κB. This new knowledge is the foundation of anti-inflammatory nutrition (1-3).

Understanding Cellular Inflammation

Although the innate immune system is exceptionally complex, it can be illustrated in a relatively simple diagram as shown below in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Simplified View of the Innate Immune System

Essential fatty acids are the most powerful modulators of NF-κB. In particular, the omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA) activates NF-κB, whereas the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) does not (4). Recent work suggests that a subgroup of eicosanoids known as leukotrienes that are derived from AA may play a significant factor in NF-κB activation (5,6)

Extracellular inflammatory cytokines can also activate NF-κB by their interaction with specific receptors on the cell surface. The primary cytokine that activates NF-κB is tumor necrosis factor (TNF) (7). Toll-like receptors (TLR) are another starting point for the activation of NF-κB. In particular, TLR-4 is sensitive to dietary saturated fatty acids (8). The binding of saturated fatty acids to TLR-4 can be inhibited by omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA. Finally ROS either induced by ionizing radiation or by excess free radical formation are additional activators of NF-κB (9).

Anti-inflammatory Nutrition To Inhibit Cellular Inflammation

Anti-inflammatory nutrition is based on the ability of certain nutrients to reduce the activation of NF-κB.

The most effective way to lower the activation of NF-κB is to reduce the levels of AA in the target cell membrane thus reducing the formation of leukotrienes that can activate NF-κB. Having the patient follow an anti-inflammatory diet, such as the Zone Diet coupled with the simultaneous lowering omega-6 fatty acid intake are the primary dietary strategies to accomplish this goal (1-3).

Another effective dietary approach (and often easier for the patient to comply with) is the dietary supplementation with adequate levels of high-dose fish oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as EPA and DHA. These omega-3 fatty acids taken at high enough levels will lower AA levels and increase EPA levels. This change of the AA/EPA ratio in the cell membrane will reduce the likelihood of the formation of inflammatory leukotrienes that can activate NF-κB. This is because leukotrienes derived from AA are pro-inflammatory, whereas those from EPA are non-inflammatory. The increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids is also a dietary approach that can activate the anti-inflammatory gene transcription factor PPAR-γ (10-12), decrease the formation of ROS (13) and decrease the binding of saturated fatty acids to TLR-4 (14). This illustrates the multi-functional roles that omega-3 fatty acids have in controlling cellular inflammation.

A third dietary approach is the adequate intake of dietary polyphenols. These are compounds that give fruits and vegetables their color. At high levels they are powerful anti-oxidants to reduce the generation of ROS (15). They can also inhibit the activation of NF-κB (16).

Finally, the least effective dietary strategy (but still useful) is the reduction of dietary saturated fat intake. This is because saturated fatty acids will cause the activation of the TLR-4 receptor in the cell membrane (8,14).

Obviously, the greater the number of these dietary strategies implemented by the patient, the greater the overall effect on reducing cellular inflammation.

Clinical Measurement of Cellular Inflammation

Since cellular inflammation is confined to the cell itself, there are few blood markers that can be used to directly measure the levels of systemic cellular inflammation in a cell. However, the AA/EPA ratio in the blood appears to be a precise and reproducible marker of the levels of the same ratio of these essential fatty acids in the cell membrane.

As described above, the leukotrienes derived from AA are powerful modulators of NF-κB. Thus a reduction in the AA/EPA ratio in the target cell membrane will lead to a reduced activation of NF-κB by decreased formation of inflammatory leukotrienes. The cell membrane is constantly being supplied by AA and EPA from the blood. Therefore the AA/EPA ratio in the blood becomes an excellent marker of the same ratio in the cell membrane (17). Currently the best and most reproducible marker of cellular inflammation is the AA/EPA ratio in the blood as it represents an upstream control point for the control of NF-κB activation.

The most commonly used diagnostic marker of inflammation is C-reactive protein (CRP). Unlike the AA/EPA ratio, CRP is a very distant downstream marker of past NF-κB activation. This is because one of inflammatory mediators expressed in the target cell is IL-6. It must eventually reach a high enough level in the blood to eventually interact with the liver or the fat cells to produce CRP. This makes CRP a more long-lived marker in the blood stream compared to the primary inflammatory gene products (IL-1, IL-6, TNF, and COX-2) released after the activation of NF-κB. As a consequence, CRP is easier to measure than the most immediate inflammatory products generated by NF-κB activation. However, easier doesn’t necessarily translate into better. In fact, an increase AA/EPA ratio in the target cell membrane often precedes any increase of C-reactive protein by several years. An elevated AA/EPA ratio indicates that NF-κB is at the tipping point and the cell is primed for increased genetic expression of a wide variety of inflammatory mediators. The measurement of CRP indicates that NF-κB has been activated for a considerable period of time and that cellular inflammation is now causing systemic damage.

Summary

I believe the future of medicine lies in the control of cellular inflammation. This is most effectively accomplished by the constant application of anti-inflammatory nutrition. The success of such dietary interventions can be measured clinically by the reduction of the AA/EPA ratio in the blood.

References

  1. Sears B. The Anti-Inflammation Zone. Regan Books. New York, NY (2005)
  2. Sears B. Toxic Fat. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN (2008)
  3. Sears B and Riccordi C. “Anti-inflammatory nutrition as a pharmacological approach to treat obesity.” J Obesity doi:10.1155/2011/431985 (2011)
  4. Camandola S, Leonarduzzi G,Musso T, Varesio L, Carini R, Scavazza A, Chiarpotto E, Baeuerle PA, and Poli G. “Nuclear factor kB is activated by arachidonic acid but not by eicosapentaenoic acid.” Biochem Biophys Res Commun 229:643-647 (1996)
  5. Sears DD, Miles PD, Chapman J, Ofrecio JM, Almazan F, Thapar D, and Miller YI. “12/15-lipoxygenase is required for the early onset of high fat diet-induced adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance in mice.” PLoS One 4:e7250 (2009)
  6. Chakrabarti SK, Cole BK, Wen Y, Keller SR, and Nadler JL. “12/15-lipoxygenase products induce inflammation and impair insulin signaling in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.” Obesity 17:1657-1663 (2009)
  7. Min JK, Kim YM, Kim SW, Kwon MC, Kong YY, Hwang IK, Won MH, Rho J, and Kwon YG. “TNF-related activation-induced cytokine enhances leukocyte adhesiveness: induction of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 via TNF receptor-associated factor and protein kinase C-dependent NF-kappaB activation in endothelial cells.” J Immunol 175: 531-540 (2005)
  8. Kim JJ and Sears DD. “TLR4 and Insulin Resistance.” Gastroenterol Res Pract doi:10./2010/212563 (2010)
  9. Bubici C, Papa S, Dean K, and Franzoso G. “Mutual cross-talk between reactive oxygen species and nuclear factor-kappa B: molecular basis and biological significance.” Oncogene 25: 6731-6748 (2006)
  10. Li H, Ruan XZ, Powis SH, Fernando R, Mon WY, Wheeler DC, Moorhead JF, and Varghese Z. “EPA and DHA reduce LPS-induced inflammation responses in HK-2 cells: Evidence for a PPAR-gamma-dependent mechanism.” Kidney Int 67: 867-874 (2005)
  11. Kawashima A, Harada T, Imada K, Yano T, and Mizuguchi K. “Eicosapentaenoic acid inhibits interleukin-6 production in interleukin-1beta-stimulated C6 glioma cells through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma.” Prostaglandins LeukotEssent Fatty Acids 79: 59-65 (2008)
  12. Chambrier C, Bastard JP, Rieusset J, Chevillotte E, Bonnefont-Rousselot D, Therond P, Hainque B, Riou JP, Laville M, and Vidal H. “Eicosapentaenoic acid induces mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma.” Obes Res 10: 518-525 (2002)
  13. Mas E, Woodman RJ, Burke V, Puddey IB, Beilin LJ, Durand T, and Mori TA. “The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA decrease plasma F(2)-isoprostanes.” Free Radic Res 44: 983-990 (2010)
  14. Lee JY, Plakidas A, Lee WH, Heikkinen A, Chanmugam P, Bray G, and Hwang DH. “Differential modulation of Toll-like receptors by fatty acids: preferential inhibition by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.” J Lipid Res 44: 479-486 (2003)
  15. Crispo JA, Ansell DR, Piche M, Eibl JK, Khaper N, Ross GM, and Tai TC. “Protective effects of polyphenolic compounds on oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells.” Can J Physiol Pharmacol 88: 429-438 (2010)
  16. Romier B, Van De Walle J, During A, Larondelle Y, and Schneider YJ. “Modulation of signaling nuclear factor-kappaB activation pathway by polyphenols in human intestinal Caco-2 cells.” Br J Nutr 100: 542-551 (2008)
  17. Yee LD, Lester JL, Cole RM, Richardson JR, Hsu JC, Li Y, Lehman A, Belury MA, and Clinton SK. “Omega-3 fatty acid supplements in women at high risk of breast cancer have dose-dependent effects on breast adipose tissue fatty acid composition.” Am J Clin Nutr 91: 1185-1194 (2010)

The key to a healthy gut

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Most people think all you need for a healthy gut is to consume bacterial-fortified yogurt products. In reality, the balance of bacteria in your gut may hold a key toward managing systemic inflammation in our bodies.

First of all, there are a lot of bacteria in our guts. The human body contains about 100 trillion cells, but the number of bacteria in the gut is 10 times greater in number. Furthermore, these bacteria are not just taking up space; they are actually providing numerous useful functions that make them a symbiotic “organ” to our own body. In particular, they can ferment carbohydrates to provide additional energy, make various vitamins, break down toxins we might ingest, and help prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

Although there are literally millions of different bacteria in the world, only about 500 species actually reside in our guts. We also know that these gut bacteria can be further divided into three distinct bacterial ecosystems (1). Just like there are four unique blood groups that can classify every human, we also have three distinct bacterial systems. Once one of these systems becomes established in the gut, it begins to alter the gut environment that only certain species of other bacteria can follow and safely begin their symbiotic relationship with us.

So how does each ecosystem of bacteria keep out the bad apples (like Salmonella)? First of all, the bacteria in each distinct ecosystem have to alert our own immune cells in the intestine that they are friends, not foes. Apparently they have learned how to suppress the immune system in our own cells so they can co-exist in our gut (2). However, I believe even though these ecosystems of bacteria can be recognized as friends and not foes, they still need unique nutrients to help them act as the first line of defense against millions of other harmful bacteria.

Those nutrients are polyphenols. In the plant world, these polyphenols act as antibiotics against microbial attack. There is evidence that the “good” bacteria in our gut can use them as a means to help ward off invading bacteria that threaten our own unique bacterial fingerprint. Of course, the only way we can continue to help our unique bacterial partners in our gut is to continue to eat lots of fruits and vegetables that are rich in polyphenols. That’s why your grandmother told you to eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away.

References

  1. Arumugam M, Raes J, Pelletier E, et al. “Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome.” Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature09944 (2011)
  2. Round JL, Lee SM, Li Jennifer, Tran G, Bana J, Chatila TA and Mazmanian SK. “The toll-like receptor 2 pathway establishes colonization by a commensal of the human microbiota.” Science DOI:10.1126/scienc.1206095 (2011)
  3. Moreno S, Scheyer T, Romano CS, and Vojnov AA. “Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of rosemary extracts linked to their polyphenol composition.” Free Radic Res 40: 223-231 (2006)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

Another new wrinkle in the cholesterol story

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One of the great marketing successes of the pharmaceutical industry has been the linkage between LDL cholesterol levels and heart disease. In essence, the message, “if your LDL cholesterol is high, you are going to die,” is powerful. Unfortunately, the data state otherwise.

It was known in the mid 1990s that oxidized LDL was the primary suspect in the development of atherosclerotic lesions; not natural, non-oxidized LDL. But it was also at this time that the first statin studies began to appear, and that gave the pharmaceutical industry a patented drug to “prevent” heart disease (2). It was such a good story to tell and an even better one to sell. Unfortunately, as I pointed out in an earlier blog, it has never held up well against unbiased scrutiny, especially in patients with high cholesterol levels but without any heart disease.

Part of the reason lies in the data. Shown below is the correlation of LDL cholesterol to heart disease

You can see from this data that there is a higher percentage of cardiovascular disease patients with high LDL cholesterol levels compared with very low levels, but not that much. This explains why about half the people who die from heart disease have normal LDL cholesterol levels (less than 130 mg/dl). It also means that high LDL cholesterol is not a very good predictor of heart disease.

On the other hand, a very different picture emerges if you look at the levels of oxidized LDL levels as shown below.

Even without a background in statistics you can see a very striking relationship in the prediction of heart disease with increasing levels of oxidized LDL levels.

So why don’t physicians use oxidized LDL levels as an indicator of heart disease risk? First, the test is much more difficult to do than a simple cholesterol test. Second, it ruins a great story that is easy to communicate to the patient. Third, the best way of reducing oxidized LDL levels is natural anti-oxidants, such as polyphenols, that have no patent protection (3,4). Reducing LDL cholesterol is simple. Just take a statin drug for the rest of your life. Reducing oxidized LDL cholesterol requires having plenty of antioxidants in your diet with polyphenols the most powerful.

Now there is another new entry into the LDL story. This is “super-sticky” LDL. In an online pre-publication, it was demonstrated that this new type of LDL particle may be even worse than oxidized cholesterol in promoting the development of heart disease (5). This “super-sticky” LDL comes from the formation of advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs). I described this formation of protein-carbohydrate linkages as an integral part of the aging process in my book, “The Anti-Aging Zone,” published more than a decade ago (6).

The best way to reduce the production of “super-sticky” LDL is to reduce blood sugar levels. This helps explain why individuals with diabetes are two to three times more likely to develop heart disease. The best way to reduce elevated blood sugar is the Zone diet. That’s why the latest dietary recommendations for the treatment of diabetes by the Joslin Diabetes Research Center at Harvard Medical School are essentially identical to the Zone diet.

Heart disease remains the number-one cause of death in America. Unfortunately, it is more complex than “taking a statin a day to keep death away”.

References

  1. Maor I and Aviram M. “Oxidized low-density lipoprotein leads to macrophage accumulation of unesterified cholesterol as a result of lysosomal trapping of the lipoprotein hydrolyzed cholesterol ester.” J Lipid Res 35: 803-819 (1994)
  2. Simvastatin Study Group. “Randomized trial of cholesterol lowering in 4,444 patients with coronary heart disease: the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S).” Lancet 344: 1383-1389 (1994)
  3. Shafiee M, Carbonneau MA, Urban N, Descomps B, and Leger CL. “Grape and grape seed extract capacities at protecting LDL against oxidation generated by Cu2+, AAPH or SIN-1 and at decreasing superoxide THP-1 cell production.” Free Radic Res 37: 573-584 (2003) (ISSN: 1071-5762)
  4. Chen CY, Yi L, Jin X, Mi MT, Zhang T, Ling WH, and Yu B. “Delphinidin attenuates stress injury induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.” Chem Biol Interact 183: 105-112 (2010)
  5. Rabbani N, Godfrey L, Xue M, Shaheen F, Geoffrion M, Milne R, and Thornalley PJ. “Glycation of LDL by methylglyoxal increases arterial atherogenicity.” Diabetes 60 doi:10.2337/db09-1455 (2011)
  6. Sears B. “The Anti-Aging Zone.” Regan Press. New York, NY (1999)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

Is there an obesity gene?

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When I first heard about the discovery of a potential obesity gene on the news, I ignored it. After all, a gene only codes for a single protein, and there are about 25,000 genes of which nearly 1,000 seem to be associated with obesity. Nonetheless, I decided to read the research paper in its pre-publication form (1). Even though it is an incredibly scientifically dense paper, rich in genetic jargon, it finally did it begin to make sense.

The protein for which the gene in question codes is called a transcription factor. Transcription factors are the key players in the process of transferring hormonal signals from the surface of the cell to ultimately generate the gene expression of new proteins. As I explained in my book, “Toxic Fat,” nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is the transcription factor that turns on the genetic expression of more proteins that leads to cellular inflammation (2).

The transcription factor in this article, known as KLF14, seems to be related to turning on the metabolic responses that lead to insulin resistance, obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Transcription factors have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and they have been highly conserved by evolution because they work so effectively to fine tune gene expression. This might be expected since they are the key players in turning genes “off” and “on” inside the cell. Since they have been around for a long time, this also means that there are natural compounds (usually nutrients) that are instrumental in controlling their activity. For NF-kB (the master regulatory switch for inflammation), it is known that leukotrienes derived from arachidonic acid activate this transcription factor (3,4), whereas omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols inhibit its activation (5-7). It is very likely the same nutrients may do the same for the activity of the KLF14 transcription factor. From an evolutionary point of view this makes common sense since in less developed organisms (like the fruit fly), the control of fat, metabolism and immunity are found in a single organ known as fat bodies (8).

As I have pointed out in my books, increased cellular inflammation is the first step toward metabolic dysfunction. This is why any decrease in nutrients like omega-3 and polyphenols or any corresponding increase in nutrients like arachidonic acid may be common nutrient control points that dramatically influence our future health. Obviously, as the balance of these nutrients change, their effects on various transcription factors will amplify their impact on gene expression.

A more ominous implication from this study is that the gene mutations that gave rise to increased insulin resistance came only from the mother. This may be the link to understand how fetal programming transmits epigenetic information from one generation to the next. The combination of fetal programming with radical changes in the human diet may well prove to be a deadly combination for our future health and longevity.

References

  1. Small KS, Hedman AK, Grunberg E, Nica AC, Thorleissson G, Kong A, Thersteindottir U, Shin S-Y, Richards HB, soranzo N, Ahmadi KR, Lingren C, Stefansson K, Dermitzakis ET, Deloukas P, Spector TD, and Mcarthy MI. “Identification of an imprinted master trans regulator at the KLF14 locus related to multiple metabolic phenotypes.” Nature Genetics doi 10:1038/ng/833 (2011)
  2. Sears B. “Toxic Fat.” Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN (2008)
  3. Sears DD, Miles PD, Chapman J, Ofrecio JM, Almazan F, Thapar D, and Miller YI. “12/15-lipoxygenase is required for the early onset of high-fat, diet-induced adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance in mice.” PLoS One 4: e7250 (2009)
  5. Chakrabarti SK, Cole BK, Wen Y, Keller SR, and Nadler JL. “12/15-lipoxygenase products induce inflammation and impair insulin signaling in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.” Obesity 17: 1657-1663 (2009)
  7. Denys A, Hichami A, and Khan NA. “n-3 PUFAs modulate T-cell activation via protein kinase C-alpha and -epsilon and the NF-kappaB signaling pathway.” J Lipid Res 46: 752-758 (2005)
  8. Zwart SR, Pierson D, Mehta S, Gonda S, and Smith SM. “Capacity of omega-3 fatty acids or eicosapentaenoic acid to counteract weightlessness-induced bone loss by inhibiting NF-kappaB activation.” J Bone Miner Res 25: 1049-1057 (2010)
  9. Romier B, Van De Walle J, During A, Larondelle Y, Schneider YJ. “Modulation of signaling nuclear factor-kappaB activation pathway by polyphenols in human intestinal Caco-2 cells.” Br J Nutr 100: 542-551 (2008)
  10. Hotamisligil GS. “Inflammation and metabolic disorders.” Nature 444: 860-867 (2006)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

Fish oil and fat loss

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I have often said, “It takes fat to burn fat”. As I describe in my book “Toxic Fat,” increased cellular inflammation in the fat cells turns them into “fat traps” (1). This means that fat cells become increasingly compromised in their ability to release stored fat for conversion into chemical energy needed to allow you to move around and survive. As a result, you get fatter, and you are constantly tired and hungry.

One of the best ways to reduce cellular inflammation in the fat cells is by increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids. This was demonstrated in a recent article that indicated supplementing a calorie-restricted diet with 1.5 grams of EPA and DHA per day resulted in more than two pounds of additional weight loss compared to the control group in a eight-week period (2).

How omega-3 fatty acids help to ”burn fat faster” is most likely related to their ability to reduce cellular inflammation in the fat cells (3,4) and to increase the levels of adiponectin (5). Both mechanisms will help relax a “fat trap” that has been activated by cellular inflammation.

However, there is a cautionary note. This is because omega-3 fatty acids are very prone to oxidation once they enter the body. This is especially true relative to the enhanced oxidation of the LDL particles (6-9).

This means that to get the full benefits any fish oil supplementation, you have to increase your intake of polyphenols to protect the omega-3 fatty acids from oxidation. How much? I recommend at least 8,000 additional ORAC units for every 2.5 grams of EPA and DHA that you add to your diet. That's about 10 servings per day of fruits and vegetables, which should be no problem if you are following the Zone diet. If not, then consider taking a good polyphenol supplement.

Once you add both extra fish oil and polyphenols to a calorie-restricted diet, you will burn fat faster without any concern about increased oxidation in the body that can lead to accelerated aging.

References

  1. Sears B. “Toxic Fat.” Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN (2008)
  2. Thorsdottir I, Tomasson H, Gunnarsdottir I, Gisladottir E, Kiely M, Parra MD, Bandarra NM, Schaafsma G, and Martinez JA. “Randomized trial of weight-loss diets for young adults varying in fish and fish oil content.” Int J Obes 31: 1560-1566 (2007)
  3. Huber J, Loffler M, Bilban M, Reimers M, Kadl A, Todoric J, Zeyda M, Geyeregger R, Schreiner M, Weichhart T, Leitinger N, Waldhausl W, and Stulnig TM. “Prevention of high-fat diet-induced adipose tissue remodeling in obese diabetic mice by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.” Int J Obes 31: 1004-1013 (2007)
  4. Todoric J, Loffler M, Huber J, Bilban M, Reimers M, Kadl A, Zeyda M, Waldhausl W, and Stulnig TM. “Adipose tissue inflammation induced by high-fat diet in obese diabetic mice is prevented by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.” Diabetologia 49: 2109-2119 (2006)
  5. Krebs JD, Browning LM, McLean NK, Rothwell JL, Mishra GD, Moore CS, and Jebb SA. “Additive benefits of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and weight-loss in the management of cardiovascular disease risk in overweight hyperinsulinaemic women.” Int J Obes 30: 1535-1544 (2006)
  6. Pedersen H, Petersen M, Major-Pedersen A, Jensen T, Nielsen NS, Lauridsen ST, and Marckmann P. “Influence of fish oil supplementation on in vivo and in vitro oxidation resistance of low-density lipoprotein in type 2 diabetes.” Eur J Clin Nutr 57: 713-720 (2003)
  7. Turini ME, Crozier GL, Donnet-Hughes A, and Richelle MA. “Short-term fish oil supplementation improved innate immunity, but increased ex vivo oxidation of LDL in man–a pilot study.” Eur J Nutr 40: 56-65 (2001)
  8. Stalenhoef AF, de Graaf J, Wittekoek ME, Bredie SJ, Demacker PN, and Kastelein JJ. “The effect of concentrated n-3 fatty acids versus gemfibrozil on plasma lipoproteins, low-density lipoprotein heterogeneity and oxidizability in patients with hypertriglyceridemia.” Atherosclerosis 153: 129-138 (2000)
  9. Finnegan YE. Minihane AM, Leigh-Firbank EC, Kew S, Meijer GW, Muggli R, Calder PC, and Williams CM. “Plant- and marine-derived n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have differential effects on fasting and postprandial blood lipid concentrations and on the susceptibility of LDL to oxidative modification in moderately hyperlipidemic subjects.” Am J Clin Nutr 77: 783-795 (2003)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

New food trends may be dysfunctional

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dysfunctional food trendsAs our obesity epidemic gets worse and the general health of Americans continues to decline, people are always searching for new food trends to make us thinner, happier and smarter.

The leading contenders for the next new thing are functional foods. Frankly, these are simply processed foods with added dietary supplements to make you more likely to purchase them compared to the competition on the same shelf. Of course, this means the functional food can’t be too much more expensive than its competitor (and ideally the same price) without affecting the taste of the product. As an afterthought, it might even have some health benefit for you.

Frankly, there are only two functional foods that have been truly successful over the years. The first is Gatorade. Originally developed to reduce minerals lost during exercise, the original Gatorade tasted terrible. So they simply added some sugar to make it taste better and called it a sports drink. Gatorade is basically a Coke or a Pepsi with minerals, but you feel better about yourself when you guzzle down those carbohydrates. The other commercial success was Tropicana Orange Juice with Calcium. The makers of Tropicana didn’t ask you to pay a premium for this functional food since it was exactly the same price as Tropicana Orange Juice without calcium. That’s why the sales of this functional food dramatically increased. Who doesn’t want something extra (and it might even be healthy) for free?

It’s been a long time since any new functional foods tried to break into the market. The two most recent have been POM and Activia yogurt. POM contains polyphenols from the pomegranate seed. That’s good because polyphenols are excellent anti-oxidants and potentially good anti-inflammatory chemicals. But like the minerals in Gatorade, they taste terrible. So when you purchase a bottle of POM, what you are getting is a mass of added sugar. I guarantee you that the intake of these polyphenols in POM is not worth the extra sugar.

Another “new” source of polyphenols we hear about comes from chocolate, which is now being promoted as the new super-fruit (1). Like all polyphenols, the polyphenols found in chocolate are intensely bitter. That’s why no one likes to eat unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate even though it is polyphenol-rich. But if you add a lot of sugar to it, then it tastes great. In fact, it’s a candy bar. Again like most functional foods, these polyphenol functional foods represent one step forward in that you are consuming more polyphenols, but two steps backwards for consuming too much sugar.

Tasting bad is something that has really prevented yogurt sales from taking off in America. The solution was simple. Add more sweetness, usually in the form of fruit plus extra sugar. Finally, natural yogurt became acceptable. But to turn it into a functional food, Dannon decided to add more probiotics to its already sugar-sweetened yogurt and call it Activia, promoting it to help soothe an angry digestive system. In December 2010 the Federal Trade Commission stepped in and hit Dannon with a $21-million fine for false advertising (2). Not only were the levels of probiotics in Activia too low to be of any health benefit, but Dannon was also making drug-claims on a food to boot. Not surprisingly, the FTC is also after POM for similar misleading claims (3). Darned those regulators. They take all the fun out of marketing functional foods.

The list goes on and on. Whether it is vitamin waters, or micro-encapsulated fish oil, vitamin D, etc., trying to put bad-tasting nutritional supplements that have some proven benefits into foods and charge the consumer a higher price is never going to work. To prevent the poor taste, you have to microencapsulate the supplement to make it sound high-tech, (they call it nanotechnology) and this costs a lot of money. Adding the bad-tasting nutritional supplement without the microencapsulation to a food makes it taste worse (unless you are adding a lot of sugar at the same time, of course eroding all the potential health benefits of the supplement). Finally, the consumer will only buy this new functional food if it is the same price as what they usually purchase.

So what’s the next new thing in functional foods? In my opinion, it is returning to the concept of cooking for yourself in your own kitchen using food ingredients you buy on the periphery of the supermarket, and then taking the nutritional supplements that have proven efficacy (like fish oil and polyphenols) at the therapeutic level to produce real health benefits. Now you have real functional foods that finally work at a lower cost than you would pay for in the supermarket.

Now, that’s a radical new food trend that just might work.

References

1. Crozier SJ, Preston AG, Hurst JW, Payne MJ, Mann J, Hainly L, and Miller DL. “Cacao seeds are a ‘super fruit’: A comparative analysis of various fruit powders and products.” Chem Central J 5:5 (2011)

2. Horovitz B. “Dannon’s Activia, DanActive health claims draw $21M fine.” USA Today. December 15, 2010

3. Wyatt E. “Regulators Call Health Claims in Pom Juice Ads Deceptive.” New York Times. September 27, 2010

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

What’s the story on chocolate?

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chocolate and polyphenolsChocolate is big business, generating about $50 billion in annual worldwide sales. But is it good medicine? Before I get to that answer, let me give you some background on the manufacturing of chocolate.

The first use of chocolate appears to be about 3,000 years ago in Central Mexico to produce an intensely bitter drink called xocolatl. Today, we still get the raw material for chocolate from the seeds of the cocoa tree. However, now they are fermented and roasted prior to extracting the raw cocoa beans from their pods. The raw cocoa mass is then ground and heated to produce what is called chocolate liquor.

This chocolate liquid is exceptionally bitter because it is rich in polyphenols. This is what you get when you buy unsweetened baker’s chocolate. Keep in mind that even with the extreme bitterness of unsweetened baker’s chocolate, the total polyphenol content is only about 5 percent of the total mass (the rest is cocoa butter). This means that purified chocolate polyphenols are about 20 times bitterer than the taste of unsweetened baker’s chocolate.

The chocolate liquor can also be further refined. The most common way is to remove the fat portion (i.e., cocoa butter) from the chocolate liquor by simple pressing. What remains is the cocoa powder that retains all of the polyphenols but in a dry form that can be ground to a powder. The isolated cocoa butter is the base for making white chocolate. Although it is free of any of the beneficial polyphenols, it still retains the excellent mouth feel of the cocoa butter. Add some extra sugar, and it is a great-tasting snack that has absolutely no health benefits.

You can always add more sugar to the cocoa liquor to sweeten the chocolate taste. That’s the ”dark chocolate” that dominates the market today. Of course in the process, you dilute out the polyphenols, which give chocolate all of its health benefits, not to mention increasing calories and increasing insulin levels because of the added sugar. That’s why eating dark chocolate will not help you lose weight. When you add more sugar and milk to the dark chocolate, the bitter taste (and the health benefits) is even reduced further. Now you have a milk chocolate candy bar.

Now what about the health benefits of the chocolate polyphenols before you start diluting them out with added sugar? Here the research data are clear. If you consume enough chocolate polyphenols, you will reduce blood pressure (1). This is probably due to the increase of nitric oxide production and its beneficial effects on relaxing the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels (2). How much is enough? Over a two-week period about 500 mg of polyphenols per day (this is the amount found in a typical 100-gram bar of unsweetened baker’s chocolate) can significantly reduce blood pressure by about 4 mm Hg (3). If you are willing to consume smaller amounts of very dark chocolate (providing 30 mg of polyphenols per day) for a much longer period of time, there is an improvement in endothelial cell relaxation, but without a reduction of blood pressure (4). Therefore, the blood pressure benefits of chocolate consumption appear to be dose-related. There is also evidence of chocolate polyphenols having some anti-inflammatory properties (5).

Considering these benefits, should chocolate be considered a “super fruit”? To answer that question, a recent publication compared the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) values of unsweetened cocoa to similar-size servings of other fruit powders from “super fruits,” such as blueberries, pomegranate and acai berries (6). The ORAC value is a measure of the ability of the dried fruit to quench free radicals. The cocoa powder had a significantly higher ORAC value per serving than the other fruit powders. Before you get too excited, keep in mind that the typical cocoa powder in the supermarket has been treated with alkali (i.e. Dutch-treated) to remove much of the bitterness of the polyphenols and in the process remove most of their health benefits (6).

So if you want the health benefits of chocolate, just make it bitter (i.e. unsweetened baker’s chocolate) and eat a lot of it (about 100 grams per day). You won’t lose any weight, but your blood pressure will come down a bit. Now if you want some real anti-inflammatory benefits, eat the chocolate, take 2.5 grams of EPA and DHA and follow an anti-inflammatory diet. Now you have a far more powerful dietary approach for reducing cellular inflammation and its clinical consequences, such as elevated blood pressure.

References

1. Ried K, Sullivan T, Fakler P, Frank OR, and Stocks NP. “Does chocolate reduce blood pressure? A meta-analysis.” BMC Med 8:39 (2010)

2. Taubert D, Roesen R, Lehmann C, Jung N, and Schomig E. “Effects of low habitual cocoa intake on blood pressure and bioactive nitric oxide: a randomized controlled trial.” JAMA 298: 49-60 (2007)

3. Grassi D, Lippi C, Necozione S, Desideri G, and Ferri C. “Short-term administration of dark chocolate is followed by a significant increase in insulin sensitivity and a decrease in blood pressure in healthy persons.” Am J Clin Nutr 81: 611-614 (2005)

4. Engler MB, Engler MM, Chen CY, Malloy MJ, Browne A, Chiu EY, Kwak HK, Milbury P, Paul SM,Blumberg J, and Mietus-Snyder ML. “Flavonoid-rich dark chocolate improves endothelial function and increases plasma epicatechin concentrations in healthy adults.” J Am Coll Nutr 23: 197-204 (2004)

5. Selmi C, Cocchi CA, Lanfredini M, Keen CL, and Gershwin ME. “Chocolate at heart: The anti-inflammatory impact of cocoa flavanols.” Mol Nutr Food Res 52:1340-8 (2008)

6. Crozier SJ, Preston MG, Hurst JW, Payne JM, Mann J, Hainly L, and Miller DL. “Caco seeds are a super fruit,” Chemistry Central Journal 5:5 (2011)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

How polyphenols make probiotics work better

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Probiotics in dietToday we hear a lot about probiotics, especially when popular yogurts are fortified with them. So what are they? The term probiotics is simply a synthesized word for live microorganisms (bacteria or yeast) that may have some health benefits. In the lower part of your gut, you have a virtual zoo of microorganisms. Some are beneficial; others are very harmful. In fact, it is estimated that you have 10 times as many microorganisms in the gut than the entire number of cells that constitute your body. Of the hundreds of different microorganisms in the gut, two usually stand out as probiotic stars: Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.

It appears that selected strains of these particular microorganisms have anti-inflammatory properties, which inhibit the activity of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), the genetic “master switch” that turns on inflammation (1,2). Certain yeasts secrete a soluble factor that also inhibits NF-κB (3), and this may be the same mechanism that those “friendly” bacteria use to reduce inflammation.

But here’s the problem with probiotics — you have to get enough of the live organisms into the gut to provide any benefits. It’s easy to fortify them into some yogurt product that is kept at low temperature, but getting those bacteria to pass through the digestive system and reach the lower part of the large intestine is another story. It is estimated that 99.999 percent of the live probiotics are digested in the process.

So how can you enhance the biological action of those extremely few probiotics that actually make it alive to the lower intestine? The answer is polyphenols. Like probiotics, polyphenols also inhibit NF-κB (4,5). In fact, polyphenols are the primary agents that protect plants from microbial attack.

Unlike probiotics, polyphenols are more robust in their ability to reach the lower intestine. But like probiotics you have to take enough polyphenols to have a therapeutic effect in the gut. You will probably need at least 8,000 ORAC units per day to maintain adequate levels of polyphenols in the gut. That is approximately 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. But if you want to significantly reduce the existing inflammatory burden in the gut and the rest of body, you have to consume a lot more polyphenols. Supplementation with highly purified polyphenols becomes your only realistic alternative.

And here is where I think the real benefits of dietary polyphenols may reside. By reducing the inflammatory load in the gut, you can automatically reduce the anti-inflammatory load in the rest of the entire body. So before you take that next serving of probiotic-fortified yogurt, make sure you are taking adequate levels of polyphenols to make sure those probiotics actually deliver their marketing promises.

References

  1. Hegazy SK and El-Bedewy MM. “Effect of probiotics on pro-inflammatory cytokines and NF-kappaB activation in ulcerative colitis.” World J Gastroenterol 16: 4145-4151 (2010)
  2. Bai AP, Ouyang Q, Xiao XR, and Li SF. “Probiotics modulate inflammatory cytokine secretion from inflamed mucosa in active ulcerative colitis.” Int J Clin Pract 60: 284-288 (2006)
  3. Sougioultzis S, Simeonidis S, Bhaskar KR, Chen X, Anton PM, Keates S, Pothoulakis C, and Kelly CP. “Saccharomyces boulardii produces a soluble anti-inflammatory factor that inhibits NF-kappaB-mediated IL-8 gene expression. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 343: 69-76 (2006)
  4. Romier B, Van De Walle J, During A, Larondelle Y, and Schneider YJ. “Modulation of signaling nuclear factor-kappaB activation pathway by polyphenols in human intestinal Caco-2 cells.” Br J Nutr 100: 542-551 (2008)
  5. Jung M, Triebel S, Anke T,Richling E, and Erkel G. “Influence of apple polyphenols on inflammatory gene expression.” Mol Nutr Food Res 53: 1263-1280 (2009)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

Pass the polyphenols

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Considering that virtually nothing was written about the health benefits of polyphenols before 1995, it continues to amaze me the amount of health benefits this group of nutrients generates. This is primarily due to our growing understanding of how these phytochemicals interact with the most primitive parts of our immune system that have been conserved through millions of years of evolution.

Three new studies add to this growing knowledge. In the January 2011 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was reported that eating one serving a week of blueberries could reduce the risk of developing hypertension by 10 percent (1). Since a serving size of fruit is defined as ½ cup, that serving size contains about 65 grams of blueberries. Put that into more precise molecular terms, this serving size would provide about 4,000 ORAC units or about the same amount of ORAC units as a glass of wine. The researchers speculated that there was a subclass of polyphenols (which includes delphinidins) that appear to be responsible for most of the effects. So if eating one serving of blueberries (½ cup) once a week is good for reducing the risk of hypertension, guess what the benefits of eating 1 cup of blueberries every day might be? The answer is probably a lot.

Speaking of red wine, in the second study in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications researchers found that giving high levels of isolated polyphenols from red wine demonstrated that exercise endurance in older rats could be significantly enhanced. Very good news for old folks like me. They hypothesized the effects may be directly related to “turning on” genes that increase the production of anti-oxidant enzymes (2). The only catch is that the amount of red wine polyphenols required to reach these benefits would equate to drinking about 20-30 glasses of red wine per day.

The final study in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise demonstrates that cherry juice rich in polyphenols reduces muscle damage induced by intensive exercise in trained athletes. This reduction in muscle damage was correlated with decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines (3). The reduction of cytokine expression is one of the known anti-inflammatory benefits of increased polyphenol intake.

Three pretty diverse studies, yet it makes perfect sense if you understand how polyphenols work. Polyphenols inhibit the overproduction of inflammatory compounds made by the most ancient part of the immune system that we share with plants. The only trick is taking enough of these polyphenols. To get about 8,000 ORAC units every day requires eating about a cup of blueberries (lots of carbohydrates) or two glasses of red wine (lots of alcohol), or half a bar of very dark chocolate (lots of fat) or 0.3 g of highly purified polyphenol powder in a small capsule (with no carbohydrates, no alcohol, and no saturated fat). And if you are taking extra high purity omega-3 oil, exercising harder, or have an inflammatory disease, you will probably need even more polyphenols. It doesn’t matter where the polyphenols come from as long as you get enough. That’s why you eat lots of colorful carbohydrates on an anti inflammatory diet.

References

  1. Cassidy A, O’Reilly EJ, Kay C, Sampson L, Franz M, Forman J, Curhan G, and Rimm EB. “Habitual intake of flavonoid subclasses and incident hypertension in adults.” Am J Clin Nutr 93: 338-347 (2011)
  2. Dal-Ros S, Zoll J, Lang AL, Auger C, Keller N, Bronner C, Geny B, Schini-Kerth VB. “Chronic intake of red wine polyphenols by young rats prevents aging-induced endothelial dysfunction and decline in physical performance: Role of NADPH oxidase.” Biochem Biophys Res Commun 404: 743-749 (2011)
  3. Bowtell JL, Sumners DP, Dyer A, Fox P, and Mileva KN. “Montmorency cherry juice reduces muscle damage caused by intensive strength exercise”. Med Sci Sports Exerc 43: online ahead of print doi: 10.1249/MSS.obo13e31820e5adc (2011)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

Coffee and diabetes: What’s the connection?

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One of the great controversies in nutrition is the role of coffee and human health. On the one hand, coffee is the primary source of polyphenols in the American diet because of the lack of consumption of fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, coffee is rich in caffeine, an alkaloid that acts as a stimulant on the central nervous system and is known to be an addictive agent (1). In fact, Roland Griffiths, professor of Behavioral Biology at the John Hopkins School of Medicine (and my old college roommate), says, “Caffeine is the world’s most widely used mood-altering drug.” So the question remains is caffeine good for you?

No one knows for sure, but one interesting point has been made that it appears the more coffee you drink, the lower your risk for developing diabetes (2). In fact, if you drink more than four cups of coffee per day, you decrease your risk of diabetes by 50 percent. This new research demonstrates that coffee increases the levels of sex hormone-binding globlin (SHBG) in the blood. As I pointed out in my book “The Anti-Aging Zone,” SHBG plays an important role in sequestering the levels of estrogen and testosterone in the blood so that levels of these unbound sex hormones that can interact with their receptors are tightly regulated (3). Usually as insulin resistance increases, the levels of SHBG decrease in the blood (4). This can lead to an over-stimulation of the receptors by the unbound sex hormones resulting in increased risk for breast and prostate cancer development.

What in the coffee actually causes the increase in SHBG is unknown, but what is known is that once you decaffeinate the coffee, all its benefits on the elevation of SHBG levels and any reduction in risk for diabetes disappear.

It is highly unlikely that caffeine by itself is beneficial for reducing type 2 diabetes, since there were no benefits related to drinking tea or to total daily caffeine intake (2). Perhaps some other compound that was also extracted with the caffeine may play a role in the reduction of type 2 diabetes.

So what really happens when you decaffeinate coffee? First, you soak the beans in water to remove the caffeine and flavors as well as the polyphenols. Then you treat the water with organic solvents (methylene chloride or ethyl acetate) to remove the caffeine (as well as many of the polyphenols and much of the flavor). Then (assuming you have removed all of the organic solvent), you add back the treated water extract to the beans to hopefully reabsorb some of the flavors back into them. Obviously, not all the flavors or polyphenols return since the resulting taste is far less robust than the original coffee bean.

So it seems to me that exploring what else has been extracted in addition to the caffeine may lead to new dietary treatments for diabetes. Whether that will be done is highly unlikely. Instead of waiting for such experiments, you might as well follow the best treatment for preventing diabetes, which is following the anti inflammatory diet for a lifetime. That is how you control cellular inflammation, which is the driving force for development of type 2 diabetes (5,6).

References

1. Juliano LM and Griffiths RR. “A critical review of caffeine withdrawal: empirical validation of symptoms and signs, incidence, severity, and associated features.” Psychopharmacology 176: 1-29 (2004)

2. Goto A, Song Y, Chen BH, Manson JE, Buring JE, and Liu S. “Coffee and caffeine consumption in relation to sex hormone-binding globulin and risk of type 2 diabetes in postmenopausal women.” Diabetes 60: 269-275 (2011)

3. Sears B. “The Anti-Aging Zone.” Regan Books. New York, NY (1999)

4. Akin F, Bastemir M, and Alkis E. “Effect of insulin sensitivity on SHBG levels in premenopausal versus postmenopausal obese women.” Adv Ther 24: 1210-1220 (2007)

5. Sears B. “Anti-inflammatory diets for obesity and diabetes.” J Coll Amer Nutr 28: 482S-491S (2009)

6. Sears B. “The Anti-Inflammation Zone.” Regan Books. New York, NY (2005)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.