Archive for December, 2009

Biochemical and molecular nutrition is the future of weight management. It boils down to the fact, when someone goes on a diet it has to fit them. This is why generic diets have a high failure rate. People need different proteins, fruits and vegetables. Knowing the differences between dieters is what determines success.

Nutritional genomics is the study of how genes and diet interact. This also will influence cholesterol, and insulin level. Each individual thrives on a particular individualized diet. Proponents of prescribing a personalized diet that identify the ways genes and diet interact say this is the best path to managing weight. Instead of random choices of food, now the focus is on what is primary for your metabolic type.

American Diet

The typical America consumes foods that are not genetically matched to anyone’s gene pool. Since these are mainly manufactured in the last few decades. They are at best substitutes for familiar foods. While these foods may be a way to get calories, they offer none of the same nutritional advantages.

Today it is more confusing than ever when trying to sort out what is the best diet. Just like the food choices are overwhelming so are all the so called diets. There is power in tracing your gene pool or roots. When the dust settles this is your future health plan.

Broken bonds occurred when the American diet went high tech. America is a melting pot of people from far away places, with genetics that reflect their heritage. Now it seems that all the variations in genes come together to embrace fast food and prepackaged food. Americans are thrown off course by the board choice and lure of an abundant food supply.

The Cost

The devil is in the details. Rethinking the world of food, not in total fat, saturated fat, total carbs, and calories, but in genetic blueprints that give meaning to healthy food. The key is to unlock what’s locked away. Then we will have the tools to work with.

Food is a commodity that is the driving force of human energy. We have unique needs, but have been taught that we can to eat anything and everything. This has turned out to be a fantasy. We are not only unfit, we are in danger. Body weight is just one of the problems.

 To The Rescue

Taking charge of your health is getting the right information. To have a healthy relationship with your body you need to know what it needs. That will be a huge relief to your body and to you. Textbook medicine doesn’t work if it can’t identify what your body needs to be healthy.

The way to start is to confirm what your food genotype is, and then proceed to use the information. Metabolic Balance can integrate your personalized diet with your lifestyle. It defines your personalized diet and then offers you the coaching sessions so you implement it successfully.

Fortified folic acid danger comes from the fact it is different from natural occurring vitamins and minerals. The folic acid used by food and the pharmaceutical companies work differently. On the passage through the intestinal wall, folic acid is converted to 5-methytetrahydrofolate, the naturally circulating form of folate. There are studies that imply that high oral doses of folic acid overwhelm the conversion pathway.

Concern

The concern is that fortified folic acid form may be detrimental; it is not a naturally occurring co-enzymatic form of the vitamin. Now that it is added to fortified foods such and breakfast cereals, pastas and grain products including breads a large percent of the population has un-metabolized folic acid circulating in the body.

Grains and cereals have been fortified since 1998, now large does of the vitamin have been linked to an increase in cancer and other chronic conditions. Lung cancer took the lead in this category.

Implications

If you just look at the overall picture and have no understanding of natural vs. synthetic you implicate all folate acid and vitamin B 12. Folate acid is one of the most important nutrients that are found in leafy green vegetables, fruits and animal protein.

Folate acid is destroyed by different cooking methods. Evidence has indicated that folate deficiency may promote cancer growth; the study’s authors suggested it was also possible that excess folic acid accelerated the growth of tumors. The real fortified folic acid danger is that it does not come from a natural source.

Bad Logic

One of the reasons that a folate deficiency may promote disease is that the things that deplete the supply are the of cause poor health. Alcohol, oral contraceptives, sugar, tobacco, sulfa drugs, and a calcium deficiency will deplete folate acid.

Folate acid is easily depleted by the above and environmental chemicals. Getting folate acid from the diet is the way the body is able to handle it the best.

Medications that interfere with folic acid utilization include:

• Anti-convulsant medications (such as dilantin, phenytoin and primidone)
• metformin (sometimes prescribed to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes)
• sulfasalazine (used to control inflammation associated with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)
• triamterene (a diuretic)
• methotrexate (used for cancer and other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis)
• barbituratess(used as sedatives)

The Truth

We are fortifying our food supply, as we deplete everyone’s store of folate acid. Now we are oversupplying folic acid in a form that may cause harm. We blame the folate acid and the vitamin B12, and remain clueless. The most effective vitamins and minerals come from dietary sources, not from assembly lines.

The importance of vitamin K can’t be overstated. Vitamin K is concentrated in dark green plants such as spinach and Swiss chard.

Prevents                                                                                                                               

It prevents arterial and kidney calcification, cardiovascular disease, and may prevent cancer. It keeps osteoporosis at bay.

This finding comes from Associate Staff Scientist, Joyce McCann, PhD, and Senior Scientist, Bruce Ames, PhD, who analyzed data from hundreds of published articles dating back to the 1970′s.

The intake of individual vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) is a major factor in the prevention of disease. The analysis, which strongly supports this theory, will be published in the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Optimal Functioning

• Allow your blood to clot normally
• Help prevent postmenopausal osteoporosis
• Help prevent calcification of your arteries
• Provide possible protection against liver and prostate cancer Help
• Prevents calcification of heart valves

Sources

Excellent sources of vitamin K include: spinach, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, kale and mustard greens. Carrot tops, spinach leaves, cabbage leaves and cauliflower are also a good source of vitamin K1. Endive, lettuce, olive oil, avocados, green peas and carrots are some additonal plant foods which supply this vitamin.

Vitamin K1 is converted into K2 in the intestines, and there is some K2 in meat, liver and fermented yogurt and cheese.

Deficiency

Vitamin K deficiency produces noticeable symptoms, from bleeding gums, osteoporosis, to excess depositing of calcium in soft tissue. These are hardening of the arteries, and problems with heart valves. 

It takes a cup of Kale, collards, or spinach to meet the daily requirement of vitamin K.

Resilient Nutrient

Vitamin K is resilient, and keeps its nutritional value even when cooked or stored. This nutrient is extremely important, and there is some evidence that aging contributes of a vitamin K deficiency. Therefore it is important to increase vitamin K intake as we age. The vitamin can be fresh juiced from fruits and vegetables at home. Steaming and sauteing also are useful methods to ensure a high vitamin K intake.

Vitamin K and Medications

A few cholesterol lowering drugs can reduce the absorption of vitamin K. Antibiotics can decrease the availability of vitamin K by killing the gut bacteria that synthesize vitamin K. Broad-spectrum antibiotics pose the greatest risk of this.

Over-the-counter drugs also decrease the availability of vitamin K. These include high doses of salicylates which includes acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin, and high doses aluminum hydroxide antacids. Also, some anti-seizure medications can interfere with vitamin K absorption.

As we age our metabolism undergoes changes, and since this population depends on medication it is important to watch vitamin K levels. Any problems with pancreatic function, liver function, or gallbladder function can increase the risk of a vitamin K deficiency.

Diabetes Risk and Vitamin K

Supplements of vitamin K 1 may offer some protection against diabetes in older men. In a study, people who took vitamin K supplements for 36 months had lower blood levels of insulin and experienced improved insulin resistance compared with the control group.

Only the men benefited from K - possibly because more of the women were overweight or obese, which alone contribute significantly to insulin resistance and diminish the body’s response to vitamin K.

In the study, there was a higher percent of obese or overweight women in the vitamin K supplementation group compared to the male supplementation group. Vitamin K is stored in fat tissue, with excess fat, vitamin K may not be readily available to cells that require it to process glucose.

Insulin Resistance Will Accelerate Your Aging.

The level of insulin sensitivity of the cell is a marker of longevity. Insulin levels play a role in chronic conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease, hypertension to cancer. Low blood sugar and low insulin levels are found among the healthiest and the longest living individuals. Men with the highest level of fasting blood sugar levels (greater than 140mg/dl) were almost 30% likely to succumb to cancer than those with less than 90mg/dl). For women it was 23% with the highest insulin levels that had the greatest risk.

A person who is overweight and has reduced sensitivity to the hormone insulin may be aging prematurely. Ample vitamin K delivers years to your life, and life to your years. You put the odds on your side by transitioning to a healthy diet with plenty of vitamin K rich foods.