Category Archives: anti-aging

Is Your Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Real or an Imposter?

Leave a reply

Stephen Sinatra, MD

Authentic extra-virgin olive oil is an anti-aging superfood loaded with healthy fats and antioxidants. It is one of nature’s greatest gifts – pure, healthy and alive. Unfortunately, finding real extra-virgin olive oil may be harder than you think. It has come to light that many olive oils labeled “extra-virgin” actually contain altered, imposter oils.

  • Olive oil purported to originate from Italy – often did not. A good deal of the oils sold as “Italian” were actually oils from Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia.
  • Some extra-virgin olive oils were diluted with oils of lesser quality, such as soybean oil.
  • Color and flavor of oils were manipulated with beta-carotene (affects taste) and chlorophyll (alters color).
  • Highly altered oils of multi-country origin were labeled “Extra-Virgin” or “Packed in Italy” or “Imported from Italy”.
  • 69% of imported “extra-virgin” oil did not meet the criteria in one study.
  • Authorities have made attempts at regulation; however, there are few legal repercussions for the producers of fraudulent oils.

Additionally, a 2010 Brazilian study (see Alves) described the situation thusly: “Extra-virgin (EV), the finest and most expensive among all the olive oil grades, is often adulterated by the cheapest and lowest quality ordinary (ON) olive oil.” In 2013, olive oil topped the list of foods most prone to fraudulent practices, according to a draft report of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (see Butler). The risk list was based on research findings, police records, and industry consultations.

What You Need to Know When Shopping for Real Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

After much olive oil research, I’d like to share some advice that can help make you a smarter consumer and find the authentic extra virgin olive oil you want. First and foremost, make sure you buy extra-virgin oil. I also suggest doing the following:

  • Look for a harvest date on the label and choose a product with a current year harvest.
  • The oil should be cloudy, not clear. This indicates the olives have been crushed and the oil still contains valuable phytonutrients.
  • Check the label for the source of the olives – country, state, and province – and for unique certification, such as DOP in Italy (DOP means all phases of production, processing, and preparation are traditionally conducted in the certified area) and COOC (California Olive Oil Council) certification.  
  • Be wary about imported products because of the shipping time and exposure to heat, and concern about quality control. Most products come to the U.S. by boat. Time and heat are critical factors that can affect freshness.
  • Always store in a dark bottle, a metal container, or other packaging that blocks light. Keep in a cool cabinet, away from light and heat. No need to refrigerate.
  • Use your olive oil smartly. In the kitchen I generally use extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling amply onto vegetables and salads – you can also use it for cooking at low temperatures for short periods of time, such as sautéing. For cooking in general, I recommend coconut oil, a saturated fat least vulnerable to oxidative deterioration from heat.

index

Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

People often ask me, is extra virgin olive oil healthy? To which I reply, It’s a superfood! I’ve come to believe this after reading research study upon research study demonstrating the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil.  Full of healthy compounds, olive oil plays a paramount nutritional and health role as an “All-star” of the Mediterranean diet. When you seek out authentic extra-virgin olive oil, you are getting the highest concentration of healthy compounds due to the careful production of this finest grade of olive oil. Real extra-virgin olive oil is produced by means of cold-pressing the olive fruit. This technique protects the fruits nutrients and antioxidants which can be destroyed if oil is extracted by means of heat or solvents – processes that may be used in the production of lesser grade oils. The resulting cold-pressed oil is rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

Food for Thought – Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Is a Fruit Juice!

Ultimately, few people associate real extra-virgin olive oil with what it essentially is: a fruit juice. Chock-full of health compounds like polyphenols and antioxidants, there is no comparison for golden, rich, authentic extra-virgin olive oil. Remember, like all fruit products, the fresher the better and to obtain the highest quality, it is best to get it from a local source. Try to avoid oils that have taken long trips around the world, especially when you are unsure if the label claims are accurate. Try varieties produced right here in the U.S. such as those from Sonoma Valley and seek out brands that carry the trusted COOC certification. Last but not least – enjoy drizzling your way to health!

Image courtesy Dr Hyman

Mindful Eating 101 – A Beginner’s Guide

Leave a reply

 

 

Wondering About FoodMindful eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your eating habits. It has been shown to cause weight loss, reduce binge eating and help you feel better.

This article explains what mindful eating is, how it works and what you need to do to get started.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is based on mindfulness, a Buddhist concept.

It is a form of meditation that helps you recognize and cope with your emotions and physical sensations . It has helped treat many conditions, including eating disorders, depression, anxiety and various food-related behaviors.

Mindful eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings and physical cues when eating.

Fundamentally, mindful eating involves:

  • Eating slowly and without distraction.
  • Listening to physical hunger cues and eating only until you’re full.
  • Distinguishing between actual hunger and non-hunger triggers for eating.
  • Engaging your senses by noticing colors, smells, sounds, textures and tastes.
  • Learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food.
  • Eating to maintain overall health and well-being.
  • Noticing the effects food has on your feelings and figure.
  • Appreciating your food.

These things allow you to replace automatic thoughts and reactions with more conscious, healthier responses.

Why Should You Try Mindful Eating?

Eating has become a mindless act, often done quickly. This can be problematic, since it actually takes the brain up to 20 minutes to realize you’re full. If you eat too fast, the fullness signal may not arrive until you’ve already eaten too much. This is very common in binge eating. By eating mindfully, you restore your attention and slow down, making eating an intentional act instead of an automatic one.

 Mindful eating helps you distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. It also increases your awareness of food-related triggers, and gives you the freedom to choose your response to them.

Mindful Eating and Weight Loss

Weight Scale

It is a well-known fact that most weight loss programs don’t work in the long term.

Around 85% of obese individuals who lose weight return to or exceed their initial weight within a few years . Binge eating, emotional eating, external eating and eating in response to food cravings have been linked to weight gain and weight regain after successful weight loss.

Chronic exposure to stress may also play a large role in overeating and the development of obesity.

The vast majority of studies agree that mindful eating helps you lose weight by changing eating behaviors and reducing stress. A 6-week group seminar on mindful eating among obese individuals resulted in an average weight loss of 9 lbs (4 kg) during the seminar and the 12-week follow-up period).

By changing the way you think about food, the negative feelings that may be associated with eating are replaced with awareness, improved self-control and positive emotions .

When unwanted eating behaviors are addressed, the chances of long-term weight loss success are increased.

Mindful Eating and Binge Eating

Junk Food

Binge eating involves eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time, mindlessly and without control. It has been linked to eating disorders and weight gain, and one study showed that almost 70% of binge eaters are obese.

Interestingly, mindful eating has been shown to drastically reduce the severity and frequency of binge eating.

One study found that after a 6-week group intervention in obese women, binge eating episodes decreased from 4 to 1.5 times per week. The severity of each episode also decreased.

Mindful Eating and Unhealthy Eating Behaviors

In addition to being an effective treatment for binge eating, mindful eating methods have also been shown to reduce:

  • Emotional eating: Eating in response to certain emotions.
  • External eating: Eating in response to environmental food-related cues, such as the sight or smell of food).

Unhealthy eating behaviors like these are the most commonly reported problems among obese individuals.

Mindful eating gives you the skills you need to deal with these impulses. It puts you in charge of your responses, instead of you acting on them without thought.

How To Practice Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating Burger
There are many simple ways to get started, some of which can have powerful benefits :

  • Eat more slowly and don’t rush your meals.
  • Chew thoroughly.
  • Eliminate distractions by turning off the TV and putting down your phone.
  • Eat in silence or enjoy conversation with people you care for
  • Focus on how the food makes you feel.
  • Stop eating when you’re full.
  • Ask yourself why you’re eating. Are you actually hungry? Is it healthy?

To begin with, it is a good idea to pick one meal per day, to focus on these points.

Once you’ve got the hang of this, mindfulness will become more natural. Then you can focus on implementing these habits into more meals.

Mindful eating takes practice. Try to eat more slowly, chew thoroughly, remove distractions and stop eating when you’re full.

Where to Find More Information
  • Amazon: Many good books on mindful eating are available on Amazon.
  • Web resources: This website lists 50 mindful eating web resources.
  • Videos: This is a short video introduction to mindful eating.
  • Meditating: Here is a short meditation to help manage food cravings.
  • Workshops: Mindful eating seminars are located around the world and online.
Take Home Message

Mindful eating is a powerful tool to regain control of your eating.

If you have failed with conventional “diets” in the past, then this is definitely something you should try.

Simple. Eat well. Stay Healthy.

7 Ways Probiotics DETOXIFY Your Body

Leave a reply
 

7 Ways Probiotics Help You To DETOXIFY Your Health

You’ve probably heard the buzz already about the many health benefits of probiotics, a word which literally translates to: pro- “for” + biotics “life” — FOR LIFE.  But did you know that these remarkable commensal microorganisms, which outnumber our bodily cells 10 to 1, and contribute over 95% of our body’s total genetic information, also break down highly toxic manmade chemicals which your body is either incapable, or only partially capable, of defending itself from?

Learn about some of the amazing ways in which ‘good bacteria’ help to detoxify chemicals within our body:

  • Bisphenol A: This ubiquitous toxicant — linked to over 40 diseases — found in anything from thermal printer receipts, paper money, canned food liners, dental composites, and of course plastics, is a powerful endocrine disrupter now found in everyone’s bodies. Remarkably, two common probiotic strains, Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei, have been found in animal research to help the body detoxify it by reducing the intestinal absorption of bisphenol A through facilitating increased excretion. The animals receiving probiotic treatment were found to have 2.4 times higher excretion of Bisphenol A in their feces, suggesting probiotic supplementation could be of significant benefit to humans as well.
  • Pesticides: Probiotic strains from the traditional Korean fermented cabbage dish known as kimchi have been identified to degrade a variety of organophosphorous pesticides such as chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, diazinon, methylparathion, and parathion. These nifty organisms actually use these exceedingly hard to break down chemicals as sources of carbon and phosphorous – ‘food’! – and were found to break down the pesticide 83.3% after 3 days and degraded it completely by day 9.  While this test tube study likely does not reflect exactly what happens in our gut when we ingest both chlorpyrifos and Kimchi, it is provocative, and may indicate there is some protective effects in the gut.
  • Heavy Metals: Lactobacillus bacteria found in food have been looked at as a potential adjunct agent for reducing metal toxicity in humans.
  • Cancerous Food Preservatives: Another kimchi study found it contained a strain of bacteria capable of breaking down sodium nitrate, a naturally and artificially occurring chemical (used from anything to rocket fuel and gunpowder) linked to a variety of chronic degenerative diseases, including cancer.  A recent study found that four lactobacillus strains where capable of breaking this toxic byproduct down by up to 50%.
  • Perchlorate – perchlorate is an ingredient in jet fuel and fireworks that widely contaminates the environment and our food. Sadly, even organic food has been found concentrate high levels of this toxicant, making it exceedingly difficult to avoid exposure. It is now found in disturbing concentrations in breast milk and urine, and is a well-known endocrine disrupter capable of blocking the iodine receptor in the thyroid, resulting in hypothyroidism and concomitant neurological dysfunction.  A recent study found that the beneficial bacterial strain known as Bifidobacterium Bifidum is capable of degrading perchlorate, and that breast fed infants appear to have lower levels than infant formula fed babies due to the breast milk bacteria’s ability to degrade perchlorate through the perchlorate reductase pathway.
  • Heterocylic Amines: Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCA) are compounds formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures of 150-300 degrees C, and are extremely mutagenic (damage the DNA). Lactobacillus strains have been identified that significantly reduce the genotoxicity of theses compounds.
  • Toxic Foods: While not normally considered a ‘toxin,’ wheat contains a series of proteins that we do not have the genomic capability to produce enzymes to degrade. When these undigested proteins – and there are over 23,000 that have been identified in the wheat proteome – enter into the blood, they can wreak havoc on our health. Recent research has found that our body has dozens of strains of bacteria that are capable of breaking down glutinous proteins and therefore reduce its antigenicity and toxicity.

It is simple to Stay Healthy.

How Protein at Breakfast Can Help You Lose Weight

Leave a reply

Freydis Hjalmarsdottir, MS

Protein is a key nutrient for weight loss.
In fact, adding more protein to your diet is the easiest and most effective way to lose weight.
Studies show that protein can help curb your appetite and keep you from overeating.
Therefore, starting your day with a high-protein breakfast may be an effective weight loss tip.
Should You Eat Breakfast?
In the past, skipping breakfast has been associated with weight gain, but we now have good evidence showing that recommendations to eat or skip breakfast have no effect on weight gain or loss. However, eating breakfast may be a good idea for other reasons. For example, it may improve mental performance in school children, teenagers and certain patient groups.
This depends on the quality of the breakfast. A breakfast that is high in weight loss friendly protein has positive effects.

How Protein Helps You Lose Weight

Protein is the single most important nutrient for weight loss.
This is because the body uses more calories to metabolize protein, compared to fat or carbs. Protein also keeps you feeling fuller for longer.
One study in women showed that increasing protein intake from 15 to 30% of total calories helped them eat 441 fewer calories per day. They also lost 11 pounds (5 kg) in just 12 weeks. Another study found that increasing protein to 25% of total calories reduced late-night snacking by half and obsessive thoughts about food by 60%.
In yet another study, two groups of women were put on weight loss diets for 10 weeks. The groups ate the same amount of calories, but different amounts of protein.
All the women in the study lost weight. However, the high-protein group lost about half a kg (1.1 lbs) more, and importantly, a larger percentage of body fat.
Protein may also help you maintain weight loss in the long term. A study found that increasing protein from 15 to 18% of calories made dieters regain 50% less weight.

High-Protein Breakfasts Help You Eat Less Later

pr

Studies have shown that high-protein breakfasts reduce hunger and help people eat up to 135 fewer calories later in the day.
Protein helps you feel full. This is because it activates the body’s signals that curb appetite, which reduces cravings and overeating. This is mostly due to a drop in the hunger hormone ghrelin and a rise in the fullness hormones peptide YY, GLP-1 and cholecystokinin. Several studies have now demonstrated that eating a high-protein breakfast changes these hormones throughout the day.

How Protein at Breakfast Helps You Lose Weight and Belly Fat

High-protein breakfasts can reduce appetite and cravings. They may also help you lose belly fat. Dietary protein is inversely related to belly fat, meaning the more high-quality protein you eat, the less belly fat you have.
In one study, people on a weight loss program received either an egg breakfast or a bagel breakfast with the same amount of calories.
After 8 weeks, those eating the egg breakfast had a 61% higher reduction in BMI, 65% more weight loss and a 34% greater reduction in waist measurements.

Protein May Boost Your Metabolism

Speeding up your metabolism can help you lose weight, as it makes you burn more calories. Your body uses much more calories to metabolize protein (20-30%) than carbs (5-10%) or fat (0-3%).
This means you burn more calories by eating protein than by eating carbs or fat. In fact, a high protein intake has been shown to result in an extra 80 to 100 calories burned each day.
A high protein diet can also help prevent muscle loss during calorie restriction, and partly prevent the reduction in metabolism that often comes with weight loss, often referred to as “starvation mode”.

Which High-Protein Foods Should You Eat For Breakfast?

egg

In short, EGGS.
Eggs are incredibly nutritious and high in protein. Replacing a grain-based breakfast with eggs has been shown to help you eat fewer calories for the next 36 hours and lose more weight and body fat.
However, fish, seafood, meat, poultry and dairy products are also great sources of protein to include for breakfast.

If You Eat Breakfast, Make it High in Protein
If you do choose to eat breakfast, eat one that is rich in protein.
And Stay Healthy!

Should you avoid eggs?

Leave a reply

Joel Marion

Upon awakening this morning, the obvious answer to the question “what’s for breakfast?” was eggs. You see, I like eggs and tend to eat a lot of them. I mean, who doesn’t love a good omelet, right?

Now, I’m sure you’ve heard a time or two before that you should be mindful of consuming too many eggs as their cholesterol content is rather high.

I’ve even heard the recommendation that eggs should only be eaten once per week to avoid cholesterol issues. If that’s the case, I’m probably due to die rather soon.

images

Fortunately, it’s not.

You see, for years we have been told that cholesterol intake should be kept to a bare minimum as doing so will help to decrease blood cholesterol levels and promote overall health.

Fact is, when dietary intake of cholesterol is decreased, the liver compensates by producing more cholesterol, leaving total cholesterol levels relatively unchanged. In the same way, if cholesterol consumption is increased, the liver produces less cholesterol, and again, total cholesterol values will not be substantially altered.

Now that’s not to say that we should go hog wild with our intake of cholesterol, but it does mean that one can expect cholesterol levels to remain relatively stable over a wide range of dietary intakes.

Given this information, you may be wondering why the body would ever produce more cholesterol if cholesterol is so “bad”, and that’s a good question.

The truth is, cholesterol actually acts as an antioxidant against dangerous free radicals within the blood and is also necessary for the production of certain hormones that help to fight against heart disease.

When there are high levels of undesirable substances in the blood (caused by the dietary intake of damaged fats, highly processed “unhealthy” foods, and large quantities of sugars), cholesterol levels rise in order to combat these substances.

Blaming heart disease on high cholesterol is like blaming infection on high levels of antibodies (special proteins produced by the body in order to defend against foreign bacteria and infectious agents). If the body allowed cholesterol to fall in the presence of large amounts of free radicals, our risk for heart disease would increase, not decrease, and fortunately our bodies won’t let that happen.

So, the answer to decreasing blood cholesterol levels is not avoiding omelets and not necessarily decreasing dietary cholesterol intake, but rather improving ones diet overall by eating healthier in general and avoiding the other harmful types of foods mentioned.

Combine that with increased physical activity and both you and your cholesterol levels will be in even better shape.