Breaking news! Eating food can lower cholesterol!

A paper was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that foods can lower cholesterol levels; specifically... LDLs (the so-called "bad cholesterol").  The foods that were used in the experimental group were:

- margarine enriched with plant sterols

- viscous fibers such as oats and barley

- soy protein from soy milk, tofu or soy “meats”

- peanuts and nuts from trees

- peas, beans and lentils

That doesn't mean you should go out and stock your fridge with only these items.  In fact, any well balanced plant-based diet will do.  

For those of you who are regular readers, you know that I hate when pharmaceutical companies sponsor research that shows that their drugs are awesome.  Well, this particular study was partially funded by food companies.  And the 8 of the 20 authors received fees from these companies.  So I guess the pendulum swings both ways.  The food company Unilever provided funding (Bertolli pasta, Lipton teas, Slimfast, Hellman's mayonaisse) as did grain manufacturer Viterra.

Brain and Cholesterol

In the old days, high cholesterol was a very scary thing.  High cholesterol meant that your arteries had a very good chance of getting plugged up down the road.  With that, a heart attack or stroke was not far behind.  As scientists learned more about physiology and realized that half the people who died of heart disease had normal cholesterol, we learned that there's more to the story of heart disease than just cholesterol.

It's important not to throw our understanding of cholesterol completely out the window.  Does it play a major role in heart disease?  The safe answer is probably, "in some people 'yes'...but in others, 'not as much.' "  With that, a new study shows a direct link between the brain and cholesterol levels.  In fact, they authors quote,

"Our data suggest that a neural circuit in the brain is directly involved in the control of cholesterol metabolism by the liver."

To put it in perspective, a statement to the media said, "We have long thought that cholesterol is exclusively regulated through dietary absorption or synthesis and secretion by the liver.... our study shows for the first time that cholesterol is also under direct 'remote control' by specific neurocircuitry in the central nervous system." 

Pretty remarkable stuff; I think it's time that your cardiologist, nutritionist and neurologist (at the very least) get together to figure out the best way to keep you healthy.

Weight Loss- The Problem with Calories

Calories in < Calories out= weight loss.
Calories in >Calories out= weight gain.

Is this the formula for weight loss? Sometimes... but not all the times. It's a simple equation and a mantra of fitness and diet enthusiasts everywhere. Many gyms have this proudly posted on their walls. You'll even read this on many diet focused websites. The problem with calories is that they are simply a unit of energy available in food. This perspective on food doesn't account for the message that food sends to your body. It assumes that all calories are created relatively equal.

Gary Taubes has a great book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, that thoughtfully explores our fascination with calories and the way it came about. A science journalist, Taubes has his share of critics as he blasts our conventional understanding of presumed nutritional gospel about cholesterol and calories.

Even my favorite reality television show, The Biggest Loser, regularly touts the simple mantra, "Calories in should be less than calories burned!" While I am routinely inspired by the contestants and impact of the show, that is one area where I will disagree.

Follow this reasoning.

1. Food initiates hormone responses. We know that insulin release is necessary for appropriate metabolism of foods. This is standard, textbook human physiology.

2. Insulin talks and interacts with other hormones... such as cortisol, testosterone, leptin, estrogen and more. This is an area that science continues to explores. Cutting edge clinicians are constantly amazed at the web-like interactions of different components of our body. The reality is that 1000 carbohydrate calories will cause a different insulin response than 1000 calories of fat or protein.

3. These hormones often take on a life of their own. For example, high insulin will promote insulin resistance over time. This promotes more cortisol release in an unusual stress response. Cortisol then promotes even more insulin resistance in a vicious cycle. As your body is now under a stress response, hormones like testosterone, estrogen and others can be shortchanged as the enzymes that produce them have altered activity.

Now let me ask you some questions;
a) What is the effect of high cortisol? It's bad.
b) What is the effect of low testosterone? It's bad.
c) What is the effect of altered estrogen metabolism? It's bad.
d) What is the effect of altered progesterone levels? It's bad.

...and the biggest question of them all...
e) What set this off to begin with? High insulin secondary to carbohydrate heavy meals... regardless of calorie content!

Let me make a point here. I am not a hard core low carb advocate. You must eat carbohydrates... the good ones. Your body loves carbs and they are designed to be utilized efficiently in the body. But I do think the Standard American Diet is carb heavy. Think about your meals and snacks. They are likely to be carbohydrates that promote an insulin surge.

The "calorie model" is useful to some degree.  But it is the foundation of "old school" nutrition and does not effectively consider the many other variables involved.

Heart Disease- The Big Picture

You can see by now that a simple assessment of cholesterol alone (total, LDL, HDL) is not sufficient for determining your risk of a cardiovascular event. If you managed to lower your cholesterol levels using heavy hitters like Lipitor, great job... but don't get a false sense of security. Remember that many people with heart disease have normal cholesterol levels. Here's a summary of the other contributors to heart health.

1. Inflammation
2. CoQ10 levels
3. Gut dysfunction
4. Vitamin D levels
5. Hormone imbalances
6. Homocysteine levels
7. Essential fatty acids levels
8. Magnesium levels

Each of these variables needs to be targeted to ensure appropriate protection for your heart. This is by no means a comprehensive list. But it should provide a starting point for understanding some of the major players involved in heart disease. Thankfully, the same lifestyle measures of good food, stress reduction and exercise will lower cholesterol while also targeting these 8 variables we talked about.

Two Faces of Insulin

Insulin is quite important for our survival. It is a good hormone that helps cells make use of the food that you eat. If you didn't make any insulin, you would suffer a lot and eventually die. It is safe to say that insulin is a good thing.

But when insulin levels go out of control, your body starts to ignore the message that insulin is trying to send. This is called insulin resistance. This is often accompanied by high levels of insulin. Since your body is ignoring insulin's message, your pancreas (the organ that makes insulin), screams louder and louder... producing more and more insulin. This leads to the bad things associated with insulin. Insulin resistance is associated with:

• Elevated bad cholesterol and triglycerides
  
• Lowered good cholesterol
• Hypertension
• Systemic inflammation
• Vascular endothelial dysfunction
• Changes in sex hormone levels in both men and women
• Women's testosterone levels can increase.
  
• Men's estrogen levels can increase while testosterone levels go down.
• Both of these scenarios promotes even more insulin resistance which then sets up a vicious cycle of destruction
• Cortisol levels go up as your body perceives insulin resistance as a "stress response"

If all that sounds like just a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo, let's translate that into English:

1. You'll be tired all the time
2. Blood vessels will get clogged up leading to potential:

• blindness
• impotence
  
• kidney failure
• heart attack
• stroke

3. You're more likely to get Alzheimer Disease or other forms of dementia
4. You won't be able to lose weight
5. Your sex drive will plummet
6. You'll be crabby most of the time

... and this is the short list.

The food you eat sends signals to your body. If you eat right, you send the right signals. If your idea of a healthy meal is a big plate of pasta, garlic bread, a baked potato, apple juice and a cookie, then I guarantee you are sending the wrong kinds of signals.