Eating to starve disease?

Putting the concepts of eating and starving together may seem paradoxical, but when it comes to food and disease experts are finding a definite connection. You can view the amazing details in this TED Talk video by Dr. William Li, an expert in angiogenesis.  If you prefer to skip the short video, I've attempted to summarize his talk below.

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li


So what is angiogenesis?  Angio comes from the Greek word meaning "pertaining to blood vessels" and genesis comes from Greek word meaning "the act of producing or giving birth to". So angiogenesis is the production of new blood vessels.

In the video, Dr. Li describes angiogenesis as "an important natural process in the body used for healing and reproduction." An example of reproductive angiogenesis is the uterus as it sheds its lining and produces another with each monthly menstrual cycle.  The process of the growth of new blood vessels that occurs after an injury is an example of healing angiogenesis. In both of these instances, angiogenesis is regulated by a complicated balance of factors that either stimulate or slow the growth of new blood vessels. Experts now recognize that when these factors become unbalanced and too much or too little angiogenesis takes place, cancer, age-related blindness, diabetic ulcers, cardiovascular disease, stroke, skin diseases, and many other diseases can occur.

Let's look at cancer, which is what Dr. Li focuses on in his presentation. In order for a tumor to grow beyond a certain size it requires new blood vessels. Interestingly, researchers have discovered that "small activator molecules produced by the cancer cells... signal angiogenesis in the tissue surrounding the tumor" (National Cancer Institute). Scientists also know that without angiogenesis tumor growth halts at about 1-2 mm. Dr. Li explains in the video that after a certain age many of us probably have these 1-2 mm microscopic cancers, but the disease doesn't progress beyond this point.  Experts are learning that in some people the body doesn't respond to the cancer cells' signal to begin angiogenesis. One expert calls this cancer without disease.

The fact that a tumor stops growing without angiogenesis has staggering implications.  Could cancer possibly be thwarted from developing into a larger, more aggressive and life threatening disease? Dr. Li is looking into this possibility and has done numerous experiments on animals with fairly good success, considering the cases were mostly more advanced stages of cancer.  How has he been able to accomplish these results?  By using angiogenesis medicine.

So, what does eating to starve disease have to do with angiogenesis? Well, Dr. Li has found that there are foods that have the ability to regulate angiogenesis. In the case of cancer this means specific foods have anti-angiogenic properties. They have the potential to starve a cancer by interfering with the angiogenic process. This in turn limits a tumors blood supply and ultimately stops its growth! Chemical comounds like dithiolthiones and sulforaphane which are found in cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli are anti-angiogenic. The slide is from Dr. Li's presentation.  It lists some of these foods that have anti-angiogenic properties.

Source: Dr. Li and the Angiogenesis Foundation

Dr. Li's statement at the end of the presentation was profound for me.  Food can be my chemotherapy, three times a day! What do you think? It might seem a little outside the box to consider food as medicine or chemotherapy. However, considering that both food and chemotherapy are chemical compounds, it's not that big of a stretch. Why is that what comes from nature is sometimes seen as less superior than a drug that man can create from nature? If the end result is finding a cure or preventing cancer, it really doesn't matter from where it's derived. Until that end result happens, I feel empowered by knowing there are foods I can choose to eat that really are having a positive impact on my health.

UPDATE: Check out the Eat to Beat Cancer Initiative - "which has catalyzed a movement to improve health through cancer-fighting foods. Based on the latest medical science, there are practical, healthy, and tasty food choices that can be made by you every day, at every meal, to incorporate cancer-fighting foods into your diet."

Sources
http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/angio
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understandingcancer/angiogenesis/Slide9
http://www.angio.org/

No wheat - whole grain bread

I'm discovering a whole new way of approaching food. Rather than thinking of it as just sustenance for my body, I'm looking at food as medicine. In an effort to reduce inflammation, I'm trying the elimination diet which was suggested by my doctor.  This diet is where certain foods aren't eaten for a period of time.  Then the eliminated foods are added back into the diet one at a time. Adding foods back into your diet this way allows you to see specifically which food triggers any allergy symptoms. Then you can better pinpoint the food most likely causing problems.

Experts have found that increasing numbers of people have a sensitivity to the gluten that is found in wheat. Interestingly, this may be ocurring as a result of the farming techniques used to produce wheat in our country. Pesticides, fungicides, and chemical plant growth regulators are being used to grow wheat. Then the wheat is altered further when it is processed into white flour. Many prepackaged foods, and of course, white bread, are all made with this refined, nutrient stripped white flour. The Weston A. Price Foundation has a fascinating article that discusses what happens to wheat from seed to storage here. The article was an eye opener for me.

One of the symptoms of gluten sensitivity is that it causes the immune system to respond with intestinal inflammation. So for now, I'm temporarily eliminating wheat products. It's just that... I really enjoy eating whole wheat bread.  I wondered how I was going to get my bread fix? Well, I found the most amazing honey, whole grain bread recipe in the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS,CN, and it contains no wheat!

Bob's Red Mill Whole Grains

Although the recipe doesn't suggest it, I made a loaf in the bread machine on the whole wheat cycle. After I proofed the yeast mixture, I put it into the bread machine first, then added the dry mixture and let the machine do the work. Even though the bread machine's whole wheat bread cycle goes through several series of rising and punching down, it still came out deliciously. I did take the pan out of the bread machine after about 35-40 minutes.

Don't let the dough put you off. It's not the usual wheat or white bread dough consistency. I found it to be rather slick, shiny and a bit runny by traditional dough standards.  However, it baked up into a wonderfully moist, dense, crusty and very tasty loaf of bread.

 Some, if not all, of the grains required in the recipe you can get from Bob's Red Mill online, or at Whole Foods or Central Market (in the Dallas area).  The recipe suggests for a slightly sweeter tasting bread, you can replace the amaranth and buckwheat flours for equal amounts of sorghum flour if desired. I thought the bread was sweet enough without substituting, but more sweetness might be a nice change for a breakfast bread. If you can't find some of the flours, I used whole grains and ground them into a flour in my Vita-Mix.  I'm sure a food processor would work just as well too. Here's the recipe:

Honey Whole Grain Bread

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees F)
• 1 tsp whole can sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup teff flour
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour 
• 1/4 cup amaranth flour
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F and oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Place the warm water and tsp of sugar into a small bowl.  Make sure the water is the right temperature.  If the water is too cold the yeast will not become active and if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.  Add the yeast and stir.  Proof the yeast by allowing it to stand for 5 to 10 minutes. It should become bubbly, if not start over with fresh yeast and water. Then add the honey, oil, and apple cider vinegar. Stir well with a fork or wire whisk. 
2. In a large bow, add the arrowroot powder, tapioca flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, teff flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour, xanthan gum, sea salt and baking soda.  Combine the flours with a wire whisk.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk them together as you are pouring to avoid lumps.  Continue to whisk for another 30 to 60 seconds or so, or until the batter thickens and becomes smooth.
3. Transfer batter to the oiled loaf pan and gently spread out with the back of a spoon.  Place pan, uncovered, into the 200 degree oven.  Let rise for 30 to 35 minutes with the oven door cracked open.  After it has risen, close the oven door and turn the oven temperature up to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 30 minutes. Loosen sides with a knife and place onto a wire rack to cool. 

Enjoy with some almond butter. I'd post a photo, but it's already gone! Yum.  Feel free to share any gluten free bread recipes that you've savored.
  
Sources
Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, 2nd edition, Alissa Segersten, Tom Malterre, MS,CN

First step to reduce chronic inflammation

Eat your vegetables. I can't count how many times I heard my Mom say this and how often I repeated it to my children.  There really is wisdom in this statement, especially when it comes to reducing chronic inflammation, among other things.  It turns out vegetables, as well as other plant foods, contain something really good for us called phytochemicals.

Phytochemicals are chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants. Plant foods also contain essential nutrients. Phytochemicals and essential nutrients work synergistically, like a team, in the body.  Scientists aren't exactly sure yet how each specific phytochemical and nutrient in plant foods benefits the body. However, research clearly shows that phytochemicals have a positive impact on the process of chronic inflammation and the progression of cancer. As a matter of fact, some experts believe as much as 30-35% of all cancers are linked to poor nutrition! If you would like more information, check out "Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes" written by a group of researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

It's also good to become familiar with what's called the glycemic index (GI) and the glycemic load (GL) of foods. The GI is a measurement of how fast a food causes your blood sugar to rise after you've eaten it. This is important because high GI foods cause insulin levels to rise rapidly and when this occurs repeatedly it can lead to a variety of health problems. The University of Australia has a great website, The Glycemic Index. It lists the GI and GL of thousands of foods.

I've also learned that specific vegetables are particularly important in reducing breast cancer.  These are cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussells sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale.  These are nutritionally valuable because they contain something called indole-3-carbonyl (I-3-C), which helps in regulating certain enzymes that deal with estrogen metabolism.  This is especially beneficial for cancer that is an estrogen receptor positive type of breast cancer. 

So, the first step in reducing chronic inflammation is to eat more plant foods, and I'm not talking french fries here. That leads me to the next step: watching what oils you're eating, but that's for next post.  For now, I'm wondering...does beginning to take steps to reduce inflammation seem as overwhelming and daunting to you as it first did to me? I have learned that it's all doable, if I take it in steps. When I get discouraged it also helps to remind myself of the proverb, "Eat to live and not live to eat." This message makes sense to me, and although they're not my Mom's words of wisdom, they're just as motivating.


Sources
http://www.drmercola.info/2009/09/8-ways-to-avoid-chronic-inflammation.html
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10165/100433
http://www.cfp.ca/cgi/content/abstract/53/11/1905
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515569/
http://www.glycemicindex.com/
 http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/i3c/

Is organic produce better?

I think we can all agree that eating more fruits and vegetables is healthier than choosing to eat a candy bar and cheese doodles. But, when it comes down to which fruits and vegetables, well, it can be a tricky exercise. What is the nutrient content? Glycemic index? Is it organic or conventionally grown? Adding to my confusion is the fact that there is often conflicting research information released about our foods. It's no wonder on a recent trip to the grocery store my husband questioned, "Is organic produce really better?"

Well, let's see. There was a study done in the UK by the Food Standards Agency (FDS). This is the UK's version of our FDA.  They stated that "there are no important differences in the nutrition content, or any additional health benefits, of organic food when compared with conventionally produced food." Let's take a look at the first part of this statement - nutrition content.

There are other studies that have shown that organically grown food does contain more nutrients.  One example is an article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. It states that a study done on organically grown corn, strawberries and marionberries showed "significantly higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally grown foods." I think it's especially interesting to note this research suggested that "pesticides and herbicides actually thwart the production of phenolics." These are chemicals that act as a plant's natural defense.  They also happen to be good for our health. 

Which brings me to the second part of the FDS's statement where they say there weren't "any additional health benefits of organic food when compared with conventionally produced food." Well, we know that organic foods don't come with any extra chemicals in the form of herbicides and pesticides! I copied this straight from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) website: "Laboratory studies show that pesticides can cause health problems, such as birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time.  However, these effects depend on how toxic the pesticide is and how much of it is consumed."  The EPA also states: RISK = TOXICITY x EXPOSURE.

If a health risk increases in relation to the toxicity of the chemicals used in growing fruits and vegetables and the amount of these foods I'm eating, then it makes sense to me to go organic. Not just because I'm consuming less chemicals that are bad for me, but because with organic I believe I'm also getting more of the plants good stuff. So, I think organic really is better. 

Sources
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/jul/organic
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/C/2003471.html
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/risks.htm