Food-for-Thought topic for today: Soy…is it healthy or not?

Greetings All! Today we are pondering the subject of soy in an attempt to determine if we should consume it, how much, and which types are best. The reason we are focusing on this today is because during a Forum discussion about canola oil (which is bad!), the subject of soy came up, and there were several opinions about its health benefits, or lack thereof. Someone then suggested that we start a discussion string on the topic of soy specifically. I will therefore report on information that I found and also that Leslie Olsen, a fellow member of the Health and Wellness Networking Group, provided. Okay, here we go…

First, let’s consider recommendations from the AHA. This editorial summarizes the recent American Heart Association (AHA) Science Advisory on soy protein and isoflavones (phytoestrogens) published in the February 21, 2006, issue of Circulation: http://atvb.ahajournals.org/content/26/8/1689.full. I recommend you read the entire article; in summary the authors conclude the following:

– Earlier research indicating that soy protein compared with other proteins has clinically important favorable effects on LDL cholesterol and other cardiovascular disease risk factors has not enjoyed confirmation from many studies reported during the past 10 years.

– No benefit is evident on HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), or blood pressure. Thus, the direct cardiovascular health benefit of soy protein or of isoflavone supplements is minimal at best.

– Soy protein or isoflavones have not been shown to improve vasomotor symptoms of menopause, and results are mixed regarding slowing of postmenopausal bone loss.

– The efficacy and safety of soy isoflavones for preventing or treating cancer of the breast, endometrium, and prostate are not established; evidence from clinical trials is meager and cautionary as regards a possible adverse effect.

So the net is that they were not able to identify a significant benefit of soy on CVD, menopause symptoms, or cancers and indicated a possible adverse effect on cancers. Let’s keep going…

Next, consider the 2006 article “The Science of Soy: What Do We Really Know?” by science writer Julia R. Barrett: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480510/. This article provides good background information on soy, and she concludes by stating that most researchers do agree on is that we are only just beginning to truly understand the nature of soy, and that much more research is needed before it is possible to make firm health recommendations.

Okay, that was informative but did not provide any concrete recommendations. Moving on…

Now, consider the viewpoint from the Harvard School of Public Health: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/protein-full-story/. Again I recommend reading the section on soy (I don’t necessarily agree with their sentiments on saturated fat in the other sections); in summary they recommend eating soy in moderation. They state that soybeans, tofu, and other soy-based foods are an excellent alternative to red meat, as in some cultures, tofu and soy foods are a protein staple. They caution that if you haven’t grown up eating lots of soy, there’s no reason to go overboard: Two to 4 servings a week is a good target; eating more than that likely won’t offer any health benefits and we can’t be sure that there is no harm.

So eating it in moderation is ok, but may not offer any health benefits, and may have adverse effects. I’d still like a more meaty (so to speak) explanation, so let’s keep looking…

Let’s check in with Dr Oz. His article is entitled “The Two Faces of Soy – Does it Harm or Help”, which sums up the confusion around this food pretty well: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/two-faces-soy-does-it-harm-or-help. He notes the following:

“It’s not clear why researchers are having trouble getting dependable findings. It could be inherent in the study; diet research is notoriously difficult to conduct and control. Or the fact that soy comes in many forms with varying components. Or the study population muddies the findings because people around the world have different personal and ethnic physiology.”

He does a nice job going through the currently understood effects of soy on various health conditions and provides recommendations that may be subject to change based upon more learning:

– Limit soy to one serving a day (no more than 30 milligrams of isoflavones)

– Choose good quality soy such as tofu, tempeh and miso

– Skip the “frankensoy” processed soyfoods

– Avoid soy supplements made from isolated soy components such as isoflavones like genistein and daidzein

He also recommends moderation and avoiding the highly processed soyfoods. This is a good start, but he does not mention anything about avoiding GMO soy, which I believe should be included in any recommendation concerning soy. Let’s make one more stop…

Time to check in with trusty Dr. Hyman, who is not afraid to call it as he sees it: http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/08/06/how-soy-can-kill-you-and-save-your-life/. Here also the title captures the duplicitous nature of soy. This is a great article which I suggest you read in its entirety. I appreciate his detailed review of the literature and recommendations the most. Here they are:

– The dangers of soy are overstated (and the benefits may be, too).

– We eat far too much processed soy (and processed foods in general). Stay away from those in your diet including soy protein concentrates or isolates, hydrolyzed or textured vegetable protein, hydrogenated soy bean oil, non-organic sources of soy, and soy junk food like soy cheese and ice cream. Don’t eat them.

– Whole soy foods can be a source of good quality protein and plant compounds that help promote health.

– Eat only organic soy. Stay away from genetically modified versions. (There it is!!)

– Replace soy oil with olive oil, fish oil, nuts, and seeds.

– Breastfeed your child. I prefer that no one feed dairy or soy formula to their babies, but if you have to, try not to worry about it. (Little skeptical about this one, and note that it must be organic, and not, GMO soy!)

– Don’t worry about soy’s effect on breast cancer if you eat it in the forms and amounts I recommend. It has even been shown to protect against breast cancer if you start eating it at a young age. (This is presumably from the Shanghai Study, see reference [1])

– The effects on the thyroid are not significant or relevant unless you are deficient in iodine (which you can easily get from eating fish, seaweed or sea vegetables, or iodized salt).

His recommendations are consistent with the other references included in this post, and stress moderation and whole ORGANIC soy foods. The only thing I would add is to lean towards fermented soy products because they are easier to digest due to the presence of probiotics. In light of the uncertainty regarding soy, I think this is the best we are going to do.

Thanks for joining us! I’d love to hear other viewpoints because this is an interesting subject. Is the information in this article consistent with your knowledge and experience?

[1] Abstract of Shanghai study: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/89/6/1920.abstract

The Great Con-ola!

Greetings! Thanks to the Weston A Price foundation for the great title [1]! As indicated, the Food-for-Thought topic for today is canola oil and I am re-blogging a post from holistic nutritionist Anne Baker, who is also a member of the W Cubed Medical Advisory Board. This post has become one of her most popular and can be found on her website here. It is likely popular is because we were told for years that such vegetable oils are heart healthy, but now we are learning otherwise and need to change our routines [1,2]. Here is the text of Anne’s informative post:

“It seems every time I give a health lecture, the question about which oils are healthy comes up. People are usually surprised to learn that canola oil is not the healthy oil they were lead to believe. This is because canola is actually a very processed product that is derived from the rapeseed which is a member of the mustard family, which also includes broccoli, kale, cabbage and mustard greens.

Rapeseed oil was used in Asia for many years and was never a health issue. It is speculated that the reason for this is because in Asia, the oil was processed at very low temperatures. What you’re buying in US markets is not the same product and it does not provide the essential fatty acids required by the body. Fatty acids are essential and analogous to the lock and key. You need the right fatty acid to unlock the door to the cells. Wrong or rancid oils like canola don’t work.

Current processing of canola oil goes something like this – the oil is removed from the seed by a combination of high temperature mechanical pressing and solvent extraction. This is a very inferior method of extraction and leaves traces of the solvent  in the oil. Then, the oil is further refined, bleached and degummed, each step requiring exposure to high temperatures and chemicals. Since canola oil has a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids, these easily become rancid and foul smelling during these high heat processes. It therefore has to undergo another refining process called deodorization. This deodorization process removes a large portion of the omega-3 fatty acids by turning them into trans fats – which can be as high as 4.5%, which is worse than margarine.

So now you begin to see why canola is not the healthy oil you were lead to believe. Here are some more quick facts about canola oil:

• It is genetically engineered rapeseed. [3,4]
• It is derived from the mustard family and is considered a toxic and poisonous weed, and when processed, becomes rancid very quickly.
• It is very inexpensive to grow and harvest and even insects won’t eat it.
• Generally, rapeseed has a cumulative effect, taking almost 10 years before symptoms begin to manifest. It has a tendency to inhibit proper metabolism of foods and prohibits normal enzyme function. Possible side effects include loss of vision, disruption of the central nervous system, respiratory illness, anemia, constipation, increased incidence of heart disease and cancer, low birth weights in infants and irritability.
• It contains Trans fatty Acids which have been shown to have a direct link to cancer.

Things are not looking good for canola. But don’t despair – there are good oils and they all come from real foods!

• Flax seed oil – do NOT cook with this and keep refrigerated
• Extra virgin cold pressed olive oil – medium  heat
• Virgin, unrefined coconut oil – medium heat
• Avocado oil – medium heat
• Grape seed oil (and I would also like to add ghee – SGM) – medium to medium high heat

The very best way to eat these is raw. High quality oils are very sensitive to heat and it changes them into less healthy substances our bodies can’t use, which is another reason not to over cook food on high heat.”

I hope this was informative! I know I was under the impression, until recently, that canola oil was just great. Heck, Gwyneth Paltrow recommends it in her wonderful cookbook It’s All Good. Well, Ms. Pepper Potts, apparently it’s not!

[1] http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/the-great-con-ola

[2] http://omega6.wellwise.org/canola-oil-gmo-and-allergies

[3] Non-GMO Shopping Guide

[4] http://www.nongmoproject.org/2012/04/16/10-ways-to-spring-clean-gmos-out-of-your-home/

A second serving of Ascorbic Acid… A follow up to last week’s post

Welcome back to Food-for-Thought Wednesday! We will continue discussing ascorbic acid today because I received a request last week for more in-depth information.

Let’s start by taking step back and defining the difference between ascorbic acid and Vitamin C

Synthetic Ascorbic acid: Also known as D-ascorbic acid. This molecule does not occur in nature and may be synthesized artificially. It has identical molecular structure and antioxidant properties to L-ascorbic acid yet has far less vitamin C activity (although not quite zero). [1]

Vitamin C complex as found in fruits and vegetables: Includes natural L-ascorbic acid along with a comprehensive matrix of many nutrients and natural compounds such as bioflavonoids, co-enzymes and unique cofactors.

Here’s how D-ascorbic acid is made [2]

It starts with corn syrup that may be from GE corn and goes through these chemical steps:

Steps 1 thru 9 (Starch Hydrolysis): Corn starch is broken down into simple sugar (D-Glucose) by the action of heat and enzymes.

Step 10 (Hydrogenation): D-Glucose is converted into D-Sorbitol.

Step 11 (Fermentation): D-Sorbitol is converted into L-Sorbose.

Step 12 (Acetonation): Yes that’s right, they use acetone! L-Sorbose is combined with an acid at low temperatures.

Step 13 (Oxidation): The product is then oxidized with a catalyst, acidified, washed and dried forming L-Gluconic Acid.

Step 14 (Hydrolysis): L-Gluconic Acid is treated with hydrochloric acid forming crude ascorbic acid.

Step 15 (Recrystallization): The crude  ascorbic acid is filtered, purified and milled into a fine crystalline powder.

This is very different than the vitamin C complex found in food. However, the Food & Drug Administration has permitted ascorbic acid to be identified as Vitamin C.  This is why beverages, foods, and supplements which are fortified with ascorbic acid can say they contain this vitamin. Technically they do contain it, since according to the FDA, they’re allowed to call it that. However, based on what we know, it doesn’t really – it contains some anti-oxidant properties, but not the full benefit of vitamin C. (For some reason, the phrase “liar, liar pants on fire” comes to mind.)

Doesn’t sound too appealing, but a study was done which compared the activity of synthetic and natural ascorbic acid, and did not find a difference:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss01/bioavailability.html

However the main issues for me are that the synthetic ascorbic acid is likely made from GE corn and does not provide the full benefit of natural vitamin C complex. Therefore seems like the benefits are minimal.

Why is ascorbic acid used instead of natural Vitamin C? The C vitamin is a naturally occurring nutrient found in countless fruits and vegetables. However the problem is that when it is heated to above 70C [3], vitamin C denatures and becomes useless for nutrition. This poses a problem when it comes to beverages like orange juice. Pasteurization (heating up to 100C for up to 30 minutes to kill off pathogens) is required for virtually every beverage sold today in the United States, so the natural vitamin C is destroyed in pasteurized orange juice. Synthetic ascorbic acid can therefore replace the natural form which is destroyed by heat, so that glass of pasteurized orange juice may not actually contain natural Vitamin C. Rather, you are consuming synthetic ascorbic acid which was added to replace the original.

In conclusion, the best way to get vitamin C is from whole foods or a whole food supplement – the synthetic ascorbic acid route is not ideal. The best food sources for vitamin C are papaya, red bell peppers, broccoli, kale, strawberries, kiwi, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, sweet potato, and cantaloupe. [4]

I hope this information was helpful. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascorbic_acid

[2] http://www.realvitaminc.com/ascorbic-acid.html – this is a commercial interest but their description of how ascorbic acid is made is objective and consistent with other sources of this information.

[3] http://www.vitaminable.com/at-what-temperature-does-vitamin-c-denature.html

[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/vitamin-c-foods_n_1457397.html#slide=911043

Another Synthetic Item to Avoid: Ascorbic Acid

Welcome to Food-for-Thought Wednesday! Today we are going to consider ascorbic acid, a synthetic chemical you don’t want to be made of! Most sources equate vitamin C with ascorbic acid, as though they were the same thing. I was surprised to learn they’re not. As reference [1] explains, ascorbic acid is a manmade, synthetic chemical; it is an isolate, a fraction, a distillate of the natural vitamin C that is present in fruits, vegetables and herbs. In addition to ascorbic acid, real vitamin C must include rutin, bioflavonoids, Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, tyrosinase, ascorbinogen, and other components. In addition, mineral co-factors must be available in proper amounts. If any of these parts are missing, there is no vitamin C, no vitamin activity. As reference [2] explains, vitamin-C complex is an essential vitamin complex that humans cannot manufacture in our bodies. Without it we age prematurely, because it is necessary for the formation of collagen, which is why it is so important for creating healthy, beautiful skin. It is also extremely important in wound healing and blood vessel health (arteries, veins and capillaries). It is also a powerful antioxidant that scavenges disease-causing free radicals, and is famous as a powerful immune booster for treating colds and influenza.

Interestingly, over 90% of ascorbic acid in this country is manufactured at a facility in Nutley, New Jersey, owned by Hoffman-LaRoche, one of the world’s biggest drug manufacturers [1]. Here ascorbic acid is made from a process involving cornstarch and volatile acids. Most U.S. vitamin companies then buy the bulk ascorbic acid from this single facility. After that, marketing takes over. Each company makes its own labels, its own claims, and its own formulations, each one claiming to have the superior form of vitamin C, even though it all came from the same place, and it’s really not vitamin C at all. The net is that FRACTIONATED = SYNTHETIC = CRYSTALLINE = FAKE. Remember, the word synthetic means two things:  manmade and occurs nowhere in nature.

What to do?

First, read the labels for the foods, drinks and vitamins that you buy. Just because you are in Whole Foods does not mean you will automatically avoid ascorbic acid. For example, I saw ascorbic acid listed as an ingredient in Evolution Defense Up juice there, which is pricey and marketed as cold-pressed, nutritious and delicious. Yikes.

The best vitamins are called whole food vitamins, such as by New Chapter. Whole food vitamins are obtained by taking a vitamin-rich plant, removing the water and the fiber in a cold vacuum process, free of chemicals, and then packaging for stability. The entire vitamin complex in this way can be captured intact, retaining its “functional and nutritional integrity.” Upon ingestion, the body is not required to draw on its own reserves in order to complete any missing elements from the vitamin complex. There are about 110 companies who sell vitamins in the US and less than 5 of them use whole food vitamins. The reason is simple: whole food vitamins are expensive to make. A few of the largest pharmaceutical firms in the world mass produce synthetic vitamins for the vast majority of these 110 “vitamin” companies, who then put their own label on them, and every company claims theirs is the best! It’s ridiculous!

Synthetic food, synthetic vitamins…they’re all bad!

In closing, I once again refer to Michael Pollan’s Eater’s Manifesto from In Defense of Food:

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

No mention of synthetic crap. Sounds like outstanding advice.

The Breakfast of Champions may not be so Gr-r-reat!

Welcome to Food-for-Thought Wednesday! Today we are going to ponder breakfast cereal, which is a staple in the Standard American Diet (SAD). We are going to consider how it is manufactured, how nutritious it really is, and whether having it as a staple food is such a great idea, or not!

I’d like to thank Dr. Christopher Nagy for making we aware of the link below, which describes how the various puffs and flakes are manufactured. Warning – after you read this, you won’t think of your buddies Snap, Crackle, and Pop the same again:

http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/dirty-secrets-of-the-food-processing-industry

There is a lot of information in this posting, but let’s just focus on the top part about breakfast cereal. Per the author, cold breakfast cereals are produced by a process called extrusion. Grains are mixed with water, processed into a slurry and placed in a machine called an extruder. The grains are forced out of a tiny hole at high temperature and pressure, which shapes them into little o’s or flakes or shreds. Individual grains passed through the extruder expand to produce puffed wheat, oats and rice. These products are then subjected to sprays that give a coating of oil and sugar to seal off the cereal from the ravages of milk and to give it crunch.

In his book Fighting the Food Giants, biochemist Paul Stitt describes the extrusion process, which treats the grains with very high heat and pressure, and notes that the processing destroys much of their nutrients. It denatures the fatty acids; it even destroys the synthetic vitamins that are added at the end of the process. The amino acid lysine, a crucial nutrient, is especially damaged by the extrusion process. Even boxed cereals sold in health food stores are made using the extrusion process. They are made with the same kind of machines and mostly in the same factories. The only “advances” claimed in the extrusion process are those that will cut cost, regardless of how the process alters the nutrient content of the product. (You can also learn about food extrusion here).

With so many millions of boxes of cereal sold each year, one would expect to see published studies showing the effects of these cereals on animals and humans. But breakfast cereals are a multi-billion dollar industry that has created huge fortunes for a few people. A box of cereal containing a penny’s worth of grain sells for four or five dollars in the grocery store–there is probably no other product on earth with such a large profit margin. These profits have paid for lobbying efforts and journal sponsorships that have effectively kept any research about extruded grains out of the scientific literature and convinced government officials that there is no difference between a natural grain of wheat and a grain that has been altered by the extrusion process.

Okay this sounds not so Gr-r-reat. If breakfast cereal is out, what are the options? How about the following:

– Eggs, any style. Enough said!

– Porridge: Per the link above, old-fashioned porridges made from non-extruded grains provide excellent nourishment at an economical price. Grains such as oats should be cut or rolled and then soaked overnight in a warm, acidic medium to neutralize the many anti-nutrients naturally occurring in grains, such as irritating tannins, digestion-blocking enzyme inhibitors and mineral-blocking phytic acid.  This treatment can also gently break down complex proteins in grains. Soak the grains in warm water plus one tablespoon of something acidic, like whey, yoghurt, lemon juice or vinegar. The next morning, the grain will cook in just a few minutes. It’s best to eat the porridge with butter or cream, like our grandparents did. The nutrients in the dairy fats are needed in order for you to absorb the nutrients in the grains. Without the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K₂, you cannot absorb the minerals in your food. Furthermore, the fats in butter and cream slow down the release of glucose into the bloodstream, so that your blood sugar remains stable throughout the morning.

The Food Babe also has a great recipe here:http://foodbabe.com/2011/08/21/the-perfect-parfait-porridge/

– Smoothies: The options here are limited only by your imagination! I personally make a morning smoothie with almond milk, hemp protein (plant based = alkaline), coconut butter (good fats) and Amazing Grass green superfood powder (probiotics, enzymes, chlorella and spirulina).  I included other recipes on our Pinterest Board (http://www.pinterest.com/wcubedorg/healthy-meal-recipes/). Doctor Oz also has recipes for many smoothies on his website: www.doctoroz.com.

In conclusion, it seems like it’s time to kick Count Chocula, Trix the Rabbit, and Tony the Tiger out of the house. Silly rabbit, Trix aren’t for kids of any age!

Dr. Hyman Rocks It Again

Welcome to this edition of Food-for-Thought Wednesday! The topic for today’s cogitation is modern wheat. I was surprised to learn about how very different it is from the heritage wheat of our ancestors and how problematic these differences are. I’ve heard it said that we’ve been eating wheat for generations, so what could the problem be? Like GMO’s and prescription drugs, modern wheat is new to the scene, and as with them, there are problems. So without further ado, I present Dr. Hyman’s excellent explanation of the differences and the ways modern wheat is making us fat:

http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/02/13/three-hidden-ways-wheat-makes-you-fat/

Here is the big-picture situation as I understand it (sourced from Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, M.D.):

– Obesity rates have increased dramatically since the high carb/low fat diet was drummed into our heads as being so very healthy by our government and the medical establishment

– Rising obesity rates have resulted in a concomitant increase in diabetes and other chronic diseases

– It has been shown that as body weight increases, our brain size decreases

So in a nutshell: the high carb/low fat diet, in addition to the other wonders in our food, have made us fatter, sicker and dumber?? In other words, perfect sources of continuing revenue for Big Food and Big Pharma? Well that’s just supercalafragilisticexpialadocious!

Okay, seriously, this is messed up. Needless to say, it’s up to us to take charge of our health and reject this faulty dietary advice, which is still being given! I have referenced Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, M.D. several times, and will do so again, because I now believe this is imperative reading. He busts the myth of the high carb/low fat diet and addresses the benefits of the low carb/high fat diet in detail. For the love of all that is holy, read this book! You won’t regret it. 🙂

“In South Central LA, drive-thru’s kill more people than drive-by’s”…Ron Finley

What an amazing talk!

I am taking his advice and am going to plant some shit with kids at the Jesus Rodarte Children’s Garden in Greely, CO this spring.

How about you? Any gardening plans, guerilla or otherwise? 🙂

Why your health may impact your grandchildren’s…the epigenetics plot thickens

Welcome, my friends, to another Food-for-Thought Wednesday! We will delve further into the hot subject of epigenetics today. I was given this link by nutritionist Karla Maree in response to my previous post on epigenetics, and found the implications mind-blowing:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/great-grandma-you#!

Can you believe this:

– Animal studies and a smattering of human data suggest prenatal effects could reach farther down the family tree: The vices, virtues, inadvertent actions and accidental exposures of a pregnant mother may pose health consequences for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and perhaps even their offspring.

– While hormonal or diet exposures in the womb don’t directly change or damage DNA (like ionizing radiation would, for example) those sorts of exposures can induce scribblings in the genome’s margins that can also be passed down.

– The resulting health effects are not produced by altering DNA itself. Rather they stem from changes in chemical tags on DNA or its associated proteins, or to actions by RNA, another type of genetic molecule. All of these are exactly the types of changes that scientists have always assumed cannot be inherited. Their very name, epigenetic, literally means “over and above” or “beyond” genetics.

– Until fairly recently, scientists have thought that every new generation starts with its own freshly printed genome, devoid of epigenetic embellishments.  But then scientists began to document cases in which inheritance of a particular trait did not follow the usual rules of genetics, hinting that at least some epigenetic marks may be carried on to new generations.

I find this paradigm shift in our understanding of how traits are passed down fascinating and yet another indication of how amazingly complex our biology is! (Side note: this is why I proclaim that the focus on GMO’s is PURE HUBRIS. We assume we can slice and dice plant and animal DNA – the basis of life! – and get what we want without serious unintended consequences.  We don’t even understand the complexities of our own biology, what really happens when we digest food, how our bodies adapt to situations, etc. so how could we mess with the DNA that nature has evolved in a balanced fashion over millennia without seriously screwing up ourselves and the planet? That’s all. Just a simple question.)

But wait, there’s more:

– Researchers showed that exposing a pregnant rat to chemicals that disrupt the action of sex hormones could produce fertility problems that lasted at least to her great-great-grandchildren’s generation, as reported in Science in 2005. One implication of this finding is that epigenetic programming becomes permanent and gets passed along to future generations.

– Australian researchers showed that rat fathers that ate a high-fat diet and became obese before mating passed along a propensity to become diabetic to their daughters (but not their sons), as reported in Science in 2010. Something in the dads’ high-fat diet apparently caused a change in methyl tags on DNA in the fathers’ sperm that was then passed on to the daughters. It was direct evidence that diet or other environmental factors could influence epigenetic marks in sperm, escape the epigenetic reset at fertilization and affect the health of offspring.

Regarding results on people:

– Babies born to obese fathers had an altered epigenetic legacy, researchers reported February 6, 2013 in BMC Medicine. The children of 16 obese men had lower levels of methylation of the gene IGF2 compared with the kids of normal-weight dads.

– It is a possibility that epigenetic changes observed in grandchildren might stem from conditions encountered by fetal germ cells. It’s not until the great-grandchild generation that researchers can determine whether an epigenetic mark is truly inherited, because that is the first generation that had no contact with what the original pregnant mom encountered. Research on this topic continues.

– Washington State University researcher Michael Skinner thinks that epigenetics offers an organism a way to adjust the activity of genes rapidly in response to environmental cues. Epigenetic marks prepare future generations for the environment that they are likely to encounter, he contends. He even thinks that epigenetic changes may eventually become permanently inscribed in DNA, thus influencing the evolution of species. “I don’t want to suggest that genetics and DNA is not important — it’s just not the whole story,” he says.

Holy genome! This implies that the DNA we inherit from our parents is not a fixed quantity to be passed along, but something that can be subtly modified as a result of our life choices and then PASSED DOWN for 1, and possibly more, generations. The dangers of things like chemical exposure (e.g. even common ones like bisphenol A, pesticides, DEET), synthetic hormone exposure, eating pesticides, and obesity take on a whole new meaning. Those are not just bad for our organs, they are bad for our genes. Wow.

So riddle me this: do our future generations even have a chance at optimal mental and physical health if 70% of our population is overweight; if our food supply is contaminated with pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and synthetic hormones; if babies are being fed GM soy formula; if kids are growing up on GM junk food, artificial sweeteners and bad fats? Junk bodies, indeed!

How about next time you want to reach for a bag of Cheetos/doughnuts/any awful junk, decide not to exercise,  microwave your lunch in a plastic container, eat conventional foods (especially the Dirty Dozen), live in prolonged stressful circumstances…consider that you are not just messing with your own biology!

Food-For-Thought Wednesday: Lessons from Tomb Sentinels, Buddhist Monks, and Jedi Knights

This is Mind over Matter: Picture taken September 2012 at Tomb of Unknown Soldier during a cold, windy and rainy day.

Greetings, Friends! I am shaking things up for 2014 as my plan is to post 3x per week:

– Weekend Wrap on Mondays in which I cover very timely health and wellness developments

– Food-for-Thought Wednesdays in which I provide thoughts on life, the universe and everything

– Deep-Dive Fridays in which I provide more in-depth analysis of holistic health and wellness topics

The topic for this Food-for-Thought Wednesday is *Mind Training*.

Some would consider walking, let alone working, outside on a cold and rainy day to be fodder for endless complaining and belly-aching. However the soldiers above (Tomb Sentinels from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment’s “The Old Guard” who have guarded the Tomb for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year regardless of the weather, since 1948) consider working on such a day an honor because they must have immense respect for their job, a sacred sense of duty, and gratification from being part of something larger than themselves. I am going to speculate that these men feel happier after a rainy and cold day’s work that many of us after a day at a cozy desk. It’s all in how their mind perceives their circumstance, what they choose to do with that perception.

We are learning that our perception of our circumstances impacts not only our mood for the moment, our overall health in a profound way. Check out this blog from Dr. Hyman (one of my favorites!) about a conference he attended with Tibetan monks and doctors, Buddhist scholars, meditation researchers, and prize-winning biomedical scientists:

http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/08/25/how-the-dalai-lama-can-help-you-live-to-120/

The subject of this conference: Longevity and Tibetan medicine.

I have met a number of these old monks, who spent the better part of their lives imprisoned and tortured…that they emerged … happy, … and giving back to the world.

As Dr. Hyman explains: If that seems intriguing, it was! The goal of the conference might sound complex — but it was quite simple.  We were there to investigate the relationship between the science of longevity and wellness and the ancient Indo-Tibetan practices of meditation and training the mind.

Of course training the mind takes effort, and Dr. Hyman explains the value of meditation in this regard. I whole-heartedly agree as I have experienced huge benefits from meditation, yoga, and the mind-control lessons in the amazing A Course in Miracles. The same benefits could be obtained from prayer, other spiritual practices, or…Jedi Knight training. Who amongst us can forget this awesome conversation in The Empire Strikes Back where Master Yoda was teaching neophyte Luke about the awesome power of the mind:

Luke Skywalker: I can’t believe it.

Master Yoda: That is why you fail.

In summary, all of these modalities agree on one thing: our reality is what we let our mind perceive it to be, and we have the power to change that perception. I’d say an awesome resolution for all of us would be to work on controlling our perception of reality and removing toxic illusions.

Powerful stuff! I hope this was helpful and I’d love to hear about your experiences in changing your perception of your circumstances.

Namaste!

Photo credit: Karin Markert