Nutrition/Medical studies are proving the old dictum that “food is the best medicine.” However, researchers are seldom able to transcend their reductionist/pharmaceutical training. Consequently, they view micronutrients in isolation. For example, nuts have been amply demonstrated to lower cholesterol and improve brain function. Period. But a more wholistic view of nutrition shows that nuts’ benefits encompass every cell/organ of our body. See the article below.
Hugo Rodier, MD
Nuts associated with lower risks of kidney disease
“Renal & Urology News (6/23, Persaud). Researchers have associated the “consumption of nuts 1-6 times per week with lower risks of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and all-cause mortality.” The 6,072-adult study revealed that when “compared with no nut consumption, eating nuts 1-6 times per week (but not more than once daily) was significantly associated with 33% lower odds of developing CKD and 37% lower odds of all-cause mortality among those with CKD.” The findings were published online in the American J. of Nephrology.”
Comment: you are now thinking, “do nuts help Erectile Dysfunction?” Well, they do: “Pistachio diet improves erectile function parameters and serum lipid profiles in patients with erectile dysfunction,” international journal of impotence research, Jan 13, 2011
How the gut talks to the brain
J. Science 2022; 376: 248
“The mammalian gastrointestinal tract hosts a community of diverse micro-organisms, including bacteria, archea, fungi, and viruses. Bacterial products, such as metabolites and cell wall fragments, are implicated in host metabolic functions. In addition, the gut microbiota influences the immune and central nervous systems, and it has emerged as a key regulator of brain development and the modulation of behaviors, including stress and anxiety. Disruption of gut microbiota–brain interactions contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in animal models. Bacterial peptidoglycans, a by-product of bacterial cell wall degradation during cell division and cell death, directly inhibit the activity of feeding-promoting neurons in the hypothalamus and ultimately decrease appetite and body temperature, mostly in female mice. This finding may open new approaches for the treatment of metabolic disorders, including obesity.”
Comment: this is old news. I share this article because it is published in the best scientific journal in the world. It is high-time for medicine to apply these concepts.
Trust your gut, lest thou be anxious
J. Cell 2022;185:1294
“Can gut-residing bacteria influence mood and anxiety? And can targeting bacteria-produced metabolites reduce anxiety? Based on two Nature and Nature Medicine papers, the answers to these questions are likely yes. Needham, Campbell, and colleagues identified bacteria that enhance anxiety-like behaviors in mice and ways to mitigate anxiety in autistic patients.”
Comment: your microbiome, wholly dependent on the food you eat, is the key to the Brain-Gut connection
Parental inflammatory bowel disease and autism in children
J. Nature Medicine, Published: 02 June 2022
“Conducting a nationwide population-based cohort study using Swedish registers, we found evidence of associations between parental diagnoses of IBD and autism in children. Polygenic risk score analyses of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children suggested associations between maternal genetic liability to IBD and autistic traits in children. Analyses provided evidence of a potential causal effect of genetic liability to IBD, especially ulcerative colitis, on autism. We found evidence of a potential causal link between parental, particularly maternal, IBD and autism in children. Perinatal immune dysregulation, micronutrient malabsorption and anemia may be implicated.”
Comment: we get our microbiome from our mothers. It is sad that the researchers did not consider this fact. And, please, do not misunderstand: this is not to blame mothers!
Dietary macronutrients and the gut microbiome: a precision nutrition approach to improve cardiometabolic health
“Accumulating evidence indicates that the gut microbiome is an important regulator of body weight, glucose and lipid metabolism, and inflammatory processes, and may thereby play a key role in the etiology of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Interindividual responsiveness to specific dietary interventions may be partially determined by differences in baseline gut microbiota composition and functionality between individuals with distinct metabolic phenotypes. However, the relationship between an individual’s diet, gut microbiome and host metabolic phenotype is multidirectional and complex, yielding a challenge for practical implementation of targeted dietary guidelines. In this review, we discuss the latest research describing interactions between dietary composition, the gut microbiome and host metabolism. Furthermore, we describe how this knowledge can be integrated to develop precision-based nutritional strategies to improve bodyweight control and metabolic health in humans. Specifically, we will address that (1) insight in the role of the baseline gut microbial and metabolic phenotype in dietary intervention response may provide leads for precision-based nutritional strategies; that (2) the balance between carbohydrate and protein fermentation by the gut microbiota, as well as the site of fermentation in the colon, seems important determinants of host metabolism; and that (3) ‘big data’, including multiple omics and advanced modelling, are of undeniable importance in predicting (non-)response to dietary interventions. Clearly, detailed metabolic and microbial phenotyping in humans is necessary to better understand the link between diet, the gut microbiome and host metabolism, which is required to develop targeted dietary strategies and guidelines for different subgroups of the population.”
Comment: wow… must they complicate it so much? It’s pretty basic: get off processed foods and eat a lot of veggies!!!!!!!
Coenzyme Q10 as Adjunctive Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension: A Systematic Review
The Journal of Nutrition, 28 March 2022
“In predominantly older adult males with CVD or HTN, CoQ10 supplementation added to conventional therapy is safe and offers benefits clinically and at the cellular level.”
Comment: another example of reductionist views in nutritional research. CoQ10 is helpful in all conditions for many reasons. The main one being its effect on the mitochondria of cells, which is where they process energy to fuel their function. When it comes to Hypertension, CoQ10 helps lower it by optimizing the function of arterial muscles (it helps magnesium enter muscle cells,) by lowering insulin resistance and several other pathways. Since Hypertension is often associated with insulin resistance and high cholesterol, many patients are prescribed a statin drug. They have been shown to decrease levels of CoQ10. At least supplement CoQ10 if that is the case.
Moderate coffee consumption with or without sugar lowers mortality risk
Healio Minute, June 02, 2022
“Drinking a moderate amount — 1.5 to 3.5 cups per day — of unsweetened or sugar-sweetened coffee was associated with a lower risk for mortality, according to findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine. An association between artificially sweetened coffee and mortality risk was less conclusive.”
Comment: but it may increase blood pressure, overstimulate the heart and irritate the gut. Try it. Coffee’s impact depends on your liver and microbiome.
Aerobic exercise, pomegranate juice and type 2 diabetes
Healio Minute, June 02, 2022
“Aerobic training and daily intake of pure pomegranate juice may prevent increased liver enzymes and insulin resistance in adult men, according to findings from an Iranian study published in BMC Nutrition. “As pomegranate juice contains many polyphenolic and flavonoid compounds, it has strong antioxidant properties and prevents oxidative stress in the body… therefore, it seems that enhancing the antioxidant system of diabetic patients following pomegranate juice intake (PJI) might help improve and prevent diabetes complications.”
Comment: don’t worry about the sweetness of pomegranate juice.
