I have been following a Malaysian cardiologist's blog who religiously write about current updates in cardiology. I have to admit that I like him (?her, I don't know) because he really believes that lifestyle changes (dietary, stress management and exercises) are the most important thing in preventing (and reversing) heart disease (and he frequently give updates on researches in this area).
He recently wrote about stable and unstable plaque in the arteries of the heart. When the blood supply to the heart is blocked, the blockage can be stable or unstable. A stable blockage (plaque) reduce blood supply to your heart, so you have heart disease, but you can live with it. An unstable one is the one that can suddenly rupture, so the body respond to it by trying to heal it the rupture, but this will cause blood clot in the vessel. So that particular area your heart will suddenly be totally deprived of blood supply- and this is what we call a 'heart attack', which are described by people who were lucky enough to survive it, as severe crushing chest pain, with the feeling of impending doom.
He wrote that recently some researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Manhattan have found a way to detect which plaque is unstable, although they only have done it in mice (which means a good 10 years away from the technique to be passed to be used in humans). They used multi-coloured CT scan. (what a scary thing to know that you have an unstable plaque! almost like a death sentence)
Now come the purpose of me writing this entry.
The popular belief is that when you have high cholesterol you can block your heart. This is true but the blockage/plaque has to be inflamed for it to be vulnerable to give you a heart attack. (for readers who does not understand what inflamed means, you can imagine it similar to 'ínjured'). So this multi-coloured CT detects the cells or agents involved in the process of inflammation (the macrophages). And the 'coloured macrophages' will show on the images of the heart, the denser the colour the more macrophages, meaning the more inflammation and therefore the more vulnerable the plaque.
I actually want to write about the inflammation thing. When I was reading about the role of 'nutraceuticals' (medicinal properties in foods) in cancer, I came across the theory that inflammation is the key process that LEADS to diseases (not the RESULT of diseases). Inflammation gives you an unstable plaque in your heart. It also makes your supposedly benign growth spread (therefore becomes cancerous). And it is the underlying process in various types of arthritis and Alzheimer's. There are many evidence to this but I won't go into them now. So scientists now believe that if we control the inflammation in our body, we can live longer and avoid major diseases.
Interestingly, there are foods that have anti-inflammatory properties. This is proven by lab studies and also the measurement of inflammatory markers in people who consume more of these types of foods. Similarly, there are foods that are pro-inflammatory. Hence the advice is to eat more anti-inflammatory foods and avoid the pro- ones. InsyaAllah your body can heal itself and stay healthy till your expiry date. How comforting! :) This gives you a sense of control in your health.
I will be concise and just list the foods here. You can get into search engines of journals to really know what the food molecules do at cellular level if you need more evidence to strengthen your belief. (You need to belief first before you can do lifestyle changes because it does take great effort to refrain yourself from the foods).
Anti-inflammatory Foods (the ones that you should consume more)
1. Green Tea- contains EGCG, most powerful nutritional molecule against inflammation, which is present in all tea leaves but destroyed during fermentation of black tea-our usual tea-to get this EGCG you have to drink unfermented tea ie green tea.
2. Turmeric -the magic ingredient only present in Asian cuisine- might explain why India has low incidence of cancer compared to the West despite the people having worse exposure to environmental carcinogens.
3. Berries (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry)-contains ellagic acid, which does not only counter inflammation but also detoxify cells (about detoxifying cells I will write in another entry, another important step to protect yourself from diseases).
4. Walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts-also contain ellagic acid like the berries (and these nuts also have high omega-3 levels which is important for immune function, another topic that I will deal with later, insyaAllah)
5. Parsley and celery- contains apigenine, also a strong anti-inflammatory. Don't hesitate to dump this whole bunch in your soups.
6. Ginger roots-other than anti-inflammatory, it is also an anti-oxidant and has been one of the oldest medicine on earth (not just in Malay tradition, but also in Ayurvedic and ancient Chinese).
(there are probably many more tropical veges or fruits that are anti-inflammatory but has not been discovered yet).
Pro-inflammatory Foods (should avoid or limit consumption)
1. Red meats (beef, mutton etc)-especially if the livestocks were fed grains, not grass. And especially cured or processed ones eg sausages and burgers (aarrghh..I know)
2. Sugar- not only it causes you diabetes (that's another whole different story, although somewhat related), the sugar itself is pro-inflammatory (ie let's say sugar does not cause diabetes, the sugar itself is a poison). Please note that there are other names for 'sugar' used by manufacturers- maltose, corn syrup, golden syrup, dextrose, fructose. Try not to take sugar in your drinks, or just drink plain water, because unless you are a cake / biscuits maker, you would not realize how much hidden sugar there are in our daily food.
3. Oil -choose your oil wisely, all oils are pro-inflammatory but some have lower inflammatory effects eg olive oil, linseed, flaxseed or rapeseed oil. Olive oil even have extra benefits, that is it contains polyphenols for your immune system. I think this oil subject is very important because almost everything we cook contains oil, and as sugar, there are many 'hidden oil' eg in cakes, breads, biscuits.
4. Trans Fats (or partially hydrogenated oil / vegetable shortening)- this is the reason we should be careful with processed industrialized foods (ie non-fresh foods). A lot of them contains trans fats, a type of oil that has been transformed to make foods have longer shelf life, and better 'mouth-feel'. It is also cheaper, so it is used by many manufacturers. Denmark and Switzerland have totally banned trans fats from their industry, and recently in January 2010 so did California. Here is a very good website to load you with all trans fats information (they even sued Kraft for putting trans fats in Oreo). It is comforting to know that Tesco has removed all trans fats from their own brand products.
5. Excessive alcohol- no explanation needed. All medical practitioners know this.
6. Artificial food additives eg MSG and artificial sweeteners (aspartame)- beware of 'hidden' MSG and aspartame too eg in ready made sauces, diet cola etc.
There are others. I have listed those above because they are very highly consumed and probably most damaging.
Now, come to think of it, the traditional practice of 'pantang larang' (forbidden foods) by our good ancestors have some basis after all. Post natal mothers for example, have to avoid oil, red meats, ice, also ciku, pineapple and coconut juice (some strict ones say must avoid pineapples for one whole year and worse I've heard is to avoid coconut juice for the whole reproductive years). These foods are probably pro-inflammatory, especially to the female reproductive organs. Although we think that a balanced diet is best but at certain times in our life there are foods that we must avoid altogether. This is to help our body fight the disease and heal itself. Also thanks to the wisdom and creativity of our ancestors incorporating medicinal spices into our daily foods.
And what about 'pantang' by Allah swt ie pork, alcohol, unslaughtered animals, blood, food obtained from unlawful income etc? Surely Allah, the Creator of every creases in our bodies, the Owner of All Knowledge knows best.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Monday, 23 August 2010
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Supplement vs Whole Foods
A comment from MIO on my previous entry- The Irony of the Medical Profession
"hmm. lagi satu yg smpai sekarang sy masih ragu2 - org kata, lebih baik ambil supplement sebab walau macam mana seimbang pun makanan yg kita ambik, mungkin makanan tu hilang zat sebab overcooked dsb. but you know me - paling besar ubat yg pernah ditelan pun ialah folic acid (yg dimakan dgn penuh susah payah), jadi redha aje la dengan pemakanan seimbang - nak senang, makan aje ulam dah sah2 takde risiko overcooked"
(adakah blog ini telah menjadi ruangan soal jawab bersama doktor kesayangan anda? :P)
If you still remember your science or Alam dan Manusia subjects in school, we all learned that nutrients are categorized into 5 major groups namely carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals/vitamins and fibers. The minerals/vitamins group are highly unstable chemicals that there is a risk of losing it due to overcooking, like MIO had rightly pointed out. Hence the market is overflowing with vitamins and minerals tablets to ensure that we get enough of our recommended daily allowance.
I am not going to write about why we should not take the supplements, because I don't have enough evidence to say that they are bad for health. Not because of the vitamins but of the other compounds added to make the tablets have long shelf life (tahan lama), easily absorbed and stable in the acidic environment of the stomach. Instead, I am going to focus on why we should eat the fruits / vegetables that supply the vitamins themselves.
The scientists have now found that there are more than just the 5 groups of nutrients. There are now 2 more- antioxidants and phytochemicals. This knowledge has been around since probably 1950s, but somehow it is not given any weight it deserves. I suspect this has much to do with the billion dollars worth of pharmaceutical industry---> (OK ni ada unsur2 fitnah, tak pasti kebenarannya).
I am sure you have heard a lot about antioxidants- it is a chemical in foods that help remove reactive free radicals from our cells. Free radicals if accumulated leads to aging and a series of diseases associated with aging (cancer, heart disease, arthritis, alzheimers). Researchers found that by giving antioxidants to animal specimens in laboratories increase their life span (umur lebih panjang). Does this hold true for humans? Wallahualam.
Phytochemicals are chemicals in plants that help the plants to defend themselves against threats / diseases. For animals, the response to threats are running / change colours to camouflage / venoms or stings but plants can't do all these, so they produce the phytochemicals to help defend themselves.
We all learned that the vitamins strengthen our immune cells to fight diseases, but it is now found that these phytochemicals fight germs and cancer cells themselves in our bodies. They are the God-given medicine, readily available in foods (Subhanallah!).
The names of these phytochemicals are very alien to us. You can see the list here (with the food examples). To name a few of these chemicals- flavanoids, ellagic acid, allicin, beta carotene.......the list goes on. There are a few that has been proven to attack and kill cancer cells directly (amazing, isn't it?) so the knowledge of this will help you choose which fruit or vegetable that you want to consume more. This practice is now termed 'nutraceuticals' (as opposed to pharmaceuticals). I've only been reading about those that help to kill cancer cells but I'm sure different phytochemicals work for other diseases too. (now can you hear your grandma's voice telling you- makan ni, baik nak buang angin / elok untuk peranakan etc? ---yeah you are right Opah.. sob sob menyesal tak pay attention. AlFatihah untuk Opah).
Phytochemicals are also found in abundance in spices. That is why traditional Asian and Mediterranean cuisine are protective of many diseases, as opposed to Western cuisine that is rich in meat and poultry.
Now you see that in a single fruit or a single vegetable leaf contains vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals and various other minerals, why would you choose a pill of vitamin C, or B, or folate, or iron, or calcium? How many pills do you have to consume to give you the same health benefits an orange or carrot can give you?
Besides, eating the whole fruit or leaves will provide you fibers, to help you pass motion easily. Fibers also helps delay sugar absorption (how fast sugar is absorbed and the body's response to it also plays a role in cancer development). And it satisfy your hunger, of course.
It is now recommended that we take at least 5 portions of fruits or vegetables a day to stay healthy. (An apple or an orange is a portion, 10 strawberries are a portion etc). It is not easy. On good days I usually only achieve 4 portions (veges for lunch and dinner and 2 fruits). But one day I will get there. The most important thing is to start.
Another way to achieve the 5 portions is to drink fresh juice. No sugar added of course. And it is better to drink whole juice (meaning you crush the whole carrot or orange or apple) not just the concentrate (perahan).This is because some nutrients are in the seeds or the inner rind. For example, the white rind of an orange (or any citrus fruits eg lemon, grapefruit, pomelo) contains quercetin- a natural anti-cancer agent that makes cancer cells commit suicide (apoptosis-remember, I wrote about this earlier here). So the next time you eat outside, choose a fresh juice drink with no sugar instead of soft drinks.
Yes this is a major concern in preparing nutritious food. It is recommended that we eat them raw (ulam) but certain vegetables are not palatable to be eaten raw (to me at least) eg cabbage, broccoli. It is best to stir fry them quickly (with very little water if you must add) or steam them. Making them into soups are not advisable. The nutrients are highly unstable. What do we do? Making it into kerabu is a good way to eat them. I will share the kerabu tomato recipe later. But don't forget to say a prayer before cooking them, asking Allah to preserve the nutrients in the food so that they become medicine to us. :) Leave everything in His hands. He Knows Best.
Organic or non-organic?
Organic fruits / vegetables means no pesticide is used in growing them. Is it important? Yes, definitely. Experiments on urine of children eating non-organic fruits/veges showed significant high concentration of pesticides in their urine compared to children eating organic. These pesticides although very minimal and are removed from our body via kidneys and liver, surely prolonged and continuous exposure of it to our cells will eventually damage and 'exhaust' our cells.
There is a theory that if phytochemicals help plants defend themselves, then the use of pesticides will lower the phytochemical contents of the plants. However this is still a theory, not proven yet. But I think this is a sound argument. If this is true, then we have 2 valid reasons to only eat organic fruits/veges- no pesticides and higher phytochemical contents.
However there are downsides of eating organic. They are expensive! sigh..... It costs double to purchase them. And they are not bigger or taste nicer either. This is when you say "Money can buy you health" (provided you are not sick yet).
But what is the price of our kidneys? liver? our joints? Buying organic is an important investment of our money.... for health and longevity (after zakat and charity for eternal safety). Is it more important than any branded designer's items? (am asking myself.. :P)
But don't use the excuse of unable to afford organics deter you from eating more fruits/veges.Wash them thoroughly and peel the skin (pesticides cling mostly to the skin).
There are a number of people who must take supplements because they have increase demand of a particular nutrient, or their body has problems absorbing them. They are:
1. Pregnant mothers- must take folate, iron and calcium supplements. Although for normal pregnancies it is usually enough to just get these from food, for many mothers they require additional supplements because they cannot eat more food due to excessive vomiting and nausea, or poor spacing between births (tiap2 tahun beranak) because their bodies have no time to recover. Supplements also needed for vegetarians (in Malaysia usually Indian mothers) and poor mothers (yang hanya mampu makan nasi dan ikan kering je).
2. People with kidney failures- they require Vit D and calcium supplements.
3. Babies who exclusively breastfeed after 6 months- requires iron supplements.
4. People with various metabolic diseases or malabsorption syndrome.
aaahh..can't think of anything else. Anything the readers want to add, feel free to do so.
So MIO, who told you that it is better to take supplements? Are they the people who sell the supplements? If only the fruits and veges vendors knew what they sell are precious gems...
Gotta eat an apple now.
"hmm. lagi satu yg smpai sekarang sy masih ragu2 - org kata, lebih baik ambil supplement sebab walau macam mana seimbang pun makanan yg kita ambik, mungkin makanan tu hilang zat sebab overcooked dsb. but you know me - paling besar ubat yg pernah ditelan pun ialah folic acid (yg dimakan dgn penuh susah payah), jadi redha aje la dengan pemakanan seimbang - nak senang, makan aje ulam dah sah2 takde risiko overcooked"
(adakah blog ini telah menjadi ruangan soal jawab bersama doktor kesayangan anda? :P)
Firstly, I would like to disclose that what I am going to write are what I gathered from reading various sources of materials including textbooks, articles and published papers. I am not a nutritionist, and I have never had a nutritionist guru to guide me. So please read with a critical mind as these are my understandings from my reading only. Perhaps if you are a nutritionist or a food scientist yourself, you can leave a comment and correct me. Thank you. May Allah protects us from false knowledge.
If you still remember your science or Alam dan Manusia subjects in school, we all learned that nutrients are categorized into 5 major groups namely carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals/vitamins and fibers. The minerals/vitamins group are highly unstable chemicals that there is a risk of losing it due to overcooking, like MIO had rightly pointed out. Hence the market is overflowing with vitamins and minerals tablets to ensure that we get enough of our recommended daily allowance.
I am not going to write about why we should not take the supplements, because I don't have enough evidence to say that they are bad for health. Not because of the vitamins but of the other compounds added to make the tablets have long shelf life (tahan lama), easily absorbed and stable in the acidic environment of the stomach. Instead, I am going to focus on why we should eat the fruits / vegetables that supply the vitamins themselves.
The scientists have now found that there are more than just the 5 groups of nutrients. There are now 2 more- antioxidants and phytochemicals. This knowledge has been around since probably 1950s, but somehow it is not given any weight it deserves. I suspect this has much to do with the billion dollars worth of pharmaceutical industry---> (OK ni ada unsur2 fitnah, tak pasti kebenarannya).
I am sure you have heard a lot about antioxidants- it is a chemical in foods that help remove reactive free radicals from our cells. Free radicals if accumulated leads to aging and a series of diseases associated with aging (cancer, heart disease, arthritis, alzheimers). Researchers found that by giving antioxidants to animal specimens in laboratories increase their life span (umur lebih panjang). Does this hold true for humans? Wallahualam.
Phytochemicals are chemicals in plants that help the plants to defend themselves against threats / diseases. For animals, the response to threats are running / change colours to camouflage / venoms or stings but plants can't do all these, so they produce the phytochemicals to help defend themselves.
We all learned that the vitamins strengthen our immune cells to fight diseases, but it is now found that these phytochemicals fight germs and cancer cells themselves in our bodies. They are the God-given medicine, readily available in foods (Subhanallah!).
The names of these phytochemicals are very alien to us. You can see the list here (with the food examples). To name a few of these chemicals- flavanoids, ellagic acid, allicin, beta carotene.......the list goes on. There are a few that has been proven to attack and kill cancer cells directly (amazing, isn't it?) so the knowledge of this will help you choose which fruit or vegetable that you want to consume more. This practice is now termed 'nutraceuticals' (as opposed to pharmaceuticals). I've only been reading about those that help to kill cancer cells but I'm sure different phytochemicals work for other diseases too. (now can you hear your grandma's voice telling you- makan ni, baik nak buang angin / elok untuk peranakan etc? ---yeah you are right Opah.. sob sob menyesal tak pay attention. AlFatihah untuk Opah).
Phytochemicals are also found in abundance in spices. That is why traditional Asian and Mediterranean cuisine are protective of many diseases, as opposed to Western cuisine that is rich in meat and poultry.
Now you see that in a single fruit or a single vegetable leaf contains vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals and various other minerals, why would you choose a pill of vitamin C, or B, or folate, or iron, or calcium? How many pills do you have to consume to give you the same health benefits an orange or carrot can give you?
Besides, eating the whole fruit or leaves will provide you fibers, to help you pass motion easily. Fibers also helps delay sugar absorption (how fast sugar is absorbed and the body's response to it also plays a role in cancer development). And it satisfy your hunger, of course.
It is now recommended that we take at least 5 portions of fruits or vegetables a day to stay healthy. (An apple or an orange is a portion, 10 strawberries are a portion etc). It is not easy. On good days I usually only achieve 4 portions (veges for lunch and dinner and 2 fruits). But one day I will get there. The most important thing is to start.
80g of strawberries (about 8-10, depending on sizes) provide you one portion of your 5-a-day
Another way to achieve the 5 portions is to drink fresh juice. No sugar added of course. And it is better to drink whole juice (meaning you crush the whole carrot or orange or apple) not just the concentrate (perahan).This is because some nutrients are in the seeds or the inner rind. For example, the white rind of an orange (or any citrus fruits eg lemon, grapefruit, pomelo) contains quercetin- a natural anti-cancer agent that makes cancer cells commit suicide (apoptosis-remember, I wrote about this earlier here). So the next time you eat outside, choose a fresh juice drink with no sugar instead of soft drinks.
Overcooked vegetables?
Yes this is a major concern in preparing nutritious food. It is recommended that we eat them raw (ulam) but certain vegetables are not palatable to be eaten raw (to me at least) eg cabbage, broccoli. It is best to stir fry them quickly (with very little water if you must add) or steam them. Making them into soups are not advisable. The nutrients are highly unstable. What do we do? Making it into kerabu is a good way to eat them. I will share the kerabu tomato recipe later. But don't forget to say a prayer before cooking them, asking Allah to preserve the nutrients in the food so that they become medicine to us. :) Leave everything in His hands. He Knows Best.
Organic or non-organic?
Organic fruits / vegetables means no pesticide is used in growing them. Is it important? Yes, definitely. Experiments on urine of children eating non-organic fruits/veges showed significant high concentration of pesticides in their urine compared to children eating organic. These pesticides although very minimal and are removed from our body via kidneys and liver, surely prolonged and continuous exposure of it to our cells will eventually damage and 'exhaust' our cells.
There is a theory that if phytochemicals help plants defend themselves, then the use of pesticides will lower the phytochemical contents of the plants. However this is still a theory, not proven yet. But I think this is a sound argument. If this is true, then we have 2 valid reasons to only eat organic fruits/veges- no pesticides and higher phytochemical contents.
However there are downsides of eating organic. They are expensive! sigh..... It costs double to purchase them. And they are not bigger or taste nicer either. This is when you say "Money can buy you health" (provided you are not sick yet).
But what is the price of our kidneys? liver? our joints? Buying organic is an important investment of our money.... for health and longevity (after zakat and charity for eternal safety). Is it more important than any branded designer's items? (am asking myself.. :P)
But don't use the excuse of unable to afford organics deter you from eating more fruits/veges.Wash them thoroughly and peel the skin (pesticides cling mostly to the skin).
Who need supplements?
There are a number of people who must take supplements because they have increase demand of a particular nutrient, or their body has problems absorbing them. They are:
1. Pregnant mothers- must take folate, iron and calcium supplements. Although for normal pregnancies it is usually enough to just get these from food, for many mothers they require additional supplements because they cannot eat more food due to excessive vomiting and nausea, or poor spacing between births (tiap2 tahun beranak) because their bodies have no time to recover. Supplements also needed for vegetarians (in Malaysia usually Indian mothers) and poor mothers (yang hanya mampu makan nasi dan ikan kering je).
2. People with kidney failures- they require Vit D and calcium supplements.
3. Babies who exclusively breastfeed after 6 months- requires iron supplements.
4. People with various metabolic diseases or malabsorption syndrome.
aaahh..can't think of anything else. Anything the readers want to add, feel free to do so.
So MIO, who told you that it is better to take supplements? Are they the people who sell the supplements? If only the fruits and veges vendors knew what they sell are precious gems...
Gotta eat an apple now.
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