• Archives

  • Oct12

    Routine Supplements: Help, Hype, Hazard or Hope?

    Posted in: Aging and Costs of Aging, Common Conditions, Drug Food Safety, Vitamins and Supplements, Wellness and Health

    Half the U.S. takes at least one supplement daily. My personal favorite is a guy who came into my office with a Trader Joe’s double-handled bag and deposited 33 bottles on my desk. 45 minutes later…*

    Three reports this week again show that dietary supplements can act like medicine–they can help, or they can make things worse.

    The first large report showed that multivitamins and iron supplements, separately, increased mortality and cancer risk in older women (mean age 61),  The second showed that 400 IU of vitamin E daily increased prostate cancer in healthy men.  And the third, from Institute of Medicine authors, cautioned about overdoing Vitamin D…not more than 600IU daily, vs the Endocrine Society recommendations (1000-2000 IU of vitamin D3 daily).

    Lots of info is missing: supplement quality is hard to monitor, and many contain binders, fillers, additives, artificial preservatives, coloring and flavors; dosages matter; so do other interactions.

    But supplements are disease-specific. Just not as gently as food (usually), or as sharply as medication (often). Dr. Weil will give you a free vitamin recommendation + 25% off your order for specific conditions.

    Some specific supplements improve wound healing, especially important to the post-operative patient and clinician. Others are FDA-approved for lowering triglycerides (omega-3s, making a prescription medication) and macular degeneration (ditto). Folic acid supplements taken by pregnant women reduce risk of severe language delay in 3 year olds; in men, however, they may increase the risk of colorectal cancer.

    The bottom line: there’s hope. If you take a supplement, you should do a Therapeutic Trial.

    Start and stop the supplement (well-researched, high quality) on the basis of which symptoms you expect it to improve. Write them down, on a scale of 1 to 10: 4 or  or 8 or 12 weeks later, gauge them again. Then pull out the paper and see if you made progress.

    *… his simplified supplements meant a clearer head, clearer urine and a clearer approach to his own health.

     

  • Aug19

    When Omega-3s? After Bypass, During Fatty Liver, Before Eye Disease

    Posted in: Aging and Costs of Aging, High Cholesterol, Uncategorized, Wellness and Health

    Omega-3 fatty acids are powerful: with vitamin D, they’re something that almost everyone needs to supplement, no matter how good your diet.

    Why?

    Because people with heart disease who just had a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) had a 49% lower risk for dying 30 days after their CABG than those who didn’t take 882mg of EPA and DHA (in a 1:2 ratio) after their surgery.

    That means extra DHA, and pure DHA is hard to find. Look for Thorne DHA and Thorne Super EPA Pro: molecularly distilled, no contaminants, pure, concentrated and as above and below, powerful.  To read more or to purchase, click “My Account” in the top right; and then enter the access code HCP1028244 to create a “Personal Account”.

    Because kids with fatty liver disease (the most common liver disease in kids, and pretty soon, adults) had a 99% lower chance of severe fatty liver if they took 250 mg/day of DHA than those who did not…and improved insulin sensitivity.

    And because omega-3s, especially DHA, can protect your eyesight and prevent AMD, the leading cause of blindness in people over 55 by protecting the nerves in your eyes and reducing inflammation..

    DHA is responsible for most of the heart-healthy benefits of fish oil, and gets transformed into EPA if you are short of EPA. Check with your doc before taking extra EPA: it can interact with other drugs.

     

  • Apr26

    The Sushi Diagnosis: Diet or Dementia?

    Posted in: Environmental Health, Food FAQ's, Wellness and Health

    The new reports on total body burden of mercury appearing to cause atopic dermatitis, or eczema, and of high mercury counts in Pacific seabirds reminds me of Matthew Davis, the previously healthy 6 year old whose daily tuna habit showed up as learning problems and disinterest in school.

    The Wall Street Journal reported it, and a whole generation of people happy to feast on yellow tail and unagi unhappy.

    Jeremy Piven’s recent mercury poisoning and exhaustion from twice daily sushi forced him to abandon “Speed-the-Plow” on Broadway.

    Last month, one of my new weight-loss program patients mentioned his fondness for sushi, not quite at Jeremy Piven levels. I suggested a blood mercury test, which identifies recent mercury intake not total body burden.

    It came back twice normal. Mercury is lipophilic, and is stored in your body fat…including your brain. And some people eliminate and detoxify it better than others.

    Now my patient is doing very well, motivated in part by the fact that he is accountable, he is working out and he is getting the right, individual foods for him, and not slowed down.  We’re off fish and will re-test in a few months.

    Fish are generally good food for people: the omega-3 story is powerful in reducing risk for heart attacks, lowering triglyceride levels, improving depression and mood and many more conditions.

    But please eat only low mercury sushi and sashimi.

     

  • Apr27

    Personal Food Revolution #1: Hot Dogs Make My Knees Hurt! (Osteoarthritis)

    Posted in: Common Conditions, Environmental Health, Wellness and Health

    One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients’ stories: this is #1 of 7.*

    Peggy had severe osteoarthritis. Except for the few blocks walk to the market, and the weekly shuttle to a matinee, she was virtually housebound.

    Peggy said she usually ate pastries for breakfast, tuna for lunch and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

    I explained that osteoarthritis was an inflammatory disease. Its pattern of pain and stiffness are predictable, so we could use food to prevent and even treat the pain.

    I prescribed an analgesic food for breakfast (berries), an anti-inflammatory food for lunch (fish, soy, ginger or avocado) and an omega-3 food for dinner (fish, walnuts or flax meal).

    She avoided foods with trans fats (they are inflammatory), starches and added sugars (they produce irritating cytokines) or red meat (the saturated fat fans inflammation).

    Three months after our first meeting she walked into my office without her cane. “My daughter took me to a baseball game last week, and I had a hot dog. My knees

    were killing me for three days afterwards. But I went back on my program, and you know what? I feel so good I’m going to move North, where I can get some land.” And

    she did.
    *adapted from ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine.

     

  • Mar8

    Safe Omega-3s Deserve a Place in Your Kitchen

    Posted in: Drug Food Safety, Environmental Health, Vitamins and Supplements

    The recent omega-3 lawsuit about reported PCB contamination (from the oil of farmed fish) of some omega-3s supplements raises 3 issues:
    a. Are OTC omega-3 capsules safe?
    b. Do their benefits outweigh their potential harms?
    c. Are there good alternatives, such as food(!?) and prescription meds?

    a. Omega-3s (which are EPA, DHA and ALA) from fish oil in modest doses are likely safe. Nearly all studies not done with fish have been done with OTC capsules, probably contaminated with PCBs. Omega-3s and fish clearly help some people, especially those deficient in omega-3s. EPA and DHA are found in fish and krill; ALA is found in plants.

    b. Omega-3s prevent heart disease; in those with heart disease, they lower triglycerides, help prevent death, heart attack and stroke. They also probably help autism symptoms, brain development in infants, depression and bipolar disorder. Taking over 3 grams of fish oil daily can increase the risk of bruising and bleeding. Look for the “USP Verified Mark” on the label for safety guarantees.

    Krill, a tiny shrimp-like organism, offers omega-3s with good research in PMS, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Plant-derived (canola, flax, walnut) ALA has a small amount of benefit, but does not equal DHA and EPA-rich capsules.

    c. The best source of omega-3s is nontoxic fish: sardines, herring, and cold water wild Pacific salmon. Rich in omega-3s, canned salmon is wild, and still only about $2.50 U.S. per pound. Use as tuna. Unless you are buying a USP Verified omega-3 capsule, fish is probably the best non-Rx source.

    I also recommend purified, concentrated prescription omega-3 Lovaza to lower high triglyceride levels, an underappreciated risk factor for heart disease, and for pancreatitis.

     
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