Tag Archives: wellness

Carvings  January 15, 2025

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In the news

Wine wars

            Recent headlines: Wine has health benefits. Red wine in moderation is good for the heart. Any amount of alcohol is unhealthy. Why I stopped drinking alcohol.

            There is overwhelming evidence that wine – and I’m excluding for this discussion beer and liquor, for several reasons that will be part of a future blog – has properties, mainly in the form of phytochemicals, that benefit the heart. First, it has anti-inflammatory properties. Because inflammation is a driver of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and osteoporosis, the thousands (yes thousands) of plant-based phytonutrients in every glass of wine could be expected to have health benefits. One of these phytochemicals is resveratrol, a chemical formed in the skin of red/purple grapes that protects the fruit against fungal growth and lowers the harmful form (LDL) of cholesterol in humans. Ingredients in wine also inhibit the blood clotting system, providing another mechanism for protecting the heart and the brain. Some phytochemicals also protect DNA from damage, thus limiting the development of cancers.  

            Several studies in recent years have denied the benefit of these effects, pointing out that even small amounts of alcohol, less than a glass of wine per day, are associated with a shortened lifespan. A drawback of some studies is that they rely on self-reporting, that is, the research subjects gave a falsely low estimate of their wine intake. Because having on average more than two drinks a day is associated with health problems that include high blood pressure and cancer, it thus may appear that even moderate drinking is harmful. The hazards of such studies are well-known, revealing the tendency of people to understate their wine or food intake, often by margins of fifty to one hundred percent. At least one recent positive study relied instead on the measurement of a chemical in the subjects’ urine that accurately provided data on actual wine intake and showed that in a particular population, those who drank about one glass of wine per day had a fifty percent lower risk of heart disease.

            One study showed that exercising several days a week actually offset the harmful effects of alcohol. As a daily exerciser and daily wine drinker I’d love to see that study confirmed!

            But is it the wine that leads to less heart disease and other conditions? Maybe not. Only occasionally mentioned in these studies is the fact that wine drinkers simply have a healthier lifestyle than persons who don’t drink at all, or who drink beer or spirits. Wine drinkers tend to exercise more, eat a healthier diet, visit their doctor more often, maintain normal weight and avoid junk food.

            Now that’s a real recipe for a long, healthy life.

Carvings November 1, 2024

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In the news

The resurgence of tuberculosis. Should we worry?

            During the 19th century tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of death throughout the world. Three of my own grandparents died of the disease and the fourth undoubtedly had it, as did many, if not most of the population of that era. 

            Although the bacterium responsible for TB can invade any part of the body, it usually affects the lungs, producing a chronic cough that allows it to spread continually to others, especially in crowded conditions. In healthy persons who become infected, only 5-10% will develop actual disease. Most infected persons recover naturally but the organism commonly finds sanctuary in the lungs, staying viable, and breaking free when the host’s immune system falters because of age, poor nutrition, HIV infection, chemotherapy or a variety of other factors.

Tuberculosis is a disease of the poor, as evidenced by the huge number of cases in Africa and Asia. Fewer than 20,000 cases occur annually in the United States and the majority of these victims were born outside of this country. Now that the COVID pandemic has subsided TB has regained its place as the leading infectious cause of death worldwide.

Why are so many health authorities concerned? A major source of anxiety is the fact that in developing countries the uncontrolled use of anti-tuberculosis drugs has led to strains that are resistant to nearly all currently available antibiotics. Millions of persons cross our borders each year as visitors, students, documented workers and those who arrive without permission, most of whom come from countries where tuberculosis is present in at least a quarter of the population.

Persons born in this country are at low risk of infection and even lower risk of illness. The classic hallmarks of the disease are persistent cough, fever, nightsweats, weight loss and bloody sputum. Disease can occur with milder symptoms, and all persons who work in the healthcare field, or with children or the elderly, should receive a tuberculosis skin test every year. 

Lifestyle

Cold season is here. Do supplements help you to avoid them or shorten them?

            It’s likely that you will endure one or two colds this winter. For those of you who are old enough to be on Medicare it should be a little consolation that your decades of encounters with a variety of cold viruses have left you with some degree of immunity, and if we take steps to maintain our immune system and overall health, we are far less likely to experience as many colds as our grand- and great-grandchildren.

            There are many supplements that have been touted over the years as cold preventatives or modifiers, including vitamin C, elderberry, zinc, garlic, echinacea, etc. That there are so many should be a clue that there is no magic bullet among them. Many studies have been poorly done but their “results” have found enthusiastic audiences notwithstanding. On the other hand, some quality studies have found value from certain supplements but none has been very significant. Shortening cold symptoms for half a day may be statistically accurate but practically useless. On the other hand real benefit has been found when persons are deficient in the supplement in question, e.g. zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D.

            The best cold preventative is a healthy diet, rich in antioxidants, plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and omega-3 fish oil.

            And a little red wine, of course.

Carvings July 15, 2024

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In the news

Increasing rates of colon cancer in young persons

          In less than a generation – from the year 2000 to 2023 – the incidence of colon cancer in persons below the age of 40 has doubled or tripled in some parts of the world. Colon cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, not far behind number one, lung cancer. Three main causes of this increase have been emerging in the past few years: increased sugar consumption, low intake of fiber, and taurine, an ingredient in energy drinks. All three are associated with disruption of the good germs that inhabit the large intestine, the site of colon cancer.

            A diet that is high in sugar and low in fiber tends to promote the growth of organisms that are linked to increased inflammation, a factor that increases the formation of cancer cells, and in addition increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and osteoporosis. Younger persons have a high intake of energy drinks that contain taurine, an ingredient that further promotes the growth of bacteria that promote inflammation. Young persons also have an abysmally low intake of fiber. Instead of the recommended 10 servings a day of fiber-rich plant foods, the average teenager gets less than ONE serving a day, most likely to be iceberg lettuce, a nearly worthless “vegetable.”

            About half of the adolescent population consumes one or more energy drinks every day. This does not bode well for the health of our population by mid-century.

Lifestyle

Are you a food label reader? Two reasons why you should be.

            Some food manufacturers deliberately mislead buyers and they have government’s permission to do so. Perhaps the most egregious example is the deceptive listing of “sugar” to make it look like there’s not as much of it in that product as you might think.

            Food manufacturers are required to list ingredients in order of weight and if they listed the amount of sugar in many foods you might put them back on the shelf. So if they are allowed to list every different type of sugar in pastry, for example, each ingredient would be farther down the list and thus appear to be less detrimental to your health. For example, the nutrient label on a popular supermarket’s almond bear claw coffee cake contains the following TEN different kinds of sugar, each listed separately: sugar, almond paste (which contains sugar), corn syrup, fructose, dextrose (also known as glucose), sucrose, invert sugar (a mixture of glucose and fructose), cornstarch (which breaks down into sugar), maltodextrin and high-fructose corn syrup. Some manufacturers even list glucose and dextrose as separate entities, even though they are one and the same. Except for the relatively small amounts of fructose and glucose found in fruit, none of the other forms were part of the human diet until a couple of hundred years ago. Today the average American takes in approximately one pound of sugar a week – 57 pounds a year. Is it any wonder that more than 80 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese?

            When you pick up a loaf of bread you might think that anything with a brown color is more healthy than white bread. Not necessarily, unless whole wheat or whole grain flour is the only ingredient. The term enriched flour means white flour and some breads have both, suggesting a healthy choice, and there might be much more white flour than brown. On the other hand, the brown color might be due to the addition of molasses, caramel, coffee or cocoa.

            Learn to read labels. It’s not rocket science!