LiveLongAgeWell

Today I’m posting a chapter from my  book-in-progress: How To Drop Dead Dancing In Your 90s….here is Part I of GREENS!

Kale. Collards. Mustard Greens. Beet Greens. Dandelion Greens. Swiss Chard. Spinach. All “greens”, and, except for spinach, they are foreign to most American diets. Despite having a taste that many might also regard as foreign—too strong, even bitter—to increase your odds of dancing into your 90s you should move beyond salad and the more conventional vegetables and start adding these more exotic  “greens” into your routine.

Taste bud research suggests some people are genetically programmed to despise the taste of greens, and if that includes you, try making an extra effort, because these are the vegetable superstars. Some nutritionists feel they have more value per calorie than any other food.
Perhaps greens have such a distinctive taste because they are so primitive. Unchanged for thousands of years, originally from Asia and Africa, hearty and easy-to-grow kale was among the first vegetables brought by the colonists to the New World. Later, American slaves popularized collards, and greens became part of “soul food”. Unfortunately they were often considered throwaways—vegetables for poor people—until scientists discovered that they were actually so nutritionally rich, and now greens are enjoying a renaissance.

They are full of fiber and low in calories, bursting with vitamins A and C, iron, calcium and various other minerals, and those mysterious “phytochemicals” such as lutein and the more impressively named zeaxanthin; these are the most exciting components in greens, the substances that protect our cells from cancer, age-related vision problems, and maybe dementia. An extra benefit: many American diets are deficient in vitamin K, and greens are the absolute best natural source for this vitamin.

Like most vegetables, adding greens to your diet will help keep your cardiovascular system healthy, and lower your risk of stroke. But greens are much more potent—studies suggest that a green-rich diet is associated with a significantly lower risk of lung, breast, ovary, colon, and bladder cancer. Most research indicates about a 20 to 50 percent lower risk of these cancers in people who eat lots of greens. The mechanism seems to be that the phytochemicals trigger a genetic signal that stimulates the activity of detoxifying enzymes in our liver, so carcinogens are neutralized before doing damage.

Scientists (and drug companies) are working furiously to treat osteoporosis, and along with the importance of calcium and vitamin D, vitamin K is a new star for keeping our bones strong. The Framingham Heart Study showed that those with the highest vitamin K intake had a 65% decreased risk of hip fractures! If true, eating a good amount of greens certainly is a much cheaper and safer and perhaps a more effective way, compared with medications, to lower your risk of disabling bone fractures. And, as we will discuss further in the PROTECT chapter, greens intake probably dramatically cut the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration (the most common form of age-related vision loss).

Next: Greens, Part II

Have you been reading the reports in the news regarding (the newly discovered) health problems that can result from long-term inadequate sleep? In the past, many felt that regularly sleeping less than seven hours a night was no big problem, but now, research is showing that if, on a regular basis, we aren’t getting enough sleep, the bad effects go way beyond just looking and feeling tired.

The most recent report is about the association between high blood pressure and short sleep times. Previous research has suggested a link between inadequate sleep and diabetes, and even obesity. One reason may be that the human organism requires a minimum amount of sleep to reset and calibrate our internal hormonal system.

Scientists have discovered that—surprisingly—people who undersleep tend to get fat, and one way to keep at a good weight is to make sure you are getting enough sleep. Only with enough sleep will our body have good healthy responses to ghrelin and leptin.

Maybe they sound like new diseases: ghrelin and leptin…but, ghrelin is a hormone we all have that’s formed in the lining of the stomach, and after being secreted, it goes deep into the brain and excites the same mechanism that causes some people to become addicted to say, food or alcohol. The other one, leptin, is a hormone secreted by our fat cells (!) that puts the breaks on appetite by acting on our brain in the opposite fashion. You can only imagine that biotech drug companies are racing to find and sell a pill that acts like leptin.

Bottom line: if you don’t sleep enough, you tinker with this leptin/grhrelin balance in a bad way; the tendency is to get fat. Many of us suffer, at least occasionally, from sleep problems, and I’m briefly covering this issue so that if you are one of those sleep-poor people, well…let’s think about the problem in a more serious way, with more attention to fixing whatever are the underlying issues.

I’m curious if my readers are interested in hearing more about sleep, and about what happens if you don’t get enough, such as the effects on your blood pressure and heart (besides the diabetes and obesity issues). Leave a comment if you are, and if readers say they want,  I’ll write a more detailed report in the near future.

Yes.

Last post I presented evidence that the act of chewing gum can temporarily improve short-term memory and test-taking performance (click to read).

These brain benefits are based on relatively new research, including functional MRI scans, but other well established research has demonstrated that chewing gum can improve your oral health; the condition of your teeth and gums. If you have healthy gums and good oral health, you are less likely to get sick.

People with poor dental nutrition, meaning untreated cavities and inflamed gums, are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease. The current thinking is that some heart and blood vessel disease, including atherosclerosis, is an inflammatory process, and if your gums and teeth are not in top condition—meaning they are chronically infected—your oral tissues will be slowly leaking toxic, infectious products into your bloodstream. These toxins then are slowly irritating, inflaming the walls of your blood vessels and leading to more vessel damage and making you more prone to heart attacks and strokes.

As an otolaryngologist, I saw tens of thousands of mouths over 25 years, and usually I got a fantastic clue as to how healthy someone was just by looking at their teeth and gums. Not always, but usually, if the gums were in good shape, so was the person, and if the person had bad oral hygiene, their body was not in such great shape either.

Saliva is a good thing; in general the more the better. One of the causes of chronic gum infection and inflammation is dry mouth. Typically the more saliva you make, the healthier your mouth, and one reason chewing gum is healthy is because it stimulates saliva production. Saliva dilutes the acidic environment in your mouth that follows a meal—it washes away and neutralizes the acid and food particles that lead to chronic infection and dental plaque. The calcium and phosphate in saliva can strengthen your dental enamel. Further, low-grade gum irritation makes you more prone to diabetes, and if you already have diabetes, gum infection will make your blood sugar more difficult to control. Finally, a dry mouth makes bad breath more likely.

Even the normally conservative American Dental Association has endorsed certain chewing gums, and you can see which those are by clicking here. They typically contain tooth-friendly sugars like xylitol or sorbitol. The recommended “dose” is that you chew for up to 20 minutes after a meal. It’s particularly a good idea after you eat out—for example after lunch at work—and don’t brush until hours later.

Look for a gum with “Whitening” on the label. They cost more than regular gums, but are worth it. The only side effect I can think of is the act of chewing gum can in some people strain the TMJs (temporo-mandibular joints), so watch for any pain in front of your ears, and discuss any concerns with your dentist. Otherwise, give gum a try. It’s cheaper than most all medications, and a lot safer. It potentially can improve your oral health, your general health, your mental health, and your social life…as we get older, breath becomes more of an issue, and whatever we can do to combat bad breath and allow people to come physically closer, the better.

We have heard nutritional experts for years saying: “eat less meat, especially less red and processed meat” A week ago a large study from the National Cancer Institute was published, and the results should wake-up those of us who eat (probably too much) red meat. The study strongly suggested we have a higher cancer and cardiovascular disease risk, and, bottom line, may die sooner. Fortunately, there are some measures meat eaters can take to minimize the risk and damage (and there is very good news for “white” meat eaters). First let’s look at the cold hard numbers, then, let’s try to get some balance on the issue.

The researchers studied over 500,000 people during a ten-year period, 1995-2005. All of them completed an extensive dietary questionnaire diet (I suggest you take a glance at this almost unbelievable survey form [pdf]). The study also analyzed the individuals’ health habits (like smoking and exercise) and diseases, and at the end of the ten year period, the main question was: did eating red meat significantly raise the risk of death from cancer and heart disease? The answer was a clear yes.

Shockingly, men who ate the most red meat had a 31% increased risk of dying from any disease during the ten-year period compared to men who ate very little red meat. For women, the numbers were even worse: a 36% higher risk of dying for those who ate the most. Most of the deaths were due to a higher rate of cancer and cardiovascular disease in the heavy meat group.  Those eating the most processed meats (like sausages, hot dogs, bologna) showed, for men, a 16% higher risk of dying during the ten-year period, and again, worse for women at a 25% higher risk.

One issue that complicates the data is that those who ate lots of red meat were also more likely to smoke, and on the other side, those who ate less meat were more likely to eat more fruits, grains, and vegetables. While the researchers tried to factor those issues out of the study—and only examine the difference in meat consumption—it’s impossible to separate out the various other factors.

The possibility exists, for example, that it’s not so much the heavy meat consumption that’s responsible for the increased deaths, but the lack of fruits, vegetables, grains, and the increased cigarette use in the heavy meat group. Most likely it’s a combination of factors: more red meat and less of the good things in the diet, and probably the minimal-meat eaters were tuned in to many other healthy habits than were the heavy-meat eaters. Maybe the serious carnivores were more likely to eat things like fast food, or French fries… The bottom line is that it’s very difficult to study only the difference between those who ate lots of meat and those that did not, and this study didn’t do that either.

Next post I’ll write briefly about “white” meat, and list a number of ways red meat-eaters can minimize their risks. Humans evolved—rather successfully—as omnivores, eating many types of animals and plants. It’s a contentious issue. I have heard people say, in effect, I don’t care if I die sooner; I want to enjoy eating meat. And, since the risk of death for each of us is 100%, it’s a question we need to answer for ourselves, not only for meat, but in many aspects of our lives.