Diet and Disease

Saturday Feeling Resilient – 06.22.24

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Resiliency

The researchers found that people in the high resiliency group were less anxious and depressed, less prone to judge, and had activity in regions of the brain associated with emotional regulation and better cognition compared to the group with low resiliency. “When a stressor happens, often we go to this aroused fight or flight response, and this impairs the breaks in your brain,” Gupta said. “But the highly resilient individuals in the study were found to be better at regulating their emotions, less likely to catastrophize, and keep a level head,” added Desiree Delgadillo, postdoctoral researcher and one of the first authors.

The high resiliency group also had different microbiome activity than the low resiliency group. Namely, the high resiliency group’s microbiomes excreted metabolites and exhibited gene activity associated with low inflammation and a strong and healthy gut barrier. A weak gut barrier, otherwise known as a leaky gut, is caused by inflammation and impairs the gut barrier’s ability to absorb essential nutrients needed by the body while blocking toxins from entering the gut.

University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences. “Resiliency shaped by activity in the gut microbiome and brain.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240621122904.htm (accessed June 22, 2024) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240621122904.htm

Resilience is the capacity to remain flexible and adaptable while facing life’s challenges. It is a complex concept involving traits, environmental factors, and a learned capacity that comes from experience. https://positivepsychology.com/what-is-resilience/

Gut Bacteria May Drive Colorectal Cancer Risk

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The researchers found signs that a high-fat, low-fiber diet may increase inflammation in the gut that prevents it from naturally suppressing tumors. The cells of young people with colorectal cancer also appeared to have aged more quickly — by 15 years on average — than a person’s actual age. That’s unusual, because older people with colorectal cancer don’t have the same boost in cellular aging.

The rate of colorectal cancer among young people has been rising at an alarming rate, according to a 2023 report from the American Cancer Society. In 2019, 1 in 5 colorectal cancer cases were among people younger than 55. That’s up from 1 in 10 in 1995, which means the rate has doubled in less than 30 years. Young People’s Gut Bacteria May Drive Colorectal Cancer Risk – Medscape – June 06, 2024 — https://www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/young-peoples-gut-bacteria-may-drive-colorectal-cancer-risk-2024a1000amd?src=rss

Yikes.

Sensational yet Obvious! Time Restricted Eating Works!

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com

In a randomized-controlled trial, people who followed a time-restricted diet lost about the same amount of weight as people who ate the same diet without the time restriction, according to a study published Friday in Annals of Internal Medicine…nutrition experts Krista Varady and Vanessa Oddo of the University of Illinois wrote in an editorial accompanying the study. “Using a controlled feeding design, Maruthur and colleagues show that TRE is effective for weight loss, simply because it helps people eat less.” It’s cutting calories—not intermittent fasting—that drops weight — https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/its-cutting-calories-not-intermittent-fasting-that-drops-weight-study-suggests/

You learn something old every day.

Gut Bacteria Break Down Cholesterol

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It has been established that the human gut microbiome affects cholesterol levels, and previous research has pointed to microbial enzymes that might be involved. A 2020 study2 identified a bacterial enzyme called ismA that can convert cholesterol into coprostanol, a lipid that is excreted instead of absorbed by the body. People whose gut bacteria made this enzyme had lower cholesterol levels in their blood than did those who did not. This study was published by the same research group — led by gastroenterologist and microbiologist Ramnik Xavier at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston — that is responsible for the new finding. Until now, it was not clear which bacteria produced enzymes that metabolize cholesterol.

For the current study, the researchers analysed microbial genomes in stool samples from 1,429 participants in a long-term study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The team found many gut-bacteria species, including those in the genus Oscillibacter, that were correlated with lower cholesterol levels. The researchers confirmed their results in participants in two independent studies.

Gut bacteria break down cholesterol — hinting at probiotic treatments – https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00955-3

Not confirmed in animal models or clinical trials.

But an OTC supplement will arrive on store shelves before any scientific confirmation is achieved.

Diet Until Proven Otherwise

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According to a study published in BMC Medicine, men who ate the most plant-based foods had a 22 percent reduced risk of colon cancer, compared with those who ate the least. Eating a plant-based diet increases consumption of fiber and antioxidants associated with cancer prevention, while simultaneously avoiding the compounds in animal products linked to cancer risk. It has long been known that people who avoid meat are at reduced risk.

The power of nutrition in cancer prevention — https://www.kevinmd.com/2024/02/the-power-of-nutrition-in-cancer-prevention.html

Also schedule that colonoscopy you’ve been putting off.

Plant Based Diets and Covid-19

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Of the total participants, 47 percent reported having had COVID-19 infection. The omnivorous group had a significantly higher incidence of infection (52 percent vs. 40 percent) and were more likely to experience moderate to severe symptoms (18 percent vs. 11 percent).

After adjusting for influential factors such as weight, pre-existing medical conditions, and physical activity levels, there was no overall difference in symptom severity between the groups. However, those following predominantly plant-based or vegetarian diets were 39-percent less likely to become infected than their omnivorous counterparts.

The researchers suggest that plant-based diets may contribute to a boosted immune system and better defense against viral infections due to their richness in antioxidants, phytosterols, and polyphenols.

Plant-Based Diets Linked to 39 Percent Lower COVID-19 Infection Rate, Study Finds — https://vegnews.com/vegan-news/plant-based-diet-low-covid-19-infection-rate-study

Link to the original study Vegetarian and plant-based diets associated with lower incidence of COVID-19 — https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2024/01/02/bmjnph-2023-000629

Eat more plants.

What’s Your Vitamin D Status?

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How is Your Vitamin D Status?

The precursors for vitamin D are reduced as we age. By age 70, our ability to produce vitamin D is about half of what it was at age 20. D is in scarce supply in our regular diets. Most milk and some juices, milk alternatives and cereals are fortified with D, but other dietary sources — fatty fish like mackerel and sardines, and some mushrooms — aren’t exactly a staple in most American diets. As a result, nearly 1 in 4 people in the U.S. have inadequate blood levels of vitamin D3, the most active form.

How Is Your Vitamin D Status – link above

Yikes.

Reversing Diabetes in Alabama

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Reversing type 2 diabetes through a low-carbohydrate diet is clearly an evidence-based approach. Yet, thus far, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs the scientific reviews for the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the nation’s top nutrition policy, has neglected to acknowledge any of the more than 100 clinical trials on this diet. In the scientific reviews currently underway for the next iteration of the guidelines, due out in 2025, the USDA has declined even to examine this scientific literature. 

Reversing Diabetes in Alabama — https://www.nutritioncoalition.us/news/reversing-diabetes-in-alabama

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”

Hippocrates, the father of medicine

Nature Wants Us to be Fat

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Evidence that Obesity and Diabetes are Driven by a Diet-Induced Biological Switch: How it Works and How it Might be Prevented — https://www.vumedi.com/video/evidence-that-obesity-and-diabetes-are-driven-by-a-diet-induced-biological-switch-how-it-works-and-h/

Blog post title is the same as the title of Dr. Richard J. Johnson’s book. The link takes you to a video that is approximately 37 minutes long. Enjoy!