Nutrigenomics-How Your Diet Impacts Your Genes

YOUR GENES DO NOT DEFINE YOUR HEALTH

Your risk factors for adverse health conditions are largely dictated by the health of your mother during pregnancy.  Your Mother’s diet and lifestyle, along with everything that she was exposed to shortly before and during pregnancy, have a significant impact on your long-term health.  Under or over-consumption of macro- and micro-nutrients, and anything else with the potential to modify DNA, have genetic consequences that will likely last a number of generations.  While this exposure increases your risk for disease you have the power to control that risk. 

Knowing your health history puts you in the driver’s seat.  If you have an increased risk for any metabolic disease including obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis and diabetes then it would be prudent to carefully manage your diet by consuming fewer processed foods and less sugar, and by eating more fruits and vegetables.  Increased consumption of fiber is correlated with a reduced risk for atherosclerosis since it lowers cholesterol levels.  You may also ask your physician or nutritionist for a nutrient blood test to see if you are lacking any critical micronutrients such as Vitamin D and iron.  If cancer runs in your family then it may be prudent to refrain from smoking and drinking alcohol.  There are many other cancer protective factors that can also be incorporated in to your lifestyle:  Physical activity has been shown to protect you from cancers of the breast, colon, rectum and endometrium.  Consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces risk for esophageal, lung, mouth, pharynx and stomach cancers.  Foods containing dietary fiber reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer.

A well-informed expectant mother is encouraged to take prenatal vitamins to ensure adequate iron levels for healthy blood, and folate to ensure proper neural tube development of the baby.  An under developed spinal cord is an extreme outcome of folate deficiency.  Folate is a B vitamin that helps to regulate embryonic and fetal nerve cell formation.  Deficiency of both folate and Vitamin B12 are known to prevent special chemical modifications of your DNA that drive the expression of health regulating proteins.  Although this deficiency may not always manifest as a neural tube defect it may impact health in other, less obvious ways.  These deficiency outcomes may be reversed in future generations through proper diet.

Knowledge is the key to your health.  Research institutes committed to furthering our understanding of how our diet impacts gene expression include the Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics (CENG) at the University of California, Davis and North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC).  Both institutions are spearheading research efforts to understand how nutrients, plant phytochemicals, the environment and lifestyle choices impact brain and fetal development, cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, fatty liver and other metabolic disorders.

 

*The content of this blog was derived, in part, from Nutrition Concepts and Controversies 13th Edition.  Editors:  Sizer and Whitney

 

Dog Food Considerations

WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING YOUR DOG?

I recently hosted a Healthy Gut workshop this past weekend.  While I was explaining to the audience the importance of a low pH (~2.0) in the human stomach it brought to mind something I learned from my former pharmacology brethren regarding pharmacokinetics.  The acidic conditions in our stomach serve a number of critical purposes.  First and foremost, it aids in digestion of the food that we eat.  Second, it provides an antiseptic environment to prevent the growth of unwanted microbes. 

I then reminded my audience that unlike humans, the pH in the stomach of a dog is much higher, anywhere between pH 4 to 6.  As a result, dogs have a much harder time digesting any food that they are not accustomed to.  A reputable dog food is specially formulated to be compatible with the unique environment of the dog gut.  When you bring Spot home for the first time you may have to try a few food formulas before you find one that agrees with your pet, but once you find the right brand, stick with it.

Feeding your dog human food may titillate his taste buds but you are sure to wreak havoc on his stomach and immune system.  He simply does not have the digestive conditions compatible for metabolizing food that was not specifically made for a dog.  So what happens when your pet eats something that is not on the doggie menu?  Regurgitation and runny poop may be acute symptoms but you are setting your pet up for a lifetime of chronic disease.  Humans who subscribe to the Standard American Diet (SAD) of processed and sugar-laden foods put themselves at risk for a host of metabolic and inflammatory diseases including Diabetes and even Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Dogs who are constantly fed people food or poor quality dog food are at risk for the same conditions.  A poorly formulated diet will ultimately lead to destruction of the immune system which is a major contributing factor to allergic disease.   Not only is the rate of allergic disease exploding in children and adults, it is also showing up in dogs at an alarming rate.  …and the cause is exactly the same.

Clean Eating with the Tower Garden

Grow Your Own Food Using Aeroponic Gardening

Aeroponics is a unique and increasingly popular gardening technique.  The reason why it is appealing is because it is soil-less and therefore, amenable to a vertical irrigation design.  In an aeroponic garden, the plants can be suspended in a Tower-like apparatus where the water softly trickles on to the roots.  This, in turn, promotes improved air circulation which expedites plant growth.  This horticulture technology is so simple and efficient that it is sanctioned by NASA and you may have even noticed it in the Living with the Land attraction at Disneyworld.

 As part of a Healthcare initiative to promote clean eating I have been traveling among school and civic communities to tout the benefits of growing your own fruits, vegetables and herbs using aeroponic gardening. This growing method is extremely efficient because it uses far less water and space than any other methodology and the plants are as clean and organic as they can get.  I personally, don’t even wash the food that I harvest from my garden and just about any edible plant can be grown including cantaloupe and watermelon, but excluding root vegetables. 

One variety of this gardening system, The Tower Garden®, comes with a conveniently proportioned food tonic consisting of the same minerals that you find in soil, along with organic Nitrogen sources.  It requires minimal maintenance other than adding water to the trough when it gets low, adding food tonic every two weeks or so, and harvesting, which ensures continued growth.

 Recently, I set up a Tower Garden® with the students and Physical Education teacher at St. John the Apostle school in Clark, New Jersey.  The garden was initially set up outdoors but recently was moved to one of the Science classrooms for the winter where the plants are still growing like gang-busters.  These students are not only learning about the benefits of growing your own food but also acquiring an appreciation of the science behind Aeroponic gardening.

Cholesterol and Statins

What you should know about cholesterol and statins

A friend of mine stopped by the office the other day.  She shared that she was concerned that her total cholesterol was ~ 210 and her doctor wanted to put her on a Statin. I have known this friend for many years and was disappointed that the Doctor who made this suggestion did not bother to ask her a few probing Health History questions.  My friend swims for one hour 4-5 times per week, and she had done so for many decades.  Needless to say, she is at a healthy weight and has a heathy blood pressure, which she has enjoyed her entire life.  Furthermore, her HDL level is an enviable 64, likely due to all that swimming.  May I remind you that HDL (aka High-Density Lipoprotein) is the good cholesterol.  It functions like a vacuum (think H for Hoover) removing LDL from the blood and transporting it to the liver where is can be reprocessed. I am very happy to see the tide shifting on what is considered a healthy cholesterol level but am disturbed by the blithe manner in which prescriptions for statins are still written.

I have no doubt that Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein truly deserved to win that Nobel Prize for showing a correlation between plasma cholesterol and atherosclerosis.  I even wrote my dissertation on Cholesterol biosynthesis (and was tongue-tied during my thesis defense when a professor asked me if I thought that drinking red wine could lower cholesterol levels-a provocative concept in the early 90s).  Based on my own research I can tell you that statins are life-saving medicines for those who are genetically pre-disposed to high cholesterol levels.  This would include individuals who have heterozygous or homozygous mutations in the gene that codes for LDL-receptors.   These are cell surface proteins that remove LDL from the blood and target LDL for degradation. 

But there is a lot that we have yet to understand about the complete mechanism of statins.  They do indeed function to inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis, and to stimulate the synthesis of LDL receptors, but what exactly leads to the decrease in mortality?  Other agents that lower cholesterol through different mechanisms, such as Niacin or Zetia, do not show the same clinical outcomes.  It has been reported that statins have anti-inflammatory properties (Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(11):1519-30) and so prevent heart disease. Good news for those who present with symptoms for Metabolic disease, but what about my friend who lacks even a single risk factor? 

In order for statins to do their magic they need to penetrate the liver where cholesterol synthesis takes place.  Among the many adverse side effects caused by statins, damage to the liver is one of the more concerning.  Other unpleasant side effects include muscle pain and weakness (myalgia), disturbed sleep and neurological deficiencies such as memory loss and confusion.  The chemical properties of statins are uniquely designed so that they do not penetrate the blood-brain-barrier.  That’s a good thing because your brain needs cholesterol to function properly.  However, I suspect that certain individuals lack this barrier function (leaky brain) and may exhibit memory loss as a result of reduced cholesterol levels in the brain.

If you are certain that you are not a candidate for atherosclerosis, owing to a healthy lifestyle, but are concerned about your plasma cholesterol levels, then add more fiber to your diet.  The average adult should be consuming 20-30 g of fiber per day.  Fiber has natural cholesterol lowering properties and is found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  My personal preference is to focus on fruits and vegetables as the 1000’s of phytonutrients found in this food group have many, wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. You might also want to increase consumption of fresh fish or take an Omega-3 fatty acid supplement.  Omega-3 fatty acids, which are NOT synthesized by the body like cholesterol, will improve the health of all of your cells, in the brain and heart in particular…with NO side effects.

A Balanced Understanding of Vaccination

Why do we live so long?  If you question the value of vaccines then please read this:

In 1800 the average lifespan was about 30 years old.  By 1900 that number increased to 47 but by the turn of the 21^th century life expectancy increased to a whopping 77.  What were the primary contributors to this increase in longevity?  We may thank the advent of antiseptics, antibiotics, and vaccines.  Modern medicine has not nearly had the impact on human health as these fortuitous discoveries.

Prior to the discovery of antiseptics entire generations were wiped out by plagues that likely, were caused by infectious agents such as influenza, cholera and typhus.  Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin, and the introduction of the first Small Pox vaccine by Edward Jenner, ultimately vanquished the kiss of death for those impacted by these bacterial and viral infections.  This blog will largely focus on current concerns regarding vaccination.  Efficacy and outcomes of antibiotic use will be addressed in a future blog. 

The first vaccination campaigns were met with broad cooperation.  Young people today may be amused by the depiction of Polio in the movie Forest Gump but make no mistake, a Polio infection is no laughing matter.  Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus that initially presents with minor symptoms such as fever and headache but ultimately, may lead to complete muscle paralysis.  During an outbreak in the early 1950’s iron lungs were used to help the infected breathe.   The discovery of a vaccine that could irradiate this infection was met with global support and as result, Polio is almost completely eradicated.

So what exactly is propelling our fear of vaccines?  It appears that after many decades of reduced bacterial and viral infection our immune systems have let down their guard.  Our killer T cells and natural killer cells simply are not the stealth fighters that they used to be.  Although we are no longer susceptible to infectious disease we are MORE prone to immunological and immune-based diseases such as allergies and asthma, along with inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and even Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  Lately, I have noticed a perceptible uptick in diagnosis of Lupus (aka Lupus erythematosus), an autoimmune disease caused by a hyperactive immune system that attacks normal, healthy tissues.  These diseases tend to be chronic, and not as pronounced as infectious disease, but diagnosis rates are growing at an alarming rate with no abatement in sight.

During the fledgling days of vaccination campaigns our immune systems were primed to respond exactly as predicted to vaccine exposure.  Almost every individual immediately mounted an active immune response that would prevent future infection upon viral exposure.  However, as our immunity has evolved so has our response to vaccines.  This is particularly apparent in infants whose developing immune systems are largely dictated by the health of the Mother.  If Mommy does not pass on a healthy immunity to baby then some infants with undiagnosed immune deficiencies may respond adversely to a vaccination.  The response may be triggered by the vaccine itself or by a non-active ingredient, both of which are perceived as foreign.

This relatively recent observation calls for more research to better understand the biological response to vaccines so that we can conclusively demonstrate cause and effect.  It would be a pity to see even a minor reversal in viral infection rates due to our lack of understanding of Immune Biology.  I fully empathize with parents concerned about adverse events related to vaccination.  These are not trivial yet are not fully understood.

In the meantime, I would like to emphasize the benefits of vaccination for those with a healthy immune system.  The herd immunity theory dictates that the more healthy people that are vaccinated the less likely the unvaccinated people will become infected.   Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that response to new viral infections will be very different from what we have seen in the past.  Once new infections become increasingly more common, our response to these infections may not mirror what we have seen in the previous century.  So many people, baby-boomers in particular, remember acquiring measles, mumps and chicken pox and thinking-no big deal.  Since viral infections, other than influenza, are a relatively rare occurrence, we have no idea how the current immune system will respond.  If the current response to influenza* is any indication, then a new round of viral infections will not be pleasant.  Keep in mind also, that in the previous century most Moms stayed home and took care of their sick family.  Today, these exposed Moms and Dads will return to work possibly carrying infection to their place of employment.  Managing outbreaks is sure to be a challenge.

So what is the solution to vaccination?  As a healthy adult and parent I fully endorse vaccination of myself and my family.  The very young, the very old and the immunocompromised deserve special consideration while we support research to understand the root cause of adverse outcomes of vaccination.

* The CDC estimates that from the 1976-1977 season to the 2006-2007 flu season, flu-associated deaths in the US ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people.

Deconstructing Sugar

Sucrose, fructose, glucose:  What’s the difference?

 

How do you sweeten your tea or coffee (if at all)?  Table sugar, honey, agave, etc.?  In order for your body and brain to function properly you absolutely need glucose for energy.  Although your body has the enzymatic machinery to make its own glucose this can be somewhat of an arduous task. Immediate demands for energy can be met by the sugars that you eat.  Back in my day the only sugar in my Mom’s pantry was white Table sugar. 

The sweetener in Table sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide composed of fructose and glucose in equal proportion.  A brief walk down the baking aisle of your local supermarket today will avail you to a much larger variety of sucrose containing sweeteners (Table 1):  Brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, evaporated cane juice (or raw sugar), maple syrup and molasses.  All the same thing but dressed differently.  Corn syrup, on the other hand, is composed entirely of glucose while Agave is largely composed of fructose.  Sweeteners composed of individual fructose and glucose monosaccharides include high fructose corn syrup, honey and invert sugar (used in making candies and fondant which require a smoother product). 

Both glucose and fructose provide energy but the process to do so differs.  Glucose readily passes through the gut barrier into the bloodstream and provides instant gratification to meet your energy demands.  It is the sugar that powers your muscles to give you strength, and your brain so that you can think.  Fructose, on the other hand, requires assistance from a transporter called GLUT5.  Once absorbed in the gut, fructose is processed by the body and stored in the liver as a back-up energy source called glycogen.  Your liver has the capacity to store roughly 2000 calories of sugar.  Excess sugars, above this amount, are converted to lipids and stored in fat cells which have an infinite storage capacity.  This is largely why consumption above and beyond what the body needs, leads to obesity.

An excess of fructose has a number of additional adverse effects as well.  Excess fructose can swamp GLUT5, preventing its absorption.  Fructose that remains in the digestive track serves as a feast for bacteria residing in the gut.  The bacteria will ferment the fructose giving off a variety of gases such as hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide which contributes to feelings of bloating, distention, bowel discomfort or abdominal pain.  Furthermore, as the excess fructose travels along the bowel it also draws along with it excess water, which has a laxative effect on the bowel, causing diarreah.

In addition, excess fructose, along with excess glucose, can overwhelm the liver’s capacity to store sugar and to regulate insulin secretion.  Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that tells the body to take glucose out of the blood and deliver it to muscles and other body tissues so that they can function properly.  Carbohydrate and sugar-laden diets ultimately disrupt the ability of the pancreas to make enough insulin to support energy demands or, despite an ample insulin supply, the body loses its ability to respond to insulin, both of which are hallmark features of type 2 diabetes.  While insulin serves a critical role in energy production, excess insulin, either secreted by the pancreas or taken by injection if you are Diabetic, will eventually lead to a host of metabolic and inflammatory conditions.

Fructose found in fruit and vegetables deserves special attention. Soluble fiber that is naturally found in these foods slows the absorption of fructose and subsequent spike in insulin.  Not only are these foods healthy for you but they are also healthy for the bacteria in your gut.  And when you take good care of the bugs in your gut, they will take good care of you.  Benjamin Franklin definitely was on the right track when he said “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

 

Table 1.  Composition of Sweeteners

 

 

Probiotics and the Microbiome: What's Eating You?

The Microbiome was addressed in an earlier blog (http://egglrock.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-microbiome.html) but I thought the New Year would be a good time to revisit this topic.  The Microbiome is just a cool sounding word that describes how your body provides the perfect host environment to support the growth of trillions of bacteria.  Ick!  Did you know that there are about ten times more bacteria living in and on your body than the sum total of all your human cells combined?  And that’s a good thing.  Believe it or not all those bugs do wonders for your health by boosting your immune system (Knight et al., J. Immunol 2010).  Think of your microbiome as your own personal army that protects you from disease. 

Are you a germ-o-phobe? Too bad.  All those showers and incessant use of Purell are killing off your main-line-of-defense (not to mention drying out your skin and hair-I’ll bet you have a REALLY bad case of dandruff, but that will be the topic of another blog).  I’m not saying go out and stand in front of a person with a really bad cold.  Get outdoors and expose yourself to whatever is in fresh air, do some gardening, shoot some outdoor hoops-even if you never make a basket.  I have yet to catch a cold by going to my local Y every day but I bet it’s a great location for building my immunity, not to mention my strength.

The other Microbiome slayers are all those antibiotics your doctor is prescribing you.  Although antibiotics and antiseptics have altered the course of history, contributing to the longevity that we enjoy today, they have also altered our immune system. Over the past few decades we have gotten a little over-zealous with these antibacterial agents, killing off both the bad bacteria and the good.  If you must take an antibiotic for a dangerous infection then be sure to replenish the bacteria with probiotics.  These healthy bacteria may be found in yogurt and other fermented foods such as sauerkraut, tempeh, kimchi and even pickles.  If these foods do not appeal to you then you may want to take a probiotic supplement that delivers 20-50 billion live organisms per dose and contains a combination of different strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.  If the meat that you are eating is not labeled Organic then it too, has been adulterated with antibiotics.  Most animals are given antibiotics whether they need them or not since the close quarters they are housed in are a potential source of infection. These antibiotics alter immunity in animals the same way that they alter your immunity.

In order for the good bacteria in your gut to thrive you need to feed them food they like and that means eating lots of fibrous fruits and vegetables. Green vegetables have the most fiber but just about any plant will do.  The jury is still out on whole grains as they are a significant mediator of food sensitivities, possibly due to the fact that the gut is lacking the kind of bacteria needed for digestion of whole grains.  Other forms of sustenance for your gut bacteria are called prebiotics which are non-digestible carbohydrates that help your good bacteria flourish. These can be found in artichokes, garlic, beans, oats, onions and asparagus.   Without a nutritious diet the good bacteria will starve to death and, in a final act of desperation, they will start to eat you!

 Do you suffer from an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) like Colitis or Crohn’s disease?  These diseases are caused by an inflammation of your colon and other parts of the digestive system whose defenses have been ravaged by a poor diet or weakened immune system.  IBDs are reversible but you need to heal your gut and improve your diet.  This means eliminating processed foods, wheat, and sugar and possibly eliminating soy, dairy, eggs, peanuts and anything else that you might be sensitive to.  Unfortunately, the standard American diet (SAD-what an ironic acronym!) is so adulterated that it has sapped our ability to digest what were once perfectly nutritious foods.  At the same time, you should increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.  Once the cells that line your intestine are healed, and you’ve replenished your gut with healthy bacteria, you may find that you are no longer sensitive to the whole foods that used to cause gastrointestinal distress.