nutritionfactsorg--2020-04-14--What About the Sodium in Miso?

What About the Sodium in Miso?

According to the second World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research expert report , “ [ s ] alt is a probable cause of stomach cancer , ” one of the world ’ s leading cancer killers .
If the report ’ s estimate of an 8 percent increase in risk for every extra gram of salt a day is correct , then in a country like the United Kingdom , nearly 1,700 cases of stomach cancer happen every year just because of excess salt intake , as you can see at 0:27 in my video Is Miso Healthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the United States , it would be thousands more annually .
The risk of stomach cancer associated with salt intake appears on par with smoking or heavy alcohol use , but may only be half as bad as opium use or increased total meat consumption , as you can see at 0:43 in my video .
These findings were based on a study of more than a half million people , which may explain why those eating meatless diets appear to have nearly two-thirds lower risk .
We know dietary salt intake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stomach cancer , and the higher the intake , the higher the risk .
A meta-analysis went one step further and looked at specific salt-rich foods : pickled foods , salted fish , processed meat , and miso soup .
Habitual consumption of pickled foods , salted fish , and processed meat were each associated with about a 25 percent greater risk of stomach cancer .
The pickled foods may explain why Korea , where the pickled cabbage dish kimchi is a staple , appears to have the highest stomach cancer rates in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 1:39 in my video .
But researchers found there was no significant association with the consumption of miso soup .
This may be because the carcinogenic effects of the salt in miso soup are counteracted by the anti-carcinogenic effects of the soy , effectively canceling out the risk .
And , if we made garlicky soup with some scallions thrown in , our cancer risk may drop even lower , as you can see at 2:06 in my video .
Cancer isn ’ t the primary reason people are told to avoid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soup and high blood pressure ?
Similar to the relationship between miso and cancer , the salt in miso pushes up our blood pressures , but miso ’ s soy protein may be relaxing them down .
If we compare the effects of soy milk to cow ’ s milk , for example , and , to make it even more fair , compare soy milk to skim cow ’ s milk to avoid the saturated butter fat , soy milk can much more dramatically improve blood pressure among women with hypertension , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my video .
But would the effect be dramatic enough to counter all the salt in miso ?
Japanese researchers decided to put it to the test .
For four years , they followed men and women in their 60s , who , at the start of the study , had normal blood pressure , to see who was more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension in that time : those who had two or more bowls of miso soup a day or those who had one or less .
Two bowls a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ salt to one ’ s daily diet , yet those who had two or more bowls of miso soup every day appeared to have five times lower risk of becoming hypertensive .
So , maybe the anti-hypertensive effects of the soy in the miso exceed the hypertensive effects of the salt .
Indeed , miso paste , a whole soy food , can be used as a “ green light ” source of saltiness when cooking .
That ’ s why I used it in my pesto recipe in How Not to Die @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cookbook .
It can help you in Shaking the Salt Habit .
Not convinced that salt is bad for you ?
Check out these videos : • Sodium Skeptics Try to Shake Up the Salt Debate Not convinced that soy is good for you ?
See : PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

According to the second World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research expert report, “[s]alt is a probable cause of stomach cancer,” one of the world’s leading cancer killers. If the report’s estimate of an 8 percent increase in risk for every extra gram of salt a day is correct, then in a country like the United Kingdom, nearly 1,700 cases of stomach cancer happen every year just because of excess salt intake, as you can see at 0:27 in my video Is Miso Healthy?, and, in a country like the United States, it would be thousands more annually.
The risk of stomach cancer associated with salt intake appears on par with smoking or heavy alcohol use, but may only be half as bad as opium use or increased total meat consumption, as you can see at 0:43 in my video. These findings were based on a study of more than a half million people, which may explain why those eating meatless diets appear to have nearly two-thirds lower risk.
We know dietary salt intake is directly associated with the risk of stomach cancer, and the higher the intake, the higher the risk. A meta-analysis went one step further and looked at specific salt-rich foods: pickled foods, salted fish, processed meat, and miso soup. Habitual consumption of pickled foods, salted fish, and processed meat were each associated with about a 25 percent greater risk of stomach cancer. The pickled foods may explain why Korea, where the pickled cabbage dish kimchi is a staple, appears to have the highest stomach cancer rates in the world, as you can see at 1:39 in my video. But researchers found there was no significant association with the consumption of miso soup. This may be because the carcinogenic effects of the salt in miso soup are counteracted by the anti-carcinogenic effects of the soy, effectively canceling out the risk. And, if we made garlicky soup with some scallions thrown in, our cancer risk may drop even lower, as you can see at 2:06 in my video.
Cancer isn’t the primary reason people are told to avoid salt, though. What about miso soup and high blood pressure? Similar to the relationship between miso and cancer, the salt in miso pushes up our blood pressures, but miso’s soy protein may be relaxing them down. If we compare the effects of soy milk to cow’s milk, for example, and, to make it even more fair, compare soy milk to skim cow’s milk to avoid the saturated butter fat, soy milk can much more dramatically improve blood pressure among women with hypertension, as you can see at 2:43 in my video. But would the effect be dramatic enough to counter all the salt in miso? Japanese researchers decided to put it to the test.
For four years, they followed men and women in their 60s, who, at the start of the study, had normal blood pressure, to see who was more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension in that time: those who had two or more bowls of miso soup a day or those who had one or less. Two bowls a day may add a half teaspoon of salt to one’s daily diet, yet those who had two or more bowls of miso soup every day appeared to have five times lower risk of becoming hypertensive. So, maybe the anti-hypertensive effects of the soy in the miso exceed the hypertensive effects of the salt.
Indeed, miso paste, a whole soy food, can be used as a “green light” source of saltiness when cooking. That’s why I used it in my pesto recipe in How Not to Die and in my How Not to Die Cookbook. It can help you in Shaking the Salt Habit.
Not convinced that salt is bad for you? Check out these videos:
Not convinced that soy is good for you? See:
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-04-09--How to Prevent the Infection that May Trigger Type 1 Diabetes

The compelling finding of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis ( MAP ) circulating disproportionately within the bloodstream of type 1 diabetics was subsequently confirmed by culturing it straight out of their blood .
MAP infection and type 1 diabetes appear to go together , but we didn ’ t know which came first .
Does the infection make kids more susceptible to diabetes ?
Might diabetes make kids more susceptible to infection ?
Maybe this MAP bug just likes hanging out in sugary blood .
In that case , we might expect to also see it in type 2 diabetics , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ associated with type 2 diabetes , which makes sense since type 2 is not an autoimmune disease .
In order for the idea of MAP infection triggering type 1 diabetes to be sound , there would have to be an immune response mounted to the bug , and , indeed , there is .
Researchers in Sardinia found an “ extremely significant ” antibody response against paratuberculosis ( paraTB ) bacteria in type 1 diabetics .
But do the antibodies attacking the bug cross-react with our own insulin-producing cells to generate that autoimmune @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the molecular signatures of MAP cross-react with the molecular signatures present on our insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas , as you can see at 1:09 in my video Does Paratuberculosis in Meat Trigger Type 1 Diabetes ?
.
Is this just in Sardinia , or might we find these same results elsewhere ?
The same results were in fact found on mainland Italy with a group of type 1 diabetics “ with a genetic background different from Sardinians ” —a strong association between paraTB bacteria exposure and type 1 diabetes .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmed once more in other pediatric populations , and confirmed in a group of type 1 diabetic adults , as well .
The paratuberculosis bacterium may also explain why type 1 diabetes risk is associated with a specific gene on chromosome 2 called SLC11A1 .
What does that gene do ?
SLC11A1 activates the immune cell that eats mycobacteria for breakfast .
This could explain how a mutation in that gene could increase the susceptibility to type 1 diabetes—namely , by increasing the susceptibility to mycobacterial infections , like Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ccumulating line of evidence points… [ to ] MAP in the development of T1DM [ type 1 diabetes ] as an environmental trigger.
” It ’ s likely no coincidence .
These types of bacteria have evolved to disguise themselves to look like human proteins for the express purpose of avoiding detection by our immune system .
These are not the droids you ’ re looking for .
If , however , our immune system sees through the disguise and starts attacking the bacteria , our similar-looking proteins can become a victim of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all of these studies have been pointing to .
Nearly , but not all .
A 2015 review found that seven out of seven human studies found an association between type 1 diabetes and paratuberculosis exposure , but it ’ s actually seven out of eight .
Since that review came out , a study in India was published finding no link .
A few possible explanations were offered .
Maybe it ’ s because vaccination for regular TB is compulsory in India , which might offer “ cross protection from MAP as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because they eat so much less meat due to “ certain cultural and culinary practices such as widespread vegetarianism , ” or because of their “ compulsory boiling of milk before consumption… ” If we measure the heat inactivation of milk with high concentrations of naturally infected feces , which is probably the main source of milk contamination , pasteurization may not completely inactivate the bacteria , but sterilization at boiling temperatures should ( as you can see at 3:40 in my video ) .
This may depend on the degree of fecal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be able to ride out pasteurization by hiding in tiny fecal clumps in milk , but only rarely should MAP survive over 100 degrees Celsius , perhaps explaining the disparate India findings .
Bottom line : “ To reduce human exposure to MAP via consumption of dairy and meat products… [ more ] studies are needed for estimating the amount of MAP ” in milk , meat , and feces , as well as “ the amount of faecal contamination of milk and carcasses [ meat ] ” to figure out what we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the meanwhile , what ’ s the potential public health impact of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis ?
The majority of specialists in the field agree that it “ is likely a risk to human health ” and should be “ a high- or medium-priority…public health issue.
” I started speaking out about the link between human disease and paratuberculosis infection in milk and meat 15 years ago .
As cynical as I can be at times , even I am shocked that the industry hasn ’ t done more to clean up its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bovine leukemia virus story .
See : • The Role of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Breast Cancer If you missed the first two installments in this series , check out Does Paratuberculosis in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes ?
and Meat Consumption and the Development of Type 1 Diabetes .
PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

The compelling finding of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) circulating disproportionately within the bloodstream of type 1 diabetics was subsequently confirmed by culturing it straight out of their blood. MAP infection and type 1 diabetes appear to go together, but we didn’t know which came first. Does the infection make kids more susceptible to diabetes? Might diabetes make kids more susceptible to infection? Maybe this MAP bug just likes hanging out in sugary blood. In that case, we might expect to also see it in type 2 diabetics, but, no: Paratuberculosis infection is not associated with type 2 diabetes, which makes sense since type 2 is not an autoimmune disease.
In order for the idea of MAP infection triggering type 1 diabetes to be sound, there would have to be an immune response mounted to the bug, and, indeed, there is. Researchers in Sardinia found an “extremely significant” antibody response against paratuberculosis (paraTB) bacteria in type 1 diabetics. But do the antibodies attacking the bug cross-react with our own insulin-producing cells to generate that autoimmune reaction? Apparently so. Antibodies recognizing the molecular signatures of MAP cross-react with the molecular signatures present on our insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, as you can see at 1:09 in my video Does Paratuberculosis in Meat Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?.
Is this just in Sardinia, or might we find these same results elsewhere? The same results were in fact found on mainland Italy with a group of type 1 diabetics “with a genetic background different from Sardinians”—a strong association between paraTB bacteria exposure and type 1 diabetes. The findings were confirmed in further studies, confirmed once more in other pediatric populations, and confirmed in a group of type 1 diabetic adults, as well.
The paratuberculosis bacterium may also explain why type 1 diabetes risk is associated with a specific gene on chromosome 2 called SLC11A1. What does that gene do? SLC11A1 activates the immune cell that eats mycobacteria for breakfast. This could explain how a mutation in that gene could increase the susceptibility to type 1 diabetes—namely, by increasing the susceptibility to mycobacterial infections, like Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis. Indeed, an “[a]ccumulating line of evidence points…[to] MAP in the development of T1DM [type 1 diabetes] as an environmental trigger.” It’s likely no coincidence. These types of bacteria have evolved to disguise themselves to look like human proteins for the express purpose of avoiding detection by our immune system. These are not the droids you’re looking for. If, however, our immune system sees through the disguise and starts attacking the bacteria, our similar-looking proteins can become a victim of friendly fire, which is what nearly all of these studies have been pointing to. Nearly, but not all.
A 2015 review found that seven out of seven human studies found an association between type 1 diabetes and paratuberculosis exposure, but it’s actually seven out of eight. Since that review came out, a study in India was published finding no link. A few possible explanations were offered. Maybe it’s because vaccination for regular TB is compulsory in India, which might offer “cross protection from MAP as in case of leprosy,” or because they eat so much less meat due to “certain cultural and culinary practices such as widespread vegetarianism,” or because of their “compulsory boiling of milk before consumption…” If we measure the heat inactivation of milk with high concentrations of naturally infected feces, which is probably the main source of milk contamination, pasteurization may not completely inactivate the bacteria, but sterilization at boiling temperatures should (as you can see at 3:40 in my video). This may depend on the degree of fecal clumping, though. MAP bacteria may be able to ride out pasteurization by hiding in tiny fecal clumps in milk, but only rarely should MAP survive over 100 degrees Celsius, perhaps explaining the disparate India findings.
Bottom line: “To reduce human exposure to MAP via consumption of dairy and meat products…[more] studies are needed for estimating the amount of MAP” in milk, meat, and feces, as well as “the amount of faecal contamination of milk and carcasses [meat]” to figure out what we need to do to kill it. In the meanwhile, what’s the potential public health impact of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis? The majority of specialists in the field agree that it “is likely a risk to human health” and should be “a high- or medium-priority…public health issue.”
I started speaking out about the link between human disease and paratuberculosis infection in milk and meat 15 years ago. As cynical as I can be at times, even I am shocked that the industry hasn’t done more to clean up its act. It reminds me of the bovine leukemia virus story. See:
If you missed the first two installments in this series, check out Does Paratuberculosis in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes? and Meat Consumption and the Development of Type 1 Diabetes.
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-04-07--The Role of Meat and Dairy in Triggering Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes “ arises following the autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing pancreatic β [ beta ] cells… [ and ] is most often diagnosed in children and adolescents , usually presenting with a classic trio of symptoms ” as their blood sugars spike : excessive thirst , hunger , and urination .
They need to go on insulin for the rest of their lives , since their own immune systems attacked and destroyed their ability to produce it .
What would cause our body to do such a thing ?
I examine this in my video , Does Paratuberculosis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whatever it is , it has been on the rise around the world , starting after World War 2 .
“ Understanding why and how this produced the current pandemic of childhood diabetes would be an important step toward reversing it.
” A plausible guess is “ molecular mimicry , whereby a foreign antigen ( bacterial or viral ) provokes an immune response , which cross-reacts ” with a similar-looking protein on our pancreas such that when we attack the bug , our own organ gets caught in the cross-fire .
Given this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diabetics self-attacking ?
In the 1980s , a protein was identified that we came to realize in the 1990s looked an awful lot like a certain mycobacterial protein .
Mycobacteria are a family of bacteria that cause diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy , and , in one study , all newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic children were found to have immune responses to this mycobacterial protein .
This didn ’ t make any sense as incidence of type 1 diabetes has been going up in the industrialized world , whereas TB and leprosy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is one mycobacterial infection in farm animals that has shot up with the industrialization and globalization of animal agriculture : paratuberculosis ( paraTB ) , which causes Johne ’ s disease in animals .
Paratuberculosis is now recognized as a global problem for the livestock industry .
Weren ’ t there a dozen or so studies suggesting that “ cow ’ s milk exposure may be an important determinant of subsequent type 1 diabetes ” in childhood ?
Indeed .
After putting two and two together , an idea was put forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cattle be a trigger for type 1 diabetes ?
The idea was compelling enough for researchers put it to the test .
They attempted to test the association of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis ( MAP ) , the full name for the bug , with type 1 diabetes by testing diabetics for the presence of the bacteria in their blood .
Lo and behold , most of the diabetic patients tested positive for the bug , compared to only a minority of the healthy control subjects .
This evidence of MAP bacteria in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ might provide an important foundation in establishing an infectious etiology , ” or cause , for type 1 diabetes .
“ These results also might possibly have implications for countries that have the greatest livestock populations and high incidence of MAP concurrent with the highest numbers of patients with ” diabetes , like the United States .
Johne ’ s is the name of the disease when farm animals get infected by MAP .
The reason diabetes researchers chose to look at Sardinia , an island off the coast of Italy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 50 percent of Sardinian herds .
Surpassing that , though , is the U.S. dairy herd .
According to a recent national survey , 68 percent of the U.S. dairy herd are infected with MAP , especially those cattle at big , industrial dairies , as you can see at 3:33 in my video .
Ninety-five percent of operations with more than 500 cows came up positive .
It ’ s estimated the disease costs the U.S. industry more than a billion dollars a year .
How do people become exposed ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of MAP to the [ human ] food chain appear to be contaminated milk , milk products and meat ” from infected cattle , sheep , and goats .
MAP or MAP DNA has been detected in raw milk , pasteurized milk , infant formula , cheese , ice cream , muscle and organ tissues , and retail meat .
We know paraTB bacteria survive pasteurization because Wisconsin researchers bought hundreds of pints of retail milk off store shelves from three of the top U.S. milk-producing states and tested for the presence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They found that 2.8 percent of the retail milk tested came back positive for live paraTB bacteria , with most brands yielding at least one positive sample .
If paraTB does end up being a diabetes trigger , then “ these findings indicate that retail milk [ in the United States ] would need to be considered as a transmission vector.
” Why hasn ’ t the public heard about this research ?
Perhaps because the industry is not too keen on sharing it .
Indeed , according to an article in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fear of consumer reaction…can impede rational , open discussion of scientific studies.
” Not only is MAP a serious problem for the global livestock industry , but it also may trigger type 1 diabetes , given that paraTB bacteria have been found in the bloodstream of the majority of type 1 diabetics tested who presumably are exposed through the retail milk supply as the bacteria can survive pasteurization .
But what about the meat supply ?
MAP has been found in beef , pork , and chicken .
It ’ s an intestinal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ f ] aecal contamination of the carcass in the abattoir [ slaughter plant ] is unavoidable… ” Then , unless the meat is cooked well-done , it could harbor living MAP .
In terms of meat , “ ground beef represents the greatest potential risk for harboring MAP… [ as ] a significant proportion originates from culled dairy cattle , ” who may be culled because they have paratuberculosis .
These animals may go straight into the human food chain .
There also exists greater prevalence of fecal contamination and lymph nodes in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force the bacteria deep inside the ground beef burger .
As such , “ given the weight of evidence and the severity and magnitude of potential human health problems , the precautionary principle suggests that it is time to take actions to limit…human exposure to MAP.
” At the very least , we should stop funneling animals known to be infected into the human food supply .
We know that milk exposure is associated with type 1 diabetes , but what about meat ?
As I discuss in my video Meat Consumption and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ researchers attempted to tease out the nutritional factors that could help account for the 350-fold variation in type 1 diabetes rates around the world .
Why do some parts of the world have rates hundreds of times higher than others ?
Yes , the more dairy populations ate , the higher their rates of childhood type 1 diabetes , but the same was found for meat , as you can see at 2:07 in my video .
This gave “ credibility to the speculation that the increasing dietary supply of animal protein after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reported increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes… ” Additionally , there was a negative correlation—that is , a protective correlation that you can see at 2:26 in my video—between the intake of grains and type 1 diabetes , which “ may fit within the more general context of a lower prevalence of chronic diseases ” among those eating more plant-based diets .
What ’ s more , the increase in meat consumption over time appeared to parallel the increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes .
Now , we always need to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Just because a country eats a particular way doesn ’ t mean the individuals who get the disease ate that way .
For example , a similar study looking specifically at the diets of children and adolescents between different countries “ support [ ed ] previous research about the importance of cow ’ s milk and [ other ] animal products ” in causing type 1 diabetes .
But , the researchers also found that in countries where they tended to eat the most sugar , kids tended to have lower rates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see at 3:18 in my video .
This finding didn ’ t reach statistical significance since there were so few countries examined in the study , but , even if it had and even if there were other studies to back it up , there are countless factors that could be going on .
Maybe in countries where people ate the least sugar , they also ate the most high fructose corn syrup or something .
That ’ s why you always need to put it to the test .
When the diets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were analyzed , increased risk of type 1 diabetes was associated with milk , sugar , bread , soda , eggs , and meat consumption .
In Sardinia , where the original link was made between paraTB and type 1 diabetes , a highly “ statistically significant dose-response relationship ” was found , meaning more meat meant more risk , especially during the first two years of children ’ s lives .
So , “ [ h ] igh meat consumption seems to be an important early in life cofactor for type 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more data .
The latest such study , which followed thousands of mother-child pairs , found that mothers eating meat during breastfeeding was associated with an increased risk of both preclinical and full-blown , clinical type 1 diabetes by the time their children reached age eight .
The researchers thought it might be the glycotoxins , the AGEs found in cooked meat , which can be transferred from mother to child through breastfeeding , but they have learned that paratuberculosis bacteria can also be transferred through human breast milk .
These bacteria have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of women with Crohn ’ s disease , another autoimmune disease linked to paraTB bacteria exposure .
For a deeper discussion of other possibilities as to why cow ’ s milk consumption is linked to this autoimmune destruction of insulin production , see Does Casein in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes ?
and Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes ?
.
If we don ’ t drink milk , though , what about our bone health ?
See my videos Long-Term Vegan Bone Health and Is Milk Good for Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases of diabetes in the United States are type 2 , though .
Ironically , meat may also play a role there .
See my videos Why Is Meat a Risk Factor for Diabetes ?
and How May Plants Protect Against Diabetes ?
for more information .
For more on the links between milk and diabetes , see my videos Does Casein in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes ?
and Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Diabetes ?
.
What about treating and preventing diabetes through diet ?
Check out How Not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prediabetes from Turning Into Diabetes .
PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers • 2015 : Food as Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2012 : Uprooting @ @ @ @ @

Type 1 diabetes “arises following the autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing pancreatic β [beta] cells…[and] is most often diagnosed in children and adolescents, usually presenting with a classic trio of symptoms” as their blood sugars spike: excessive thirst, hunger, and urination. They need to go on insulin for the rest of their lives, since their own immune systems attacked and destroyed their ability to produce it. What would cause our body to do such a thing? I examine this in my video, Does Paratuberculosis in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?
Whatever it is, it has been on the rise around the world, starting after World War 2. “Understanding why and how this produced the current pandemic of childhood diabetes would be an important step toward reversing it.” A plausible guess is “molecular mimicry, whereby a foreign antigen (bacterial or viral) provokes an immune response, which cross-reacts” with a similar-looking protein on our pancreas such that when we attack the bug, our own organ gets caught in the cross-fire. Given this, what pancreatic proteins are type 1 diabetics self-attacking? In the 1980s, a protein was identified that we came to realize in the 1990s looked an awful lot like a certain mycobacterial protein. Mycobacteria are a family of bacteria that cause diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy, and, in one study, all newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic children were found to have immune responses to this mycobacterial protein. This didn’t make any sense as incidence of type 1 diabetes has been going up in the industrialized world, whereas TB and leprosy rates have gone down. However, there is one mycobacterial infection in farm animals that has shot up with the industrialization and globalization of animal agriculture: paratuberculosis (paraTB), which causes Johne’s disease in animals. Paratuberculosis is now recognized as a global problem for the livestock industry.
Weren’t there a dozen or so studies suggesting that “cow’s milk exposure may be an important determinant of subsequent type 1 diabetes” in childhood? Indeed. After putting two and two together, an idea was put forward in 2006: Could mycobacterium paratuberculosis from cattle be a trigger for type 1 diabetes? The idea was compelling enough for researchers put it to the test.
They attempted to test the association of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), the full name for the bug, with type 1 diabetes by testing diabetics for the presence of the bacteria in their blood. Lo and behold, most of the diabetic patients tested positive for the bug, compared to only a minority of the healthy control subjects. This evidence of MAP bacteria in the blood of patients with type 1 diabetes “might provide an important foundation in establishing an infectious etiology,” or cause, for type 1 diabetes. “These results also might possibly have implications for countries that have the greatest livestock populations and high incidence of MAP concurrent with the highest numbers of patients with” diabetes, like the United States.
Johne’s is the name of the disease when farm animals get infected by MAP. The reason diabetes researchers chose to look at Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy, is because paratuberculosis is present in more than 50 percent of Sardinian herds. Surpassing that, though, is the U.S. dairy herd. According to a recent national survey, 68 percent of the U.S. dairy herd are infected with MAP, especially those cattle at big, industrial dairies, as you can see at 3:33 in my video. Ninety-five percent of operations with more than 500 cows came up positive. It’s estimated the disease costs the U.S. industry more than a billion dollars a year.
How do people become exposed? “The most important routes of access of MAP to the [human] food chain appear to be contaminated milk, milk products and meat” from infected cattle, sheep, and goats. MAP or MAP DNA has been detected in raw milk, pasteurized milk, infant formula, cheese, ice cream, muscle and organ tissues, and retail meat. We know paraTB bacteria survive pasteurization because Wisconsin researchers bought hundreds of pints of retail milk off store shelves from three of the top U.S. milk-producing states and tested for the presence of viable, meaning living, MAP bacteria. They found that 2.8 percent of the retail milk tested came back positive for live paraTB bacteria, with most brands yielding at least one positive sample. If paraTB does end up being a diabetes trigger, then “these findings indicate that retail milk [in the United States] would need to be considered as a transmission vector.” Why hasn’t the public heard about this research? Perhaps because the industry is not too keen on sharing it. Indeed, according to an article in the Journal of Dairy Science: “Fear of consumer reaction…can impede rational, open discussion of scientific studies.”
Not only is MAP a serious problem for the global livestock industry, but it also may trigger type 1 diabetes, given that paraTB bacteria have been found in the bloodstream of the majority of type 1 diabetics tested who presumably are exposed through the retail milk supply as the bacteria can survive pasteurization. But what about the meat supply? MAP has been found in beef, pork, and chicken. It’s an intestinal bug, and unfortunately, “[f]aecal contamination of the carcass in the abattoir [slaughter plant] is unavoidable…” Then, unless the meat is cooked well-done, it could harbor living MAP.
In terms of meat, “ground beef represents the greatest potential risk for harboring MAP…[as] a significant proportion originates from culled dairy cattle,” who may be culled because they have paratuberculosis. These animals may go straight into the human food chain. There also exists greater prevalence of fecal contamination and lymph nodes in ground meat, and the grinding can force the bacteria deep inside the ground beef burger. As such, “given the weight of evidence and the severity and magnitude of potential human health problems, the precautionary principle suggests that it is time to take actions to limit…human exposure to MAP.” At the very least, we should stop funneling animals known to be infected into the human food supply.
We know that milk exposure is associated with type 1 diabetes, but what about meat? As I discuss in my video Meat Consumption and the Development of Types 1 Diabetes, researchers attempted to tease out the nutritional factors that could help account for the 350-fold variation in type 1 diabetes rates around the world. Why do some parts of the world have rates hundreds of times higher than others? Yes, the more dairy populations ate, the higher their rates of childhood type 1 diabetes, but the same was found for meat, as you can see at 2:07 in my video. This gave “credibility to the speculation that the increasing dietary supply of animal protein after World War II may have contributed to the reported increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes…” Additionally, there was a negative correlation—that is, a protective correlation that you can see at 2:26 in my video—between the intake of grains and type 1 diabetes, which “may fit within the more general context of a lower prevalence of chronic diseases” among those eating more plant-based diets.
What’s more, the increase in meat consumption over time appeared to parallel the increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes. Now, we always need to be cautious about the interpretation of country-by-country comparisons. Just because a country eats a particular way doesn’t mean the individuals who get the disease ate that way. For example, a similar study looking specifically at the diets of children and adolescents between different countries “support[ed] previous research about the importance of cow’s milk and [other] animal products” in causing type 1 diabetes. But, the researchers also found that in countries where they tended to eat the most sugar, kids tended to have lower rates of the disease, as you can see at 3:18 in my video. This finding didn’t reach statistical significance since there were so few countries examined in the study, but, even if it had and even if there were other studies to back it up, there are countless factors that could be going on. Maybe in countries where people ate the least sugar, they also ate the most high fructose corn syrup or something. That’s why you always need to put it to the test. When the diets of people who actually got the disease were analyzed, increased risk of type 1 diabetes was associated with milk, sugar, bread, soda, eggs, and meat consumption.
In Sardinia, where the original link was made between paraTB and type 1 diabetes, a highly “statistically significant dose-response relationship” was found, meaning more meat meant more risk, especially during the first two years of children’s lives. So, “[h]igh meat consumption seems to be an important early in life cofactor for type 1 diabetes development,” although we needed more data.
The latest such study, which followed thousands of mother-child pairs, found that mothers eating meat during breastfeeding was associated with an increased risk of both preclinical and full-blown, clinical type 1 diabetes by the time their children reached age eight. The researchers thought it might be the glycotoxins, the AGEs found in cooked meat, which can be transferred from mother to child through breastfeeding, but they have learned that paratuberculosis bacteria can also be transferred through human breast milk. These bacteria have even been grown from the breast milk of women with Crohn’s disease, another autoimmune disease linked to paraTB bacteria exposure.
For a deeper discussion of other possibilities as to why cow’s milk consumption is linked to this autoimmune destruction of insulin production, see Does Casein in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes? and Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?.
If we don’t drink milk, though, what about our bone health? See my videos Long-Term Vegan Bone Health and Is Milk Good for Our Bones?.
The vast majority of cases of diabetes in the United States are type 2, though. Ironically, meat may also play a role there. See my videos Why Is Meat a Risk Factor for Diabetes? and How May Plants Protect Against Diabetes? for more information.
For more on the links between milk and diabetes, see my videos Does Casein in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes? and Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Diabetes?. What about treating and preventing diabetes through diet? Check out How Not to Die from Diabetes and How to Prevent Prediabetes from Turning Into Diabetes.
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-04-02--How to Treat Endometriosis with Diet

How to Treat Endometriosis with Diet

“ Endometriosis is a major cause of disability and compromised quality of life in women and teenage girls.
” It “ is a chronic disease which is under-diagnosed , under-reported , and under-researched… [ and for patients , it ] can be a nightmare of misinformation , myths , taboos , lack of diagnosis , and problematic hit-and-miss treatments overlaid by a painful , chronic , stubborn disease.
” Pain is what best characterizes the disease : pain , painful intercourse , heavy irregular periods , and infertility .
About one in a dozen young women suffer from endometriosis , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases of pelvic pain and infertility .
It ’ s caused by what ’ s called “ retrograde menstruation ” —blood , instead of going down , goes up into the abdominal cavity , where tissue of the uterine lining can implant onto other organs .
The lesions can be removed surgically , but the recurrence rate within five years is as high as 50 percent .
Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease , so might the anti-estrogenic effects of the phytoestrogens in flaxseeds and soy foods help , as they appear to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t find studies on flax and endometriosis , but soy food consumption may indeed reduce the risk of that disease .
What about treating endometriosis with soy ?
While I couldn ’ t find any studies on that , there is another food associated with decreased breast cancer risk : seaweed .
Seaweeds have special types of fiber and phytonutrients not found in land plants , so in order to get these unique components , we would need to incorporate sea vegetables into our diet .
Seaweeds , may have anti-cancer properties , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among the lowest rates of breast , endometrial , and ovarian cancers , as well as longer menstrual cycles and lower estrogen levels circulating in their blood , which may help account for their low risk of estrogen-dependent cancers .
We assumed this was due to their soy-rich diets , but their high intake of seaweed might also be helping .
When seaweed broth was dripped on human ovary cells that make estrogen , estrogen levels dropped .
Why ?
It either inhibits production or facilitates breakdown of estrogen .
It may even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the estrogen that is produced .
This is in a petri dish , though .
Does it happen in women , too ?
Yes .
Researchers estimated that an effective estrogen-lowering dose of seaweed for an average American woman might be around five grams a day , but , apparently , no one has tried testing it on cancer patients yet .
However , it has been tried on endometriosis , as I discuss in my video How to Treat Endometriosis with Seaweed .
Three women with abnormal menstrual cycles , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a tiny amount of dried , powdered bladderwrack , a common seaweed , to their daily diet .
This effectively lengthened their cycles and reduced the duration of their periods—and not just by a little .
As you can see at 3:14 in my video , subject 1 had a 30-year history of irregular periods , averaging every 16 days .
Taking just a quarter-teaspoon of this seaweed powder a day added 10 days onto her cycle , up to 26 days , and adding a daily half-teaspoon increased her cycle to 31 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Furthermore , as you can see at 3:38 in my video , all three women experienced marked reductions in blood flow and a decreased duration of menstruation .
For 30 years , subject 1 had been having her period every 16 days , and it typically lasted 9 days .
Can you imagine ?
Then , by just taking a daily half-teaspoon of seaweed , her period came just once a month and only lasted about four days .
Most importantly , in the two women suffering from endometriosis , they reported “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How is that possible ?
There was a 75 percent drop in estrogen levels after just a quarter-teaspoon of seaweed powder a day and an 85 percent drop after a half-teaspoon .
Of course , with just a few women and no control group in that study , we need bigger , better studies .
But , that study was published more than a decade ago and not a single such study has been published since .
Millions of women are suffering with these conditions .
Does the research world just not care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is : who ’ s going to fund the work ?
Less than a teaspoon of seaweed costs less than five cents , so a larger study may never be done .
But , without any downsides , I suggest endometriosis sufferers give it a try .
For more on endometriosis , see my video What Diet Best Lowers Phthalate Exposure ?
, and , to learn about the anti-estrogenic effects of the phytoestrogens in flaxseeds on breast cancer , see Flaxseeds and Breast Cancer Survival : Clinical Evidence .
Interested in more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Which Seaweed Is Most Protective Against Breast Cancer ?
• Cancer Risk from Arsenic in Rice and Seaweed • How to Boost Your Immune System with Wakame Seaweed I recommend staying away from kelp and hijiki , though .
Why ?
See Too Much Iodine Can Be as Bad as Too Little .
Learn more about other natural remedies for menstrual problems : PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2016 : How Not To Die : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers • 2015 : Food as Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

“Endometriosis is a major cause of disability and compromised quality of life in women and teenage girls.” It “is a chronic disease which is under-diagnosed, under-reported, and under-researched…[and for patients, it] can be a nightmare of misinformation, myths, taboos, lack of diagnosis, and problematic hit-and-miss treatments overlaid by a painful, chronic, stubborn disease.”
Pain is what best characterizes the disease: pain, painful intercourse, heavy irregular periods, and infertility. About one in a dozen young women suffer from endometriosis, and it accounts for about half the cases of pelvic pain and infertility. It’s caused by what’s called “retrograde menstruation”—blood, instead of going down, goes up into the abdominal cavity, where tissue of the uterine lining can implant onto other organs. The lesions can be removed surgically, but the recurrence rate within five years is as high as 50 percent.
Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease, so might the anti-estrogenic effects of the phytoestrogens in flaxseeds and soy foods help, as they appear to do in breast cancer? I couldn’t find studies on flax and endometriosis, but soy food consumption may indeed reduce the risk of that disease. What about treating endometriosis with soy? While I couldn’t find any studies on that, there is another food associated with decreased breast cancer risk: seaweed.
Seaweeds have special types of fiber and phytonutrients not found in land plants, so in order to get these unique components, we would need to incorporate sea vegetables into our diet. Seaweeds, may have anti-cancer properties, including anti-estrogen effects. Japanese women have among the lowest rates of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers, as well as longer menstrual cycles and lower estrogen levels circulating in their blood, which may help account for their low risk of estrogen-dependent cancers. We assumed this was due to their soy-rich diets, but their high intake of seaweed might also be helping.
When seaweed broth was dripped on human ovary cells that make estrogen, estrogen levels dropped. Why? It either inhibits production or facilitates breakdown of estrogen. It may even block estrogen receptors, lowering the activity of the estrogen that is produced. This is in a petri dish, though. Does it happen in women, too? Yes.
Researchers estimated that an effective estrogen-lowering dose of seaweed for an average American woman might be around five grams a day, but, apparently, no one has tried testing it on cancer patients yet. However, it has been tried on endometriosis, as I discuss in my video How to Treat Endometriosis with Seaweed.
Three women with abnormal menstrual cycles, including two with endometriosis, volunteered to add a tiny amount of dried, powdered bladderwrack, a common seaweed, to their daily diet. This effectively lengthened their cycles and reduced the duration of their periods—and not just by a little. As you can see at 3:14 in my video, subject 1 had a 30-year history of irregular periods, averaging every 16 days. Taking just a quarter-teaspoon of this seaweed powder a day added 10 days onto her cycle, up to 26 days, and adding a daily half-teaspoon increased her cycle to 31 days, nearly doubling its length. Furthermore, as you can see at 3:38 in my video, all three women experienced marked reductions in blood flow and a decreased duration of menstruation. For 30 years, subject 1 had been having her period every 16 days, and it typically lasted 9 days. Can you imagine? Then, by just taking a daily half-teaspoon of seaweed, her period came just once a month and only lasted about four days. Most importantly, in the two women suffering from endometriosis, they reported “substantial alleviation” of their pain. How is that possible? There was a 75 percent drop in estrogen levels after just a quarter-teaspoon of seaweed powder a day and an 85 percent drop after a half-teaspoon.
Of course, with just a few women and no control group in that study, we need bigger, better studies. But, that study was published more than a decade ago and not a single such study has been published since. Millions of women are suffering with these conditions. Does the research world just not care about women? The more pointed question is: who’s going to fund the work? Less than a teaspoon of seaweed costs less than five cents, so a larger study may never be done. But, without any downsides, I suggest endometriosis sufferers give it a try.
For more on endometriosis, see my video What Diet Best Lowers Phthalate Exposure?, and, to learn about the anti-estrogenic effects of the phytoestrogens in flaxseeds on breast cancer, see Flaxseeds and Breast Cancer Survival: Clinical Evidence.
Interested in more on sea vegetables? See:
I recommend staying away from kelp and hijiki, though. Why? See Too Much Iodine Can Be as Bad as Too Little.
Learn more about other natural remedies for menstrual problems:
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-03-31--What to Eat and Avoid for Women with BRCA Gene Mutations

Five studies have been performed on breast cancer survival and soy foods involving more than 10,000 breast cancer patients , and together they found that those who eat more soy live longer and have a lower risk of the cancer coming back .
What about women who carry breast cancer genes ?
Fewer than 10 percent of breast cancer cases run in families , but when they do , it tends to be mutations to one of the tumor suppressor genes , BRCA1 or BRCA2 .
BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are involved in DNA repair , so if either @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abnormalities can result , which can set us up for cancer .
I examine this in my video Should Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer Avoid Soy ?
.
This idea that we have tumor suppressor genes goes back to famous research from the 1960s that showed that if we fuse together a normal cell with a cancer cell , rather than the cancer cell turning the normal cell malignant , the normal cell actually suppresses the cancerous one .
Tumor suppressor genes are typically split into two types : gatekeeper genes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caretaker genes that prevent the cell from becoming cancerous in the first place .
BRCA genes appear able to do both , which is why their function is so important .
Until recently , dietary recommendations for those with mutations to BRCA genes focused on reducing DNA damage caused by free radicals by eating lots of antioxidant-packed fruits and vegetables .
If our DNA repair capacity is low , we want to be extra careful about damaging our DNA in the first place .
But what if we could also boost BRCA function @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Genes and Soy , I showed how , in vitro , soy phytoestrogens could turn back on BRCA protection suppressed by breast cancer , upregulating BRCA expression as much as 1,000 percent within 48 hours .
Does that translate out of the petri dish and into the person ?
Apparently so .
Soy intake was associated with only a 27 percent breast cancer risk reduction in people with normal BRCA genes , but a 73 percent risk reduction in carriers of BRCA gene mutations .
So , a healthy diet may be particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Meat consumption , for example , was linked to twice as much risk in those with BRCA mutations : 97 percent increased risk instead of only 41 percent increased breast cancer risk in those with normal BRCA genes .
So , the same dietary advice applies to those with and without BRCA mutations , but it ’ s more important when there ’ s more risk .
What about women without breast cancer genes or those who have already been diagnosed ?
See my video Is Soy Healthy for Breast Cancer Survivors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may increase risk ?
See : • Zeranol Use in Meat and Breast Cancer • What Is Really in Hot Dogs ?
• The Role of Burger Viruses in Cancer PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2015 : Food as Medicine : Preventing and Treating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

Five studies have been performed on breast cancer survival and soy foods involving more than 10,000 breast cancer patients, and together they found that those who eat more soy live longer and have a lower risk of the cancer coming back. What about women who carry breast cancer genes? Fewer than 10 percent of breast cancer cases run in families, but when they do, it tends to be mutations to one of the tumor suppressor genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2. BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are involved in DNA repair, so if either one of them is damaged, chromosomal abnormalities can result, which can set us up for cancer. I examine this in my video Should Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer Avoid Soy?.
This idea that we have tumor suppressor genes goes back to famous research from the 1960s that showed that if we fuse together a normal cell with a cancer cell, rather than the cancer cell turning the normal cell malignant, the normal cell actually suppresses the cancerous one. Tumor suppressor genes are typically split into two types: gatekeeper genes that keep cancer cells in check and caretaker genes that prevent the cell from becoming cancerous in the first place. BRCA genes appear able to do both, which is why their function is so important.
Until recently, dietary recommendations for those with mutations to BRCA genes focused on reducing DNA damage caused by free radicals by eating lots of antioxidant-packed fruits and vegetables. If our DNA repair capacity is low, we want to be extra careful about damaging our DNA in the first place. But what if we could also boost BRCA function? In my video BRCA Breast Cancer Genes and Soy, I showed how, in vitro, soy phytoestrogens could turn back on BRCA protection suppressed by breast cancer, upregulating BRCA expression as much as 1,000 percent within 48 hours.
Does that translate out of the petri dish and into the person? Apparently so. Soy intake was associated with only a 27 percent breast cancer risk reduction in people with normal BRCA genes, but a 73 percent risk reduction in carriers of BRCA gene mutations. So, a healthy diet may be particularly important for those at high genetic risk. Meat consumption, for example, was linked to twice as much risk in those with BRCA mutations: 97 percent increased risk instead of only 41 percent increased breast cancer risk in those with normal BRCA genes. So, the same dietary advice applies to those with and without BRCA mutations, but it’s more important when there’s more risk.
What about women without breast cancer genes or those who have already been diagnosed? See my video Is Soy Healthy for Breast Cancer Survivors?.
What is in meat that may increase risk? See:
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-03-26--How Not to Die in a Pandemic Webinar Coming Up

Due to the continuing spread of coronavirus , I ’ m doing a webinar on the subject : How Not to Die in a Pandemic .
This webinar will be April 8 from 2-4pm ET .
For more information and to register , go here .
UPDATE : The webinar is now full ( thank you to the almost 5,000 people who signed up ! )
.
The information will be available on NutritionFacts.org after the webinar .
Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed of upcoming special events .
The videos from my most recent webinar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Risk ?
, are now available for digital download here .
In fact , all of my previous webinars are available : • Cannabis : What Does the Science Say ?
Many of the videos from those webinars are already up on NutritionFacts.org , but if you ’ d like them all in one place , check out the downloads .
Note that these are just the videos from the webinars , and do not include the live Q & As .
My new volume is out today and is available as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it immediately .
As you can see below , the main focus is on the obesity epidemic and the question of whether vegetarians really have higher stroke risk and why .
If these topics look familiar , it is because they were the focus of my recent webinars ( see below for details on my next one ! )
All of these videos will eventually be available for free online over the next few months , but if you don ’ t want to wait , you can watch them all streaming right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a physical DVD .
Here ’ s the full list of chapters from the new volume—a preview of what ’ s to come over the next few months on NutritionFacts.org : 1 .
The Role of Diet vs .
Exercise in the Obesity Epidemic 2 .
The Role of Genes in the Obesity Epidemic 3 .
The Thrifty Gene Theory : Survival of the Fattest 4 .
Cut the Calorie-Rich-And-Processed Foods 5 .
The Role of Processed Foods in the Obesity Epidemic 6 .
The Role of Taxpayer Subsidies in the Obesity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Obesity Epidemic 8 .
The Role of Food Advertisements in the Obesity Epidemic 9 .
The Role of Personal Responsibility in the Obesity Epidemic 10 .
The Role of Corporate Influence in the Obesity Epidemic 11 .
The Role of the Toxic Food Environment in the Obesity Epidemic 12 .
Benefits of Quinoa for Lowering Triglycerides 13 .
Treating High Lp ( a ) : A Risk Factor for Atherosclerosis 14 .
How to Lower Lp ( a ) with Diet 15 .
What to Eat for Stroke Prevention 16 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17 .
Do Vegetarians Really Have Higher Stroke Risk ?
18 .
Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vitamin D ?
19 .
Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Omega 3s ?
20 .
Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vegan Junk Food ?
21 .
Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Saturated Fat ?
22 .
Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Animal Protein ?
23 .
Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vitamin B12 & Homocysteine ?
24 .
How to Test for Functional Vitamin B12 Deficiency 25 .
Should Vegetarians Take Creatine to Normalize Homocysteine ?
26 .
The Efficacy and Safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new DVD at DrGreger.org/collections/dvds or as a video download/streaming at DrGreger.org/collections/downloads .
And remember , if you watch the videos on NutritionFacts.org or YouTube , you can access captions in several different languages .
To find yours , click on the settings wheel on the lower-right of the video and then “ Subtitles/CC.
” If you are a $ 25+ monthly supporter and opted in to our donor rewards , you ’ d already be an expert on these new topics by now , having already received a complimentary link to the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nine weeks .
If you ’ d like to automatically receive them before they ’ re even available to the public , please consider becoming a monthly supporter .
Anyone signing up on the donation page to become a $ 25+ monthly contributor will be given an opportunity to opt in to receive the newest downloads for free as long as their contributions are current .
Given the level of reported community transmission and the prospects of flattening the pandemic curve by preventing unnecessary public gatherings , I ’ m postponing my speaking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the prevalence and spread after sufficient testing is completed .
Please check our speaking tour page for the most up to date information on events .
I ’ ve also been doing tons of interviews – here ’ s a recent one featured in British GQ .

Due to the continuing spread of coronavirus, I’m doing a webinar on the subject: How Not to Die in a Pandemic. This webinar will be April 8 from 2-4pm ET. For more information and to register, go here. UPDATE: The webinar is now full (thank you to the almost 5,000 people who signed up!). The information will be available on NutritionFacts.org after the webinar. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed of upcoming special events.
The videos from my most recent webinar, Why Do Vegetarians Have Higher Stroke Risk?, are now available for digital download here.
In fact, all of my previous webinars are available:
Many of the videos from those webinars are already up on NutritionFacts.org, but if you’d like them all in one place, check out the downloads. Note that these are just the videos from the webinars, and do not include the live Q&As.
New volume covers Lp(a)
My new volume is out today and is available as a streaming video so you can start watching it immediately. As you can see below, the main focus is on the obesity epidemic and the question of whether vegetarians really have higher stroke risk and why. If these topics look familiar, it is because they were the focus of my recent webinars (see below for details on my next one!) All of these videos will eventually be available for free online over the next few months, but if you don’t want to wait, you can watch them all streaming right now.
Here’s the full list of chapters from the new volume—a preview of what’s to come over the next few months on NutritionFacts.org:
1. The Role of Diet vs. Exercise in the Obesity Epidemic
2. The Role of Genes in the Obesity Epidemic
3. The Thrifty Gene Theory: Survival of the Fattest
4. Cut the Calorie-Rich-And-Processed Foods
5. The Role of Processed Foods in the Obesity Epidemic
6. The Role of Taxpayer Subsidies in the Obesity Epidemic
7. The Role of Marketing in the Obesity Epidemic
8. The Role of Food Advertisements in the Obesity Epidemic
9. The Role of Personal Responsibility in the Obesity Epidemic
10. The Role of Corporate Influence in the Obesity Epidemic
11. The Role of the Toxic Food Environment in the Obesity Epidemic
12. Benefits of Quinoa for Lowering Triglycerides
13. Treating High Lp(a): A Risk Factor for Atherosclerosis
14. How to Lower Lp(a) with Diet
15. What to Eat for Stroke Prevention
16. What Not to Eat for Stroke Prevention
17. Do Vegetarians Really Have Higher Stroke Risk?
18. Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vitamin D?
19. Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Omega 3s?
20. Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vegan Junk Food?
21. Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Saturated Fat?
22. Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Animal Protein?
23. Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vitamin B12 & Homocysteine?
24. How to Test for Functional Vitamin B12 Deficiency
25. Should Vegetarians Take Creatine to Normalize Homocysteine?
26. The Efficacy and Safety of Creatine for High Homocysteine
Order my new DVD as a video download/streaming at DrGreger.org/collections/downloads. And remember, if you watch the videos on NutritionFacts.org or YouTube, you can access captions in several different languages. To find yours, click on the settings wheel on the lower-right of the video and then “Subtitles/CC.”
If you are a $25+ monthly supporter and opted in to our donor rewards, you’d already be an expert on these new topics by now, having already received a complimentary link to the new download. New downloads are released every nine weeks. If you’d like to automatically receive them before they’re even available to the public, please consider becoming a monthly supporter.
Anyone signing up on the donation page to become a $25+ monthly contributor will be given an opportunity to opt in to receive the newest downloads for free as long as their contributions are current.
Speaking Tour on Hold
Given the level of reported community transmission and the prospects of flattening the pandemic curve by preventing unnecessary public gatherings, I’m postponing my speaking tour until we have a better handle on the prevalence and spread after sufficient testing is completed. Please check our speaking tour page for the most up to date information on events.
I’ve also been doing tons of interviews – here’s a recent one featured in British GQ.
Are Ancient Grains Healthier?
Ancient wheats like kamut are put to the test for inflammation, blood sugar, and cholesterol control.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-03-24--The Difference Between Alpha and Beta Receptors Explain Soy’s Benefits

“ [ S ] oyfoods have become controversial in recent years…even among health professionals…exacerbated by misinformation found on the Internet.
” Chief among the misconceptions is that soy foods promote breast cancer because they contain a class of phytoestrogen compounds called isoflavones , as I explore in my video , Is Soy Healthy for Breast Cancer Survivors ?
Since estrogens can promote breast cancer growth , it is natural to assume that phytoestrogens might , too , but most people do not realize there are two different types of estrogen receptors in the body , alpha and beta .
Unlike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bind to and activate ERβ , ” estrogen receptor beta .
“ This distinction is important because the [ two types of receptors ] have different tissue distributions within the body and often function differently , and sometimes in opposite ways .
This appears to be the case in the breast , ” where beta activation has an anti-estrogenic effect , inhibiting the growth-promoting effects of actual estrogen—something we ’ ve known for more than ten years .
The effects of estradiol , the primary human estrogen , on breast cells are “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phytoestrogens , which have “ antiproliferative effects on breast cancer cells…even at [ the ] low concentrations ” we get in our bloodstream after eating just a few servings of soy .
This makes sense , given that after eating a cup of soybeans , the levels in our blood cause significant beta receptor activation , as you can see at 1:27 in my video .
Where did this outdated notion that soy could increase breast cancer risk come from ?
The concern was based largely on research that showed that the main @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growth of mammary tumors in a type of mouse—but , it turns out , we ’ re not mice .
We metabolize soy isoflavones very differently from rodents .
As you can see at 2:00 in my video , the same soy phytoestrogens led to 20 to 150 times higher levels in the bloodstream of rodents .
The breast cancer mouse in question had 58 times higher levels .
What does this mean for us ?
If we ate 58 cups of soybeans a day , we could get some significant alpha activation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re not hairless athymic ovariectomized mice and we don ’ t tend to eat 58 cups of soybeans a day .
At just a few servings of soy a day , with the excess beta activation , we would assume soy would actively help prevent breast cancer .
And , indeed , “ [ s ] oy intake during childhood , adolescence , and adult life were each associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer.
” Those women who ate the most soy in their youth appeared to grow up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This may help explain why breast cancer rates are so much higher in the United States than in Asia , where soy foods are more commonly consumed .
Yet , when Asians come to the United States and start eating and living like Americans , their breast cancer risk shoots right up .
Women in their 50s living in Connecticut , for example , are way at the top of the breast cancer risk heap , as you can see at 3:00 in my video , and have approximately ten times more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living in Japan .
It isn ’ t genetic , however .
When Japanese women move to the United States , their breast cancer rates go up generation after generation as they assimilate into American culture .
Are the anti-estrogenic effects of soy foods enough to actually change the course of the disease ?
We didn ’ t know until the first human study on soy food intake and breast cancer survival was published in 2009 in the Journal of the American Medical Association , suggesting that “ [ a ] mong women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was significantly associated with decreased risk of death and [ breast cancer ] recurrence.
” That study was followed by another study , and then another , each with similar findings .
That was enough for the American Cancer Society , which brought together a wide range of cancer experts to offer nutrition guidelines for cancer survivors , concluding that , if anything , soy foods should be beneficial .
Since then , two additional studies have been published for a total of five—five out of five studies that tracked more than 10,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same direction .
Pooling all of the results , soy food intake after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with both reduced mortality and reduced recurrence—that is , a longer lifespan and less likelihood that the cancer comes back .
This improved survival was for women with estrogen receptor negative tumors and estrogen receptor positive tumors , and for both younger women and for older women .
Flaxseeds are protective for likely the same reasons .
For more on this , see my videos Flaxseeds and Breast Cancer Survival : Epidemiological Evidence and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Evidence .
What about women who carry breast cancer genes ?
I touched on that in BRCA Breast Cancer Genes and Soy and Should Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer Avoid Soy ?
.
What about genetically modified soy ?
See GMO Soy and Breast Cancer .
Who Shouldn ’ t Eat Soy ?
An excellent question I answer in that video .
For even more information on soy , see : • The Role of Soy Foods in Prostate Cancer Prevention and Treatment Not all phytoestrogens may be protective , though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Beer and What Are the Effects of the Hops Phytoestrogen in Beer ?
.
PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2015 : Food as Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2016 : How Not To Die : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

“[S]oyfoods have become controversial in recent years…even among health professionals…exacerbated by misinformation found on the Internet.” Chief among the misconceptions is that soy foods promote breast cancer because they contain a class of phytoestrogen compounds called isoflavones, as I explore in my video, Is Soy Healthy for Breast Cancer Survivors? Since estrogens can promote breast cancer growth, it is natural to assume that phytoestrogens might, too, but most people do not realize there are two different types of estrogen receptors in the body, alpha and beta. Unlike actual estrogen, soy phytoestrogens “preferentially bind to and activate ERβ,” estrogen receptor beta. “This distinction is important because the [two types of receptors] have different tissue distributions within the body and often function differently, and sometimes in opposite ways. This appears to be the case in the breast,” where beta activation has an anti-estrogenic effect, inhibiting the growth-promoting effects of actual estrogen—something we’ve known for more than ten years.
The effects of estradiol, the primary human estrogen, on breast cells are “completely opposite” to those of soy phytoestrogens, which have “antiproliferative effects on breast cancer cells…even at [the] low concentrations” we get in our bloodstream after eating just a few servings of soy. This makes sense, given that after eating a cup of soybeans, the levels in our blood cause significant beta receptor activation, as you can see at 1:27 in my video.
Where did this outdated notion that soy could increase breast cancer risk come from? The concern was based largely on research that showed that the main soy phytoestrogen, genistein, stimulates the growth of mammary tumors in a type of mouse—but, it turns out, we’re not mice. We metabolize soy isoflavones very differently from rodents. As you can see at 2:00 in my video, the same soy phytoestrogens led to 20 to 150 times higher levels in the bloodstream of rodents. The breast cancer mouse in question had 58 times higher levels. What does this mean for us? If we ate 58 cups of soybeans a day, we could get some significant alpha activation, too, but, thankfully, we’re not hairless athymic ovariectomized mice and we don’t tend to eat 58 cups of soybeans a day.
At just a few servings of soy a day, with the excess beta activation, we would assume soy would actively help prevent breast cancer. And, indeed, “[s]oy intake during childhood, adolescence, and adult life were each associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer.” Those women who ate the most soy in their youth appeared to grow up to have less than half the risk. This may help explain why breast cancer rates are so much higher in the United States than in Asia, where soy foods are more commonly consumed. Yet, when Asians come to the United States and start eating and living like Americans, their breast cancer risk shoots right up. Women in their 50s living in Connecticut, for example, are way at the top of the breast cancer risk heap, as you can see at 3:00 in my video, and have approximately ten times more breast cancer than women in their 50s living in Japan. It isn’t genetic, however. When Japanese women move to the United States, their breast cancer rates go up generation after generation as they assimilate into American culture.
Are the anti-estrogenic effects of soy foods enough to actually change the course of the disease? We didn’t know until the first human study on soy food intake and breast cancer survival was published in 2009 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggesting that “[a]mong women with breast cancer, soy food consumption was significantly associated with decreased risk of death and [breast cancer] recurrence.” That study was followed by another study, and then another, each with similar findings. That was enough for the American Cancer Society, which brought together a wide range of cancer experts to offer nutrition guidelines for cancer survivors, concluding that, if anything, soy foods should be beneficial. Since then, two additional studies have been published for a total of five—five out of five studies that tracked more than 10,000 breast cancer patients—and they all point in the same direction.
Pooling all of the results, soy food intake after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with both reduced mortality and reduced recurrence—that is, a longer lifespan and less likelihood that the cancer comes back. This improved survival was for women with estrogen receptor negative tumors and estrogen receptor positive tumors, and for both younger women and for older women.
Pass the edamame.
Flaxseeds are protective for likely the same reasons. For more on this, see my videos Flaxseeds and Breast Cancer Survival: Epidemiological Evidence and Flaxseeds and Breast Cancer Survival: Clinical Evidence.
What about women who carry breast cancer genes? I touched on that in BRCA Breast Cancer Genes and Soy and Should Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer Avoid Soy?.
What about genetically modified soy? See GMO Soy and Breast Cancer.
Who Shouldn’t Eat Soy? An excellent question I answer in that video.
For even more information on soy, see:
Not all phytoestrogens may be protective, though. See The Most Potent Phytoestrogen Is in Beer and What Are the Effects of the Hops Phytoestrogen in Beer?.
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-03-19--Benefits of Turmeric Curcumin for Uveitis and Eye Cancer

In 1989 , ophthalmologists in India found that eyedrops made from the spice turmeric ( known as haridra in India ) seemed to work just as well as antibiotic eyedrops in the treatment of conjunctivitis , or pink eye .
So , researchers decided to give turmeric a try against more serious inflammatory eye diseases like uveitis , which blinds tens of thousands of Americans every year .
Uveitis is often an autoimmune or infectious inflammation of the central structures in the eye .
Steroids , given to knock down people ’ s immune systems , are the standard treatment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of side effects .
Researchers tried giving uveitis sufferers oral supplements of curcumin , the yellow pigment in turmeric thought to be responsible in part for the spice ’ s anti-inflammatory effects .
Eighteen patients were given curcumin alone , and every one improved , showing “ efficacy…comparable to corticosteroid therapy , ” but without any side effects .
A larger , follow-up study was similarly encouraging .
A total of 106 patients who had had a uveitis relapse in the year before starting curcumin were followed for a year .
As you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in my video , Benefits of Turmeric Curcumin for Inflammatory Orbital Pseudotumor , only 19 had relapses in the year after starting curcumin .
Altogether , the 106 patients had had multiple relapses—a total of 275 times—in the year before starting curcumin , but , in the year on curcumin , they had only 36 relapses .
If turmeric curcumin works for mild eye inflammation and serious eye inflammation , what about really serious eye inflammation , like idiopathic inflammatory orbital pseudotumours .
Let ’ s break that down : “ Idiopathic ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it—from the Greek idios , as in idiot .
“ Orbital ” refers to the bony cavity that houses our eyeball , and “ pseudotumor , ” as in not really a tumor .
A lot has changed since the study was published in 2000 .
“ [ I ] nflammatory orbital pseudotumour is now generally attributed to low-grade non-Hodgkin ’ s lymphoma , ” so it does appear to be a form of cancer .
Well , what can curcumin do about it ?
The researchers decided to look at curcumin because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radiation , and chemotherapy .
In fact , all of the patients in the study were initially put on steroids but had to stop them because they either did not work or they had to be withdrawn because of complications .
The researchers didn ’ t want to use radiation because they didn ’ t want to blind anyone .
But they had to do something .
All of the patients had so much swelling that they couldn ’ t move their eye as they normally would .
If only there were some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Four out of the five patients who completed the study with curcumin therapy had a full response , defined as complete recovery with no residual signs or symptoms .
In fact , complete regression of the eye dislocation and swelling occurred in all five out of five patients , but one patient continued to suffer some residual effects .
Mind-blowing , don ’ t you think ?
For more on what turmeric can do , see : • Back to Our Roots : Curry and Cancer • Striking with the Root : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t Consume Curcumin or Turmeric ?
Learn the answer to this excellent question by watching my video .
Is the whole spice or curcumin extract better ?
See Turmeric Curcumin : Plants vs .
Pills and Boosting the Bioavailability of Curcumin .
PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

In 1989, ophthalmologists in India found that eyedrops made from the spice turmeric (known as haridra in India) seemed to work just as well as antibiotic eyedrops in the treatment of conjunctivitis, or pink eye. So, researchers decided to give turmeric a try against more serious inflammatory eye diseases like uveitis, which blinds tens of thousands of Americans every year. Uveitis is often an autoimmune or infectious inflammation of the central structures in the eye. Steroids, given to knock down people’s immune systems, are the standard treatment, but they also carry a slew of side effects.
Researchers tried giving uveitis sufferers oral supplements of curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric thought to be responsible in part for the spice’s anti-inflammatory effects. Eighteen patients were given curcumin alone, and every one improved, showing “efficacy…comparable to corticosteroid therapy,” but without any side effects.
A larger, follow-up study was similarly encouraging. A total of 106 patients who had had a uveitis relapse in the year before starting curcumin were followed for a year. As you can see at 1:10 in my video in my video, Benefits of Turmeric Curcumin for Inflammatory Orbital Pseudotumor, only 19 had relapses in the year after starting curcumin. Altogether, the 106 patients had had multiple relapses—a total of 275 times—in the year before starting curcumin, but, in the year on curcumin, they had only 36 relapses.
If turmeric curcumin works for mild eye inflammation and serious eye inflammation, what about really serious eye inflammation, like idiopathic inflammatory orbital pseudotumours. Let’s break that down: “Idiopathic” means doctors have no idea what causes it—from the Greek idios, as in idiot. “Orbital” refers to the bony cavity that houses our eyeball, and “pseudotumor,” as in not really a tumor. A lot has changed since the study was published in 2000. “[I]nflammatory orbital pseudotumour is now generally attributed to low-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” so it does appear to be a form of cancer. Well, what can curcumin do about it?
The researchers decided to look at curcumin because the available treatments are so toxic—steroids, radiation, and chemotherapy. In fact, all of the patients in the study were initially put on steroids but had to stop them because they either did not work or they had to be withdrawn because of complications. The researchers didn’t want to use radiation because they didn’t want to blind anyone. But they had to do something. All of the patients had so much swelling that they couldn’t move their eye as they normally would. If only there were some cheap, simple, and safe solution.
Four out of the five patients who completed the study with curcumin therapy had a full response, defined as complete recovery with no residual signs or symptoms. In fact, complete regression of the eye dislocation and swelling occurred in all five out of five patients, but one patient continued to suffer some residual effects.
Mind-blowing, don’t you think? For more on what turmeric can do, see:
Who Shouldn’t Consume Curcumin or Turmeric? Learn the answer to this excellent question by watching my video.
Is the whole spice or curcumin extract better? See Turmeric Curcumin: Plants vs. Pills and Boosting the Bioavailability of Curcumin.
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-03-17--What’s the Best Ferritin Level to Lower Cancer Risk?

If cancer is indeed a so-called ferrotoxic disease , a consequence , in part , of iron toxicity , that would explain not only the dramatic drop in cancer rates after blood donations , but also why people with higher levels of iron in their blood have an increased risk of dying from cancer , why women who bleed into their ovaries are at high risk for ovarian cancer , and why those suffering from hemochromatosis ( an iron overload disease ) have up to 200 times the risk of cancer .
There has even been a call to go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chemotherapy trials that kept taking blood from the chemo group to check for side effects .
Perhaps just the iron removal from the blood draws accounted for some of the apparent chemo benefits .
Iron may be a double-edged sword , as I explore in my video Donating Blood to Prevent Cancer ?
.
Iron deficiency causes anemia , whereas excessive iron may increase cancer risk , presumably by acting as a pro-oxidant and generating free radicals .
Iron-deficiency anemia is a serious problem in the developing world .
“ In meat-eating countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more of a problem than iron deficiency…Body iron stores accumulate insidiously with ageing due to the fact that intake exceeds loss , ” and our body has no good way of getting rid of excess iron .
Ferritin is a blood test measure of our backup iron stores .
As you can see at 1:31 in my video , the normal range is about 12 to 200 ng/mL—but just because it ’ s normal doesn ’ t mean it ’ s ideal .
In the blood donor study discussed earlier , those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ng/mL .
The average for men may be over a hundred .
This suggests that so-called normal , “ ambient levels of iron stores may be noxious and constitute a ‘ public ’ problem that affects large segments of the population.
” As such , “ [ t ] here may be a need to redefine the normal range…based on associated disease risk ” rather than following a bell curve .
“ Thus , iron deficiency may exist when ferritin levels decline to less than about 12 ng/mL , whereas ferrotoxic disease may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ng/mL.
” Harvard recently looked at blood donations and colorectal cancer , and found no connection , but the range of ferritin levels the researchers looking at was roughly 100 to less than 200 ng/mL , as you can see at 2:28 in my video .
What ’ s more , those were from individuals who reported giving blood 30 or more times .
So , perhaps instead of draining our blood to reduce excess iron stores , why not prevent the iron overload in the first place ?
If we measure the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from heme iron and , instead , get all of their iron from plants , their iron levels are right around where the cancer-free donor group came in , as you can see at 2:54 in my video .
This may help explain why those eating plant-based diets tend to have less cancer and other diseases associated with iron overload .
Indeed , they may also have less pre-diabetes , as well as have less diabetes .
For more on the blood donor study I discussed , see Donating Blood to Prevent Heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and iron levels , see The Safety of Heme vs. Non-Heme Iron and Risk Associated with Iron Supplements .
Interested in other examples of normal lab values not being necessarily ideal ?
Check out : • How Not to Die from High Blood Pressure Even though a plant-based diet may be preferable for personal disease risk , that doesn ’ t mean we shouldn ’ t all give blood .
Join me in supporting the Red Cross .
PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • 2012 : Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death • 2013 : More Than an Apple a Day • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2015 : Food as Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

If cancer is indeed a so-called ferrotoxic disease, a consequence, in part, of iron toxicity, that would explain not only the dramatic drop in cancer rates after blood donations, but also why people with higher levels of iron in their blood have an increased risk of dying from cancer, why women who bleed into their ovaries are at high risk for ovarian cancer, and why those suffering from hemochromatosis (an iron overload disease) have up to 200 times the risk of cancer. There has even been a call to go back and look at some of the chemotherapy trials that kept taking blood from the chemo group to check for side effects. Perhaps just the iron removal from the blood draws accounted for some of the apparent chemo benefits.
Iron may be a double-edged sword, as I explore in my video Donating Blood to Prevent Cancer?. Iron deficiency causes anemia, whereas excessive iron may increase cancer risk, presumably by acting as a pro-oxidant and generating free radicals. Iron-deficiency anemia is a serious problem in the developing world. “In meat-eating countries, however, iron excess may be more of a problem than iron deficiency…Body iron stores accumulate insidiously with ageing due to the fact that intake exceeds loss,” and our body has no good way of getting rid of excess iron.
Ferritin is a blood test measure of our backup iron stores. As you can see at 1:31 in my video, the normal range is about 12 to 200 ng/mL—but just because it’s normal doesn’t mean it’s ideal. In the blood donor study discussed earlier, those who developed cancer had ferritin levels around 127.1 ng/mL. The average for men may be over a hundred.
This suggests that so-called normal, “ambient levels of iron stores may be noxious and constitute a ‘public’ problem that affects large segments of the population.” As such, “[t]here may be a need to redefine the normal range…based on associated disease risk” rather than following a bell curve. “Thus, iron deficiency may exist when ferritin levels decline to less than about 12 ng/mL, whereas ferrotoxic disease may occur with levels greater than about 50 ng/mL.”
Harvard recently looked at blood donations and colorectal cancer, and found no connection, but the range of ferritin levels the researchers looking at was roughly 100 to less than 200 ng/mL, as you can see at 2:28 in my video. What’s more, those were from individuals who reported giving blood 30 or more times. So, perhaps instead of draining our blood to reduce excess iron stores, why not prevent the iron overload in the first place? If we measure the iron stores of men who stay away from heme iron and, instead, get all of their iron from plants, their iron levels are right around where the cancer-free donor group came in, as you can see at 2:54 in my video. This may help explain why those eating plant-based diets tend to have less cancer and other diseases associated with iron overload. Indeed, they may also have less pre-diabetes, as well as have less diabetes.
For more on the blood donor study I discussed, see Donating Blood to Prevent Heart Disease?.
For more on diet and iron levels, see The Safety of Heme vs. Non-Heme Iron and Risk Associated with Iron Supplements.
Interested in other examples of normal lab values not being necessarily ideal? Check out:
Even though a plant-based diet may be preferable for personal disease risk, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all give blood. Join me in supporting the Red Cross.
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.


nutritionfactsorg--2020-03-12--Lowering Your Cancer Risk by Donating Blood

Back in the early 1980s , a pathologist in Florida suggested that the reason premenopausal women are protected from heart disease is that they have lower stores of iron in their body .
Since oxidized cholesterol is “ important in atherosclerosis , and oxidation is catalyzed by iron , ” might the lower iron stores of menstruating women reduce their risk of coronary heart disease ?
“ The novel insight suggesting that the longevity enjoyed by women over men might relate to the monthly loss…of blood is remarkable , ” but is it true ?
I discuss this in my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
.
The consumption of heme iron—the iron found in blood and muscle—is associated with increased risk of heart disease .
Indeed , “ an increase in heme iron intake of 1 mg/day appeared to be significantly associated with a 27 % increase in risk of CHD , ” coronary heart disease .
But , heme iron is found mainly in meat , so “ it is possible that some constituents other than heme iron in meat such as saturated fat and cholesterol are responsible ” for the apparent link between heme iron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could find a way to get men to menstruate , then we could put the theory to the test .
What about blood donations ?
Why just lose a little blood every month when you can donate a whole unit at a time ?
A study in Nebraska suggested that blood donors were at “ reduced risk of cardiovascular events , ” but another study in Boston failed to show any connection .
To definitively resolve the question , we would really have to put it to the test : Take people at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bleed half of them , and then follow them over time and see who gets more heart attacks .
Maybe it could turn “ bloodletting ” from the past into “ bleeding-edge technology.
” In fact , that was actually what was suggested in the original paper as a way to test this idea : “ The depletion of iron stores by regular phlebotomy could be the experimental system for testing this hypothesis… ” It took 20 years , but researchers finally did it .
Why did it take so long ?
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these days .
I suppose the leech lobby just isn ’ t as powerful as it used to be .
What did the researchers find ?
It didn ’ t work .
The blood donors ended up having the same number of heart attacks as the non-donor group .
Something extraordinary did happen , however : The cancer rates dropped .
There was a 37 percent reduction in overall cancer incidence , and those who developed cancer had a significantly reduced risk of death .
An editorial in the Journal of the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying the “ results almost seem to be too good to be true.
” “ Strikingly , ” they started to see cancer reduction benefits within six months , after giving blood just once .
As the study progressed , the cancer death rates started to diverge within just six months , as you can see at 2:46 in my video , but this is consistent with the spike in cancer rates we see within only six months of getting a blood transfusion .
Is it possible that influx of iron accelerated the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this wild story in my video Donating Blood to Prevent Cancer ?
.
What if you feel faint when you give blood ?
Don ’ t worry .
I ’ ve got you covered .
Check out How to Prevent Fainting .
What might iron have to do with disease ?
See The Safety of Heme vs. Non-Heme Iron and Risk Associated with Iron Supplements .
PS : If you haven ’ t yet , you can subscribe to my free videos and watch my live presentations : • 2012 : Uprooting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More Than an Apple a Day • 2014 : From Table to Able : Combating Disabling Diseases with Food • 2015 : Food as Medicine : Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet • 2016 : How Not To Die : The Role of Diet in Preventing , Arresting , and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

Back in the early 1980s, a pathologist in Florida suggested that the reason premenopausal women are protected from heart disease is that they have lower stores of iron in their body. Since oxidized cholesterol is “important in atherosclerosis, and oxidation is catalyzed by iron,” might the lower iron stores of menstruating women reduce their risk of coronary heart disease? “The novel insight suggesting that the longevity enjoyed by women over men might relate to the monthly loss…of blood is remarkable,” but is it true? I discuss this in my video Donating Blood to Prevent Heart Disease?.
The consumption of heme iron—the iron found in blood and muscle—is associated with increased risk of heart disease. Indeed, “an increase in heme iron intake of 1 mg/day appeared to be significantly associated with a 27% increase in risk of CHD,” coronary heart disease. But, heme iron is found mainly in meat, so “it is possible that some constituents other than heme iron in meat such as saturated fat and cholesterol are responsible” for the apparent link between heme iron and heart disease. If only we could find a way to get men to menstruate, then we could put the theory to the test. What about blood donations? Why just lose a little blood every month when you can donate a whole unit at a time?
A study in Nebraska suggested that blood donors were at “reduced risk of cardiovascular events,” but another study in Boston failed to show any connection. To definitively resolve the question, we would really have to put it to the test: Take people at high risk for heart disease, randomly bleed half of them, and then follow them over time and see who gets more heart attacks. Maybe it could turn “bloodletting” from the past into “bleeding-edge technology.” In fact, that was actually what was suggested in the original paper as a way to test this idea: “The depletion of iron stores by regular phlebotomy could be the experimental system for testing this hypothesis…”
It took 20 years, but researchers finally did it. Why did it take so long? There isn’t much money in bloodletting these days. I suppose the leech lobby just isn’t as powerful as it used to be.
What did the researchers find? It didn’t work. The blood donors ended up having the same number of heart attacks as the non-donor group. Something extraordinary did happen, however: The cancer rates dropped. There was a 37 percent reduction in overall cancer incidence, and those who developed cancer had a significantly reduced risk of death. An editorial in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute responded with near disbelief, saying the “results almost seem to be too good to be true.” “Strikingly,” they started to see cancer reduction benefits within six months, after giving blood just once. As the study progressed, the cancer death rates started to diverge within just six months, as you can see at 2:46 in my video, but this is consistent with the spike in cancer rates we see within only six months of getting a blood transfusion. Is it possible that influx of iron accelerated the growth of hidden tumors?
I continue this wild story in my video Donating Blood to Prevent Cancer?.
What if you feel faint when you give blood? Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. Check out How to Prevent Fainting.
What might iron have to do with disease? See The Safety of Heme vs. Non-Heme Iron and Risk Associated with Iron Supplements.
In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.