New England Health Advisory

By Inger Pols

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how to maintain good prostate health. Soon after, a reader asked my opinion about the effectiveness of screening for prostate cancer.  That’s a tricky one, for the following reasons.

Prostate cancer is the second most fatal form of cancer for men, second only to lung cancer.  About 27,000 men will die from prostate cancer this year.  However, more than 200,000 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer … and most won’t die from it.  Prostate cancer is relatively slow growing, and most men who have it die from other causes first.

(Autopsy studies of Chinese, German, Israeli, Jamaican, Swedish and Ugandan men who died of other causes have found prostate cancer in 30% of men in their 50s, and in 80% of men in their 70s.)

Furthermore, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test that screens for prostate cancer in the first place can lead to a variety of complications.  And when the presence of cancer leads to treatment—either radiation therapy or prostatectomy—that can result in numerous undesirable outcomes as well.  Surgical treatment can result in impotence and incontinence and radiation treatment can lead to chronic diarrhea or painful defecation.

For the majority of men, therefore, the best course is do nothing.

But for those men who have advanced cancers, particularly young men, detection and treatment can avert an early death.

And if you don’t know which group you’re in, how do you decide whether or not to test?

The American Cancer Society says you should decide after talking it over with your doctor, and for many people that will do.  But what if you feel your doctor doesn’t know you well enough or is too busy?

As in many cases, a little perspective can help.  The results of two big studies were reported last year, one American and one European.  To judge the effectiveness, they measured mortality seven and 10 years after the study had begun.  While no benefit to screening was found in the U.S. study, a small benefit was found in the European study. But in the European study, 48 men were told they had prostate cancer and treated needlessly for every one man that was saved within the decade after the PSA test.

Dr. Peter B. Bach of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center put it this way, “One way to think of the data is to suppose a man has a PSA test today. It leads to a biopsy that reveals he has prostate cancer, and he is treated for it. There is a one in 50 chance that, in 2019 or later, he will be spared death from a cancer that would otherwise have killed him. And there is a 49 in 50 chance that he will have been treated unnecessarily for a cancer that was never a threat to his life.”

“What we are trying to say to men is the harms (of prostate screening) are better proven than the benefits,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

In the end, culture and geography matter most.

Most American men are screened. In Europe, most men are not screened.  And going against cultural norms is difficult.  But you should be fully informed about the risks and benefits of such a screening and should be aware of the guidelines put forth by the American Cancer Society and the American Society of Clinical Oncology so that you can partner with your doctor to make an informed decision.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

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By Andrew Palmer

Did you know that more than 30 million men suffer from prostate problems that negatively affect their quality of life?

In fact, over 50% of men in their 60s and as many as 90% in their 70s or older have symptoms of an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH). Each year over 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 30,000 will die of it.

And get this: Your chance of keeping good urine flow and healthy prostate function by the time you’re 80 years old is just 1 in 10.

But rather than just hoping you’re that lucky 1 in 10, wouldn’t you rather do something now to improve the chances of keeping your prostate in good shape?

Hundreds, if not thousands of men just Google “herbal supplements for prostate” and the page results seem endless.

Now, I’ve never taken anything for my prostate, but in my research I’ve read that many of the supplement formulas may be outdated, (they don’t keep up with the latest discoveries), and they may not give you the kind of support you need.

I spoke to our contributor, Dr. Sears, and asked him what men can do about prostate issues. He listed three ingredients that a prostate formula must have to work. Unfortunately, many products on the market don’t have them.

Ingredients like saw palmetto and pumpkin seed can be helpful, but there are three prostate nutrients most doctors either don’t know about or overlook. These are the ones that make a difference you can actually feel.

The first is bee pollen.

Studies show bee pollen reduces DHT, the hormone that starts to ramp up as you get older. Low levels of DHT are critical for a healthy-sized prostate.

Researchers in England gave it to men who were going to the bathroom a little too often and had a hard time peeing.

After six months, 79% of them showed real improvement … and 36% felt fully satisfied with the results.

Bee pollen also helps relax the smooth muscles that line your urinary tract. So when you have to pee, you can relax and let it rip.

When Japanese researchers ran studies, they found these remarkable results:

* Residual urine decreased by 92%.
* Urine force and flow improved by 86%.
* Need to urinate at night dropped by 85%.
* The feeling of strain during urination dropped by 56%.

The second nutrient you need for a healthy prostate is the mineral boron.

This is one rock every man needs. It’s one of your best chances for keeping your prostate in its natural, walnut-sized shape.

Boron used to be found in fruits and vegetables. But commercial farming has depleted our soil of many of the minerals you need to stay healthy. And boron is a big player. Your prostate needs it to stay happy and healthy.

The third nutrient is something called 5-Loxin.

This powerful extract supports your prostate on a cellular level. It goes above and beyond the traditional herbs used for prostate health.

5-Loxin is one of the best ways to FULLY support your prostate.

Keeping good urinary flow and a picture-perfect prostate starts at the most basic level: the prostate cell. And 5-Loxin has a remarkable way of nourishing the cells in your prostate.

5-Loxin is one of the most promising advances in prostate health that Dr. Sears has seen in 15 years.

After my research, I believe that every man needs prostate support, myself included. And if your prostate formula doesn’t have these three ingredients, throw it in the trash.

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Yours for health and wellness,

Andrew Palmer
Publisher
New England Health Advisory

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By Inger Pols

Today I’m going to cover a topic of concern for most men: prostate health. But this topic is important for female readers too, as this information will likely be helpful to someone you love who does have a prostate and you’ll also find much of this information applies to breast or uterine health. Many scientists consider prostate cancer in men to be the equivalent of breast cancer in women because it is brought about by the same conditions, factors and imbalances that simply manifest in different sexual organs because of gender.

What is the Prostate and How Does it Work?

The prostate is a small gland about the size of a walnut just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The prostate wraps around the urethra, a tube that takes urine from the bladder out through the penis. The prostate makes the milky fluid that carries the sperm, which is made in the testicles, out through the penis during ejaculation.

As men get older, enlargement of the prostate is a common concern, affecting more than half of men by age 60 and an estimated 80% by age 80. As the prostate enlarges, it presses against the bladder, resulting in a disruption of the flow of urine, causing frequent urination, difficulty urinating, a weak urine stream or a feeling that the bladder has not fully emptied.

Looking at those statistics, it may seem that prostate challenges are inevitable. But research shows there is much we can do to prevent these problems. However, the conditions we create in our bodies do not appear magically overnight; they are the result of the many small choices we make each day. There are no quick fixes for good health, but the recommendations below can have a positive effect over time.

Achieving and Maintaining a Healthy Prostate

Here are some of the things you can do to enhance prostate health (and if you are a woman, think breast health instead):

Eat a healthy balanced whole-food diet: Ensure you are consuming all the vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and phytonutrients your body needs. Take a whole-food supplement to cover any gaps. Eat more fiber, especially from vegetables, as vegetable fiber is shown to help with blood sugar and reduce the risk of prostate problems. Reduce or eliminate white sugars and flours from your diet and choose foods lower on the glycemic index that are rich in fiber and healthy fats.

Hormonal balance is important and I’m going to talk about balancing our sex hormones shortly. But you cannot balance your secondary (sex) hormones (i.e., testosterone and estrogen, which are very important to prostate health) when your primary hormones, like insulin, are out of balance. Balance your primary hormones by making sure that your blood sugar is regulated so that insulin is not a concern.

Reduce internal inflammation: It’s directly connected to prostate problems and tied to many cancers including prostate and breast. Johns Hopkins research shows that early stages of prostate cancer go hand in hand with chronic inflammation and that an anti-inflammatory diet can help correct this. Pay attention to high cholesterol not because cholesterol is bad; cholesterol is part of your body’s natural healing process. Rather, high cholesterol is an indication that inflammation is occurring in the body. Ubiquinol can help prevent the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation that causes inflammation in the arteries. Omega 3 can help reduce inflammation already present.

Cholesterol levels are important for another reason: Higher cholesterol typically indicates higher levels of estrogen in the body. (Estrogen levels are also usually higher in obese men.) Higher estrogen levels are shown to double the risk of stroke, significantly increase the risk of heart disease and increase thickening of the arteries. High estrogen levels are tied to prostate cancer as well, though some scientists think it hasn’t been studied enough because many men with high estrogen levels succumb to other diseases long before prostate concerns manifest.

Hormones are always about balance and our sex hormones are no different. When estrogen levels increase, it means that relatively speaking, there is less testosterone. (Or in women, less progesterone.) Testosterone is required to maintain a healthy prostate and men with higher levels of testosterone are better able to prevent prostate problems. Because it’s about balance, we either need to raise testosterone levels or eliminate the excess estrogen. Increasing testosterone can only be done effectively through a prescription medication that comes with a host of side effects.

But there are a number of ways to avoid excess estrogen, including reducing your meat and dairy intake. Humans are the only species on the planet whose adults drink milk (or consume large amounts through cheese, ice cream and other dairy products). Milk from perennially pregnant cows is, not surprisingly, laden with hormones such as estrogen.

In addition, we are daily bombarded with estrogenic compounds called xenoestrogens. These compounds can mimic estrogen and take up estrogen receptor sites, leaving the body’s estrogen to wander looking for an available receptor site. This excess estrogen imbalances our normal hormone ratios. Xenoestrogens are found in petroleum-based products, plastics, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. They are in car emissions, paint, nail polish, soap, lotion, food, water and the air. Xenoestrogens result in an increase in belly fat or breast development in men as well as weight gain, allergies, sinus infections, fatigue, mood swings and the onset of andropause, the male equivalent of menopause. Andropause can result in impotence, low sex drive, low sperm count, low absorption of zinc, increased risk of heart disease, and not surprisingly, urination and prostate problems.

While we can reduce meat and dairy and improve our diets, we cannot control all the elements in our environment. This is where the supplement DIM (or diindolylmethane) that I spoke about in the last newsletter can help. DIM is a phytonutrient that occurs naturally in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. It was discovered about 10 years ago, but its benefits are only just now being understood.

Taking DIM has the equivalent effect of eating three pounds of broccoli a day. DIM is a natural estrogen balancer in women and men. It can promote healthy estrogen metabolism and prevent estrogen dominance, and is also shown to protect against cancer, heart disease and to support healthy prostate tissue and prevent prostate enlargement.

The plant indoles in cruciferous vegetables have been shown to regulate hormone metabolism and not only manage estrogen in men, they have also been shown to support a more desirable testosterone function. DIM can help estrogen break down into its “good” metabolites, which are responsible for the positive things we hear about estrogen: protection of heart and brain activity.

Slow estrogen metabolism can result in too much active estrogen, or estradiol, in the body, which causes problems like weight gain, diminished sex drive, male pattern baldness and prostate enlargement. DIM increases the “good” estrogen metabolites, which serve as antioxidants in the body and simultaneously decreases the “bad” metabolites, which are not antioxidants and can cause cancer in the body.

I don’t normally recommend specific supplements, but many of us (male and female) are estrogen dominant as a result of our diets and our environment and thus have hormonal imbalance issues. For anyone concerned about estrogen metabolism or hormonal imbalance, or dealing with the physical manifestations of such, I recommend the BioResponse form of DIM, as it is a naturally occurring phytonutrient that is microencapsulated to ensure absorption.

Other Ways to Support Prostate Health

Maintain a healthy weight. Obesity is tied to many health issues including heart attacks, diabetes and prostate problems. Excess weight around the mid-section is a particular concern, as it’s far more detrimental to our health than weight gain anywhere else in the body. Gaining weight or enlargement of the breasts is also a concern as it reflects excess estrogen.

Exercise for physical health and to reduce stress. Research shows that as little as 15 minutes of exercise a day reduced the mortality rate of men with prostate cancer. As exercise intensity levels and frequency increased, so did survival rates. Men who exercised three or more hours a week (moderate to intense exercise like jogging, cycling, tennis or swimming) reduced mortality rates by 35%. Men who walked four or more hours a week reduced mortality by 23% while men who walked 90 or more minutes at a brisk pace had a 51% less risk of death than those who walked less than 90 minutes at a slower easier pace. Those who engaged in vigorous physical activity for five or more hours a week showed a significant reduction in mortality.

Engage in frequent sexual activity or masturbation. Studies show that carcinogens pool in seminal fluid and that releasing the toxins from your prostate regularly improves prostate health. It’s the ejaculation process that is beneficial. Improvements are shown at two times a week, with additional protection afforded at three or more times a week. (And Dr. Oz just said the average American has sex once a week, but that increasing it to twice a week can add three years to your life.)

Release any buried anger and resentment. Holding onto it doesn’t serve you in any way and keeping negative emotions inside the body has a physical effect on our cells. Anger and resentment have long been correlated to cancerous cell growth in energy medicine and this idea is now being proven in research as well.  Negative feelings increase the stress level cortisol, a hormone that has been consistently found to repress the function of the immune system. When the immune system is not at the top of its game, the cancer cells that are present in every body have a better environment in which to multiply and can form tumor sites.

Suppression of anger, hate, grief or resentment can also the damage the emotional reflex center in the brain. Over time, this will result in a breakdown that will result in wrong messages being sent to the organ it controls, creating deformed or cancerous cell growth. Numerous studies of cancer patients have identified an unresolved conflict, or suppressed and unexpressed emotion, usually occurring several years before cancer emerged.

And when adrenaline is low, the environment is better for cancerous cell growth. High stress levels will deplete your adrenaline reserves enabling a cancerous environment. Let your feelings out and release stress in other ways such as meditation, deep breathing, journaling, music, and laughter. Laughter is a powerful stress reliever, so when you’ve had a bad day, find some friends you can laugh about it with, or watch a favorite funny movie and laugh out loud.

Research shows that vitamin D helps prevent a variety of cancers, including prostate and breast. In one study, supplementation was shown to reduce the PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels in men with prostate cancer. Another study revealed that men with high vitamin D levels were half as likely to develop aggressive forms of prostate cancer as men with lower levels, so get outside and get your daily dose of sunshine.

As for specific supplements or foods to enhance prostate health, there are many. There are a number of food studies that indicate the benefits of certain foods such as garlic, scallions, pomegranate, walnuts (for the omega 3s and gamma tocopherol, a form of vitamin E), coffee (for the antioxidants), cooked tomatoes (for the lycopene), bee pollen (for the zinc) and it never hurts to add more healthy foods to our diets.

There are also nutrient studies touting saw palmetto, zinc, boron, K2 and selenium but there are also risks of taking too much of these in supplement form. Generally speaking, taking any supplement in isolation limits its effectiveness. When you eat the foods themselves, or the food sources of the minerals and phytonutrients, it’s hard to overdose and they can offer great prostate health benefits.

By eating a balanced whole food diet and taking a whole-food supplement, you will be getting all the vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and phytonutrients you need together to absorb and fully utilize the benefits. That makes good sense for overall wellness as well as prostate health.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

By Inger Pols

This is part five of a series on the supplements I think every adult should take. Previous issues focused on whole-food based multivitamins, ubiquinol, fiber and omega 3. You can read them by clicking here.

The final supplement on the list is vitamin D, which is made in our bodies through sun exposure. But today, we simply don’t get enough direct exposure to sunshine, without sunscreen, to make the vitamin D we need.

Vitamin D helps with bone health by facilitating calcium absorption. It also plays an important role in many other healthy body functions. Vitamin D has been shown to improve immune health and heart health, protect against cancer, autoimmune diseases, depression and a host of other conditions.

Vitamin D deficiency is a major cause for concern as it affects multiple systems in our bodies. Vitamin D deficiency is far more pervasive than previously believed, with research now indicating virtually all adults and children have lower than optimal vitamin D levels.

The only way to know how much vitamin D you need on a daily basis is to get your levels tested a couple of months after you begin to supplement. You want to see levels of 125-200 nmol/L, or nanomoles per liter. (Sometimes test results are reported in nanograms per milliliter or ng/ml. It’s the same test, just a different measurement: Like miles per hour versus feet per second. If your test results are in ng/ml, you will want to see at least 50 ng/ml for optimal vitamin D function.)

Estimates now suggest that 5,000 International Units, or IU, of vitamin D a day or 35 IU per pound for kids or heavier people is appropriate. But some of us need more: I was recently listening to a renowned brain expert say that as a physician, he was shocked when he found out after vitamin D testing that his body required 10,000 IU a day to function at its optimal level since he lives in southern California and is exposed to sunshine all year.

My whole food multivitamin contains 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 and I get plenty of daily summer sunshine, so I don’t take a supplement in summer. But most multivitamins have shockingly low levels of vitamin D3. So even if you are taking a good whole-food multivitamin, you’ll most likely need to add some D3, unless you get time outside without sunscreen every day. And even though my multivitamin provides a good baseline, I still find that I need to supplement with an additional 1,000-2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 during the long New England winters. Unless you are in a warm weather climate, you probably will too.

If you haven’t read my full article on vitamin D, you should check it out. Before we leave the topic of supplements, I want briefly mention three other supplements that did not make my top five list that you may want to consider: collagen, probiotics and DIM.

Collagen

If you read my article on bone health, you know how important collagen is to avoiding bone fractures. You can and should get your collagen from eating good collagen-rich foods like dark green leafy vegetables. But if you find—like many—that you may not be eating enough collagen and you are not taking a good whole-food multivitamin, you may want to consider collagen supplementation.

As I shared in an earlier article, in order to maintain my weight and to prevent blood sugar issues, I try to eat small amounts of protein, healthy fats (omegas 3s) and fiber at every meal or snack. If I am ever in a situation where I am not consuming protein, I will take a collagen supplement (and a fiber or omega 3 supplement if needed) for balance. While not nearly as good as eating the right foods, in a pinch, it’s better than taking in carbohydrates (sugar) without any having protein to balance it out since carbs ingested without a protein counterbalance are stored as fat in the body.

Probiotics/Digestive Enzymes

We’ve all heard of antibiotics: They kill off or inhibit the growth of bacteria. But antibiotics also kill off the healthy bacteria in our digestive tract and inhibit our ability to digest food and to absorb nutrients. Probiotics contain the beneficial flora that your digestive system needs and digestive enzymes that work in your stomach to help break down foods. Both can be damaged by illness, poor diet and antibiotics, so if you have experienced any of those and have not taken a course of probiotics and enzymes afterward, your digestive system is likely not operating at top capacity.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes are also a must if you have digestive concerns such as cramps, constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. If you struggle with allergies or asthma, food sensitivities such as sugar or gluten, yeast infections or urinary tract infections, rosacea, acne or skin conditions, headaches or migraines, chronic bad breath (halitosis), PMS or hormonal imbalance, or achy joints, you should consider probiotic supplementation.

Depending on how long and how strong your course of antibiotics was, or how severe your digestive concerns are and what your diet is like (if it is very acidic), you may want to stay on probiotics for a while to ensure balance is restored and maintained. At a minimum, you’ll want to take probiotics and digestive enzymes while taking antibiotics and for several weeks afterward. A two to three month supplementation cycle is great for restoring balance and digestive health after any significant stress to your digestive system. Eating yogurt can help, but your body most likely needs more help than yogurt alone can provide.

Even if you haven’t had antibiotics lately or faced a digestive health concern, your system could still be imbalanced from a concern long ago. Probiotics can help restore balance if you have a heavily acidic diet that promotes yeast and causes other imbalances in your digestive pathway. I recommend a month (or two) of probiotic and digestive enzyme supplementation every year to help ensure your digestive system has everything it needs to maximize the nutrient absorption of the food you are eating.

There are many different probiotic strains and each works differently in the body, so you may need to experiment with more than one brand to find the right one. If you are facing a specific issue, research your condition to find the best strains. The right probiotic should make a difference within the first week or two. If you don’t see improvement after two weeks, try another brand with different strains of bacteria. If you are just looking to restore balance annually with no specific concerns, choose a highly rated probiotic that has bifidobacteria and lactobacillus acidophilus in the billions.

DIM or Diindolylmethane

Diindolylmethane, or DIM, promotes healthy hormonal balance through beneficial estrogen metabolism. DIM is a naturally occurring phytonutrient found in cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, cabbage or collards), which we know are good for us, but do not eat nearly enough of. DIM can balance estrogen by blocking “bad” estrogen and promoting good or beneficial estrogen in our bodies.

For women, healthy estrogen metabolism prevents breast, cervical and uterine cancers; for men, it is required for prostate health. (Men, you have estrogen in your bodies and are exposed to it in foods and the environment as well, so it’s just as important for you!) We are going to be talking more about DIM and prostrate health in Friday’s issue.

Not everyone needs DIM, so it didn’t make my top five list. But if you’re concerned about hormonal balance, fibers, tumors or reproductive cancers or prostate health, DIM is a supplement you should consider taking daily. (I found it quiets my hot flashes.) Generally speaking, unless cancer runs in your family, you are perimenopausal and/or you are already struggling with reproductive issues like fibroids or hysterectomy, it’s something you can wait to take until you’re in your 50s.

Research has shown that most DIM supplements cannot be absorbed; they require microencapsulation. Only one company, BioResponse, has a patented microencapsulation with extended release naoparticles, ensuring predictable absorption. This company is the only brand being used in all the published clinical trials, including those sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, so it’s the one I take and recommend.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

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By Inger Pols

I recently had dinner with a friend who is fit, active, healthy and tries to eat well; he’s doing everything right. We got to talking about food labels and marketing claims. He told me that he reads the labels and that he thinks he’s making good healthy food choices.

It soon became apparent that he was reading the product claims on the front labels and occasionally, the nutrition facts label, but not the list of ingredients. I challenged him to read the ingredient list on the foods in his cabinets.  We pulled out the first item handy, Progresso Bread Crumbs, and I showed him the high fructose corn syrup and trans fats in the ingredient list.

We discovered 95% of the food in his house contained at least one, sometimes two or even all three, of the most harmful food additives: high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and MSG. It was a challenge to find anything in a box, bag, plastic bottle or jar that did not have one of these unhealthy additives.

Eating whole unprocessed foods is best, so I always recommend you stick to the outside aisles of the supermarket and avoid packaged and processed food.  But for many of us, it is simply not possible to avoid all processed foods. When you must buy prepared foods, how can you make the best choices?

While it’s easy to believe food manufacturers’ marketing claims, the only way to know if you’re making good food choices and know exactly what you are really eating is to read the ingredient list. Avoiding harmful additives could add years to your life.

Trans Fats or Partially Hydrogenated Oil

New York City made headlines when it banned all trans fats from foods. California then became the first state to do so.  Many European countries have done the same, or passed legislation for future elimination. What is it about trans fats that is so concerning? What led the National Academy of Science to say there is no safe level of trans fat consumption and to call for a full ban of its use at the city, state and country level?

Trans fats are made when a hydrogen atom is added to unsaturated fat. During this process, hydrogen gas bubbles through the oil in the presence of a nickel catalyst. Originally just an interesting science experiment, the result became attractive to food manufacturers looking to increase profits. Trans fats don’t spoil as readily as other oils, they don’t break down when heated repeatedly, and they can turn a liquid oil into a solid, which makes transport easier, and offer a cheaper substitute to solid animal fat.

The fast food industry saw the appeal, and almost every major chain found a use: Dunkin Donuts used them to fry donuts and McDonald’s used them to fry its french fries. (They and most others have recently eliminated trans fats due to public pressure).  Margarine, baked and snack goods benefited from increasing concern over the use of butter and lard several decades ago and the desire to shift to a vegetable-based oil product. But as trans fat consumption increased radically, researchers grew concerned about its effect on health.

Awareness of the harm of trans fats began in the 1990s, though a study done in the U.K. as far back as 1981 raised some questions.  In 1993, Harvard concluded that the intake of partially hydrogenated oils increased the likelihood of a heart attack. That study suggested that replacing just 2% of energy from trans fats with healthy unsaturated fats could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by a third.

In 1999, a joint study by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported that  “at least 30,000 and as many as 100,000 cardiac deaths a year in the United States could be prevented if people replaced trans fats with healthier non-hydrogenated” oils.  The New England Journal of Medicine reported that same year that trans fats are directly linked to the development of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Today we know that trans fats increase LDL, the low-density lipoproteins, especially the smaller denser particles that we now know are more damaging to the arteries. At the same time, they reduce HDL, the high-density lipoproteins that are responsible for taking bad cholesterol and waste that needs to be returned to the liver for processing and disposal.  (For more detail, see our recent article on cholesterol.) They also create inflammation, which has been shown to lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many other chronic conditions. Trans fats have also been linked to obesity and insulin resistance as well as Alzheimer’s disease.

At one point, the FDA estimated 95% of prepared cookies, 100% of crackers and 80% of frozen breakfast products contained trans fats.  They have also said that the average American consumes 5.8 grams of trans fats a day. While some companies are shifting their manufacturing processes, the majority of foods still contain some amount of trans fat.  (It breaks my heart every year when the Girl Scouts come calling because I’d love to support their cause, but their cookies all include trans fats, so typically, I make a donation and tell them to keep the cookies.)

When you eat at bakeries, restaurants, schools and cafeterias there is no way to monitor trans fat presence, so it’s likely that you’re consuming them. Trans fats do occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, so it’s hard to avoid them completely.

The American Heart Association recommends that no more than 1% of your calorie energy come from trans fats. If you eat a 2,000 calorie a day diet, that is 20 calories, or less than two grams of trans fats a day. Given what you likely ingest through your daily meat and dairy consumption, you are most likely reaching or exceeding that amount through natural sources.

Prior to 2006, when it was required to list trans fats on labels, it was hard to tell which foods contained them. Now it’s a little easier, but you still cannot depend on truth in labeling with regard to trans fats. In fact, many products claim to be trans fat free while still containing trans fats. Portion sizes under .5g per serving do not require listing on labels. (In Canada, it’s .2g.) So some manufacturers simply reduce portion sizes in order to meet the minimum requirements, but continue to process foods the same way.

The only way to know for sure is to read the label and to look for partially hydrogenated oils on the ingredient list.  It may surprise you where you find them: in addition to the obvious breads, cookies and crackers, I found them in a jar of marinated artichoke hearts!

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Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Almost everyone knows they should avoid MSG, so food manufacturers have gotten smart about hiding it. But it astounds me how many times I see it listed openly as monosodium glutamate in the ingredient list of a common kitchen staple.  It’s in so many foods because it’s a flavor enhancer that leads you to want to eat more, and which is exactly what food manufacturers want.

MSG is a neurotoxin that excites the brain. In addition to being toxic, it’s addictive. It can cause brain damage, lead to behavior disorders, learning disabilities, endocrine and reproductive disorders and neurodegenerative disease. It has been shown to lead to obesity regardless of caloric intake; it acts on the pancreas to secrete insulin and stimulate hunger, and if you are taking calcium blockers for high blood pressure, MSG acts as a calcium channel opener, counteracting that medication.

It’s in soups, salad dressings and dips, Hamburger Helper, frozen foods, prepared noodles and potato chips, it’s the secret ingredient at many big name fast food and chain restaurants, and it’s sold as the flavor-enhancing product, Accent. It’s not just a Chinese restaurant concern, though it gained attention after many people sensitive to its effects came down with headaches, dizziness and chest pains after eating it in Chinese food.

Glutamic acids are amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) commonly found in foods such as tomatoes, milk and mushrooms. They are also found in our cells and function as a neurotransmitter involved in a variety of brain functions. When we eat these foods, we break down the natural or sometimes called “bound” glutamic acid and it is delivered to receptors in our brain and body. It’s not harmful and in fact performs a valuable function.

But when glutamic acid is made in a factory, the “bound” glutamic acid in corn, molasses, beets or wheat is broken down by one of several processes: It is hydrolyzed, autolyzed, modified or fermented using powerful chemicals or specially engineered bacterias. (Most of the world’s production is made using bacterial fermentation, often with genetically engineered bacterias, but autolyzed and hydrolyzed processes are rampant in food products as well.)

It then becomes refined into a sugar-like white crystal form that is 78.2% glutamate, 12.2% sodium and 9.6% water. Anything 78%-79% processed free glutamic acid (MSG) will be listed as monosodium glutamate on the label. Other MSG-containing ingredients are listed in their technical form such as hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts and protein isolate. Labels reveal that these forms are pervasive in the vast majority of foods we buy and eat.

So what’s the difference between the naturally occurring monosodium glutamate and the processed form?

Unprocessed glutamic acid is L-glutamic acid. When the processed version is created in factories, it is both L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid, along with pyroglutamic acid and a number of impurities. Several of the impurities such as mono and dichloro propanols and heterocyclic amines are carcinogenic. But even more importantly, our bodies are made to process and utilize naturally occurring L-glutamic acid, not the created D-glutamic acid that results from factory processing.

The FDA considers MSG to be naturally occurring since the basic ingredient is found in nature. But naturally occurring doesn’t mean safe. Arsenic is naturally occurring but you wouldn’t want to eat it. The factory version of MSG causes sensitivities and toxicity in people, as our bodies have never had to process this form before. Look out for all forms of monosodium glutamate including autolyzed or hydrolyzed yeast, yeast or soy extract and protein isolate on your ingredient lists and avoid them all.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Because we already talked about HFCS in The Truth About Sugar report, I’ll keep this summary brief.

Research has shown that fructose inhibits our leptin signaling and directly leads to obesity, type-2 diabetes and a myriad of other conditions including heart disease. It alters our sweetness set points and interferes with satiety signals, leading us to eat more. We need to minimize fructose in our diets because fructose cannot be metabolized by the cells and must be metabolized by the liver; excess fructose consumption taxes our liver.

But high fructose corn syrup is not only a harmful form of fructose; it often contains mercury, it’s made from corn syrup that is derived from genetically modified corn, and it adds to the overload of corn already rampant in our diets as corn has shifted from a vegetable into a grain.

High fructose corn syrup is commonly found in bread and bread products, ketchup, tomato and spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly, salad dressing, crackers and cookies and myriad other items including seafood cocktail sauce, barbecue sauce, sweet pickles or relish … just about everything!

When I had dinner with my friend, he wanted to make a special turkey burger recipe for me. Searching for bread without high fructose corn syrup can be quite a challenge in many traditional grocery stores. On a recent trip, I found only one offering out of 28 breads that was made without it. But finding high fructose corn syrup -free bread products such as hamburger buns and hotdog rolls is almost impossible at a traditional grocery store.

It takes a trip to the organic section of my local grocery store (I am fortunate to have access to Hannaford, which has a great selection), Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s to find products made without high fructose corn syrup. If your regular grocery store doesn’t carry non-high fructose corn syrup options, ask that they do. Or go without the bun.

Most of us consume large amounts of these three unhealthy food additives without knowing it. While we can’t control what’s in the food we eat in a restaurant or cafeteria, we can control what we cook at home. Once you start reading food labels, you’ll be surprised what’s actually in the products you’re buying. The good news is that there are healthy versions of every product out there that still taste great, if you take the time to look for them.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

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