Behind the Headlines: "Low Fat Diets Don’t
Fight Breast Cancer or Heart Disease . . or Do They?"
Knee Pain May Be Surprisingly Associated
with Vitamin D Deficiency
Fitness of Mind and Body Go Hand in Hand
Hot Temper Increases Risk for Brain Damaging Stroke
Body Fat a Strong Predictor of Cardiovascular
Risk
Grilled Salmon and White Bean Salad
Savory Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
To help friends learn more about One: The Napa Valley Personal
Health Experience™, simply pass on this link:
www.onenapavalley.com or call 1-877-596-0664 or email
onehealth@ah.org .
Behind the Headlines: “Low Fat
Diets Don’t Fight Breast Cancer or Heart Disease . . . or Do They?”
Before you run out to place that order for fried chicken, creamy
mashed potatoes and a hot fudge sundae, take a good look behind the
headlines of the latest NIH study. A fifteen year, 3-part project,
the Women’s Health Initiative study, resulted in what appears at
first glance to be several surprising findings – contradictory to
current thinking on important health issues many experts thought
were settled. The conclusions that have drawn enormous media hype
include: (1) low-fat diets don’t fight breast cancer or heart
disease; (2) taking calcium and vitamin D doesn’t protect bones or
prevent colorectal cancer; and (3) menopause hormones are risky and
don’t protect the heart. Is there more to the story? You bet. And
the story is actually much different once you begin to drill down
into the data.
To begin, let’s take a quick look at the results of the low-fat
study. This part of the study was inspired in part by the low rates
of breast cancer among Asian, particularly Japanese, women. It is
typical to look at a special population, in this case with low
breast cancer rates, and then try to figure out why this occurs. The
Japanese get 16-24% of their calories from fat, quite low by our
standards. We have other data linking high fat diets with increased
cancer rates; the hypothesis is that a low fat diet will lower
breast cancer risk. When the NIH set up the study, they knew
participants would have to lower fat by at least 11% to see any
statistical change in breast cancer risk. What went wrong? Early
into the study, they knew they wouldn’t be able to see a significant
statistical change for two reasons: (1) They anticipated that the
majority of women would be eating a 38% fat diet at the time of
enrollment. They would have to reduce it by at least 11% (to 27%) to
see any meaningful results. Actually, most women were eating about
35% of their calories from fat before beginning the study. This
would mean that they would have to reduce their fat intake to at
least 24% or less to see a statistical change.(2) Most of the women
were only able to reduce the fat to 29%, but they continued the
study anyway.
By the end of the study, only 14% of the participants were meeting
the goal of less than 24% fat.
Even though this was, in my opinion, a poorly designed and poorly
executed study, digging a little bit further into the data actually
revealed some encouraging results that were grossly underreported.
Even though a majority of women were unable to get their daily
caloric intake to much less than 29% fat, they saw a 9% drop in
breast cancer rates. This was approaching statistical significance
and might have reached it had the study gone on longer. Perhaps even
more significant, the smaller group of women who succeeded in
decreasing their percentage of calories from fat to 24% over the
8-10 years, showed a 22% reduction in breast cancer rate. This IS
statistically significant and should have been emphasized much more
by the authors and the media.
Breast cancer was this part of the study’s primary focus. The
study’s failure to show any difference in heart-disease risk also
reflected design decisions. The study didn’t distinguish saturated
fats and trans fats – which are linked to heart disease, from
unsaturated fats – which we already know can actually significantly
benefit heart health.
Next time, we’ll check into the Calcium and Vitamin D findings.
Stay tuned!
- Heather Peña M.D., Medical Director, St. Helena Center for
Health
Knee Pain May Be Associated with Vitamin D Deficiency
Gradually I began to feel pain in my knees upon taking the turn
toward home during my normal, daily 3 _ mile walk. “How strange,” I
thought. I’ve been active all my life and all of a sudden, pain.
Then I began to have difficulty with bending to sit in a chair and
climbing stairs . . . don’t even mention squats! OK, now I was
completely baffled. Without exercise came weight gain, and no way to
take it off because exercise had become painful. This was becoming a
dire situation. It wasn’t until Dr. Jim Peters, the newest physician
joining the One team, suggested I check out my vitamin D level – a
simple test called 25 hydroxy D. What do you know? The results were
quite a surprise to me; my levels of D were indeed on the low side.
Doing a little research, I ran across a recently published article
by Dr. Michael Holick entitled: “High Prevalance of Vitamin D
Inadequacy and Implications for Health.” He points out that
approximately 36% of young and healthy adults have a vitamin D
inadequacy. In older adults the number is much higher. Wow! This
would indicate almost epidemic proportions of our population! And,
the variety of symptoms go way beyond knee pain; muscle weakness,
leg fatigue, muscle aches, loss of bone density, and more. Ever
skeptical, I began with a higher dose of D to load my supposed empty
Vitamin D receptors. Then I moved on to a maintenance amount.
Initially, even after three days, I felt a little relief. But,
chalking that up to the placebo affect, I wasn’t yet ready to
believe – and sitting in chairs and climbing stairs was still
painful. After day 9, I was amazed. No pain! Yes, no pain! Lesson
learned. I’m now walking 20 miles a week and feeling great. And,
aside from taking a supplement, I discovered that you can also get
adequate Vitamin D from spending 15 minutes in the mid-day sun, or a
bit longer early or late in the day, BEFORE putting on sunscreen –
while still paying attention to avoid a sunburn.
- Vicki Saunders, MS, RD, Nutrition Educator
Fitness of Mind and Body Go
Hand in Hand
What do you see when you look in the mirror? What do you want to
see? What is Healthy? Men and women both fall victim to the impact
of dieting and food and body preoccupation. “Each person has
probably seen nearly 2 million television commercials and over
20,000 magazines containing more than a million ads,” says Dr. Wendy
Oliver-Pyatt during an interview at WebMD. “One study found that 69%
of female television characters are unusually thin and only 5% are
larger than average size. This cultural pressure can cause us to
pursue a body size and shape that denies our physical needs.”
Dr. Oliver also cites another study that showed an appreciable
increase in liposuction among men indicating men’s growing
insecurity with their bodies. Keep in mind, the body was originally
designed to store fat during periods when famine was a real
possibility. Our body is meant to have curves and bumps and our abs
were not meant to be rock-solid as is so over promoted in our
society. Our body image develops over our lifetime. It involves
thinking and feeling that you are much more than the physical body
you inhabit and developing an awareness of, and pride in, internal
qualities and physical abilities. This finally promotes fitness of
mind and body. For optimal health, there can be no separation of the
two.
- Lisa D. Hinz, Ph.D
Hot Temper Increases Risk for
Brain Damaging Stroke
Do you have a hot temper or know someone who does? Recent
research now shows outbursts of uncontrolled anger can actually kill
you. Israeli researchers reported recently that in a study of 200
elderly people who suffered ischemic stroke or transient ischemic
attach (mini-stroke), 13.3 percent experienced strong feelings of
anger or negative emotions: fear, irritability, frustration or
nervousness in the two hours before their strokes. In a separate
study, scientists found that older women with hostile attitudes are
significantly more likely to develop carotid artery disease than
women with less negative attitudes putting them at greater risk for
stroke. Men are apparently particularly vulnerable to the effects of
negative emotions. Those who score highest on anger ratings are more
likely to be overweight and more likely to have the lowest levels of
“good” HDL cholesterol – putting them at a greater risk for
diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The good news is that there are
ways people can change destructive emotional responses and behavior,
and thereby hopefully lower their risk for stroke. Recognizing they
have this issue, and then deciding to do something about it, is a
major first step toward reversing the risk.
- Steve Wood, MA, MFT, Behavioral Therapist
Body Fat a Strong Predictor of Cardiovascular Risk
If you have an overweight pal who blasts your dedication to fitness
because he can still keep up with you on bike trails or runs – take
heart, because your pal may be running on borrowed time. A study of
135 healthy men at the University of Colorado screened them for 18
heart disease related factors and found that body fat was a stronger
predictor of cardiovascular risk rather than aerobic fitness. One
third of the men in this study were dedicated exercisers with
various levels of body fat – it allows that those with lower
percentages of fat also had lower risks of heart disease.
- Russ Melgar, CPT, FT Fitness Coordinator
Grilled Salmon and Cannelli Bean
Salad
Salmon is one of the 10 “Power Foods” recommended by Center for
Health Medical Director, Dr. Heather Peña. It contains Omega 3 fatty
acids which (1) decrease platelet stickiness, (2) decrease
triglycerids and LDL cholesterol, and (3) promote anti-aging in the
brain and skin. Omega 3 fatty acids are also linked with lower rates
of heart disease, better cognitive function and less inflammation in
the body. This salad is a quick and easy way to put Salmon on the
table tonight!
Serves 4
1 1/2# Fresh Salmon, center cut
Sea Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 cups cooked white Cannelli beans, (canned ok but watch sodium
content)
1 cup lightly steamed green beans, ends removed and broken into
pieces
1 cup cherry tomatoes, or assorted pear and grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
Vinaigrette:
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons minced thyme leaves
Sea salt and Freshly Ground pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Vinaigrette: Combine lemon juice, lemon zest, thyme, salt
and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil.
In a medium size bowl, place Cannelli beans, green beans,
tomatoes and red onion. Add enough vinaigrette just to moisten.
Reserve remaining vinaigrette.
Lightly wash and dry salmon. Remove bones. Place skin side down
on a square of aluminum foil. Lightly sprinkle salmon with sea salt,
pepper and lemon juice. Place foil directly onto heated grill. Grill
salmon to medium doneness with grill top closed to develop slight
crust on top of the salmon. Remove from grill and let cool slightly.
Serving:
Place one quarter of bean mixture onto serving plate.
Remove salmon from foil; leaving skin with the foil. Place salmon
atop bean mixture and drizzle with remaining vinaigrette. Serve.
As an alternative, this salad can also be served atop mixed
spring greens that have been lightly tossed with additional
vinaigrette.
Per serving: 415 Calories, 44 g Protein, 29 g Carbohydrate, 13 g
Fat (10 g Unsaturated Fat), 93 mg Cholesterol, 421 mg Sodium, 8 g
Fiber
Savory Stuffed Sweet
Potatoes
A wonderfully fragrant and flavorful dish turns into a main course
with the inclusion of tofu. Soy, one of the 10 “Power Foods”
recommended by CFH Medical Director, Dr. Heather Peña, (1) contains
isoflavones/antioxidants, sterols, and saponins, (2) is a good
source of fiber and (3) has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol. In
addition, sweet potatoes are rich in fiber and beta carotene and
have a lower glycemic index than white potatoes. Enjoy this hearty
dish as you raise a toast to your health!
Serves 4
4 large oblong sweet potatoes, 10 ounces each, washed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 to 1 ea. Serrano pepper, minced
2 cups washed, trimmed and thinly sliced rainbow chard
4 ounces firm tofu, well drained and cut into _ inch cubes
1/3 cup chicken broth
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375_. Place sweet potatoes on lightly oiled
baking sheet – or line baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake until
tender, approximately 1 hour. Let stand until sweet potatoes are
cool enough to handle. Leave oven on.
Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise. Scoop out and reserve
flesh, leaving a shell thick enough to hold filling without
collapsing. Set shells aside. Coarsely chop 1/2 the flesh. Reserve
the remaining flesh for another purpose.
Heat a large nonstick sauté pan over medium high heat, lightly
sprayed with olive oil. When pan is hot, add tofu and lightly brown
on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
Lightly spray same sauté pan again with olive oil and place over
medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, thyme, salt and 1/2 Serrano
pepper (more if you enjoy heat) and sauté until onion is
translucent. Add chard and chicken broth, cook, stirring frequently
until chard has wilted. Gently fold in reserved chopped sweet
potatoes and the tofu. Cook briefly just to warm.
Place shells back onto the lightly oiled (or use parchment paper)
baking sheet. Spoon filling into shells. Cover lightly with foil and
bake until heated through, about 15-20 minutes.
Per serving: 273 Calories, 9 g Protein, 56 g Carbohydrate, 3 g
Fat (2 g Unsaturated Fat), 0 g Cholesterol, 391 mg Sodium, 10 g
Fiber
