The nitrate in vegetables, which the body can turn into the vasodilator nitric oxide, may help explain the role dark green leafy vegetables play in the prevention and treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease.
Who should get tested for vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency, and which is the best test to use: serum B12, methylmalonic acid (MMA), or holotranscobalamin levels?
Fortified foods, such as some breakfast cereals and types of nutritional yeast, can provide another cholesterol-free source of vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) supplementation can cost as little as $2 a year.
Since foods are effectively a package deal, what’s the best way to get vitamin B12 (cobalamin)?
Based on two biomarkers of functional vitamin B12 (cobalamin) status, B12 recommendations formulated more than a half century ago may need to be updated.
Harvard study found that men and women eating low carb diets live significantly shorter lives, but what about the “eco-Atkins diet,” a plant-based, low carbohydrate diet?
A case report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly Journal of the American Dietetic Association) of a man who went on the Atkins diet, lost his ability to have an erection—and nearly lost his life.
Even when fiber and fruit and vegetable intake are kept constant, choosing foods richer in antioxidants may increase stool size, which is associated with lower cancer risk.
Antioxidants protect NO synthase—the enzyme that produces the artery-relaxing signal, nitric oxide. This may explain why those who eat especially antioxidant-rich plant foods have improved flow-mediated dilation of the brachial arteries.
Some herbs and spices—including cinnamon, cloves, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, and peppermint—are so rich in antioxidants that just a small pinch can go a long way.
For a dollar a month, Indian gooseberry (amla) powder may work as well as a leading diabetes drug—without the side effects.
Many of the most powerful drugs in modern medicine’s arsenal came from natural products, from penicillin to the chemotherapy agents Taxol® and vincristine.
There are some dried fruits even more antioxidant-packed than goji berries.
Which common dried fruit is the most antioxidant-packed: apple rings, dried apricots, dried cherries, dried mango, prunes, or raisins?
Compared to popular fruits such as apples, bananas, and mangoes, which of the hundreds of different berries tested have the most and least antioxidant power: blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, crowberries, dog rose berries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, or Tahitian noni juice?
A study of 15,000 American vegetarians suggests their lower chronic disease rates translate into fewer surgeries (including hysterectomies) and medications (including aspirin, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, antacids, pain-killers, blood pressure medications, laxatives, and insulin).
The longest running study on vegetarians suggests that those eating plant-based diets have lower rates of chemical, drug, and environmental allergies.
500 foods were tested for advanced glycation end products (AGEs).
What dietary behaviors may cut the odds of developing of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in half?
Different fruits and vegetables appear to support different cognitive domains of the brain, so both variety and quantity are important.
Following the recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to “shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet,” the latest USDA guidelines include a vegan adaptation.
The USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee stands accused of ignoring the science to justify its recommendation to eat meat.
Since foods are a package deal, Dr. Walter Willet, the Chair of Harvard’s nutrition department, recommends we emphasize plant sources of protein, rather than animal sources.
Why does the medical establishment sometimes ignore highly efficacious therapies, such as plant-based diets, for heart disease prevention and treatment?
The China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project directed by T. Colin Campbell and colleagues showed that chronic diseases, such as heart disease, are not inevitable consequences of aging.
Dr. Dean Ornish proved decades ago that heart disease could be reversed solely with diet and lifestyle changes.
Medicare is now accepting for reimbursement the Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease and the Pritikin Program, which, on a personal note, is what inspired me to go into medicine.
The egg industry is attempting to improve the fatty acid lipid profile of eggs by feeding blubber from the Canadian harp seal hunt to laying hens.
Chicken and eggs are the top sources of arachidonic acid in the diet—an omega-6 fatty acid involved in our body’s inflammatory response.
Arachidonic acid may play a role in cancer, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders.
The purported role arachidonic acid plays in brain inflammation could explain why eliminating chicken, fish, and eggs may improve symptoms of mood disturbance, depression, anxiety, and stress within two weeks.
Which country has the largest (and smallest) average stool size?
Most women experience a four-day intestine transit time; likely too long to meet the target 200 gram (half pound) minimum fecal output for cancer prevention.
Women eating vegetarian may have lower breast cancer rates because they have larger bowel movements.
The top three sources of industrial toxins in the diet are fish oil, fish, and eggs.
Excessive intake of kelp (kombu) or thyroid-containing sausages can lead to iodine toxicity.
Disinfectants used to sanitize cow udders may provide a source of iodine for dairy consumers, but can also increase the concentration of pus in milk from cows with staph infection mastitis.
Meat, animal protein, and soy milk can affect premature breast development in girls.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is common among those eating vegetarian and particularly vegan diets because of failure to take B12 supplements or eat B12-fortifed foods.
