Lipids

Jan

2014

Half an Avocado

This past November’s issue of the highly regarded publication ”Nutritional Journal” has a cool article about avocados. It quotes a study (entitled, somewhat awkwardly, “A Randomized Crossover Study to Evaluate the Effect of Haas Avocado Intake on Post-Ingestive Satiety and Insulin Levels and Subsequent Energy Intake in Overweight Adults “!) that compared the effects of adding a fresh avocado to a lunchtime meal to the effects of eating a standard non-avocado-including lunch. Scientists were looking to see how avocado consumption would influence blood sugar and insulin responses, and satisfaction and further food intake. The researchers, from the Department of Nutrition at Loma Linda University found that participants who added half an avocado to their lunch reported a significantly decreased desire to eat by 40 percent over a three hour period and 28 percent over a five hour period compared to their desire to eat after a standard, non-avocado-containing lunch. Even more significantly, their satisfaction was long lasting. Three hours after eating participants reported increased satisfaction by 26 percent. And the avocados didn’t throw off blood sugar. According to Dr. Joan Sabat who led the research team “…there was no increase in blood sugar levels beyond what was observed after eating the standard lunch”.

So what is it that makes avocados so satisfying? Well, aside from the fiber and the nutrients which are always satiety-inducing, probably the most hunger busting element of the succulent green fruit are the fats. Avocados are among the plant world’s most lipid-dense products, containing significant amounts of both saturated and unsaturated fats. According to the USDA, 1 cup of avocado contains over 4 teaspoons of fat. What’s more, it’s got nearly 3 grams of protein (about as much as half an egg) and nearly 25 percent of the RDA of Vitamin C. And, next to zero calories derived from sugar! Considering that kind of nutritional payoff, it’s no wonder that avocados have been farmed for millennia. They’re one of the oldest cultivated fruits; Central American farmers have been growing them since 8000 BC.

The most common avocado is the Hass variety, it comprises over 75 percent of the US avocado crop, which is located and largely concentrated in California, Florida and Hawaii and boasts business of nearly half a billion dollars annually. Other varieties include the oversized Florida Fuerte avocado that’s less fatty and gram for gram lower in calories than the venerable Haas, and the cocktail avocado which is pitless, and as tasty and delicious as it is difficult to peel and hard to find.

Did you know you can prevent avocados from browning by sprinkling the flesh with a little lime or lemon juice?
Use lots of Celtic Sea Salt on raw, fresh avocados. The salt and avocado fats will act synergistically to amplify the distinctive tastes and subtle flavors of the rich, buttery fruit.
Can’t wait to eat your hard avocado? You can hasten it’s ripening by putting it in a paper bag. The bag will trap ethylene oxide, a ripening-inducing gas that is emitted by the tasty fruit as it ages. Make sure you keep the bag in a dark cool area and you check your avocado regularly or you may end up making guacamole!

Jul

2013

Omega-3 Supplements

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

A couple of weeks ago in a study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and plastered all over the internet and the mainstream media, investigators found that that was correlation between prostate cancer and high levels of an essential fatty acid derivative called DHA.

Here’s my take:

Fats are like women, they’re complicated! Highly complicated! Thus, to make sense of the nonsense associated with the incendiary headlines like: “Fish oil supplements linked to prostate cancer” (Health News) and “Men who take omega-3 supplements at 71 percent higher risk of prostate cancer” (NY Daily News) or “Omega-3 supplements may trigger prostate cancer” (Nursing Times) we have to digress slightly and talk about fats and fatty acid supplements.

In the world of nutrition there’s different kinds fats (technically called “lipids”), classes of fats you might say. For example there are plant lipids like beta carotene and bioflavonoids, which are nutritional terms most people have heard of, and you’ll find fat soluble compounds like phytoestrogens and resins in vegetation as well as the fatty vitamins D, E,A and K.

Then there the fatty acids. There’s a bunch of them but two stand out in importance. And the reason they stand out is because they are “essential”. That means that along with amino acids and vitamins and minerals, these two very special types of acid made out of fat must be ingested on a regular basis at the risk of facing significant health challenges including the biggies: heart disease and cancer . They’re called essential fatty acids, we know them as Omega-3 and Omega-6 and by definition, they are absolute requirements in the human diet. You’re dead in the water without them and heading in the direction and degeneration and disease to the degree you’re deficient. Your brain is especially dependent on them as is the blood and circulatory system. Every single cell in the body contains appreciable amounts of EFAs, mostly omega-6s, except for the nervous system and the eyes which contain large amount of the omega-3 variety and their derivatives.

In the JAMA article what was noticed was a relationship between high blood levels of a specific breakdown product of Omega-3 called DHA and the incidence of prostate cancer. Now DHA is vital stuff. It’s an especially important part of the brain and eyes. In fact, right now, as you read this article, light from the page you’re looking at is hitting your eyes and activating the DHA embedded in the eye cell membranes, which in turn is causing chemical reactions that create the visual experience in your brain. The world we see is literally constructed out of DHA (at least partially) right now.

But here’s the catch: DHA is very active. What makes it so potent is its very activity. In the world of nutrition, activity is always associated with instability and from a health perspective instability is not necessarily a good thing. This is why oils are so problematic. They’re volatile and fragile. Remember we said fats are complicated. You need them but you have to be careful! This combination of instability and potency must be accounted for with balancing and protecting nutrients. In other words, you don’t want to ingest high levels of one fat with corresponding balancing FATS and balancing NUTRIENTS. For example you don’t want to be using Vitamin A without Vitamin D. And Vitamin E should to be stabilized with selenium, alpha lipoic acid Vitamin C. And when it comes to Omega 3 and omega 6 essential fatty acids EFAs, they need to be taken together and they need to be balanced with each other. Most nutritionists recommend 3 parts Omega-6 fatty acids for every one part Omega-3 fatty acids. And, all EFAs should always be taken with protective 400 i.u of Vitamin E. In the case of DHA, Omega-6s, Vitamin E and A and selenium all work together to shield this sensitive and vulnerable nutritional lipid. In the JAMA study, the only parameter that was measured was DHA levels. Were these patients using Vitamin E, selenium? We don’t know. How about Vitamin A and alpha lipoic acid? Again, we don’t know. How about balancing Omega 6’s and Omega 3’s? Once again, we don’t know. And, without this information, any causal conclusions drawn between this important fish oil component and development cancer must be considered dubious at best.

The most significant flaw the JAMA study was the fact that investigators examined patients who already had cancer! And, some of the men had a family history of prostate cancer, a known risk factor for carcinogenesis. This was a population of men who were prostate cancer cases waiting to happen. We don’t know if the existing cancer caused elevations in DHA or if it was that the DHA that resulted in the cancer. Or if there’s any correlation at all. In other words, the two factors (high plasma DHA and prostate cancer) may be completely UN-related.

Even worse, the tests were one-time-only each patient and measured only the blood plasma content of DHA. Plasma levels fluctuate and vary. A fish sandwich eaten an hour prior to a blood test would cause an elevated DHA score even if a patient had never eaten seafood or ingested fish oil before or since. That means that elevated DHA measurements merely provided a one-time picture of what was in the body, temporarily, at the moment the blood was drawn and in no way indicative of how much DHA a person was getting and storing! Of course, no one thought to check what these patients were eating, when they were eating it or what kind and how much DHA or fish oil supplements they were using. In fact, despite the alarming headlines no one knows if they were even using fish oil supplements at all!

Finally, a quick internet search will reveal numerous studies that associate fish oil and DHA with a decreased risk of cancer. In one for example, from Tuscia University in Italy, researchers concluded that: “DHA can exert antitumor activity” and can function as “an effective adjuvant in cancer chemotherapy”. In another study from the University of California at Davis researchers showed that “omega-3 dietary fatty acids (fish oil) reduce the risk of…cancers” although “the mechanisms by which these omega-3 lipids inhibit… (tumor formation)…are poorly understood”. And in yet another study, published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology in January of this year investigators found that “DHA inhibited (cancer) cell migration, a marker of metastasis and that stated that “DHA, a ω-3 fatty acid, could play a beneficial inhibition of the incidence and progress of a series of human including cancer (italics mine)”.

The bottom line and incontrovertible, undeniable fact remains that Omega-3 fatty acids are essential. That means they’re required for health and survival. There are NOT optional. And, while their instability and thus their potential for becoming degraded and perhaps unhealthy is equally undeniable, given their must-have nature, that simply means they must used with great care, with balancing nutrients and with as little heat and processing as possible. And any studies that suggest avoiding these vital substances need to be examined closely and in my opinion, with skepticism.

Jun

2013

Understanding Unsaturated & Saturated Fat

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

The most misunderstood and maligned nutrient is undoubtedly fat. Those three letters that are responsible for so much misery and marketing spell out the most powerful and energetically dense of all the macro and micro nutrients human beings and animals consume.

There are two main classes of food fats, which are sometimes referred to as “lipids” : saturated fats which are solid (think lard) and unsaturated fats which are liquid (think corn oil). Liquid oil, i.e. unsaturated fats can contain important components called EFAs and this makes them very, very important. Deficiencies in EFAs are associated with a myriad of health problems including skin issues, degenerative disease, impaired mental health and heart pathology name just a few. Because of the important role unsaturated lipids play in keeping the body strong and healthy, for most part nutrition-mined folks have rationally focused on getting enough those important fats while marginalizing, completely ignoring the significance of their saturated biochemical cousins.

Until recently that is. In the past couple of years one the most important and functional, (not to mention tasty) of the saturated fats has been getting quite a bit of attention. Coconut Oil for many years vilified and verboten, a heavy, artery clogging, and cholesterol raising generally unhealthy fat, as it turns is not so bad after all. In fact there actually a lot to love about coconut oil!

Another three letters should come to mind when you think about coconut oil: M.C.T. . Coconut Oil is one of nature’s richest sources of MCT. MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides and it is very good stuff. And, coconut oil is 2 thirds MCT, which means in every teaspoonful you’re going to get 3 grams of MCT oil.

So why should you care about MCTs? Two words: weight loss! Well actually there are a lot of things MCTs are good for, they suppress your appetite you can use them for energy really quickly. They’re very satisfying and you’ll find yourself eating less food, and you’ll have more energy to do stuff.

Body builders love MCTs because they go right into the blood, for use they don’t need to be processed before they can be used. As opposed to the long chain fatty acids that comprise most of our dietary fats, MCTs are relatively inert; they don’t really affect digestive chemistry. That’s important, especially if the digestive system is stresses or impaired. MCT’s don’t require bile. For those sans gall bladder, a teaspoonful or two of coconut oil can be a very tasty way to make sure they’re getting fats. We used them alot in the pharmacy when I worked at University Hospital which was a regional center for digestive system health issues. Burt best of all, MCTs don’t get stored like other fats, they’re used! Which makes them an ideal source of fat nutrition for dieters.

And coconut oil has non MCT related features that make it so darn loveable! Most especially it tastes great. Roast some veggie in it and not only do you get stable oil with a high smoke point, and nutritional value, but you get all that in great tasting oil!

You can use coconut oil topically as a moisturizer or hair conditioner, it’s vitamin E content can protect skin and moisturize skin and hair protective and if you mix it up with a little honey or stevia and some fruit flavoring it has some great adult “entertainment” benefits too (use your imagination here!).

If you have a favorite way to use coconut oil I love to know about it. Please fell free to share it in the comments below.

Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

One 54-ounce jar of pure-white, USDA-certified-organic, extra-virgin coconut oil, cold-pressed from fresh coconuts within two hours of chopping; light true-coconut taste, aroma.

Nutiva Certified Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil – 54 fl oz

Mar

2012

The Thrill of Krill Oil

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

The more I learn about Krill Oil the more excited I get. After being in the health care business for thirty much of it working directly with ingredients, I must admit to being somewhat jaded when it comes to new ingredients.

The first I heard of a new type of Omega-3 type ingredient on the market my finely honed baloney detector signaled a red alert. Not another EFA! How could a new EFA even work, what could really be different? Well as it turns out it is different, very different. And in a very good way. First of all a quick and concise digression on the basic nature of EFAs is in order. To be technically proper there are two EFAs and only two. One is called linoleic acid (LA) and is known as Omega-6 and the other is called alpha linolenic acid (ALA) is usually referred to as Omega-3. One of the really neat things about LA and ALA is that they get turned into things, lots of things, including important substances for the brain and for the heart and ultimately they serve as raw materials for mega-powerful chemicals (called “eicosanoids”) that have a role to play in almost every single physical and biochemical reaction in the body. Two of these derivative substances which are produced via alpha linolenic acid (Omega-3) are called DHA and EPA. And they’re very, very important, although they are not essential. Taking a nice daily dose of DHA and EPA is probably a good idea but certainly not in lieu of ALA, which is only found in a relatively few places, seeds like flax chia and hemp being the most well known sources. Now DHA and EPA, those are typically found in sea creatures. Until Krill, the only place to get DHA and EPA in a concentrated form was through fish oil or cod liver oil. (Interesting fact: snake oil contains high amounts of EPA and the old exaggerated claims that have it given it it’s pejorative idiomatic meaning probably derive from hyperbolic claims made for what is in actuality nothing more than a good nutritional supplement). And, because of the inherent instability of these molecules, fish oil wasn’t stable of nutritional supplements. There are lots of horror stories of fish oil and cod liver oil samples with elevated levels of free radicals an indication of rancidity, an oil gone bad.

Enter Krill OI. As it turns out, these tiny crustaceans have figured out a way to maximize the biochemical properties of DHA and EPA. It seems like they attach a little molecule called a phospholipid to the DHA/EPA complex and thereby render it somewhat water soluble. And that makes the DHA and EPA from Krill Oil super effective. It allows it to partition into both the fatty tissue of the body as well as the watery fluids. This basically turns the EPA into a biochemical switch hitter. Just like a baseball player that can hit both right handed and left handed, this DHA/EPA-phospholipid complex that nature has given the lowly Krill makes these important nutritional fats super-versatile. It means that when you’re taking Krill Oil not only are you getting highly significant fatty acids with their own nutritional benefits; you’re also getting phospholipids which are important for the health and longevity of every single one of the 100 trillion cells in the body and are especially health of the nerve and brain cells and the digestive system.

And there’s more too. Krill oil contains high amounts of molecules called carotenoids (one called astaxanthin has been recently touted by the Mike Adams the Health Ranger for its skin protecting and anti-sunburn properties) derived from the copious amounts of algae that the tiny crustaceans devour. These carotenoids not only add to the nutritional benefits of the Krill Oil by supporting skin health, the eyes and cardiac health are beneficiaries too. And, the astaxanthin provides the Krill Oil with it’s most important property. It acts to protect the inherently unstable fatty acids helping keep the EPA and DHA more stable for a longer period of time than fish-based oils. Add to all these features the fact that Krill contains Vitamins E, A and D and you have yourself one amazing nutritional supplement.

The most striking health benefits of Krill Oil involve anti-inflammation. Omega 3s in general have anti inflammatory properties, but it seems that all of the unusual biochemical compounds found in Krill give this stuff some extra powerful anti inflammatory effects. A recent study published in Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that just a 300mg daily dose of Krill Oil “significantly inhibits inflammation and reduces arthritic symptoms within a short treatment period of 7 and 14 days”. It’s seems to be especially effective on arthritis pain And, Krill Oil also has powerful affects on blood fats and sugar. A number of studies have demonstrated effectiveness on raising HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and on reducing blood sugar levels. And, most notably, it’s was shown in a study published in the August 2003 edition of Alternative Medicine review to be effective in reducing physical and emotional symptoms associated with PMS.

So, if you’re using fish oil capsule now, you might want to consider adding in or even replacing your dose entirely with Krill Oil. The biochemistry is certainly compelling and the literature is there to support it. The only company making Krill Oil is Neptune Technologies out of Canada, so any brand you get is going to be pretty much the same stuff. Look for the cheapest but never at the expense of freshness.