Is Meat Unhealthy? Part IX

Welcome to the last post in the series.  Time to summarize and wrap it up!

Respect

I respect each person's right to choose the diet they prefer.  This includes vegetarians and vegans, particularly because most of them make daily sacrifices to try to make the world a better place for all of us.  I'm an omnivore, but I sympathize with some of the philosophy and I often eat beans or lentils instead of meat*.

Our history with meat

Our ancestors have probably been eating some form of meat continuously for at least two hundred million years.  However, the quantity has waxed and waned.  The first mammals were probably largely carnivorous (insectivores).  Yet our primate ancestors went through a 60-million-year arboreal phase, during which we probably ate fruit, leaves, seeds, insects, and perhaps a little bit of vertebrate meat.  We only outgrew this phase in the last few million years, when we developed the tools and the brains to pursue prey more effectively.

During our 2.6 million-year stint as hominin hunter-gatherers, we ate an omnivorous diet, although we really have very little idea how much meat it contained (it probably varied by time and place).  Historical and contemporary hunter-gatherer cultures are all omnivorous, and typically eat significant to substantial quantities of meat, suggesting that our ancestors may have done the same.  Non-industrial agricultural populations eat as much meat as they can get, although they usually can't get as much as hunter-gatherers.

If there is such thing as a natural human diet, it is clearly omnivorous.

Meat, obesity, and chronic disease

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We Do Science Interview

I recently did an interview with Laurent Bannock, an expert in sport and exercise nutrition.  His podcast We Do Science has rapidly become quite popular, due to Laurent's credibility and the interesting guests he interviews.  We covered body composition, metabolically healthy obesity, the relationship between BMI and mortality, calorie counting, body fat regulation, and other related topics.

If you've already listened to several of my interviews and are starting to find them repetitive, you might enjoy this one because we cover some new ground.  Laurent was a gracious host.  Follow the link below to listen:

Neurobiology of Obesity, with Stephan Guyenet

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... the Cinnabon cinnamon roll!!!

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Can High-Fiber Foods Fight the Metabolic Syndrome?

The metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is a cluster of signs including abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and blood lipid disturbances.  MetSyn is the quintessential modern metabolic disorder, and it affects about one third of Americans.  Many MetSyn diets recommend eating high-fiber foods, and research on the role of the gut microbiota in body weight and health tends to support this recommendation.  Yet these diets are complex, so it's difficult to attribute positive effects to the high-fiber foods specifically, and some people have questioned the benefits of dietary fiber.  Do high-fiber foods really improve MetSyn and promote weight loss?

The study

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Sweet Potato Chocolate Spread

What if I told you that 2 tbsp of this spread provides you with all the vitamin A you need in a day? Sounds too good to be true? Well it isn't. Other than being delicious, sweet potatoes are packed with this super important nutrient that keeps your eyes in good condition and your skin beautifully radiant. Plus this recipe is so simple and quick to make and only requires five ingredients! No excuses!

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized, peeled sweet potatoes (380 g)

3 tbsp melted cacao butter or coconut oil

10 dates (100 g)

2 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder

Pinch of salt


How to:

1. Cube the sweet potato and steam until entirely soft and easy to pierce with a fork, approximately 15-20 minutes.
2. Transfer the cooked sweet potato to a medium-sized bowl, add the remaining ingredients and blend with a hand blender until smooth. This could also be done using a food processor.
3. Spoon up the chocolate spread in a mason jar or any airtight container of your choice and store in the fridge.

Enjoy this spread on peanut butter sandwiches, your oatmeal or eat it straight from the jar with a spoon! (That's what I do...)

Chocolate love from Tilda ♥

Adventures in Gestational Diabetes Testing

I needed a hug!

It has recently become standard practice to test every pregnant woman for gestational diabetes (GD) somewhere between 24-28 weeks along. There are many good things about this, mostly because once identified, there are real tangible things one can do to prevent the associated complications, often only with changes in diet and lifestyle.

My objection, personally, only came up to the method of testing. In an effort to make the process uniform, they use a glucose solution called Glucola to give you a set amount of sugar. The first screening test involves drinking the solution (50g of glucose from dextrose/corn sugar) within 5 minutes, waiting an hour, and then having blood drawn to test glucose levels. If your levels are high for this (over 140), you go on to do a similar procedure with 100g solution. This time, you have to come in fasted, have blood drawn, drink the solution, and get tested each hour for 3 hours. If any two of your values are considered high, you are officially diagnosed as having GD.

I get why this would be a very convenient and standardized way to do this for the medical community. You can compare data across populations and have very clear procedures. However, as an individual patient with my own needs, concerns, and medical history, this procedure was not in my best interest. As someone who has followed a whole foods based diet low in processed sugar and grains for several years (four now), I know that my body does not handle those things well at all. And I'm not alone in this. I am in no way perfect with my eating, but I do eat far less than the average amount of refined sugar. As a result, my system isn’t used to having to deal with large doses of glucose all at once and takes a bit longer to clear such occasional occurrences. I don’t believe this to be a pathological state or any problem for my overall health. Ironically, if I was eating an unhealthy diet of processed food, my body would probably be better equipped to deal with the sugar load, in the short term. The problem with this, though, is that over time my system would get worn out from such a taxing business and that is how Type 2 diabetes develops. You basically get burned out. With my former habits and family history, I know that would have inevitably been my fate, had I not changed my ways.

So back to this whole GD thing. I was pretty sure I was going to fail that test. I talked with my doctor about an alternative – what *I* care about is how *my* body is handling the actual food I eat every day, not how I handle a glass of flat sugary soda I’d never drink willingly in a million years. I bought a blood glucose meter and told her I’d be willing to test my sugars 4 times a day for a couple weeks to see how my body was handling what I actually eat. No dice. I was told I must do the glucose tolerance test. I know in theory that all health procedures are, in the end, up to the patient and that no one could force me to do anything. But that’s not how it feels. It felt like I had no choice, no options. I debated what to do and finally decided just to do the initial screening test. I have to say that I felt very pressured and uncomfortable with the whole thing.

And… I failed the screening test. Of course. This left me staring at the next step of the 3 hour test, which would be quite unpleasant. Try telling a pregnant lady she can’t eat anything when she gets up, has to make it to the lab, drink sugar, and sit for 3 hours – and get 4 blood draws. Women do this all the time and I am so sorry for that. That sounds like a lousy day. Couple that with how large amounts of sugar make me feel (exhausted, light headed, sometimes nauseated) and that just is not something I wanted to do. All so they could tell me I have GD based on completely abnormal behavior *for me*.

I should say that I don’t fear having to test blood sugar or monitoring it on my own at all. I certainly don’t fear the diet and lifestyle recommendations they’d give me (ironically to basically eat how I normally do and exercise). What I fear is a needless diagnosis on my medical history that would open me up for additional interventions and higher probability for things like being induced or even a C-section. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think any of those things are bad, they’re just overused and not optimal, if they can be safely avoided. I do not want to be classified high risk if my actual lifestyle, behavior, and health do not warrant it.

As a result, I started testing my blood sugar (BS) 4 times a day – fasting (goal of 95 or less) and 2 hours after meals (120 or less). I did that for a couple days between failing the screening test and seeing my doctor. (All but one of the values was in range – the outlier? The night I had gluten free pizza, a processed food that I eat occasionally – proving that I do not handle processed food well). I did this to show her not only that my numbers were fine based on what I actually eat, but also that I’m willing to be proactive about my health. Refusing the 3 hour test (which is what I went in to the appointment determined to do), was not about putting my head in the sand and pretending I don’t have a problem that might harm my baby. It was about individualizing my care and making sure I’m not treated for a disease I do not have.

It was an uncomfortable appointment and it was upsetting to me that the doctor was most concerned about checking things off her list – she just couldn’t fathom not doing B after A (if you fail the one hour, you do the three hour test). She barely looked at my BS numbers and food diary or even commented on the fact that they were almost all perfect, which would be impossible for anyone with gestational diabetes that wasn’t already being treated. I finally just had to say, “I’m not going to do it” – as an emphatic statement regarding the 3 hour test. Multiple times she threatened that I’d have to test my BS 4 times a day for the rest of my pregnancy, as if that was the worst thing in the world (people with GS do this, of course). Every time she said that, I just replied that would be fine with me. I love data and the info is very interesting to me, in any case.

In the end, she wrapped her head around the fact that I wasn’t going to budge and agreed to treat me like a gestational diabetic, in terms of monitoring BS, education, etc. but hold off on any official diagnosis until such time that I demonstrated that my numbers were not staying in range. This, was all I wanted. It was hard won, but totally worth it.

Coincidentally, my doctor is also expecting a baby so I will have to switch providers soon anyway. I will be asking about how the next one feels about this plan of action first thing!

The info I’m getting from testing has already been so enlightening. Knowing that pizza is not my friend (is anyone surprised?) is good to know since it is something I indulge in every so often. I’m going to test after making my own crust at home from this Paleo Spirit recipe which I love, to see if I tolerate that. If not, I will just avoid it, but it’s good to know either way. Another cool thing I’ve noticed is that putting maple syrup, honey, or dates in hot cocoa, tea, and protein shakes does not spike my BS at all. I don’t use a lot at any given time, but still, it’s good to know that I don’t have to go down to very low carb, something I was avoiding during pregnancy. Brown rice is fine, too. I will check on potatoes and sweet potatoes as they come up in my diet. I’ve had a few apples and a banana at one point, none of which pushed me over, either.

Overall, this has been a really interesting experience. It was frustrating to feel so misunderstood about something so important to my health and our little Cute Baby. I’m sure it won’t be the last time I’ll have to stand up for what should be common sense in this Bizarro world of ours. Personally, I hate confrontation and dealing with this was super tough on me. I definitely don’t do any of this lightly. For me, drinking something not-optimal once or twice isn’t the issue or a big deal. We are resilient beings, thank goodness. But, I don’t think it’s crazy to want to avoid all the potential downstream effects. So in the end, I’m glad I bothered to take a stand and I hope this might just make it a little bit easier on the next crazy lady who doesn’t want to drink the Kool-Aid Glucola.

Is Meat Unhealthy? Part VIII

Health can be defined as the absence of disease, and that is the lens through which we've been examining meat so far.  However, most of us have a broader view of health that also includes optimal growth and development, physical and mental performance, well-being, fertility, immunity, robustness, and resilience.  What role does meat play in this broader view of health?

Non-industrial cultures

One of the things I keep coming back to in this series is the strong natural affinity that our species has for meat.  Every culture that does not prohibit meat consumption for religious reasons (e.g., Indian Hindus) seeks and eats meat avidly.

A key fact that stands out from my recent conversations with anthropologists is that hunter-gatherers and subsistence agriculturalists place a high value on meat, even if they already have regular access to it.  Here's an excerpt from a paper by Kim Hill, Magdalena Hurtado, and colleagues (1):

Observations of the exchange rate between other foragers and their agricultural neighbors indicate that meat is worth much more than carbohydrate calories (e.g., Hart 1978; Peterson 1981). Hart, in his study of exchanges of meat and casava between Pygmy foragers and neighboring agriculturalists, found that approximately four and one half times as many calories of casava were exchanged for each calorie of meat given. In addition, it appears that almost everywhere in the world meat calories from domestic animals are probably expensive to produce relative to plant calories, and yet subsistence farmers continue to use at least some of their "cheap" plant calories to produce "expensive" animal calories (see Harris 1985 for discussion)

Why do humans around the globe value meat so much?  This strongly suggests that we've evolved an affinity for meat because eating it provides a reproductive advantage.  In other words, meat may increase our "Darwinian fitness".

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Doctor says that statins may be the cause of the current heart failure and atherosclerosis epidemic

This paper was published in Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology 2015 Feb 6:1-11

 

Study title and authors:

Statins stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure: pharmacological mechanisms.

Okuyama H, Langsjoen PH, Hamazaki T, Ogushi Y, Hama R, Kobayashi T, Uchino H.

Nagoya City University and Institute for Consumer Science and Human Life, Kinjo Gakuin University, 2-1723 Omori, Moriyama, Nagoya 463-8521, Japan.

 

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25655639

Dr Harumi Okuyama and his team from the Nagoya City University in Japan discuss the mechanisms of how statins may cause atherosclerosis and heart failure.

Dr Okuyama states:
(i) In contrast to the current belief that cholesterol reduction with statins decreases atherosclerosis, we present a perspective that statins may be causative in coronary artery calcification and can function as mitochondrial toxins that impair muscle function in the heart and blood vessels through the depletion of coenzyme Q₁₀ and 'heme A', and thereby ATP generation.
(ii) Statins inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K_2. Vitamin K2 protects arteries from calcification.
(iii) Statins inhibit the biosynthesis of selenium containing proteins. An impairment of selenoprotein biosynthesis may be a factor in congestive heart failure.

Dr Okuyama concludes: "The epidemic of heart failure and atherosclerosis that plagues the modern world may paradoxically be aggravated by the pervasive use of statin drugs".

Links to other studies:
Statin treatment may lead to heart failure
Statin therapy leads to worsening of left ventricular diastolic function in 71% of patients
Statins should not be given to patients with heart failure

Creamy Dreamy Peanut Butter-Blueberry Sundae

Ice cream:

- 3 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen (300-330 g)

- 3-4 tbsp almond milk

- 1 heaped tbsp Arctic Berries Blueberry Powder

- 1 pinch vanilla powder or extract

Peanut Butter Sauce:

- 1 tbsp peanut flour (or peanut butter)

- 1 tbsp almond milk

- 1 pinch sea salt

Optional:

- Toppings such as mulberries, coconut chips or raw cacao nibs

How to:

1. Start by making the peanut butter sauce: in a small bowl combine the ingredients for the sauce with a fork until you're left with a thick yet runny sauce. Set aside while you make the ice cream.
2. Place all the ice cream ingredients except for the almond milk in a food processor or high speed blender and blend on high*. Blend for approximately 60-90 seconds or until the frozen banana slices have all been broken down to tiny pieces. Stop to scrape down the sides if necessary.
3. Carefully remove the top cap from your blender and slowly pour in the almond milk while blending. Blend on high until smooth and again, stop to scrape down the sides if you need to. Be patient and don't add more liquid unless you really have to. The ice cream will be much creamier and not as runny this way.
4. Spoon the ice cream up in two bowls and drizzle generously with the peanut butter sauce. Top with whatever you desire and eat immediately before it melts! (And feel free to just have it ALL for yourself. That's what I did.)

*I find this the most effective way to get a creamy, completely smooth ice cream but if it seems too complicated to you, simply place all the ice cream ingredients in the blender/food processor and blend until smooth.

Cute Baby Chronicles: Heading into the Third Trimester

Back in August, 40 weeks seemed like an eternity and waiting until we felt OK sharing the news was excruciating. But now it's suddenly February and I'm staring at the 28 week mark coming on on Tuesday. That will put us into the THIRD TRIMESTER, as in the final one. To think, we have 2/3 of this process under our belt already (no pun intended!)

I'm starting to feel like a "real" pregnant lady. The belly is now pretty obvious and I feel a ton of movement which never ceases to amaze me each and every time. There is actually a little mini human in there!

It's not all unicorns and rainbows, of course. My body is starting to feel the pressure of this additional responsibility. The last couple weeks have spawned the onset of sore feet and wrists, pelvic and lower back pain, and some sleep disturbances. But on the whole, I am feeling pretty great, grateful, and just over the moon to be blessed with this experience. I try my best to focus on all the positive and address any concerns proactively instead of just complaining. Cute Man is pretty empathetic and helpful when I do have to get a bit of that off my chest :)

To help me feel my best, I've started going for prenatal massage, which is heavenly and should be mandatory for all pregnant women. I'm also looking into going to a chiropractor to help with the pelvic pain, which is not fun at all. I'm doing a bit of yoga at work and a 4 week prenatal series with the teacher of the fertility workshop I did last summer. 4 of us are now preggo and it's so nice to be in a class with them again. My wrists can't seem to take any weight, so I'm modifying a lot, but it's still worth it and extremely relaxing. It just feels good to move!

I'm excited to be going to Ikea this weekend with Cute Man to scope out nursery furniture. We're not quite ready to buy anything yet, so it'll be more of an exploratory trip. Cute Man may have to strap my hands to my sides, though, to stop me from buying up all the adorableness. I'm pretty proud of my restraint so far. I have yet to buy much of anything baby related. I guess I'm afraid that it could break some sort of seal and open the floodgates of spending that I can't stop. So far, so good. Wish me luck!

Berry-Boosted Blueberry Jam (Naturally Sweetened)

There's something oddly comforting about jam. That sweet, slightly sour taste adds another dimension to basically any carb-y meals. On top of a steaming hot bowl of oatmeal is how we usually enjoy our jam here in Sweden but I have always loved to spread a thick layer of raspberry preserves on top of a crispy, golden brown slice of toast. Mhm. And I know I just said raspberry even though this recipe specifically calls for blueberries. Confession: I didn't like blueberries as a kid. I loved spinach but not blueberries. Yes, I was weird. Moving on.

I must say I'm very pleased with this recipe. It's thick, just like jam is supposed to be. Don't want any of that runny, slimy stuff, no thank you. So it's thick, packs a punch of blueberry flavour only rounded off by a hint of vanilla. I even got my mom hooked on it so now it's a battle against time to have as much as possible for myself before she eats it all up!

Also, I finally got to use a jar from the collection featured throughout this post. To say that I have an obsession with jars is an understatement. This recipe makes one small jar but if you feel like you're likely to finish it soon after making, feel free to double the recipe. You could probably even freeze some for later if you wanted to, even though I haven't tried this myself yet.

Finally I want to point out that this jam is even more nutrient-dense than your average Homemade-healthy-jam all thanks to the Arctic Berries powders! I added some of the blueberry powder and some of the sea buckthorn powder in this but combine them however you want for your own personal touch! Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Berry-Boosted Blueberry Jam

-1/2 lb (225 g) frozen or fresh blueberries

- 6-8 fresh dates (75 g)

- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla powder

- 1/2 tbsp  any Arctic Berries Powder (I used the Sea buckthorn and blueberry powders)

- 1 tbsp chia seeds

How to:

1. Place the blueberries in a small sauce pan and slowly thaw them over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, pit the dates and put them in a small bowl. Blend the dates with a hand blender until smooth and set aside.
3. Once the berries start to release their juices, bring it up to the boil and let boil for about a minute.
4. Remove the blueberries from the heat and stir in the date paste, vanilla powder and Arctic berries powder(s). If the date paste feels very dense and hard to incorporate into the berry mixture, start by transferring a few tablespoons of blueberry juice into the bowl with the date paste and mix the two to make it a bit looser in consistency.
5. Lastly, stir in the chia seeds and make sure they're evenly divided throughout the jam.
6. Spoon the jam up in a glass jar, seal it and let sit on the countertop to cool off before putting it in the fridge.

My favourite way to eat this jam - thinly spread on top of a rice cake.

Best Granola Ever (no oil!)

Prepare yourselves for the crunchiest, sweetest, most delectable granola ever! Though you could never tell from how they taste, these caramel-ly clusters are 100% refined sugar-free and contain no added syrups or oils whatsoever! That's just how we do it around here. ;)

The added nutrient-boost from the sea buckthorn powder gives this granola an extra umph, a je-ne-sais-quoi that is hard to beat. I know that I'm going to add this beautiful orange powder to many more recipes from here on out and after tasting this granola, I hope that you are as well.

Sea Buckthorn & Buckwheat Granola

1 cup raw buckwheat groats (175 g)

1/2 cup quinoa pops (15 g)

1/2 cup raw almonds (75 g)

14 dates, pitted (160 g)

2 tbsp Arctic Berries Sea Buckthorn Powder

2 tbsp water

How to:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 130C.
2. Chop the almonds coarsely and pale them in a large bowl along with the buckwheat groats and quinoa pops.
3. In another, smaller bowl, blend the pitted dates, water and the sea buckthorn powder with a hand blender until completely smooth.
4. Transfer the date paste into the bigger bowl and mix well with the grains and almonds until you have a chunky 'dough'.
5. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove to stir around every ten minutes to prevent the clusters from burning!
6. To make sure the clusters stay crunchy, leave them in the oven overnight to dry out, preferably with the oven lamp on.
7. Store in an airtight container and enjoy on top of your smoothies, oatmeal, banana ice ream or anything really!

Employment Opportunities at the Healthy World Cafe

The Healthy World Cafe is accepting applications for two part-time positions:  Cafe Cook I and Cafe Cook II to work with the Cafe Manager and Volunteers at 24 South George Street, York, PA.

Click Here to see the Job Descriptions

Send your letter of interest and resume to:

HWC Personnel Committee
P.O. Box 1226
York, PA  17405