Transcript You Are What You Eat - Yampa Valley Medical Center

Charlie Petersen MD
Diet/Eating
 It’s personal
 Everyone “does it”
 A powerful factor affecting health
-more potent than smoking
“Combining healthy diet, regular exercise, and not
smoking can eliminate 80% of heart disease and 70%
of some cancers.”
Walter Willett MD
The Top 10 Sources of Calories in
the American diet
Soft drinks, Pastries and baked goods, Hamburgers, Pizza, White bread and
crackers, Alcohol, Milk and cheese, Meat, Poultry, Salty snacks- potato chips and
French fries
The most important predictor of
future health is weight
Weight and waistline
Weight strongly influences the chances of Stroke
 Heart disease
 Hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes
 Sleep apnea
 Breast, uterine, colon, kidney cancers
 Arthritis
 Esophageal reflux/heartburn
“Diet”
Don’t think elimination, avoidance, abstinence
Think - diet of abundance
Abundance of foods proven to nourish and
protect us.
You are what you eat….
Every molecule of your being is derived from what you
chose to eat.
Thus we need eat intentionally, mindfully.
What do K Rations from WW2
have in common with the
Mediterranean Diet?
Ancel Keys
Seven Countries Study
 Prospective, 1950-’60’s
 16 different populations in 7 countries
 Country by country food surveys
 Tenfold difference between Finland and Crete in heart
disease rates.
 The more saturated fat in the country’s diet the more
heart disease
Seven Countries Study
 Cretan diet was largely plant based-
Basic foods - whole grains, fruits, vegetables,
beans, nuts and seeds.
Limited amounts – cheese, yogurt, fish.
Not daily – red meat, poultry.
Olive oil was the main dietary fat source.
People drank wine often with meals.
Lyon Diet Heart Study
 French study began 1988
 605 men & women after 1st heart attack
 AHA prudent diet versus Mediterranean diet, with
alpha-linolenic acid enriched margarine.
Patients encouraged to eat more fruits/vegetables,
whole grains, and fish while less red meat.
Lyon Diet Heart Study
Findings
After 2.5 years the trial was stopped early with 70%
reduction in all cause mortality with
Mediterranean diet.
At 5 years 70% mortality benefit maintained.
Despite no change in weight or cholesterol levels.
Hmmmmm????
Lyon Diet Heart Study
Essential Fatty Acids
Essential Fatty Acids
 Omega-6
 Arachidonic
Acid
Omega-3
EPA/DHA
Essential Fatty Acids
Linoleic
α – Linolenic
Flaxseed
Walnuts
Canola
Soy
Inflammatory
Vaso-constricting
Thrombotic
Anti-inflammatory
Vaso-dilating
Blood thinning
Where do Fish get their EPA and
DHA ?
Primary Prevention of
Cardiovascular Disease with a
Mediterranean Diet- NEJM 2/2013
 7447 men & women, ages 55-80 years
 No known CAD
 Must have either diabetes, or at least 3 risk factors-
smoking, hypertension, high LDL cholesterol, low
HDL, overweight, and strong family history of CAD.
Spanish trial
Patients were randomized to either
- M diet with olive oil (1 liter/week)
- M diet with nuts (30 grams/day)
- Low fat diet.
Mediterranean diet patients encouraged to increase
fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, poultry, olive oil 4
tbs/day, and wine.
Discouraged red meat, soda, baked goods, and fatty dairy
Spanish trial
- Patients were followed for median 4.8 years
- Trial stopped early
30% relative risk reduction in composite of
myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from
CV causes.
Ornish CAD Reversal Lifestyle Trial
 Very low fat diet
 Moderate exercise
 Stress reduction
 Group support
Outcomes:
Chest pain resolution
1 and 5 year angiogram improvement in stenoses
What does Cauliflower have to do with Breast
Cancer?
Indole-3 carbinol
 The crucifer family of vegetables
cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale,
cabbage, collard/mustard greens, radishes,
turnups, rutabaga
contain cancer protecting chemicals- indoles, isothiocyanates, thiocyanates, and
nitriles.
-Phytochemicals-
Indole-3 carbinol
 Is a negative, “down-regulator”, of estrogen.
 Studies increasingly show that dietary I-3-C prevents
the development of estrogen-enhanced cancers
including breast, endometrial, and cervical cancers.
There are thousands of plant based chemicals which
protect both plants and people.
 Tomatoes, apricots, watermelon, papaya, and pink
grapefruit are concentrated sources of lycopene.
Phytochemical Lycopene
 Evidence is strongest for Lycopene’s protective effect
against cancer of the lung, stomach, and prostate.
 Perhaps also cancer of cervix, breast, mouth, pancreas,
esophagus, and colon.
Am. Cancer Society
Eat from the Entire Rainbow of plant foods…
Fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds,
herbs and spices
BUT………..???
Protein Quality?
All essential amino acids are plant based….
Only Plants Give us Fiber
Animals have boney skeletons for structure.
Only the carbohydrate endosperm remains after refining
whole grains…
 High intake of fruits and vegetables
 Replace refined “white nothingness” foods with whole
grains
Summary
* Maintain healthy weight
* Replace refined “white nothingness” foods with whole grains
* Replace red meat with better protein “packages” of
nuts, seeds, beans and fish
* Use olive oil as primary fat
* Supplement with omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil, walnuts,
and/or flaxseed)
* Low to moderate alcohol intake
Make Sure That You Are Getting
Enough Of The Good Stuff…
No medicine or surgery has reversed lifestyle induced
disease. Only profound lifestyle change has proven
successful.
True Healthcare
 Is discovered at the grocery store and not the
pharmacy…….
Any moment unaware is lost Jon Kabat-Zinn
Only that day dawns to which we are awakeHenry David Thoreau
Eat mindfully, heartfully and enjoy –
Charlie Petersen
Health and Wellness