Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

If you’re loading up on soy thinking you’re improving your health, it’s becoming increasingly clear you’re the victim of unscrupulous advertising. There’s no better way to sell a product than to convince people it’s healthy!

It is true that this study (Cancer Res 2001; 61 (13): 5045-50) was performed on mice, not people, but its conclusions are nonetheless disturbing. Researchers found that “soy protein diets increased estrogen-dependent tumor growth in a dose-dependent manner.” In other words the more soy the mice ate, the faster their tumors grew. It should also be noted that these were human tumor strains sensitive to human estrogen even though they happened to be in mice. Of course the study refers to already existing tumors and doesn’t imply that soy causes breast cancer in healthy people, but it also doesn’t seem like the type of thing I’d consume in large amounts.

Tags: Cancer
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Making sure there is enough calcium in your child’s diet can be a daunting task, especially when they are on a casein-free diet. The option of calcium supplementation is always available, but the body’s ability to absorb these nutrients from supplements is not nearly as good as when the calcium is contained in the food you eat.

So in my quest to add natural food sources of calcium, I turned to a very wise doctor we all know. He informed me that the sesame seed is an excellent source of calcium. So off I went to Whole Foods Market in search of sesame seeds, and it is there that I discovered a very important piece of information about sesame seeds. All of the bottled tahini (sesame seed paste), the sesame seeds in the spice aisle, and even the shiny white ones in the bulk bins, contained very little calcium.

I was a bit confused, had I been led astray? Surely not, so after further inspection I discovered another bulk bin that contained tan or mottled brown sesame seeds. Certainly not the sesame seeds you would choose to eat, let alone take home to your kids. But I felt fairly confident that Whole Foods was not peddling rancid sesame seeds, so I checked the label.

The difference was that this bin contained unhulled sesame seeds, and the majority of calcium is contained in the hull. In fact, just 1/2 cup of these seeds contains 350 mg, 35% of the recommended daily allowance for calcium. By comparison, 1/2 cup of whole milk provides about 75 mg.

The key to unlocking the nutrients for use in the body is grinding them before consumption; otherwise they will just take the quick tour through the body. You should store them in the freezer and grind only the amount you need to prevent rancidity.

Not only are these seeds full of calcium, they are also powerhouses of other nutrients. They are packed with B vitamins in the form of riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, folic acid and vitamin b6. They also contain the minerals iron, zinc, magnesium, and potassium. To top it all off, the sesame seed makeup is 25% protein.

So pick up a bag of not-so-shiny sesame seeds the next time you are at a health food store, and grind them up to use in cookie and bread recipes, as a crispy coating on your chicken or fish, as a spread for crackers, or as a boost to your smoothie.

Tags: Calcium, Diet
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Wheat-derived products have become a staple of the average American’s diet, especially for children; but increasing numbers of children and adults are finding that they feel better, have sharper focus, and a clearer mind when they leave the wheat out.

Celiac disease, however, deserves a separate discussion. It is a serious immune system disorder that can affect children and adults alike with varying degrees of severity. Although generally associated with chronic diarrhea, at its worst it can lead to failure to thrive, mental retardation, and even early death in untreated children.

Celiac disease has been with us throughout history. The very term celiac is derived from the ancient Greek “Koiliakos” meaning “suffering in the bowels” and the oldest known written record of it goes back to the ancient Roman physician Galen.

What many do not realize is that for most of history, in fact until the 1950’s, celiac disease was a medical mystery and children who had the severe form of it were hospitalized with no hope of a cure.

World War II eventually led us to the solution. When the Germans confiscated all the wheat and other grains in Holland to feed their armies, hospitalized children suffering from celiac disease suddenly and mysteriously recovered, only to relapse again when the war ended. However, it was not until 1950 that the pieces of the puzzle were put together in the doctoral thesis of a Dutch pediatrician by the name of Dicke.

Today it is a well-established fact that a majority of people with celiac disease can enjoy full remission of symptoms through complete avoidance of wheat and other grains that contain a protein called gluten. But could we be on the verge of another breakthrough in our understanding of celiac disease, and possibly other forms of wheat and gluten intolerance?

A recent study found that bread made from wheat flour that is fully fermented using various strains of lactobacillus bacteria is tolerated by individuals with celiac disease (Appl Environ Microbiol 2004 Feb; 70 (2): 1088-1096, PMID 14766592).

Bacterial fermentation is the authentic way sourdough bread is made (unfortunately not the kind sold today in most bakeries and stores). This method represents a primitive bread-making technique and it may not have been until other forms of bread-making were introduced, including yeast fermentation, that celiac disease first appeared.

The lactic acid-producing bacteria used in the study are capable of predigesting gluten and other allergy-inducing proteins, making them tolerable and possibly even beneficial. Children with severe intolerance to milk and other dairy products can actually thrive on yogurt that is fully fermented using the same types of bacteria. Unfortunately this yogurt is not available at stores, but can be ordered from specialized farms throughout the country, including www.whiteegretfarm.com in Texas, or can be made at home using starter from www.customprobiotics.com . I am still researching sources for the right types of bread.

Tags: Diet
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It used to be that the world was simple. Everyone knew that cholesterol caused heart disease and dairy fat contained cholesterol, so it had to be avoided. Then some people started to ask too many questions and it all became complicated.

One thing we came to learn is that most cholesterol is made in the liver, and the liver keeps on making it whether we eat cholesterol or not. So the question became, why on earth does the liver make all this cholesterol, endangering our health? A few interesting new studies could point us in a new direction.

In the first study (Br J Nutr 2004, Apr; 91 (4): 635-42) researchers started out with a statement of fact (from when the world was simple): “milk fat is high in saturated fatty acids (SFA) and high intakes of SFA are associated with cardiovascular diseases.”

Oddly enough, though, when they looked at the occurrence of first-ever heart attacks in a north Sweden population, they couldn’t find any link between these two. In fact, when they analyzed some recognized risk factors for heart disease, including insulin resistance (a pre-diabetic condition) they actually found an inverse correlation between them. This means that some important risk factors for cardiovascular disease decreased as people ate more milk fat.

In another study (BMJ 2003; 327: 777-782, 4 October) researchers analyzed intakes of saturated fat in more than 40,000 US healthcare workers. They then looked at rates of stroke within this group over a period of 14 years and concluded that “intakes of red meats, high-fat dairy products, nuts, and eggs were not appreciably related to risk of stroke.”

So if milk fat does not cause first heart attacks or strokes, what does? The answer to this question is probably complex and multi-factorial, but a third study (Obes Res 2003 Sep; 11 (9): 1069-103) does at least give us a hint. The study found that when carbohydrate consumption goes up, the body rapidly starts to produce fat. Not only that, but the excess carbohydrates apparently activate genetic factors that are programmed to keep on making more fats (including cholesterol). Could sugar be the real culprit? Remember, too, that when people cut fat from their diets they inevitably end up eating more carbohydrates because of the unavoidable law of nature that says you’ve got to eat something.

Tags: Diet, Heart Issues
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If you have fibromyalgia – a condition characterized by persistent muscle pain – or if a friend or loved one of yours is afflicted, you’d do anything for some relief, and if it can come in the form of a natural supplement that is good for you, all the better.

This study (J Rheumatol. 1992 Jan; 19 (1): 90-4) is a bit old, but it deserves a second look. Reviewing the blood levels of different nutrients, investigators found that people with fibromyalgia had consistently lower levels of tryoptophan, a protein-derived amino acid that the brain uses to make serotonin, the “happy” neurotransmitter.

Tryptophan is also known for an infamous episode in the 1980’s when the FDA removed it from the market after a single contaminated batch made it into the U.S., probably as a result of poor FDA supervision. Fortunately, tryptophan is slowly making its way back and 5HTP – a related compound – is readily available at health food stores.

It is not known whether fibromyalgia is in some way associated with low levels of serotonin in the brain, or whether it is some other function of tryptophan that is lacking. Nevertheless it has been a steady observation of mine that, although not a cure, either tryptophan or 5HTP can help. This is also a case where if a little doesn’t do the job, more might.

Tags: Fibromyalgia
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