Dr. Steve Chaney, Author at Health Tips From The Professor

Blue Zones Longevity: Live to be 100, Healthy and Active

August 22, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

The diet wars are raging. Everywhere you turn people are arguing about which diet is best. Each diet is based on plausible sounding hypotheses. Each diet has rigid do’s and don’ts. Proponents of these diets are absolutely convinced they have the only answer for a healthy life.

You’ve heard the arguments. It is fat that’s killing you. No, it’s the carbs. Saturated fats are bad for you. No, they’re good for you. Coconut oil is bad for you. No, you should eat as much of it as possible. Unsaturated fats are good for you. No, they’re bad for you. The list goes on and on.

It is so confusing. The “experts” arguing over which diet is best can’t all be right…or can they? What if they are like the fable of the 6 blind men grabbing different parts of an elephant and trying to describe the elephant. Each is describing part of the elephant, but none of them know what the whole elephant is like.

The problem is most diets are based on hypotheses derived from short-term clinical studies. For example, scientists design a clinical study that makes some changes to the diet, and cholesterol levels improve, or blood pressure improves, or markers of inflammation improve. Someone then incorporates those specific changes into their “diet program” and predicts what the health of people following their diet will be 20 or 30 years into the future. They write a book, and another diet fad is launched.

Those diet authors are like one of the blind men. They have grabbed part of the elephant, and they are trying to predict what the whole elephant looks like based on the part they know. In most cases, they have no idea whether people who follow their diet for 20 or 30 years will be healthy. The long-term data to support their hypotheses simply does not exist.

What if you took the opposite approach? What if you started with the elephant? What if you asked people living healthy, active lives well into their 100s what they ate and how they lived?

Someone has done just that. His name is Dan Buettner. He identified five regions of the world, which he called ”Blue Zones,” where an unusually high percentage of people live into their 100s. He then asked the centenarians in each region about their diet and lifestyle. The results of this remarkable study were published in a book called “The Blue Zones.”

How Was The Study Done?

Dan Buettner is not a scientist. He is a journalist, and his initial “Blue Zone” expeditions were sponsored by National Geographic. However, to his credit he collaborated with the top scientists in the fields of demographics, social anthropology and statistics. In short, he did things right.

The demographers helped him locate the Blue Zones and poured over the birth and death records so they could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt these were regions where an extraordinary percentage of people lived to 100 and beyond. The social anthropologists helped him design the questionnaires and interview the centenarians. The statisticians helped him analyze the data.

The Blue Zones were very diverse. They consisted of:

A mountainous municipality on the Island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy.
Rural villages on the Island of Okinawa.
The 7^th Day Adventist community in Loma Linda, California.
Some remote villages in Costa Rica
A small island called Ikaria off the coast of Greece.

Many of these locations are remote, but the 7^th Day Adventist community lives in the heavily populated Los Angeles basin. In his book, Dan Buettner describes getting off the freeway and driving past all the usual fast food restaurants on his way to interview the 7^th Day Adventist centenarians, who obviously never ate at those restaurants.

The people in each of these regions followed a lifestyle that was dramatically different from people in surrounding communities. In the case of the 7^th Day Adventists, their lifestyle was based on their religious teachings. People in the other regions were simply following traditions passed down over many generations.

It is fascinating to read about each of these Blue Zone communities. There were some significant differences in the foods they ate and the way they lived their lives. However, Dan Buettner and his scientific collaborators were not interested in the differences. They were interested in the similarities.

The similarities were striking. More importantly, they tell us a lot about the kind of diet and lifestyle that is associated with health and longevity. This isn’t hypothetical health and longevity based on some short-term clinical studies. This is real life health and longevity based on people who have actually lived it.

What Do Blue Zones Tell Us About Longevity?

Here are the common characteristics of every Blue Zone studied. I call them “the secrets of the centenarians.”

#1: They engage in moderate intensity exercise every day. None of them run marathons or engage in high intensity workouts in the gym. Some are shepherds. Others tend their farms. The 7^th Day Adventists take nature walks. Exercise isn’t planned. It is part of their daily life.

#2: They stop eating before they are full. As a child, I remember a TV add in which the actor would say “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” before plopping two Alka-Seltzers in a glass of water. The long-living people in Blue Zones don’t do that. They stop eating when they are no longer hungry, not when they are full. Okinawans call it hara hachi bu, which roughly translates into stopping when their stomachs are 80% full. That simple practice cuts calories by 20% and dramatically reduces the incidence of obesity.

#3: They eat a mostly plant-based diet. They eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Nuts also play an important role in their diet. Beans are the major protein source. They avoid processed foods and seldom eat meat. Strict 7^th Day Adventists avoid meat entirely. The other Blue Zone populations ate meat primarily on special occasions. When they did eat meat, it was often pork or lamb. Based on the data from these Blue Zone populations, Dan Buettner recommends eating meat no more than twice a week, with each serving being the size of a deck of cards.

#4: They have a libation with their meals. For the Sardinians, it was red wine. For the Okinawans, it was sake. The key is moderation. No more than a glass or two. If you don’t drink, that’s fine too.

#5: They have a purpose in their lives. They have a reason to live. It can be service to others. It can be a hobby. It can be a quest for learning something new. Whatever it is, they have something to look forward to every day.

#6: They set aside time for relaxation. They have a time set aside each day to relax with friends or family and de-stress. This improves their mental outlook and reduces their risk of disease.

#7: They participate in a spiritual community. The religions were different in each Blue Zone, but they all belonged to strong religious communities. As Dan Buettner put it: “The simple act of worship is one of those subtly powerful habits that seems to improve your chances of having more good years.”

#8: They put family first. They build their lives around their families, and when they become old their families take care of them.

#9: They surround themselves with communities that share their values. These social networks provide support, encouragement, and happiness.

As you read through the 9 things that these Blue Zone communities have in common, your first reaction may be one of dismay. In today’s world, it is exceedingly difficult to achieve all 9 elements of a centenarian lifestyle. Just be comforted with the thought that the more of these 9 elements you can incorporate into your personal “Blue Zone,” the healthier you will be and the longer you will live.

What Do Blue Zones Tell Us About Diet?

If you have been trying to figure out what kind of diet is best for you, the biggest take home lesson from “The Blue Zones” is that you can forget all the absolutes you have heard from the proponents of various diet plans. For example:

All the Blue Zone communities included whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables as part of their diet. You don’t have follow a low carb diet to live to 100.
While all the Blue Zone communities ate a plant-based diet, most included some meat in their diet. You don’t have to go meatless to live to 100.
Some of the Blue Zone communities ate pork and lamb as their main meat. If you eat meats sparingly as part of a mostly plant-based diet, you can eat red meat and still live to 100.
Only two of the five Blue Zones were in the Mediterranean region. You don’t have to follow a Mediterranean diet to live to 100.

In short, the proponents of today’s popular diet plans are indeed like the 6 blind men trying to describe an elephant. When you see the entire elephant, it looks a lot different.

The Bottom Line

In his book “The Blue Zones,” Dan Buettner described five regions of the world where an exceptionally high proportion of people are living healthy, active lives well into their 100s. He teamed with a group of scientists to find out what they eat and how they live.
Here are the 9 common characteristics of every Blue Zone Community he studied:
- They engage in moderate intensity exercise every day.
- They stop eating before they are full.
- They eat a mostly plant-based diet.
- They have a libation with their meals.
- They have a purpose in their lives.
- They set aside time for relaxation.
- They participate in a spiritual community.
- They put family first.
- They surround themselves with communities that share their values.
As you read through 9 things the Blue Zone communities have in common, your first reaction might be one of dismay. In today’s world, it is exceedingly difficult to achieve all 9 elements of a centenarian lifestyle. Just be comforted with the thought that the more of these 9 elements you can incorporate into your personal “Blue Zone,” the healthier you will be and the longer you will live.
When you look at what people in Blue Zone communities eat, the biggest take home lesson is that you can forget all the absolutes you have heard from the proponents of various popular diet plans. For example:
- All the Blue Zone communities included whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables as part of their diet. You don’t have follow a low carb diet to live to 100.
- While all the Blue Zone communities ate a plant-based diet, most included some meat in their diet. You don’t have to go meatless to live to 100.
- Some of the Blue Zone communities ate pork and lamb as their main meat. If you eat meats sparingly as part of a mostly plant-based diet, you can eat red meat and still live to 100.
- Only two of the five Blue Zones were in the Mediterranean region. You don’t have to follow a Mediterranean diet to live to 100.
For details, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

One of the Little known Causes of Headaches

August 15, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Your Sleeping Position May Be Causing Your Headaches!

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

Can sleeping position be one of the causes of headaches?

A Sleeping position that has your head tilted puts pressure on your spinal cord and will cause headaches. I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times, and the reasoning is so logical it’s easy to understand.

Your spinal cord runs from your brain, through each of your vertebrae, down your arms and legs. Nerves pass out of the vertebrae and go to every cell in your body, including each of your organs. When you are sleeping it is important to keep your head, neck, and spine in a horizontal plane so you aren’t straining the muscles that insert into your vertebrae.

The graphic above is a close-up of your skull and the cervical (neck) vertebrae. Your nerves are shown in yellow, and your artery is shown in red. Consider what happens if you hold your head to one side for hours. You can notice that the nerves and artery will likely be press upon. Also, since your spinal cord comes down the inside of the vertebrae, it will also be impinged.

In 2004 the Archives of Internal Medicine published an article stating that 1 out of 13 people have morning headaches. It’s interesting to note that the article never mentions the spinal cord being impinged by the vertebrae. That’s a major oversight!

Muscles merge into tendons, and the tendons insert into the bone. As you stayed in the tilted position for hours, the muscles actually shortened to the new length. Then you try to turn over, but the short muscles are holding your cervical vertebrae tightly, and they can’t lengthen.

The weight of your head pulls on the vertebrae, putting even more pressure on your spinal cord and nerves. Plus, the tight muscles are pulling on the bones, causing pain on the bone.

Your Pillow is Involved in Your Sleeping Position and the Causes of Headaches

The analogy I always use is; just as pulling your hair hurts your scalp, the muscle pulling on the tendons hurts the bone where it inserts. In this case it is your neck muscles putting a strain on your cervical bones. For example, if you sleep on your left side and your pillow is too thick, your head will be tilted up toward the ceiling. This position tightens the muscles on the right side of your neck.

Dozing off while sitting in a car waiting for someone to arrive, or while working for hours at your desk can also cause headaches. The pictures above show a strain on the neck when you fall asleep without any support on your neck. Both of these people will wake up with a headache, and with stiffness in their neck.

The best sleeping position to prevent headaches is to have your pillow adjusted so your head, neck, and spine are in a horizontal line. Play with your pillows, putting two thin pillows into one case if necessary. If your pillow is too thick try to open up a corner and pull out some of the stuffing.

Sleeping on Your Back & Stomach

If you sleep on your back and have your head on the mattress, your spine is straight. All you need is a little neck pillow for support, and a pillow under your knees.

Stomach sleeping is the worst sleeping position for not only headaches, but so many other aches and pains. It’s a tough habit to break, but it can be done. This sleeping position deserves its own blog, which I will do in the future.

Treating the Muscles That Cause Headaches

All of the muscles that originate or insert into your cervical vertebrae, and many that insert into your shoulder and upper back, need to be treated. The treatments are all taught in Treat Yourself to Pain Free Living, in the neck and shoulder chapters. Here is one treatment that will help you get relief.

Take either a tennis ball or the Perfect Ball (which really is Perfect because it has a solid center and soft outside) and press into your shoulder as shown. You are treating a muscle called Levator Scapulae which pulls your cervical vertebrae out of alignment when it is tight.

Hold the press for about 30 seconds, release, and then press again.

Your pillow is a key to neck pain and headaches caused by your sleeping position. It’s worth the time and energy to investigate how you sleep and correct your pillow. I believe this blog will help you find the solution and will insure you have restful sleep each night.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. She has worked extensively with elite athletes and patients who have been unsuccessful at finding relief through the more conventional therapies.

She has been widely published, both on – and off – line, in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers around the country. She is also often chosen to speak at national conventions, medical schools, and health facilities nationwide.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Is The Paleo Diet Healthy?

August 8, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Did Cave Men Have The Secret For A Longer, Healthier Life?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

It seems like everyone you talk to is following the Paleo diet or knows someone who is following the Paleo diet. It is the latest diet fad. But, is the Paleo diet healthy?

If you have been around for a few years, like me, you have seen lots of fad diets come and go. They are immensely popular for a few years. Then people discover their weight loss was temporary or they aren’t any healthier, and the diet slowly fades into obscurity.

Is the Paleo diet one of those fad diets that will fade into obscurity, or is it a healthy diet that will stand the test of time? A lot has been written about the Paleo diet, both pro and con. I have analyzed the science behind the claims and counter-claims so I can bring you the truth about the Paleo diet.

Unicorns And the Paleo Diet

I titled this section “Unicorns and the Paleo Diet” because both are myths. In fact, the Paleo Diet is based on several myths.

Myth #1: Our ancestors all had the same diet. What we currently know as the Paleo diet is based on the diets of a few primitive hunter-gatherer societies that still exist in some regions of the world. However, when you look at the data more carefully, you discover that the diet of primitive societies varies with their local ecosystems.

The “Paleo diet” is typical of ecosystems in which game is plentiful and fruits and vegetables are less abundant or are seasonal. In ecosystems where fruits and vegetables are abundant, primitive societies tend to be more gatherers than hunters. They eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat.

The assumption that starchy foods were absent in the paleolithic diet is also a myth. For some primitive societies, starchy fruits or starchy roots are a big part of their diet. In short, our paleolithic ancestors ate whatever nature provided.

Myth #2: Our genetic makeup is hardwired around the “paleolithic diet.” In fact, humans are very adaptable. We are designed to thrive in a wide variety of ecosystems. It is this adaptability that has allowed us to expand to every nook and cranny of the world.

For example, the enzymes needed to digest grains are all inducible, which means the body can turn them on when needed. Our paleolithic ancestors may not have eaten much grain, but we can very quickly adapt to the introduction of grains into our diet.

Myth #3: Our paleolithic ancestors were healthier than modern man: It many respects, the paleolithic diet is healthy, as I will discuss below. However, we need to remember that our paleolithic ancestors rarely lived past 30 or 40. They simply did not live long enough to experience degenerative diseases like heart disease and cancer. We have no idea whether a diet that served our paleolithic ancestors well will keep us healthy into our 70s, 80s and beyond.

However, just because the Paleo diet is based on mythology does not mean that it isn’t healthy. Let’s look at the pros and cons of the Paleo diet.

The Pros Of The Paleo Diet

There are lots of things to like about the Paleo diet. For example:

It eliminates sodas, fast foods, processed foods, sugar and salt. Any diet that does that is a vast improvement over the typical American diet.
It emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, another big improvement over the typical American diet.
It has a healthier profile of fats than the other low carb diets. It favors grass-fed beef, wild-caught fish, and free-range chicken, so it has less saturated fat and more omega-3s. It also emphasizes healthy oils such as olive, walnut, avocado, and flaxseed. In this regard, it is clearly healthier than the other low carb diets. It does include coconut oil, which is a concern. As I have pointed out in a previous article, Is Coconut Oil Bad For You, there is no convincing evidence that coconut oil is healthy.
It emphasizes use of unrefined or extra virgin oils rather than refined oils. That is a plus for most oils because the unrefined oils are more likely to contain antioxidants and beneficial phytonutrients. It is, however, a concern for coconut oil because the unrefined oil is more likely to contain cancer-causing aflatoxins.
Like most other restrictive diets that eliminate processed foods, it can give short term weight loss, although long term weight loss is less certain.

The Cons Of The Paleo Diet

There are, however, some concerns about the Paleo diet. Other experts have commented on the cost and difficulty in following the diet, especially if you eat out a lot, so I won’t comment on those aspects here. I will stick with nutritional concerns with the Paleo diet. For example:

It eliminates cereal grains, legumes, and dairy. I am always concerned with the nutritional adequacy of diets that eliminate whole food groups. For example:
- Dairy is a major source of calcium and vitamin D in the American diet. Eliminating dairy has the potential to increase the risk of osteoporosis.
- Whole grains, legumes and dairy are important sources of magnesium. Magnesium deficiency has the potential to increase the risk of heart disease, among other things.
- Most Americans are already not getting enough of these nutrients in their diet. We can scarcely afford to eliminate foods that are good sources of these nutrients.
- It is possible to carefully design a Paleo diet so these nutrients are provided by other foods, but most people don’t carefully design their daily diet.
It recommends increasing protein intake to 19 – 35% of calories. Because legumes have been eliminated, the increased protein intake is coming almost entirely from animal protein, primarily red meat and fish. I will discuss the health concerns with red meat below. However, there is a practical consideration as well. Grass-fed beef is not always available, especially if you eat out frequently. If you are not eating grass-fed beef, you will be taking in more saturated fats and the healthier fat profile of the Paleo diet will disappear.
It has been influenced by the recent hype about health benefits of coconut oil. Coconut oil is just one of several oils that are recommended. However, if you look on the internet today, coconut oil is featured in almost every Paleo diet recipe. Until we have definitive evidence whether or not coconut oil is healthy, I would emphasize the other oils recommended for the Paleo diet, and use coconut oil sparingly.
There are no studies showing the Paleo diet is healthy long term. In contrast, there are long term studies showing that Vegan, Mediterranean, and DASH diets decrease the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and Alzheimer’s.

Concerns About Red Meat

The International Agency For Research On Cancer (IARC), the agency created by the WHO to set international standards for cancer risk, has designated red meat as a class 2a carcinogen. That designation means that there is probable cause to believe that it increases cancer risk in humans. The evidence is best for increased risk of colon cancer and breast cancer, although there is some evidence that it may increase risk of pancreatic and prostate cancer.

The increased cancer risk of red meat does not seem to be due to its fat content, so grass fed beef is just as likely to increase cancer risk as conventionally produced beef. There are multiple proposed mechanisms for this effect:

When fat and juices from the meat drip onto an open flame, carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons are formed that stick to the surface of the meat. This can be reduced, but not eliminated, by lower fat meat choices.
When red meats are cooked at high temperatures, amino acids in the meat combine with a compound called creatine, which is found in all red meats, to form carcinogenic heterocyclic amines. This can be reduced by cooking the meat at lower temperatures.
Heme iron, which is found in all red meats, combines with other component of our diet to form carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds in our intestines.
People who eat high meat diets have an entirely different population of intestinal bacteria than people who eat no meat. Several recent studies suggest that the intestinal bacteria of meat eaters are more likely to convert the foods we eat into chemicals that increase the risk of cancer and heart disease.

To be clear, red meat is a probable carcinogen and we aren’t sure of the exact mechanism(s) that cause this carcinogenicity. We do not yet have definitive evidence that red meat causes cancer. However, there is good reason to be cautious about how much red meat we consume.

The good news is that the antioxidants, fiber and phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables can block most of these cancer-causing pathways. That means that small amounts of red meat in a largely plant-based diet may not be as concerning. Specifically, an ounce of red meat in a large green salad or stir fry is much less likely to increase your cancer risk than a 6 ounce steak.

Is The Paleo Diet Healthy?

As mentioned above, there is a lot to like about the Paleo diet. It is healthier than the typical American diet, and it is healthier than most of the low carb diets. I have concerns about the nutrition adequacy of any diet that eliminates whole food groups and the heavy emphasis on red meat. There is also no proof that the Paleo diet is healthy long term.

Since the restrictions of the Paleo diet are based on mythology rather than science, my recommendation would be to loosen the restrictions on whole grains, legumes & low-fat dairy, and rely less on red meat as a protein source. If you did that, the diet would more closely resemble the Mediterranean and DASH diets, which we know are healthy long term.

The Bottom Line

The Paleo diet is based on a myth.
- Our paleolithic ancestors did not eat a single diet. They followed a variety of diets depending on the foods most available where they lived.
- Our bodies are not genetically hardwired for a single diet, but are designed to adapt to a wide variety of foods. For example, all of us have the enzymes needed to digest grains, and those enzymes are inducible.
- We don’t know whether the paleolithic diet is healthy. The average lifespan of our paleolithic ancestors was in the range of 30 to 40 years. We have no idea whether a diet that served our paleolithic ancestors well will keep us healthy into our 70s, 80s and beyond.
However, the fact that the Paleo diet is based on a myth does not make it unhealthy. In fact, there is a lot to like about the Paleo diet.
- It eliminates sodas, fast foods, processed foods, sugar and salt which makes it much healthier than the standard American diet.
- It emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, which is also an improvement over the standard American diet.
- If features a relatively healthy profile of fats, which makes it healthier than most other low carb diets.
- It favors unrefined or extra virgin oils, which are generally healthier than highly processed oils. The exception is coconut oil because unrefined coconut oil may be contaminated with aflatoxins.
- It can give short term weight loss, although long term weight loss is uncertain.
However, there are concerns about the long-term safety of the Paleo diet. The minor concerns are:
- The elimination of whole grains, legumes, and dairy from the diet creates the potential for nutritional deficiencies that can have long-term health consequences. It is possible to carefully design a Paleo diet so these nutrients are provided by other foods, but most people don’t carefully design their daily diet.
- Most of the recipes you find on the internet for the Paleo diet use coconut oil. This is a concern because we don’t know whether coconut oil is healthy. My recommendation would be to substitute the healthier oils that are also part of the Paleo diet.
More serious concerns are:
- The heavy reliance on red meat. Red meat is classified as a probable carcinogen, potentially increasing the risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer. The potential carcinogenicity of red meat is not reduced by substituting grass-fed beef for conventionally produced beef.
- There are no clinical studies showing the Paleo diet is healthy long term. In contrast, there are long term studies showing that Vegan, Mediterranean, and DASH diets decrease the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and Alzheimer’s.
Because the restrictions of the Paleo diet are based on myth rather than science, there are simple work arounds for the concerns. If one were to loosen the restrictions on whole grains, legumes and low-fat dairy & reduce the reliance on red meat, you would have a diet closer to the Mediterranean and DASH diets, which we know are healthy long term.
For details, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Gestational Diabetes Causes: High Folate Levels?

August 1, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

What Should You Look For In A Prenatal Supplement?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

According to the CDC, almost 10% of the women in this country will develop diabetes during pregnancy, something referred to as gestational diabetes. After delivery, their blood sugar levels will usually return to normal.

However, gestational diabetes is not a benign condition. It increases your risk of serious complications during both pregnancy and delivery. It also increases the risk that your baby will suffer complications during birth, and it increases their risk of developing obesity and diabetes later in life.

Obesity and a family history of diabetes both increase the likelihood that you will develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Beyond that, what could be gestational diabetes causes are not well known.

There have been numerous suggestions in the literature that high folate levels may increase your risk of gestational diabetes. If that is true, it is concerning. After all you are being told you should probably be taking a folic acid supplement before and during pregnancy to prevent birth defects. Could the very supplement you are taking to prevent birth defects be harming both you and your unborn child?

Before you throw out your folic acid supplements, I should hasten to add that the science is not definitive. Some studies have reported an association between high folate levels and gestational diabetes. Other studies have seen no association. It has been very confusing. No one has been able to figure out why the study results have been so inconsistent.

In this issue of “Health Tips From The Professor,” I share a study that may clear up the confusion.

How Was The Study Done?

This study (Lai et al, Clinical Nutrition, doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2017.03.22 ) was part of a larger study, “Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes” (GUSTO). The larger study was designed to assess multiple factors related to the health of pregnant mothers and their offspring. This particular study was designed to assess whether there was an association between high blood folate levels and gestational diabetes in Asian women.

The investigators recruited 923 women of Chinese, Malay, and Indian descent when they were less than 14 weeks pregnant. The women returned to the clinic at 26-28 weeks of pregnancy. Fasting blood samples were obtained for analysis of plasma folate, B12, and B6 levels. Gestational diabetes was diagnosed during the same clinic visit based on a fasting blood glucose level followed by a second blood glucose test 2 hours after ingestion of 75 grams of glucose. The women also completed a diet recall during this office visit.

Do High Folate Levels Cause Gestational Diabetes?

When the data were analyzed:

A high blood level of folate was associated with a 30% increase in gestational diabetes.
A high blood level of B12 was associated with a 20% decrease in gestational diabetes.
A high blood level of B6 showed no association with gestational diabetes.

When the investigators looked at the association between folate status and gestational diabetes in each of the ethnic groups individually, they discovered that the association between high blood folate levels and gestational diabetes occurred almost entirely in the Indian women.

This offered an important clue. A high proportion of the Indian women were following a vegetarian diet, which could predispose to B12 deficiency. When the investigators looked at both folate and B12 status, they found:

A high blood level of folate combined with B12 insufficiency was associated with a 97% increase in gestational diabetes.
A blood level of folate in women with normal B12 status showed no association with gestational diabetes.

What Does This Study Tell Us?

This is a single study, and it is based on associations which do not prove cause & effect. Additional studies are clearly needed to prove this hypothesis. However, if these data are confirmed, this study has several interesting ramifications.

#1: It offers a possible explanation for the inconsistencies of previous studies looking at the associations of high folate status with gestational diabetes. Most previous studies simply measured folate status without looking at B12 levels. This study suggests it is important to assess both folate and B12 status. Elevated blood folate levels may only predispose to gestational diabetes in populations that are also B12 deficient.

#2: This study suggests a previously unknown interaction between folate and B12. This is not simply a case of high folate levels masking the symptoms of B12 deficiency. The prevalence of gestational diabetes was much greater when blood folate levels were elevated than it was with B12 deficiency alone. In other words, folate made the symptoms worse. The authors offered a potential mechanism for this interaction, but it was speculative. In short, we simply do not understand the mechanism of this interaction at present.

What Does This Study Mean For You?

If this study is confirmed, it has several important implications for any woman who is pregnant or is considering becoming pregnant.

#1: Methyl folate offers no advantage over folic acid: These data are based on blood folate levels, not on folic acid intake. Methyl folate and folic acid are equally likely to increase blood folate levels.

#2: B12 supplementation is important if you are vegetarian or are restricting meat intake: This is just a reminder of what you have probably heard before. There are many potential causes of B12 deficiency. However, in the younger age range, vegetarianism is the most common cause of B12 deficiency.

#3: A holistic approach to supplementation is better than taking individual vitamins. In this case, it is clearly preferable to take a supplement containing both folic acid and B12 than one just containing folic acid or methyl folate. That is an important message. You are constantly being reminded that optimal folate status is important for a healthy pregnancy. It is easy to find supplements containing just folic acid or methyl folate. Avoid those supplements! Look for ones that contain both folic acid and B12 (preferably with B6 and the other B vitamins as well). The same holds true for prenatal supplements. Make sure they contain all the B vitamins in balance, not just folic acid.

So, could high folate levels be one of the gestational diabetes causes? We simply don’t know yet.

The Bottom Line

Recent headlines have suggested that high blood folate status is associated with an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy. This raises the question as to whether the supplementation you have been told was essential to prevent birth defects could also put you at risk for another health problem.
The study actually showed that high blood folate status only increases the risk of gestational diabetes in women who are also B12 deficient.
If you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, this study has several important implications for you.
- Methyl folate offers no advantage over folic acid. These data are based on blood folate levels, not on folic acid intake. Methyl folate and folic acid are equally likely to increase blood folate levels.
- B12 supplementation is important if you are vegetarian or are restricting meat intake. This is just a reminder of what you have probably heard before.
- A holistic approach to supplementation is better than taking individual vitamins. In this case, it is clearly preferable to take a supplement containing both folic acid and B12 than one just containing folic acid or methyl folate. That is an important message. You are constantly being reminded that optimal folate status is important for a healthy pregnancy. It is easy to find supplements containing just folic acid or methyl folate. Avoid those supplements! Look for ones that contain both folic acid and B12 (preferably with B6 and the other B vitamins as well). The same holds true for prenatal supplements. Make sure they contain all the B vitamins in balance, not just folic acid.

For details, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Is Coconut Oil Bad For You?

July 25, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Nutty About Coconut Oil

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

Coconut oil is the latest miracle food. Bloggers and talk show hosts are telling us how healthy it is. We are being told to cook with it, spread it on our toast, and put it in our smoothies. We are told to be creative. The more coconut oil you can get in your diet, the better. But, is coconut oil bad for you?

The hype is working. 72% of the American public believes coconut oil is healthy. This is why the recent American Heart Association (AHA) Presidential Advisory on saturated fats has proven so controversial.

Interestingly, most of the AHA advisory was about the linkage between saturated fats from meat & dairy and heart disease risk. Only one paragraph of the 24-page report was devoted to coconut oil, but the AHA recommendation to avoid coconut oil generated the lion’s share of headlines.

What Did The AHA Presidential Advisory Say?

The AHA advisory concluded that saturated fats from meat and dairy foods increased the risk of heart disease. This conclusion was based on randomized clinical trials in which the diet was carefully controlled for a period of at least two years. More importantly, the conclusion was not based on LDL cholesterol, particle size, HDL cholesterol, inflammation or any other potential marker of heart disease risk. It was based on actual cardiovascular outcomes – heart attacks, strokes, deaths due to heart disease.

I have reviewed the AHA report in a previous issue of “Health Tips From the Professor,” Are Saturated Fats Bad For You, and have concluded their statement that saturated fats from meat and dairy increase the risk of heart disease was based on solid evidence. We can now say definitively that those saturated fats should be minimized in our diets.

Is Coconut Oil Bad For You?

In contrast to the saturated fats in meat and dairy, there have been no studies looking at the effect of coconut oil on cardiovascular outcomes. Instead, the authors of the AHA report relied on studies measuring the effect of coconut oil on LDL cholesterol levels. There have been 7 controlled trials in which coconut oil was compared with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated oils.

Coconut oil raised LDL cholesterol in all 7 studies.
The increase in LDL cholesterol in these studies was identical to that seen with butter, beef fat, or palm oil.

This evidence makes it probable that coconut oil increases the risk of heart disease. However, LDL is not a perfect predictor of heart disease risk. The only way to definitively prove that coconut oil increases the risk of heart disease would be to conduct clinical studies in which:

Coconut oil was substituted for other fats in the diet.
All other dietary components were kept the same.
The study lasted at least 2 years.
Adherence to the “coconut oil diet” was monitored.
Cardiovascular outcomes were measured (heart attack, stroke, death from heart disease).

In short, one would need the same type of study that supports the AHA warning about saturated fats from meats and dairy. In the absence of this kind of study, there is no “smoking gun.” We cannot definitively say that coconut oil increases the risk of heart disease.

Is Coconut Oil Healthy?

Does that mean all those people who have been claiming coconut oil is a health food are right? Probably not. At the very least, their health claims are grossly overstated.

Let’s start with the obvious. In the absence of any long-term studies on the effect of coconut oil on cardiovascular outcomes, nobody can claim that coconut oil is heart healthy. It might be, but it might also be just as bad for you as the saturated fats from meat and dairy. It’s effect on LDL cholesterol suggests it might increase your risk of heart disease, but we simply do not know for certain.

I taught human metabolism to medical students for 40 years. I was also a research scientist who published in peer reviewed journals. When I look at the health claims for coconut oil on the internet, I am dismayed. Many of the claims are complete nonsense. Others sound plausible, but are based on an incomplete understanding of human metabolism. None of them would pass peer review, but, of course, there is no peer review on the internet.

In addition, some of the claims have been “cherry picked” from the literature. For example, claims that coconut oil increases metabolic rate or aids weight loss are based on short-term studies and ignore long-term studies showing those effects disappear over time.

Let me review some of the more plausible-sounding claims for coconut oil.

Coconut oil increases HDL levels, which is heart healthy. The effects of HDL cholesterol are complex. Elevated HDL levels are not always heart protective.

For example, a few years ago a pharmaceutical company developed a drug that raised HDL levels. They thought they had a blockbuster drug. You didn’t need to exercise. You didn’t need to lose weight. You would just pop their pill and your HDL levels would go up. There was only one problem. When they did the clinical studies, their drug had absolutely no effect on heart disease risk. It turns out it is exercise and weight loss that reduce heart disease risk, not the increase in HDL associated with exercise and weight loss.

The implications are profound. Just because something increases HDL levels does not mean it will reduce cardiovascular risk. You have to actually measure cardiovascular risk before claiming something is heart healthy. That has not been done for coconut oil, so no one can claim it is heart healthy.

Coconut oil consists of medium chain triglycerides, which are absorbed more readily than other fats. That is true, but it is of interest to you only if you suffer from a fat malabsorption disease. Otherwise, it is of little importance to you.
Medium chain triglycerides are preferentially transported to the liver, where the fats in coconut oil are converted to energy or released as ketones rather than being stored as fat. This is partially true, but it is misleading for two reasons.
- First, the fat in coconut oil actually has three possible fates in the liver. Some of it will be converted to energy, but only enough to meet the immediate energy needs of the liver. If carbohydrate is limiting, the excess will be converted to ketones and exported to other tissues as an energy source. If carbohydrate is plentiful, the excess will be converted to long chain saturated fats identical to those found in meat and dairy and exported to other tissues for storage.
- Secondly, nobody has repealed the laws of thermodynamics. If the fat in coconut oil is being preferentially used as an energy source by the liver and being exported as ketones to other tissues as an energy source, you need to ask what happens to the calories from the other components in your diet. If you are eating a typical American diet, the carbohydrate that would have been used for energy will be converted to fat and stored. If you are eating a low carbohydrate diet, the other fats that would have been used for energy will simply be stored. Simply put, if you are preferentially using the calories from coconut oil for energy, the calories from the other foods in your diet don’t just evaporate. They are stored as fat.
Coconut oil increases metabolic rate, which will help you lose weight. When you look at the studies, this is only a temporary effect. This is due to a phenomenon called metabolic adaptation that is often seen when one makes a dramatic shift in diet composition. Initially, you may see an increase in metabolic rate and weight loss. After a few weeks, the body adapts to the new diet,and your metabolic rate returns to normal.
Coconut oil is metabolized to ketones which have many beneficial effects. There is some truth to this claim. As I discussed in my analysis of the keto diet, ketones have some real benefits, but not nearly as many as proponents claim. Furthermore, the amount of ketones produced by coconut oil will depend on the availability of carbohydrate. Much of the coconut oil in the context of a very low carbohydrate diet will likely be converted to ketones. Coconut oil spread on a piece of bread or used in baking is more likely going to be converted to fat.

I could go on, but you get the point. The hype about the benefits of coconut oil sounds good, but is misleading. There may be some benefits, but in the absence of long-term studies we have no convincing evidence that coconut oil is good for us.

What Does This Mean For You?

When you started reading this article, you were probably hoping that I would settle the coconut oil controversy. Perhaps you were hoping that I would tell you the American Heart Association was right, and you should avoid coconut oil completely. More likely you were hoping I would tell you the coconut oil proponents were right and you could continue looking for more ways to incorporate coconut oil into your diet. As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.

Coconut oil may increase our heart disease risk, but the evidence is not definitive. We cannot say with certainty that coconut oil is bad for us. On the other hand, most of the hype about the benefits of coconut oil is inaccurate or misleading. We have no well-designed, long-term studies on health outcomes from coconut oil use. We cannot say with certainty that coconut oil is good for us.

I recommend moderation. Small amounts of coconut oil are probably alright. If you have a particular recipe for which coconut oil gives the perfect flavor, go ahead and use it. Just don’t add it to everything you eat.

Finally, there are other oils we know to be healthy that you can use in place of coconut oil. If you are looking for monounsaturated oils, olive oil and avocado oil are your best bets. Olive oil can be used in salads and low temperature cooking. Avocado oil is better for high temperature cooking. Also, less frequently mentioned, safflower and sunflower oils are also good sources of monounsaturated fats.

If you are looking for a mixture of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, safflower oil, canola oil and peanut oil are your best bets. Peanut oil is also good for high temperature cooking.

Corn oil and soybean oil are your best sources of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, while flaxseed oil is your best vegetable source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats.

The Bottom Line

Coconut oil is the latest diet fad. It is highly promoted by the popular press, and 72% of Americans think it is healthy, even though it is a saturated fat.
The American Heart Association (AHA) has recently advised against the use of coconut oil because it likely increases the risk of heart disease and “has no offsetting beneficial effects.” Because this statement is controversial, I have carefully analyzed the pros and cons of coconut oil use.
Coconut oil may increase our heart disease risk, but the evidence presented by the American Heart Association is not definitive. We cannot say with certainty that coconut oil is bad for us.
On the other hand, most of the hype about the benefits of coconut oil is inaccurate or misleading. We have no well-designed, long-term studies on health outcomes from coconut oil use. We cannot say with certainty that coconut oil is good for us.
I recommend moderation. Small amounts of coconut oil are probably alright. If you have a particular recipe for which coconut oil gives the perfect flavor, go ahead and use it. Just don’t add it to everything you eat.
For details of my analysis and suggestions for healthy fats you can substitute for coconut oil, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Frozen Shoulder Pain Treatment

July 18, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Regain Your Full Range Of Motion

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

Recently I’ve had a client coming to me for frozen shoulder pain treatment. “Mary” is suffering from “Frozen Shoulder.” It doesn’t sound so bad, but don’t let the simple diagnosis hide the fact that this condition causes more than just pain. Mary’s shoulder joint was so frozen that she had minimal range-of-motion in any direction, and sleeping was a nightmare! Regardless of which way she slept – on her back or side, the ache would wake her up several times a night, often in tears from the pain.

Physical therapy wasn’t helping at all. Her frozen shoulder kept getting worse, and the only relief she had from the pain was by taking strong pain-killing drugs. The all-too-real fear of opioid addiction caused her to only take the drugs when the pain was unbearable. She is a hairstylist so this situation was having a very negative effect on her income and future. On a more personal note, it certainly wasn’t helping her intimate relationship with her husband. She was getting frantic for a solution.

Fortunately, the client of a co-worker had come to my office when she was in pain, and she gave Mary my card. That was the beginning of a long journey, but one that is helping her more than she’d ever imagined possible.

What Causes A Frozen Shoulder?

Your shoulder has more muscle attachments than any other joint in your body. Several muscles don’t attach right into your shoulder joint, but as they pull on your arm or shoulder blade, your shoulder moves. This is the reason that your shoulder and arm can move in so many directions. More than 15 muscles need to all work together to enable you to have a full range-of-motion with your shoulder and arms.

Frozen shoulder is caused by several, or many, of these muscles all being held taut because of multiple spasms. When one muscle contracts, another must lengthen to allow for the contraction.

For example, when you are swimming and the muscles of your chest are pulling your shoulders/arms forward, the muscles of your back need to lengthen. And, when you want to reach back to take a tennis swing, the muscles of your chest must lengthen. Or, when you want to lift your arm up to reach the top of your closet, the muscles that bring your arm down must lengthen. But, when you reach down to pick something up from the floor, the muscles on top of your shoulder must lengthen. It’s always a matter of opposing muscles both needing to do their part in order for you to move your shoulder and arm.

Frozen Shoulder Pain Treatment

Actually, there are too many treatments for me to cover in detail in this short article. If you have been receiving Health Tips from the Professor for some time, you have many of my treatments from previous blogs.

Basically, if you have stiffness in your shoulder, you need to look at the movements you can’t make. Next, think about the opposing muscle that needs to be lengthened in order to make that movement. This is the muscle that needs to be treated to start to release your frozen shoulder.

One treatment you can do is for your infraspinatus muscle. This is the muscle that pulls your arm back.

Put a ball on the belly of the muscle, which is at the center of your shoulder blade, and apply pressure. Hold the pressure for about a minute, release for 5 seconds, and repeat. Do this several times and then stretch that muscle.

To help people eliminate pain and stretch safely, I created a program called Focus Flexibility Training. This DVD program shows you how to treat all of the muscles of your shoulder and a whole lot more.

When it comes to Frozen Shoulder pain treatment, you’ll ultimately need to treat most, if not all of your shoulder muscles. It’s not a fast treatment, but it does work.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Are Saturated Fats Bad For You?

July 11, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

The Saturated Fat Wars Heat Up Again

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

Are saturated fats bad for you?

I feel your pain. It is so confusing. Just a few months ago we were being told our fears of saturated fats were outdated. Saturated fats were fine. It was carbohydrates we needed to avoid.

Then, just last week the headlines blared: “Hold your horses. Saturated fats are bad for you. You need to avoid them.” No wonder you are confused!

Last week’s headlines were based on a recently published Presidential Advisory by the American Heart Association (F.M. Sacks et al, Circulation. 2017;135.00-00. DO!: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510). A Presidential Advisory is the AHA’s highest-level health advisory. It is meant to guide public health policy by government agencies such as the US Surgeon General’s office, the USDA, and the CDC.

However, the warnings about the dangers of saturated fat are very much like the warnings about the dangers of global warming. They have their believers and their deniers, and both sides passionately defend their positions. I understand the passion of saturated fat deniers. Foods high in saturated fat are an integral part of our heritage and our culture. It is only natural to want to believe those foods are good for us.

Because of this, I knew the AHA advisory would be controversial. After all, if someone is telling us we need to give up the foods we love, they better have darn good evidence to back up their recommendations.

I knew you, my readers, would want a scientifically accurate evaluation of the evidence, so I carefully analyzed the research studies the AHA presented in support of their recommendations. Here is what I found.

How Was The Analysis Done?

This report was put together by the top heart disease experts, both physicians and research scientists, in the country. They examined over 50 years of research studies. They also examined meta-analyses that combined the results of multiple research studies. In short, they examined the entire body of scientific evidence on diet and heart disease.

The AHA committee used very rigorous criteria in selecting the best studies for their analysis. They only included randomized clinical trials that:

Had actual cardiovascular end points – heart attack, stroke, and deaths due to heart disease. Studies looking at things like LDL, HDL, particle size, inflammation etc. only give you part of the picture. They may, or may not, accurately predict risk of dying from heart disease.
Lasted two years or more. The fats we eat determine the fat composition of our cell membranes, and that is what ultimately determines our risk of dying from heart disease. This is the one instance it is true to say: “We are what we eat.” However, changing the fat composition of our cell membranes does not occur overnight. It takes 2 years or more to achieve a 60-70% change in the fat composition of cell membranes.

It also takes time for any intervention to meaningfully impact heart disease risk. For example, with statin drugs it takes 1-2 years before there is a significant reduction in heart disease risk. Thus, for a variety of reasons, studies of less than 2 years duration are doomed to fail.

Showed the subjects stuck with the new diet for the duration of the study. Subjects find it difficult to adhere to a diet to which they are not accustomed long term and often revert to their more familiar diet. This requires either very close monitoring of what the subjects are eating or measurement of fat membrane composition to verify diet adherence, or both. Studies that only measured what the subjects were eating at the beginning of the study and then looked at outcomes months or years later may or may not be valid. Without any measurement of diet adherence, it is impossible to know.
Carefully controlled or measured what the saturated fats were replaced with. The importance of this criterion will be clear when we look at the results of their study.

They then did a meta-analysis of what they referred to as “core randomized trials” that met all 4 criteria. In short, this was a very rigorous and well-done analysis.

Are Saturated Fats Bad For You?

The main finding of the report was:

Replacing saturated fats from animal products with polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils decreased the risk of heart disease by 29%. This is equivalent to statin therapy, without the side effects.
The conclusions of this report applied equally to the saturated fats that come from meats and dairy products.
About 50% of the risk reduction could be due to lowering of LDL cholesterol. The rest came from reduced arterial inflammation, increased flexibility of the arteries, increased membrane fluidity and other factors.
When the replacement of saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats occurred in the context of a heart healthy diet such as the Mediterranean diet, heart disease risk was reduced by 47%.

What the saturated fats are replaced with is critically important. The authors of this report calculated what would happen if we were to replace half of our saturated fat calories with equivalent calories from other foods. Replacing half of our saturated fat intake with:

Polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils and fish oil), lowers heart disease risk by 25%.
Monounsaturated fats (olive oil & peanut oil), lowers heart disease risk by 15%.
Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits & vegetables), lowers heart disease risk by 9%.
Refined carbohydrates and sugars (the kind of carbohydrates in the typical American Diet), slightly increases heart disease risk.
Trans fats, increases heart disease risk by 5%.
The authors did not address the relative value of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in their report. However, I have addressed the heart health benefits of omega-3s in a previous report, Fish Oil Really Snake Oil.

Why Is There So Much Confusion?

You are probably saying: “If saturated fats are so bad for me, why do I keep seeing diet books and news headlines saying I have nothing to fear from saturated fats?” The answer is pretty simple. The studies that have given rise to misleading headlines about the safety of saturated fats ignored one or more of the criteria described above that are needed to assure a valid conclusion. For example:

Some recent headlines claiming that saturated fats did not increase the risk of heart disease were based on studies in which saturated fats were replaced by refined carbohydrates and sugars. Other headlines were based on studies that did not measure what the saturated fats were replaced with.
The popular high saturated fat-low carb diets are not backed by any studies looking at their effect on heart attacks, stroke, or heart disease deaths. They are only backed by studies looking at their effect on LDL cholesterol and other imperfect markers of heart disease risk.
In contrast, the Mediterranean diet, which lowers saturated fat intake and contains healthy carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits and vegetables), significantly decreases the risk of heart disease. Please reference Mediterranean Diet for Heart Health.

What Are The Saturated Fat Deniers Saying?

The saturated fat deniers have wasted no time trying to discredit the American Heart Association advisory. Maybe they can’t bear the thought of having to give up their favorite fatty foods. Or maybe they just can’t bear to admit they were wrong.

However, their claims just don’t hold water. Let me give you some examples.

The AHA (American Heart Association) is a tool of the pharmaceutical industry. If the AHA were a tool of the pharmaceutical industry, I hardly think their report would have stated that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats was as effective as statin drugs at reducing heart attack risk.
The AHA is a tool of the food industry. If the AHA were a tool of the food industry, I hardly think they would have recommended replacing fats from meat & dairy with polyunsaturated fats.
The AHA advisory was based on associations, which do not show cause and effect. False. The AHA committee based their recommendations on randomized clinical trials, the strongest kind of evidence. They merely said that studies looking at the association between saturated fats and heart disease were consistent with their analysis of randomized clinical trials.
The AHA advisory was based on LDL cholesterol, which is an imperfect predictor of cardiovascular risk. False. Again, the AHA committee based their recommendations on randomized clinical trials of cardiovascular outcomes, not on LDL levels. They merely estimated that LDL cholesterol levels contributed to about 50% of the risk they observed.
The AHA committee ignored an early study in which replacing butter with polyunsaturated fats increased cardiovascular risk. False. That study actually replaced butter with margarine. It was the first study showing that trans fats are worse for us than saturated fats.
The AHA committee ignored recent studies that did not fit their hypothesis. False. They developed a valid set of scientific criteria for evaluating clinical studies. As described above, they simply eliminated those studies whose design does not permit a definitive conclusion.
The AHA recommends low fat diets containing refined carbohydrates and sugary foods, which are even worse. False. The AHA has consistently recommended low fat diets with complex carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits & vegetables). It is the food industry that corrupted their message. More to the point, this AHA Presidential Advisory specifically recommended lowering saturated fats in the context of a heart healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet.
The AHA recommends replacing saturated fats with omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable fats, which can be harmful if consumed in excess. I have some sympathy with this argument. I would have preferred to have seen more emphasis on omega-3 oils in their report. There should also have been some discussion of the importance of antioxidants to protect against free radicals generated by polyunsaturated fat metabolism. However, their final recommendation to replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats in the context of a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet goes a long way towards satisfying both concerns.

In short, the saturated fat deniers have no persuasive counter-argument. The evidence that saturated fat causes heart disease is simply overwhelming.

What Does This Mean For You?

The time for debate is over. The evidence is overwhelming. It should be obvious to any reasonable person that saturated fats increase our risk of heart disease.

It should also be obvious that any diet that claims saturated fats are heart healthy is a myth. There are no long-term studies to back up that claim.

It is time to consider what it would mean if everyone in this country were to follow the AHA recommendations and replace half of the saturated fat in our diet with polyunsaturated fat. That would decrease our risk of heart disease by 29%.

800,000 Americans die of heart disease each year. 232,000 lives would be saved.
Heart disease costs our nation $316 billion each year. $92 billion health care dollars would be saved.
Heart disease costs are expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2035. $290 billion health care dollars would be saved.

What if we decreased our risk of heart disease by 47% by coupling decreased intake of saturated fats with a heart healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet?

376,000 lives would be saved.
$148 billion health care dollars would be saved.
$470 billion health care dollars would be saved by 2035.

Each of us has the ability to save our health and our lives by what we put into our mouths every day.

In addition, our health care system will soon become financially non-viable if we continue to focus on disease treatment rather than prevention. Each of us also has the ability to save our health care system by what we put into our mouths every day.

The Bottom Line

The link between saturated fat and heart disease risk is like global warming. It has its believers and its deniers, and both sides passionately defend their viewpoints.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recently released a Presidential Advisory on the relationship between saturated fats and heart disease. Because I knew their report would be controversial, I analyzed its scientific accuracy very carefully.
The AHA report was prepared by the top heart disease experts in the country. They reviewed over 50 years of clinical studies and used a very rigorous set of criteria to decide which studies to include in their analysis and which to exclude. In my judgement, the criteria they used were valid. Studies that fail to meet one or more of these criteria may not provide valid results. Unfortunately, several of the studies that have generated some of the recent controversy did not meet those criteria.
From a meta-analysis of “core studies” meeting these criteria, they concluded:
- Replacing saturated fats from animal products with polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils decreased the risk of heart disease by 29%. This is equivalent to statin therapy, without the side effects
- The conclusions of this report applied equally to the saturated fats that come from meats and dairy products.
- About 50% of the risk reduction could be due to lowering of LDL cholesterol. The rest came from reduced inflammation, increased flexibility of the arteries, and other factors.
- When the replacement of saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats occurred in the context of a heart healthy diet such as the Mediterranean diet, heart disease risk was reduced by 47%.
The AHA recommends replacing half of the calories from saturated fat with healthier choices. From a detailed analysis of the data, the authors concluded which foods replace the saturated fat is very important. Replacing half of our saturated fat intake with:
- Polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils and fish oil), lowers heart disease risk by 25%.
- Monounsaturated fats (olive oil & peanut oil), lowers heart disease risk by 15%.
- Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits & vegetables), lowers heart disease risk by 9%.
- Refined carbohydrates and sugars (the kind of carbohydrates in the typical American Diet), slightly increases heart disease risk.
- Trans fats, significantly increases heart disease risk.
The saturated fat deniers have already started trying to discredit the AHA advisory. I have reviewed their claims and found them to be baseless.
The evidence is overwhelming. It should be obvious to any reasonable person that saturated fats increase our risk of heart disease. It should also be obvious that any diet that claims saturated fats are heart healthy is a myth. There are no long-term studies to back up that claim.
If everyone in this country were to follow the AHA recommendations and replace half of the saturated fat in our diet with polyunsaturated fat:
- Between 232,000 and 376,000 lives would be saved next year.
- Between 92 and 148 billion health care dollars would be saved next year.
- By 2035 between 290 and 470 billion health care dollars would be saved annually.

In short, each of us has the ability to preserve our health and save our lives by what we put into our mouth every day.

So, are saturated fats bad for you? The answer is a resounding “yes.”

For more details, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Can a Genetic DNA Test Provide Real Insight on Your Health?

July 4, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

None Of Us Are Perfect

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

Most of us think of genetic diseases as something that is very rare. We have learned about diseases like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease in school. Those are examples of diseases caused by a rare mutation. If both chromosomes carry the mutation, you have the disease. If not, you don’t.

Can a genetic dna test give you real insight on your health?

We also know that family history is a strong predictor of genetic predisposition. If you are a guy, and most of the males in your family tree have dropped dead of a heart attack at an early age, you can assume you are genetically predisposed to heart disease. If you are a gal and most of the women in your family tree have developed breast cancer at an early age, you can assume you are genetically predisposed to breast cancer.

However, if none of these apply, we assume we are “normal”. We think we’ll probably live to 120. All this healthy lifestyle “stuff” is nice, but it isn’t a priority. It makes me think of Garrison Keillor’s tales of “Lake Wobegon” where all the children were above normal.

What if that weren’t true? What if none of us were normal? What if all of us are predisposed to some disease, perhaps even multiple diseases, and didn’t know it? Would that change how we thought about making the effort to follow a healthy lifestyle?

None Of Us Are Perfect

On one hand, this study (MacArthur et al, Science, 335: 823 – 828, 2012 ) may seem of interest only to geneticists, but its implications are huge. The authors looked at genetic variation among the human genomes sequenced as part of the human genome project. Specifically, they looked for loss of function (LOF) variants – mutations that would either partially or completely prevent the synthesis of a functional protein.

After a very complex genetic analysis they concluded that each of us harbors about ~100 LOF variants (mutations) in our genome.

Some of those mutations were in genes coding for proteins that have no known function. Other mutations coded for proteins whose loss might affect minor things like taste sensation.

Still other mutations were in genes coding for proteins that were redundant because there are other proteins in the cell that can perform the same function (Just as NASA designed the space shuttle with backup systems that could take over if a primary system failed, our bodies are frequently designed with more than one enzyme that can carry out the same function).

And, as you might expect, some of those mutations were in genes associated with known diseases like sickle cell disease or cystic fibrosis – but those mutations were very rare.

However, the authors concluded that each of us harbors about 20 LOF mutations that completely inactivate essential genes and might increase the probability that we will develop certain diseases.

That got me thinking. It validated scientifically something that we have all known instinctively for a long time – none of us are perfect. Or, as my childhood friends might have more cruelly put it: “We’re all defective in one way or another.”

What Does This Mean For You?

Now some of you may be saying: “What does this mean for me?” When you carry this idea through to its ultimate conclusion, the bottom line message is:

1) Nutritional recommendations are based on averages – none of us are average.

2) The identified risk factors for developing diseases are based on averages – none of us are average.

3) Clinical trial results are based on averages – none of us are average.

4) Clinical trials on the benefits and dangers of supplementation are based on averages – none of us are average.

5) Even clinical trials of drug efficacy for treating disease or drug safety are based on averages – none of us are average.

That means lots of the advice you may be getting about your risk of developing disease X, the best way to treat disease X, or the role of supplementation in preventing disease X may be generally true – but it might not be true for you.

So, my advice is not to blindly accept the advice of others about what is right for your body. Learn to listen to your body. Learn what foods work best for you. Learn what exercises just feel right for you. Learn what supplementation does for you.

Don’t ignore your doctor’s recommendations, but don’t be afraid to take on some of the responsibility for your own health. You are a unique individual, and nobody else knows what it is like to be you.

What Can a Genetic DNA Test Tell You About Your Health?

You may be thinking: “If we know all the loss of function (LOF) mutations that cause disease, I should just send my saliva off to one of those companies that promises to give you a genetic DNA test and advise you of all your disease risks.”

Not so fast. It isn’t that simple. Here’s what those genetic testing companies aren’t telling you.

Genetic predisposition to most diseases is caused by multiple mutations that each make small contributions to your disease risk. There are only a few LOF mutations that dramatically increase your risk of major diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Unless you have one of those rare mutations, you are in the dark about your disease risk.
LOF mutations are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more mutations that affect regulation of metabolic pathways which impact your health. Many of these mutations are poorly defined at present. You might get a perfect score on your genetic testing and still be at risk for some major diseases.
The effect of LOF mutations on health outcomes varies from person to person. This is a phenomenon that my geneticist colleagues call “penetrance”. Simply put, the effect of any single mutation is modified by the expression of multiple other genes, which also vary from person to person. Your “score” on a genetic testing analysis may not predict your actual risk of disease.
Gene expression is modified by diet, lifestyle, and your environment. I have discussed this in previous articles like “Can Diet Alter Your Genetic Destiny?” and “What Is Epigenetics?”. In short, genes do not determine your destiny. Your healthy lifestyle may protect you from a genetic predisposition to disease. Your unhealthy lifestyle may doom you to poor health in spite of a perfect score on your genetic testing analysis.

I only recommend genetic testing if you have a strong family history of a major disease and plan on working with a certified genetic counselor who can put the results of the analysis into the proper context.

The Bottom Line

A recent study looked at genetic variation among the human genomes sequenced as part of the human genome project. Specifically, the authors looked for loss of function (LOF) variants – mutations that would either partially or completely prevent the synthesis of a functional protein.
After a very sophisticated statistical analysis, the authors concluded that each of us harbors about 20 LOF mutations that completely inactivate essential genes and might increase the probability that we will develop certain diseases.
That means none of us are perfect. None of us are “average”. We all have genetic defects that predispose us to certain diseases. The implications are staggering.
Nutritional recommendations are based on averages – none of us are average.
The identified risk factors for developing diseases are based on averages – none of us are average
Clinical trial results are based on averages – none of us are average.
Clinical trials on the benefits and dangers of supplementation are based on averages – none of us are average.
Even clinical trials of drug efficacy for treating disease or drug safety are based on averages – none of us are average.
That means lots of the advice you may be getting about your risk of developing disease X, the best way to treat disease X, or the role of supplementation in preventing disease X may be generally true – but it might not be true for you.
So, my advice is not to blindly accept the advice of others about what is right for your body. Learn to listen to your body. Learn what foods work best for you. Learn what exercises just feel right for you. Learn what supplementation does for you.

I am not saying we know everything we need to know about genetic predisposition to disease. I’m not saying that genes determine our destiny. I’m not recommending you send off your saliva for a genetic analysis to determine your risk of developing a major disease. To understand why, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Can Diet Prevent Alzheimer’s

June 27, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Preserving Your Memories In Your Golden Years

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

Alzheimer’s is a scary disease. There is so much to look forward to in our golden years. We want to enjoy the fruits of our years of hard work. We want to enjoy our grandkids and perhaps even our great-grandkids. More importantly, we want to be able to pass on our accumulated experiences and wisdom to future generations.

Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia have the potential to rob us of everything that makes life worth living. What is the use of having a healthy body, family, and fortune if we can’t even recognize the people around us?

That is why anything that might reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s is BIG news, which brings me to the recent buzz about the MIND diet. Can diet prevent Alzheimer’s.

What Is The MIND Diet?

The MIND diet is the brainchild of Dr. Martha Clare Morris, a nutritional epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center. She started with the Mediterranean and DASH diets, which I have described in a previous issue of “Health Tips From the Professor,” because both of those diets have been shown to reduce the risk of dementia. Then she researched the literature for studies linking specific foods and nutrients to improving cognition and/or preventing dementia.

In short, she combined the brain-healthy features of the Mediterranean and DASH diets and further modified them based on the best scientific data available. She emphasized some components of those two diets and minimized others. She also modified the number of servings of some foods, based on the best available evidence.

She acknowledged that when she eliminated or reduced foods that were parts of those two diets, it did not mean those foods might not play an important role in preserving cognitive function as we age. It simply meant we don’t currently have strong evidence to prove their beneficial effects in preserving cognition.

The MIND diet is a whole food, plant-based, diet.

It includes 10 “brain-healthy” food groups: green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil, and wine (in moderation, too much alcohol kills brain cells).
It limits red & processed meats, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries & sweets, and fried & fast foods.
It neither recommends nor discourages low fat dairy foods and fruit other than berries. Dr. Morris notes that while those are healthy foods, they have no proven benefit for preventing cognitive decline.

Can Diet Prevent Alzheimer’s?

As you can tell, a lot of thought went into the design of the MIND diet, but does it work? Dr. Morris partnered with 5 of her colleagues at Rush University Medical Center to test the hypothesis (Morris et al., Alzheimer’s & Dementia 11: 1007-1014, 2015). They enrolled 923 participants, ages 59 to 98 years (average age = 81) from retirement communities and senior public housing units in the Chicago area. All participants were free of Alzheimer’s disease when the study began.

At the beginning of the study each participant filled out a detailed food frequency questionnaire. Participants were given an extensive physical and neurological exam designed to diagnose the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and/or dementia on an annual basis. Participants were followed for an average of 4.5 years, during which time 144 of the participants developed Alzheimer’s and another 14 developed non-Alzheimer’s dementia.

At the end of the study the food frequency data were analyzed to determine how closely participants adhered to the MIND diet, the Mediterranean diet, and the DASH diet. Adherence to each of these diets was then correlated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. [To be perfectly clear, none of the participants were given any dietary instruction. Nor were they advised to change their diet. This study simply looked at the diets they were already eating and determined how closely their diet matched the standards set for MIND, Mediterranean, and DASH diets.] The results were striking:

Strict adherence to all 3 diets significantly decreased the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The decreased risk was:
- 53% for the MIND diet.
- 54% for the Mediterranean diet.
- 39% for the DASH diet.
When the investigators looked at moderate adherence to each of the diets, the MIND diet performed slightly better than the other two diets:
- Moderate adherence to the MIND diet decreased Alzheimer’s risk by 35%.
- Moderate adherence to the Mediterranean and DASH diets had no significant effect on Alzheimer’s risk.

What Does This Study Mean For You?

Dr. Morris concluded that healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean and DASH diets, provide substantial protection against dementia. She stated that as new studies come along, these diets can be modified to provide even better protection. She considers the MIND diet is the first step in that process.

A 53% decrease in Alzheimer’s risk is impressive. However, if you are really concerned about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, you should think of diet as only one component of a holistic approach. As I described in a recent article How to Prevent Memory Loss, a holistic approach to preserving your cognitive function includes:

A healthy diet
B vitamins & omega-3s
Weight control
Exercise
Adequate sleep
Socialization
Memory training (mental exercise)

The Bottom Line

The Mediterranean and DASH diets have already been shown to preserve mental function as we age, thus reducing the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Martha Morris at Rush University Medical Center used the latest studies on specific foods and nutrients that preserve mental function to modify those diets into something she calls the MIND diet.
Morris and colleagues at Rush then evaluated the effectiveness of all 3 diets on reducing Alzheimer’s risk. Strict adherence to all 3 diets significantly decreased the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The decreased risk was:
- 53% for the MIND diet.
- 54% for the Mediterranean diet.
- 39% for the DASH diet.
When the investigators looked at moderate adherence to each of the diets, the MIND diet performed slightly better than the other two diets:
- Moderate adherence to the MIND diet decreased Alzheimer’s risk by 35%.
- Moderate adherence to the Mediterranean and DASH diets had no significant effect on Alzheimer’s risk.
Morris concluded that healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean and DASH diets, provide substantial protection against dementia. However, she feels that as new studies come along, these diets can be modified to provide even better protection. She considers the MIND diet as the first step in that process.
Healthy diet is only one component of a holistic approach for preserving mental function. Other components include:
- B vitamins & omega-3s
- Weight control
- Exercise
- Adequate sleep
- Socialization
- Memory training (mental exercise)

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Relieve Hip Pain After Sitting or Driving

June 20, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Relief is Just a Few Movements Away!

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

I’m on a long business trip, speaking and teaching in Tennessee and New York, and the drive from Sarasota, FL meant many hours of driving over several days. One of my stops was to visit with Suzanne and Dr. Steve Chaney at their home in North Carolina. It was that long drive that became the inspiration for this blog.

After all those hours of driving, my hip was really sore. It was painful to stand up. While talking to Suzanne and Dr. Chaney I was using my elbow to work on the sore area, and when we were discussing the blog for this month it only made sense to share this technique with you. So, Dr. Chaney took pictures and I sat at his computer to write. I thought others may want to how to relieve hip pain after sitting or driving for long periods.

What Causes Anterior Hip Pain?

As I’ve mentioned in posts in the past, sitting is the #1 cause of low back pain, and it also causes anterior hip pain (pain localized towards the front of the hip) because the muscles (psoas and iliacus) pass through the hip and insert into the tendons that then insert into the top of the thigh bone. When you try to stand up, the tight muscle tendons will pull on your thigh bone. The other thing that happens is the point where the muscle merges into the tendon will be very tight and tender to touch. You aren’t having pain at your hip or thigh bone, but at the muscular point where the muscle and tendon merge.

It’s a bit confusing to describe, but you’ll find it if you sit down and put your fingers onto the tip of your pelvis, then just slide your fingers down toward your thigh and out about 2”. The point is right along the crease where your leg meets your trunk.

The muscle you are treating is the Rectus Femoris, where it merges from the tendon into the muscle fibers. Follow this link, thigh muscle, to see the muscle and it will be a bit easier to visualize.

You need to be pressing deeply into the muscle, like you’re trying to press the bone and the muscle just happens to be in the way. Move your fingers around a bit and you’ll find it.

Easy Treatment for Anterior Hip Pain After Sitting

Here is an easy treatment for hip pain after sitting you can administer yourself. First, sit as I am, with your leg out and slightly turned.

Find the tender point with your fingers and then put your elbow into it as shown.

It’s important to have your arm opened so the point of your elbow is on top of the spasm. It’s a bit tricky, but if you move about a bit you’ll come on to it, and it will hurt. Keep the pressure so it’s tolerable, not excruciating.

After you have worked on this point for a few minutes you can move to the second part of the treatment.

Put the heel of your “same-side” hand onto your thigh as close to the spasm as you can get. Lift up your fingers so the pressure is only on the heel of your hand. You can use your opposite hand to help give more pressure.

Press down hard and deeply slide down the muscle, going toward your knee. You can also kneed it like you would kneed bread dough, really forcing the muscle fibers to relax.

I’m putting in a picture from a previous blog to explain how you can also treat this point of your rectus femoris by using a ball on the floor.

As shown in this picture, lie on the floor with the ball on your hip muscle, and then slightly turn your body toward the floor so the ball rolls toward the front of your body. You may need to move the ball down an inch or so to get to your Rectus Femoris.

When you feel the pain, you’re on the muscle. Just stay there for a minute or so, and if you want you can move so the ball goes along the muscle fibers all the way to your knee.

It may be a challenge to find this point, but it’s well-worth the effort!

In my book, Treat Yourself to Pain Free Living, I teach how to treat all the muscles that cause pain from your head to your feet.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.