South Beach Diet Doctor Warns About ‘Stealth Disease’

An article on Gluten by CNBC posted on Off the Cuff. There are an increasing amount of people who are now questioning if their diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome or other non-specific bowel disorders or pain are really an sensitivity to Gluten.

“It can really mimic almost any other disease, which is why it's often been so difficult to diagnose,” said Arthur Agatston, MD, cardiologist and the creator of the “The South Beach Diet.” He was referring to something he calls “the stealth disease” – sensitivity to gluten, a condition which he claims many of us don’t even know we have.

“We've just seen so many dramatic cases of patients who were undiagnosed for years and years,” he said. “Unfortunately, physicians are clueless when it comes to gluten. It's because a lot of the information is new.”

Gluten is the major protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Nearly ubiquitous, it’s sometimes added to lipstick, toothpaste, soy sauce, even some medicines. But if you’re sensitive to it, gluten can cause stomach pains, headaches, skin rashes, fatigue or depression, according to Agatston. It can lead to or exacerbate chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia, he writes, in his new book “The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution.” In it, he makes a distinction between “gluten sensitivity” and celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder which affects the small intestine, and which is hereditary.

Agatston’s focus on gluten came about by accident, an outcome of how the "South Beach Diet" affected his patients. His original diet book was published in 2003, and there are more than 23 million copies of “The South Beach Diet” and its companion books in print. It was eventually published in 34 countries. “The first phase of our South Beach diet was intentionally grain-free to prevent swings in blood sugar. It was unintentionally gluten-free. I had no idea what gluten was when we wrote the book,” he said. “People lost weight. They improved their blood chemistries. We expected that. What we didn't expect was cures of psoriasis, of fibromyalgia, of several types of arthritis. And we kept seeing these really miraculous remissions of disease. I eventually realized that it was the gluten-free part, not just the grain-free, of the first phase of the diet.”

Not everyone is sensitive to gluten, Agatston said, and the first step is to find out if you are. “For most of my patients when they avoid gluten, they're avoiding all the processed carbohydrates, the fast foods. They make the diet a lifestyle because they may not be worried about not having a heart attack in 20 years, but they know if they cheat, they're going to have stomach pains and their skin's going to break out in a few days.”

“What's happened the last 20, 30 years is the way we process and prepare food is different than it used to be. We have a lot more processed food which concentrates gluten, and then we're not breaking it down. It's toxic and plays havoc with our system.” At the same time, he said “it feels like we're addicted to starch, and in many ways we are. But you can break that by going on our principles, which is the good fats, the good carbs, lean sources of protein, plenty of fiber.” He advocates “strategic snacking” in order to prevent a drop in blood sugar and to stave off cravings. His favorite snacks include almonds, mozzarella sticks, and cold cuts.

Agatston claims that gluten sensitivity, coupled with the over-prescription of antibiotics, can be particularly harmful to children. “These kids with the asthma, the ear infections, the allergies—my friends did not have them when I grew up,” he said. “A lot of them do better when you take them off gluten.”

Agatston still practices medicine. He pioneered the “Agatston Score,” a method of screening for signs of heart disease. Another predictor for increased heart risk, he said, is your body shape. Those of us who are apple-shaped, who pack weight around our stomachs, are more susceptible than our pear-shaped brethren. “If you're an apple, you really have to be worried,” he said.

How much should you control your own diet? We asked Agatston about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s failed proposal to ban super-sized sugary drinks. “I tend to be a libertarian. I think there's too much government intervention,” he said, “I agree we shouldn't be having gallon sodas. I think most of our resources should go into education rather than regulation.”

He sometimes cheats on his own diet. “I’m an admitted chocoholic,” he said. And there’s the occasional occupational hazard: “If it's a cocktail party with people I don't know well, often they'll be self-conscious about what they're eating. And I always feel obligated to have something really bad so they don't feel so bad. That's one of my excuses to cheat,” he laughed.

He has strong views on the state of healthcare in the U.S. “Doctors do extra tests to protect themselves. They’re reimbursed for about five minutes of face time, then they want to get rid of the liability so they send the patient to a sub-specialist. And they sometimes churn and burn because they're trying to pay their own overhead.”

“The amount of regulation now is just overwhelming. Doctors can't stand it. They're going out of business all the time,” he said. “ I had my own practice as a cardiac prevention practice, which I still do today. I spend time with patients. I did the tests I wanted to do. I lost a lot of money every year. Fortunately I had an outside income so I could practice good medicine. I don't know how you can practice good medicine today on the basis of current regulations and current insurance,” he said. Agatston advocates a voucher system for patients who can’t afford to pay, patients spending more time with their primary care physician, and automated consultations with specialists on the Internet.

Still, Agatston said he doesn’t intend to retire anytime soon. “I love to play golf. I love to play tennis,” he said, “but if I'm not working on something new, breaking new ground, I'm just not nearly as happy.”

To unwind, he watches TV. “I watch quite a bit of news. So I sometimes am screaming at the TV, and for me that's relaxation,” he said. “It doesn't get my heart rate up too much.”



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Resveratrol: A Potent Anti-Oxidant

A reader sent me the below that she received from a friend.

"Do you know about Resveratrol from Red Grapes and their ability to be a cancer fighting agent? Natural News says that red grapes produce Resveratrol, but they only develop the Resveratrol when they are infected with a fungus, so grapes that are treated with anti-fungus chemicals produce much less resveratrol than their organic counter-parts."

I did not know about the red grape production of resveratrol being dependent upon a fungal infection. The flip side of organic fruits and vegetables, and another reason to go organic, is that they will also have less toxins like the anti-fungal spray. Always beware of the daily load of toxins we are bombarded with, or unknowlingly subject ourselves to.

It is true that Reseveratrol is thought to be a potent cancer fighting agent. More and more Doctors and Nutritionalists are believing that Resveratrol not only protects cells from the damaging effects of cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy, but can enhance effectiveness of these treatments.

I whole heartedly believe in Resveratrol, as well as Grape See Extract, taking 30mg of Resveratrol and 490 mg of Grape Seed Extract from a pharmacuetical grade source every day, as my belief is that the first line of defense against degenerative disease, including cancers, is optimum cellular health.

Quality red wines also contain Resveratrol, although you would have to drink quite a bit to get what you can in a quality supplement.  I guess this can be an excuse to get tipsy each day.   



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Too Much Salt Can Kill You

I was brought up to know that using too much salt is bad for you but often found myself using quite a bit of it. I think I'm going re-think my habitable after reading this article titled "Salt Can Be Fatal, says Study", by Elise Solé, on the Shine Staff, posted on Healthy Living on Yahoo!

A pinch of salt can perk up your morning omelet—but that innocent shaker is responsible for 2.3 million deaths around the world and 85,000 deaths per year in the United States, says a study released Thursday from Harvard's School of Public Health.

One in ten people die from heart attack, stroke, or other type of cardiovascular disease as a result of eating too much sodium, according to lead study author Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard University.

Despite the fact that the World Health Organization recommends limiting sodium to less than 2,000 milligrams a day and the American Heart Association recommends 1,500 mg per day, the global national average for the U.S. is 4,000 mg of sodium," Mozaffarian told Shine. For perspective: One teaspoon of salt has 2,325 mg of sodium.

Researchers analyzed 247 national surveys of sodium intake in 66 countries between 1990 and 2010, then looked at studies that measured how high amounts of sodium affect blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke. They also obtained the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease from the Global Burden of Disease study.

"Out of all the countries, the United States ranked 19th out of 30 of the largest countries for the most salt consumption relating to cardiovascular death," says Mozaffarian. "When people think of limiting salt, foods like potatoes chips and French fries come to mind but those mainly contain salt on the surface," he says. "Salt isn't just used for taste; it's also used as a preservative in packaged foods like bread and canned foods such as soup which Americans eat a lot of."

Salt is a hard habit to shake, for a few reasons: For starters, along with sweet, sour, bitter, and savory, salt is one of the five basic tastes. Just like some people have a sweet tooth, others crave salt often. Second, a salty tooth may be biologically-determined. Some studies suggest that babies whose mothers suffer from morning sickness have above-average salt appetites because vomiting decreases sodium levels in her body and in the fetus. And other research suggests that stress or anxiety can make us reach for the salt and eventually, just like anything else, adding salt to our meals becomes habitual.

Unsurprisingly, the Salt Institute's vice president of science and research Morton Satin says: "This misleading study did not measure any actual cardiovascular deaths related to salt intake, since, by the authors' own admission, no country anywhere in the world consumes the low levels of salt they recommend...The Salt Institute does not consider this misleading modeling exercise helpful in furthering our knowledge of the role of salt on our health. On the contrary, it is disingenuous and disrespectful of consumers."

If you do want to cut down on your sodium intake, try these tips:

Avoid balsamic vinegar: On salad choose red-wine vinegar instead of its more popular counterpart balsamic, Carly Feigan, a New York City based Clinical Nutritionist told Shine. "Red wine vinegar already contains salt so it will quell your cravings," she says. "Balsamic has a high sugar content and triggers sugar cravings which may have you reaching for more high-sodium packaged foods."

Spice up your meals: The capsaicin in hot sauce will give your eggs or pizza a fiery kick causing skin tingles, flushed skin, and the release of feel-good hormones (called endorphins) and could possibly extinguish the need for extra salt. Feigan's pick: Frank's hot sauces which have the lowest sodium per teaspoon.

Eat a clean diet: Whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and beans contain natural sodium which should satisfy your bodies' natural cravings so you won't reach for the shaker as often.



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Sugar Laden Ddrinks Kill 25,000 Each Year?

I have a sister-in-law who drinks 12 or more regular Pepsi's a day.  No kidding. This article off the web is for her: 

In a study that's sure to shake up the soda ban debate, Harvard researchers have linked the sugary drinks to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide, 25,000 in the United States alone.

"We know that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to obesity, and that a large number of deaths are caused by obesity-related diseases. But until now, nobody had really put these pieces together," said Gitanjali Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study presented today at the American Heart Association's annual meeting in New Orleans.

Singh and colleagues spent five years putting the pieces together. Using data from national health surveys around the world, the team tied sugar-sweetened beverages to 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 deaths from cancer in 2010.

The study adds to mounting evidence that sugar-sweetened beverages, loaded with calories that carry little nutritional value, are a public health hazard.

"I think our findings should really impel policymakers to make effective policies to reduce sugary beverage consumption since it causes a significant number of deaths," said Singh, adding that she thinks "cause" is an appropriate word despite the limitations of the association study.

The American Beverage Association criticized the study, which has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, calling it "more about sensationalism than science."

"It does not show that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages causes chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer - the real causes of death among the studied subjects," the industry group said in a statement. "The researchers make a huge leap when they take beverage intake calculations from around the globe and allege that those beverages are the cause of deaths which the authors themselves acknowledge are due to chronic disease."

The study comes one week after a judge blocked New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on supersized sodas, and one day after Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill preventing municipalities from setting limits on soda and salt content.

"It is simply not the role of government to micro-regulate citizens' dietary decisions," Bryant said in a statement. "The responsibility for one's personal health depends on individual choices about a proper diet and appropriate exercise."

But some experts say evidence-based policies could curb soda consumption and save lives. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the new study, said he now plans to study the effects of sugary drink regulation and taxation on health and health care costs.

"I think that's the kind of information that policymakers need," said Mozaffarian, who is an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

In the meantime, Americans can take steps on their own to cut sugary drinks and shed pounds.

"It may not be easy at first, but your body will thank you," said ABC News' chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser. "Study after study links intake of sugary drinks to poor health effects."

"It is quite frightening to see the rise in chronic diseases as people around the world consume more and more sugary drinks," Besser added. "It reminds me of the way lung cancer is on the rise around the world as more and more people smoke cigarettes."



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True Love

This came to me across FaceBook and thought it worthy enough to share,.......

It was approximately 8.30 a.m. on a busy morning when an elderly gentleman in his eighties arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9.00 a.m.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat. I knew it would take more than an hour before someone would to able to attend to him. I saw him check his watch anxiously for the time and decided to evaluate his wound since I was not busy with another patient.

On examination, the wound was well healed. Hence, I talked to one of the doctors to get the supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

We began to engage in a conversation while I was taking care of his wound. I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment later as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no and said that he needed to go to the nursing home to have breakfast with his wife.

I inquired about her health. He told me that she had been in the nursing home for a while as she was a victim of Alzheimer's disease. I probed further and asked if she would be upset if he was slightly late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was and she had not been able to recognize him since five years ago.

I asked him in surprise, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back my tears as he left. I had goose bumps on my arm, and I thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.



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Water Replacing Soda Pop?

From an article titled America's new love: Water by Candice Choi of the Associated Press.

NEW YORK (AP) — It wasn't too long ago that America had a love affair with soda. Now, an old flame has the country's heart.

As New York City grapples with the legality of a ban on the sale of large cups of soda and other sugary drinks at some businesses, one thing is clear: soda's run as the nation's beverage of choice has fizzled.

In its place? A favorite for much of history: Plain old H2O.

For more than two decades, soda was the No. 1 drink in the U.S. with per capita consumption peaking in 1998 at 54 gallons a year, according industry tracker Beverage Digest. Americans drank just 42 gallons a year of water at the time.

But over the years, as soda increasingly came under fire for fueling the nation's rising obesity rates, water quietly rose to knock it off the top spot.

Americans now drink an average of 44 gallons of soda a year, a 17 percent drop from the peak in 1998. Over the same time, the average amount of water people drink has increased 38 percent to about 58 gallons a year. Bottled water has led that growth, with consumption nearly doubling to 21 gallons a year.

Stephen Ngo, a civil defense attorney, quit drinking soda a year ago when he started running triathlons, and wanted a healthier way to quench his thirst.

Ngo, 34, has a Brita filter for tap water and also keeps his pantry stocked with cases of bottled water.

"It might just be the placebo effect or marketing, but it tastes crisper," said Ngo, who lives in Miami.

The trend reflects Americans' ever-changing tastes; it wasn't too far back in history that tap water was the top drink.

But in the 1980s, carbonated soft drinks overtook tap as the most popular drink, with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo putting their marketing muscle behind their colas with celebrity endorsements from the likes of pop star Michael Jackson and comedian Bill Cosby.

Americans kept drinking more of the carbonated, sugary drink for about a decade. Then, soda's magic started to fade: Everyone from doctors to health advocates to government officials were blaming soft drinks for making people fat. Consumption started declining after hitting a high in the late 1990s.

At the same time, people started turning to bottled water as an alternative. Its popularity was helped by the emergence of single-serve bottles that were easy to carry around.

Until then, bottled water had mainly been sold in "big jugs and coolers" for people who didn't trust their water supply, said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest.

The new soft drink-like packaging helped fast-track bottled water's growth past milk and beer. In fact, the amount of bottled water Americans drink has risen nearly every year for more than two decades, while the estimates of how much tap water people drink has fluctuated up and down during that time. When taken together, water finally overtook soda in 2008, according to Beverage Digest. (It's difficult to track how much tap water people drink and how much is used for other things like washing dishes, so experts estimate consumption.)

Analysts expect water to hold onto to its top spot for years to come. But whether people will drink from the tap or a bottle is uncertain.

Based on current trajectories, Michael Bellas, the CEO of the industry tracker Beverage Marketing Corp., predicts that bottled water alone could overtake soda within the next decade. That's not counting enhanced and flavored waters, which are growing quickly but remain a small part of the bottled water industry.

Currently, people drink 21 gallons of bottled water a year. That compares with 37 gallons of other water, which includes tap, sparkling, flavored and enhanced waters such as Coca-Cola's vitaminwater.

But there are numerous factors that could tilt the scales in favor of tap water.

Because of concerns that plastic bottles create too much waste, experts say bottled water could be hit by a public backlash similar to the one that has whipsawed the soda industry with pushes for bans and taxes.

New York City was preparing for a ban on cups of sugary drinks that are larger than 16 ounces starting on Tuesday. But on Monday — a day before the ban was to begin — a judge invalidated the regulation. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who originally proposed the ban, vowed to appeal the judge's ruling.

Bottled water already is starting to face similar opposition. The town of Concord, Mass. earlier this year banned the sale of water bottles that are less than a liter. And the University of Vermont became the first public university to ban the sale of bottled water.

Meanwhile, other cities are waging campaigns to promote tap water. New York City, which touts the high quality of its tap water, offers portable fountains at events around the city.

"Good old marketing has convinced people that they should spend a lot of money on bottled water," says Salome Freud, chief of New York City's distribution water quality operations.

Although companies such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. would rather have people buy bottled waters, they're even more invested in getting people to drink more soda again.

That's because soda and other drinks that the companies make, such as sports drinks and juices, are more profitable than bottled water. With bottled water, people tend to buy whatever is cheapest. That's a habit that forces companies to keep prices relatively low, which eats into profits.

It's why companies are investing so heavily in developing nations such as China and India, where the appetite for soda continues to grow.

In the U.S., annual soda sales are more than five times as big as bottled water at $75.7 billion a year, according to Beverage Digest. In terms of volume, soda is only twice as big as bottled water.

At Coca-Cola, the No. 1 soda maker, three-quarters of its volume in gallons comes from soft drinks, compared with 8 percent for its bottled waters including Dasani. PepsiCo, the No. 2 soda maker, gets 64 percent of its volume from soft drinks and only 7 percent from its Aquafina bottled water.

It's why Coca-Cola, which holds 13 percent of the bottled water market compared with PepsiCo's 10 percent, doesn't seem to think bottled water will ever overtake soda. In an emailed statement, the Atlanta-based company noted that soft drinks remain a far larger category than bottled water and that it sees "upside" for sodas over the next several years.

However, the company added that it saw "great potential" for bottled water. Like its competitors, Coca-Cola said it's focusing on growing its portfolio of bottled waters profitably by offering brands such as Smartwater and its flavored vitaminwater, which fetch higher prices.

In the meantime, the chairman and former CEO of Nestle Waters North America, Kim Jeffery, is waiting for bottled water's moment in the spotlight. Nestle, the Swiss company that makes Poland Spring, Nestle Pure Life, Deer Park and other brands, has nearly half of the share of the bottled water market.

At a beverage industry conference late last year, Jeffery noted that bottled water is "the elephant in the room."

And given the growing warnings over drinking too many calories — including from juice, milk and other sugary drinks — Jeffery said he's confident that water will continue to grow in popularity.

"For thousands of years, water was beverage of choice for human beings," he said. "Now we're reverting back to that."

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A Couple Concerned About Their Health

I have been talking to a couple, slightly younger than me, but becoming more and more interested in their health as they have several relatives and friends afflicted with cancer, diabetes, menopause, arthritis and other degenerative diseases. I helped them understand the need for a low glycemic diet, a physically active life, taking quality supplements and avoiding toxins where they can.

The couple asked me how I knew so much (in their minds) about health and nutrition and I replied that each individual has to be responsible for their own health - they have to be students of health and life. That their Doctor(s) are advisors, not decision makers for this couple's health.  They asked for a list of reading material, so I sent them some pdf files on health studies and gave them a two lists of books to read. This is the second list, reading for their stated issues and concerns.



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