Chlorohydrin contaminates hydrolyzed vegetable protein products and refined oils.In 1978, chlorohydrins were found in protein hydrolysates. What does that mean? Proteins can be broken down into amino acids using a chemical process called hydrolysis, and free amino acids (like glutamate) can have tas
Treat the underlying cause of chronic lifestyle diseases.It’s been said that more than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates declared, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” In actuality, it appears that he never actually said those words, but there’s “no doubt about the relevance of food…and i
Having a “normal” cholesterol level in a society where it’s normal to die from a heart attack isn’t necessarily a good thing.“Consistent evidence” from a variety of sources “unequivocally establishes” that so-called bad LDL cholesterol causes atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease—strokes and heart
What effects do fasting and a plant-based diet have on TBI and migraines?An uncontrolled and unpublished study purported to show a beneficial effect of fasting on migraine headaches, but fasting may be more likely to trigger a migraine than help it. In fact, “skipped meals are among the most consist
More than half of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers appear to have a form of atypical food allergy.A chronic gastrointestinal disorder, irritable bowel syndrome affects about one in ten people. You may have heard about low-FODMAP diets, but they don’t appear to work any better than the standa
What does the gut have to do with developing Parkinson’s disease?Parkinson’s disease is an ever-worsening neurodegenerative disorder that results in death and affects about 1 in 50 people as they get older. A small minority of cases are genetic, running in families, but 85% to 90% of cases are spora
The spice cumin can work as well as orlistat, the “anal leakage” obesity drug.In my video Friday Favorites: Benefits of Black Cumin for Weight Loss, I discussed how a total of 17 randomized controlled trials showed that the simple spice could reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels. And its side
Please note: This blog contains descriptions of sexual assault.“Recent reports of medical students performing pelvic exams for training purposes on anesthetized women without their consent”—or their knowledge—“have produced a firestorm of controversy and calls for greater regulation.” However, that
We had the pleasure of talking with Ale Graf about her work, food, and National Hispanic Heritage Month. We hope you enjoy this interview and her recipe for Hibiscus Chamoy.As someone who creates Mexican dishes with a plant-based twist, how is food an important part of your culture and how you share
Please note: This blog contains descriptions of sexual assault.From Heart Failure, a book I wrote about my time at Tufts University School of Medicine: “I am all gloved up, fifth in line. At Tufts, medical students—particularly male students—practice pelvic exams on anesthetized women without their c
What are the pros and cons of relative risk, absolute risk, number needed to treat, and average postponement of death when taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs?In response to the charge that describing the benefits of statin drugs only in terms of relative risk reduction is a “statistical decept
A Mayo Clinic visualization tool can help you decide if cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are right for you.“Physicians have a duty to inform their patients about the risks and benefits of the interventions available to them. However, physicians rarely communicate with methods that convey absolute i
What is the dirty little secret of drugs for lifestyle diseases?Drug companies go out of their way—in direct-to-consumer ads, for example—to “present pharmaceutical drugs as a preferred solution to cholesterol management while downplaying lifestyle change.” You see this echoed in the medical literat
How can you calculate your own personal heart disease risk to help you determine if you should start on a cholesterol-lowering statin drug?The muscle-related side effects from cholesterol-lowering statins “are often severe enough for patients to stop taking the drug. Of course, these side effects co
Do you know more about basic nutrition than most doctors?“A poor diet now outranks smoking as the leading cause of death globally and in the United States, according to the latest data.” The top killer of Americans is the American diet, as you can see below and at 0:23 in my video How Much Do Doctor
It may not be the number of bacteria growing in our small intestine, but the type of bacteria, which can be corrected with diet.When researchers tested more than a thousand patients suffering for longer than six months from symptoms typical with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), such as excess gas, bl
Even if we could accurately diagnose small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), if there is no difference in symptoms between those testing positive and those testing negative, what’s the point?Gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal pain and bloating account for millions of doctor visits every
In every grade school class photo, I seem to have a mess of tousled hair on my head. No matter how much my mom tried to tame my hair, it was a little unruly. (I sported the windblown look without even trying.) Later came my metalhead phase, with headbangable hair down to the middle of my back. Sadly
A randomized controlled trial investigates diet and psychological well-being.“Psychological health can be broadly conceptualized as comprising 2 key components: mental health (i.e., the presence of absence of mental health disorders such as depression) and psychological well-being (i.e., a positive
How can we use sensory-specific satiety to our advantage?When we eat the same foods over and over, we become habituated to them and end up liking them less. That’s why the “10th bite of chocolate, for example, is desired less than the first bite.” We have a built-in biological drive to keep changing
Big Food uses our hard-wired drive for dietary diversity against us.How did we evolve to solve the daunting task of selecting a diet that supplies all the essential nutrients? Dietary diversity. By eating a variety of foods, we increase our chances of hitting all the bases. If we only ate for pleasu
I debunk the myth of protein as the most satiating macronutrient.The importance of satiety is underscored by a rare genetic condition known as Prader-Willi syndrome. Children with the disorder are born with impaired signaling between their digestive system and their brain, so they don’t know when th
I dive into one of the most fascinating series of studies I’ve ever come across.Anyone can lose weight by eating less food. Anyone can be starved thin. Starvation diets are rarely sustainable, though, since hunger pangs drive us to eat. We feel unsatisfied and unsatiated on low-calorie diets. We do
Why do some pine nuts cause a bad taste in your mouth that can last for weeks?The reason I make pesto with walnuts instead of the more traditional pine nuts isn’t only because walnuts are probably healthier with 20 times more polyphenols, but also because of a mysterious phenomenon known as PMS. Not
