This is a transcript of the second half of a broadcast of the Dr. Jay Show on 1560 The Game. The first part of the show covered nutritional supplements. Dr. J. Michael Bennett is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Fellowship Trained Sports Medicine Physician serving patients in Katy, Rosenberg, Richmond, Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, Metro Houston, and all of Southeast Texas from offices in Richmond and Sugar Land, TX.
So we’re talking about supplements today and nutrition. Earlier I mentioned the Mayo Clinic, and they actually came out with a guideline regarding supplementation, alternative medicine and nutrition, and part of that publication was a list of 10 disease fighting foods which I thought was very interesting.
The first disease fighting food is whole grains. Whole grains are low in fat, they have a great fiber content, and there is actually some evidence that shows they can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes and some cancers. Now when you go in and buy whole grain you’ve got to be careful because, just like anything else, people are finding cheaper ways of doing things and they’re trying to fool the consumer. This may sound crazy, but when you go to the grocery store to buy whole grain you have to make sure the package says, “whole.” You’d think that if they put “grain” on there, or “wheat” on there, that would be enough and that you’d be getting the whole grain, but actually there are some products out there that describe themselves as “wheat bread” or “wheat flour” and all that they’re doing is taking regular flour and adding a little bit of food coloring to give it a brown discoloration to fool you into thinking that you’re actually getting a wheat product. Always make sure that you’re getting a whole wheat product.
The second disease fighting food is fish. And this is huge; all sorts of people are talking about fish and the benefits of fish oil. What the Mayo Clinic recommends is taking about two servings of fish a week, whether it’s broiled, baked or grilled. Now you don’t want to go out and eat two servings of fried fish a week because that’s going to kill you, alright? You want to make sure it’s grilled, baked or broiled. And usually the specific kind of fish can make a difference as well. Going for things like salmon, tuna, trout, herring and sardines – those are actually the best kind of fish you can get. That’s because they are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which now, evidence does show, can protect against heart disease by improving your good cholesterol, which is your HDL, or high density lipoprotein. And it actually lowers triglycerides, and can help lower blood pressure, and it may reduce the effects of an irregular heartbeat, and it also decreases inflammation in general. And these are Omega-3s. I’m actually incorporating that in my practice with patients that have arthritis or joint swelling or issues with inflammation. I’m finding that Omega-3s do make a difference.
Now you’ve got to be careful when taking things like fish oil because, especially if you’re going to have a procedure or surgery done, it can thin the blood and you’ve got to make sure you’re off of them seven days before the procedure. That’s across the board. Any supplement that you’re taking, make sure that you’re off for seven days before the procedure.
The third food is walnuts and almonds. Nuts are high in calories, they’re also nutrient dense. Now almonds are great. I eat these things all the time. They’re high in calcium, iron, vitamin E and riboflavin. They’re a good source of copper, zinc, potassium and they even have a plant version of Omega-3 fatty acids within them. In the past, I remember growing up when people would say, “You don’t want to eat those nuts” or “don’t eat too many nuts” or “you don’t want to eat all that peanut butter because it’s high in fat and it’s bad for you.” Now, granted, you’ve got to watch out for the sugar. You don’t want to go out there and buy a peanut butter that’s got a lot of sugar in it because that’s not good for you. But if you get the organic kind you’re getting a good source of protein and you’re actually maybe doing yourself some good. And make sure you eat a lot of walnuts or almonds. Nuts are cholesterol free, so we used to think that they used to increase your cholesterol but they don’t. But make sure you eat them in moderation like anything else; you can always overdue it.
The fourth disease fighting food is legumes. These are dried beans, peas, lentils, and they are high in protein and a great substitute for animal sources of protein. They have no cholesterol and very little fat. Beans are sometimes called the “skinny man’s vitamin” because people who eat a lot of beans can actually lose weight since they are high in fiber, low fat, and high in protein. It actually revs up the metabolism as well. So beans are an excellent source to throw in your diet as well.
The fifth food is soy. This can actually reduce your cholesterol and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. There are less saturated fats in soy than like in meat so it’s a good source of protein if you don’t want to eat meat. But women have to be careful and eat soy in moderation especially if they have a risk or have had breast cancer, because there are some phytochemicals in soy that produce a weak estrogen activity. Right now the studies out there are really inconclusive as far as the impact of soy to increase or decrease breast cancer risks so you’ve got to be careful with soy, keeping it in moderation.
The sixth is fat free dairy products. Milk has become a very touchy subject these days, I’m hearing pros and cons for it. I think that the pros outweigh the cons in the general aspects of milk because milk can prevent high blood pressure, can help with stroke, colon cancer and obesity, provides an excellent source of protein, minerals and B vitamins. You want to make sure it is fat free or low fat milk, but there are a lot of benefits from milk in regards to calcium and vitamin D and in preventing osteoporosis so I definitely would continue to incorporate milk into my diet. Now if you have an allergy to milk or lactose intolerance, it’s a whole other ballgame and you probably need to find some sort of substitute. But for those of us who don’t, I think it’s a good option.
The seventh disease fighting food is berries. These are huge. Berries are rich in anti-oxidants, and these anti-oxidants are called flavonoids and can actually lower cancer and cardiovascular disease risk. Blueberries are high in anti-oxidants; blackberries, raspberries and strawberries are right behind blueberries but blueberries I think are the best for you regarding anti-oxidants. But, like everything else, take them in moderation. Because you eat too many dried fruits, especially these berries, these are a concentrated source of calories so you can be taking an unknown source of calories that you don’t know about. But berries are excellent and when I say anti-oxidants, anti-oxidants are great and for those of you who don’t understand what an anti-oxidant does, basically when your body has an injury or an inflammation, it creates free radicals, a by-product of this inflammation. What an anti-oxidant does is act kind of like Drain-O; it goes in there and clears out these free radicals, minimizes inflammation, and I think in the long term helps with healing as well.
The eighth food is broccoli and cauliflower. Both are excellent, they’re high in vitamin C. Broccoli has a good amount of vitamin A as well. There are other vegetables that are not far behind this, like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale. These have phytochemicals that help reduce the risk of colorectal cancer as well as other cancers and broccoli and cauliflower also have fiber and no cholesterol. I read the other day about someone who was trying to get the benefits of cauliflower and they suggested squashing a bunch of it into a kind of potato type of product. Instead of loading up on carbs and eating all these potatoes, you can actually do the same thing with cauliflower and it’s actually a lot better for you.
The ninth food is tomatoes. They have high vitamin C and vitamin B complex as well as iron and potassium and high doses of lycopene, which lowers the risk of heart attack, prostate cancer and other types of cancer.
And the tenth disease fighting food is one of my favorites, green tea. And this is a major source of these phytochemicals. The thought here is that these flavonoids can inhibit or decrease the risk of cancer growth and actually help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease and I think green tea is a key in speeding up the metabolism and burning calories. So I think that green tea is an excellent source.
So those are the 10 top food products to think about when you’re going to the grocery store next time and trying to incorporate that into your diet in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Now going back to the supplements real quickly, sometimes you want to avoid certain supplements and I’m going to give you at least four reasons for not taking a supplement or for thinking seriously about not taking a supplement. First is if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Prenatal vitamins are usually okay, but you want to make sure that if you’re taking anything, your physician knows about it.
If you have questions about nutrition, please call Dr. Bennett’s office at 281-633-8600 for an appointment.
