Can the health of the lining of your intestines affect the size of your waist?

How big your waist is can tell you something about your risk for cardiovascular disease, the bigger the waist, the more of a risk.

Most people would also prefer to have a slim look.

Why do some people have a big waist? Is it just because they eat too much of the wrong food, or could there be another reason as well?

When researchers assessed intestinal permeability in normal to overweight women, they found something interesting(Gummesson A, et al, 2011).

Intestinal permeability is an assessment of how big particles the intestinal lining will let through and allow to be absorbed into the blood.

The researchers found that the women with a bigger waist also had increased intestinal permeability. They also found that visceral fat and liver fat were also increased with increased intestinal permeability.

If you want to keep a slim waist and stay healthy it is important to keep your gastrointestinal tract healthy.
There are several things you can do to improve your gastrointestinal function. I will write more about that later, but an easy thing you can do is to take a probiotic formula which there are many. Use one which is based on scientific evidence verifying the benefits.

The probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii has shown to exert an anti-inflammatory effect on intestinal epithelial cells (Sougioultzis S, et al. 2006). Saccharomyces has shown to significantly reduce the frequency and duration of acute diarrhea in children (Billoo AG, et al. 2006. Kurugol Z, et al. 2005). There is evidence that Saccharomyces reduces the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in children (Kotowska M, et al. 2005).

Gummesson A¹, Carlsson LM, Storlien LH, Bäckhed F, Lundin P, Löfgren L, Stenlöf K, Lam YY, Fagerberg B, Carlsson B. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Nov;19(11):2280-2. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.251. Epub 2011 Aug 18. Intestinal permeability is associated with visceral adiposity in healthy women.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

What can an avocado a day do for you?

Avocados contain a lot of fat, including a certain type of fat called monounsaturated fatty acids, which are beneficial. How beneficial are they?

The reviewed research compared a low fat diet (24% fat) with two moderate fat diets (34% fat) (Wang L, et al. 2015). The difference between the two moderate fat diets was that one included one fresh Haas avocado a day, while the other one included high oleic acid canola oil to match the fatty acid content of one avocado.
All of the diets provided similar foods except there was more whole grain bread in the low fat diet to make up for the calorie difference between the two moderate fat diets.

This was a randomized, crossover, controlled trial which means that the same participants ate all the diets, but at different times with a washout period in between.

The 45 participant were overweight or obese and ate each diet for 5 weeks.

They were tested for several cardio-metabolic risk factors and the results were very interesting.
The diet which included an avocado a day provided additional lowering of LDL-cholesterol, LDL-P (LDL-particle number) and non-HDL-cholesterol compared with the other two diets. LDL-P is considered to be a more accurate assessment of cardiovascular risk. The amount of the small LDL-cholesterol particles should not be too high.

It was also interesting that the other moderate-fat diet provided more benefits than the low fat diet which included more whole grains. So much for the goodness of whole grains.

It is also worth noticing that in the two moderate fat diets, 6-7% of energy from saturated fat was replaced by mono unsaturated fatty acids and in the low fat diet 6-7 percent of the saturated fat was replaced by grains.

Wang L, Bordi PL, Fleming JA, Hill AM, Kris-Etherton PM. Effect of a moderate fat diet with and without avocados on lipoprotein particle number, size and subclasses in overweight and obese adults: a randomized, controlled trial.

J Am Heart Assoc. 2015 Jan 7;4(1). pii: e001355. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.114.001355.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

An enjoyable way to reduce stress and improve immunity

It is well accepted that stress can make us more susceptible to disease.

The participants in the reviewed study were 404 adults who were exposed to a virus that causes a common cold(Cohen S,et al. 2014). They were monitored in quarantine to assess infection and signs of illness.

It was found that perceived support protected against the risk of infection.
What was very interesting was that more frequent hugs also resulted in less severe signs of illness.

Maybe we should not worry about getting sick from being touched. We may, instead, run more of a risk of getting sick if we don't get touched.

Hugs sounds like a nice prescription.

Cohen S, Janicki-Deverts D, Turner RB, Doyle WJ. Does Hugging Provide Stress-Buffering Social Support? A Study of Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Infection and Illness. Psychol Sci. 2014 Dec 19. pii: 0956797614559284. [Epub ahead of print]

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Reduce your blood glucose level eating this snack

You don't have to have diabetes to benefit from better blood sugar control.

The reviewed research showed that sometimes it doesn't have to be very difficult(Parham M, et al. 2014).
The participants of this study had type 2 diabetes. One group was given 25g of pistachio nuts as snacks twice a day for 12 weeks while the other group was given a control meal without nuts.

After 12 weeks the groups were switched so the group that got the test meal now received the nuts.
The pistachio nuts reduced fasting blood glucose, HbA1c (a measurement of long term glucose control), blood pressure, BMI (body mass index) and CRP an inflammatory marker.

All this from just eating some nuts.

Parham M¹, Heidari S², Khorramirad A², Hozoori M³, Hosseinzadeh F¹, Bakhtyari L⁴, Vafaeimanesh J¹. Effects of pistachio nut supplementation on blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized crossover trial.

Rev Diabet Stud. 2014 Summer;11(2):190-6. doi: 10.1900/RDS.2014.11.190. Epub 2014 Aug 10.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

More about reducing your risk of dying

Remember the research stating that the number of deaths reduced from walking 20 minutes a day could theoretically be doubled with an approach that also avoided a high body mass index (BMI) or a high waist circumference?

A Canadian study supports this where the researchers concluded that physical inactivity and a high waist circumference have a significant independent risk of premature mortality among women (Katzmarzyk PT, Craig CL, 2006).

The participants of this study were all women, but other research has shown that this also works for men.
What if you could implement an activity more effective than walking?

What about an activity were you only spent 3 minutes of actual exercise time, 3 times a week, and the research had shown that this decreased the fat percentage by 8 percent and decreased waist circumference by 3.5 percent in 6 weeks (Hazell TJ, et al. 2014).

The participants in this study were women, and they ran all-out sprints on a self-propelled treadmill for 30 seconds, then rested for 4 minutes. They repeated this 4-6 to times 3 times a week. You don't have to run on a treadmill, you can run outdoors, that's even easier.

Katzmarzyk PT¹, Craig CL. Independent effects of waist circumference and physical activity on all-cause mortality in Canadian women. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2006 Jun;31(3):271-6.
Hazell TJ¹, Hamilton CD, Olver TD, Lemon PW. Running sprint interval training induces fat loss in women. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2014 Aug;39(8):944-50. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2013-0503. Epub 2014 Mar 18.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Ingredient in spice you can use to improve cognition

In the referenced study the researchers investigated if curcumin, an ingredient of the spice turmeric, would have an effect on cognitive function(Cox KH, et Al. 2014).

The participants were healthy adults between the age of 60 and 85 years, and the research was double blinded.

A special formulation of curcumin was used since regular curcumin is very poorly absorbed.

It was found that one hour after taking this curcumin the participants significantly improved performance on sustained attention and working memory tasks compared with the placebo. Taking it every day for four weeks resulted in a significantly better working memory and mood. It also reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

I have found that another special formulation of curcumin has reduced hs-CRP, an inflammatory marker. Curcumin is also known to be a good antioxidant.

Cox KH¹, Pipingas A¹, Scholey AB². Investigation of the effects of solid lipid curcumin on cognition and mood in a healthy older population. J Psychopharmacol. 2014 Oct 2. pii: 0269881114552744. [Epub ahead of print]

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Higher intake of this important mineral shows reduced risk for metabolic syndrome

People with metabolic syndrome have a cluster of symptoms. They are usually insulin resistant, they usually have high blood pressure and also high cholesterol and triglycerides.

The reviewed research included a total of 24,473 individuals and 6,311 cases of metabolic syndrome(Dibaba DT et al. 2014). The participants with the highest dietary intake of Magnesium were compared with the ones with the lowest intake.

The results showed that for every 100 mg per day increment in magnesium intake the overall risk of having metabolic syndrome was lowered by 17 percent.

Magnesium is a very important mineral, but all minerals should be taken together with other minerals since they affect each other. For example, magnesium regulates intra and extra cellular calcium levels, and if you only take zinc, you will lose copper.

The most common form of magnesium is magnesium oxide which is very poorly absorbed and irritates the gastrointestinal tract.

Magnesium in the form of an amino acid chelate does not have that effect and is also much better absorbed and is a better choice.

Dibaba DT, Xun P, Fly AD, Yokota K, He K. Dietary magnesium intake and risk of metabolic syndrome: a meta-analysis. Diabet Med. 2014 Nov;31(11):1301-9. doi: 10.1111/dme.12537.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Protect your memory with something you enjoy eating

The reviewed research first mapped out the precise brain location for age-related dysfunction using functional MRI.

The researchers then had 50-69 year old participants either consume a high or a low cocoa flavanol diet for 3 months(Brickman AM,et al. 2014).

The results showed that a high flavanol diet was found to enhance dentate gurus function, that is the function related to memory dysfunction, when measured with functional MRI and cognitive testing.

To increase your cocoa flavanol intake you can either eat some dark chocolate with a high flavanol content or drink some cocoa. Dark chocolate and cocoa are bitter; for that reason sugar is added of course, so be sure to watch your sugar levels with chocolate. The more bitter you can handle the better.

Brickman AM, Khan UA, Provenzano FA, Yeung LK, Suzuki W, Schroeter H, Wall M, Sloan RP, Small SA.
Enhancing dentate gyrus function with dietary flavanols improves cognition in older adults. Nat Neurosci. 2014 Dec;17(12):1798-803. doi: 10.1038/nn.3850. Epub 2014 Oct 26.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

See what pistachio nuts can do for you

If you want a quick healthy snack, then pistachio nuts would be a good choice.

The reviewed research had diabetic patients either assigned to a group receiving 25 g of pistachio nuts twice a day as a snack or a control meal without nuts(Parham M, et al. 2014).

After 12 weeks the participants had a washout period of 8 weeks before the groups were switched.

The results showed that eating pistachios decreased HbA1c (a long-term measure of glucose control) as well as fasting blood glucose. Eating the nuts also reduced systolic blood pressure, body mass index and CRP an inflammatory marker.

Nuts are a much better choice than so called nutrition bars if you want a snack.

Parham M¹, Heidari S², Khorramirad A², Hozoori M³, Hosseinzadeh F¹, Bakhtyari L⁴, Vafaeimanesh J¹.Effects of pistachio nut supplementation on blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized crossover trial. Rev Diabet Stud. 2014 Summer;11(2):190-6. doi: 10.1900/RDS.2014.11.190. Epub 2014 Aug 10.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Easy way to reduce your risk for Alzheimer's disease

The reviewed research followed 1,658 adults who were free from dementia, cardiovascular disease and stroke for an average of 5.6 years (Littlejohns TJ, et al. 2014).

Vitamin D levels (25-hydroxy vitamin D) were measured from blood samples.

It was found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a substantially increased risk for both dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

For most people 2000 IU daily of vitamin D 3 is enough to maintain a good level of vitamin D. That should be easy to manage, and if you also get out in the sun a little bit without sunscreen, you should be even better off.

Littlejohns TJ, Henley WE, Lang IA, Annweiler C, Beauchet O, Chaves PH, Fried L, Kestenbaum BR, Kuller LH, Langa KM, Lopez OL, Kos K, Soni M, Llewellyn DJ. Vitamin D and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2014 Sep 2;83(10):920-8. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000755. Epub 2014 Aug 6.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.