A very interesting study was just published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine documenting the association between high dietary fiber intake and lower risk of dying from some of the most common killers—heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. This was a huge study with over 388,000 participants aged 50 to 71.

The nine-year study looked at dietary fiber intake and found men’s intake ranged from 13 to 29 grams per day, and women’s fiber intake from 11 to 26 grams per day. Over a nine-year period, those who had the highest intake of fiber (29.4 grams in men and 25.8 grams in women) had a 22 percent lower risk of dying from certain diseases than those participants who consumed the lowest levels of fiber. Subjects with the highest daily intake of fiber were at lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and infectious and respiratory disease compared with the lower fiber intake group.

Researchers noted that fiber “has been hypothesized to lower the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, obesity, and premature death because it is known to:

• Improve laxation by increasing bulk and reducing transit time of feces through the bowel;
• Increase excretion of bile acid, estrogen, and fecal procarcinogens and carcinogens by binding to them;
• Lower serum cholesterol levels;
• Slow glucose absorption and improve insulin sensitivity;
• Lower blood pressure;
• Promote weight loss;
• Inhibit lipid peroxidation; and
• Have anti-inflammatory properties.”

I recommend at least 35 grams of fiber daily for those very reasons noted above. High daily intake of fiber has so many health benefits. Unfortunately, however, the average American only consumes between 10 and 15 grams daily— and that’s not nearly enough.

It can be difficult to obtain 35 grams of fiber from the diet, so fiber supplements are a great way to increase fiber intake. In addition, consuming plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables (and fewer bad fats, refined grains and sugars) will help to boost your daily fiber intake.

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Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease involving a reaction in the gut to gliadin, the gluten protein found in wheat, barley and rye. This gut reaction destroys the body’s own intestinal lining cells, a process known as autoimmunity. The treatment of celiac disease is complete avoidance of gluten and gluten-containing foods. If not treated properly, the autoimmunity can manifest in other areas of the body, like the joints or the thyroid gland.

A recent study set out to determine at what age people develop celiac disease. Every 15 years since 1974 the number of people with celiac disease has doubled. As it turns out, the incidence of celiac disease in the elderly is almost two and a half times higher than the general population. This counters the previous perception that celiac disease usually develops during childhood.

So what factors may be leading to this late-life loss of tolerance to gluten?

Studies will need to be done to determine the exact environmental triggers, but I suspect that these people may have been living for years with either silent celiac disease (yes, celiac can exist in the gut with no symptoms at all) or the milder form of gluten sensitivity.

So many people improve their health status when they eliminate gluten. Why wait until you’re elderly to find out what it might do? Try a gluten-free diet if you think that you might be sensitive.

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Oh, the vicious cycles that lead our health in a downward spiral, seemingly never-ending. When it comes to obesity, there are a number of these detrimental cycles. One involves the brain.

Pleasure receptors (known as D2 receptors) exist in the brain and are involved in—you guessed it—feelings of pleasure. Well, a recent study has found that obese people have fewer pleasure receptors and they overeat to compensate for this lack of pleasure. But overeating weakens the ability of the pleasure receptors to respond, creating yet more need to fill this pleasure void.

When you eat, dopamine is released in the brain. The more dopamine that is available, the more pleasure that is experienced. But with fewer dopamine receptors, obese people need to eat more to feel the same amount of pleasure as their lean counterparts.

This is a recipe for disaster, and explains why it can be so difficult for obese people to lose weight. I know that cravings can come from imbalances in the body and brain. That’s why I formulated Crave Be Gone. If you experience cravings (especially to carbs) then you might want to make those craves behave!

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Weekly challenge (I mean, opportunity!) to help set you off on the right foot and in the right direction for bringing health to your week. You could even add it to your calendar. Join us!

An interesting study published last year found that optimism boosts the immune response. That’s right—filling your half empty cup to half full can improve your immune system’s response to infection.  Who knew it could be that easy?

Study participants were law students. They were found to have increased immune response when their outlook about law school was more positive, and decreased response when they were feeling more pessimistic about it. Though the students’ general outlook on life (optimistic or pessimistic) did not have an effect on results, having an optimistic or pessimistic disposition with regard to specific, important events was associated with immune function.

This doesn’t mean that you need to go about your day being cheerful and optimistic about every little thing. There is a need to be realistic at times. But if you find yourself getting caught up in something that might not be as bad as it seems, try to cultivate a little optimism—for your immune system! It may even lead to a solution that you hadn’t considered.

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Celiac disease involves an autoimmune gut reaction to gluten proteins found in wheat, barley and rye. This reaction destroys the intestinal villi. Villi are the finger-like projections that line the small intestine, increasing the surface area of the intestine so that absorption of nutrients can be maximized. When the villi are destroyed, nutrient absorption is hindered, which can lead to serious health complications.

How serious? The autoimmune reaction of celiac (basically, the immune systems mistakes parts of the body as a foreign invader, and attacks the body’s own tissues) can lead to other autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or thyroid dysfunction.

A recent study has determined that the incidence of celiac disease has doubled every year since 1974, and it also increases with age. If people can develop celiac disease in their 50s and 60s, it indicates that the condition is likely caused by environmental factors.

One important possible environmental trigger of the disease that may be causing late-onset celiac is changes in the composition of gut bacteria. Researchers suggested that a greater understanding of these changes in the gut may allow for the development of a way to keep the disease on hold.

Our gut health is truly related to the health of the rest of the body. Start by healing your gut, and maintaining that health to build a strong foundation that the rest of the body can benefit from, well into our golden years.

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Ok folks, my weekly challenge involves a very interesting study from Boston University that I came across the other day that I want to share with you. The study looked at a technique known as expressive writing, which involves writing one’s thoughts and feelings about a certain issue. In this study, participants with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) expressed their thoughts and feelings about having IBS. They wrote for 30 minutes on four consecutive days.

Expressive writing was found to improve IBS severity and cognition in participants with longer-term duration of IBS. More studies are needed to confirm the potential for using this method in IBS treatment, but these preliminary results are hopeful.

It turns out that expressive writing has been found to be beneficial for a number of health conditions, like depression, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, chronic pain, chronic infection, and even length of hospital stay. How cool!

So, this week, if you are suffering from a chronic illness (especially IBS) take 30 minutes out of four days in a row to record your thoughts and feelings about it. Here is an excerpt from the instructions used in the study:

“…Feel free to really let go and explore your very deepest emotions and thoughts. You might tie your topic to your relationships with others, including parents, lovers, friends, or relatives, to your past, your present, your future, or to who you have been, who you would like to be, or who you are now…”

So get out a pen and paper (or your laptop) and let it all out. It may just make you feel better in the long run.

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Girls are hitting puberty at an increasingly younger age. A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that about 15 percent of girls studied had already begun breast development by age seven. The median age for breast development has dropped from age 10.9 years in 1991 to 9.9 years in 2006.

What makes young girls mature? Hormones. Yet, hormone disruptors are unfortunately all around them. Exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals like flame retardants found on furniture and electronics, phthalates and BPA found in plastics and vinyl, and the herbicide atrazine found on non-organic produce could all be contributing to this early maturation.

Hormone disruptors interfere with normal hormone function. Some of these chemicals have been confirmed in human studies to interfere with male sexual development, but the research in humans is only just beginning. In fact, a recent study has found for the first time that daily exposure to BPAS increased levels of testosterone in the blood of men. Another human study found that BPA may decrease the quality and concentration of sperm in male humans. Hopefully more research will expose the dangers of endocrine disruptors in females, too.

My book Detox Strategy will help you find everything you need to begin your personal detoxification journey and take the first steps toward cleaner, healthier living – at any age.

Live Clean!

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Do you painstakingly add fruits and vegetables whenever you can to your children’s meals and snacks? Do you avoid giving them too many bad fats and foods with added chemicals? Sorry to say this Moms and Dads, but even after all this hard work, they may still be ingesting the chemicals PFOA (perfluorooctanoid acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonate) from your non-stick cookware. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has found that children and teens with higher levels of these chemicals in their blood also have higher total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels.

Though non-stick cookware is a big source of these chemicals, they are also found in drinking water, dust, food packaging, and even the air. They are also used to waterproof fabric and upholstery, so in other words, they are all around us and they can be hard to avoid. In fact, almost all samples of human blood contain these chemicals.

It may be worth it to use stainless steel pans with healthy oils to avoid sticking (and a little elbow grease) instead of non-stick pans. Sometimes convenience comes with a price, and in the case of non-stick cookware, it’s our health.

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Probiotics are well known for their beneficial effects on the gut. After all, that’s where they thrive. But these beneficial bacteria have far-reaching effects that you wouldn’t think had anything to do with the digestive tract. One of the main reasons for this is due to the fact that immune system that resides in the gut, in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). These beneficial gut bacteria “communicate,” in a sense, with the immune system. When there is a healthy balance of good bacteria, the immune system responds properly. When there is an imbalance, the immune system might miss the message altogether. Then the sniffles begin.

A recent study found that daily consumption of the probiotic strains Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus paracasei helped protect study participants against the common cold, as well as reduced symptoms for those who contracted colds. Just more proof that the gut is connected to other systems of the body. Our gut health is truly at the heart of our total-body health. Studies like these support the “gut instincts” I’ve had for a long time. So next time you reach for a tissue, reach for some probiotics, too.

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Colorectal (bowel) cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. The lifetime risk in men for developing colorectal cancer is one in 19. In women it’s one in 20. Those are some scary stats when you think about it!

A few lifestyle factors are known to be protective against bowel cancer. A recent study looked at five of these factors in a group of over 55,487 adults aged 50 to 64 for nearly a decade. Over this period, 678 people out of the study group were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

What the researchers found was encouraging. If participants had followed just one of the recommendations below, 13 percent of the bowel cancer cases could have been prevented. If all participants had followed all five recommendations, then almost one quarter of bowel cancer cases could have been avoided.

This week, think about the following lifestyle recommendations and how they may help save your colon (and your life!):

- At least 30 minutes of daily physical activity
- No more than seven alcoholic drinks per week for women, and 14 for men
- Not smoking
- Maintaining waist circumference below 34 ½ inches for women and 40 inches for men
- Consuming a healthy diet

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