Category Archives: Health

Beans, Beans, Beans

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Legumes (a family of foods that includes beans, peas and lentils, plus foods made from them such as soy products) are among the most versatile kinds of plant foods, but they don’t always get the attention they deserve. At restaurants you may find them in a garbanzo bean curry, falafel, a tofu stir-fry or a black bean burrito, for example. At summer picnics, three-bean salad or baked beans are often favorite options.

They are an important part of a plant-based diet. Because of their nutritional composition, these economical foods have the potential to improve the diet quality and long term health of those who consume beans regularly. The same goes for other legumes such lentils and peas. It seems that one of the things people living in blue zones (regions known for the longevity of the people who live there) have in common is that beans form a regular part of their diet.   Their health benefits derive from direct attributes, such as their low saturated fat content and high content of vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients, substances only found in plant foods that act to help prevent cancer and many other diseases.  

The vitamin profile of beans  includes vitamin C, and seven out of the eight B-vitamins – thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, biotin, and folate—but not vitamin B-12. Additionally, the mineral composition is quite notable, with amounts of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, manganese, selenium, iron, zinc, and potassium. Beans are a rich source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. On average, beans provide 7 or more grams of total dietary fiber per ½-cup serving. Dietary fiber intake contributes to feelings of fullness or satiety and helps maintain functioning of the digestive system.  

Beans are also a good source of protein. Just half a cup of black beans provides 8 grams of protein. It’s important to remember that there’s no need to combine beans with grains to meet all your protein needs. A variety of plant foods over the course of a day or two will do just fine. Unlike animal foods, beans are low in saturated fats and have no cholesterol.  If you worry about gas, introduce beans into your diet in small quantities and start with lentils. This will allow your gut bacteria to gradually adapt to the new foods in your diet, and so they’re less likely to cause a problem.

So add beans to your salads, use soy products such as tofu and tempeh regularly, enjoy chilis, curries, soups and stews with plenty of beans in them, and you’ll get an amazing boost to your nutrition. You can cook dried beans in bulk at home and store them in portion sized containers in the freezer, or you can buy canned beans for convenience. Lentils don’t need pre-cooking, which makes them more versatile.

To learn more about cooking with beans, see the online cooking series – Cooking with Amanda – Lentils and Beans.

Reduce your risk of gum disease and oral disease

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We’re not saying you don’t have to brush your teeth, but the latest research shows that a plant-based diet is good for your health even before you swallow your food. Recent studies show that a vegetarian diet lowers your risk for gum disease, more technically known as periodontitis. This results in a lower risk of bleeding gums, gingivitis, and tooth loss. A plant-based diet also reduces the risk of painful aphthous ulcers also known as canker sores. This condition affects approximately 20% of the general population.  

A plant-based diet reduces inflammation and that can extend to your gums. It also provides phytonutrients which are substances present in plant foods, in addition to vitamins and minerals, that have health promoting properties including reducing inflammation. In addition to being anti-inflammatory, many phytonutrients are good antioxidants which can help prevent cancer and other diseases.

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When antibiotics stop working

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This one actually scares me.  What if you had an infection and the antibiotic the doctor gave you to fight the bacteria didn’t work? This is known as antibiotic resistance and worldwide it’s resulting in more deaths than HIV and malaria combined. Closer to home, three million antibiotic resistant infections occur every year. What’s causing this growing problem? It’s farm animals, although it’s really not their fault, it’s the way they are raised.

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Mushroom protein builds muscle

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A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that protein from mushrooms can be just as effective as animal protein at supporting muscle building during resistance training. This fascinating study, carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter in Great Britain, was split into two phases. 

In the first phase, 16 healthy young adults completed a three-day diet where their protein was derived either omnivorous or exclusively vegan (predominantly from mycoprotein developed by the Quorn brand) sources.  They took detailed measures of metabolism during this phase.

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Lupus can be treated with a plant-based diet

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A plant-based diet can help treat Lupus. Systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE for short, affects up to 322,000 adults in the United States, the vast majority of whom are women. It’s an autoimmune disease, but unlike other autoimmune diseases it targets a variety of organs and can cause a wide variety of symptoms. Genetic predisposition, environmental factors and hormones interplay in SLE disease development and activity. Lupus definitely comes under the heading of a difficult-to-treat disease.

The symptoms of lupus are bad enough, but there are also some diseases that often come along with it. In one study, people with SLE were found to have a two to three times the risk of heart attack and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in SLE patients. One reason is that atherosclerosis is accelerated in SLE patients. Their arteries lay down plaque faster than others, so they develop cardiovascular disease faster. Over half of people with SLE have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and are obese. Complicating matters even more is that people with SLE are more likely to have prediabetes and chronic kidney disease. The medications used to treat SLE can have very significant side effects which can cause even more problems. People with lupus have a lot of problems going on at once, especially during a flare up.

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Sperm counts decline drastically

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Men are producing a lot less sperm. There has been a drastic drop in the number of sperm produced by men in recent years, and it’s getting worse.

Overall, there is a significant worldwide decline of more than 50% in sperm counts in the past 46 years, a decline that has accelerated in recent years. Sperm count declines among men in America and Canada have accelerated in the last five years, and this reflects a crisis related to our modern environment and lifestyle, including diet, with broad implications for the survival of the human species.

Eating a big fat steak may not be so manly after all! A 2017 study found that red and processed meat like steak, bacon, and cold cuts lowers sperm count and mobility. Another study found that high-fat dairy products like whole milk, ice cream, and cheese were associated with lower sperm mobility and abnormal shape.

Researchers, who studied men ages 18 to 20, found that those who followed a vegetarian diet had higher sperm counts — 25.6 million more per ejaculate, to be exact.

Switching to a healthy vegan diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains while young could help prevent fertility issues later in life. Men on a Western diet had lower levels of the chemical inhibin-B, which may signal damage to sperm-producing Sertoli cells.

The message is clear: a plant-based diet helps men produce more and healthier sperm.  It also helps with other aspects of men’s health such as testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction.

Seniors need more protein

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Seniors need more protein than younger adults. Once you reach your 60s, you might want to begin upping the amount of protein you consume per day in an effort to maintain muscle mass and strength, bone health and other essential physiological functions as long as possible, since older people need to make up for age-related changes in protein metabolism.

Nutrition experts recommend that healthy older adults should consume 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, which is an increase over the RDA for younger adults. This formula translates to:

150-pound senior woman69 to 81 grams per day
180-pound senior man81 to 98 grams per day

This compares to the Recommended Daily Allowances for protein which are:

Babies10 grams per day
School-age children19-34 grams per day
Teenage boys52 grams per day
Teenage girls46 grams per day
Adult men56 grams per day
Adult women46 grams a day (71 grams, if pregnant or breastfeeding)

As you can see, the guidelines for dietary protein intake have traditionally advised similar intake for all adults, regardless of age. This one-size-fits-all protein recommendation does not consider age-related changes in metabolism.  Doctors are now recognizing that this leaves seniors without enough protein and the health problems that brings. A shortfall of protein supplies relative to needs can lead to loss of lean body mass, particularly muscle loss. By the time people reach age 65, they become at greater risk of sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle mass, strength and function. It’s also important to note that simply moving your body with plenty of regular exercise can be just as crucial as protein intake when it comes to maintaining muscle as we age.

Now, for the good news. You can get all the protein you need with plant foods such as beans, lentils, whole grains and nuts. Even better, plant protein doesn’t carry the high price tag of saturated fat and cholesterol that meat and dairy have.  It’s better for the animals and the environment too. Here are just a few examples of some plant foods that are good sources of protein, but there are many more. 

Type of food  Portion sizeProtein in grams
Firm Tofu (soybean curds)4 ounces10g  
Tempeh3 ounces17g  
Cooked lentils1 cup18g  
Oats1 cup10g  
Almonds3.5 ounces21g  

In some cases adding plant protein powder to a daily smoothie can be helpful way to increase the amount of protein consumed. There are several kinds available including soy protein, rice protein and pea protein.

While seniors need more protein, it’s important not to overdo it. Going overboard and eating much more protein than you need can cause problems, as too much protein can put a strain on the kidneys. Plant-based protein is much better for the kidneys than animal-based protein, but it’s still possible to overdo it.

Finally, we need to dispel a myth. The myth is that plant proteins must be combined at every meal to be of any use to the body. This was popularized in the early 70’s by the book “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé. The author has since retracted the statement frequently. “In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth,” she said. Unfortunately, the protein combining myth has taken root in the public. Eating a variety of plant foods over the course of a day or two is all that’s necessary to ensure you get the variety of amino acids you need.

As always, check with your doctor before making any changes in your diet or health care.

New York City to train doctors in nutrition and lifestyle medicine

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A big step forward in the use of plant-based diets in medicine has just taken place in New York. Through a partnership between local government and a mainstream medical nonprofit, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, free introductory training in nutrition and other aspects of lifestyle will be offered to doctors and other healthcare professionals throughout the city.

The initial phase will include practitioners at 20 hospitals and health systems that serve millions of New Yorkers. The new training will be offered up to 200,000 doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, dietitians, and other health care professionals in New York City and is the largest lifestyle medicine training rollout in the world. Training in nutrition is no small thing when one considers that according to the American Medical Association, diet is the number one risk for disease in America.

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Covid and plant-based diets

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We’ve been getting a lot of questions about following a plant-based diet and COVID. There are some things a plant-based diet can do it and something it can’t.  It turns out that a plant-based diet can significantly reduce the severity of COVID and moderately reduce the risk of getting COVID in the first place.

In one study, looking at doctors and nurses, a plant-based diet reduced the chance of getting a severe or moderate case by 73%, which we think is saying a lot.  Compare this to those individuals following “low carbohydrate, high protein diets” such as Keto, Atkins and others, which are typically high in food that comes from animals, who had an almost 4 times greater risk of moderate-to-severe COVID. Another study showed that among the elderly, those following a non vegetarian diet had 5 times the risk of having a severe case of COVID.

So what’s up with this? We think there are two things at work. A plant-based diet has been shown to reduce inflammation. Part of the damage COVID does is by inciting extreme inflammation. Studies have shown that those following a plant-based diet have a lower baseline level of inflammation. Second,  people with chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, have been shown to have worse outcomes when infected with the COVID virus. People who follow a plant-based diet have, on average, much lower rates of these diseases. Lower levels of baseline inflammation and lower rates of chronic disease combine to give vegetarians and vegans the edge.  

Can a good diet prevent you from getting COVID in the first place? Here the effect of the plant-based diet is much less pronounced. One study showed only a 9% reduction in the risk of getting infected in the first place. However, a more recent study showed a 39% reduction in the risk of getting COVID in those following a plant-based diet. Based on the evidence, vaccination is very strongly recommended for the general public but a plant-based diet may help too.

While 9-39% risk reduction in getting COVID isn’t nearly as effective as the vaccine, it can still make a difference in how many people get COVID. However, a 73% reduction in the risk of getting a severe or moderate case of COVID makes a huge difference in reducing suffering and saving lives.

Let’s stop the flu

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It’s flu season and many are choosing to get the flu vaccine. This choice is generally a good idea but should be made only after consulting your doctor. The vaccine is about 40% effective in preventing you from getting influenza. While getting the vaccine might keep you from getting the flu or lessen the severity it doesn’t stop the disease from occurring in the first place. Wouldn’t it be better to keep the disease from ever happening in the first place than relying on a partially effective vaccine to protect us? We think so and have written an article published in Juniper Online Journal of Public Health. We can actually stop the flu from developing thus preventing many people from getting sick or dying.

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