Stomach issues? Maybe a low-residue diet can help
A low-residue diet is low in fibers, particularly indigestible fibers. It also limits high-fat foods. When you’re having intestinal issues, fiber and fat may be harder for your digestive tract to process. The goal of this diet is to rest the GI tract and to reduce GI symptoms. A low-residue diet may be used for people with gastroparesis, a flare of inflammatory bowel disease, recent abdominal surgery or other gastrointestinal issues. The foods I recommend for patients on a low-residue diet are also low in FODMAPs.
(more...)Bloating and gas: a few common questions
November 9, 2019
It’s normal and healthy to produce some gas in the GI tract. Many people who think they have excess gas actually fall within the normal range. Gas in the intestines comes from the air we swallow and from bacterial fermentation of food, which happens with some foods during digestion and is meant to keep us healthy.
(more...)How much meat is too much? | NYP Health Matters
June 4, 2019
A new study found that meat-heavy diets can lead to premature death. How much meat per day is too much? How does eating meat lead to illness? Does the kind of meat consumed matter? How will cutting back on meat affect one’s health? What are ways to reduce meat intake? I discuss the answers to these questions and more at New York Presbyterian’s Health Matters.
Colorectal cancer: things to know
March 20, 2019
March is colorectal cancer (CRC) awareness month. What are some things you should know about prevention and getting screened?
(more...)Research on probiotics
December 17, 2018
Recently, two studies published in Cell on probiotics have been getting a lot of attention.
I’ve written previously about probiotics, including when it would be appropriate to take a supplement, how to pick a supplement if you are going to take one, and the problems that can be associated with probiotics. Here are additional takeaways from the new studies.
(more...)Is juicing good for you?
September 11, 2018
Table sugar, or sucrose, is made of glucose and fructose. The same glucose and fructose is also found in fruit, like apples. So why is table sugar so much worse for you?
It all comes down to how your body reacts to the sugar. Your body processes digestible carbs and absorbs sugar, which enters the blood. The pancreas dumps out insulin so that cells can absorb the sugar for energy. The glycemic index ranks carbs on a scale of 1-100 based on how long it takes your body to develop a blood sugar spike, and how intense that spike is. Why does this matter? Eating a lot of high-glycemic-index carbs can lead to an increased risk of chronic diseases, like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Processed junk foods tend to have a high glycemic index (think white rice, white bread, cakes, candy, cookies, soda).
But what happens when you take the sugar out of an apple and turn it into a juice? That turns a low-glycemic-index carb into a high-glycemic-index carb. When you strip away the fiber in an apple, which helps slow down the blood sugar spike, the body reacts more like it would to table sugar. Pure fruit juice is not healthy, but juicing can be good for you depending on what you juice. Try to make your juice with mostly vegetables and sweeten them with carrots, beets or lemon—or a very small amount of fruit if you need to.
A sample recipe:
1 cucumber
A few celery sticks
½ bell pepper
1 radish
2 cups spinach
2 carrots
2 lemons
Broccoli, cabbage, kale, swiss chard, kohlrabi and wheatgrass are also great juicing veggies.
Is intermittent fasting healthy? | NYP Health Matters
May 25, 2018
Fasting to improve health has been around for thousands of years, with early support from Hippocrates and Plato. From an evolutionary perspective, our habit of having three meals a day (plus snacks) is abnormal. For much of human history, access to food was sporadic, especially for hunters-gatherers. We have fat tissue with energy reserves that can support the body for weeks if we are unable to access food.
Human and animal studies have shown that fasting for 2-5 days each month can reduce biomarkers for diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Our bodies store sugar in the form of glycogen. During fasting, glycogen stores are depleted, setting off biochemical pathways that can have healing benefits. Fasting lowers insulin as well as a hormone called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), which is linked to cancer and diabetes. When you lower insulin and IGF-1, cells get out of growth mode and enter a state of maintenance, which can help slow the aging process and decreases disease risk factors. Studies have also shown that fasting can improve symptoms in patients with autoimmune diseases.
There is evidence that fasting can promote weight loss. One study showed that alternate-day fasting in obese adults resulted in weight loss (an average of 13lbs) as well as reductions in LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides and insulin.
There are different ways to fast. The 5:2 diet involves eating without restrictions for five days and then eating 500 calories on each of the remaining days. Alternate-day fasting involves eating 500 calories every other day. There is also time-restricted feeding, in which you consume all your calories for the day in a narrow window, usually around eight or nine hours. Human and animal studies have shown that fasting for as little as 16 hours can improve some health measures and counteract disease processes, including lowering cancer risk and maintaining a healthy weight.
One 2014 experiment found that mice that consumed all their calories during an eight-to-nine-hour period lost up to 12% of their body weight and also cut bad cholesterol and inflammation, compared with mice who ate the same quantity and types of foods spread throughout the day.
If you’re going to reduce calories, you have to eat a very healthy diet to avoid malnutrition. Fasting is not appropriate for pregnant women, people with diabetes, or people with other conditions requiring certain medications. Talk to your doctor and nutritionist before you attempt an intermittent fasting program.
Read more at NYP Health Matters
A minimalist pantry list
Below is a surprisingly bare list of foods that can get you through a wide variety of plant-based eating. You can make nearly any type of cuisine with these ingredients.
(more...)Get dirty—for your gut germs
December 23, 2017
Developed nations with thriving, modern economies and ultra-clean environments have the highest rates of autoimmune diseases. But in countries where sanitary conditions are extremely poor, there are higher incidences of diarrheal diseases and bacterial infections. We need to find some sort of middle ground—an optimal level of sanitation while exposing our immune system to a variety of microbes. How do we do that? The bugs that live inside you, which make up the gut microbiome, are one of the keys to finding this balance.
(more...)Antibiotics: take them only when you really need them
November 27, 2017
We know that antibiotics can be life-saving, but they can also wreak havoc on your gut microbiome. Antibiotics can wipe out bacterial species and decrease the diversity of the gut microbiome, so don’t take them unless there’s a good reason to do so. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor. There are a lot of questions you can ask your doctor.
(more...)