293 Chew Your Food [10 Nov 2014]

Remember your mother telling you to chew your food? She was right, but probably didn’t know all the reasons for doing so.

We learned in school about amylase – the enzyme in our saliva that starts the digestion of starch. Chew an unsalted cracker for a few minutes and it will start to taste sweet as the starch breaks down into sugars (salt masks the sweet taste so it’s harder to notice with salted crackers).

Thoroughly chewing your vegetables mechanically breaks down the cell walls making the nutrients inside available for your digestive processes to work on. So you get more nutrients from the same amount of food.

Another reason is to convert nitrates from vegetables to nitrites which are in turn converted in the body to nitric oxide (NO) which works to dilate arteries and lower blood pressure. The conversion to nitrites in the mouth occurs when a certain bacteria which lives on our tongue and in our saliva is mixed with the nitrates in our plant food. Frequent use of antibacterial mouthwash, by the way, interferes with this process, lowering arterial NO levels and raising blood pressure. (See my recent columns #281 on August 18 and #288 October 6 for more on the importance of our microbiome, and #180 & 181 on Nitric Oxide in September 2012.)

Chewing raw cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage) mixes two compounds – glucoraphanin and an enzyme myrosinase – to form sulforaphane, a powerful antioxidant with anticancer and antimicrobial properties. I wrote about the health benefits of eating raw broccoli in #184 (24 Sept 2012); this is another benefit.

Juicing your vegetables or making smoothies mimics the action of chewing, but does it much more thoroughly. It’s still important to chew your juice to mix in the saliva. Someone once advised “Chew your drinks (to mix in saliva) and drink your foods (by chewing them until they are liquid)”.

Source: Why You Should Chew Your Food Well (And Stop Using Mouthwash) by Dr. Joel Kahn, www.mindbodygreen.com, 29 October 2014.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

182 Boosting Nitric Oxide [10 Sept 2012]

In the last two columns I wrote about the health benefits of Nitric Oxide (NO) and why we need more as we age. This week let’s look at how to increase our levels.

L-arginine is a nitric oxide donor and supplementing with this amino acid has been touted as the best way to increase NO levels (see June 11 column #169). But there are problems with L-arginine – it shouldn’t be used by people who have had a heart attack or who have atherosclerosis. Also the chemical pathway to convert arginine to NO doesn’t work so well in people over 40 – the very ones who need it the most. Fortunately there are foods, and a new supplement, that use different enzyme pathways that are safer and more effective.

Certain vegetables, the dark leafy greens, are rich in nitrate and nitrite which the body can convert to NO. An analysis of the factors in the Mediterranean diet found that the most significant food was not olive oil, fish or beans but vegetables, particularly those high in nitrates. Vegetables which are highest in nitrates (in decreasing order) include spinach, kale, Swiss chard, chicory, bok choy, beets, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli. Other foods which promote the production of NO (but do not contain much nitrate) are apples, pomegranate juice, red wine, dark chocolate, black and green tea and fish oil. Watermelon contains L-citrulline, an amino acid that converts to L-arginine in the body. Citrulline has been found to be safer and more effective at raising NO levels than arginine.

The new supplement for raising NO levels is called Neo40. It contains L-citrulline, vitamin C, beet root and hawthorn (beet root and hawthorn are very high in nitrates). Neo40 is mixed with saliva in the mouth to convert nitrates to nitrites. A recent study found Neo40 to be much more effective than L-arginine in raising blood levels of nitrite which is a biomarker for NO levels.

For more information on nitric oxide and Neo40 see www.neo40.ca and a book called “The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution” by Nathan S Bryan and Janet Zand, 2010. For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

181 Nitric Oxide & Cardiovascular Health [4 Sept. 2012]

Last week we looked at all the roles that nitric oxide (NO) plays in the body. The most important of these relate to cardiovascular health. Healthy blood vessels are smooth and flexible, allowing easy passage of blood. NO produced in the endothelium (inner lining) of these vessels tells the underlying layer of smooth muscle to relax, a process called vasodilation. With insufficient NO the arteries become inflexible, resulting in high blood pressure.

High blood pressure damages the artery walls initiating the formation of plaque. Insufficient NO allows platelets and macrophages (a type of white blood cell) to stick to the artery walls forming plaque, and causes proliferation of the smooth muscle cells of the vessels which contributes to the plaque. Low NO levels also increase chronic inflammation which contributes to cardiovascular disease. Constricted, inflexible vessel walls along with plaque formation restrict blood flow to the heart and the rest of the body. This in turn reduces the amount of NO produced, creating what’s known as a “vicious circle”. By age 40 production of NO is less than half of normal. Returning NO levels to normal will halt this process, possibly reverse the formation of arterial plaque, and restore healthy circulation.

Many recent studies have shown that NO plays a critical role in cardiovascular health. Endothelium dysfunction which results in low production of NO is a strong predictor for heart disease. Nearly every risk factor for heart disease either causes or is associated with low NO production: high blood pressure, high LDL and low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, smoking, inactivity, high homocysteine and aging. Vegetarian and Mediterranean diets, known for their lower risk of heart disease, promote the production of NO. Clinical trials of Neo40, a supplement that increases NO levels, resulted in reduced blood pressure, lower triglycerides, reduced anxiety and increased energy.

For more information on NO and Neo-40 see www.neo40.ca and a book called “The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution” by Nathan S Bryan and Janet Zand, 2010. For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

180 Nitric Oxide – Say “NO” to Disease [27 August 2012]

Nitric oxide (NO) is a simple molecule – just one atom of nitrogen and one of oxygen – but it plays some very important roles in the body. The discovery of NO’s role in cell communication won a 1998 Nobel Prize. I touched on the functions of NO in my June 11 article (#169) on the amino acid arginine. Here is more information on nitric oxide:

• NO lowers blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscles of the endothelium (lining of the blood vessels) thus dilating the arteries. It also prevents or reverses arterial plaque, keeping the artery walls flexible.
• NO increases blood flow when partially blocked arteries to the heart cause angina pain (which is how nitroglycerine pills work).
• NO increases blood flow when partially blocked arteries to the leg muscles cause muscle pain called intermittent claudication.
• The increased circulation dramatically reduces nerve and joint inflammation, providing relief for arthritis sufferers and improves healing of wounds and diabetic foot ulcers.
• NO lowers cholesterol – a clinical trial found that increasing NO lowered triglycerides by 27% in 30 days, from an average 232 down to 168 (mg/dL).
• Insulin requires NO to function properly; low levels of NO result in insulin resistance which, as I’ve written on extensively in past articles, can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and Type 2 Diabetes.
• Low NO levels are associated with depression; treatment with antidepressants increases NO.
• NO is essential for both short-term and long-term memory.
• NO is also essential for penile erection; a deficiency of NO is a common cause of erectile dysfunction in older men.
• As we age, NO production in our bodies decreases; most people over 40 don’t produce enough. A simple saliva test can tell you where your level is.

Until recently taking arginine has been the best way to increase NO, but a much more effective supplement called Neo40 is now available in Canada. For more information on NO and Neo-40 see www.neo40.ca and a book called “The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution” by Nathan S Bryan and Janet Zand, 2010.

With all these functions of nitric oxide, and most of us over 40 having insufficient levels, Neo40 has tremendous potential for improving our health in many different ways. I’m excited to learn what it will do for me. How about you?

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.