March 13, 2004-March 27, 2004

I carbo-load three days a week for biking and running, and am wondering how I should modify my diet at this point in my life.

There are various reasons to avoid carbo-loading. I think it's important as you get older in maintaining athleticism that you modify your diet. Because what can happen is that if you retain the training table habits of your teens and twenties, even with significant athleticism, you will gain weight. You will push up your cholesterol. You will develop a gut in spite of your athletic exertions and I would suggest that you continue modest carbo-loading. But cool it, because actually, studies show that athletic performance is as good or better when you get about a 30-30-40 ratio of carbs to fat to protein. Mono-unsaturated fats and the omega three oils are a good source of fuel for your athletic endeavors and they are anti-inflammatory in nature.
I know what a tremendous appetite -- especially for carbohydrates -- long bicycle riding, long runs and ferocious exertion in the gym can produce. So you can't be on a no-carbohydrate diet; that would be a mistake. But you will get better muscle definition and you will get improved cholesterol if you adopt more of a Mediterranean diet and less of a starch-based dietary approach. You don't need all of the sugar that breaks down from all of that starch. A cholesterol of 200 is not bad and I would say that you're okay, relatively, in terms of cardiovascular risk because of your high level of exertion. But don't be lulled into a complete sense of false security because Jim Fixx is a good illustration of what happens when you're athletic but, at the same time, you're not cognizant of your cardiovascular risk factors from excessive cholesterol, homocysteine, C-Reactive protein.
All those factors add up so get a complete assessment. Consider getting an ultra-fast CAT scan to see if you have the beginnings of calcification and adjust your regimen accordingly.

My wife has just had her second bout with breast cancer. She had it in 1999 and she was rediagnosed just in the past week. It's going to her hip and her bones and we were wondering about nutrition.
She had a mastectomy of the right breast and then chemotherapy.
She is taking a drug called Femera.

Femera is actually a type of progesterone therapy.
This is a great time to do something with nutrition because with the hormonal therapy, she'll probably get a response and this is a time where the cancer can be held at bay and you can apply some aggressive principles of nutritional therapy.
A great book that I recently reviewed on my program by Michael Murray about natural therapies for cancer. Just look up under Michael Murray under his latest book. It has a compendium of things that are useful and one of the concepts that I like, in addition to mentioning literally dozens and dozens of therapies, is that there's a top-eight cancer fighters that is sort of a handy-dandy guide to lay people in terms of where to start. But things that can be used to prevent transition to cancer and possibly slow the progression of cancer include RESVERATROL resveratrol from red wine grapes. CURCUMIN from curry comes from the spice turmeric. Indol-3-Carbinol is very helpful, which comes from cabbage-family vegetables. And also green tea has a good effect. Aged garlic extract is beneficial, so there's a lot of natural microbicidal nutrients. You can get these from dietary sources. You can take concentrates in supplements. There are some studies that suggest that melatonin may slow the progression of cancer. And certainly when you're facing cancer for the second time, sleep problems may arise especially with hormonal therapy being used. Melatonin can sort of kill two birds with one stone. You can help sleep and you can also slow the progression of the cancer. There are also immune activating things, things like extract of Maitake mushroom and PSK and thymic extract which helps to put the immune system back on alert. We know from studies of advanced cancer therapies they use activated killer cells to try and hone in on the cancer.
Well there are ways of activating your own natural killer cells through immune stimulating therapies to get your body fighting the cancer better. It's a matter of recognizing the cancer cells, getting the white blood cells to hunt them down and destroy them. You can boost the potential of your white blood cells with simple nutrients like C and zinc and selenium which actually have an immune enhancing effect.
So there's a whole world of natural options out there and I think it's time to employ them as you judiciously use what conventional options are out there that are helpful and not too destructive.
Another resource is www.cancerdecisions.com. This is a website which, for a fee, provides all the current research on a specific cancer. Dr. Ralph Moss ý a PhD,-is a very, very competent researcher in this field. He provides you with a compendium of information about the nutrients and the alternative therapies and even some of the conventional therapies that are applicable to your particular cancer dilemma. And it's a very useful resource for people who are trying to explore alternatives.
I think we need to take a complementary approach to cancer. I'm not into discarding conventional approach. Some are unnecessarily destructive and we may forego them, but others can help to slow the progression of cancer. But we always support our patients with nutritional agents.

Can you use arginine along with vitamin C, E, calcium and magnesium to control blood pressure?

There's a plausibility that because arginine can expand the blood vessels, -- arginine is the nutrient that's behind the nitric oxide principle which is actually the way Viagra works. Viagra expands blood vessels, --there may be something to it in terms of treating high blood pressure along with antioxidants that may relax blood vessels. And that's actually been shown to be helpful too, in blood pressure problems.
You absolutely can take these supplements with a beta blocker. And the concern is, a lot of people wonder what are the interactions between the drug I'm taking and the supplement I'm taking. Usually there are not but there are enough interactions there that you may well want to ask.
The problem is, there are very few people out there who know drug-nutrient interaction. It's often you'll ask your physician and , they'll say you probably shouldn't take the supplement just to be on the safe side. And what happens then, that denies you the benefit of you taking the supplement, merely out of their ignorance.
Similarly, pharmacists are learning more and more about this but there's still a tremendous knowledge gap when it comes to drug-nutrient interaction. I actually teach doctors and pharmacists about this subject when I lecture at hospitals, medical schools and conferences. I think there really needs to be more information about this kind of thing.
There's a book that you may want to use to help you with these types of issues. It's called, Deadly Drug Interactions, by Joe and Terry Graedon. The Graedons have been my guest here on Health Talk frequently, and they do a good job in running down interactions. Interactions you may be particularly concerned about involve things like Saint John's Wort, which can actually accelerate the metabolism of drugs. There's some evidence that milk thistle, which is a great thing for liver problems -- you have to be careful with it because it actually will enhance the activity of certain medications and get in the way of metabolism of others. Even grapefruit may have an impact on certain medication. So yes, there are a lot of these interactions out there, but arginine and beta blockers, is not a problem.

March 15, 2004

Government ads urge Americans to shed pounds

FDA asks for clearer labels of food, menus
By Betsy McKay and Suzanne Vranica. The Wall Street Journal. March 10, 2004

NYC mayor meets with Atkins widow
The Associated Press. March 15, 2004

Cells hold key to baldness cure
University of Pennsylvania. Dr. George Cotsarelis

FDA asks for clearer labels of food, menus
By Maggie Fox. Reuters. March 14, 2004

March 17, 2004

Are cancer-causing parabens your antiperspirant's stinky secret?
Journal of Applied Toxicology

A boost for the immune system? Magic Johnson endorses a dietary supplement

March 20, 2004

Study:high-fructose corn sweeteners partly responsible for obesity epidemic
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. April 2004

"Healthy diet" may increase bad cholesterol
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. March 2004

Doctors start dieting and working out
Americans in Motion. http://www.aafp.org/x22874.xml
President's Council program: http://www.presidentschallenge.org/home_adults.aspx

Daily exercise may relieve chest pain
By Jane E. Allen. The Los Angeles Times. March 15, 2004