“Sorry, WebMD, Weight-Bearing Exercise Didn’t Help My Bone Density, Jumping Did.”

Bad news from last year’s DXA scan. My readings, which had floated around in osteopenia territory for years, had dropped. My right femur was down 5.2% compared with the previous reading and my spine was now osteoporotic, suggesting an increased risk of fracturing a vertebra.

Two factors, I think, accounted for this startling and unwelcome change. First, I think my dosage of Synthroid, which I need for my hypothyroidism, had been kept too high for too long. My doctor didn’t want to lower the dosage because my TSH was within the normal range, though just barely under hyperthyroid, for several years. It turns out that too much Synthroid can cause bone loss. Secondly, when the media came out with scare stories about how taking too much calcium supplement can contribute to heart disease (and where’s the evidence for that?), I foolishly cut back on the amount I was taking. The body is a proficient scavenger; if you don’t give it what it needs, it uses up what it has, in this case calcium in the bones.

Clearly, this trend needed to be reversed as soon as possible. The standard treatment for osteoporosis is one of the bisphosphonates, such as Fosamax or Boniva but, according to ConsumerReports, these are only modestly effective and can have dangerous side effects. A friend of mine took one of these drugs and experienced osteonecrosis of the jaw, in which the jawbone disintegrates and the teeth fall out. Not for me!

Fortunately I discovered some articles about the research of Dr. Larry Tucker of Brigham Young University and others, which involved jumping to increase bone strength in the hips. (See earlier post, “Maintaining an Imperfect Body: the Mini-Workout") The jumping routine is supposed to work for hips but the researchers say it doesn’t do anything for the spine; I decided it was an ideal opportunity to test the notion that weight-bearing exercise can help bone density. For the six months from 9/15 to 3/16, I did the jumping routine for 20 minutes, twice a day. During the same period, I did weight-bearing exercises for the back at a fairly intense level: 50 pushups, low rows with up to 80 pounds of weight, back extensions holding up to 30 pounds of weight. I also went back to a higher dosage of the calcium supplement.

When I had another DXA in March of 2016, the hip readings had stabilized but the readings for the spine had gone down 4%. If I had waited two years to do another DXA, the usual recommendation, I could have lost 16% from the bone density in my spine! Clearly, the heavy-duty weight exercises either hadn’t done anything or hadn’t done nearly enough for my spine.

What to do? Impact exercises had worked for the hips so perhaps I needed an impact move that would help the spine. In March I came up with a new exercise to target the spine and started using it for 15 minutes, twice a day. The results so far are promising but I’m not going to put it online until I’m sure it works. Stay tuned!

Food Synergy Pesto with Almonds and Anti-Cancer Greens

Garlic, along with leeks, onions, and other members of the alium family are among the top anti-cancer foods. Most people find it inconvenient to consume raw garlic but this recipe tones it down with parsley, lemon juice, and other flavors. Besides the garlic, the anti-cancer foods are parsley, arugula, and avocado.

For this quantity of pesto, I use a mini-blender. The full sized blender tends to slide over the tops of the ingredients in Step 2.

¼ cup sliced almonds

2 T avocado or olive oil

2 T water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

¼ ripe avocado, skin removed

1 clove garlic coarsely chopped

1 small handful of parsley

1 cup arugula, packed

¼ tsp. of salt, or to taste

1.  Lightly toast the almonds over medium heat, stirring a few times. They should be fragrant and slightly crisp, not brown. Pour onto a plate to cool.

2.  In the bowl of a small blender combine the oil, water, lemon juice, avocado, and garlic. Puree until it forms a smooth mixture.

3.  Add the parsley and puree until smooth.

4.  Add the arugula and puree to whatever consistency you prefer.

5.  Add the salt and the toasted almonds and pulse a few times. Repeat until the almonds are coarsely or finely ground, depending on your taste. I like mine slightly grainy, as you can see from the photo.

6.  You can serve this with pasta, as a garnish for soup, or in a sandwich. I like to spread it on whole wheat bread with slices of cooked chicken. Sometimes I top the pesto with a slice of cheese and broil at around 425 degrees until the cheese melts.

Other Food Synergy Recipes:

The Mango Lassi With Anti-Cancer Spices 

The Pretty Good Almond Berry Green Smoothie

More Food Synergy – and Evidence That It’s Doing Something

Once I had created the Mango Lassi with Anti-Cancer Spices, I wanted to make another drink that would feature anti-cancer vegetables and fruit. Green drinks run the gamut from bitter or sulfury at one end to super-sweet with sugar or fruit juice at the other. I haven’t been a fan of most of the ones I’ve tried.

After months of experimenting, I’ve come up with this combo, where the rich flavor of almond and grapeseed oil tames the strong flavors of the greens. The raspberries, lemon, and stevia add just enough sweetness. One of the advantages of the blending process is that you can use the fibrous parts of the vegetables that normally get thrown away, like the stems of the broccoli and parsley. The anti-cancer foods in this drink are the two cruciferous vegetables, the parsley, and the raspberries. 

The Almond Berry Green Smoothie

Time: 15 minutes including cleanup
Servings: 1 large drink

½ cup sugar-free almond milk
1-2 tablespoons water

½ cup ice

2 teaspoons grapeseed or peanut oil

1 cup of light, leafy cruciferous vegetable, such as kale or arugula, firmly packed

1/3 cup of dense cruciferous vegetable, such as broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower coarsely chopped

1 small handful of parsley or ½ celery stalk

¼ lemon, peel removed

2/3 cup raspberries or blueberries

1-2 packets stevia

Add almond milk, water, and ice to the container of a blender.

Add the remaining ingredients in the order given.

Pulse 20 times to chop the solids, then puree for a slow count of 30 or until mixture is smooth.

If the mixture is too thick, add a little more water. If you taste too much of the cruciferous vegetables, add another teaspoon of oil. If you want a sweeter drink, add more stevia.

Notes:
I drink this smoothie every day at lunchtime and sometimes follow it with a half ounce of dark chocolate, another anti-cancer food.
 

Almond milk only lasts about a week after opening and I’ve only been able to get it in half-gallon containers, way too much for my needs. Kitchen stores sell little trays for extra large ice cubes, almost 4 oz. (1/2 cup). I freeze portions of almond milk and take them out one at a time. When you do this, you will add water rather than ice to the one-cup measure and you will have to puree about 2-3 times as long because of the extra frozen liquids.

I've read that cruciferous vegetables contain small amounts of various toxins. In order to limit exposure to any one toxin, it is recommended that you vary the ingredients of the smoothie on a regular basis.

Tip for Storing Vegetables: Many vegetables will keep longer if they are wrapped in a paper towel inside of the usual plastic bag. If the paper towel gets wet, it should be replaced with a dry one. For greens that come in a plastic clamshell, open the container immediately after you get it home, before storing it in the refrigerator. Put a paper towel on top, shake the container a couple of times, and re-close the lid. Store upside down (paper towel down) in the refrigerator. Each time you reopen it, remove any leaves that are starting to yellow, replace the paper towel if it is wet or stained, and shake the container before putting it away. This helps to keep the leaves from packing down, getting too wet, and spoiling.

One Way to Re-Use Plastic Clamshells: I give relatively clean and undamaged clamshells to a guy at my gym. He passes them along to Amish farmers who use them when they make butter and cheese.

Help for Prostate Cancer? Some studies have indicated that lycopene, which is found in tomatoes, may help against prostate cancer. To get a worthwhile amount of lycopene you need to use processed tomato products, such as tomato juice and tomato paste, not fresh tomatoes. You can add a tablespoon of tomato paste to this drink, which doesn't affect the flavor much. With this, use a bit more water and less ice. I like the Italian tomato pastes that come in a tube. Some of them are double concentrated, which presumably means twice as much lycopene. My favorite brand is Mutti, but there are others. American brands in cans work just fine too.

Other ideas for prostate cancer: quit eating red meat and processed meats like bacon and sausage; if you're overweight, lose a few pounds (see the new post How To Keep The Weight Off As You Get Older); if you're sedentary, get up and move around.

The Evidence That It’s Doing Something

I’ve complained about my digestive malfunctions elsewhere in this blog (Trouble Down Below, http://bit.ly/1UzEueJ. Last year I started drinking the mango lassi (http://bit.ly/1OqfiFg) and the Pretty Good Green Smoothie. Over the next couple of months I noticed that my fingernails were stronger and my skin looked better. 

This week I was doing my usual pedicure routine: remove old polish, file nails and calluses, wash and push back cuticles, and apply new polish. After the old polish was gone I noticed that there was a distinct difference in color between the upper and lower parts of the nail; the lower part was a nice, healthy-looking pink, while the upper part was yellowish. The dividing line comes 1/3 to halfway up the nail. 

6/15/2016

6/15/2016

Toenails take 12-18 months to grow out so this change represents a process that started 6-9 months ago. Mid-December, six months ago, is when I started with the drinks. Nothing was different about my foot care routine so this seems to represent a metabolic change of some kind. What sort of change is it and what are the implications for my health? I have no idea but I wish someone would check it out.

Update: Here are my feet six weeks later, seven and a half months after I started with the drinks:

7-27-2016

Update on nails, 2/2/2018: I've now been using the Mango Lassi and the Green Smoothie for more than two years and I think I understand what's happening to my toenails. For a number of years, the nails on some of my toes had begun to lift off the nailbeds (onycholysis). In the time since I started using the drinks, the toenails have started to reattach themselves, in effect lengthening the nailbeds. The same thing is happening, in a less obvious way, to my fingernails. Perhaps this is an indication of improved physical condition.

Food Synergy: New Cancer Research and a Recipe

Recent research is suggests an increasingly important role for nutrition in preventing and treating a range of conditions, including cancer. In the 1990s, scientists at the University College of Medical Sciences in New Delhi studied mice that had been exposed to a carcinogen that caused breast tumors in 100% of them. When nutritional substances were administered beforehand, the risk of developing cancer was reduced from 50% for the mice who ingested one substance to 90% for those who ingested four nutrients together (described in David Servan-Schreiber’s book, Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life, p. 110).

At Sainte-Justine Children’s Hospital in Montreal Richard Béliveau, PhD, and his team worked with immune-deficient mice that had been injected with cancer cells. Mice that were fed a cocktail of anti-cancer nutrients stayed in better health and developed less serious, slower growing tumors, results discussed in Béliveau’s 2006 book Foods That Fight Cancer.

 A 2013 study headed by Madhwa Raj, PhD, at Lousiana State University Health Sciences Center tested ten nutrients and found them to be ineffective when used individually. However, when researchers selected six of the nutrients and administered them together, 100% of breast cancer cells were killed with no side effects for normal cells. http://bit.ly/1rGEZN3

Live human beings will not necessarily respond the same way as mice or cells in a petri dish. Unless there is more research, these intriguing results will probably be ignored by conventional medicine. Financing such research is likely to be a challenge when a positive result will enrich only grocery store owners. In addition, there may be ethical limitations in designing such studies for people who already have cancer or some other serious illness.

As a creative project, I decided to develop a drink that included four easily purchased foods similar to the nutrients used in the LSUHC study. It is not the most delicious mango lassi you have ever tasted­ – the ginger taste still comes through – but it is certainly drinkable. Will it really help anyone’s health? There’s no way to know for sure, but the drink is cheap, easy to prepare, and safe, unless you’re allergic to one of the ingredients. As an added bonus, the four spices I have used show promise against Alzheimer’s as well as cancer. I’ll be drinking my mango lassi every day along with my usual breakfast.

The Mango Lassi with Anti-Cancer Spices

Time: 15 minutes including cleanup
Servings: 1 large drink

Caution: Turmeric can leave a vivid yellow stain that may be impossible to remove. To avoid damaging clothing and countertops, wear an apron, measure over a plate or cutting board, and wash measuring spoons immediately after use. By itself, turmeric is not well absorbed by the body: mixing it with black pepper and olive oil improves bioavailability, the reason for the somewhat tricky procedure here.

Before you start: Cut a medium banana into thirds and freeze it in a plastic bag.

Ingredients

1 green teabag

4 oz. boiling water

1/3 medium banana, previously frozen

¼ teaspoon wasabi powder

2 level tablespoons vanilla whey protein powder

1 heaping tablespoon Greek yogurt

¼ teaspoon powdered turmeric

1/16 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon olive or avocado oil

Raw ginger about the size of you first thumb joint, peeled andsliced across the grain

A handful of frozen mango or pineapple chunks, or a combination (1/2 – 2/3 cup)

Cold water (optional)

½ packet of stevia (optional)

1. Brew teabag in hot water and let cool while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. To the container of a blender add the 1/3 banana, wasabi powder, whey protein powder, and Greek yogurt.

3. Place a clean tablespoon on a plate or cutting board. Measure turmeric and put it in the tablespoon. Measure black pepper and add it to the tablespoon.

4. Pour olive oil into a measuring spoon over the blender container but don’t add it yet. Lift the tablespoon with the spices and hold it under the olive oil. Add the olive oil to the turmeric and pepper and use the measuring spoon to blend it into a paste in the tablespoon. Now add the paste to the blender and wash both spoons.

5. Peel the ginger and chop it into small pieces – you should have about two rounded teaspoons – and add that.

6. Add the mango chunks and the green tea. Squeeze the teabag to get out all the liquid.

7.  Pulse the mixture 15-20 times to chop hard ingredients, then puree for a slow count of 30.

8. If the drink is too thick, stir in some cold water. If it’s not sweet enough, add stevia.

Note: Ginger is easier to peel and chop if you wet it first. Thanks to Real Simple magazine for this tip.

Update: I have recently learned that I am deficient in alpha-linolenic acid. The fix for this is to take one tablespoon of flax seed oil per day. When I add this to the mango lassi, I find that it cuts back the ginger taste. Flax seed oil is expensive so I probably wouldn't use it if I didn't have the deficiency.

Update: The next post has another example of food synergy, The Almond-Berry Green Smoothie: http://bit.ly/1twNQC6.

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