New info on superfoods….

Today's Post: Tuesday, 6-23-2009

Today, both the health article in Early to Rise and the feature article in Total Health Breakthroughs were on superfoods.

Recently, we’ve posted about the very strong cancer fighting ability of broccoli sprouts. And, I already knew that they taste much less bitter than broccoli itself. But it seems they also can help prevent or cure ulcers! (That feature article in Total Health Breakthroughs I decided to include directly.)

The Early to Rise article was on whey -- which I’ll summarize.

Then I’ll list a few other superfoods and some ideas for eating them in combination.

1. Here’s the article on broccoli sprouts.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit: http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com ."

“Another Reason to Eat Your Broccoli -- Or Sprouts

By Joseph McCaffrey, MD, FACS

You may or may not have heard about a bacterium called Heliobacter pylori – H. pylori for short. It’s a unique bug that can survive in the acid of the stomach. We need to know about it because infection with H. pylori is associated with irritation of the stomach wall, ulcers and even stomach cancer.

The H. pylori story is one of my favorites. I like to remind my colleagues of it when they seem to be a little resistant to a new way of looking at health and wellness.

You see, 20 years or so ago, no one had heard of H. pylori. Ulcers were common and the medical world had a whole theory on what caused them (back in the day, it was all about stomach acid and the resistance of the lining of the stomach to that acid). Experiments seemed to support that theory.

Not only that, we had treatments, both medical and surgical, based on that theory that worked.

There was no mention of H. pylori infection as part of the cause of stomach and duodenal ulcers. In fact, when I was in medical school they taught us that bacteria couldn’t survive in stomach acid.

So when a "crazy" Australian researcher claimed that this weird bacterium he found was really the cause of ulcers, the medical establishment responded with ridicule.

Now, of course, medical professionals know the danger of H. pylori. I think this story also makes a point about the importance of keeping an open mind and not being too sure of what we think we know.

Back to H. pylori...

Treatment of H. pylori reduces the risk of recurrent ulcers as well as the risk of stomach cancers.

However, eradicating H. pylori with traditional medications often proves to be difficult. Physicians typically treat the infection with at least three drugs for 2 or sometimes 4 weeks. Even with that, the success rate is only around 80%.

Now there’s good evidence that a simple green sprout added to your diet can reduce or eliminate H. pylori.

The sprout is question is broccoli. You’ve probably heard that vegetables of the cruciferous class (broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, kale, Brussels sprouts and so forth) are especially good for you. There is any number of beneficial nutrients in these vegetables, but one compound that has been studied extensively is sulforaphane.

Sulforaphane is a phytochemical that triggers the production of beneficial enzymes in the stomach. These enzymes protect against inflammation, free radicals and DNA damage — and have a number of health benefits.

Previous studies have shown regular inclusion of vegetables containing sulforaphane protect against several types of cancer (including bladder cancer), heart disease and may even help arthritis.

Sulforaphane levels are 50 times higher in broccoli sprouts than they are in mature broccoli, and now there’s evidence that broccoli sprouts are effective against H. pylori.

In a study in mice infected with H. pylori, over 70% percent of the infections were cleared in the treated group while none were cleared in the placebo group.1

Other laboratory studies have shown that sulforaphane kills over 90% of tested strains of H. pylori, even those resistant to antibiotics, by 2 mechanisms – induced enzymes and direct effect.2

A more important study in humans infected with H. pylori showed significant suppression of H. pylori infection, if not complete eradication, in people who ate about 2 ounces of broccoli sprouts a day.3

You can make your own sprouts, but they’re widely available under the brand name BroccoSprouts. If I can find them in my little town in upstate New York, you can probably find them where you are.

Even if you don’t have any concerns about H. pylori, including broccoli sprouts in your diet regularly is still a great idea. It’s another example of why we all should emphasize a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in our diets.

References

1. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2003 December; 47(12): 3982–3984.
2. PNAS. May 28, 2002 vol. 99; no. 11; 7610-7615.
3. Cancer Prevention Research. 2, 353, April 1, 2009.

[Ed. Note: Joseph F. McCaffrey, MD, FACS is a board-certified surgeon with extensive experience in alternative medicine, including certification as a HeartMath Trainer. His areas of expertise include mind-body interaction and cognitive restructuring. Dr. McCaffrey strives to help people attain their optimum level of vitality through attention to all aspects of wellness…..]”

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It certainly sounds like people who eat broccoli sprouts often are not likely to get ulcers. And it also sounds like eating them daily in addition to the multiple antibiotic treatment for ulcers might very well bring the cure rate from 80% without the sprouts to something like 94% -- to 100 %!

Note that it’s very likely that broccoli sprouts are most effective when eaten raw, just like broccoli itself. I think the reason is that cooking heats the sulforaphane enough to destroy it or make it ineffective.

I also want to mention that I found BroccoSprouts at my local Whole Foods Market in the produce section. And there may well be a Whole Foods Market near you.

2. Whey info.:

The Early to Rise article on whey was written by Yarixa Ferrao.

She points out that other health OK protein sources such as grass-fed beef and wild salmon are NOT cheap. (Clearly one solution is to buy and eat less expensive health OK protein foods most of the time and to eat some grass-fed beef and fresh, wild caught salmon but not super often. Beans and lentils work, so does “old fashioned” -- NOT one minute -- oatmeal, so does nonfat and very lowfat dairy. And, so does canned wild caught salmon. Eggs work to some extent.

In her article she notes that one less expensive alternative is whey protein; & that whey also has many other benefits.

The containers tend to be a bit pricey -- $25 to $40. But a single scoop has 14 to 16 grams of high quality protein. And the containers hold LOTS of scoops full. So per gram of protein, she is correct that whey is inexpensive. (To compare, two eggs has 12 grams of protein total.)

Whey protein is derived from milk. She says whey protein is one of the most bioavailable protein sources. It is high quality protein as well.

And, she has heard as I have, that whey protein works particularly well to help your muscles recover and rebuild, particularly if you eat it soon after you work out.

She likes the whey from www.Americanwhey.com . (I’ve never tried it; but it may be quite good.)

Whey protein is also available in health food stores. (I find stevia to have a taste I both dislike and which tends to overpower other flavors. And, it may be unwise to eat even safe and natural noncaloric sweeteners like stevia as your body then makes you hungrier for real sugar. The good news is that Jarrow makes a whey supplement with no sugar OR stevia.)

She also points out that whatever the source of your protein -- something else, or whey, it's important to drink lots of water to help you digest it, to benefit from it, and to stay hydrated.

That advice also goes well with getting the exercise she also notes is also very important to do to lose weight and get fit.

Protein does turn off hunger well and is a foundation block of eating in a way that helps you to lose excess fat or keep it off – just as she refers to. And, since whey is high in bioavailable and high quality protein plus it has very few carbs and hardly any fat, whey is extremely high in the amount of usable protein you get per calorie.

3. Some ideas for having broccoli sprouts and whey for breakfast.

a) I once tried a blender drink made with:

6.7 ounces (two thirds of a 10 ounce package) of thawed, frozen blueberries that were wild and organic that I got at Whole Foods;

16 ounces of 1% lowfat milk;

2 scoops of whey;

& the broccoli sprouts in the small package of BroccoSprouts I got at Whole Foods.

When I make it next, I’ll try adding a bit of vanilla flavoring to see how that works.

But I liked this health shake just as it was. The blueberries gave it enough flavor & sweetness to make it taste good. The blueberries and the broccoli sprouts provided a good bit of fiber; but were not too gritty; and between the fiber and the 45 grams or so of protein, with just that shake and the supplements I normally take, I wasn’t hungry again until lunch.

Plus blueberries are a superfood that is very high in antioxidants and which not only helps you to stay mentally sharp, they have helped people who had lost a bit mentally to recover their previous mental abilities.

b) You can also use broccoli sprouts in salads.

c) Or for breakfast you could scramble two eggs with several ounces of shell free shrimp and then make a salsa by adding some extra cilantro and a package of broccoli sprouts to some commercial salsa, and the scrambled eggs and shrimp. (The tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic, onion, & or hot spices in the salsa all also have health benefits.)

d) Or you could just put the broccoli sprouts on the scrambled eggs and shrimp

e) You might also like broccoli sprouts and scrambled eggs and shrimp with a good bit of a powdered curry you like.

f) Another way to go would be to top the broccoli sprouts and scrambled eggs and shrimp with guacamole. Avocados are also a superfood. And they have health OK oils.