Tag Archive for: liver

Spring Cleaning

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Earlier this week I was an election worker for the Michigan primary. It wasn’t particularly busy at times so, as often happens, people asked me what I do and then checked out my website. The conversation came around to my thoughts on detoxing. I said I thought it was really good; after all, I wrote Real-Life Detox to help people clean out their liver to get a head start on eating better.

A woman asked me about the basics of the program. After I talked about the cruciferous and allicin-containing vegetables, she said she likes to cook a lot of greens such as collard and mustard greens. I said, “Great. Just no bacon.” She laughed because I knew exactly where she was going with the comment. I gave her some ideas on how to make it healthier while maintaining the flavors.

I decided to do two things. First, reduce the price of the e-book to $7.95 for a week; the price goes back up Sunday, March 10. Second, I added the recipe for collard or any type of greens to the Recipes section of the website. My opinion is that it rivals the Cabbage Soup as the foundation of the foods you can eat that have all the detox veggies. And when you’re cooking supper and you need a green vegetable, these greens are a good option instead of nuking some peas or adding one more salad. Try them and let me know what you think.

It’s time to spring clean the most important thing in your life: you.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

P.S. Apologies to all of you waiting for the Managing Pain Super Bowl Webinar replay. We’re having technical problems (the file won’t upload), but Paula and our IT guy are working on it. If you bought the webinar, you’ll get an email with a link as soon as we’ve got it.

More Taurine, Longer Life

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The researchers next step was to supplement the diet of several species with taurine to see if the lifespan of various species would be increased. While they didn’t include humans in the study (we live too long), they did note in other studies that some factors related to aging declined with taurine supplementation.

Taurine supplementation significantly increased the lifespan of worms, mice, and rhesus monkeys, but researchers didn’t determine the originating mechanism involved in the protective process. Certainly, genes have to be impacted in some way, but the only conclusion they could make is that supplementing with taurine extended the lifespan of the species tested.

Combine that with the decline that occurs with aging in humans and the associated increase of degenerative conditions, and it appears that taurine is critical for improving human health as well decreasing some of the manifestations of aging.

Increasing Taurine Intake

The only real question is the best way to increase taurine levels. Would there be any downside to taking a taurine supplement? Or should we focus on increasing the protein in our diet, specifically the animal protein? Here’s something else to consider before we get to that point: one of the characteristics of aging is a decrease in protein intake. There’s no reason that I could find for that to happen. It just does.

I think it should be a combination of both sources. Protein intake should be increased once a person reaches 50 to at least one gram per kilogram body weight. That would mean it would be roughly half a person’s body weight in grams. If you weigh 200 pounds, you should probably get 100 to 120 grams of protein per day. It may be prudent for those over 70 to exceed that amount, not just for the taurine but also to stem the loss of muscle mass. It may require a concerted effort to eat that much protein.

Let’s turn to taurine supplementation. Taurine is typically offered in 500 milligram capsules. When you look at the research, the amount used in studies ranges from 500 milligrams per day up to six grams per day. A couple of studies lasted at least six months long. Taurine supplementation seems safe.

Starting with one gram of taurine per day for a minimum of 60 days is a good place to begin. Depending on where you began, you may or may not feel anything, so you can increase the amount. Or you may find it’s having a profound effect on you because it impacts so many different organ systems in the body, and you may decide to hold the line.

How about your diet? What foods contain taurine? The highest taurine levels would be found in shellfish, eggs, soy products, and liver as well as—surprise, surprise—energy drinks if you want to use them. But don’t forget, all animal protein will count because it will have the two primary amino acids that taurine is made from: methionine and cysteine.

The Bottom Line

Is taurine the fountain of youth? No. But it’s one of many strategies we can use to age well. Living long is not good enough. Living well longer should be our goal. Increasing taurine levels is another step in aging with a vengeance.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn9257

What Happens Inside When You Quit Drinking?

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Beer, wine, hard cider, whiskey, vodka, bourbon—that’s a partial list of alcohol-based drinks we consume. The amount of alcohol that’s recommended is no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. Many people exceed that amount on a regular basis. While alcohol, especially wine, has some reported health benefits, even just a little more alcohol has consequences.

Alcohol is a toxin. The liver can handle and detoxify small amounts, but it can take several hours to process one drink. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it will lead to dehydration when too much is consumed. While alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, it can interfere with sleep patterns. The next day fogginess is a result of the dehydration and nervous system effects. Alcohol is converted to fat and then stored. However, it may not store fat normally and overfill the livers fat storage ability. That results in a fatty liver. And then there’s the weight gain that comes with too much alcohol intake.

What happens if you give up alcohol for 40 days? Researchers in the United Kingdom found out by tracking over 100 people for over a month. Without any change in diet, the subjects lost two to four pounds. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure dropped as well. In addition to that, a marker of prediabetes and insulin resistance dropped as well. Researchers suggested that if those types of results could be put into a pill, it would create a $250 million industry overnight. And all people did was abstain from alcohol.

Is there a substitute? In trying to put a blend together that might have the calming effects of alcohol on the nervous system, I think a decaffeinated chai with its blend of herbs or a chamomile tea might have a similar benefit to the nervous system without the stimulant effects of caffeine.
 

The Bottom Line

Sugar. Salt. Alcohol. If you’re going to give up something during Lent, these deserve a try. There are some real benefits to your body if you do, even if you just reduce your intake. You might just find that you don’t need them at all. It’s worth a try.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Hepatology. 2015. Volume 62, Issue Supplement S1. Abstract 113.

 

The Detox Myth: Half Wrong

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When health experts criticize cleansing and detox programs, they attack the many questionable programs that are touted on the Internet. From colonics to foot pads, their criticism is correct. But they also get it half wrong.

Cleansing is another word for fasting, and there’s plenty of research to support a fast of two to four days to improve the immune system. But fasting doesn’t mean you get no calories; by definition, fasting is taking in fewer calories than your body needs. To make fasting more efficient, restricting calories to 800 or fewer seems to accomplish that task in . . .

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