If you are losing muscle tone and you have a mid-day drop in energy, your problem may not be due to getting older. You may have a nutrient deficiency.
But flabby arms and legs are the least of your problems if you have this dietary deficiency. It also can lead to osteoporosis, poor immunity, slow wound healing, and cataracts. And supplements are not necessarily the answer. The solution to these symptoms could be a change in your diet. You may simply need more protein.
We all need enough protein to tone our muscles and to make our blood, hair, skin, and internal organs healthy. We also need protein for consistent energy. It provides us with slow-burning fuel.
While it's true that some people are eating too much protein because of high-protein weight-loss diets, many are eating too little. We typically see this in vegetarians, seniors, and people who are sick. And too little protein can lead to these bigger health problems.
If you're not feeling well or have a small appetite, getting enough protein becomes a challenge. I'll show you an easy way to get more protein in just a moment, if this describes you.
What happens if you don't get enough protein?
If you don't get enough protein, your body can tell you in a number of different ways. Some of the signs can be severe.
Osteoporosis is one of the worst signals you're not getting enough protein. Bone specialist, Professor Jean-Philippe Bonjour, MD, of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, says, "Dietary proteins are as essential as calcium and vitamin D for bone health and osteoporosis prevention."
Other signals you're not getting enough protein include:
Poor immunity: When your body doesn't completely digest the protein you eat, some of its molecules can get into your bloodstream. Your body then identifies them as a foreign invader. If you're healthy, your body can neutralize them just like it fights other foreign intruders. But if your immune system is weak, it can cause an allergic inflammatory reaction. This further lowers your immune system. One solution is to take digestive enzymes with each protein-containing meal. Better protein digestion strengthens immunity.
Cataracts: Cataracts may be an indication of a nutrient deficiency, not just a sign of aging. You need sufficient amino acids (parts of protein) and B vitamins to keep your eye lenses healthy. A French study of more than 2,500 seniors published in the Archives of Ophthalmology found that people who ate the least amount of protein had a 50% higher risk for cataracts over other participants. This makes sense, since protein deficiency is a significant cause of childhood blindness throughout the world.
Energy: Protein burns more slowly than carbohydrates (sugars and starches). This is why it's important to eat it throughout the day rather than only at one meal. Protein sustains your energy and keeps it level. Diabetics know this. If you feel tired mid-afternoon or mid-morning, or if your energy crashes after you eat refined carbohydrates, take a look at your protein intake and try to eat 15-20 grams at each meal.
Improved muscle tone: You need sufficient protein to feed all tissues, including your muscles. In fact, you can be on an intense exercise regime and still have flabby muscles if you don't get enough protein. To get the most out of exercising, increase your protein.
Wound healing: Doctors know it's important for their patients with serious wounds to get plenty of protein. In fact, weeping wounds can create a need for as much as 100 grams of protein in just one day! This is much more than the average person needs in order to have their cuts and sores heal quickly. But if your wounds take longer to heal than you think they should, consider increasing your protein.
Why you may be deficient
But what if you eat plenty of protein — even the right kind of protein — and still have a deficiency? That's when I usually look for digestion problems. Some people simply don't digest protein well. These folks will often lose their appetite for chicken, fish, and meats as they age because they lack enough stomach acids (hydrochloric acid, or HCl) to digest it.
Good digestion is essential to keeping your protein levels high enough for good health. Proteins are broken down during digestion into particles called amino acids. You need amino acids to feed all of your tissues. Your body can manufacture 12 of them, but it lacks the ability to make nine. These nine are called "essential amino acids" and they need to come from your diet. If your digestion isn't working properly, your body won't be able to pull these amino acids from the food you eat. And that will lead to a deficiency.
If protein foods do not appeal to you, or if eating protein gives you gas, take one or two digestive enzymes with any meal containing protein.
But don't expect antacids to solve the problem. They neutralize HCl. This makes it impossible to digest proteins completely. You can treat most cases of heartburn without antacids. I told you how in last month's issue, which you can find on my website.
How much protein do you need?
It depends on your weight. You need about 0.8 grams per kilogram. One kilogram equals 0.45 pounds. So if you weigh 120 lbs, you need around 50 grams of protein a day. Someone weighing 135 needs 55 grams. If you weigh 165, you need 67.5 grams. Divide these figures by three to see how much protein to eat at each meal.
Make sure you're getting the right protein
As mentioned a moment ago, your body needs to get nine essential amino acids from the food you eat. Some foods contain all nine essential amino acids. These are called complete proteins. Most vegetable (plant) proteins, except for soy, don't contain all nine. So these are called incomplete proteins.
Some plant proteins do contain all nine essential amino acids, but are still low in one or more of them. This limits the amount of complete protein you can get. And it's the complete protein that "counts." Meat, dairy, and soy are all complete proteins. Legumes, grains, and nuts are incomplete.
Years ago, we thought you needed to combine incomplete protein foods at every meal to get complete proteins. Since then, we've found this is not true. Your body knows how to take the protein from one meal and combine it with the protein in another food in the same day. You have the best chance of getting sufficient protein if you eat a wide variety of foods every day.
Here's how to get enough protein
That means you need to pay attention to the amount of protein you're eating at each meal. Read all labels carefully to see the amount of protein "per serving." Calculate how many servings you're consuming to find out how much protein you're actually eating. If you're not getting enough at each meal, look for foods you like to fill in any gaps.
If you've lost your taste for animal proteins, are sick, a vegetarian, or have a small appetite, it's important to focus on plant proteins. I eat a small bowl of granola most mornings and add a scoop of rice protein powder (NutriBiotic, 800-225-4345) and a few walnuts. Topped with soymilk, this gives me a high-protein meal. Rice is an incomplete protein. But the enzymatic process used in this product results in a highly absorbable complete protein product. It has about 12 grams per heaping tablespoon. Many other protein powders will work, also.
Davis, Brenda RD & Vesanto Melina, RD. Becoming Vegan, Book Publishing, 2000.
Delcourt, C., PhD, et al. "The POLA study," Arch Ophthalmol, vol. 123, 2005.
Kirschmann and Kirschmann. Nutrition Almanac, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Russell, L. "The importance of patients' nutritional status in wound healing," Br J Nurs, March 2001.
Trivieri, L., Jr, et al. Alternative Medicine, Celestial Arts, 2002.
www.fda.gov
www.nal.usda.gov
www.sagefoods.com
Getting Enough Protein
I want to make it easy for you to get enough protein without worrying too much about it. So here's a list of both complete and incomplete proteins. Try to eat some from each category at each meal. You'll soon feel the benefits with increased energy and muscle tone.
Incomplete proteins
Choose one food from any two of the following groups to make a complete protein.
Legumes
Lentils 1 cup 18 gms Split peas 1 cup 16 gms Pinto, kidney, black beans 1 cup 15 gms Garbanzo beans 1 cup 11.8 gms Green beans 1 cup 2.3 gms
Grains
Barley 1 cup 20 gms Rice, white or brown 1 cup 13 gms Corn meal 1 cup 11 gms Tortilla chips 1 oz 2.5 gms
Nuts & Seeds
Peanuts BD cup 12.5 gms Almonds BD cup 10.5 gms Cashews BD cup 10 gms Pumpkin seeds 1 oz 09 gms Walnuts 1.5 oz 6.5 gms Sunflower seeds 1 oz 5.5 gms
Complete proteins
Legumes, Soy
Soybeans, green (Edamame) 1 cup 22 gms Tempeh BD cup 19.5 gms Soy nuts, roasted BC cup 19 gms Tofu, firm 4 oz 13 gms Soy milk 8 oz 10 gms
Animal proteins
Cottage cheese 1 cup 31 gms Chicken, light, no skin 3.5 oz 31 gms Ground beef 4 oz 28 gms Tuna 3 oz 25 gms Salmon 3 oz 23 gms Yogurt 1 cup 12 gms Cheddar cheese oz 7 gms Egg 6 gms Feta cheese 1 oz 4 gms
How Potatoes and Cookies Can Cause Macular Gegeneration
My mother grew up in a family of bakers. She remembered coming home from school to find an array of sweets waiting for her and my uncle every afternoon. While she and her brother were at school, their grandmother was busy baking cookies, cakes, and pies. There were desserts after every dinner, and the bread they ate in copious amounts was white bread — a sign of status at that time. Whenever they visited friends or relatives, everyone was offered sumptuous desserts.
My mother and uncle ate a lot of sweets along with a healthy diet that included plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Both of them came down with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that affects vision in the center of the eye. This made it difficult for them to read, drive, or watch TV.
I didn't eat many sweets as a child although they were everywhere in our house. It wasn't that I didn't want them. I did. But my teeth were so soft and prone to cavities that I was not allowed any refined sugar — even the tiny amounts found in commercial cereals. This may have been extreme, but it was one of the greatest gifts my mother gave me. Refined sugar is high on the glycemic index — a method that measures how quickly a food turns into sugar. Now it looks like foods high on the glycemic index may be a huge risk factor for getting macular degeneration.
In the first study that ever looked at an association between AMD and dietary carbohydrates, researchers found that the kind of carbs people ate were predictive of getting AMD in the future. But the amount of carbs was not predictive — as long as they were the right kind (unrefined).
This Harvard and Tufts University study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (April 2006), followed more than 500 people over 10 years. The researchers found that the foods that turn to sugar fastest can cause deterioration in the macula region of the retina. These foods include potatoes, corn, white flour, honey, and sugar. By making a few modifications in your diet, you can reduce your risk for a host of diseases thought in the past to be simply a sign of aging.
Glycemic Index (GI) vs. Glycemic Load (GL)
Many people have been using the glycemic index (GI) to measure the effect a food has on blood sugar levels. Now there's a better method to help you understand which carbohydrates are safe and which are not. It's called the glycemic load (GL). I predict that the GI will eventually be replaced by the GL. Here's why.
The GI is based on how quickly 50 grams of any food turns into sugar in your bloodstream. But not everyone eats 50 grams at a sitting. So the GI doesn't measure the effect of how much of any carbohydrate you eat in a meal.
The GL is based both on the quality of the carbohydrate (GI) and the actual quantity of the food you're eating. This is a more accurate way of assessing a food's effect on your blood sugar.
How to use this information today
The holidays are upon us once more, and with them come many temptations to eat refined carbohydrates. If you want to eat high GI or high GL foods, eat small amounts of them with foods that are low, like nuts, seeds, tofu, and other proteins.
While all foods eventually turn into sugar — even fats and proteins — the GI and GL measure only carbohydrates, the foods that turn into sugar most quickly and affect blood sugar levels. If you're smart and limit your quantities, you can have your cake and eat it too! But you have to be disciplined.
There's much more to preserving your eyesight than eating the right carbs and avoiding large quantities of the harmful ones. Specific nutrients and lifestyle changes can protect against macular degeneration and possibly even improve your vision after this disease has begun. I've written an important and extensive article on this subject, "Save Your Vision; Stop Macular Degeneration." It appeared in the November 2001 issue of this newsletter, and is available to all subscribers online at no cost. If you don't have a computer, ask your local librarian to help you access it at the library.
For more information on the glycemic load, I recommend Patrick Holford's book, The Holford Low GL Diet (Atria Books, 2005). It lists the GL of numerous foods and includes a section on how to choose foods for each meal either at home or in restaurants.
Chiu, C.J., et al. "Dietary glycemic index and carbohydrate in relation to early age-related macular degeneration," Am J Clin Nutr., 2006 April;83(4):880-6.
www.glycemicindex.com, University of Sydney
Ask Dr. Nan
Q: I've been taking Vitality Plus for about one year. But now I'm worried. I have severe osteoporosis and I've read that too much vitamin A can be a problem. The safety limit for vitamin A is 15,000 IU and Vitality Plus contains 15,000 IU. Is this too much for me? – D.P., e-mail
A: You're not taking 15,000 IU of vitamin A. Vitality Plus contains only 5,000 IU of vitamin A and 10,000 IU of mixed carotenoids. Together that's 15,000 IU of nutrients in the vitamin A family. Carotenoids are very, very safe to take in high quantities. So is vitamin A. I've both taken and suggested 100,000 IU of plain vitamin A for people with respiratory infections. Many doctors of integrative medicine give twice that much safely.
Q: I get very nervous whenever I fly in an airplane. I don't want to take tranquilizers. Are there any natural solutions to calm me down? – S.K., e-mail
A: Yes. There are solutions that will treat your symptoms and solutions to treat the cause of your anxiety. I prefer the latter, but both should work.
You can get a homeopathic formula like Calms Forte in most health food stores. Homeopathics are energy medicine that either work or don't work. They can't hurt you, are inexpensive, and worth trying. Take as directed, but away from food, coffee, and strong flavored foods like garlic.
Try Rescue Remedy, a tincture made from flower essences based on the work of Dr. Edward Bach. Place two to three drops under your tongue before you get on the plane and repeat as needed.
Don't drink any caffeinated beverages the day of your flight and bring tea bags of calming herbs with you. Anything with passion flower, skullcap, chamomile, or valerian root will have a relaxing effect. Drink a cup before getting on the plane and more while you're flying.
My favorite solution is a technique practiced by some MDs and psychotherapists called EMDR (Eye Movement Rapid Desensitization and Reprocessing). This technique reprograms thought patterns associated with traumatic memories. It works beautifully to reduce negative thoughts associated with post traumatic stress and lesser anxiety-related patterns, such as fear of flying. You can find a licensed practitioner in your area through the EMDR Institute (http://www.emdr.com/clinic.htm) or by calling the institute in California at 831-761-1040.
Q: I wish I could eat more fruit, but with two yeast organisms that grow on fruit sugars in my system (cultured by a dermatologist and mycologist for a diagnosis), I have to cut back. What can you suggest? – J.R.F., e-mail
A: It's unusual for yeasts to grow on fructose. Usually, sucrose is the culprit. Some fruits contain both. Your first step is to avoid all sugars, use an appropriate anti-fungal, and get your yeast overgrowth under control.
After you do, begin bringing certain fruits back into your diet. Fortunately, many fruits low in sugar are highest in antioxidants, such as berries. If they're out of season, get frozen berries.
In addition to containing lots of antioxidants, berries have a minimal effect on blood sugar. This is because they're high in fiber and low in sugar. Berries may be your best choice of fruit for the moment.
More Reasons to Avoid the Yearly Flu Shot
Two of my neighbors, both healthy and active people, got their flu shot last month. Then they both came down with a nasty case of the flu. Is this unusual? Unfortunately, it's not. Common reactions to the flu vaccine — fever, headaches, painful joints, and fatigue — begin 12 hours after getting the shot and can last from a few days to a week.
Another neighbor had a flu shot years ago and was laid up in bed for days with aches and swollen lymph glands. She hasn't had a flu shot since, nor has she gotten the flu. Last year, she had a little cold. That's all.
Unfortunately, some people get even worse side effects. They come down with a nerve disease called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). It begins two to four weeks after vaccination and is a life-altering illness that can cause temporary paralysis and permanent residual disability. I knew a young chiropractic student who got GBS after a flu vaccine. Her fiancE9 left her, she had to drop out of school, and she never regained her health completely.
Every year, the media bombards us with studies that warn us that unless we get our annual flu shot containing this year's strains in it, we're risking sickness and even death. This is especially true, we're told, if we're over the age of 65. The problem is, many of the studies that say we need this vaccine are faulty.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is promoting vaccines that are supported by poor studies. They should be telling us how to boost our immunity instead. Clearly, the people who are benefiting the most from the flu vaccine are the pharmaceutical companies that make it.
Poor studies
The Cochrane Collaboration recently conducted a large independent analysis of flu vaccine studies. This is an internationally renowned independent organization that evaluates health care treatments. They concluded that the flu vaccines haven't been found either safe or effective.
One reason is bias in the participants selected for many of the studies. For instance, a large number of the older participants in flu vaccine studies lived in institutions. They were not healthy people with good immune systems. You can't equate a population that eats institutional food and lives in a crowded facility with independent people who have healthy lifestyles. In healthy people under the age of 65, the flu vaccine didn't reduce the number of days off from work, length of hospital stay, or number of deaths.
This large meta-analysis found that many of the inactivated vaccines given to older people had no effect either against influenza or influenza-like viruses. In spite of this lack of effectiveness, researchers claimed that these vaccines reduced deaths from all causes. This is impossible. A vaccine that doesn't prevent the flu can't prevent complications from the flu. These deaths must have come from another source.
Millions of older people worldwide have been given the flu vaccine, yet its safety has been reported only in five studies with fewer than three thousand participants. That's not enough proof for me that it's safe and effective.
At best, the flu vaccine gives false security. There are numerous viruses that cause the flu and flu-like illnesses. Yet, each year's vaccine only contains three strains. It's very possible to get one of the many other circulating strains of viruses rather than the ones in this year's vaccine. Whether or not you get a flu shot, you need to build up your immune system for real protection.
Better flu protection
There are a number of things you can do to avoid getting the flu and I've talked about them in more detail in past articles available to you on my website. Get extra rest, eat a healthy diet, and keep your sugar intake low. Reducing sugar may be hard to do this time of the year, but it will help keep your immune system stronger. Consider taking medicinal mushrooms twice a day (MycoPhyto Complex) and daily probiotics (Women's Preferred). These are available by calling 800-728-2288. I also recommend one gram of vitamin C, four to six times a day.
Next month, I'll be talking about how a common vitamin prevents colds and flu. You may be taking this vitamin, but I'll guarantee most of you are not taking enough of it. It's non-toxic, easily available, and is proving to fight cancers and flu effectively. Don't miss this article.
"Government rejects vaccine petition," Seattle Post Intelligencer, October 24, 2006.
Jefferson, T., "Influenza vaccination: policy versus evidence," BMJ, October 28, 2006.