Full Transcript Introduction and NutritionFacts mission 0:00 Oh, this is Dr. Michael Greger joining a few minutes late. I apologize about 0:04 that. My last interview went over. Um, I'm here live to answer any 0:10 questions you might have like I do every month. For those unfamiliar with my 0:13 work, every year I read through every issue of every English language 0:16 nutrition journal in the world so busy folks like you don't have to. I then 0:19 compile the most interesting, most groundbreaking, most practical findings 0:22 in new videos and articles I upload every day to my nonprofit site 0:27 nutritionfacts.org. Everything on the website is free. There are no ads and no 0:30 corporate sponsorship, strictly non-commercial, I'm not selling 0:33 anything, just put it up as a public service as a labor of love as a tribute 0:36 to my grandmother whose own life was saved with evidence-based nutrition. Let 0:41 us look at your uh, questions and start going through them. All right. 0:46 Um, Okay, let me get 0:49 um, uh, first one, uh, just thanking me, that's 0:54 very nice. Second question, um, if I have polyphenols, tea, berry 0:59 liquid, etc. in my stomach and then eat 100 g of sesame, will I trap them in 1:04 water soluble vitamins so they don't get absorbed? No, and that 1:08 um, uh, sesame is not going to trap your polyphenols. 1:14 Okay, um, can low stomach acid cause 1:19 malnutrition? Um, if yes, what can we do about it? 1:22 And could low T3 be the cause of low acid production? 1:27 Or what do we do about low T3? Um, so, um, low, um, so 1:34 um, low stomach acid, um, one of the most common causes is people taking 1:38 these proton pump inhibitor drugs like Prilosec or Nexium, and we now available 1:43 over the counter, um, and were over-prescribed when they were just 1:46 prescription only and now God knows how many people are on them, um, and 1:50 associated with all sorts of serious negative long-term effects. I just did a 1:54 webinar um, 1:57 on uh, I did an acid reflux webinar talked 2:00 about how dangerous these drugs can be increasing risk of fractures and 2:03 intestinal infections etc. But so and and can
Low stomach acid and thyroid questions 2:10 play role in like the absorption of some nutrients like B12 etc. 2:15 But that is not the most serious problem of not having sufficient acid. I don't 2:21 think it has it's not that I know connected to 2:24 thyroid hormones and what can we do about having low thyroid hormones? Well, 2:29 is you treat the cause. Why do you have low thyroid hormones? So for example, 2:32 iodine deficiency there's a whole long list of things that we should figure out 2:37 to treat that and 2:41 and and get at the root cause. Next up, 2:45 what does the science say ABOUT METHYLENE 2:49 METHYLENE BLUE? 2:52 Don't do it. I have a whole section this makes it sound like someone's 2:57 actually eating it. God forbid. 3:01 But there's they used to inject it or God they still probably do inject it 3:05 into a degenerating discs hoping cuz it's toxic and they're hoping 3:10 it's going to kind of destroy the nerves in the disc to prevent back pain. 3:15 Doesn't work. And so I 3:18 strongly recommend against it in my upcoming book how not to hurt which will 3:22 be out in December. All proceeds donated to charity. This makes it sound like 3:26 somebody's eating it don't eat it it's toxic. 3:30 Hello everybody. Stop drinking alcohol. I was wondering whether non-alcoholic 3:37 beer is healthy or not. Well, 3:41 as with everything in nutrition it's compared to what? Right? So what would 3:45 you be drinking instead of non-alcoholic beer? If you'd be drinking alcoholic 3:50 beer then absolutely non-alcoholic beer is healthy. If instead you'd be drinking 3:54 green tea, then no, non-alcoholic beer is not healthy compared to green tea. 4:00 Um I guess you one could ask the question, "Well, is it healthier to 4:02 drink than water?" which is kind of like the baseline. Um and
Methylene blue and non-alcoholic beer 4:08 uh I'd rather people drink water than non-alcoholic beer. 4:15 Um okay, do I really need to take penicillin 4:20 after a tick bite? Um 4:24 uh well, so um if you get the tick off uh quick enough, then you shouldn't um 4:29 be have to worry about getting something like Lyme disease. Um and uh so 4:36 um and usually I think it's uh doxycycline. Um 4:40 uh but uh yeah, just check yourself for ticks and get it off. I forget if it's 4:44 24, 48 hours, but tick has to be on there a long way to actually transmit 4:49 disease. Can fat Oh, what a great question. Can 4:55 Well, it's a great question cuz there's a there's a nice hopeful answer. 4:58 It's uh so a bad question would be like, 5:01 "What can you do for a horrible cancer that no one can do anything about?" It's 5:05 not a bad question at all. It's just I wish I can't I feel bad cuz I can't give 5:09 some exciting hopeful news for it. So, that's what I mean by good question in 5:13 that, "Oh, I got exciting hopeful news." Absolutely, fatty liver and fatty 5:17 pancreas can reverse. That is the cause of uh prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, 5:23 which is insulin resistance caused by excess fat insulin resistance and then 5:27 impaired insulin production eventually by 5:31 um uh by excess fat both in your muscles and in your liver 5:35 um and eventually in your pancreas. All of which can be reversed if we can pull 5:40 fat out um in in a variety of ways. We can eat healthier 5:44 um and uh um so uh by eating healthier we are cutting our intake of saturated 5:51 fat and sugar and we can lose weight which helps pulls 5:56 fat and that's how we can actually reverse 6:02 type 2 diabetes particularly when it's caught early enough because we can 6:05 remove the fat that was impairing the insulin signaling that led to the 6:08 disease in the first place. Okay, does AMPK supplements help reduce 6:15 fat in organs? Okay, so AMPK right is the fat 6:20 controller enzyme which we want to boost but I don't know what an AMPK supplement 6:24 is it's not like you can just take the enzyme. But presumably these are
Tick bites and reversing fatty liver 6:29 supplements that purport to boost AMPK. If it did indeed boost AMPK then it 6:36 would indeed reduce fat in organs but 6:39 I would not take any kind of supplement for that I would. There are healthy 6:44 foods. So for example vinegar when vinegar is when so vinegar 6:49 is by definition a solution of acetic acid in water at a certain percentage 6:54 and acetic acid when metabolized by our body uses up. Um. 7:00 The the. The 7:02 results in to to skip the biochemical explanation results in a boost in AMPK. 7:08 And so that's why maybe one of the reasons why 7:14 vinegar has been used to treat obesity for centuries. And when actually put to 7:18 the test you can randomize people to a like a vinegar drink with two 7:23 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar versus a placebo vinegar drink using a 7:28 different kind of acid so it tastes the same looks the same blah blah blah but 7:31 doesn't have any actual acetic acid so it doesn't boost AMPK. 7:34 And you can see in the placebo group placebo fake vinegar group you know they 7:39 continue to. Gain body fat in their internal organs. 7:44 Whereas in the real vinegar group, as determined by CT scan, significantly 7:48 decrease in visceral fat. That's that really dangerous deep um fat that's 7:52 encircling and infiltrating your organs. So, uh yeah, just uh so you say, "Wait a 7:57 second, how am I supposed to uh have vinegar every day?" Well, never 8:01 straight, you don't want to burn yourself, I guess. So, you sprinkle on a 8:04 salad, make a dressing out of it. You could have it to some tea with some some 8:08 hot water and lemon and drink it. Um but just uh make sure it's diluted first. 8:15 Okay, next up. >> [clears throat] 8:18 >> Do I have any suggestions for people with chronic pancreatitis? That was not 8:22 a was on the list, but it didn't make the 8:25 final cut for how not to hurt. So, this my book on pain management that comes 8:29 out in uh in December. Um as I covered all the major cause and most common 8:37 causes of of pain from back pain osteoarthritis to migraines to, you 8:42 know, uh menstrual pain. Um but did not make it down to chronic pancreatitis. 8:48 Um uh and so um I actually did um start I
AMPK, vinegar, and chronic pancreatitis 8:53 actually collected PDFs for it um thinking that I would be able to cover 8:57 it. But in the end um the book was already going to be too 9:01 long. And so, uh but because I have all the research compiled, um uh it should 9:07 be easy to look at and see what if there's anything juicy in there. And if 9:10 there is, I will do a video about it. Um uh um just because there's um lots of 9:17 things we can do for other similar kind of chronic inflammatory conditions. And 9:21 so, hopefully there's something we can do for chronic pancreatitis as well. 9:25 Um I I just don't know since I never ended up writing that chapter. 9:30 Okay, in raising Oh, raising my recommended serving of ground uh flax to 9:35 3 Tbsp, am I no longer concerned limiting it to 1 Tbsp due to heavy metal 9:40 exposure. Um so, if you 9:44 don't understand what Cindy's talking about, um this in my book, do I have it 9:49 here? I do have it here. In my Lowering LDL 9:54 Cholesterol Naturally with Food book, um I have a 9:59 um uh spe- so, I tweaked the Daily Dozen to be 10:03 maximally LDL cholesterol lowering. So, for example, you know, I say, you know, 10:07 "Oh, we should eat beans every day." Oh, but there's specific beans that lower 10:10 cholesterol more, so eat those beans. Um eat vegetables, you know, this 10:14 particular vegetable. Oh, but there's specific vegetables, there's specific 10:17 nuts, there's specific, you know, and so, 10:20 um uh in the specific spices, for example, 10:23 then will significantly lower LDL cholesterol. 10:26 Um and and they what happened with the flax recommendation is I upped it to 3 10:31 Tbsp a day because that is the minimum dose that's shown to significantly 10:36 reduce LDL cholesterol. And that is the goal of the book. Why? Because LDL 10:40 cholesterol is the primary driver of our number one killer, um heart 10:45 disease. Um and uh so, we want to get it as low as possible for as long as 10:51 possible. And so, one way to do that is to 10:54 eat lots of flax. So, it's like a tablespoon of flax with each meal. 10:57 Um now, my uh the the concerns about limiting flax 11:02 didn't have to do with heavy metal exposure, but it has to do with cyanide 11:05 exposure. You say, "What?" Um uh most uh major crops actually are cyanogenic. 11:11 They actually produce cyanide. Our bodies developed all sorts of ways, five 11:15 different ways to to to detoxify um cyanide within our bodies, but obviously 11:21 there's a limit. Um uh and uh um and so, and the limit is uh for for you 11:29 consumption. So, you You people and they gave people 11:32 I I have videos about this, but they gave people massive amounts, like, you 11:35 know, cups of of of flax seeds and did not get into kind of danger levels with 11:41 cyanide exposure and never was able to kind of create any symptoms of cyanide 11:45 exposure. Um but the concern is that kind of on a 11:50 chronic basis. Well, yeah, okay, yeah. So, acutely, you need a lot of flax and 11:53 doesn't seem to do anything. But maybe every day, if you ate it every day, um
Flaxseed, cyanide, and LDL lowering 11:58 and so they came up with a um based on uh and so I talk about how 12:03 they actually uh the the developed this this no effect level um for chronic 12:08 exposure and it basically came down saying, "Hey, you should, you know, I 12:12 think it was like stick to under two tablespoons or stick to one tablespoon a 12:15 day." And that was based on um some found that at 100 times that human 12:21 equivalent dose, there was some issue with uh in rodents. And so they add like 12:28 a 100-fold kind of safety 12:32 uh uh you know, uh just as a safety factor. Um 12:36 so that was the the lowest So, basically, take the lowest dose that 12:39 caused any adverse effects in rodents and you convert that to how much that 12:43 would be in human dose and then you divide it by 100. And so that's where 12:46 you get basically get the one tablespoon a day. 12:49 Um so we don't actually have any evidence that there's harm. In fact, 12:52 people eat lots of flax have all sorts of benefits. Um and uh one benefit would 12:56 be lowering LDL cholesterol, which would outweigh, um I think, um the uh long the 13:03 any long-term effects of of uh that increased cyanide exposure from uh 13:08 ground flax seeds. Um and uh so that's why I recommend it 13:12 because the benefits would outweigh the risks because heart disease is our 13:18 number one killer and anything we do um to uh to lower our LDL should be 13:23 considered. Okay, Cindy is back. 13:27 Is there any evidence that uh algae-based omega-3 supplements raise 13:30 LDL? I don't um I haven't seen any. Um but that's a that's a question that 13:35 um that that that should be easy to figure 13:39 out. In fact, I can do a real quick search right now, but I I'm so 13:43 I I don't think we'd find anything. Um so 13:47 I encourage people continue to encourage people um to try to get about 250 mg of 13:53 a uh gluten-free or algae-based DHA as long-chain omega-3, particularly for 13:59 cognitive health, particularly in older men 14:02 um uh uh as uh to to improve their cognition 14:08 or to maintain their cognition. All right, Mind Jam asks, "Curious about 14:13 thoughts on exfoliating." Huh, exfoliating uh 14:17 and using like I guess face masks. I have 14:20 um don't think So, I have a preserving your 14:24 skin chapter in How Not to Age, but I do I did not get into 14:30 exfoliating or masks. I did do there I do talk a lot about kind of anti-aging 14:34 serums and creams, things to put on your face and not put on your face, 14:38 but um and maybe some of those are in the masks, 14:41 um but uh yeah, that is not something I looked at specifically. 14:46 All right. Um 14:49 Cindy's back. Are there any concerns about heavy metal 14:52 exposure with um any of the other things in LDL? Cocoa 14:57 isn't one of them. Um 15:01 um there haven't been uh uh they haven't found any heavy metals 15:05 in like straight amla powders, although they have in kind of amla like triphala, 15:11 which is like an amla mixture, Ayurvedic amla mixture, but just straight should 15:14 be fine. Um turmeric used to be a problem if it 15:18 came from uh uh Bangladesh, but they've kind of got rid of this whole lead
Omega-3s, skincare, and heavy metals 15:23 chromate thing. So, uh not any that uh that I can think 15:28 of off the top of my head. I would encourage people to do as many of those 15:32 LDL lowering things as they can. Okay, is DHA EPA ALA consumption best at 15:41 the start of the feeding window or at the end? It does not matter. Your 15:46 body doesn't care. Um as far as I uh I 15:50 would understand. No, no, your body's not that picky. 15:54 Eat it whenever you can get it. Of course, the source is what matters 15:58 most. All right, 59 years old for the past 5 16:01 months gained um you know, 5 lb or so. Um [snorts] 4 and 1/2 lb uh eating oh oh 16:08 eating according to my recommendations and not changed my eating habits beyond 16:12 that. And flatulence has been foul-smelling. 16:17 Okay. Um that I would love to see what your 16:21 what's in your diet. Um 16:24 uh so, yeah. Um it's email me with your dietary record and we'll find out we'll 16:30 get the we'll get to the cause of what is going on with your diet leading not 16:35 only to foul flatulence, but um 16:39 but weight gain, which I'm presuming you're implying is a body fat gain. 16:44 Which would not be good. Um 16:48 where's the next one? 16:51 Here we go. Um a lot of omega-3 questions today. 16:55 When I'm consuming 3 Tbsp of flaxseed Oh, do I need to take EPA DHA 16:59 supplement? Um 17:01 uh Oh, so the the the the logic behind this question is look, you're getting so 17:06 much of the short-chain alpha-linolenic acid with eating that much ground 17:10 flaxseed, you'd think we'd make enough of the long chains 17:14 um for uh sufficient cognitive health, it's 17:18 possible. Um It certainly makes it probably makes 17:22 it less critical, although we don't even know if it's critical in the first 17:25 place, but we do have randomized control trials showing people supplementing with 17:29 250 mg of DHA having beneficial at um who have 17:36 omega-3 indexes of non-fish eaters or those who don't eat a lot of fish, um 17:42 there's cognitive benefits, and so for that reason I would continue to 17:45 recommend them just because the the the ability of people's bodies to elongate 17:51 the short-chain omega-3s differs differs by individuals. I think women tend to do 17:55 a little better because they're creating a brain from scratch in utero, which is 18:00 about 1/3 dry weight DHA. Um but um uh yeah, I'd still recommend it, but 18:07 again um we don't know if it's necessary. 18:12 Any updates about Oh, glyphosate? Didn't I just We just put up a new a video
Weight gain, flax, and algae omega-3s 18:18 updating the kind of GMO debate. I think it was like 18:22 10 years ago we had a series of videos on GMOs. Um we talked about glyphosate, 18:27 and then we just did an updated video. I think Christine did, Christine Dennis, 18:31 who was our former senior research scientist. Um she did a video talking 18:35 about the latest um and the IARC IARC conclusion 18:41 um that it may be cancer-causing. Um 18:46 which is disagreed by the by EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, and by 18:50 the FDA, and I talk about the controversy, so check out this video if 18:54 you want to know more. >> [cough] 18:58 >> Excuse me. I got the fan on, and it's drying out my 19:02 my vocal cords after a day of speaking. Um [snorts] we This is my 1 2 3 4 5 6 19:10 um sixth 19:14 interview / presentation I've given today. How do I advise 19:19 patients who push back against consuming plant-based foods or concerned about the 19:23 cons of chemical exposure outweighing the pros of eating 19:28 chemical exposure? I assume you're talking about pesticides, but many of 19:31 the most concerning pesticides, like organochlorine pesticides, 19:35 um, actually, uh, build up the food chain. So, they're fat soluble. Um, and 19:40 so, by eating, you know, meat, you're actually not just eating that animal, 19:45 but all the plants that that animal ate. They then concentrated up, 19:49 um, those, uh, those pesticides. So, you may actually get more exposure to some 19:53 of the most dangerous pesticides. Now, some pesticides are not, um, 19:57 there's some concerning fungicides that aren't fat soluble and that's, that's 20:01 not an issue and um, 20:04 but, uh, but, uh, you can, uh, if you don't want pesticide-laden foods, you 20:09 can, um, buy organic. And I talk about, um, have videos talking about the kind 20:13 of pros and cons of choosing organic or just spending your money getting lots of 20:18 more conventional produce. Have I researched the best diet for 20:22 longevity in dogs? I have not, just because I am not a veterinarian and just 20:28 don't know that literature. Um, uh, and, uh, and so, what do I feed 20:33 my pups? I feed my pups what the recommend, what the veterinarian, what 20:36 the expert says. What the veterinarian recommends we feed
Glyphosate, pesticides, and organic produce 20:39 our pups. Um, I am a veterinarian, but very limited 20:44 one to only one species, and that is human species. I don't know how 20:47 veterinarians know all the species. That's pretty impressive. 20:51 Um, next up, what foods can increase iron absorption? I've been taking 20:54 [clears throat] iron pills, um, and ferritin is up to 24. Before 20:59 iron pills, it was five. So, I would encourage you to check out, I think it 21:02 was in May, we did a whole series about iron pills and iron deficiency anemia 21:07 and actually the ideal ferritin um, who shouldn't should not be trying 21:10 to increase their or iron absorption. But if you really are trying to increase 21:15 your iron absorption, then vitamin C rich foods in the stomach 21:19 at the same time as iron rich foods can help improve absorption. And so that is 21:25 what are some vitamin C rich foods? Citrus, tropical fruits, broccoli, bell 21:29 peppers. Those are some good vitamin C rich options. 21:35 All right, what else we got? Oh, we're more 21:39 iron. If iron supplementation is needed on 21:42 deficiency how to best reduce the oxidative stress. We can definitely 21:45 reduce the kind of intestinal damage done by taking iron supplements by 21:49 getting intravenous iron which if you're iron deficient enough, 21:54 you're may actually be be an option. But of course 21:59 not being iron deficient in the first place and 22:01 and that is finding the reason why you're iron deficient. Maybe you're not 22:06 getting enough iron but maybe you're losing iron. 22:09 You know, maybe you're anemic cuz your body's not making blood cells like it 22:13 should. Maybe you're have blood loss that invisible blood 22:17 loss from your intestines. There's all sorts of things. So you need to find out 22:22 what is and then treat the underlying cause. 22:27 All right, next up. 22:32 Oh, we just did that. Next up. 22:35 >> [clears throat] >> Does tempeh pasteurized by producer 22:39 cause PPO related nutrient loss of other foods like mushrooms, bananas do? What 22:45 if it wasn't pasteurized? No, so polyphenol oxidase is has nothing to do 22:52 with tempeh, right? Polyphenol oxidase, these are in foods that turn brown. So 22:56 that is bananas, avocados. You cut it open and turns brown. White mushrooms. 23:02 But tempeh tempeh doesn't have that, uh, that I know of. And so, I wouldn't worry 23:08 about it unpasteurized or not. I didn't Did they 23:12 Do they pasteurize tempeh? I don't even know. 23:15 Um, but it is good idea to cook tempeh. We shouldn't be eating tempeh raw. In 23:19 fact, you shouldn't even be eating tofu raw. Um, it really should be cooked or 23:23 in aseptic packaging, um, for food safety reasons. 23:28 Um, oh, absolutely there are hopeful, uh, plant-based recommendations during a 23:32 Crohn's flare. Um, and yes, I have a whole chapter a 23:37 big chapter on inflammatory bowel diseases where I cover both ulcerative 23:40 colitis and Crohn's disease in my upcoming book, How Not to Hurt um, 23:45 talking about the benefits of plant-based eating and then specifically 23:47 what foods we can eat or avoid. And so, definitely go into that. Um, and so, 23:53 stay tuned. I'm excited for people to I'm excited for the talk. I I finished 23:58 the, uh, uh, presentation, um, which I should be getting the slides back for 24:03 next month. Um, and I will and I'm giving it for the first time at a 24:08 conference at the, uh, International Congress on Nutrition in DC in August. 24:14 I will premiere it and it's actually going to be videotaped. We'll put it up 24:17 on nutritionfacts.org which is exciting cuz first time I gave
Iron absorption, tempeh, Crohn's, and closing remarks 24:20 it, but of course, all the timing's going to be off. Maybe the jokes don't 24:24 work. I don't know cuz it'll be the first time I'm giving it. Yet, that's 24:27 the one that ends up on the website, ironically. We should probably replace 24:30 them with one I do like a year later where I'm like have it all memorized and 24:33 I, you know, all the things land and then anyway. Anyway, but at least you 24:37 get the information. That's the most important thing. Okay. 24:41 PubMed studies show organic produce is more likely to have bacteria pathogens 24:46 than non-organic because they have they use more fertilizer 24:51 manure to fertilize. Do I agree? Organic recalls seem common. 24:55 Um, uh, so, I mean the the the manure should be 25:02 I mean they they treat manure beforehand to uh 25:07 um to to to to to reduce the pathogen load. 25:12 Most of these recalls that you see with produce in 25:16 general is um kind of kind of raw sewage. So, there's like you manure in a 25:21 irrigation ditch or something that got sprayed on 25:25 or something like that. Um, and so I'm not aware of any studies 25:30 showing organic produce having more pathogenic 25:33 um bacteria. So, 25:37 but send them my way and if that's a thing, I'll do a video 25:40 about it. Okay, oh, we are running out of time. 25:45 Was there some maybe I can do something really quick. Is it healthier to eat the 25:48 only the most nutrition nutritious lentils? 25:53 Um, so 25:56 I did a video like what's the best lentil? 25:58 I forget what based on whatever criteria. I think it 26:02 was antioxidant content. Eat a variety of lentils. Whatever eat whatever 26:06 lentils you can find. Whatever's most convenient, the ones you like the most, 26:09 the ones that you will eat the most. If like whatever was whatever was 26:13 healthiest or had the highest antioxidant content is hard to find or 26:16 you don't like it as much and you just end up on eating as much, don't do it. 26:20 Um, eat a variety of foods. But, if you don't care 26:26 uh what kind of lentil, they all taste the same to you, they're all the same 26:29 price and they're all as convenient, might as well choose the one that has 26:32 more nutrition or antioxidant value or whatever um fiber content, you know, and 26:37 on the list. Um, anyway, okay, we're closing out here. 26:42 Um, the oh, the one thing I want to say is we my books like How Not to Die 26:49 or How Not to Diet or some of the cookbooks whatever are part of the Prime 26:52 Day sales going on. And Amazon has like a Prime Day thing. I think it only goes 26:57 on for 2 more days or something, but some of my books got wrapped up into 27:01 that. Um so, I don't know if you want to buy it my If you don't already have my 27:05 books and want to buy more for people, um then this is a good time to buy it. 27:11 Um uh on Amazon specifically because they 27:15 have a big sale. Otherwise, just tell your friends and family to go to the 27:19 local public library and check it out themselves. Thank you so much, 27:23 everybody. See you next month.
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