Omega-3 and vitamin D can slash your autoimmune disease risk
“Omega Man” — the last man alive (Charlton Heston, 1971), “Omega Doom” — cyborg vs. man (Rutger Hauer, 1996) and “I Am Omega” — the last man alive, again (Mark Dacascos, 2007): Makes you think omega-anything is risky business. Well, when it comes to omega-3s, nothing could be further from the truth — especially when it partners with vitamin D.
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in BMJ followed almost 26,000 people age 55 or older for about five years. The goal: To see the effect that taking omega-3 supplements, vitamin D supplements and the combination of both would have on development of an autoimmune condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune thyroid disease and psoriasis.
■ Turns out that 1 gram a day of an omega-3 supplement containing 460 milligrams of EPA and 380 milligrams of DHA reduced the risk of an autoimmune disease by up to 18 percent — and the longer the participants took the supplement, the more powerful its protective effect.
■ Taking 2,000 IU daily of vitamin D supplements for five years reduced the occurrence of autoimmune disease by 22 percent.
■ Taking the two supplements together cut the risk by 30 percent!
That’s an important protection, because compared with 25 years ago, older folks today have a 50 percent higher risk of having the most common biomarker of autoimmune disease — ANA — in their blood.
So if you’re age 50-plus, enjoy salmon (wild caught) several times a week, cook up vitamin D-enriched mushrooms and talk to your doc about starting these supplements.
From flat foot to fat foot — a new way to treat plantar fasciitis
Veteran outfielder Scott Podsednik led the major leagues in stolen bases in 2004 with 70, but chronic pain from plantar fasciitis benched him off-and-on during his 12-year career. Too bad they hadn’t yet postulated that injecting his own body fat into his foot could treat the persistent crippling pain.
PF is caused by inflammation of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the toes and supports the arch. It affects around 2 million people in the U.S. For many with an acute form of the condition, cold packs for 20 minutes three times a day, stretching, shoe orthotics or cortisone injections provide relief. But about 10 percent of folks develop chronic problems that cause the foot’s collagen to degenerate and the connective tissue to thicken.
Now researchers have published a pilot study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery that suggests that the use of stem cells and growth factors in the body’s fat, when injected to the inflamed area, may stimulate wound healing with reduced scarring. This is in place of the traditional approach, which involves the surgical release of the connective tissue, sometimes causing scar tissue and more pain or triggering destabilization of the foot.
A larger clinical study is coming — they want the procedure to be recognized as a medical necessity so that it can be covered by insurance and become more widely available. I’m skeptical, but hopeful. If you’re limping along with PF, ask your podiatrist or orthopedic foot specialist to watch for more data about this potential treatment.
Immune health: What are your food follies and food smarts?
Folies Bergere in Paris was christened in 1872, and it became famous for musical revues with extravagant costumes and risque entertainment — and entertainers. Today it is still in business.
It seems no one is eager to give up their follies — especially when it comes to food. In 2016, more than a third of Americans ate fast food once a day — and that’s gone up! From January 1 to April 30, 2021, there was a 33 percent increase in visits to fast-food restaurants nationwide. That’s unfortunate, since poor nutrition (fried foods, red and processed meats — maybe even fake meats, they haven’t had many tests — simple sugars, added syrups and stripped carbs that are common in fast-food restaurants) damages your immune system’s ability to protect you from bacterial and viral infections.
Three of the biggest immune-system-damaging food follies are:
1. Added sugars and syrups. They can limit the immune system’s ability to counter bacterial infection.
2. Fiber-stripped veggies, like fries and mashed potatoes, and processed grains (white bread, white pasta). Getting around 25 grams of fiber daily helps you fight off the flu — and maybe other viruses.
3. An almost fanatic aversion to fruit and vegetables. Most of you don’t even get half of the recommended minimum — 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies daily. But eating plenty of greens helps optimize your gut’s protection of your immune strength.
To go from food folly to fully healthy, check out the food and food-timing guidelines in my book “What to Eat When.”
How marijuana exposure harms your newborn
Puff may be a magic dragon — but despite the flower-child message of that 1963 Peter, Paul and Mary hit, it’s all evil magic when you consider the effects of marijuana on the health of a newborn.
Unfortunately, more women are smoking marijuana and more are doing it while pregnant. A 2019 study in JAMA Open found that over the past eight years, the number of women who’d smoked pot in the year before they became pregnant had almost doubled to 12.5 percent, and nearly 3.5 percent of women were smoking while pregnant.
Whatever the number has become today, with increased legalization and pandemic blues, it’s too high (pun intended).
Research published in JAMA Open Network looked at data on more than 59,000 women and found that newborns whose moms were exposed to marijuana while pregnant (smoky rooms count, too!) were at risk for low birth weight and being small for their gestational age; being born preterm; being admitted to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit); having a smaller head circumference; and having a lower Apgar score (assessing breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes and skin color) at one minute post-birth.
Those health challenges are similar to what happens to children affected by fetal alcohol syndrome (from Mom drinking while pregnant). These kids, born after in-utero exposure to marijuana or alcohol often have feeding problems, asthma and increased risk of infection, as well as visual, hearing, learning and behavioral problems.
So, do your child a favor and “tune in, listen up and skip the pot.”
Protect your brain from the damage body fat can cause
David “Fathead” Newman was an extraordinary jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophone player who worked as a sideman with Ray Charles, recorded with Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Joe Cocker, Gregg Allman, Dr. John and Natalie Cole, and put out 38 albums under his own name.
While Fathead may have made beautiful music, a new study shows that putting fat together with your head — well, that’s not a pretty combination. A study in JAMA Network Open reveals that having excess fat, in general, and excess belly fat specifically, causes brain injury and cognitive impairment. Furthermore, the study found that excess body fat causes an assault on the brain that is in addition to the brain damage (ministrokes, strokes, dementia and more) that cardiovascular diseases related to excess body fat can cause. Double trouble.
The researchers looked at data from two studies of 9,189 adults age 30 to 75. They found that those with the most body fat had reduced cognition associated with three years’ extra brain aging compared with leaner study participants — and that was just in the three to 11 years that the study participants were tracked. Excess body fat for decades probably harms brainpower even more.
The three best ways to reduce excess body fat: Eat a plant-based diet free of red and processed meats, added sugars, syrups and ultraprocessed foods — and consume most food before 3 p.m.; get 300 minutes of activity weekly; and sleep seven to eight hours a night. Then you’ll likely be a “smarthead” for years to come!
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.
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