Random thought:
I think we've all seen the commercials with the little frosted mini wheat characters helping children perform better in school, and we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I wonder how great it really is and if it actually does increase academic/cognitive performance?
According to the textbook we use in class, "short term fasting such as skipping breakfast, reduces the late-morning problem-solving performance of children... in general, children and adolescents who are breakfast eaters are less likely to be overweight than theirs peers who aren't." It also says that vitamin and mineral intake tends to be higher when breakfast is eaten.
A study in Germany showed that in high school students, breakfast does not improve attention span...go figure. Students said they felt better after eating breakfast...again, go figure, and eating breakfast seems to effect boys more than girls...yet again, go figure. It's not a big surprise that the moods of teenage boys improve after eating.
Apparently Norway is better at looking at this stuff because a study on 10th graders revealed that breakfast can reduce cortisol (a stress hormone), improve academic performance, and reduce mental distress. Again, these effects were seen more in boys, but they said the effect was dose-dependent. Does that mean that the bigger the breakfast, the better the grades? No, it means the more often (like more times in a week) breakfast is eaten, the more likely academic improvement will be seen. Some other benefits the Norwegians proposed were better vitamin and mineral intakes, better sleep health, reduced alcohol and cigarette abuse, and increased fiber intake which can help you poop :).
Regardless of what academia says, I have to say that breakfast is my favorite meal. I love breakfast. I am one of those people that wakes up hungry and makes breakfast for dinner, sometimes. I am even like a hobbit and have "2nd breakfast" sometimes, too. So I guess it's a good thing that breakfast really is good for you!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Alcohol: "It's for digestion!"
Random thought:
When I was in Italy, everyone drank alcohol after meals, saying "It's for digestion!" I found myself getting buzzed on wine, limoncello, and grappa nightly. Don't get me wrong; I like having an excuse to drink, but I wonder if alcohol really is a digestive aid.
The alcohol we consume in our "alcoholic beverages" is technically ethyl alcohol (ethanol, C2H6O). Alcohol has historically been used to treat a variety of things including stimulating appetite and aiding in digestion.
In the esophagus, alcohol reduces motility and relaxes the gastroesophageal sphincter (the opening between the esophagus and the stomach). So it slows down how quickly things travel through the esophagus, and it increases the risk for gastric acid to creep back up into the esophagus (gastric reflux), meaning it does not aid in digestion in the esophagus.
In the stomach, alcohol increases acid secretion by stimulating gastrin secretion (a hormone that stimulates gastric acid secretion) and by stimulating the parietal cells themselves (stomach cells that secrete HCl). However, this stimulation only happens at concentrations of 5% and less and when the alcoholic beverages aren't distilled. Distilling concentrates the alcohol, making the beverage stronger. Higher alcohol content can delay gastric emptying, while low-alcohol content ca increase it. So it sounds like alcohol aids in digestion in the stomach only when the beverage has a low concentration.
In the intestines, alcohol can actually slow motility in alcoholics by affecting the mucosal layer and the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve connects the brain and the digestive tract.
In terms of digestion and absorption, alcohol can actually decrease the actions of enzymes that break down carbohydrates. And it can alter the absorption of several nutrients in patients with chronic alcohol abuse, such as vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamin, amino acids (leucine, phenylalanine, glycine, methionine, etc), calcium, and magnesium.
So it seems like if alcohol does in fact aid in digestion, it's only in moderation with beverages with low alcohol content. Typically, beers are going to be around 5% or less alcohol by volume (ABV). For instance, Miller Lite is 4.2% ABV and Yuengling is 4.4%.
Being a waste-case isn't good for anything and that includes your digestive tract. Any health benefits we see with moderate alcohol consumption are pretty much reversed when moderation becomes dependency. In fact, heavy drinking (5+ per day) is associated with increased risks for:
- high blood pressure
- stroke
- dementia
- some cancers
- central nervous system disorders
- vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Now, alcoholic drinks are not solely comprised of alcohol. There are other constituents like water, carbohydrates, phytochemicals like resveratrol and even antimicrobial compounds such as bismuth salicylate. I am well aware that these other things may change digestion and absorption, but there is only so much I can wrap my thoughts around at once.
Some resources I checked out:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2790779/?tool=pubmed
http://www.bmj.com/content/311/7021/1657.full#ref-5
http://fampra.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/6/445.full.pdf+html
http://ima.org.il/imaj/ar02mar-12.pdf
When I was in Italy, everyone drank alcohol after meals, saying "It's for digestion!" I found myself getting buzzed on wine, limoncello, and grappa nightly. Don't get me wrong; I like having an excuse to drink, but I wonder if alcohol really is a digestive aid.
The alcohol we consume in our "alcoholic beverages" is technically ethyl alcohol (ethanol, C2H6O). Alcohol has historically been used to treat a variety of things including stimulating appetite and aiding in digestion.
In the esophagus, alcohol reduces motility and relaxes the gastroesophageal sphincter (the opening between the esophagus and the stomach). So it slows down how quickly things travel through the esophagus, and it increases the risk for gastric acid to creep back up into the esophagus (gastric reflux), meaning it does not aid in digestion in the esophagus.
In the stomach, alcohol increases acid secretion by stimulating gastrin secretion (a hormone that stimulates gastric acid secretion) and by stimulating the parietal cells themselves (stomach cells that secrete HCl). However, this stimulation only happens at concentrations of 5% and less and when the alcoholic beverages aren't distilled. Distilling concentrates the alcohol, making the beverage stronger. Higher alcohol content can delay gastric emptying, while low-alcohol content ca increase it. So it sounds like alcohol aids in digestion in the stomach only when the beverage has a low concentration.
In the intestines, alcohol can actually slow motility in alcoholics by affecting the mucosal layer and the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve connects the brain and the digestive tract.
In terms of digestion and absorption, alcohol can actually decrease the actions of enzymes that break down carbohydrates. And it can alter the absorption of several nutrients in patients with chronic alcohol abuse, such as vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamin, amino acids (leucine, phenylalanine, glycine, methionine, etc), calcium, and magnesium.
So it seems like if alcohol does in fact aid in digestion, it's only in moderation with beverages with low alcohol content. Typically, beers are going to be around 5% or less alcohol by volume (ABV). For instance, Miller Lite is 4.2% ABV and Yuengling is 4.4%.
Being a waste-case isn't good for anything and that includes your digestive tract. Any health benefits we see with moderate alcohol consumption are pretty much reversed when moderation becomes dependency. In fact, heavy drinking (5+ per day) is associated with increased risks for:
- high blood pressure
- stroke
- dementia
- some cancers
- central nervous system disorders
- vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Now, alcoholic drinks are not solely comprised of alcohol. There are other constituents like water, carbohydrates, phytochemicals like resveratrol and even antimicrobial compounds such as bismuth salicylate. I am well aware that these other things may change digestion and absorption, but there is only so much I can wrap my thoughts around at once.
Some resources I checked out:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2790779/?tool=pubmed
http://www.bmj.com/content/311/7021/1657.full#ref-5
http://fampra.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/6/445.full.pdf+html
http://ima.org.il/imaj/ar02mar-12.pdf
Friday, March 4, 2011
Milk does a body good?
Random thought:
Everyone always says that when you have a cold you shouldn't drink milk because it causes more mucus production. Is this true?
The main protein in milk is casein. There are several different forms of casein (alpha, beta, kappa). There are more than one type of each of these as well. For example, there's something like 13 different genetic variations of beta-casein, the head honchos being A1 beta-casein and A2 beta-casein. According to this Woodford guy, all cows used to express the gene to produce A2 beta-casein in their milk. Somewhere along the line, there was a natural genetic mutation, particularly cows of European origin, that caused cows to start to produce A1 beta-casein. Why A2 came before A1 I have no idea. It sounds like most of the cows in the US are of European origin, producing A2 (Don't judge me; I'm not a cow expert). It's times like these I wish I was back at WVU, so I could just walk down the hall and ask the animal science people.
Anyways, when humans drink milk, their digestive enzymes like pepsin, elastase, and peptidase break down proteins so they can be absorbed in the intestines. One of the breakdown products of A1 beta-casein is beta-casomorphin 7, abbreviated BCM7. BCM7 can increase MUC5AC production. What exactly is MUC5AC? It's a mucin gene, in the respiratory tract. What's a mucin? According to an online dictionary, it's any of a class of glycoproteins found in saliva, gastric juice, etc., that form viscous solutions and act as lubricants or protectants on external and internal surfaces of the body. Soooo, MUC5AC is a gene that stimulates mucus secretions in the respiratory tract.
So in theory, if milk does cause mucus, this is how it would work:
Is there a direct cause and effect? It's hard to tell. Most of the researchers say it's hard to determine because so many people have their own beliefs milk and mucus. The studies I've found are small, and it looks like participants of those studies think their saliva is thicker after drinking milk. That makes sense, it does seem to leave a coating in the mouth; however, that doesn't necessarily mean it's mucus, just sticky saliva. "The possibility that milk consumption increases the viscosity or "thickness" of mucus could be explained by the fact that consumption of an emulsion such as milk can lead to droplet floculation after mixing with saliva. This aggregation affects the mouth feel and other sensory aspects and the sensation may be mistaken for mucus." There was another study that weighed tissues of people with colds after they drank milk, and apparently, drinking milk does not increase symptoms of the common cold lol. "In healthy adult volunteers challenged with the common cold virus, milk intake was not associated with an increase in symptoms of congestion or nasal secretion weight."
Conducting my Internet research pretty much led me to believe there are a ton of milk haters in the world. I read random pieces of research, the beginning to that Woodford's guy Milk is the devil book, proposed hypotheses, and even some guy's biology paper (weird, I know, it was somehow published in google scholar). As a "health care professional," I have always advocated for milk because of it's nutrient density. Milk has calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin D USDA food composition tables. Completely eliminating milk from your diet could impact your intake of these vitamins and minerals. Obviously, cutting out milk for a short period of time while you have a cold shouldn't cause too many problems, but it might not reduce the amount of snot you make.
Random side note: It looks like there's a lot of research going on to see if the A1 beta-casein and BCM7 are related to heart disease, Type I DM, and even Autism. Not only is BCM7 involved in mucus production, but it may also be an opiate, an addictive opiate at that. That's what they were talking about in Fast Food Nation when that guy talked about quesomorphins in cheese making it addictive. Apparently, because cheese is processed it contains more A1 beta-casein than regular milk. So, should we not be consuming milk at all??? Have we all been drastically misinformed?? Is there some kind of milk conspiracy my grandpa will be telling me about next time I go visit? Creepy, but that's a horse of a different color.
Everyone always says that when you have a cold you shouldn't drink milk because it causes more mucus production. Is this true?
The main protein in milk is casein. There are several different forms of casein (alpha, beta, kappa). There are more than one type of each of these as well. For example, there's something like 13 different genetic variations of beta-casein, the head honchos being A1 beta-casein and A2 beta-casein. According to this Woodford guy, all cows used to express the gene to produce A2 beta-casein in their milk. Somewhere along the line, there was a natural genetic mutation, particularly cows of European origin, that caused cows to start to produce A1 beta-casein. Why A2 came before A1 I have no idea. It sounds like most of the cows in the US are of European origin, producing A2 (Don't judge me; I'm not a cow expert). It's times like these I wish I was back at WVU, so I could just walk down the hall and ask the animal science people.
Anyways, when humans drink milk, their digestive enzymes like pepsin, elastase, and peptidase break down proteins so they can be absorbed in the intestines. One of the breakdown products of A1 beta-casein is beta-casomorphin 7, abbreviated BCM7. BCM7 can increase MUC5AC production. What exactly is MUC5AC? It's a mucin gene, in the respiratory tract. What's a mucin? According to an online dictionary, it's any of a class of glycoproteins found in saliva, gastric juice, etc., that form viscous solutions and act as lubricants or protectants on external and internal surfaces of the body. Soooo, MUC5AC is a gene that stimulates mucus secretions in the respiratory tract.
So in theory, if milk does cause mucus, this is how it would work:
Conducting my Internet research pretty much led me to believe there are a ton of milk haters in the world. I read random pieces of research, the beginning to that Woodford's guy Milk is the devil book, proposed hypotheses, and even some guy's biology paper (weird, I know, it was somehow published in google scholar). As a "health care professional," I have always advocated for milk because of it's nutrient density. Milk has calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin D USDA food composition tables. Completely eliminating milk from your diet could impact your intake of these vitamins and minerals. Obviously, cutting out milk for a short period of time while you have a cold shouldn't cause too many problems, but it might not reduce the amount of snot you make.
Random side note: It looks like there's a lot of research going on to see if the A1 beta-casein and BCM7 are related to heart disease, Type I DM, and even Autism. Not only is BCM7 involved in mucus production, but it may also be an opiate, an addictive opiate at that. That's what they were talking about in Fast Food Nation when that guy talked about quesomorphins in cheese making it addictive. Apparently, because cheese is processed it contains more A1 beta-casein than regular milk. So, should we not be consuming milk at all??? Have we all been drastically misinformed?? Is there some kind of milk conspiracy my grandpa will be telling me about next time I go visit? Creepy, but that's a horse of a different color.
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