Coffee: Pain Reduction, Weight Loss, and More

For decades, it's been a given in natural health circles that coffee is a no-no. It's commonly one of the first things that people are asked to give up when going on a detox program, or any other recommendations for improving their health. Over the past decade or so, though, evidence has been mounting that there are actually many health benefits for that morning cup of joe.

One of the latest findings is that coffee may help to reduce pain.  In 2012, Norwegian researchers found that coffee drinkers reported about a 25% lower pain score than non-coffee drinkers in a simulated office work environment. This difference was true whether participants had chronic pain or not.

Other benefits that have been reported for coffee in recent years include:

• decreased risk of endometrial cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes
• enhanced muscle growth
• assistance with weight loss (with green coffee bean extract)

The research on green coffee extract for weight loss was a small human trial, involving only 16 subjects. Doses used were in the range of 700 to 1000 mg per day.  However, the results were striking, and so far, and this supplement seems safe. It is inexpensive, and worth a try for a few months.

The main benefits of coffee seem to be related to its phytonutrient content-- those health promoting compounds found in plants that have antioxidant and other beneficial effects on the human body. These benefits seem to hold true whether the coffee contains caffeine or not. So if you're concerned about caffeine, due to its acute blood pressure raising effects, or its detrimental effects on sleep, you can drink decaf, and still enjoy the preventive medicine aspects of coffee.

One last thing to keep in mind: many of the health benefits of coffee can be counteracted if you add a lot of milk and sugar to it. The high saturated fat and empty calories would be more than enough to outweigh the phytonutrient effects.

For me, I'll be enjoying my cup of black half-caf in the morning all the more.

Seeds of Heart Health for the New Year

You've probably heard my mantra for a healthy diet (borrowed from author Michael Pollan):  "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."  To expand on this, we can look to the Mediterranean diet -- that style of eating that is based on whole grains, vegetables, nuts, legumes (beans), and smaller amounts of animal-based protein.  This simple approach works well for maintaining a healthy body weight, and preventing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

A review (1) in the journal Clinical Lipidology (yes, you read that right; "lipidology" means the study of cholesterol and other fats) looks at dietary factors most associated with lowering cholesterol.

"The foods with the most evidence for cholesterol reduction are nuts, legumes, whole cereals rich in soluble fiber, and cocoa and its main commercial product, chocolate."

OK -- this sounds a lot like the Mediterranean diet.  What the author goes on to point out, though, is that all of these foods are actually seeds.  Obvious once someone points it out, isn't it?  Yet with as many years as I've taught patients and students about nutrition, this struck me as a beautifully concise revelation.  Even whole grains like oats are seeds.  And chocolate?  Yes, please!

Seeds contain fiber, healthy fats, and disease-busting phytonutrients.  Think of them as plant foods bursting with concentrated potential.

1.  Ros E.  How Important Is Dietary Management in Hypercholesterolemia?  Clin Lipidology. 2012;7(5):489-492.

Are "Superfoods" Really that Super?

You've probably heard of phytonutrients, those beneficial compounds in plant-based foods that help protect us against chronic diseases.  In particular, some foods, such as broccoli and blueberries, are so packed with these phytonutrients (such as polyphenols) that they've been dubbed "superfoods."

New research out of Kingston University in London has challenged this notion, finding that most of these phytonutrients don't even get absorbed from the digestive tract into the bloodstream.  So while they may benefit cells in the test tube, they can't benefit our body's cells if they don't get absorbed.  This has been trumpeted with pithy news articles about "debunking exaggerated health claims and benefits" of phytonutrients.

Before you throw out the broccoli, and start scarfing down the Twinkies you've stockpiled since the demise of Hostess, keep a few points in mind:

• This research was not actually done on people, but on a laboratory model simulating the intestinal wall.  There's no guarantee that the absorption works the same way in humans; if it did, pharmaceutical companies could save gobs of time and money that they spend examining pharmacokinetics -- how substances are actually absorbed and metabolized in living people.
• The researchers say "some compounds may have a local effect in the gut itself..."  This is not trivial.  Much previous research has focused on the relationship between the health of the GI tract and the health of the rest of the body, and the interaction of stuff in our GI tract with GALT (gut-associated lymphatic tissue) influencing inflammation and immune signalling in distant parts of the body.
• Epidemiological studies (looking at populations of real people) have shown that eating greater amounts and more variety of fruits and veggies leads to better health outcomes.  I'll take that over a simulation experiment any day.

Always look beyond the headlines of health news and ask yourself, is this conclusion reasonable?  Does it concur with the rest of the evidence out there?  Is it taking all the variables into consideration?  This seems to be one case where researchers have leaped to conclusions once again.

Researchers challenge super food claims.  Kingston University London, Monday 1 October 2012.