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Just One Thing! Health Habits for the Overwhelmed.

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May 18, 2009
	Jo Wehage : Head Operations Ego

THIS MONTH: Embrace this health-promoting spice & find out why on the grill, this Bud’s for you.

Suffering from wellness information overload? Each month we briefly cover one topic that will enhance your health and one topic that can threaten your health. Consider this your Cliff Notes of wellness habits.

Just One Thing – To Do
Embrace the cinnamon, ‘mon!

Okay it doesn’t hail from Jamaica, but it’s still irie.

Recent studies have shown that you could now call cinnamon “the poor man’s insulin.” And with the full-blown epidemic of diabetes that we’ll continue to see for years to come, the world will need a form of insulin for the poor.

One gram (slightly less than a half-teaspoon) of cinnamon per day was given to 60 volunteers with type 2 diabetes. In just 40 days, this small amount of cinnamon reduced fasting glucose levels anywhere from 18 to 29 percent, triglyceride levels 23 to 30 percent, LDL cholesterol levels 7 to 27 percent, and total cholesterol 12 to 26 percent. No advantages or greater improvements were found when larger doses were given. Also, when the participants stopped taking the cinnamon, their blood sugar levels and other readings began to return to former levels. (Note that all the research done so far on the effects of cinnamon on blood sugar has used the form you’ll typically find in the grocery store, known as Cassia cinnamon-though it won’t say so on the label). (J Agric Food Chem 04;52:65-70) (Diabetes Care 03;26:3215-3218)

In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.

In a study at Copenhagen University, patients given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief in arthritis pain after one week and could walk without pain within one month.

One study found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory. Researchers at Kansas State University found that cinnamon fights the E. coli bacteria in unpasteurized juices. Cinnamon is also a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium.

In traditional Chinese medicine, Cassia cinnamon is used for colds, flatulence, nausea, diarrhea, and painful menstrual periods. It’s also believed to improve energy, vitality, and circulation and be particularly useful for people who tend to feel hot in their upper body but have cold feet.

If you find One Love today, make it cinnamon. Use it smoothies, dump it in oatmeal, mix it with your green tea powder

Note: Cinnabon’s don’t count. That just a dirty cholesterol bomb hidden under sweet, sticky goo.

Sources:
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html
http://www.drdavidwilliams.com/legacy/issues/metabolic_syndrome.aspx
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/cinnamon/a/cinnamon.htm
Just One Thing – NOT To Do
Careless Grilling? This Bud’s For You!

As summertime fun and family grill outs approach, a reminder about the dangers of grilling and some ways to help keep your grill from being the neighborhood carcinogen factory.

Several studies have been done in the past which concluded that grilling/charring muscle meats (cow, chicken, fish, etc.) create these nasty, little cancer-causing guys called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). There’s also benzopyrene, which is the nasty buildup of fat that drips onto hot coals, then evaporates back up to the meat and sticks to it. We’ve even read that when a pound of meat is grilled over charcoal, it can contain as much carcinogenic benzopyrene as 300 cigarettes!

Safer Grilling
Carcinogenic compounds are formed within meat, not just on the surface, so you can’t get rid of them by scraping off the surface. But researchers are finding that certain preparation and cooking techniques may reduce the formation of these compounds.

1. A Beer Marinade – German (of course) food chemist, Udo Pollmer, discovered that the use of beer while grilling inhibits HCA creation. Similar studies suggested that soaking meat in beer for several hours before grilling also reduces the chance of these carcinogenic compounds forming. Non-alcoholic beer doesn’t count.

2. Cook with cherries. Researchers at Michigan State University found that adding cherries to ground beef prior to pan frying reduced the HCAs produced by nearly 69 to 78.5 percent. The reason? Cherries are rich in antioxidants. Try mixing a pound of ground meat with a cup of ground tart cherries before cooking.

3. Use vitamin E. Adding vitamin E to meat has been found to significantly reduce the formation of HCAs. In studies, 120 milligrams of vitamin E powder was mixed into 3.5-ounce patties. Try breaking open a capsule of vitamin E oil and mixing it into meat before cooking.

4. Add fresh rosemary, sage, cinnamon, oregano or ginger to meat mixtures before cooking. These antioxidant seasonings have been found to help block the formation of HCAs and PAHs.

5. Drink green tea with your meal. Polyphenols in green tea help our bodies excrete carcinogenic compounds. Try drinking green tea regularly, especially with meals containing cooked meat. To easily add 7x the antioxidant protection, use an organic whole leaf green tea powder. Add the sweetener of your choice for a tasty, protective health elixir.

6. Precook the meat inside and grill the veggies for that tasty grill flavor. Peppers, onions, zucchini, mushrooms are all good grilling options. And veggies won’t yield any of those dangerous HCA’s! You can even grill tofu that’s tasty – I swear!
Contact Jo: jowehage@healthyalterego.org 

Sources:
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/healthykitchenrecipes/a/meatcarcinogens.htm
http://beeradvocate.com/articles/345