Two years ago in this space the topic was the
entourage effect and how it differed from nutritional
and medical findings involving synergy: "Whereas
synergism involves components each of which is active on its
own and which in combination yield effects greater than the
sum of the individual contributions, the entourage effect may
involve components most of which on their own may exhibit
little or no benefit or may yield benefits that are otherwise
unrelated."1 In practice, of course, there is more than a
little overlap and one finds this all the time with foods and
supplements. A good example is the so-called French paradox,
generally presented as the supposed paradox between the
French consumption of comparatively large percentage of
calories as fat, especially as animal fat, and the Gallic low rate
of heart disease.
Is the French Paradox Explained by Nutrient Synergies?
Sardonic observers sometimes remark that Americans
count calories with neat little categories for carbohydrates,
fat and protein whereas the French are only concerned with
how food tastes and how the meal looks, its "presentation."
Assuming that the consumption of animal fat matters, a point
increasingly in question, the French classically have not cared
while enjoying enviable levels of health, hence, by Anglo-
American lights, the paradox. The traditional French diet is >42
percent fat, much of it either saturated or monounsaturated.
The French (traditionally, at least, maybe still) drink red wine
daily, yet outlive Americans (81.6 years versus 78.8 years, as
of 2015, other statistical bases giving similar results).2 The
French also suffer from fewer cases of coronary heart disease
and, in actuality, remain ambulatory and self-sufficient much
longer than do Americans, meaning that statistics of relative
life expectancy should be balanced by a close look at morbidity
statistics. According to the 2014 World Health Organization
data set, the French rank second in the world, behind South
Korea, for having the lowest mortality rates from coronary
heart disease. America? We rank 44th.3 Significantly, in France
they consume almost no sugary drinks and eat very little sugar
in any form. These dietary practices should be contrasted with
those in the States.4
A new report from the USDA says Americans are eating
less fat than we did 30 years ago. Here's the opening from
an online article about the report:5
On average, Americans are eating 10g less fat per day
today than they were in the late 1970s, according to
new research. In a report comparing food consumption
patterns in 1977–78 versus 2005–2008, Biing-Hwan Lin
and Joanne Guthrie from USDA's Economic Research
Service found that on average, Americans consumed
75.2g of fat in 2005–08 compared with 85.6g in 1977–78.
Meanwhile, the percentage of total calories derived
from fat also declined substantially from 39.7% to 33.4%
between 1977 and 2008, said the authors.
Of course, there is no paradox if the long-standing
condemnation of the role of fat and saturated fats in
cardiovascular disease is mistaken, as discussed in last
month's column and previously in Heart Matters Do Statin Drugs. However, let's assume that there is a connection and
that the paradox, as often suggested, is a result of the French
love of red wine. Is wine's protection from a single magic
phytonutrient, resveratrol, or is the combination of ingredients
the key?
Many who argue that there is a paradox suggest that
the phytochemical known as resveratrol is responsible for
the low rates of cardiovascular disease. Critics argue that
this is nonsense because there simply is not enough of the
compound present to exert any effect. In fact, just this point
was the focus of an exchange back in 2008 in which a colleague,
Joseph Evans, and I were participants.6 Subsequent findings
decisively have proven that Evans and I were correct and our
interlocutor mistaken in both his evidence and his arguments.
The skeptic's argument went like this: "The potency of
most of the nutritional supplements labeled as resveratrol
is in the range of 30 mg to 100 mg. This is 30 to 100 times
lower than doses thought to be in the range for therapeutic
effects in humans." Our response was that red wine is a widely
studied source of the combination of resveratrol and quercetin
and that significant health benefits are associated with men it was demonstrated that "the platelet antiaggregatory effect
of de-alcoholized red wines could be computed...from its
concentrations of resveratrol and quercetin."7 Similarly, the
combination of resveratrol and quercetin exerts a powerful
synergy in the inhibition of inducible nitric oxide (the form
linked to inflammation).8 In animals fed a high-cholesterol
diet, the human equivalent of 210 mg resveratrol per day
improved endothelial function.9 However, more was not
better, with animal experiments demonstrating that, in human
equivalent amounts, approximately 360 mg per day led to
greater life expectancy than approximately 1,565 mg per day.10
Finally, there is experimental evidence that the combination
of nutrients such as pterostilbene, quercetin, and resveratrol
might be more active than any one of these alone at much
higher dosages with research showing that subeffective doses
of combinations of anti-inflammatory compounds can inhibit,
for instance, carcinogenesis.11
In contention was whether relatively modest amounts
of resveratrol in combination yield significant health benefits
for humans despite the amounts being ineffective on their
own. A recent clinical study provides an instance of proof
that is in line with other studies published since 2008.12 In
a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial
with 29 overweight and obese subjects, trans-resveratrol and
hesperetin taken together were effective in altering a marker
related to insulin resistance and improving metabolic and
vascular health. (Hesperetin is a flavanone, a particular type of
flavonoid.) Treatment was one capsule daily for eight weeks and
a washout period of six weeks with 90 mg resveratrol and 120
mg hesperetin and placebo. Neither resveratrol nor hesperetin
was efficacious by itself, whereas together they significantly
decreased fasting and postprandial plasma glucose, increased
the oral glucose insulin sensitivity index and improved arterial
dilatation.13 In other words, combining these nutrients is
pivotal in promoting their benefits.
Underappreciated Nutrient Combinations
Magnesium and Potassium
Not usually considered as an aspect of the French diet that
separates it from American nutrient intake is the ingestion
of minerals important for blood pressure and blood sugar
regulation, such as magnesium and potassium. Americans
notoriously do not consume green vegetables, primary dietary
sources of both minerals. This is a shame because dietary
potassium regulates vascular calcification and arterial stiffness,
which is to say, two major factors determining cardiovascular
health.14 There is much noise made about lowering sodium
intake, but it is the ratio of sodium to potassium in the diet
that determines blood pressure, not the simple amount of
sodium.15
The combination of magnesium and potassium arguably
is particularly efficacious for a number of reasons. For one, the
development of insulin resistance impedes the proper uptake
of potassium.16 Magnesium deficiency inclines subjects
toward insulin resistance. There is considerable evidence that
inadequate magnesium predisposes individuals to potassium
deficiency and makes this deficiency difficult to treat with
potassium alone. Magnesium, which is a natural calcium
channel blocker, controls the flow of sodium and potassium
across the cell membrane and therefore potentiates cellular
replenishment of potassium.17 Significantly, Mildred Seelig,
the great magnesium researcher, pioneered an approach in
which the ingestion of a potassium and magnesium salt with
fixed ratios of the two minerals and a certain minimum per
day proved to be adequate to reverse and control moderate
hypertension.18,19
Improvement in bone health is another benefit that
long-time readers of these TotalHealth articles may recall is
associated with an adequate consumption of magnesium
and potassium. In older individuals an increased intake of
animal protein (but not plant) in conjunction with a significant
intake of green vegetables, i.e., sources of magnesium and
potassium, is associated with better bone health.
How About Food/Nutrient Combinations?
Some quite simple food combinations easily improve nutrient
uptake. For instance, today there is much hype about the
development of "golden rice" via genetic modification as
a means of overcoming vitamin A deficiencies in poorer
regions of the world. Not mentioned in this hype is that these
areas are so poor that they have no fats or oils available with
which to cook food and that the mere cooking of vegetables
in oil largely resolves the vitamin A issue. In fact, the same
approach is true for improved nutrient bioavailability in
developed countries. In one trial, merely adding soybean oil
in salad dressing improved carotenoid and fat-soluble vitamin
bioavailability in salad vegetables.20 Similarly, co-consuming
cooked whole eggs is an effective way to enhance carotenoid
absorption from other carotenoid-rich foods, such as a raw
mixed-vegetable salad.21
A word of caution on oils: Recent research strongly
suggests that olive oil and coconut oil are preferable to soybean
oil. "Rich in unsaturated fats, especially linoleic acid, soybean
oil is assumed to be healthy, and yet it induces obesity, diabetes,
insulin resistance, and fatty liver in mice."22,23 Moreover, in
general the US diet exhibits an excessive and unhealthful
ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.24 Butter, by the way,
after years of condemnation, appears to be neutral as a fat for
most purposes. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis
suggests relatively small or neutral overall associations of
butter with mortality, CVD, and diabetes.25,26 Any worries would
appear to be easily overcome by simply eating more leafy green
vegetables to increase daily magnesium intake!27
HCA and a Largely Unknown Positive Combination
One of the more interesting compounds available in the
American health food market, albeit of highly variable
and often suspect quality, is (–)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA,
always sold as a salt) (extracted from Garcinia cambogia, G.
atroviridis, G. indica and other G. species).28 Medically, HCA
has been shown to exhibit potential additive effects of with,
for instance, atorvastatin treated hyperlipidemic patients.29
Almost never pointed out by the marketers of HCA is that the
compound's mechanism of action is inhibited by diets that are
very high in fats and/or alcohol just as the mechanism is not
operational under fasting conditions. Just as an inadequate level of intake or the intake of poor quality salts leads to a
failure to achieve benefits, so does intake under improper
conditions.30,31,32 One approach to preserving benefits even
in the face of high fat and/or high alcohol intake is to ingest
HCA along with the phytonutrient known as caffeic acid.
Caffeic acid is found in quite small amounts in some, but not
all green coffee bean extracts; it should not be confused with
chlorgenic or caffeoquinic acids.33,34 Effectively using HCA with
a coffee extract to reduce the reverse effects of fat and alcohol
is patented.35
Two Bad Combinations Typical of the American Diet
Just as there are "good" nutrient combinations, such as
examined above, there are "bad" nutrient combinations.
Sugars and refined carbohydrates increase the absorption
of fats from meals while reducing the oxidation of fats for
energy. The evidence against coupling refined carbohydrates
and fats is clear and unambiguous. Similarly, there is an
unfortunate interplay between the consumption of sugars/
refined carbohydrates and table salt leading to impaired blood
pressure regulation.36
- Low glycemic index diets improve glycemic (blood sugar) response and variability as well as promote the metabolism of fat for energy; they may promote long-term health.37,38
- Taken in a milkshake, fructose (30 g) increased postprandial lipemia by 37 percent compared with control; glucose (17.5 g) increased postprandial lipemia by 59 percent.39 (Lipemia is the presence in the blood of an abnormally high concentration of emulsified fat, meaning primarily triglycerides, not cholesterol.)
- In Syndrome X/insulin resistant subjects (BMI of 30), glucose consumption (50 g) led to a 15.9 percent greater glycemic response and a 30.9 percent greater insulin response than did fructose (50 g). This is true in part because fructose is processed in the liver and then released later as glucose and/or converted into fat.
- On an energy balanced diet in these same subjects, fructose compared with glucose increased carbohydrate oxidation 31 percent, but decreased fat oxidation by 39 percent.40
- Low-fat/high-carbohydrate diets in Syndrome X individuals reduce levels of HDL cholesterol and increase triacylglycerol concentrations.41
- Sucrose is glucose + fructose; lactose is glucose + galactose; grape sugar (dextrose) is glucose.
Conclusion
The benefits of foods and the nutrients that they supply, as
also is true of supplements, is highly dependent on food
and nutrient combinations. Many nutrients that clinically
are inactive on their own, including even at large levels
of intake, are beneficial when consumed with appropriate
partners. Resveratrol, so often associated with red wine and
the French paradox, is but one example of this phenomenon.
Many other everyday combinations, such as magnesium and
potassium, similarly exhibit positive dose relations. Contrarily,
certain combinations are not good if habitually practiced. The
combination of sugars/refined carbohydrates with fats, such
as the far too widely consumed omega-6 fatty acids found in,
for instance, soybean oil, is one example of a pairing that, if
consumed regularly, tends to impair aspects of metabolism,
including the oxidation of fats for energy. Likewise,
consumption patterns that couple sugars with salt can lead to
health consequences, such as blood pressure dysregulation,
not typical of either nutrient consumed by itself.
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- http://www.geoba.se/population.php?pc=world&page=1&type=15&st=rank&asde=&year=2015
- http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/coronary-heart-disease/by-country/
- http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2013/01/14/usda-report-we-eat-less-fat-but-fat-is-killing-us
- http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science/Americans-are-eating-10g-less-fat-per-day-than-they-did-in-the-late-1970s
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