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Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has donated this month. I’m thrilled to announce that we unlocked the $100,000 match, and we are all so grateful for the donor who generously provided it. If you haven’t yet donated, there is still time to get your contribution in before the end of the year. 

What we raise this month helps us plan for the year ahead, and we have a lot of exciting things in store, such as new webinars, a free email series on longevity (which will perfectly complement my book, How Not to Age, coming to you next December!), and, of course, the heart of our work, videos! New video topics will include updated research on collagen, fluoride, osteoporosis, and vaccines, just to name a few. 

So, please support this work by making a donation in this final week of 2022. Thank you!

Volunteer Spotlight: Dr. Alan Kadish

“As a Health Support volunteer, I address a number of questions posed by visitors to NutritionFacts.org. Although my participation is centered on the medical aspects of questions, I’m inspired by continually learning and integrating into my practice the newest science-based findings, which allows me to dive deeply into the nutritional and environmental roles that shape our health. The ‘why’ is easy, as NutritionFacts gives me an opportunity to influence a wide and growing audience who will reap health benefits. 

As a physician at The Center of Health, I’ve been practicing what’s now known as ‘functional medicine’ for three decades. I approach medical challenges as a detective, using the full scope of options, especially emphasizing lifestyle, emotional, and physical concerns.

My favorite WFPB dish is a stir fry. Bring on the various herbs, spices, and sauces, and I’m ready for a great meal.”

Daily Dozen Challenge 2023

At the start of the new year, we will relaunch the Daily Dozen Challenge to help even more people discover how easy it is to fit some of the healthiest of healthy foods into their daily routine. Keep your eyes out for the details in the next few weeks! In the meantime, download Dr. Greger’s free Daily Dozen app for your Apple or Android devices and follow us on Instagram and TikTok for inspiration and to see a few of our staff member’s challenges. Then join us to kickstart 2023 by building healthy habits.

Now Hiring: Web Developer

We are currently hiring for a web development position on our fully-remote team here at NutritionFacts.org. A complete job description and application can be found on our employment page. Please share these job openings with anyone who would be a good fit!

What effects do Red Bull and Monster brand energy drinks have on artery function and athletic performance?

Given the “global popularity” of the multibillion-dollar energy drink industry, it is critical we determine if the beverages have any “potential adverse effects,” as I discuss in my video Are There Benefits of Energy Drinks?. “There are currently more than 500 energy drink products available on the market” today. “The most popular, and the most studied,” is Red Bull. A single can has been found to bump up blood pressure by 3 or 4 points within 90 minutes of consumption, as you can see in the graph below and at 0:27 in my video. What about all the other energy drinks? Studies show they similarly increase blood pressure by 3 to 4 points on average.

Is a 3- to 4-point bump really a big deal? I’d say so. If you have elevated blood pressure day in and day out, that bump means a 20 percent higher risk of dying from a stroke and a 12 percent higher risk of dying from a heart attack. Can Red Bull increase your day-long average blood pressure? Researchers put it to the test: “Comparison of the Effects of Energy Drink Versus Caffeine Supplementation on…24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure.”

The Food and Drug Administration imposes a limit on caffeine in soda. Energy drink manufacturers get around this by claiming their carbonated sugar water beverages are not sodas, but “natural dietary supplements.” Red Bull doesn’t have any more caffeine than a cup of coffee, but what are the effects of all of the other proprietary ingredients added to the energy drink?

Researchers gave study participants four small cans of Red Bull or four cups of coffee, each containing the same amount of caffeine. Their blood pressures were measured over the course of the entire day. Even though the Red Bull contained the same amount of caffeine as the coffee, it resulted in significantly higher average blood pressure—about five points higher, compared to coffee. Is it the taurine or some other combination of added ingredients in energy drinks that makes them so harmful?

Energy drinks may also impair artery function. As you can see in the graph below and at 1:55 in my video, drinking just one big can of Monster Energy has been shown to lead to a significant drop in our arteries’ ability to relax normally within just 90 minutes of consumption. The biggest risk, though, is likely the EKG changes that signal an increase in the risk of our hearts flipping into a fatal rhythm. There are cases of young people suffering cardiac arrest after consuming seven or eight cans in a row, or even just drinking three cans one after the other. Some people are just more susceptible. “There are a number of case reports in the literature highlighting multiple potentially fatal cardiac side effects from high-energy drinks in the general population, and the overall toxic effects of energy drinks are being reported more frequently.” But, at the highest risk are the families with a history of sudden cardiac death or fainting. Educating this population about the risks is even more critical, as energy drinks may unmask Long QT syndrome (LQTS), a potentially life-threatening genetic condition, which occurs in about 1 in 2,000 people.

There are safety issues, certainly, but do the benefits outweigh the risks? Unfortunately, “little evidence exists in the literature to support beneficial effects of energy drinks.” What about for athletes? Energy drinks were originally marketed to them, and, boy, did that marketing work! Eighty percent of college athletes reportedly drink them. Do they help their athletic performance? Researchers determined that “preexercise energy drink consumption does not improve endurance,” but it does seem to increase inflammation! In a simulated 25-mile cycling road race, they could not find any athletic performance–enhancing potential for Red Bull above that of just sugar water and caffeine. In addition, the data indicated Red Bull “induced greater inflammatory-related responses” than straight caffeinated sugar water or placebo.

It wasn’t a flop only for endurance sports; there was no apparent effect on resistance training either. Those hoping energy drinks will help rev up their metabolism to lose weight may be disappointed to learn you can get the same stimulatory effects with straight caffeine, though they may cheer up quickly when they realize black coffee or tea is much cheaper than cans of energy drinks.

No wonder there was no change in athletic performance: Unlike nitrate-rich vegetables, energy drinks don’t change oxygen utilization or ratings of perceived exertion. They do, however, raise your resting blood pressure, as you can see at 4:13 in my video. This is the opposite effect of vegetables, like beets and greens, both of which improve athletic performance and reduce blood pressure at the same time. “Energy drinks have no therapeutic benefit.”

For more on this QT thing that I referenced above, see my video Are There Risks to Energy Drinks?. If you have questions about sports drinks, check out my video Are Sports Drinks Safe and Effective?.

Do the benefits outweigh the risks of acid-blocker drugs, also known as proton pump inhibitors like Nexium, Prilosec, and Zantac? What about baking soda?

Dyspepsia is the medical term for upset stomach. After eating, your stomach may hurt, you may feel bloated, nauseous, or overly full, or you may belch. “Despite the high prevalence of the disorder, there are no approved treatments” for dyspepsia in the Western world. As I discuss in my video Are Acid-Blocking Drugs Safe?, this leads people to seek out alternatives like baking soda, which a manufacturer promotes for use in upset stomach. The problem is that it contains sodium bicarbonate, so it “has the potential for significant toxicity when ingested in excessive amounts.” And, “issue of baking soda can result in serious electrolyte and acid/base imbalances.”

Baking soda labels were modified in 1990 to include the warning “Do not administer to children under age 5,” “because of reported seizure and respiratory depression in children.” Even “a pinch” may be too much for an infant, and a few large spoonsful could be fatal for a child.

Another new addition to the product’s label is the “stomach warning,” stressing the importance of not taking baking soda when overly full with food or drink. Why not? If you’re familiar with baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, popular at most every scholastic science fair, you understand the risk! It’s just like adding baking soda to the acid in your stomach. “This warning was added at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of multiple case reports of spontaneous gastric rupture”—that is, when stomachs actually burst.

Exploding stomachs aside, just sticking to the suggested dose may still cause adverse effects. So, baking soda cannot be recommended for dyspepsia, especially for young children, pregnant women, alcoholics, and people on diuretics, which are common blood pressure medications sometimes referred to as water pills.

What about acid-blocking drugs like Nexium or Prilosec? They work better than sugar pills, but not by much, helping 31 percent of dyspepsia sufferers compared to 26 percent helped by placebo. In other words, the drugs are 5 percent better than nothing! These so-called proton pump inhibitors “have also been extremely lucrative for the pharmaceutical industry,” raking in billions of dollars annually. But, we now have massive computerized databases of patients, so we can start to evaluate their possible long-term adverse effects, including increased pneumonia, bone fractures, intestinal infections, heart disease, kidney failure, and even all-cause mortality. “The latest concern to surface has been the association between PPI [proton pump inhibitor] use and risk of dementia”!

The problem with all of these studies just showing “associations” is they don’t prove cause-and-effect. Maybe taking the drugs didn’t make people sick. Maybe being sick made people take the drugs. Or, maybe these drugs are not the cause of these infections, fractures, death, and dementia. Maybe they are markers for being sicker. There are potential mechanisms by which these drugs could have some of these effects. As you can see at 3:00 in my video, the longer people are exposed to the drugs, the higher their apparent risk of dying prematurely. How could suppressing acid production in the stomach increase mortality from a cause like heart disease? Well, suppressing acid isn’t the only thing these drugs do. They may also a reduction in nitric-oxide synthase, the enzyme that makes the “open sesame” molecule that helps keep our arteries healthy.

In terms of dementia, a key event in the development of Alzheimer’s disease is the accumulation of sticky protein plaques called amyloid-beta. If you put Alzheimer’s-like cells in a petri dish and drip on increasing levels of the drug Prevacid, the diseased cells start churning out more amyloid. The same occurs with Prilosec, Losec, Protonix, and Nexium, as you can see at 3:39 in my video.

Just because something happens in a petri dish or a mouse model doesn’t mean it happens in humans, though. That is certainly true, but most studies to date have found this link between “an increased risk of dementia with the use of PPIs,” these proton pump inhibitor drugs. The largest such study to date, involving tens of thousands of patients, concluded that avoiding the chronic use of these drugs “may prevent the development of dementia.” An alternative explanation of the link is aluminum exposure, which itself may play a role in dementia. Maybe people using acid-blocking drugs have heartburn and use more aluminum-containing antacids, which are the actual culprit? We still don’t know.

We do know, however, there is “an almost cultish faith” in stomach-acid suppression as some kind of medical panacea, which “has led to a progressive escalation of PPI dosage and potency,” while mounting evidence suggests the drugs “are associated with a number of adverse effects and are overprescribed.” How overprescribed? The “rate of inappropriate use of these drugs is on average above 57% in patients admitted to general medical wards and 50% in patients managed in the primary care setting,” so about half. Half of the people on these drugs shouldn’t even be on them! “These rates are very high and worrying, because they mean that PPIs are prescribed for indications other than those recommended by expert consensus statements”—that is, for conditions they shouldn’t even be prescribed for, meaning there are no proven benefits to outweigh the risks.

I explore dyspepsia further in my video Flashback Friday: The Best Diet for Upset Stomach.

We create more than a hundred new videos every year. They are the culmination of hundreds of hours of researching, writing, animating, editing, and producing. We comb through thousands of scientific papers from the peer-reviewed medical literature so that busy people like you don’t have to. 

In 2022, I covered topics from athletics and atrial fibrillation to vitamin supplements and wrinkles. Which videos floated to the top of the charts this year? Check out the top ten.

#10 The Purported Benefits of Vitamin K2: Should You Take Supplements?

This video just came out and has already become one of the most popular of the year. To summarize, there is no good evidence that vitamin K has bone, brain, or heart benefits beyond its blood-clotting function. And, even if such evidence arose, we can get all of the vitamin K we need from eating greens, since there’s no requirement specifically for vitamin K2. Further, if some evidence did arise that there was some unique benefit from K2, our microbiome makes K2 from the K1 we get from greens. And, even if we had a problem with our microbiome, we can make K1 from K2, just like other animals do. So, the bottom line: Eat your greens.

#9 How to Treat H. Pylori Naturally with Diet

This video asks and answers the question: What food can eradicate H. pylori in the majority of patients? For some background on the Achilles’ heel in certain Asian diets, check out The Role of Kimchi and H. Pylori in Stomach Cancer.

#8 Food for Hair Growth

This video captured the eighth spot in our top ten, but I also covered Supplements for Hair Growth and Pills for Hair Growth in case you want to take an even deeper dive. Note I added a correction to the pepper information in the table around minute 2:40. As our new in-house video fact-checker just pointed out, the mg/g values for capsaicin weren’t for regular fresh peppers, but fresh peppers that were then dried! So, it’s a little more daunting. Instead of “a quarter of a fresh jalapeño,” it’s more like “a third of a habanero or a teaspoon of medium-hot red pepper spice.”

#7 Do Vitamin C Supplements Help with Anxiety?

A few months ago, the acclaimed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published a recommendation to begin screening kids for anxiety starting at age eight. I’m planning to create an entire series of videos next year on dealing with anxiety, but until then, check out this video discussing the risks and benefits of using vitamin C for depression and anxiety.

#6 Glycemic Index of Potatoes: Why You Should Chill and Reheat Them

If you eat potatoes when they’re cold, as in potato salad, or chilled and reheated, you can get a nearly 40 percent lower glycemic impact. Chilling isn’t the only trick to blunting glycemic impact. You can also add vinegar, lemon, or broccoli. See How to Reduce the Glycemic Impact of Potatoes for more information, and, if you’re in a particularly spuddy mood, check out these others from last year: Do Potatoes Increase the Risk of Diabetes?, Do Potatoes Increase the Risk of High Blood Pressure and Death?, and The Healthiest Type of Potato.

#5 How to Heal a Leaky Gut with Diet

In this video, which took fifth place in our top ten, I address the foods and food components that can boost the integrity of our intestinal barrier. If you missed the backgrounder video, check out Avoid These Foods to Prevent a Leaky Gut, in which I talk about the over-the-counter drugs and diets that make things worse.

#4 Which Foods Are Anti-Inflammatory?

A whole food, plant-based diet is basically synonymous with an anti-inflammatory diet, whereas inflammatory markers can double within six hours of eating a pro-inflammatory meal, which I cover in the companion video Foods That Cause Inflammation. This may help explain the remarkable findings in another popular video this year: Plant-Based Eating Score Put to the Test. So, Why Don’t People Eat Healthier? That’s another one of my favorites released in 2022!

#3 The Best Diet for Treating Atrial Fibrillation

This important video is a long time coming, addressing which foods we should eat and avoid to reduce our risk of Afib. It’s chock full of information and ends with a compelling and emotional case report of the power of evidence-based nutrition to reverse disease.

#2 Fighting the Ten Hallmarks of Cancer with Food

As you may know, I’ve been researching and writing a new book on longevity. After it’s been put to bed, edited, fact-checked, copyedited, and published, and I’ve completed my book tour, my next book will be on cancer survival; so, there will be a lot more forthcoming on this critically important topic. Until then, I have dozens of videos on cancer prevention and treatment, including a mind-blowing series on chemotherapy released this year that asked and answered the questions: How Effective Is Chemotherapy? and How Much Does Chemotherapy Improve Survival?.

#1 The Best Diet for Healthy Aging

2023 is the year my new book How Not to Age will be released. It’s heartening that there is so much interest, as evidenced by this video reaching number one, as well as the popularity of two other 2022 hits—How to Boost FGF21 with Diet for Longevity and How to Increase Your Life Expectancy 12 to 14 Years. And these just scratch the surface.

I can’t wait to share everything else I’ve uncovered!

In your experience, how have you found food to tell a story and shape culture?

Food is both created by history and creates history. Cuisines are created by history because they mix with invasions and population movements. It shows the movements of people and the introduction of new ingredients, cooking methods, and recipes. Sometimes these cuisines are impoverished–think of the globalization of cuisine and fast foods–but often they come out richer. In my book Vegan Africa, for example, I highlight the Indo-Chinese influence on the cuisine of East Africa and the Lebanese influence on all of West Africa. These result in unique dishes that are consubstantial with the history of these parts of the world.

On a personal level, the way we eat says a lot about who we are, where we come from, and all of the people who came before us.

And, finally, cooking creates history because it brings people together. It creates bridges between people through commonality. In fact, it is often the first introduction we have to another culture.

How do you educate people about the intersection of food, history, health, and culture?

This book is the materialization of my personal journey. As a young adult, I began to question my identity and naturally my relationship with food was at the center of this reflection. I made the work of becoming more intentional about food because it plays such a big part in our lives. I began to ask myself more systematically: Why am I eating what I am eating? How was this food produced? By whom? How can I live fully without inflicting suffering on other beings? And, finally, How can I reclaim my ancestral culinary heritage?

I wanted to share the fruit of my research to shed light on African cuisines and to encourage others to want to know and appreciate them better. I hope to inspire others to see food for what it is: a sacred fuel for our bodies and a central component of our identity.

Please tell us a little bit about your cookbook Vegan Africa. What countries and cultures are highlighted in it?

Africa is a huge continent and the culinary cultures are very diverse. With my book, I humbly wanted to represent the whole continent, from North to South and from East to West. Vegan Africa includes recipes from Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and many other countries! It is, of course, more of an initiation or, as I like to say, an invitation to discover these rich African culinary cultures. During the writing of the book, I had the pleasure of exchanging recipes with many people from different African countries, and they entrusted me with recipes from their countries of origin.

In addition, some of the recipes in my cookbook are my own creations, the result of my travels and my experiments, such as Cassava Tabbouleh with radishes and Herbs and Red Cabbage Salad with Mango and Raw Okra. My book is also full of personal anecdotes, cooking tips, and family cooking secrets.

As a chef, what do you envision as the way forward to encourage people to include more fruits and vegetables into their diets?

Often, fruits and vegetables are seen as boring side dishes. We need to reverse this narrative and really put them back at the center of the plate. I believe this necessarily involves education. We have to make people aware of the need to eat a nutrient-dense diet for good health. I am also convinced that it involves kindness and curiosity. Often, people are resistant to change because they are afraid of changing their routines. That’s why, in my cooking, I make it a point of honor to use ingredients that are accessible everywhere and by nearly everyone. Then I try to show that with a few spices, it is possible to totally transform everyday foods and give them a new dimension. For example, the next time you cook carrots, why not try roasting them instead of boiling them? And have fun with flavors! Try citrus zest, cumin, sumac, cardamom, ginger, or smoked paprika. Open up the field of possibilities.

Please tell us a little bit about your work and career.

By day, I work in the health and wellness sector. I help companies whose mission is to help people take care of themselves to improve their Customer Experience. In addition to this, I run workshops and cooking classes.

I am also occasionally a chef for individuals and companies for very intimate dinners. And on top of that, one thing I never stop doing is developing new recipes that I share on my Instagram account @thespicysoul.

I have a very holistic approach to health, and bringing wellness to others is what motivates everything I do.

Sautéed Spinach and Mushrooms with Plantains

SERVES 4 ✦ PREP TIME: 15 minutes ✦ COOK TIME: 35 minutes

Dishes made with leafy greens are very popular in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in South and Central Africa. Any leafy green will do—such as taro, cassava, sorrel, or sweet potato leaves—but here I opted for spinach leaves since they’re easy to find in most parts of the world.

2 tablespoons water 1 onion, chopped 4 tomatoes, diced 8 ounces (225 g) button mushrooms, chopped 31⁄3 pounds (1.5 kg) fresh spinach 1 tablespoon curry 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 2 teaspoons garlic powder Black pepper (to taste) 4 firm plantains, peeled and cut into large chunks

 

1. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the water and onion, and cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. 
2. Add the tomatoes, and cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Add the mushrooms, and stir to combine. 
4. Gradually add the spinach, stirring until it wilts.
5. Stir in the curry, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper (to taste). Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. If the mixture sticks to the pan, stir in a splash of water.
6. Meanwhile, place the plantains in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cook until easily pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes.
7. Serve the spinach and mushrooms along with the plantains.

TIP: The greener the plantains, the less sugar they have. To steam the plantains, make a small cut halfway through each piece. Place in a steamer, and steam until easily pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes.

You can find Chef Marie Kacouchia on Instagram @thespicysoul