Book: Inheritance, by Sharon Moalem

[ann]

I happened to see this book in the library. The full title is Inheritance: How our genes change our lives and our lives change our genes.

In the opening, he profiles a young man who's a chef specializing in meat/cheese type entrees. He then finds he has high cholesterol, and at the urging of his doc and his fiancee, adds a lot more fruits and vegs to his diet and reduces the size of his meat intake...for 3 years, after which he is pleased that his cholesterol is lower, but he feels a lot worse, with abdominal pain, bloating, and nausea.

Turns out he has liver cancer, which totally shocks everyone because he has no risk factors. Then, he finds out he has HFI. The implication is that the chronic irritation to the liver of these fructose metabolites has triggered the cancer. It goes on to say that it's been caught early and it treatable, and he modifies his diet yet again, to avoid fruit and vegs.

Unfortunately, that's really all it says about HFI, but I found it interesting. I had never heard that unrecognized HFI was a risk factor for liver cancer. Has anyone else heard this?

The author has an MD and PhD, so I suppose reliable, but then again, advanced degrees don't always equal full knowledge of the topic discussed.

Ann

[colormist]

Very interesting! I can see how the repeat damage and healing of the liver might cause cancer. I would have more expected liver disease or kidney failure, though.

[ann]

Yes, I agree that a cancer seems less likely than just some kind of cirrhosis. I'm also guessing that this has to be uncommon with HFI as seems collectively we'd have heard more about it otherwise.

[ukbill]

Entirely posible.. however I am surprised he was able to stomach the sweetness... but I am not going to start ranting on about feeding HFI children "diet" sweet flavoured foods again.. only that this if anything proves my point!

My cholesterol levels have recently gone up to 6 from 3.5 where it has been all my life.. I believe this is due to the reduction in my intake of oily fish since Karen came to live with me.. and the increase in Lamb which I rarely ate at all. Unfortunately Karen cannot stand the smell of fish and loves Lamb..

I cannot take Statins.. Have tried them and they make me feel really off and ill all the time. So its visit the Dr time to see if there is something I can take to reduce the levels a bit.

I will have to start having the fish when we eat out.. at least then Karen will not complain about the fishy smell in the house for days after Only problem is they never serve enough of the fish but load the plate with veggies that I give away or leave.

[ann]

You're right about the sweetness being an issue for the chef in the book. What he did was to make a lot of "reduction" glazes and sauces with some fruits and vegs to put on the meat dishes, in an attempt to "hide" the "healthy" stuff, which he didn't really care for!

[ukbill]

Sweet flavours can easily be hidden in high fatty foods where its far harder to detect the flavours. Its a pity he had to get cancer to find he had HFI though.

[ann]

Hi Bill...it occurs to me that if you can't otherwise account for your cholesterol fairly suddenly jumping up after having been stable for years, to have your doc check your thyroid function. Hypothyroidism will cause a previously stable cholesterol to elevate.

Best,
Ann

[ukbill]

Ahh thats a posible..
In May 2016 I rode a pushbike (mountain bike actually) for the 1st time in about ooooh 45 years.. up a track in the only way I know how to ride a bike.. flat out! the 1 mile track rose in height by 600' I ended up with angina for a time and total lack of energy for some months.. a 1/2 mile walk would require a 2 hour map after.. slowly I have got better and now feel just about back to "normal" whatever that is..
I goosed my heart which has now recovered.. so far as the Doctors can tell maybe my thyroid also had a problem after that stupid amount of sudden exercise?
I will get it checked thanks for the info..

[ukbill]

Just a quick update apparently according to my Dr my Cholesterol has been high for a few years now (6 or more) but this fact had passed me by or time flys quicker as we age.. and what I though of as recently turns out out be 6 years or more..

My "score" rating is apparently so low that if I took anti Cholesterol medication i would reduce my risk of having a heart attack by one 1:500 over the next 10 years!

Which given how rubbish I feel what I take foods designed to reduce Cholesterol (Plant Sterols) I am more than happy to say.. I'll take that risk.

So all good on the health front just now.. although need to get much more exercise.. took dog for her 1st longish walk yesterday of the year (08/01/17).. the hills totally goosed me..

I live near Cannock Chase, where last year strained my heart a bit riding my pushbike.. look it up in Google earth.. wonderful wild country right on the edge of a major city (Birmingham and associated towns some 35+ miles across)

Thanks goodness most of the people who live there do not know of its existence or there would be standing room only! Yes the UK is a small island which is quite overcrowded.. and we have repeated governments who always make policies that requires an exponentially expanding population to fund them... Hay ho.. the USA is not alone in its problems with insane political parties.

[ann]

Hi Bill,

Glad that you're actually stable at the numbers you've had and that it's not a new thing, which always leads one to worry about if it's meaningful. Even more glad that your rating is reassuring. I, too, feel too "not well" on lipid medicines to take them for the rest of my life. I suspect that a very-low/no fructose diet significantly reduces one's risk of cardiovascular disease. Look at Fred, after all. He's done well on this diet.

Ann

[ukbill]

True and still going

I suspect its more to do with 85% (so I've read) of Cancers are dependant on insulin so on our low glycemic index diet we do not get the massive spikes of insulin anyone on a standard diet has.

So by keeping our insulin stable (not eating sweet foods or highly refined processed foods) it gives out immune system more of a chance to clean out proto cancers before they can start multiplying (our bodies destroy many many proto cancers every day) and if they start they will be far slower growing than anyone on a "normal" diet.

This has to be a good thing also there is plenty of evidence that a slow digesting diet is far healthier than a fast one. Animals fed on a low glycemic / slow digesting diet live for far longer than animals that eat a fast high power diet.

Our only down side is our low dietary fibre intake and of course white refined flour which is the only safe form of flour for us.

Fructose is also highly implicated in the creation of the High Density Cholesterol which is the stuff that initially starts Arteriosclerosis, the Light Cholesterol then attaches to this high density stuff that gets under the platelets on the inside of arteries.

By choice I would be a Vegetarian which makes me quite sad that animals have to die for me to live.. So I try where posible to ensure the animals I eat have had as good a life as posible.. by eating Organic where posible because factory farming is a total disgrace to all humanity, and it's something I do know quite a lot about. Pigs and chickens that never daylight and Veal.. if anyone knew how young baby calves are treated to produce veal and still ate it.. well they would not be anyone I would want to be associated with. Crewel is not the word to describe its production.. pure evil is closer, no sentient being should treat any other living creature like that..

OK Rant over

In short the Medical profession seems to be fixated on 5 a day fruit or vegetables in peoples diets.. when really all that is doing is introducing some dietary fiber into peoples daily intake of food and as such slowing down rate of digestion and replacing what would most likely be 5 portions of sweet foods made from low fiber high glycemic index high salt high fat foods (cake, chocolate, cookies, ice cream etc etc.) and I will not get into the Palm Oil debate.. but nothing good will ever come from Palm Oil health wise or environment wise, although it will make some people an awful lot of money so that OK then???

If wholemeal flours were re-introduced with the required increase in fat (not Palm Oil) and a reduction in sugar content a lot of the obesity and diabetes problems in the world will go away.. not over night but certainly in time.

However that would mean many fast food companies would sell far less product and we cannot have that can we?

The worlds population are addicted to sugar and getting them to eat (more) healthily is a hard slow task particularly while they (the fast food conglomerates) have the financial clout and as a resulting legal clout, to fund miss information campaigns and fake "science" and marketing pushing the other "fast buck" way.

OK perhaps rant was not totally over

If this makes me in some peoples eyes a communist, effeminate guy then so be it I can live with that.. I will not say what they in turn look like in my eyes.. but its not good.

Keep smiling 2017 might not turn out as bad as is being predicted..