Millar Functional Medicine

09/22/2024

Health Benefits of Soluble and Insoluble Fiber and Disease Prevention

Greg Millar, DC PhD CPFM
Millar Functional Medicine
Huntsville, Alabama

Fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet. BUT!!! what kind of fiber and how much is very important. We've all heard that we need fiber but other than that we not sure.

This article will provide a good overview on the fundamentals of eating fiber. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body can't digest. Though most carbohydrates are broken down into sugar molecules called glucose, fiber cannot be broken down into sugar molecules, and instead it passes through the body undigested.

There are two main types of dietary fiber: SOLUBLE and INSOLUBLE. Both are important for health, digestion, and preventing diseases. But what's the difference?

SOLUBLE FIBER
Soluble fiber attracts water and turns to gel during digestion. This slows digestion down.

What foods have mostly soluble fiber?

Soluble fiber can be found in many common foods, including:
Oats
Barley
Apples
Citrus fruits
Carrots
Beans and legumes
Brussels sprouts
Sweet potatoes

INSOLUBLE FIBER
Insoluble fiber traps and holds onto water pulled from the intestines. It adds bulk to the stool and appears to help food pass more quickly through the stomach and intestines.

What foods have insoluble fiber?

Foods rich in insoluble fiber include:
Whole wheat
Brown rice
Nuts and seeds
Cauliflower
Green beans
Zucchini
Dark leafy greens
Peppers

Health Benefits of Soluble and Insoluble Fiber and Its Implication in Disease Prevention

You Need a Combination of Soluble and Insoluble Fiber:
Soluble fiber is excellent for supporting cardiovascular health, while insoluble fiber supports healthy digestion and regularity.

A balanced diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes will help you meet your fiber needs and reap the benefits of both types.

What is the Optimal Amount of Soluble and Insoluble Fiber One Should Have Per Day? The recommended daily intake of fiber is 25–30 grams (or up to 38 grams), with a good balance between soluble and insoluble fiber.

Many health experts recommend aiming for about a 1:3 ratio of soluble to insoluble fiber.

This can be achieved by eating a variety of fiber-rich foods. Fiber is important for a healthy diet because it has many health benefits, including:

Heart Disease and Fiber:
Dietary fiber can help prevent heart disease in a number of ways, including:

Lowering cholesterol
Reducing inflammation
Lowering blood pressure
Reducing the risk of stroke and type 2 diabetes
Diabetes and Fiber

Dietary fiber can help prevent diabetes in a number of ways, including:

Research has consistently shown that, for people with type 2 diabetes, eating more fiber can help improve blood glucose control. The human body is unable to absorb and break down fiber. Because of this, fiber does not cause a spike in blood glucose the way other carbohydrates can.

Cancer and Fiber:

Fiber can help prevent cancer in a number of ways, including:

Fiber binds to carcinogens and helps to expel them from the body through stool.
Fiber is converted into short-chain fatty acids by bacteria in the colon, which can reduce the ability of cells in the intestine to become cancerous.
Fiber helps to increase the size and frequency of bowel movements, which can dilute the contents and reduce the time harmful chemicals spend in the bowel.
Fiber can help you maintain a healthy weight, which can reduce the risk of many cancers.
Fiber can bind bile acids, which can reduce cholesterol levels and decrease the risk of colorectal cancer growth.
Fiber can change estrogen production, which may lower the risk of breast cancer

Autoimmune Disease and Fiber

Fiber can help prevent autoimmune disease by:

Limiting autoimmune neuroinflammation
Dietary fiber can limit autoimmune neuroinflammation by restricting the activation, polarization, and migration of Th1.
Enriching good bacteria
Resistant starch can enrich good bacteria in the gut, which can help suppress the growth of bacteria that trigger autoimmune disease.
Increasing anti-inflammatory immune cells
Inulin, a type of fiber found in fruits and vegetables like bananas, asparagus, and garlic, can increase the number of regulatory T (Treg) cells, which are anti-inflammatory immune cells.
Intestinal Disorders and Fiber

Fiber can help prevent intestinal disorders by:

Softening stool and preventing constipation: Fiber adds bulk and helps stool move through the intestines more easily.
Reducing pressure in the colon: Fiber can help prevent flare-ups of diverticulitis.
Regulating stool frequency and consistency: Soluble fiber can help with this in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Providing a substrate for beneficial bacteria: Fiber feeds the good bacteria in your gut.

Weight Loss and Fiber

Fiber can help with weight loss in a number of ways, including:

Feeling full
Fiber-rich foods can help you feel full longer, which can help you eat less and maintain a healthy weight.
Fiber slows down the speed at which food moves through your stomach and gut.
Soluble fiber absorbs water and slows the absorption of sugars into your bloodstream, which can help your body avoid storing fat.
Fiber feeds good gut bacteria, which can help with weight management

Dr. Millar's Comments:

Strive to obtain 25–30 grams (or up to 38 grams) of fiber per day, with a good balance between soluble and insoluble fiber to improve your health and wellness and decrease the above listed disease risks.

As always, you should consult your healthcare professional prior to beginning any new dietary or lifestyle regimen.

12/10/2023

New Alzheimer's Blood Test Now Available
Greg Millar, DC PhD

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. Its symptoms vary but may start with mild memory loss or difficulty remembering words or names. As it progresses, Alzheimer's causes worsening confusion and memory loss, changes in personality, the inability to perform everyday tasks and more.

Alzheimer's is caused by a slow build-up of protein plaques and tangles in the brain that eventually cause brain cells to stop working properly.

This build-up usually starts years before a person experiences symptoms. Alzheimer's-related memory loss is caused by brain cells working improperly and dying-a process known as neurodegeneration.

Alzheimer's is estimated to account for about 60% of dementia cases.

Diagnosing Alzheimer's

Until recently, it has been difficult to identify the biological changes that indicate Alzheimer's. The typical evaluation, which includes physical exam, blood and urine tests and cognitive testing may provide ambiguous or conflicting answers, which can result in delayed referrals until symptoms become clearer. That has changed with new technology and testing.

Labcorp has developed a new test called the Amyloid-Tau-Neurodegeneration (ATN) Profile (ATN Profile) to help doctors detect evidence of biological changes consistent with Alzheimer's.

These tests are the first objective tools that doctors have to help evaluate Alzheimer's, meaning that with a simple blood test, doctors and other health professionals allowed to order labs can get a clearer answers on Alzheimer's and its progression and get patients on a care plan earlier.

This will in fact give physicians a simple, objective test for Alzheimer's disease pathology that can help shorten the time to diagnosis.

Labcorp is the first company to make a fully blood-based ATN Profile commercially available.

What is ATN?

The ATN framework establishes a means for classifying biomarkers based on the biological evidence of Alzheimer's disease that each marker provides These markers are divided into three categories to reflect the three primary biological changes associated with Alzheimer's:

ATN Test:
A for amyloid plaques: Accumulations of beta-amyloid 42 proteins begin to form plaques in the brain years before initial symptom onset.
T for tau tangles: The beta-amyloid 42 accumulation causes misfolding of tau proteins, which tangle into knots and disrupt normal brain cell function.
N for neurodegeneration: Brain cell functional impairment causes the cells to die, which exacerbates the characteristic cognitive impairment symptoms observed in Alzheimer's patients.

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Compliments of Labcorp:
Does the ATN Profile diagnose Alzheimer's disease?

Biological confirmation of disease is necessary for diagnosis. This test provides evidence of the biological changes that are consistent with Alzheimer's disease. However, Alzheimer's still requires a clinical diagnosis based on clinical observation and cognitive testing.

How accurate is the test?

The ATN Profile was clinically validated using 200 samples from a well-studied cohort in which all samples were characterized with patient age, s*x, amyloid PET status, and clinical diagnosis. The beta-amyloid 42/40 ratio assay showed a ROC analysis area under the curve (AUC) of 0.944, with a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 86.7%.

Click Here is read White Paper on the ATN test

Labcorp Code: 484400

The current price for the test is $626.00 however, Labcorp is talking with health insurers, including the U.S. government's Medicare plan for people age 65 and over, about reimbursement terms for the test.

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As a functional practitioner I highly recommend becoming familiar with Dr. Dale Bredesen's program called ReCode: https://www.apollohealthco.com/

It is the first proven program to Optimize Cognition and Reverse Dementia.

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Comments from Dr. Millar of Millar Functional Medicine

Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is feared by our aging population however don't accept this dreaded diagnosis as an end all be all.

Most neurologists are simply not aware of the outstanding work of Dr. Dale Bredesen.

Here is the educational background behind the man who is changing the lives in a positive way for those suffering with Alzheimer's disease.

Dale Bredesen, M.D. is an expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

He received his undergraduate degree from Caltech and his medical degree from Duke University. He served as resident and chief resident in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and as postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Professor Stanley Prusiner.

I will simply say that--- There is Hope..

** Always consult with a physician or healthcare practitioner with significant integrative or functional medicine training.

Apollo Health is the first ever online health community built around the solutions for cognitive decline.

12/10/2023

Adding This Food can Improve Arterial Elasticity
Greg Millar, DC PhD

If you want to make your arteries healthier and more elastic then simply adding walnuts to your diet has been found to help.

Researchers with Yale University's Prevention Research Center asked two dozen men and women with type 2 diabetes to supplement their usual daily diets with 2 ounces of walnuts daily — about 30 shelled walnut halves — for eight weeks, then switch to a walnut-free diet (or vice versa). A test of blood flow through an artery in the forearm before and after each eight-week trial showed that walnuts improved the flexibility of the artery.

Studies have shown walnuts boost endothelial function.

A study in Barcelona conducted by Emilio Ros, MD, PhD, director of the Lipid Clinic at Hospital Clínico in Barcelona, Spain, took 24 randomized nonsmoking, middle-aged, healthy adults to one of two groups of 12. Each group was provided with two high-fat meals, eaten under supervision one week apart. The meals were identical, consisting of a salami-and-cheese sandwich on white bread and a small serving of full-fat yogurt. For one meal, the researchers added about five teaspoons (25 mL) of olive oil. For the other meal, they added 40g of walnuts, or about eight shelled nuts.

Although both the olive oil and the walnuts lessened the sudden onset of inflammation and oxidation in the arteries it was discovered that walnuts helped preserve the elasticity and flexibility of the arteries.

It is also important to state that the inner lining of the arteries produces a substance called nitric oxide that is needed to keep the arteries flexible,” Dr. Ros said. “When we eat high-fat meals, the fat molecules temporarily disrupt the production of nitric oxide, preventing the arteries from increasing blood flow in response to physical activity.

One of the nutrients found in walnuts, he said, is arginine, an amino acid used by the body to produce nitric oxide.

How many ounces of walnuts should I eat a day?

According to Harvard Heart approximately one ounce of nuts daily can reduce your risk of heart disease. An ounce of walnuts is about a handful, or one-quarter cup. That amounts to between 12 and 14 halves or 30 grams of walnuts.

How to improve the nutrient benefits of walnuts

Walnuts should be soaked overnight (approximately 8-10 hours) because doing so makes them easier for the body to digest than eating them raw. The phytic acid found in nuts, which is reduced by soaking walnuts, contributes to increased absorption as well. The omega-3 fatty acids, known for their heart-healthy properties, are more readily absorbed when walnuts are soaked, boosting cardiovascular benefits.

Dr. Millar's Comments:

Arterial elasticity and flexibility are markers of optimal cardiovascular health. Although there are other factors that will help in improving arterial elasticity such as eating heart-healthy plant based diet, eating wild fish (salmon), eating beets, exercising for at least 30 to 60 minutes a day (150 minutes a week) and stopping smoking, something as simple as adding walnuts should be part of a total cardiovascular plan.

References:

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.CIR.0000124477.91474.FF
https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/walnuts-improve-artery-flexibility
https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/home/news/walnuts-help-keep-arteries-elastic/
https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2010/02/22/16/39/17-1
https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/walnuts-may-help-lower-blood-pressure-those-risk-heart-disease/
https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn2010233
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/walnuts-and-arteries

** Always consult with a physician or healthcare practitioner with significant integrative or functional medicine training before starting any of the above recommendations.

People who ate walnuts daily as an addition to their regular diets had more flexible arteries at the end of the trial period....