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As I often tell my clients, we don’t have to eat perfect all of the time, rather focus on eating well per the Mediterranean diet mentioned below 80% of the time (which includes moderate amounts of daily red wine) and eating freely without guilt the other 20%.

Living to 100 doesn’t have to mean a strict regimen of steamed vegetables and joyless meals. A healthy, balanced, and stress-free life includes happy hours, time spent with family and friends and the occasional glass of wine with delicious dinners. You can consume alcohol and live to a happy 100, even up to one drink daily for women, two for men. We know from blue zones centenarians that this is true: People in four original blue zones areas drink alcohol moderately and regularly. The trick is to drink one to two glasses per day with friends and/or with food. And no, you can’t save up all week and have 14 drinks on Saturday.

Here is some of the research and studies that give us a better understanding of how wine can help lead to a longer lifespan.

Cardiovascular Can-Do with Cannonau

Sardinians are famous for their daily consumption of the robust, regional red wine called Cannonau. Cannonau wine has two to three times the level of artery-scrubbing flavonoids as other wines. Small doses of this antioxidant-rich beverage throughout the day could explain fewer heart attacks and lower levels of stress among men in this region of the world. Another reason Sardinians may experience these wine health benefits is the way they consume it – always surrounded by good friends and good food. If you’re unable to find Cannonau at your local market, dry red wines in general offer similar health advantages.

[Editor’s Note: Cannonau is the Sardinian name for the red wine grape known elsewhere as Grenache or Garnacha.]

Mediterranean Mindset

Wine in moderation has been shown to be beneficial if consumed as part of a Mediterranean diet, which is defined by a high consumption of beans, greens, nuts, olive oil, and whole grains and a low consumption of meat and processed foods. This means that wine, as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle, can be beneficial to your health. It does not mean that wine will somehow “cancel out” the negative effects of a poor diet (high in processed foods and saturated fat).

Consuming wine alongside a meal can help the body absorb more of the flavonoids, the artery-scrubbing antioxidants, from the food eaten with it. Among many others, this recent study published in Advances in Nutrition showed that consumption of wine as part of a Mediterranean-style diet could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers, perhaps helped by the anti-oestrogens found in extra-virgin olive oil.

Movement + Wine

Sardinian shepherds often walk up to five miles a day tending to their flocks and carry with them a lunch of unleavened bread, fava beans, a small bit of Pecorino cheese, and a generous supply of local Cannonau wine. Daily activity is built into the ecosystem of life in the blue zones areas – every trip to the store or to a neighbor’s house occasions a walk. Centenarians move naturally all day long and according to a study completed by the European Society of Cardiology, moderate wine drinking and regular exercise is a combination that can be protective against cardiovascular disease.

A Drink to Remember

Resveratrol, the polyphenol found in the skin of grapes, is known to protect the body against damage that puts it at higher risk for cancer, heart disease, and dementia. According to a study by Philippe Marambaud, PhD, a senior research scientist at New York’s Litwin-Zucker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders, this compound can combat the formation of the plaque that is found in the brains of dementia patients.

In another study published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, those who consumed alcohol at least once a week (hello, Wine @ 5), had significantly better cognitive function in old age than those who did not drink at all.

Live Longer, Better

Besides these more focused studies above, other research backs up the link between wine intake and a reduction in all-cause mortality. Moderate alcohol consumption (especially with meals and friends) could help you not only de-stress and loosen up, but also live longer.

Everyone’s body is different so see what works for you, but I’d recommend you give some version of this a try.

I do my best to eat as healthy as possible in an 8 hour window (lunch/early dinner) which has helped me lose weight, and feel more energetic. 

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of virtually all disease, including cancer, obesity and heart disease. While inflammation is a perfectly normal and beneficial process that occurs when your body’s white blood cells and chemicals protect you from foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses, it leads to trouble when the inflammatory response gets out of hand and continues indefinitely.

Your diet plays a significant if not primary role in this chain of events and is the perfect place to start to address it. Certain nutritional supplements can also be helpful as add-ons.

Below, I’ll review some of the foods, spices and supplements known for their anti-inflammatory power (and the foods known for their inflammatory effects). If you struggle with any chronic health condition, chances are you have inflammation in your body, and would be wise to take a cold hard look at what you’re putting into it.

A key part of an anti-inflammatory diet involves excluding refined vegetable oils, as they are clearly one of the most pernicious and pervasive poisons in the food supply. Simply avoiding all processed foods and most restaurant foods will go a long way toward helping you avoid them.

As for anti-inflammatory foods to eat more of, vegetables are a key staple. Dark leafy greens such as kale, collard greens and Swiss chard contain powerful antioxidants, flavonoids, carotenoids and vitamin C that can help protect against cellular damage. Ideally, opt for organic locally grown veggies that are in season, and consider eating a fair amount of them raw.

Juicing is an excellent way to get more greens into your diet. There’s a caveat, though. If you struggle with autoimmune disease or have significant inflammation in your body, consider limiting vegetables with high lectin content, as the lectins may pose a problem.

Among the most problematic lectin-containing foods are beans, grains, legumes and members of the nightshade family like eggplants, potatoes and peppers. High-lectin foods can be made safer to eat through proper soaking and cooking, as well as fermenting and sprouting. Using a pressure cooker is particularly beneficial for beans. You can learn more about this in my interview with Dr. Steven Gundry, author of “The Plant Paradox.”

Oxalates are another plant component that can cause problems, as they not only will increase inflammation but will worsen your mitochondrial function. Those prone to oxalate kidney stones typically need to be on an oxalate-free diet as well. Foods high in oxalates include potatoes (white and sweet), almonds, seeds, dark chocolate, beets, beans and many others.

On the other hand, raw berries — especially blueberries — are an anti-inflammatory basic, as most tend to be low in fructose while rating high in antioxidant capacity compared to other fruits and vegetables.

The same goes for mushrooms, which are commonly overlooked. Shiitake mushrooms, for example, contain ergothioniene, which inhibits oxidative stress. Mushrooms also contain a number of unique nutrients that you may not get enough of in your diet.

One of those nutrients is copper, which is one of the few metallic elements accompanied by amino and fatty acids that are essential to human health. Since your body can’t synthesize copper, your diet must supply it regularly. Copper deficiency can be a factor in the development of coronary heart disease.

Another excellent anti-inflammatory mushroom is the Reishi, which contains ganoderic acid, a terpene that induces apoptosis (programmed cell death of damaged cells) and enhances the immune system.

The main reason for this (and many other) nutritional deficiencies is that the soil has become depleted in minerals due to the way we are farming these days – more use of pesticides, herbicides, not rotating fields, less natural fertilization.

Please consider the best ways to get additional magnesium via food or supplements (per the article).

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• Magnesium is required for the healthy function of most cells, especially your heart, kidneys and muscles
• Low magnesium is a powerful predictor of heart disease, and recent research shows even sub-clinical magnesium deficiency can compromise your cardiovascular health
• Low magnesium will impede your cellular metabolic function and deteriorate mitochondrial function, and is a component necessary for the activation of vitamin D
• Top reasons to optimize your magnesium level include optimization and regulation of vitamin D, preventing migraines and depression, improving brain plasticity and protecting your heart health
• Magnesium is also important for the prevention of kidney and liver damage, bacterial and fungal infections, impotence, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, premenstrual syndrome, osteoporosis, muscle cramps, Type 2 diabetes and mortality from all causes

Keep in mind that studies have shown sugar to be ten times more addictive than cocaine in brain scans!

This is one reason why it is so difficult to reduce (even though we know it’s bad) – along with the fact that it is in most foods that we don’t prepare ourselves.

In a stunning acknowledgement that fat is not the dietary villain we were once led to believe, the AARP talks about the growing recognition that excessive intake of sugar is the real cause of many serious health conditions, including:

1. Type 2 diabetes — It goes without saying that too much sugar in your diet can contribute to blood sugar levels, both high and low, depending on whether you’re already a diabetic and how much of it you consume.

2. Cardiovascular disease — Although it may come as a surprise to you, besides diabetes, sugar intake is closely related to heart disease. In fact, studies show that those who consume 25 percent or more of their daily calories as sugar are twice as likely to die from heart disease as those who get less than 7 percent of their calories from sugar.

3. Chronic inflammation — Sugar is one of the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation. Research shows that sugar intake activates the innate immune system and stimulates higher production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

4. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) — The truth is excess sugar consumption is driving the rising rates of NAFLD, even in children. NAFLD can cause fatigue, mental confusion and other ills, underscoring why it’s important to eliminate processed fructose from your diet.

5. Certain cancers — The metabolic theory of cancer is one that I ascribe to, and research confirms that sugar may be directly responsible for cancer growth.

With the average person downing 152 pounds of sugar a year, the AARP points out that all this sweetness isn’t so sweet, especially when you consider that you may not even realize you’re eating extra sugar in a lot of the foods you consume. That’s because many processed foods, from condiments to cereals to potato chips and beverages contain added sugars. When you also consider that it can also cause many other diseases, such as those listed below, isn’t it time to reconsider what’s in your diet?

6. Weight gain — We all know that if you eat too much, we’re going to gain weight, but sugar only adds to the problem, often sneakily and without you knowing it — especially if you’re eat processed foods labeled as “natural” but with hidden sugars in them.

7. Feelings of depression — This is another thing you may not realize, but depression is linked to inflammation. In fact, approximately one-third of depressed patients have been found to have high levels of inflammation in their bodies, and since sugar directly affects the inflammatory processes in your body, the connection is clear.

8. Acne and other skin problems — The condition of your skin is hugely dependent on what you eat. If you eat foods that are high in carbs and sugars, these substances can adversely affect your hormone production, which can cause inflammation and increase your risk of acne.

9. Cellular aging — As I explain in my book, “Fat for Fuel” and in the metabolic theory of cancer link I posted earlier in this blog, too much sugar not only can slow you down and make you tired, but it can age you faster. If your cells are aging too quickly, then you are also prone to more diseases and illnesses.

10. Kidney disease — Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body by interfering with calcium and magnesium absorption. It can even increase your risk for kidney stones.

11. Gout — Did you know that fructose is the only type of sugar that will raise your uric acid levels connected with gout? I first became aware of this when I interviewed Dr. Richard Johnson on this topic. That’s why, once again, sensible food choices are important to your overall health.

And that list of 11 contains just a few of the many reasons why too much sugar in your diet is killing you.

This article does a good job explaining the dos and don’ts of some of the more popular options.

My recommendation is that you try the one that most resonates with you and see how it fits .

The key is in eating whole foods (ie things that grow) as much as possible, and reducing caloric intake (especially of the bad stuff) can only help!

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

I like the approach of intermittent fasting and believe that more of us can adopt this into our lives with less issues. Basically you plan your eating into a 8 hour window…check out the details below!

If you’re a regular reader, you know that Jon Barron has long advocated intermittent fasting for health and weight loss. His recommended protocol includes fasting one day a week on juice plus a superfood such as chlorella, spirulina, stabilized rice bran, or something equivalent. He also suggests a three-day juice and superfood fast once a month, plus a five-day juice/superfood fast twice a year as part of a bi-annual liver detox.

Those who follow Jon’s protocol get great results, but the idea of giving up a day of gluttony once a week may seem too difficult for some people.  Fortunately for the fast-phobic, there’s a different type of intermittent fasting that seems to be a bit less daunting, and lately it’s been catching on like a California wildfire. The concept, known as the 16/8 diet, involves limiting food consumption to a narrow window of time each day, but during that time window anything goes.

Here’s how it works: You’re allowed to eat for eight hours a day. Outside of that, you can’t have anything except water or zero-calorie drinks. So, if you finish dinner by 6:00 pm, you essentially fast until 10 am the next morning, giving you 16 hours without food.

It sounds so simple, and yet preliminary research indicates that it works on many levels. Animal studies found that rats that were allowed to eat high-fat foods in unlimited quantities within a limited daily time period weighed less and had normal cholesterol and blood glucose levels, while rats allowed to eat whenever they wanted within 24-hour periods gained weight, developed high cholesterol and high blood glucose plus had impaired motor control.1

There’s only been one small human study to date, but the results were equally promising. Twenty-four obese subjects followed the 16:8 plan for 12 weeks. At the end, participants saw significant drops in blood pressure and weight. Strangely, there was also a control group that consisted of subjects who followed a different type of intermittent fasting routine (alternate day fasting), and those on the 16:8 plan lost more weight, consumed fewer calories, and reduced systolic blood pressure more than those fasting every other day. 2

Jon Barron explains some of the benefits of fasting in his book, Lessons from the Miracle Doctors. “First, when you deprive your body of food, your body begins to consume itself to survive. Being geared to self-survival, your body chooses to consume damaged cells and toxic cells first, saving the healthiest for later. It takes a tremendous amount of energy, and puts a tremendous strain on your body’s organs, to process food. (Check your heart rate after eating a large meal and observe how exhausted you feel.) When you fast, your body diverts that energy to repair and rebuilding.”

Advocates of time-restricted eating point out that every time you eat, your liver releases insulin to keep blood sugar levels stable. If you confine eating to an eight-hour window, you’re releasing less insulin into the bloodstream, and that’s good because insulin build-up promotes fat storage and inflammation in the body. As research confirms, when insulin levels drop through fasting, insulin sensitivity increases, blood sugar levels normalize, and the body burns fat.3

Intermittent fasting helps you lose weight in three ways. First, unless you’re succumbing to gluttony during the eight-hour eating period, you’ll most likely end up eating fewer calories each day. But more importantly, because you will tend to use up all of your body’s available glucose during your fasting hours, you force your body to start burning fat for energy, which results in weight loss. And finally, as a result of moving your body into a fat burning state, your insulin levels will drop—since it’s no longer needed at the same levels—while at the same time, growth hormone and noradrenaline levels are increased, which yet again increases your body’s breakdown of fat for energy.

As just mentioned, studies show that intermittent fasting triggers the body to produce more Human Growth Hormone (HGH). HGH is key for strength, muscle development, immunity, resistance to disease, recovery from injury, weight loss, and optimized metabolism.  Research also indicates that intermittent fasting can induce a type of cellular repair process called autolysis that helps the body “intelligently” rid itself of waste and toxins, and animal studies show that it might even extend lifespan. Other benefits include increased resistance to injury from cardiac events, heart-rate stabilization, and reduced oxidative damage.4

And finally, research indicates that intermittent fasting might be good for the brain as well. One study of fruit flies found that fasting blocked the synaptic activity of neurons.5Since overactive synaptic activity is associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, it’s possible that fasting has a protective effect on the brain. Meanwhile, rat studies out of Johns Hopkins found similar results, but in addition, concluded that the brain stimulates chemicals that promote cell growth, and, in fact, the brain creates new cells and becomes more resistant to plaque when stressed by fasting.6 According to study director Dr. Mark Mattson, neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, “There’s an increase in adaptive stress responses when people intermittently fast that is good for maintaining the brain…As is similar to what happens when muscles are exercised, the neurons in the brain benefit from being mildly stressed.”

If you decide to try the 16:8 diet, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Experts suggest very young children shouldn’t fast as they need extra calories for growth. On the other hand, fasting has been shown to reduce seizures in epileptic kids. Also, diabetics and those with low blood sugar should check with their health practitioner before fasting.
2. You can choose any time window you prefer, as long as you restrict food intake to an eight-hour window each day. But do keep in mind that the later you eat, the more difficult weight loss will be for you, as studies show that once the body releases melatonin, which happens close to bedtime, calorie burning naturally slows down. Finishing dinner by six and then fasting until breakfast at 10 the next morning is ideal.
3. Some sources say it’s okay, or even good, to drink coffee or tea (without cream or sugar) during your fasting hours to help you combat hunger. Others claim that such beverages will trigger metabolic processes in your body, and so it’s better to simply drink water.7
4. For weight loss, the usual rules apply during eating hours. If you pig out during your eight-hour window, you’ll sabotage any benefits you might have gained during the fasting hours.
5. Experts say the average person loses seven to 10 pounds within 10 weeks of starting the intermittent fasting regimen.8
6. You probably won’t get that hungry. 16:8 fasting isn’t like fasting for an entire day, and drinking water (or coffee or tea) will most likely sustain you during your fasting hours. Staying busy helps so you don’t focus on what you’re missing. If you really can’t make it 16 hours without food, try going 15 or 14 hours at first, and work your way up. But keep in mind, you really do need to get up to around 16 hours of fasting a day for the benefits to kick in.

• 1.Burrell, Susie. “Eight-hour diet is key to weight loss, according to experts.” News.com.au. 6 September 2018. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/diet/eighthour-diet-is-the-key-to-weight-loss-according-to-experts/news-story/1391a5a5113e650b8ffd2cf0322c1b66
• 2.University of Chicago. “Daily fasting works for weight loss, finds study on 16:8 diet.” 18 June 2018. Science Daily. 6 September 2018. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180618113038.htm
• 3.Heilbronn, LK et al. “Alternate-day fasting in nonobese subjects: effects on body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism.” 8 January 2005. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 9 September 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640462
• 4.Mattson, MP and Wan, R. “Beneficial effects of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems.” 16 March 2005. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 9 September 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15741046
• 5.Lidicker, Gretchen. “New Research Shows How Intermittent Fasting is Like Decluttering for Your Brain.” 14 December 2016. Mindbodygreen. 7 September 2016. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-28129/new-research-shows-how-intermittent-fasting-is-like-decluttering-for-your-brain.html
• 6.Anft, Michael. “Don’t Feed Your Head.” September 2012. Johns Hopkins Magazine. 9 September 2018. https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2012/summer/dont-feed-your-head/
• 7.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/11-things-nobody-tells-start-intermittent-fasting
• 8.Haney, Stephanie. “This is How Long It’ll Take for Intermittent Fasting to Work.” 5 September 2018. MSN Health & Fitness. 9 September 2018. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/diet/this-is-how-long-itll-take-for-intermittent-fasting-to-work/ss-BBMTPba?li=BBoPH6F#image=5

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• There is no denying that white tea is just as refreshing and beneficial as other varieties. Fragrant and refreshing with a sweet, silky taste, white tea is a widely consumed beverage in China
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