Archived News of the Week

Figs, Longevity, Curcumin and Quinoa

Figs: I love figs, and they are in season right now. The black ones, the green ones and the brown ones - all good - but the black ones with their sweet, pudding-y goodness are my favorite. I fell in love with black figs when I lived in the Bay Area and frequented a resort in Napa. About a 5 minute walk away from the resort there was a gigantic fig tree purported to be over a hundred years old. This amazing tree, the limbs drooping down to the ground and, in circumference, as large as a carousel, was still producing hundreds of black figs during the August fig season. The guests were allowed to pick and eat lavishly if desired, which I did. I was later horrified to learn that the owner CUT THE TREE DOWN - this, to me, was tantamount to killing a person - to create a vineyard where he was unsuccessful in growing gewurztraminer grapes. Believe me, I experienced some very satisfying schadenfreude when I heard about his failed vineyard.

Recently, I was delighted to learn that figs are not just little soft bags of yummy sugar, but actually are quite healthy for you. Now I don't have to thrash myself on the back with a leather whip to assuage my guilt after eating, oh, maybe 7 in a row? Here are some good things about figs. They build stronger bones, they are good for your heart, have more fiber than prunes, they help stabilize blood sugar, can lower triglyceride levels, they are alkalinizing and have high antioxidant levels.

Here is an easy and elegant recipe for a figgy dessert that I copied from Jeremiah Tower who used to own fancy restaurants in San Francisco: Cut a bunch of figs in half and put them in a single layer facing up in an 8X8 baking dish. Put lots of raspberries on top of the figs. Then spoon some sour cream evenly overall, maybe a whole small container. Then sprinkle with brown sugar. Brown in the broiler for a while and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. (Strauss is the best)

Longevity Study: I was impressed by this study from the Am Jour Clin Nut, 4/3/13: It involved 378,864 participants, men and women who were between the ages of 25 and 70 between the years 1992 and 2000. Participants were scored on their adherence to several recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute of Cancer Research. They are as follows for both men and women: 1) Being as lean as possible without being underweight 2) Being physically active as part of everyday life 3) Limiting consumption of energy-dense food and avoiding sugary drinks 4) Consuming mainly plant-based foods 5) Limiting the consumption of red meat and processed meat and finally 6) Limiting alcoholic beverages. Women were given a seventh recommendation which was breast feeding their infants for up to six months.

Results: Over a median of 12.8 years there were 23,828 deaths in the original group of 378,864. Among those whose scores were the highest - scoring almost perfectly (6/7) or one less (5/6), the risk of dying was 34% less than those whose scores were the lowest, or longevity was significantly increased by adhering to 6/7 recommendations.

Incan Red: I love quinoa almost as much as figs and use it as a fine alternative to grains. Did you know that quinoa is not really a grain and not even a grass, but is actually referred to as a "pseudo cereal?" It is a member of the same food family as beets, spinach and Swiss chard. Even though I eat very Paleo-ish, I will occasionally allow myself quinoa, since it's not really a grain in my lexicon. Furthermore, quinoa is hugely good for you as it has lots of protein and amino acids in it and it probably doesn't engage your insulin response like grains do. It is high in calcium, fiber, contains riboflavin, the B vitamin that turns your pee yellow, and it can lower your risk for Type II diabetes and heart disease. I prefer the red quinoa - it's chewier and more substantial - and buy it in a box from Whole Foods. Brand name: Ancient Harvest Inca Red.

Here is a nice recipe: Caramelize (i.e. cook very slowly in EVOO and butter until very soft and brown but not burned) a red pepper and a yellow pepper cut in strips, and an onion sliced thinly in circles. (I think that WF's even has a pre-prepared package of something similar.) Cook the quinoa separately according to the instructions on the box, then when the quinoa and the veggies are done, fold the caramelized veggies into the red quinoa. You can serve it just like this or sprinkle it with some spice. I use a bit of granulated garlic and/ or New Orleans Seasoning from Victoria Taylor's company.

Turmeric/Curcumin: In a recent study published in the Jour Phytotherapy Research, it was found that turmeric extract was "superior to Prozac for depression. "It was a randomized, controlled clinical trial conducted in India and it studied the primary polyphenol in the spice turmeric, known as curcumin. Researchers enrolled 60 patients with MDD (major depressive disorder) and randomly gave 20 mgs of Prozac to one group, 1,000 mgs of curcumin to another group and a combination of both Prozac and curcumin to a third group. They were monitored for six weeks. On the surface, the results sound very non-earthshaking: All three groups fared exactly the same with their diagnosis of MDD. Or curcumin was no better than Prozac. Or Prozac did the job just as well as curcumin.

So, why is this important? Well, because Prozac has many side effects one of which is suicidal ideation which is probably not a good thing with a seriously depressed person. So even though the study found that curcumin and Prozac were equivalent in effectiveness, the fact that curcumin comes "without concurrent suicidal ideation or other psychotic disorders" and appears to work as well as Prozac seems to suggest that there is a viable and natural, non-harmful approach to depression. The study goes on to say that "... studies like this are greatly encouraging as they confirm the timeless wisdom of plant, mineral and nutrient-based medical interventions which were once the norm before pharmaceutical medicine, only recently, attempted to dominate the spectrum of alternatives available to the public."

A couple more studies on Turmeric: The first, an older one, from 2004 published in the Jour Atherosclerosis showed that turmeric may reduce the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation, thus preventing an important step in the development of atherosclerosis and heart disease. Turmeric also reduced overall LDL and cholesterol levels. Another more recent study (2008): French researchers (Jour Molecular Nutrition & Food Research) performed a study on mice bred to be predisposed to atherosclerosis. They were fed either their normal diet or the normal diet plus curcumin for four months. At the end of this time, the researchers found 26% fewer fatty deposits in the mice fed the curcumin enriched diet. In yet another study, atherosclerotic mice were fed a high cholesterol diet and were supplemented either with curcumin, a statin drug (lovastatin) or placebo. After 18 weeks, researchers found that, just like lovastatin, curcumin lowered blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL while increasing the levels of HDL. However, like the dangerous Prozac for the patients with depression, statin drugs have host of horrible side-effects, so here is a natural alternative for lowering cholesterol with some research behind it.

Some other drugs that curcumin could replace (or perhaps could enhance the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals already being taken are 1) corticosteroids 2) blood thinners 3) anti-inflammatories like NSAIDS (aspirin, naproxen and ibuprofen). Other studies show that curcumin works up to 100,000 better than Metformin to increase glucose uptake (Jour Biochemistry and Biophysical Research) in diabetic patients, and lastly, this piece of information channeled directly from WOW!-land: A 2007 study in International Jour of Cancer found that curcumin works just as well as the chemotherapy drug, Eloxatin at treating colorectal cancer.

I have some very good, very absorbable curcumin from Thorne Research called Meriva-SR. It is best to have a bit of curcumin every day and preferably in different forms, so maybe add the spice turmeric to smoothies and soups or sprinkle on salads. I like to sprinkle it on eggs in the morning. I also take one or two 500 mg. Meriva-SR every day.

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