Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

[wabmester]

The discussion of the health effects of wine reminded me of the idea of a "polymeal". Basically, the idea is that if you eat a few of the things that are known to be good for you, the overall effect on your health can be dramatic. Here's an article from last year:

Polymeal

According to the journal study, combining seven food components (dark chocolate, wine, fruits, vegetables, garlic, almonds, and fish) significantly increases the life expectancy of people over age 50 and reduces heart events by more than two-thirds.

Excluding any ingredients caused a slight decline in the overall heart protection benefits. However omitting wine reduced the meal's beneficial impact the most -- by 10%.

The recipe for heart success has the biggest impact on men. Men who dine on the Polymeal program every day increase their total life expectancy by more than six and a half years compared with men not on the Polymeal. They also were able to prevent the onset of heart disease for nine years.

 

[azanon]

If you're interested in stuff like this, you and whomever else has to check out www.realage.com Its a really cool site where you can enter in all your lifestyle habits and find out your "real age" then it gives you a top 10 or 15 list of things you can do to lower that age.

 

[REWahoo]

IIRC, one of the items realage.com says will add significantly to your longevity is flossing...

 

[azanon]

My dentist actually pushes that too.

There's a term to describe the phenemenon (someone help me), but IMO, that's a case of misassociation. From what i understand, they've sureyed a group of people and found that those who flossed lived longer. But you have to ask yourself, what kind of person flosses every day. The kind of person that goes that extra mile to take care of himself/herself, thus is likely to live longer?

Back on point, no website is perfect. Its a neat website regardless.

 

[REWahoo]

No doubt those with the self-discipline to floss are likely to take better care of their overall health, but the case for flossing is directly related to cardiovascular disease. From the book "Real Age" by Michael F. Roizen, MD (the same guy who has the website):

"Flossing your teeth daily can make your arteries younger. The probable reason: Flossing helps keep your immune system young... the same bacteria that cause periodontal disease also trigger an immune response, inflammation, that causes the arteries to swell. The swelling of the arterial walls results in a constriction of blood flow that can lead to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. Other studies have shown that periodontal disease leads to a higher white blood cell count, which is an indicator that the immune system is under increased stress.... Poor oral hygiene and particularly increased tooth loss are important indicators of your risk. The fewer teeth you have, the greater your risk of gum infections."

I have a dental appointment tomorrow for a semi-annual cleaning.

 

[azanon]

No doubt those with the self-discipline to floss are likely to take better care of their overall health, but the case for flossing is directly related to cardiovascular disease.  From the book "Real Age" by Michael F. Roizen, MD (the same guy who has the website):

The fact remains though, if they ultimately came to this conclusion by comparing how long those that flossed live, to those that dont, then one has to decide to what degree to contribute that phenemenon.

Personally, i would say at least 75% of that would be explained by simply knowing and realizing that people that live healier lifestyles are going to be those people that tend to floss  (and I would consider that a VERY conservative estimate).   

This supposed cardiovascular benefit to flossing I bet ranges somewhere between statistically insignificant to hogwash.

If one wants to help their cardiovascular health, start exercising daily particularily aerobic exercise, limit saturated facts, increase your HDL/LDL ratio, and get plenty of rest.   IMO each of these things will do a lot more than flossing will.   

Nevertheless, I do floss and my gums thank me for it!

 

[Dawg52]

If you're interested in stuff like this, you and whomever else has to check out www.realage.com    Its a really cool site where you can enter in all your lifestyle habits and find out your "real age" then it gives you a top 10 or 15 list of things you can do to lower that age.   

I took the test and came in at a "real age" of 45.7. Not bad considering I'm 51. Gave me some recommendations such as eat more fish, increase my folic acid intake, eat more whole grain products and increase my fruits and veggies. Pretty much the normal recommendations we all see. A pretty cool website though. 

 

[wabmester]

Just one caveat on this stuff: some studies are better than others. For example, I think the conclusions about chocolate are based on a study of 12 people, while the effects of wine are based on meta-studies that cover well over 100,000 people.

 

[greg]

But you have to ask yourself, what kind of person flosses every day.

Those who are orally retentive.

--Greg

 

[wabmester]

If one wants to help their cardiovascular health, start exercising daily particularily aerobic exercise, limit saturated facts, increase your HDL/LDL ratio, and get plenty of rest.   IMO each of these things will do a lot more than flossing will.

The studies on eating saturated fats are kind of interesting.   In the old days, researchers saw fatty streaks in arteries and looked at some region-based diets and said "aha! fat is bad!"    Then they looked a bit closer, and found that it wasn't fat per se, but the way fats mediate cholesterol levels that *might* be bad.   My understanding is that trans-fat is the only kind of fat that increases your LDL without also increasing your HDL.   Natural saturated fat (e.g., from meat/dairy) increases LDL and HDL, and the studies I've seen indicate that the effect is neutral -- no increase in mortality/morbidity with saturated fat intake.   Don't take my word for it, of course.

And one more tidbit on the subject of fruits/vegetables.   Research has found that high glycemic index foods can be nasty due to the way they raise insulin levels, which can lead to lower HDL and higher TG long-term.    Most fruits and veggies are fairly low GI (due to the way they bind sugar), but some like potatos and dates, for example, are almost as bad as table sugar.

(The Irish have the highest per capita consumption of potatos in the EU.   They also have the highest incidence of heart disease.   AFAIK, no studies have actually linked the two.)

 

[REWahoo]

Something else may cut both your risk of dying and somethng else...

Circumcision: Cutting the HIV Rate?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9806505/site/newsweek/

 

[Danny]

No doubt those with the self-discipline to floss are likely to take better care of their overall health, but the case for flossing is directly related to cardiovascular disease. From the book "Real Age" by Michael F. Roizen, MD (the same guy who has the website):

"Flossing your teeth daily can make your arteries younger. The probable reason: Flossing helps keep your immune system young... the same bacteria that cause periodontal disease also trigger an immune response, inflammation, that causes the arteries to swell. The swelling of the arterial walls results in a constriction of blood flow that can lead to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. Other studies have shown that periodontal disease leads to a higher white blood cell count, which is an indicator that the immune system is under increased stress.... Poor oral hygiene and particularly increased tooth loss are important indicators of your risk. The fewer teeth you have, the greater your risk of gum infections."

I have a dental appointment tomorrow for a semi-annual cleaning.

I'm getting my arteries flossed next week.

If you're interested in stuff like this, you and whomever else has to check out www.realage.com Its a really cool site where you can enter in all your lifestyle habits and find out your "real age" then it gives you a top 10 or 15 list of things you can do to lower that age.
I took the test, I've been dead for 8.6 years and I Hadn't realized it till now. What am I going to tell my wife?

 

[justin]

There's a term to describe the phenemenon (someone help me), but IMO, that's a case of misassociation. From what i understand, they've sureyed a group of people and found that those who flossed lived longer. But you have to ask yourself, what kind of person flosses every day. The kind of person that goes that extra mile to take care of himself/herself, thus is likely to live longer?

Confounding variable?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

And of course, any study involving diet that doesnt lock people in a room for the duration of the test is suspect. People lie about what they do and dont eat. A lot.

Also in a complex system like a person, there can be a lot of confusion about causation and correlation...

 

[Telly]

The recipe for heart success has the biggest impact on men. Men who dine on the Polymeal program every day increase their total life expectancy by more than six and a half years compared with men not on the Polymeal. They also were able to prevent the onset of heart disease for nine years.

This immediately triggered my BS detector... HOW LONG did this study go on for those on the Polymeal plan?

 

[wabmester]

This immediately triggered my BS detector... HOW LONG did this study go on for those on the Polymeal plan?

I don't think they ever did a real polymeal study.   The data is synthesized from other dietary studies.

It was sort of a dietary "take off" on an earlier study that came up with the idea of a polypill.

 

[azanon]

The studies on eating saturated fats are kind of interesting.   In the old days, researchers saw fatty streaks in arteries and looked at some region-based diets and said "aha! fat is bad!"    Then they looked a bit closer, and found that it wasn't fat per se, but the way fats mediate cholesterol levels that *might* be bad.   My understanding is that trans-fat is the only kind of fat that increases your LDL without also increasing your HDL.

I'm glad you reminded me of this Wab.  I've been meaning to read up on trans-fat, since i just started to notice it on USDA labels a year ago or so.   I had college level nutrition (as an elective) in 1991, but this is one of those things that has come out since then.  In 1991, the bad guys were saturated fats, and simple sugars (simple carbs). Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I'm glad you reminded me of this Wab.  I've been meaning to read up on trans-fat, since i just started to notice it on USDA labels a year ago or so.   I had college level nutrition (as an elective) in 1991, but this is one of those things that has come out since then.  In 1991, the bad guys were saturated fats, and simple sugars (simple carbs).   Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.

Hello wab and all. This is a complex area. Wab, I'm still on your low carb/
South Beach/Atkins diet (sort of). But I cheat more since my heart scan
came back 100% perfect. After that, I kind of stopped studying this
stuff. An aside: I think DW was surprised that I actually had a heart

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

This immediately triggered my BS detector... HOW LONG did this study go on for those on the Polymeal plan?

Until they ran out of parrots.

JG

 

[HFWR]

I'm glad you reminded me of this Wab.  I've been meaning to read up on trans-fat, since i just started to notice it on USDA labels a year ago or so.   I had college level nutrition (as an elective) in 1991, but this is one of those things that has come out since then.  In 1991, the bad guys were saturated fats, and simple sugars (simple carbs).   Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.

Layman (at best) here, but seems two of the worst culprits, increasingly prevalent in the modern diet (noun, not verb) are hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup...

 

[ellenjoan]

Wab is correct. The polymeal article was published in the British Medical Journal either last Christmas or the Christmas before. The BMJ's Christmas-New Year week edition usually contains some light-hearted "studies" rather than all hard core science. The polymeal concept was designed from data based on a lot of real studies of the individual components of the meal, but no one ever took a group of subjects and fed them that particular combination of foods.

 

[wabmester]

Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.

I couldn't leave this one standing.

First, most of the fad low-carb dieters want to lose weight. The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume, so that really has nothing to do with "good" and "bad" carbs.

This is still somewhat controversial, but the old ideas about "simple" and "complex" carbs are somewhat obsoleted by the ideas of glycemic index and glycemic load.

There's pretty good evidence that high blood sugar levels and a constant bath of insulin to regulate those levels is bad for you. Being fat is bad for you, too.

Your blood sugar levels and the insulin response are more a function of the mechanical aspects of digestion and absorption in the gut. Simple carbs bound up in a fibrous fruit matrix, like an apple, don't impact your blood sugar levels very much. Complex carbs that are easily absorbed, like in baked potatoes and white bread, will cause your blood sugar levels to spike just like a candy bar.

Glycemic index measures how different foods (and even different food preparations) impact your blood sugar levels, and glycemic load tells you the magnitude of the impact (e.g., watermellon is high GI, but since it's mostly water, it's low GL).

 

[anes]

not sure

I am not sure about REALAGE.COM

I died in 1997 according to the test.