HIGH SALT PREVENTS WEIGHT GAIN IN MICE ON A HIGH FAT DIET

In a study that seems to defy conventional dietary wisdom, University of Iowa scientists have found that adding high salt to a high-fat diet actually prevents weight gain in mice.

As exciting as this may sound to fast food lovers, the researchers caution that very high levels of dietary salt are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease in humans. Rather than suggest that a high salt diet is suddenly a good thing, the researchers say these findings really point to the profound effect non-caloric dietary nutrients can have on energy balance and weight gain.

"People focus on how much fat or sugar is in the food they eat, but [in our experiments] something that has nothing to do with caloric content -- sodium -- has an even bigger effect on weight gain," say Justin Grobe, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology at the UI Carver College of Medicine and co-senior author of the study, which was published in the journalScientific Reports on June 11.

The UI team started the study with the hypothesis that fat and salt, both being tasty to humans, would act together to increase food consumption and promote weight gain. They tested the idea by feeding groups of mice different diets: normal chow or high-fat chow with varying levels of salt (0.25 to 4 percent). To their surprise, the mice on the high-fat diet with the lowest salt gained the most weight, about 15 grams over 16 weeks, while animals on the high-fat, highest salt diet had low weight gain that was similar to the chow-fed mice, about 5 grams.

"We found out that our 'french fry' hypothesis was perfectly wrong," says Grobe, who also is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the UI and a Fellow of the American Heart Association. "The findings also suggest that public health efforts to continue lowering sodium intake may have unexpected and unintended consequences."

To investigate why the high salt prevented weight gain, the researchers examined four key factors that influence energy balance in animals. On the energy input side, they ruled out changes in feeding behavior -- all the mice ate the same amount of calories regardless of the salt content in their diet. On the energy output side, there was no difference in resting metabolism or physical activity between the mice on different diets. In contrast, varying levels of salt had a significant effect on digestive efficiency -- the amount of fat from the diet that is absorbed by the body.

"Our study shows that not all calories are created equal," says Michael Lutter, MD, PhD, co-senior study author and UI assistant professor of psychiatry. "Our findings, in conjunction with other studies, are showing that there is a wide range of dietary efficiency, or absorption of calories, in the populations, and that may contribute to resistance or sensitivity to weight gain."

"This suppression of weight gain with increased sodium was due entirely to a reduced efficiency of the digestive tract to extract calories from the food that was consumed," explains Grobe.

It's possible that this finding explains the well-known digestive ill effects of certain fast foods that are high in both fat and salt, he adds.

Through his research on hypertension, Grobe knew that salt levels affect the activity of an enzyme called renin, which is a component in the renin- angiotensin system, a hormone system commonly targeted clinically to treat various cardiovascular diseases. The new study shows that angiotensin mediates the control of digestive efficiency by dietary sodium.

The clinical usefulness of reducing digestive efficiency for treating obesity has been proven by the drug orlistat, which is sold over-the-counter as Alli. The discovery that modulating the renin-angiotensin system also reduces digestive efficiency may lead to the developments of new anti-obesity treatments.

Lutter, who also is an eating disorders specialist with UI Health Care, notes that another big implication of the findings is that we are just starting to understand complex interactions between nutrients and how they affect calorie absorption, and it is important for scientists investigating the health effects of diet to analyze diets that are more complex than those currently used in animal experiments and more accurately reflect normal eating behavior.

"Most importantly, these findings support continued and nuanced discussions of public policies regarding dietary nutrient recommendations," Grobe adds.

In addition to Grobe and Lutter, the UI research team included Benjamin Weidemann; Susan Voong; Fabiola Morales-Santiago; Michael Kahn; Jonathan Ni; Nicole Littlejohn; Kristin Claflin; Colin Burnett; and Nicole Pearson. The study was funded in part by grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association.

Acupuncture Prevents Neuropathy During Cancer Treatment

Today's interesting post from healthcmi.com (see link below) looks specifically at how acupuncture can prevent neuropathy developing during cancer treatment. It's a startling claim and one that could be extrapolated to apply to other forms of neuropathy if you follow the logic behind it. However, acupuncture is still getting a bad press in some quarters and there's no doubt a little blind faith doesn't do any harm. However, if the science is sound then it could be an important breakthrough. The acupuncture terminology in the article may leave you a bit baffled, so you may need to go to a basic acupuncture site to discover what it all means but there's no harm in talking to your doctor or specialist about it and maybe a qualified medical acupuncturist too (to get a balanced view).
Acupuncture Alleviates Chemotherapy Peripheral Neuropathy No author given on 24 July 2015.

Researchers find acupuncture effective for alleviating chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) for patients with colon cancer. Neurotoxicity from chemotherapy may damage nerve fibers and lead to symptoms including pain, burning sensations, tingling, muscle weakness, balance disorders, paresthesia, dysesthesia, cold or heat sensitivity in the hands and feet, and a “glove and stocking” distribution of symptoms. The paresthesia is often experienced as a bilateral pins and needles sensation. Severity ranges from mild to debilitating. The researchers summarize their findings into three main benefits of acupuncture for patients with CIPN: 

Acupuncture administered prior to chemotherapy prevents CIPN.
Use of acupuncture during chemotherapy inhibits the progression of CIPN.
Administration of acupuncture after completion of chemotherapy eliminates or reduces persistent symptoms.

The research was conducted at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America at the Southwestern Regional Medical Center located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The investigators applied Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) style acupuncture to 10 patients with chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. They note that “all of the patients reported or had improvement in their CIPN grades after starting acupuncture.”

The researchers note that using customized acupuncture point prescriptions in the TCM style produces superior patient outcomes when the use of distal acupuncture points are employed. The researchers emphasize the need for customization of the acupoint prescriptions per each patient’s differential diagnostics for maximum clinical efficacy. In addition, they emphasize that distal acupoints “increase blood flow” and therefore have an especially important role in the treatment of CIPN.

The researchers note that CIPN symptoms are “typically dose-dependent”. As a result, CIPN may limit the amount of chemotherapy a patient can tolerate thereby interfering with the efficacy of anticancer therapy. This is particularly prevalent with drugs containing platinum including oxaliplatin, an important drug in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Platinum based medications often have both acute and chronic adverse CIPN effects because they “produce direct damage to dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons.” The researchers add, “Cisplatin, taxanes, and vinca alkaloids have also been shown to exert damage to microtubules resulting in the disruption of axonal transport and thereby signal transduction in these nerve fibers.” The researchers note that “acupuncture for the treatment of CIPN has several advantages.” They note that “side-effects are minimal and it has been shown to be safe and effective in preliminary studies.” An additional benefit to antitumor therapy, they add that studies indicate that acupuncture regulates the immune system. 


Acupuncture Treatment
The researchers note that the data indicates that “TCM-based acupuncture, prescribed frequently and aggressively, and focused on the distal extremities may be effective for preventing and treating CIPN.” They add that an aggressive treatment would, at a minimum, employ the following acupoints:

5 NP (Five Point Ear Acupuncture Protocol)
Ba Feng
Ba Xie
LI4
LR3
GB41
GB34
SP6

Supplementary acupoints include:
Sheng Ba Feng
Sheng Ba Xie
Jing-well acupoints
ST36
LU7
LI10
Yin Tang
LU9
ST40
LR5
KI6
GB41
HT3
KI3
UB62
SP9
UB60
GB20
SP4
GB4
PC6

The researchers note that aggressive acupoint therapy was not always needed to produce clinical results and some patients are too weak to receive aggressive therapy. All acupuncture needles used were between 1/2” to 1” in length and were between 36 - 38 gauge. For this investigation, DongBang brand acupuncture needles were used. For the Ba Feng, Ba Xie, and Jing-well acupoints only guide tube insertion of the needles was employed. Needle retention ranged between 10 - 45 minutes per acupuncture treatment session with an average of 20 minutes per session. Electroacupuncture was not administered.

The research indicates that an integrative medicine approach to chemotherapy for colon cancer patients has several benefits. Patients experience an improvement in the quality of life including better functionality and comfort. In addition, reduction or elimination of CIPN reduces symptomatic interference with the quantity and frequency of chemotherapy treatments. The researchers note, “In the current authors’ treatments, the goal is to combine Eastern and Western practices in order to best provide for the patient.”

Acupuncture Theory
The investigators provide TCM theory as it relates to CIPN. According to TCM principles, CIPN is caused by qi and blood flow abnormalities. They note that blood nourishes tissues and qi moves blood to the tissues. The researchers note, “CIPN results from the body lacking nourishment to the muscles (Blood) and the body not directing the Blood to the limbs (Qi).”

The authors provide TCM theory as it relates to colon cancer. Tumors are often a form of stagnation resulting from disruption of circulation. Heat stagnation is also common with colon cancer patients and is indicated by “an area that feels hot to the patient, red tongue, rapid pulse, dry stool, and constipation.” Toxin stagnation is also common and is often produced by exposure to chemotherapy. Phlegm or damp stagnation is common with fatty tumors and is often concomitant with the following symptoms: mucus in the stool, loose stool, slippery pulse, puffy tongue, a feeling of heaviness. Qi stagnation may occur and is characterized by: flatulence, bloating, irritability, moving pain, purple tongue. Blood stasis is indicated by sharp or stabbing pain, an immovable tumor, dark stools, and difficulty with defecation.

The authors note that their overall clinical impression of cancer patients is that they have a deficient constitution. They note, “the body is not strong enough to move energy to all of the tissues. Therefore, the energy stagnates. This is often the case with CIPN.” They add, “Acupuncture is an effective treatment option for CIPN because acupuncture not only stimulates the body to send blood flow to the site of the needle but also helps strengthen the underlying condition of Deficiency.” The authors note that by applying acupuncture to the extremities “it will act as a local therapy bringing Blood and nourishment to help treat the damage caused by chemotherapy.” Moreover, the authors note that “by strengthening the body against its underlying Deficiency, acupuncture helps restore balance to the body.”

References:
Valentine-Davis, Brandy, and Laurence H. Altshuler. "Acupuncture for Oxaliplatin Chemotherapy–Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Colon Cancer: A Retrospective Case Series." Medical Acupuncture 27, no. 3 (2015): 216-223.

Tagliaferri M, Cohen I, Tripathy D. Complementary and alternative medicine in early-stage breast cancer. Semin Oncol. 2001;28(1):121–134.

http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1500-acupuncture-alleviates-chemotherapy-peripheral-neuropathy