The Enzyme Factor
August 30, 2010 by dr. lam · 6 Comments
After reading The China Study I was alerted to a related, good read by my friend Marzia who is a fitness instructor. I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot from The Enzyme Factor. Dr. Shinya’s book is part speculative, i.e., theoretical, and part undeniably empirical; and I really agree with his conclusions.
As a physician in his mid-70s, he argues that he has not been sick since he was 19 years old because of his healthy lifestyle and his diet. Being a pioneer in gastroenterologic endoscopy who practices half the time in Japan and half the time in America, he really knows the differences in colon and stomachs seen from the inside out. He notices that high meat diets in the West causes the colons to become thicker, inelastic and in short putrified. Vegetables on the other hand create an elastic, thinner, more pliable intestine that leads less to stagnation. Stagnation in the intestine from high meat diets leads to the build up of necrotic tissues that can lead to colon cancer.
He has found that his patients who maintain his enzyme-rich diet and lifestyle have never had a recurrence of colon cancer. He believes that cancer is a “lifestyle” disease that has less to do with genetics (although obviously it does) and more to do with dietary choices over a lifetime. He believes that healthy eating is critical.
We have 5,000 enzymes in our body to help us with cellular functioning. Dr. Shinya argues that there is a prototypical, or “miracle”, enzyme that produces all of our vital enzymes that we have in our body. This is obviously speculative but what he has observed (and I would agree based on what I see in my life) is that the healthier you are the less you get sick or have problems because the reserves that we have are very high. When we have almost no reserves left, our body will get sick and can get cancer more easily. When we are in good health, then have too much to eat or have too much alcohol, we repair our body much faster and we almost have no “hangover” or sickness. He argues that with this precursor enzyme that is stored in our body, when we need it to fight off a sickness in one area we have less of it to fight off other concurrent problems.
Unlike The China Study that roundly denounces meat of all kinds, Dr. Shinya says that our meat should be about 15% of our diet. He argues that carnivores out there like lions and tigers may be thought to be strong but they are actually quite weak. They run short distances and have flimsy muscles. Horses, which are herbivores, are strong and lean with big muscles. Carnivores typically eat herbivores for their nutrients and directly attack the intestines first where the plants are still in the process of digestion to gain the nutrients. Albeit teleological, he argues that if you look at the makeup of our 32 teeth, we can determine what percentage of food makeup we should have. Incisors (2) are used to tear at plants; canines (1) are used to tear flesh; and molars (5) are used to grind plants. So with a 7:1 ratio, we were meant primarily to have an 85:15% ratio of plant to meat in our diets.
Other tips he offers is to eat mainly raw, organic food, as food over 118 degrees can kill essential enzymes and so can heavily chemically treated food. I am eating about a 30 percent and sometimes more than that raw, plant-based diet. He says that alcohol and tobacco are lethal over time on the body and should be heavily moderated or eliminated. He says that seeing some of his colleagues he can see who leads a good lifestyle and who does not simply by looking at their face and skin. Eating tons of fruit (despite what people say about the risk of sugar unless you are diabetic) is another critical element. He also levels a heavy attack on dairy products like cheese and milk and says that they truly ruin one’s intestines over time and do not offer anything beneficial. Like Dr. Campbell’s conclusions in his book, The China Study, he sees that milk can also cause osteoporosis, which is fascinating since we believe the opposite is true. He sees that women who are predisposed toward breast cancer (minus family history) oftentimes share a common history of diet preferences, specifically heavy meat and dairy and minimal attention on vegetables. He argues that only infants have a robust supply of lactase, the enzyme to process milk. As we progress in age, lactase progressively diminishes, which he points to the idea that is why our bodies not only do not need milk but cannot handle or process it well.
Also interesting is that he argues green tea that has been espoused for its antioxidant properties is the principal reason for atrophic gastritis and possible precursor to stomach cancer in Japan, which has a 10 times higher likelihood than in the United States. Heavy consumption of non-herbal teas like green tea, Chinese tea, and English tea along with other caffeinated beverages like coffee over time erode the stomach and cause digestive problems. Because of the book, I am now giving up green tea, which I thought was originally good for you. I already gave up daily coffee one month ago.
Getting our body pH balanced toward a more alkaline environment can help with reducing cancer risks and promoting health. Meats are highly acidic and putrify the body. Water, which is more alkaline, can truly help with cleaning out the body and reducing the risk of bacterial build up in the body. Water should be drunk when waking 2 to 3 cups about 1 hour before eating food that can control appetite and burn off calories if drunk reasonably cold like 70 degrees but not ice cold. Drinking water at the time of eating a meal can reduce digestive enzymes and make digestion worse. He also argues not to eat or drink for 4 to 5 hours prior to sleeping, as this can cause reflux into the esophagus and also program our body to store fat. He believes that antacids used to help with reflux esophagitis eventually destroy the stomach, which needs the acid. Similarly he argues that laxatives are not a good way to clean the intestine. If someone needs a bowel cleansing, he argues in favor of a coffee enema. (I have never tried that, as my bowel health is exceptionally good because of my diet.)
Although fish is better than red meat for you, he does argue to limit fish intake, as too much of it is also bad for your intestinal health, especially red fish like tuna and bonito. The red color from the fish comes from the myoglobin in the muscle that is heavily oxidized and is not good for the body. White fish is better for the body if one makes that choice. He also warns against eating large fish like tuna and swordfish that have a much higher level of mercury in their system that can cause a host of problems in the body.
I finally understand why and how mercury poisons our bodies after watching a DVD extra feature in the documentary, The Cove, about terrible dolphin killing in Japan. Industrial pollutants enter the water system as acid rain containing mercury. Small fish imbibe the water and get the mercury embedded into their muscles. Then larger fish eat smaller fish and accumulate their mercury. This continues onward to very large fish that eat a ton of small fish and build that mercury level exponentially, especially if they are old fish. They simply cannot get rid of the mercury in their system. Unfortunately, the fish that affluent people like are big because they have no bones and minimal to no fishy taste.
Ultimately, he says that despite some of these rigorous rules he espouses that everyone should really enjoy food even stuff that may not be 100% healthy for you 5% of the time because the enjoyment of food is what leads to good health. Practicing love and gratitude can kill cancer and build one’s immunity. I like this attitude because it is something that I have learned in my yoga practice. I think when we are too dogmatic about something, are bodies become rigidly fixated and that is not healthy either. In any case I hope this blog was helpful in your quest for living a healthy life and lifestyle.
The China Study
August 16, 2010 by dr. lam · 6 Comments
I first heard about The China Study from a colleague of mine in the Entrepreneur’s Organization at a recent event. He said he had become a complete vegetarian because of it. Mentally, I sort of scoffed at it. A month later I did a hair transplant on a patient who had lost 137 pounds over the past 15 months and attributed his change of lifestyle to this book, The China Study. He underwent his hair transplant procedure on his birthday but instead of receiving a gift he gave me a gift of this book, which over the course of the past two months I have finally finished reading. It has changed my view on a ton of things in life.
For those who followed my blog last year realized that the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan was a game changer for me. I have lost 35 pounds over the past year and a half owing a lot to Pollan’s writings. The China Study for me is the next phase in my journey, one that I have not entirely embraced because the message is utterly radical and difficult to digest, pun intended.
The author, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, was raised on a farm in which he drank a quart of milk each day and chowed down on steak or at least hearty meat almost daily. He has since over his life completely abandoned all animal proteins including dairy products (yes that means poultry and fish too) because of the findings he made in one of the largest if not the largest epidemiological study in history, the China Study.
I will not be able to summarize all of the findings in this book but encourage anyone and everyone to read this book even if you do not intend to be vegetarian. At least get the opinion of what is written so that you can make smart choices for yourself and for your family. What is interesting is that many people may assume that Campbell is a vegetarian because of animal rights. That is far from the truth. He got his PhD from Cornell University where he was studying how to maximize feeding of animals but he conducted animal studies to find out how to do so. He says that he had no way of getting around these animal studies to find his remarkable results that he did. Whether you agree or disagree with animal studies is not the point here.
What he found was that rats given a 20% animal-protein diet versus a 5% animal-protein diet and then exposed to a common mold fungus aflatoxin had 100% cancer rate in the former group and 0% in the latter. He argues that these were not extreme examples as you would find in the saccharine research done on lab rats where the equivalent in humans would be similar to ingesting pounds of saccharine every day for years, which would probably give anyone cancer. By the way, I have given up any artificial sweeteners last year because I think they are terrible for the body but that does not really matter for the purpose of this blog.
From this initial finding, he went on to evaluate the population in China, which he asserts is a relatively homogenous population, especially compared to the diverse genetic stock of the United States. He isolated out rural populations and standardized for multiple factors like sedentary lifestyle, job type, etc. He found that the populations that digested a higher proportion of animal proteins (which by the way is far lower than what we Americans eat) had a considerably higher incidence of cancer and heart disease than the sector that did not. In short, animal-protein digestion whether in dairy or in its native form is one of the principal causes of heart disease and cancer. So those on the Atkins Diet think twice. Campbell argues you can lose weight if you restrict your calorie intake even if you are eating cardboard and worms but that does not mean that it is healthy for you, i.e., the Atkins Diet yields weight loss through calorie restriction eating terrible stuff for your body. That is how it works.
He argues against moderation stating that the American Heart Association advocates a blood cholesterol level of below 200. He asserts that 35% of heart attacks occur in those individuals whose cholesterol falls between 150 to 200. He says that most of America is beholden to special-interest food groups who have made it okay to eat bad food and to get away with it. He finds that cancer rates are caused almost entirely by diet and only reflects a genetic predisposition of 2 to 3%. Only 2 to 3% of cancers are genetically related??? Difficult to believe.
Heart disease begins early. He cites the examples of young GIs who were killed during the Korean War and whose hearts in their early twenties were opened up. They were already fully clotted with plaques and arterial disease. He says that cancers are not only caused by diet, they are greatly accelerated by it. Eating a whole foods, plant-based diet not only slows down cancer, it can reverse it. Eating an animal-rich, protein-heavy diet can cause and accelerate cancer.
He believes that a strict vegetarian diet can reverse many of the trends in heart disease and cancer that plague Americans today. He does state that unfortunately many vegetarians are not that healthy because they eat fried foods rather than a “whole foods”, plant-based diet, which he sternly warns should be the diet for everyone. Unfortunately, we physicians charge for pills and are beholden to major pharmaceutical companies for our education so we are “pill this” and “pill that” instead of seeing that the fundamental change lies in diet, diet, diet.
Another interesting finding in the book is that cow’s milk is dreadful for you, and I don’t care if you are taking unpasteurized, raw milk. He argues the casein protein is a major cause of problems for cancer and heart disease. In fact, he says that babies under the age of 2 who have a familial predisposition toward Type I diabetes should not be fed cow’s milk because there is a virus in it that attacks the pancreatic islet cells and can make a child permanently insulin dependent.
I honestly believe that the reason why men’s lifespans are shorter than women’s is that we simply do not care about diet as much as women do. I have certainly been a culprit of this. Am I a strict vegetarian? No, not at all. Not yet at least. I still eat meat, etc. I have changed almost all my breakfast and lunches though to vegetarian and half of my dinners. I think it is a good start. If you asked me a year ago if I would become a vegetarian I would have laughed violently. Now I am not that certain. I want to live a long, healthy life free of “diseases of affluence”. For those who do not buy these ideas, I encourage you to read this book. It might change your brain as much as it has mine. I realize how controversial this topic is for many of you out there, but I felt a burden to my readership to publish this information even if I am assailed for doing so.
I Am Featured in the New York Times Today
August 12, 2010 by dr. lam · 3 Comments
I was featured in the New York Times today with my patient Phu Pham for Botox Jaw Reduction. I thought I would share with you the link to the story.
Dr. Lam's Patient Phu Pham After Botox
Mindfulness Mondays 62: Forgiveness
August 2, 2010 by dr. lam · 3 Comments
I watched the movie Invictus and was moved profoundly by Nelson Mandela’s quote: ”Forgiveness liberates the soul. It eliminates fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.” He said that in the movie when his bodyguards were angry about his hiring the old Apartheid bodyguards to help him in his administration. Mandela, after 27 years in hard labor and solitary confinement in a small dingy room, gave absolute forgiveness to his captors. Can we do the same?