Oltipraz

Oltipraz is a drug that was originally used to treat intestinal worms. It was later found to prevent a broad variety of cancers (1). This was attributed to its ability to upregulate cellular detoxification and repair mechanisms.

Researchers eventually discovered that oltipraz acts by activating Nrf2, the same transcription factor activated by ionizing radiation and polyphenols (2, 3, 4). Nrf2 activation mounts a broad cellular protective response that appears to reduce the risk of multiple health problems.

A recent paper in Diabetologia illustrates this (5). Investigators put mice on a long-term refined high-fat diet, with or without oltipraz. These carefully crafted diets are very unhealthy indeed, and when fed to rodents they rapidly induce fat gain and something that looks similar to human metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, abdominal adiposity, blood lipid disturbances). Adding oltipraz to the diet prevented the fat gain, insulin resistance and inflammatory changes that occurred in the refined high-fat diet group.

The difference in fasting insulin was remarkable. The mice taking oltipraz had 1/7 the fasting insulin of the refined high-fat diet comparison group, and 1/3 the fasting insulin of the low-fat comparison group! Yet their glucose tolerance was normal, indicating that they were not low on insulin due to pancreatic damage. The low-fat diet they used in this study was also refined, which is why the two control groups (high-fat and low-fat) didn't diverge more in body fatness and other parameters. If they had used a group fed unrefined rodent chow as the comparator, the differences between groups would have been larger.

This shows that in addition to preventing cancer, Nrf2 activation can attenuate the metabolic damage caused by an unhealthy diet in rodents. Oltipraz illustrates the power of the cellular hormesis response. We can exploit this pathway naturally using polyphenols and other chemicals found in whole plant foods.

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Obesity be Damned!

LivingAfterWLS 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin - March 2010
Below is the opening article from today's 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin. Click the link above to read the Bulletin in its entirety.


Greetings Neighbors!
Can you feel it? I'm on the edge of my seat just knowing and believing that Spring must be right around the corner. Winter for most of the Northern Hemisphere has been long, dark and cold.

Sweet Potato Cookies

(makes 24 cookies)

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups flour
  
  


• ¼ tsp salt
  
  


• ½ cup unsalted butter or margarine
  
  


• 1½ tsp baking powder
  
  


• ½ tsp baking soda
  
  


• ¼ cup sugar
  
  


• 1 tsp nutmeg
  
  


• ¼ cup honey
  
  


• 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
  
  


• 1 medium egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
  
  


• 1 cup grated, raw sweet potatoes
  
  

Preparation:

• In the medium-sized bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  
  


• In a large-sized mixing bowl, cream butter the sugar
  
  


• Mix in lemon peel, nutmeg, honey, and egg. Then stir in the grated sweet potatoes.
  
  


• Blend the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture.
  
  


• Place rounded teaspoonfuls of the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about 1½ inches between them
  
  


• Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for about minutes or until lightly browned.. Remove cookies from sheet and put on a cooling rack.
  
  

Make 24 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1 cookie (32 g)): 110 Calories, 2 g Protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g Dietary Fiber, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 19 mg cholesterol, 95 mg sodium

Free App for LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood

(by Scoop - LivingAfterWLS Technical Administrator)

If you have an Apple device then we have the app for you.
You can download the app to run any Invision message board, including this Neighborhood. Here is what you do.

Login to your Apple iTunes account and go to this link: IP Board Communities

Download the app. Then select the Neighborhood from the directory and take it from there.
 

Blue Monday

I'm not in a happy place this morning. There are many reasons:

1. Still no sign of Hank (see yesterday's post below). Each time I check the live animal traps for him (three times in the last 12 hours, I feel my heart sink. I just can't believe this dog has gone through so much, was lucky enough to get adopted by a loving family in Taiwan, then loses everyone in a house fire. Then lucky enough to get shipped to the United States so he doesn't wind up on someones dinner table in Taiwan, and gets adopted immediately here in the States. Then this happens. He's lost ten minutes after being in his new home. It just breaks my heart.

2. I had an emergency call at midnight for a work problem. After fixing it I tossed and turned for what seem like forever. I was hungry (of course). I finally got up and ate strawberries with real whip cream (in a can but it's the real stuff, not light, and I ate a lot of it). I think I finally fell asleep around 2am with the alarm going off at 4:30am. I had to check Hank's traps at 5am then go to the gym. Of course the traps were empty.

3. My gym workout was lackluster to say the least. Probably because I'm so tired. I used the five-minute rule six times while I was on the Crossramp. Seriously, every five minutes I'd tell myself just five more minutes then I can leave. It was the longest 30 minutes of my life. Afterwards I did upper body weights which normally I love. I didn't seem to have any strength. It's like someone pulled the plug on my energy. After only four exercises (3 sets each), I gave up. Normally I do a minimum of six different exercises, three sets each. I just didn't have it in me this morning.

4. I have my performance review today at work It's not something I'm looking forward to. Especially because I'm so tired, and I never take constructive criticism well even under the best of circumstances. Given how I feel right now I'll probably wind up in tears.

5. It's snowing giant snowflakes right now. Thirty-five degrees with gray skies. Normally I love snow, but it makes me sad to think of poor Hank out there, alone, cold, hungry and scared.

I know all this will pass and everything will be okay. No one is going to give up on Hank. I probably won't get fired from my job. So I had a bad workout this morning, it happens.

I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day (heck, can't get much worse than how I feel right now).

Mediterranean Fruit Parfait

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup 1% milk
  
  


• ½ cup non-fat sour cream
  
  


• ½ cup plain or lemon low-fat yogurt
  
  


• ⅓ cup couscous (preferably whole wheat)
  
  


• 1 tbsp honey
  
  


• 1 tsp lemon zest
  
  


• ½ cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
  
  


• ½ cup fresh raspberries
  
  


• ¼ cup dates, chopped
  
  


• ½ cup fresh blueberries
  
  


• ½ cup sliced nectarines
  
  

Preparation:

• Bring milk to a boiling then stir in couscous in a medium-sized saucepan. Simmer, covered for 1 minute then remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let stand 1 minute.
  
  


• Combine sour cream, yogurt, lemon zest and honey in a small-sized bowl. Add couscous and mix well.
  
  


• Combine fruit in a separate bowl.
  
  


• Using 6 clear glasses, layer the bottom of each with fruit followed by a layer of the couscous mixture, then another layer of fruit.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (139 g)): 133 Calories, 5 g Protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 3 g Dietary Fiber, 1 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 47 mg sodium