SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

You can test your MTHFR gene either directly  or by plugging your raw data from 23andme, or another provider into evaluation tools such as Genetic Genie . If you have no idea what #MTHFR means, here's the Reader's Digest version: MTHFR is an enzyme that is affected by a mutation in the MTHFR gene. The latter encodes the enzyme methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase a ka MTHFR effectively unless there's a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) affecting the 677th base pair of the MTHFR gene... not helping? Well, let's just say if you have a certain variation of this gene, you're having a hard time processing B-vitamins; and it's not totally unlikely that you're affected : According to  Marini et al. 2008 , this mutation affects 29% of the global population. Previous studies, however, report much lower estimates for prevalence of the MTHFR 677TT genotype, i.e. 10% worldwide, with values ranging from 4 to 18% in the United States, over 20% in Northern China to ...

This is the degree of processing that's tolerable ;-) Fat, ground, burnt, and adulterated with steroids, antibiotics, nitrates, sulfites, and chemical preservatives - that's how the average Westerner "likes" his meat ('cause it's cheap, you know). No wonder that the majority of epidemiological studies (you know that's the branch of science, where people invent explanations for observations) "shows": red meat kills! As a SuppVersity  reader, you know from previous articles that experimental evidence suggests otherwise... at least for lean, properly prepared meats from appropriately reared animals (those are the animals that don't make taking extra steroids and antibiotics obsolete). Learn more about meat at the SuppVersity You May Eat Pork, too! Body Fat > Meat for CVD Meat & Prostate Cancer? Meat - Is cooking the problem Meat Packaging = Problem? Grass-Fed Pork? Is it Worth it? With the publication of ...

The extra reduction in diastolic blood pressure may translate to a significantly reduced stroke risk. Especially in younger people, a few mmHg can make a tenfold difference in their risk of stroke. If you follow the mainstream media you will get the impression that eating red meat was worse for your heart than drinking or smoking. In fact, however, the experimental evidence from decently controlled human studies like the latest paper by scientists from the Purdue University  and the  University of Texas Medical Branch , indicate that red meat - if it's still meat and not bought in processed food, i.e. salami, sausages, wurst, etc. is completely harmless, if not beneficial to your heart health. Beneficial? Yes, you read that right: As Lauren E O’Connor's randomized investigator-blinded crossover study shows, adding 70g of beef/pork to a Mediterranean diet has no effect on the beneficial effects of the MED on selected markers of cardiovascular health, it even augmented the...

Three whole eggs deliver the most effec-tive "dose" of  egg yolk to improve your blood lipid levels - more specifically: triglycerides ↓ and LDL ↓ but HDL ↑ Because of their cholesterol content, eggs have long been touted as a driver of heart disease. As a SuppVersity  reader, you know that there are multiple reasons  why the notion that the consumption of eggs, or rather egg yolks, would increase your cardiovascular disease risk: (a) there's no mechanistic "if your cholesterol is high, your CVD risk is also high"-link; (b) a causative link between the consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol does not exist - at least not in the majority of people; (c) substances in egg yolks, in particular, have been shown to modulate the physical characteristics of your lipoproteins ( learn more ) and will thus lower, not increase your CVD risk. Since you know all that, it may seem less important for you than your doctor and other people who may stil...

Red yeast rice is the "+1" in this SuppVersity Mini-Series  because it is actually a "statin". Similar effects, similar side effects and all that (probably) because of the similar structure of its lipid lowering active ingredient(s). "Twelve + 1"? I know that sounds odd, but I have my reason to single one of the natural alternatives, two scientists from the Chulalongkorn University in Thailand list in their 2016 review "A Review of the Efficacy, Safety, and Clinical Implications of Naturally Derived Dietary Supplements for Dyslipidemia", right from the start: red yeast rice (RYR). While garlic, which will also be discussed in today's first installment of what is going to become a mini-series, also has the ability to decrease your HMG-CoA reductase activity, only RYR does that at a similar potency as statins do; which is why its use entails the risk of similar side effects as they have been reported for regular statin drugs Whether RYR i...