‘Black beans and chickpeas are an essential part of the diet in Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands, and a new study explores the metabolic benefits of consuming legumes in individuals with pre-diabetes.’
DURING our recent 13-day cruise in Madeira (Portugal), and Bilbao (Spain, where the Guggenheim Museum is), and the autonomous Canary Islands of Tenerife and Lanzarote (Spain), via the Port in Southampton, United Kingdom, our group enjoyed various legumes and a huge array of food at the Windjammer buffet and during our more formal dinners.
Black beans and chickpeas are an essential part of the diet in Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands, and a new study explores the metabolic benefits of consuming legumes in individuals with pre-diabetes.
The 12-week study revealed that consuming black beans or chickpeas instead of white rice was associated with reduced markers of inflammation, and that consuming chickpeas also reduced blood cholesterol. These legumes support a balanced gut microbiome. These are two beneficial metabolic parameters for good health. This study was presented at Nutrition 2025, the annual (flagship) meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, in Orlando, Florida. Larger independent studies are needed to confirm and validate these wonderful preliminary findings.
Vitamin D and aging
Do you want to turn back your aging clock by 3 years? A 5-year study tracking 1,000 adults showed that vitamin D supplementation may slow cellular aging by preserving telomeres, the protective caps at the end of chromosomes that shorten as we age. The research stated this preservation “could mean a 3-year decrease in aging.” So, talk to your physician about vitamin D supplementation for better regulation of calcium and phosphate in the body to keep muscles, joints, and teeth healthy, lowering cholesterol and reducing blood pressure, besides preserving the telomeres.
Sleep and heart health
Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden examined how poor sleep can affect the body, specifically the heart. The findings revealed that biomarkers associated with inflammation and poor heart health increased after just 3 nights of poor sleep. The US-CDC recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep. Studies show that, for most people, it is almost possible to get that much sleep. Sleep deficiency can cause health issues, such as worsening mental health or accelerated brain aging, besides poorer cardiovascular health. Exercise did not cancel the bad effects of sleep deprivation.
Those with poor sleep, snorers or not, should consult their physician for a possible Sleep Test for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a condition affecting 30-40 million Americans, among whom 80 percent are undiagnosed. Worldwide, there are about 1 billion people with Sleep Apnea.
Sleep, like oral health and gut microbiome, tremendously impacts heart health.
Toxic metals and diabetes
A good balance in essential metal ions is vital to health and affects the general health and the development of diabetes as far as insulin production and insulin metabolic response in peripheral tissues, as well as in the liver, are concerned. An imbalance of the metal ions affects the pancreas and leads to insulin resistance and decreased insulin secretion, leading to the development of T2 diabetes.
Studies show “not all metal ions are beneficial to the body. Toxic metals such as lead, nickel, cadmium, and arsenic accumulate in tissues and are non-degradable. These harmful metals are found in air, water, and soil, posing risks to everyone but particularly to individuals with diabetes because they can interact with proteins in the body, leading to modification in function and kinetics.”
Achieving or restoring the ion balance is the subject of greater research around the world.
Ultra-processed food
As we have written in this column for decades, consumption of processed foods, like bacon, hot dogs, ham, salami, and other deli items, is associated with premature deaths from all-cause mortality.
Ultraprocessed Foods (UPFs) “are defined as ready-to-eat or heat industrial formulations that are made with ingredients extracted from foods or synthesized in laboratories, with little or no whole foods in their composition, according to the NOVA classification used for the analysis.”
These foods are becoming dominant in the global food supply, which accounts for over 50 percent of the average daily diet in some countries.
The more consumption of UPFs, the greater the risk is, demonstrating a linear dose-relationship, according to a global analysis study. “Some of these premature deaths could be prevented by reducing UPF consumption,” according to lead author Eduardo Nilson, DSc, Oswaldo Cruse Foundation, Brasilia, Brazil, (American journal of Preventive Medicine)
Nothing beats eating regular natural food items (multi-color veggies, fruits and nuts) from healthy farms and occasional red meat.
Juice detox
Social media is ripe with fake health ideas like detoxification of the liver and balancing the gut microbiome with juices are effective and healthy. Scientists state these claims are dangerous: Juice detox is unhealthy and does the exact opposite.
“The majority of juice cleanses impact gut health negatively. They can cause bowel habit irregularity and even precipitate inflammatory bowel disease, as the gut microbiota is disrupted due to the lack of fiber in these cleanses. And we see patients all the time whose irritable bowel syndrome worsens after they’ve embarked on a juice cleanse.”
The study further says: “In addition, some juices are made from foods high in oxalate, such as leafy green vegetables and beets. Individuals susceptible to kidney stone formation should limit their consumption of high-oxalate foods, which can present a health threat.”
“In fact, a case report published several years ago documented acute oxalate nephropathy caused by a ‘green smoothie cleanse’ prepared from juicing oxalate-rich green leafy vegetables and fruits.” (Source: US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health).
A healthy lifestyle, which includes a healthy plant-based diet, a lot of cold pressed olive oil, with occasional red meat, abstinence from tobacco and alcohol (new finding: no amount of alcohol is safe), regular daily exercise and stress management, is the best (and inexpensive) detox strategy we have. This also helps preserve the telomeres of our chromosomes to extend our life to its maximum potential!
***
Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a cardiac surgeon emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, health advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a decorated recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana governor, US senator, and later presidential candidate Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, Astronaut Gus Grissom, pugilist Muhammad Ali, David Letterman, distinguished educators, scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com
