Marc Joseph Nutrition - Blog

If the increased risks for heart disease, cognitive decline, vision loss, kidney damage, peripheral nerve damage, and limb amputation haven’t provided enough incentive to take the nutritional and lifestyle steps to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, a recent paper published in the journal Diabetes Care may get your attention.

In the study, which included 355 men over the age of 30 with diabetes, researchers found that 42% of the men were deficient in testosterone. Specifically, 17% had low testosterone (hypogonadism), while another 25% had borderline low testosterone.

Additionally, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were negatively correlated with testosterone levels in this group of diabetic men, with the latter having the strongest association. Spare tire holders beware.

(Not So Good) Symptoms

Common symptoms of low testosterone in males include a decreased sex drive, reduced strength of erections, fatigue, reduced physical strength, inability to concentrate, and mood changes. Researchers for this study noted that the two most frequently observed symptoms were erectile dysfunction (70%) and decreased sex drive (63%).

What You Can Do

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There is recent research published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics that suggests low-level exposure to the plastic molecule bisphenol-A may accelerate the growth of prostate cancer cells and interfere with a common treatment called androgen ablation therapy (also known as androgen deprivation therapy).

This article from Environmental Health News provides an excellent summary:

A common plastic molecule to which virtually all Americans are exposed may interfere with the standard medical treatment for prostate cancer, according to new experiments with human prostate tumors implanted into mice. The doses of the plastic molecule, bisphenol A, were chosen specifically to be within the range of common human exposures. Tumor size and PSA levels were significantly greater in exposed animals just one month after treatment.

One of the principal known sources of exposure to bisphenol A in the U.S. is through its use to make a resin that lines the majority of food cans sold in markets. These new results by Wetherill et al. suggest men concerned about prostate cancer may want to reduce their consumption of canned goods and their use of polycarbonate water bottles, another common source of exposure.

The entire article is worth checking out, including the other cited references at the end.

Importance of Prevention

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in U.S. men. Although 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes, only 1 in 34 will die from it. Nevertheless, it is important to regularly screen for prostate cancer and take preventive steps to avoid its development and progression, as later-stage forms are much more difficult to treat successfully.

Nutrition can play a big role in helping to prevent and/or slow the development of prostate-related issues, including cancer. You can read an overview of my approach to helping people with prostate issues here.

Related articles:

Popular Baby Bottles, Plastic Containers, and Canned Foods Leach Toxic Chemical Bisphenol-A

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Marc Joseph Nutrition

Last week, I wrote about the potential risks of exposure to the estrogenic chemical, bisphenol-A.

Another class of chemicals that may have negative health effects is phthalates, which are used in plastic packaging, cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, lotions, lubricants, paints, and pesticides. Phthalates are also commonly used as a softener for products made using PVC (polyvinylchloride) and as a key ingredient in fragrances. One kind of phthalate helps prevent the fragrance in perfumes, lotions, shampoos, make-up, nail polish and hair sprays from degrading.

Research has shown that phthalates impair testicular function in rats and are linked to abnormal sperm counts and anti-androgenic effects in humans, such as decreased testosterone levels. In recent years, a significant population-wide decline in testosterone levels has been observed in American men. More than 75% of the US population has measureable levels of several phthalates in the blood.

Latest Research

A study (full-text PDF) published in the latest issue of Environmental Health Perspectives further explored the potential negative effects of phthalates. Researchers found that adult males with the highest urinary levels of several different phthalates were more likely to be insulin resistant and obese.

Study Limitations

The study’s authors note that:

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Environmental advocacy agency, Environment California (EC), just issued an interesting report titled, “Toxic Baby Bottles,” on the potential health risks of bisphenol-A released from common polycarbonate plastic baby bottles:

Press Release

Executive Summary

Report (PDF)

EC found that five of the leading plastic baby bottles leached bisphenol-A at levels greater than those shown to cause harm in several animal studies.

Bisphenol-A is an estrogen-mimicking chemical and a widespread environmental contaminant. From the press release above:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found bisphenol A in the urine of over 95% of people they tested. Alarmingly, the median level of bisphenol A found in humans is higher than the level that causes adverse health effects in animal studies.

Sources

Bisphenol-A is commonly used to make clear polycarbonate plastic for baby bottles and is also found in:

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Autistic individuals often have an impaired ability to interpret social cues as communicated through speech intonation, eye movements, and body language. Researchers have theorized that autistic individuals may have lower levels of a hormone called oxytocin, and that the deficiency may help to explain some of the impaired ability to interpret social cues.

Oxytocin is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the brain. In women, the hormone stimulates contractions of the uterus during labor and release of milk during breast-feeding. In both men and women, oxytocin is associated with increased feelings of trust, commitment, empathy, and compassion.

In a study from earlier this summer:

Oxytocin Increases Retention of Social Cognition in Autism.

researchers found that autistic adults given oxytocin showed improved ability to interpret emotion in speech comprehension tasks.

And, now, in a more recent study of non-autistic individuals, researchers have found that oxytocin seems to also improve the ability to interpret the mental state of others through social cues in the eye region:

Oxytocin Improves “Mind-Reading” in Humans.

This “mind-reading” ability was measured using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), which evaluates how well one can interpret emotions just by looking at photos of the eyes of different subjects.

You can take the quiz yourself here. Try it out. It’s pretty neat.

(I got 32.)

Oxtyocin therapy, although not necessarily addressing a root cause, may prove helpful as part of treatment for some autistics.

Note: It wouldn’t be too surprising if oxytocin levels were off in autistic individuals. Heavy metals, such as mercury, are suspected in the development of autism spectrum disorders. These metals concentrate in structures in the brain, such as the hypothalamus gland, pituitary gland, amygdala, and hippocampus, that help to regulate nearly every hormone in the body, emotions, learning, and memory.