Even though it’s the holiday season, nutrition news never stops! But I’ll try to it keep it quick, with “bottom lines” on three topics that you should know about as you enjoy this wonderful time of year: A recent and powerful study on soy and breast cancer as well as some building understanding on the roles of the minerals Magnesium and Boron (what? did he say “Boron”?….isn’t that a PLANET somewhere?!) in both bone health and insulin resistance/diabetes.

1. SOY – Probably the best study to date, appearing in the December 9th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that among over 5,000 women who had surgery to remove breast cancer, women who ate the most soy protein had an almost 30 percent lower risk of dying during the study’s approximate 5 year period, and a 32 percent lower risk of having their cancer return compared to women who ate the least amount of soy protein. And eating soy was beneficial regardless of whether the women’s breast tumors were driven by estrogen (that is, “estrogen-receptor positive” breast cancer) or were “estrogen receptor-negative.” Now, while I’ll admit I’m not a big fan of soy from a taste perspective (unless I’m at the world renown Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami, FL where they make tofu taste like heaven!), I believe that any concern over avoiding soy because of so-called “risk” that it may promote breast cancer are not only now unfounded, but may aggravate the issue by having women avoid a food source that could indirectly reduce their risk of breast cancer and heart disease since soy protein sources are typically lower in calorie density and higher in clean protein (i.e., ultra low-saturated fat). Think of food such as edamame or even roasted soy beans (or so-called soy nuts) which are lower in calorie density and higher in protein than tree nuts or peanuts and therefore help control weight and heart disease (and we know overweight promotes breast cancer and heart disease is the 2nd biggest killer to breast cancer itself in breast cancer survivors).

2. MAGNESIUM – Data continues to build around this mineral’s importance in both bone health and insulin resistance issues including reducing diabetes and hypertension risks. Bottom line, refined grains (run from any grain source that has that satanic term “enriched” on it because I assure you that there isn’t any magnesium of significance in there!) are a horrible source and whole grains are much better since they haven’t had their magnesium removed like refined….BUT – considering its nice for most of us (such as those of us trying to shed some body fat) to get our vitamins and minerals from food for the least amount of calories possible, when it comes to magnesium think green veggies (especially spinach!…what healthy thing DOESN’T spinach have?? including diabetes and heart disease preventing, bone health promoting Vitamin K, and potassium, etc), legumes (meaning beans & lentils), baked potatoes and how about some fish (e.g., halibut)….and yes, nuts are relatively high in magnesium…but I’m concerned that their calorie to magnesium and protein to magnesium ratios are, overall – like whole grains, higher than the lower calorie density higher protein options I’ve noted above like vegetables, legumes and fish….gotta see the WHOLE picture and when you can get your minerals, vitamins and proteins from foods for the least calories, saturated fat and salt possible, that is a winning combo for those of us that are also battling the bulge! Regarding pill supplements for magnesium – its a tough call and I’d always rather focus on foods for MOST vitamins and minerals (Vitamin D and some others are exceptions). But I’d lean in favor of a low dose pill supplement if you have hypertension, diabetes…or if you have osteoporosis and are on a calcium supplement make sure its calcium CITRATE and has some magnesium in it too (like: the brand “CITRACAL PLUS WITH MAGNESIUM”). I admit that when I see blood levels of magnesium in patients with diabetes, hypertension or osteoporosis less than 2.0 after getting their food choices tweaked to higher magnesium picks, I do consider putting them on low dose magnesium supplementation – but blood testing is not a great nor definitive test for determining magnesium insufficiency in most cases.

3. BORON – I think this is a very cool update because as far as I can see it, Boron is likely a (if not THE) major player in explaining why higher intakes of coffee and tea – whether caffeinated or not – are associated with lower diabetes risk as boron is known to help improve insulin function. And coffee is likely the, overall, most significant source of boron in the modern human diet. Fruits are also typically high in boron so another nail in the coffin for the “whole fruit is bad for diabetes” crowd. And though there are some details, overall – WHOLE fruits (not DRIED fruit or thin liquid fruit juices) are NOT the enemy when it comes to mortality risk from insulin resistance/diabetes. Note that grains are NOT a great source of boron but (here we go again!) veggies, legumes (remember, legumes=beans/lentils) as well as whole fruit, coffee and tea, are. And while there are differing levels of boron depending on which coffee, tea, fruit, bean/lentil we are talking about and depending on the soils they are grown, the soil issue applies to whole grains too….so no grain advantage over veggies, whole fruits and legumes. To be clear, while whole grains are FAR better than refined grains (and eating whole grains in COOKED form … which adds calorie-free, water weight – therefore filling you up on less calories – think oatmeal or, to a lesser extent, brown rice or whole wheat pasta cooked in PLAIN water…adding oil quickly adds sneaky calories), if you’re trying to get leaner – as most adults in the USA need to – think in terms of getting your nutrition from foods for the least calories possible….and veggies, most whole fruits, legumes (…with the exception of peanuts which are technically a legume but are calorie-wise the same as tree nuts) give us, OVERALL (always are some distracting exceptions that can confuse the main message), the same amount of vitamins and minerals, including this “new guy on the scene”, boron, for less calories than grains….HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS UPDATE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON TO ALL!
Dr Tom