Dallas Clouatre, Ph.D. earned his A.B. from Stanford and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. A Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, he is a prominent industry consultant in the US, Europe, and Asia, and is a sought-after speaker and spokesperson. He is the author of numerous books. Recent publications include "Tocotrienols in Vitamin E: Hype or Science?" and "Vitamin E – Natural vs. Synthetic" in Tocotrienols: Vitamin E Beyond Tocopherols (2008), "Grape Seed Extract" in the Encyclopedia Of Dietary Supplements (2005), "Kava Kava: Examining New Reports of Toxicity" in Toxicology Letters (2004) and Anti-Fat Nutrients (4th edition).
Website: www.dallasclouatre.com
Received wisdom is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, an observation that most clinical studies support. However, there are doubters. Recently, the New York Times1 ran an opinion piece by a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine that stated bluntly in its title, “Sorry, There’s Nothing Magical About Breakfast.” Unluckily for this professor, new research just published in the Journal of the American College of...
The nutrients L-carnitine and choline are two of the most important for heart and liver health. Large bodies of literature support the benefits of these compounds and that of related items, such as phosphatidylcholine. Despite this history, recently news media articles have appeared suggesting that these nutrients actually cause heart disease. Similarly, in the medical professional research literature, there is a groundswell of publications that attempt to associate L-carnitine and...
Most readers who have heard of ketosis and ketogenesis likely associate the concepts with dieting and the works of Dr. Robert C. Atkins (Dr. Atkins’ Health Revolution, 1989; Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, 1992) that launched a bit of a movement in the 1990s. Much less well known is the role of ketosis in sports and the importance of being able to enter ketosis as an aspect of metabolic flexibility, meaning the ability to rapidly...
Athletic training is based on principles such as physical overload, meaning that the body is taxed to near its limits and then allowed to recover with the expectation that recovery will be quicker in the future for the same level of exertion and that the body will over-compensate at recovery and thus allow even more exertion upon the next challenge. This demand-and-response model clearly taxes bodily reserves. Some supplements, for example, protein, are aimed mostly at recovery and...
Over the last several months, there has been considerable debate between growers of medicinal mushrooms regarding the proper growing, identification and testing of these health products. As one party has put it, “Medicinal mushrooms are a category that has experienced high growth but few actual quality control standards.” These are not minor issues from the standpoint of health and efficacy or, for that matter, potentially from the standpoint of regulatory bodies. The chief...
Depression is an increasingly common issue in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control in 2010 estimated that 11.1 percent of the American population suffers from significant depression — a whopping 35 million individuals — and this figure seems to be steadily rising. Prescribed mood modifiers are everywhere, starting as early as elementary school and continuing on into old age. How successful are these pharmacologic approaches? Not very. Optimistic estimates maintain that...
Is it time to rethink the prevention and treatment of heart and circulatory diseases? Almost certainly. One common assertion regarding cardiovascular diseases is that there have been improvements as a result of cholesterol lowering drugs, primarily statins. Oddly, almost none of the trials investigating statins for primary prevention of heart disease have proven successful. Reduced rates of smoking have helped, whereas the widespread use of statins has not. Indeed, the trials...
Every year at about this time most of us resolve that this year we are going to do things differently. We are going to lose weight, we are going to get more exercise, we are going to learn a foreign language, we are going to…. The aims involved almost always are desirable and chosen from a list of things that, no doubt, we really should do. All too often, these resolutions also are carryovers from the past year or, worse still, past years. As a result, we may ratchet up the ante,...
The eyes are especially prone to certain types of oxidative and related damage with ultra violet and blue light from the sun being a primary culprit. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a typical result of the aging process, as is the formation of cataracts. Prevent Blindness America estimates that AMD may affect 13 million individuals in this country. Cataracts impair the vision of roughly 4 million Americans. Some authorities estimate that thirty percent of all adults aged 70...
Today, most people know that the omega-3 fatty acids, such as are found in cold-water fish, are good for us. In fact, these are among the “stars players” of health supplements. The omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have been widely studied in connection with cardiovascular, joint, immune and brain health. Numerous scientific findings have demonstrated that omega-3 fatty acids are important for a healthy inflammatory response. In fact,...
Chronic illnesses are a feature of advancing years. Many theories have been put forth as to why this is the case and these theories often are in conflict, yet there is a surprising degree of agreement on at least one point: the health and longevity of at least 50 percent of the adult population are primarily related to dietary practices. Often the culprit is referred to as the “Western” diet and lifestyle pattern, meaning a shift towards increased consumption of red meat, animal...
Synergy is a concept with which most of us are familiar. The texts on labels of dietary supplements often proclaim “synergistic effects”— indeed, so often that synergism sometimes is described as the most over-used term in the industry because synergy commonly is claimed where none exists. More interesting, and arguably far more important, are nutrient and related interactions that might seem to fall under the heading of synergy, yet in reality are quite different. One such...
Americans are not accustomed to considering the liver as a factor in health and disease. We fear conditions such as heart disease, obesity and cancer, but seldom do we link any of these to derangements in the liver. This is unfortunate because hepatic functions rule much of the body. The liver is the largest organ in the body. It is so large, in fact, that it fills the entire upper right-hand side of the abdominal cavity and spills over into the left-hand side. The bulk of the liver...
Modern medicine often can perform marvels in treatment at the hospital, no doubt about it. Likewise, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals frequently can save us from conditions that in a previous century would have been fatal. Missing, however, as most of us can attest either from personal experience or from having witnessed the post-hospital recovery of relatives and friends, are good options for supporting healing and recovery once medical treatments are over. “Taking it easy”...
When it comes to sports performance supplements, there are few ingredients better known than creatine. Creatine helps to supply energy to cells, particularly in muscle, by assisting in the formation of the body’s energy currency, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
But athletes are often unaware that ATP generation requires creatine to first gain entry to muscle. Creatine floating around in the blood is useless if not absorbed by muscle tissue. Yet taken by itself (usually as...
Uridine is a nutrient that is largely unknown as a dietary supplement and yet, paradoxically, has a well-established place in nutrition. Indeed, uridine is one of the reasons that fish is known as “brain food” and brewer’s yeast is recognized for its health benefits. These and a number of other foods supply significant amounts of ribonucleic acid (RNA). Uridine, along with adenosine, guanosine, and cytidine, is one of the four components that comprise RNA. When RNA-rich foods...
Cruciferous vegetables (Brassica oleracea spp.), such as broccoli, are associated with antioxidant, cellular protection and healthy cell replication. Studies dating back several decades initially identified better health with levels of vegetable consumption and then narrowed certain types of protection more specifically to the intake of cruciferous vegetable and the total intake of glucosinolate, an important component compound. Further studies on cruciferous compounds...
Attempts to extend normal life and to prolong maximum lifespan no doubt are as old as the human race. Many cultures have legends regarding the achievement of greatly extended lives, yet even in the realm of legend, techniques for such accomplishment are generally missing. Nevertheless, there are plenty historical records attesting that aside from deaths due to complications of childbirth, childhood diseases, famine, wars and plagues, a number individuals consuming diets and...
Few people are surprised when told that it is relatively hard to lose weight in the fall heading into winter and relatively easy to lose weight in the spring. This is not just a matter of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and the Super Bowl, although the grouping of these holidays hardly helps. Our bodies exhibit metabolic changes in preparation for the winter months and then tend to reverse at least some of these changes as the next year progresses. Hibernation is the classic...
People take dietary supplements for lots of different reasons. Some are simply looking for nutritional insurance, a feeling of security that lapses in the everyday diet will not lead to inadequate amounts of this or that nutrient, such as inadequate B-12 as we get older, inadequate lutein to protect the eyes from sun damage, and so forth and so on. Others have more specific concerns, such as protecting against cardiovascular damage or speeding exercise benefits and recovery in the...
