Cut Cancer Risk By Soaking Your Spuds

It started as a question about an impending housewarming present. I replied with a link to an airfryer on sale on Lazada. This led on a comment about cancer risk from  fried foods plus an image about how brown potato chips or fries get in relation to how much acrylamide has built up on them. Acrylamide is a carcinogen or a cancer-causing substance created when starchy foods are cooked on high heat. Quite simply, the browner the fry, the higher the acrylamide count. 

I did a quick Google search for "frying potatoes acrylamide" and found this article - Strategies to Reduce the Formation of Acrylamide in Potato Chips. A Market and Consumer’s Prospective. Holy hit the right spot batman! 

So the LTDR summary is

1. Acrylamide forms because of the sugar and an amino acid called asparagine found in potatoes. So it's not anything you could prevent, except by not eating potatoes.

2. Scientists have done a whole of experimental cooking, 

3. Their results 

- Adding the herb rosemary to the olive oil used for frying reduces acrylamide production by 25%. 

- Soaking potatoes in water for 15mins reduces acrylamide production by 65%!

- Soaking potatoes in acidified water by adding vinegar or a citric acid (lime, orange etc) reduces acrylamide production by up to 75%! 

So there you have it - reduce your risk of cancer by merely soaking your cut spuds in water. 

Yakult Prevents Alzheimer's Disease, Maybe

Doctors had diagnosed my mum with liver cirrhosis. This hardening of the liver plus other complications eventually took her life recently. Before she passed, the doctors had explained to me that her mind would get fuzzy from the toxins in her blood that her liver could no longer clear adequately. The main culprit toxin was ammonia.

It turns out everything we do produces ammonia because it’s a product of metabolism. Even when no food is eaten, and the body burns it’s own carbs and fat for energy, ammonia is produced. So having a healthy liver is essential for cleaning out the NH3 and living well.

I went on to the good old internet to find out more. Too much ammonia messes with the neuron activity in the brain, causing connections to slow and eventually fail. A conclusion many medical studies made was that excess ammonia leads to a quicker onset and progression of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (1).

After learning this, I went ahead to Google “foods that reduce ammonia in the body”. Guess what delicious, gooey goodness showed up - yoghurt. (2) While some deficiencies in the study were pointed out, there was some insight into how probiotics can support the liver in reducing the quantity of ammonia in the body.

More digging required. I found this study (3) that specifically looked into how the Mediterranean diet could reduce the onset of Alzheimer’s disease from probiotic aspect. I picked out these thought provoking nuggets from section 4 and 5 in the report -

"Study shows that oral and rectal administration of Lactobacillus plantarum decreased both blood and fecal ammonia levels in rodent models of hyperammonemia."

"Some clinical studies performed in patients with liver diseases suggest that Lactobacillus strains were able to decrease blood ammonia level and improve neuropsychological symptoms."

"In addition, existing evidence suggests that administration of Lactobacilli, contained in yogurt, helps in reducing elevated blood ammonia levels. Lactobacilli reduce the blood ammonia level by stabilizing physiological luminal permeability. On the other hand, Lactobacilli also promote the growth of non-urease producing microflora bacteria followed by depressing ammonia production and release into the portal system. Therefore, higher adherence to the MeDi (Mediterranean diet) may be able to remove neurotoxin effects of ammonia in the brain by lowering the blood ammonia levels and this could, at least partially, explain the lowered incidence rate of AD (Alzheimer’s disease) in Mediterranean."

There are many types of gut germs and two of the Lactobacilli varieties mentioned in these studies were Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei. Do these names sound familiar? They’re the good bacteria in Vitagen and Yakult!

More Googling ensued. An abstract of one study (4) gave an indication of ammonia reduction from exercise-initiated metabolism by consumption of Lactobacillus casei Shirota - that’s the patented stuff that’s in Yakult!

Of interest to those of you watching your weight by eating mostly carnivorous, you’re likely producing more ammonia that folks eating carbs. Carbs FTW!

There are lots of reports available out there but it was logical for me to conclude something simple. Yoghurt, probiotics and milk-based drinks like Vitagen and Yakult help put in useful Lactobacilli into the body that helps to reduce ammonia, which in turn helps the brain and body work better. This consequence goes beyond the traditional marketing for these products that focuses mostly on digestive health. But then again you already know you are what you eat.

So do yourself a favour - start eating some yoghurt regularly. Especially if you enjoy that beer or two, or seven. Eighty year-old you will thank you for it later.

Sources
1. Ammonia as a Potential Neurotoxic Factor in Alzheimer's Disease
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4976099/

2. What Improves Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy: Probiotic Yogurt, Protein Restriction or Nonabsorbable Disaccharides?
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371416/

3. Blood Ammonia as a Possible Etiological Agent for Alzheimer’s Disease
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986444/

4. Lactobacillus casei Shirota modulation of ammonia metabolism in physical exercise - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287309677_Lactobacillus_casei_Shirota_modulation_of_ammonia_metabolism_in_physical_exercise