The Hemp Connection:
resveratrol

If cutting carbs was the only dietary strategy needed to help PCOS, this blog wouldn't exist. There are clearly thousands of women, based on the traffic statistics for this blog, who've tried that approach without success.

One of the food groups that gets cut out of the diet when we worry too much about carbohydrates, is fruit. And fruits are just loaded with antioxidants that are showing potential to help balance our biochemistry.

Resveratrol is one of those anti-oxidants. It is a compound well recognized for its benefits in reducing cancer risk, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, blood clotting, and other aging-related issues. It is actually a compound that some plants have the ability to produce to fight off pathogens that threaten their own health, that turns out to have the same ability in humans.

A recent study specifically done with PCOS suggests that it has potential for women with this syndrome.

In rats, resveratrol was shown to reduce the excess growth of ovarian tissue. It also inhibited the tendency for insulin to promote this type of excess tissue growth.

Where do you get this great stuff?

1. Red grapes, blueberries, bilberries, and cranberries. Bilberry extract is most commonly found in supplement form. The other fruits are often taken out of a low-carbohydrate diet. Don't make this mistake!

2. Red wine. For those of you who are trying to conceive, please exercise caution with this choice. It's best to pursue the nonalcoholic options provided here. But if you are not in that category, consider enjoying a glass of red wine with dinner tonight! Spanish red wines and New York pinot noirs are your best option, they've been found to have the highest resveratrol concentrations.

3. Peanuts and peanut butter. I love this one. Sometimes we think nutrition has to be complicated…but a PB and grape J sandwich is a perfect PCOS-friendly lunch!

4. Resveratrol supplements. These are primarily made from extracts of the kojo-kon root. Not that supplementation is bad, but I've been around long enough to see that when you isolate a compound from its natural source, you often miss out on other factors and compounds that either help make that compound more effective, or that may be the really important compound in the first place. So I'd encourage the other choices over supplementing. Another consideration that is important is potential conception. I just don't like to recommend supplements to anyone who might become pregnant when I don't know for sure if they have more potential to be helpful or harmful.

5. Dark chocolate and non-dutched cocoa powder. So now if anyone, anyone at all, questions why that really, really high-cacao bittersweet chocolate jumped from the shelf in the Trader Joe's checkout line into your grocery bag…just tell them "the inCYST blog made me do it".

Just a note, in addition to pure chocolate squares, think hot chocolate and mole sauce!

One important point I need to make here is that when resveratrol-containing foods are included in a balanced diet, they can have benefit. It's important to not eliminate entire categories of food. Resveratrol, however, has the ability to affect estrogen levels, in both directions. It's best not to overdose on the supplement because it's"good". Balance is always the goal in PCOS.

Wong DH, Villanueva JA, Cress AB, Duleba AJ. Effects of resveratrol on proliferation and apoptosis in rat ovarian theca-interstitial cells. Mol Hum Reprod. 2010 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print]

I'm hearing from some of you that you're having fun learning about new and different foods, so I thought I'd pass along an idea for the more adventurous readers!

My mom was just telling me that she and my dad went to a Peruvian restaurant recently, and they tried a traditional drink called chicha morada. It is made with purple corn and has a much higher resveratrol content than red wine. It's also high in anthocyanin, the powerhouse commonly associated with blueberries. I did some checking, and found that there is research suggesting that purple corn may help to fight insulin resistance (reference below).

I'm posting a link to a video that shows you how to make the drink. Note that it includes cinnamon, another ingredient many of you are already using for insulin resistance.

http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2010/07/07/how-to-make-the-chicha-morada-super-peruvian-resveratrol-drink/

If you can't find purple corn anywhere near you, you can find it on amazon.com

When you think of your PCOS journey as an adventure, instead of something that limits you, it's amazing how much fun you can have in the kitchen.

Dietary cyanidin 3-O-beta-D-glucoside-rich purple corn color prevents obesity and ameliorates hyperglycemia in mice. J Nutr. 2003 Jul;133(7):2125-30.

Musca-who? Scupper-what?

That's what I was thinking when one of my Southern cousins posted on Facebook last night that she had gallons and gallons of muscadines to give away.

Gotta love Google, within minutes I learned that a muscadine is a grape native to the Southern United States (while many grapes are"local", few are"native", having been brought to our continent by Europeans who apparently feared a New World without wine).

Scuppernongs are a type of muscadine that are bronze in color.

Southerners, take note: muscadines and scuppernongs contain more resveratrol than any other variety of grape! Resveratrol is an extremely powerful antioxidant that many people pay a pretty penny for if they don't have the luxury of having gallons and gallons growing in their yard. In addition, they are the only grape that contains ellaic acid, another powerful antioxidant.

I'd be throwing a handful into my morning smoothie as long as I had them to use…but for the more adventurous types, I found some fun and healthy recipes to try. They had me wishing I had a few gallons to work with myself!

Roast Carrot Salad with Muscadine Vinaigrette
Southern Peach Scuppernong Salsa (I bet this would go great with grilled catfish!)

If eating native, local, and healthy, tastes like this…I'm sold on it!

http://www.muscadinenaturals.com/muscadine_grape.htm

Phoenix Vice Mayor and District 4 Councilman Tom Simplot just sent me his responses to my questions I recently posed to our City Council members about locally produced food and organic shopping. Vice Mayor Simplot is not one to sit still! In addition to being Vice Mayor, he serves on various City Council subcommittees.

Love how he mentions the light rail! Using that to get to and from your favorite local watering hole or grocery shopping spot, not only adds a little bit of activity into the evening…it promotes a healthier environment as well!

Do you have any favorite locally owned restaurants in your council district that you'd like us to mention?
Plenty. Since the completion of the light rail, new locally owned businesses have been sprouting up along the rail line like organic mushrooms. Postino's on Central; Maizie's; and Two Hippies Taco Shop are relatively new to the district, and more are on the way. Old favorites include Harley's Bistro; Fez; and Alexi's.

Do you have a favorite Arizona-grown food?
All locally grown food is great…and don't forget Arizona wines, too.

You mentioned that you are a strong supporter of the Phoenix Downtown Market. Do you have any favorite booths?
Yes, the ones that hand out samples!
Hmmm…then I must have unknowingly bumped into you at least once at the Dr. Hummus booth!

You're in the middle of a campaign and you're a pretty busy guy with all your committees and boards, yet you make time to patronize the Downtown Market. What would you say to the person who says the idea of a local market is nice but they're just too busy to shop there?
The one of the best reasons about shopping at the Downtown Market is that you, as a consumer, have a say in what your dollar supports. You know exactly who benefits from your purchase; I like to think of it as a"political purchase."

A LITTLE MORE ON WINE!
Councilman Simplot gave me a perfect lead in to a topic I've always intended to write about but never did--wine and health. For starters, the main difference between red and white wine is that red wine incorporates the crushed skins of the grapes in processing, while white wine removes the skin and uses only the remaining pulp for the final product. Resveratrol, found in grape skins and therefore in red wine, is probably the most well-known of these compounds. However, grape pulp contains polyphenols, another kind of antioxidant, which gives white wine health benefits too. Both red and white wine have antibacterial activity. So regardless of the type of wine you enjoy, know there is some benefit to your favorite variety.

If you are currently trying to conceive, or do not drink alcohol, the same benefits can be obtained by eating fresh grapes, grape juice, and wine vinegar. Homemade vinaigrettes are quick and easy, and a perfect topper for the salad fixin's you are sure to find while working your way from that free hummous sample to the organic grapes on your next trip to the farmer's market.

I appreciate your time and comments, Councilman Simplot. From healthy, tasty food to using public transportation to thoughtful consumer spending, you summarized exactly the kind of choices what inCYST aspires to encourage in its readers.