Eat Your Ice Cream

I recently started reading Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life by Ezekiel Emanuel.  Dr. Emanuel is a medical oncologist, bioethicist, health policy researcher, and author of several books, though he is perhaps best known for being the chief architect of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.  His latest book is all about how to live a full and healthy life.  Unfortunately, contrary to the title of the book, achieving wellness doesn't require eating a lot of ice cream!  Although he does cite a number of studies showing that ice cream has at least some health benefits, if consumed in moderation.

Dr. Emanuel argues against what he calls the "Wellness Industrial Complex", which  prescribes complicated regimens that often conflict, while at the same time promising us a longer and more productive life.  He argues that we spend too much time following "wellness" recommendations that may only add a few extra days or months to our life, and that we could better spend that time enjoying our life in the here and now.  Dr. Emanuel writes that "with so much health and wellness advice out there, it can be nearly impossible to differentiate the valid, reliable, and effective from the speculative, deceptive, and just plain stupid.  Even when the advice is scientifically sound, it's often extraneous, misrepresented, or misused."  

I would add that the evidence is often conflicting.  The best example here is the so-called French Paradox, which is based on the observation that people living in France have comparatively lower rates of coronary heart disease, including deaths, despite a higher intake of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat.  Back in the 1980's and 1990's, one popular explanation for the French Paradox was that people living in France also consumed higher amounts of red wine.  Red wine contains an anti-oxidant known as resveratrol, a compound believed to have anti-hypertensive effects and potential protective properties because of the ways it relaxes blood vessels.  Consuming moderate amounts of red wine could therefore offset the harmful effects of a diet high in cholesterol and saturated fat.  Unfortunately, as I've discussed in a couple of posts this past year (see "Raitis tammikuu" and "The world is changed..."), red wine consumption is no longer considered healthy!  The Office of the U.S. Surgeon General released a new advisory last year declaring that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.  The advisory called out in particular the risks associated with several types of cancer, especially breast cancer in women and cancers of the digestive tract in both men and women.  The advisory states, "The more alcohol consumed, the greater the risk of cancer. For certain cancers, like breast, mouth, and throat cancers, evidence shows that this risk may start to increase around one or fewer drinks per day."  

So, red wine consumed in modest amounts was once considered healthy, but now that is no longer the case.  With that in mind, I recently read a study published in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) that found that greater consumption of coffee and tea was associated with a lower risk of dementia (see "Coffee and Tea Intake, Dementia Risk, and Cognitive Function").  The study followed over 130,000 individuals for up to 43 years of follow-up.  Detailed dietary records were collected about every 2 to 4 years, and the primary outcome of dementia was identified via death records or medical records.  After adjusting for a number of other lifestyle and health-related factors, higher caffeinated coffee intake was significantly associated with lower dementia risk and lower subjective cognitive decline.  Similarly, higher tea intake was also associated with lower dementia risk.  Decaffeinated coffee was not associated with a lower risk of dementia or cognitive decline.  The most prominent differences in dementia risk were observed with an intake of approximately 2 to 3 cups per day of caffeinated coffee or 1 to 2 cups per day of tea.

Well that's great news for me, as I drink about 2-3 cups of regular coffee (no sugar, no cream) every morning!  But it's hard for me to get excited about the results of this study, as I've read similar studies in the past about red wine consumption!  There's a good chance (better than average I'd say) that some future study will show that coffee consumption is bad for your health. 

I guess I like Dr. Emanuel's philosophy that "wellness shouldn't be so hard".  I think I've done a pretty good job of following his six rules (read the book!) so far in my life.  And I will likely continue to eat ice cream, drink my red wine, and continue my morning coffee ritual - all in moderation of course!