Northwestern University Alumni

Transcript:

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HELEN KIM: Welcome to Northwestern Intersections new segment "Wellness Tip," where alumni who are industry experts in their field, share their two cents with us on how to take care of our physical, mental, and emotional health during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Joining us today is Dr. Carla Hightower, a physician, health coach, and corporate wellness consultant who teaches busy professionals how to create healthy lifestyles with plant-based nutrition so that they can heal themselves, have more energy, and lead productive lives. She currently serves on the NAA board as the vice president and is a member of the Council of 100 and the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association. 

She is also offering two complimentary resources just for our listeners today, including a guide to overcoming diabetes naturally and 10 ways to strengthen the immune system. You can check out the links to our show notes at www.alumni.northwestern.edu/intersections. 

So, Carla, the year 2020 has been a whirlwind of a year, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, you know, it's been hit in other countries outside of the US since, I think, December 2019 or early January. And for US specifically, it's been about five to six months since we've been hit by the pandemic. But as a physician and a health coach, what are some key findings that you came across over the past couple of months in regards to this novel coronavirus? 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: We are really seeing that having this COVID-19 be at such a high level in our society that it has unmasked an underlying epidemic of diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease. And, of course, we knew that these problems were there. However, we see that having these conditions increases the risk for a severe COVID-19 infection. 

And that, I think, is something that we probably should have anticipated, but it is just magnified now. And it is even more serious in the minority communities because they have a higher rate of obesity and diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease. So we really have to start taking a look at these underlying conditions. 

The pandemic is one thing, but for the past 30, 40, 50 years, we've seen the epidemic in the rise of diabetes in particular. And we know that that's linked to changes in our diet and our lifestyle. So the diabetes is skyrocketing around the world, we're seeing this, as a significant problem that's related to the changes in the way that we eat and our lifestyle habits. 

HELEN KIM: So what is a specific diet that you would actually recommend for us during this time? Or honestly, that this diet could be something that we could stick to in our daily lives after the pandemic as well. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: It's important to be thinking about what nutrition looks like and what we need for the body in terms of being well nourished. So a diet is probably not the best term to use, because we don't want to be on a diet. A diet is something that implies a short-term change. Where what really makes a difference is having a breadth of high-nutrient foods particularly fresh fruits, vegetables, foods that are naturally anti-inflammatory. 

The problem with our current society is that we've introduced a number of highly processed foods into our routine. Our day-to-day routine is full of highly processed foods. Sugar, in particular, is one of the foods that causes inflammation, and chronic inflammation is linked to a whole host of conditions. The chronic inflammation is one of the underlying problems that increases our risk for the type 2 diabetes, the cardiovascular disease, and obesity. 

What's recommended is that we start looking at that root cause. What is the root cause of this level of inflammation that we are experiencing throughout our society? Processed foods really are going to top the list. Sugar is inflammatory especially in our blood vessels. 

The cardiology community has been aware of this for some time, and it's very difficult when you have something that's so popular. Processed foods are extremely popular. However, we now know that we need to put a limit on our consumption of added sugar. And I'm not talking about sugar in fruit. Whole fruit is very good for us, very natural, and beneficial. What I'm talking about are those highly processed, refined added sugars. One of the top food groups for this is the sweetened soft drink. 

INTERVIEWER: Hmm. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: That's where we're getting a lot of sugar in our diet. These sweetened beverages really top-- they come in at the top of the source for our added sugar. And it's insidious because it's easy to drink calories. And they taste amazing, right? So well, here we go, right? And so we can be consuming far more sugar than we realize. 

The World Health Organization is recommending that adults limit their sugar intake to no more than six teaspoons a day. And you can easily exceed that by just having one sugary latte. 

HELEN KIM: Yes. Oh, yeah. So you mentioned that these chronic conditions are associated with underlying inflammation. So are there different kinds of inflammation, or is there just one? 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: Yes, we have two types of inflammation. Acute inflammation is where the body is reacting in a normal way. It's a normal response to an injury or an infection. We need that. That's what protects us when we're exposed to a virus, a bacteria, or we get injured. Something that's short-term, limited to days. It's not a long-term condition. 

The other type of inflammation is chronic inflammation, and that's what's linked to our epidemic of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. And that is very different. What's happening with chronic inflammation is our immune system is now behaving abnormally. And the inflammation is excessive, it is destructive, and it's damaging to our tissues rather than being beneficial. It's also there day to day and chronic. It can last for years. So instead of being helpful, we're now having injury to our bodies from chronic inflammation. 

What we see when that happens is really two things. Chronic inflammation means that our immune system is overwhelmed. When we are faced with an infection, we don't have the ability to fight it, because our overwhelmed, overworked immune system that has been doing the wrong things can now not mount the response that it needs when we are dealing with a true infection. So we're in a weakened state in terms of our immune system. 

And the second thing is that inflammation damages the blood vessels, too, so the inside of our blood vessels become inflamed. And over time, inflamed blood vessels are more likely to clog. So we're having that limitation of blood flow is problematic, because we need good blood flow to fight an infection. We cannot clear an infection from our tissues when the blood flow is compromised. So we've got these key problems that really lead to a difficult time when we're faced with something so serious as COVID-19. 

HELEN KIM: And what are some anti-inflammatory foods that you would recommend? 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: We have a plethora of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, leafy greens. There are some foods that are top of the list, and they're known as super foods. Superfoods would include cruciferous vegetables. I would say cruciferous vegetables have got to be number one, because cruciferous vegetables are leafy greens such as kale, cabbage. We have broccoli, Brussels sprouts. 

These are known for having a sulfur component that when we chew the food, when we chop it on our cutting board, we create a chemical reaction. An enzyme is released. It mixes with the sulfur compounds, and it creates-- it creates other components that help the immune system. So we really want to just be aware of how there's this amazing science underlying what we're eating. 

And with those cruciferous vegetables, what most people are not aware of, which is fascinating to me, is that this happens when the food is raw. So if you're going to cook it, it's a good idea to chop it on the cutting board and wait for 40, 45 minutes and allow that to mix together and then cook it. 

HELEN KIM: Oh! That is something new that I've never heard. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: Yeah, it's really cool. It's really cool. The chewing, if we eat raw broccoli or we eat raw cabbage or kale, the chewing-- putting it in your blender for a smoothie, let's say, have a kale, a green smoothie works perfectly. But if you cook it first, you lose-- you destroy the enzyme that you need to trigger this reaction. So it's important. 

HELEN KIM: Huh, good to know. I'll keep that in mind when I go make my lunch in couple minutes. 

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But, you know, we're talking about how important our diet is and how important nutrition is. So when folks are trying to kind of adjust to this new lifestyle, how would you recommend them to slowly adjust to this new diet that they're going to start following. Because our body probably would not love it if we all of a sudden completely change up our diet that we're not used to eating all of a sudden. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: I absolutely agree with that. It's better to make changes in small, bite-sized steps. It can be overwhelming to dramatically shift from eating a certain type of food to another type of food. And even though we're talking about foods that are healthy, a lot of people will experience gas, because your microbiome needs time to adjust. Your digestive tract cannot just shift from eating processed foods to overnight, eating a lot of plant-based foods. 

So it's better to take it slow and step by step, to add foods rather than take them away is, I think, easier. So rather than thinking about this from a point of view of deprivation and feeling deprived, I recommend starting with something like having a leafy green salad before you have the rest of your meal. A small salad once a day is a great starting point. Or deciding that you're going to-- with your regular breakfast, start off with 1/2 a cup of berries, maybe a 1/2 a cup of blueberries or strawberries. And then go about the rest of your normal routine. 

What happens is as you slowly start to incorporate things that you like, it's not an overwhelming obstacle. Most people can find some fruits and vegetables that they already like, and that's the place to start, not with something radical or unpleasant but with the things that you know you already like. 

And we're in the season now still where we can get plenty of wonderful fruits out there-- watermelon, cantaloupe, berries, peaches, grapes. These are things that we grew up with as kids. We can freeze them. We can put them in smoothies. There's all kinds of ways that you can make them just amazing. 

HELEN KIM: Yeah. I mean, that sounds like an easier option than thinking about depriving yourself of the food that you're used to eating. But really kind of seeing it in a different perspective and a different positive, easier light, where, yeah, no I can do this. Like, I can change up my diet by adding more super foods into my current diet. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: Yes, absolutely. When what happens is invariably, you're introducing more antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins that your cells need anyway. And a meal can leave you feeling more energetic afterwards, which is inspiring, because we notice that feeling. There's a different feeling when we're eating processed foods. That sluggish feeling afterwards leaves us feeling unproductive. 

But when we eat a meal that's really high in nutri-- and nutrient-dense, you feel good, and you have more energy. One thing starts to lead to the next. The dramatic differences usually start there with just feeling better. We're not even necessarily even checking our lab results to know that we're better with just a matter how we feel. Do we wake up feeling more energetic than usual? So we start to get a snowball effect in a good way. 

HELEN KIM: Yeah. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Carla, I want to ask you a question about how you've been doing or how you are doing. So during this time, what is something that's giving you hope? 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: What gives me hope is that we've been in relative isolation from each other. But in a way, we have become more connected. By being in this pandemic, what's evident is that we all have the same needs on a basic level, our basic needs. This boiled down to what we fundamentally all need. We need certainty and safety and security and health and shelter. 

So all the fluff of life was eliminated during this pandemic. We are cooking more at home. We're talking to our family more. My daughter calls me almost every day. Where my daughter-- my daughter used to call me only when some crisis was happening. 

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HELEN KIM: Now, she's calling every day. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: [LAUGHS] That's just amazing how, on a very basic level, life has become simpler. So I think that in a way, we can capitalize on that, take advantage of making sure that we all are getting our needs met, and looking at society from a different lens. 

We can see that we have so many inequities in society, something that we needed to have a spotlight on. We never imagined how the spotlight would shine on these issues. But it has, and so that gives us an opening, a window of opportunity to start making a difference on a local level and on a larger scale level as well. 

HELEN KIM: And these equity issues of not everyone having the same access to health care, this has been going on for years and years. And the fact that it required a pandemic for people to realize that this is happening is heartbreaking. But I think, like you said, it has opened up a new window for people to really see that, OK, this is happening. How do we fix this? So I love that you shared that. 

CARLA HIGHTOWER: A lot of this has to do with information and access to accurate information, access to support groups and resources. So it's more than just one thing. Not only do we have an epidemic of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and we see that there's inequity in that, we also know that the solution has to come from rock-solid evidence-based information and then support. 

HELEN KIM: Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Northwestern Intersections. For more information about our podcasts, please visit northwestern.edu/intersections. Again, that's northwestern.edu/intersections. Until next time, stay safe, and take care of yourself and your families. 

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