- With Mayo Clinic nutritionists
Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the Food & Nutrition Center, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she is certified by the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 50 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and answering nutrition questions posed to Ask a Specialist.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor for the Food & Nutrition Center, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She is active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in pediatrics at Mayo Clinic Rochester and nutrition education related to the physiology and recommended intakes for premature infants.
Other areas of interest include breast milk and formula safety, neonatal feeding, and nutrition for breast-feeding mothers.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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Aug. 15, 2008
Fascinating connection between broccoli and reversal of diabetes complications
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
I often glance at the online listings of journal articles that are available ahead of print. The following one from Diabetes, posted Aug. 4, 2008, went right by me:
"Activation of NF-E2-related factor-2 reverses biochemical dysfunction of endothelial cells induced by hyperglycemia linked to vascular disease."
Huh? It didn't catch my attention until the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) ran the story on Aug. 5 and translated it as: "Broccoli may undo diabetes damage."
This very interesting study looked at the phytochemical (plant compound) called sulforaphane. It seems to help produce enzymes in the body that protect blood vessels by reducing tissue damaging substances triggered by high blood sugar. Sulforaphane also seems to activate genes that regulate protective antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes.
Vascular disease is a major complication of diabetes. It leads to heart disease, stroke, damage to small vessels of the eye (blindness), kidney (failure that leads to dialysis), and circulation to extremities and possible amputation.
This isn't the first news about broccoli. In 2006, another broccoli compound was found to help boost genes that prevent damaged genetic information from being passed on to future generations of cells, thereby offering potential reduction in cancer risk.
In 2007, a nutrition study of men who had prostate cancer showed that a weekly serving of broccoli cut risk for the aggressive form of the disease by 45 percent.
In 2008, researchers found in an animal study that sulforaphane in broccoli protects the heart from damage when it is deprived of oxygen (such as what occurs when a coronary artery is blocked by a clot).
What makes the diabetes study so compelling is that it seems to actually identify mechanisms that the compound sulforaphane in broccoli trigger that may allow reversal of high blood sugar damage.
All of the studies point out the need for further research. They also point out that generous servings of vegetables and fruit (at least 5 a day) gets you going in the right direction.
So, you think you want the benefits of broccoli but don't care for it? Broccoli is a member of the Brassica group of vegetables in the mustard family. Here are "close relatives" of broccoli that you might want to include in your 5-(or more)-a-day:
- Root vegetables — rutabaga, turnips, kohlrabi
- Leafy vegetables — cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, rapini, collard greens, bok choy, napa (Chinese cabbage), mustard greens
- Flowers — cauliflower, broccoli, broccoflower
- Seeds — mustard seed and rapeseed (from which canola oil is derived)
As for me, I'm fascinated by all of this. Truly we are what we eat. How about you?
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