Speaking of Women's Health
Discover the Health Benefits of Apigenin: A Powerful Antioxidant
Can food really be your medicine? Listen to Speaking of Women's Health Podcast Hot Dr. Holly Thacker as she unpacks the incredible health benefits of apigenin, a potent antioxidant found in everyday foods like celery seeds, spinach, marjoram, and rosemary.
Discover how a diet rich in whole foods and heart-healthy fats can prevent lifestyle-related health issues, and why personalized nutrition is key to achieving optimal health.
Can food really be your medicine? Listen to Speaking of Women's Health Podcast Hot Dr. Holly Thacker as she unpacks the incredible health benefits of apigenin, a potent antioxidant found in everyday foods like celery seeds, spinach, marjoram, and rosemary.
Discover how a diet rich in whole foods and heart-healthy fats can prevent lifestyle-related health issues, and why personalized nutrition is key to achieving optimal health.
Welcome to the Speaking of Women's Health podcast. I'm your host, dr Holly Thacker, and I'm back in our sunflower house for a new episode, and in this episode I am going to talk about everything that you wanted to know about apigenin but didn't even know to ask. And it's really great to be back in the Sunflower House. In fact, I just finished up with a day of virtuals seeing patients and one of my sweet patients said oh, I really like your Sunflower House podcast, and I thought well, it's actually called the Speaking of Women's Health podcast. In fact, everything that we do on social media is called Speaking of Women's Health, whether it's LinkedIn or Telegram or Facebook or Twitter, which is now well, it's formerly Twitter, it's known as X. We're at SPK Women's Health Pinterest. So if you don't follow us or even at least bookmark our website, speakingofwomenshealthcom and I'm going to refer to a lot of content that we actually have on our website which I really encourage people to share and use like a medical library it's relatively a hot topic in the news and it's something that's present in celery seeds, spinach, marjoram and rosemary. They all have in common that they're great sources of apigenin, which is a natural antioxidant substance found in vegetables and fruits and I have a column up on Speaking Women's Health all about this substance and we've long known that food can be used as medicines and many actual medications are derived from herbs and plants and they can have remarkable healing properties. Now, certainly a lot of our typical Western problems stem from our lifestyle and our diet and unfortunately there are a lot of substances in foods that are very tasty, very addictive and not necessarily good for our health. But the good news is there are really delicious whole foods that are very healthy and that do taste good but are not as calorie laden. So you know, I always routinely you know, at least briefly get to get a dietary and exercise history. That is so important, but there's only so much time in the exam room and the appointment that really a lot of strictly medical things have to be focused on labs, diagnoses, x-rays, orders, plans, medical plans and that's one reason why I am so happy to head up this nonprofit encouraging our listeners to be strong and be healthy and be in charge, because really you're in the driver's seat related to your health and so much of just health habits diet, hygiene, good health habits for you and your family really the responsibility resides on you and I think the whole topic of food and nutrition is very interesting. It's evolving.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of things that have been previously taught or pushed down by the government, like the food pyramid, have really been affected by big food, big ag, and aren't necessarily the most nutritious. I think a lot of healthy foods have been demonized. I think that people are so busy working and with their families Some people have two and three jobs you know to try to just afford to get by that foods that have long shelf lives and that seem cheaper and that are very tasty and easy to serve many times are hidden with things that aren't the best for you. So read labels. Avoid processed foods, preservatives, when you see a long list of things, including chemicals, that you can't pronounce. When there's chemically altered seed oils like cotton seed oil and palm oil and rapeseed oil and canola, stay away from those things. They're used because they're cheap and they tend to have a longer shelf life. The more expensive oils, like olive oil, which I've done a whole column on olive oil. I've done a whole column on olive oil, peanut oil, avocado oil Avocado is a very heart-healthy fat, so is olive oil, which is the basis for the Mediterranean diet and the medium chain triglycerides, including coconut oil, in moderation are also fine moderation are also fine. So many of these chemically altered substances with intense flavors can be very addictive and obesity and diabesity are such a big problem.
Speaker 1:November is diabetes awareness month. I think the most common concern that women who visit me is weight, even though it's not a menopausal symptom per se. But that's what people's concerns are. There's certainly been a run on the GLP-1 inhibitors. We've had several podcasts on weight loss and talking about indications for weight loss medications. But really, if you want to do a natural Ozempic, so to speak, or a natural Manjaro, you really want to eat whole foods and really focus on proteins and heart healthy fats and really minimize carbohydrates significantly carbohydrates significantly.
Speaker 1:Now I've spoken before about pharmacogenomics and there are many people who do very well on higher carb, lower fat, plant-based diets and there are other people who don't do well on that and really need more of a keto, carnivore, higher protein type diet and I hope that in the future, with advances in nutrigenomics, we are going to have a better ability to figure out what are better diets. Right now, the bulk of the information is in the Mediterranean diet in terms of longevity and being anti-inflammatory. That being said, I really listened to my patients and I've had patients that have had autoimmune conditions and other medical problems cured on a plant-based diet, just like I've had patients cured of many problems going on a high protein, high fat, more carnivore type diet. So I think the jury is still out, so to speak, and I think there is a lot of individualization and what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. But the one thing that is for sure is that for most people, the typical American diet does lead to a lot of pain and inflammation and disease.
Speaker 1:So, even though I said you need to stay away from things you can't pronounce, apigenin might not be something that just rolls off your tongue, but what is it? Well, it's found in foods such as celery seeds, parsley, spinach, marjoram and rosemary, and it is an anti-inflammatory agent. It also appears to have the ability to reduce anxiety, and certainly anxiety is rampant in our society and there are several foods that seem to help reduce anxiety. Whenever I see anyone with mood symptoms, I always inquire about their omega-3 intake. Most people that I check their omega-3 to omega-6 fat ratio. It's altered. They have way too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3. I frequently will check zinc levels and find very low levels of zinc in many people. And, of course, vitamin D is like the most common thing that I recommend as a supplement, particularly to people in Northern climates and particularly to people over age 40, because the skin just doesn't make it as well, even for those people burning their skin in the sun, even for those people burning their skin in the sun. So all these are very important factors and there's not just one simple substance in isolation that's going to cure your problems. So apigenin is found in plants, including fruits and veggies. It's in oranges, parsley Parsley is good at freshening the breath and is a pretty garnish it's in onions, one of my favorite foods tea, particularly chamomile tea and wheat sprouts. And when the crystalline yellow derivative of abagenin is extracted, it can be used to dye clothes and garments.
Speaker 1:The effects of this anti-inflammatory polyphenol flavonoid has been studied in animals and less so in humans, but we're increasingly getting some research and one of the areas of interest is in the skin. Now, as you'll recall, our skin is our largest organ and it's a very important organ because it's a barrier to our internal body, our internal organs and the external world, the environment. We have lots of oxidative stresses, ultraviolet light, aging, allergens If you didn't listen to my allergy podcast in season one and season two we did a remake because it's such a problem and of course there's ubiquitous viruses and bacteria and you know, as we approach the flu season every year, it's important to remind yourself simple measures to reduce upper respiratory viral infections. So if you didn't catch that in season one, that's a good one to go back and listen to. So anytime our body overreacts to anything, whether it's a virus or an allergen or a bacteria.
Speaker 1:There can be various manifestations of inflammatory changes and the skin frequently will manifest inflammation and there's a number of skin diseases that can be mild, moderate or can become very severe, and that includes atopic dermatitis or eczema. Can become very severe and that includes atopic dermatitis or eczema, pruritus or skin itching. I see a lot of skin itching and increased histamine reactions in midlife, women who are dropping their estrogen levels. Psoriasis, a skin disorder which can be chronic, made worse by stress, strain on the liver, lack of vitamin D. Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition where there can be loss of pigment and the darker skinned a person is with just complete absence of pigment with just complete white patches, absence of pigment with just complete white patches, particularly if it's on the face or the arms or places that are visible, can be very distressing and even to light-skinned people, the vitiligo kind of gives a patchy, unhealthy look to the skin.
Speaker 1:Now there are a number of flavonoid substances that are in plants and vegetables, which does include apigen, which is mainly what we're going to talk about, but there's other great flavonoids such as quercetin, luteinolin and camphorol. Uh, quercetin was very popular during the covid outbreak because it's a flavonoid that helps drive zinc into the cells and we need zinc intracellularly to work with enzyme processes to stop viral replication. And oranges and citrus are a great source of quercetin and that's why a lot of times, people will recommend vitamin C in the form of citrus when someone feels like they're coming down with something, along with boosting zinc and vitamin D. For a list of zinc-rich foods, definitely please see our website. You can put in calcium and see a list of calcium rich foods important for your bone. Put in magnesium, which, after vitamin D, is the most common supplement I recommend. It boosts dopamine, which can help with energy level and sleep and migraines and leg cramps.
Speaker 1:We also have a new landing page that lists foods that are high in histamine and it doesn't mean that these things have to be avoided. But if you're having hives, skin problems, itchy skin, you know your physician may recommend that you see a nutritionist to avoid high histamine foods or go on a histamine low diet. Now, alcoholic beverages, particularly red wine, is very high in histamine. Now, red wine has resveratrol, which is potentially anti-aging and antioxidant. But you don't have to drink red wine. Get some nice grapes and eat the skins of the grapes.
Speaker 1:Now, fermented foods we push a lot of fermented foods to help with the gut microbiome, but fermented foods are high in histamine. So canned and pickled foods, fermented foods like sauerkraut, which is rich in DIM, which is anti-HPV virus, which is rich in DIM, which is anti-HPV virus, kamichi miso many meats that are smoked, cured or aged, particularly bacon and sausage and salami, can be high in histamine. A lot of these cured meats use sodium nitrates and nitrites and a lot of people like to try to avoid those. Some of the uncured meats actually use celery seed, and celery and celery seed are rich in apigenin and we're going to talk about some of the differences between a celery seed and just using fresh celery stalks. Other high histamine foods include canned fish like mackerel and tuna and sardines and herring. Those are rich in omega-3s and you need at least two servings a week of omega-3s.
Speaker 1:Dairy like aged cheeses and yogurt, and some of these things can trigger migraine headaches and some of these things can trigger migraine headaches. The vegetables like eggplant, spinach and tomatoes are high in histamine and the food that I most associate with high histamine and one reason I waited until my children were after a year to introduce it was strawberries. Strawberries are very rich in histamine and so are the fun tropical fruits like pineapple and bananas and papaya, as well as citrus. Other yummy foods like egg whites and peanuts, and chocolate. I did a whole podcast on the why women crave chocolate and how it affects neurotransmitters.
Speaker 1:So you have been listening to the Speaking of Women's Health podcast and I'm your host, dr Holly Thacker in the Sunflower House talking food as medicine spices, herbs, antioxidants specifically the very interesting apigenin, and apigenin appears to have calming activities. The herb, cilantro and I did a whole column on herbs and spices and that's a good one to revisit and did a podcast on that. It's very interesting Cilantro about 10% of the population does not like cilantro. I love cilantro, I love the smell. I love to put it in food, particularly Mexican foods, but other foods as well. But 10% of the population genetically perceives it as being very unpleasant and soapy. But it does have calming activity and the flavonoids that can reduce cytokines, which are messengers between the cell, which really increases your immune and inflammatory response. Apigenin seems to help mute this and be a natural anti-inflammatory. So for people with skin disorders or chronic pain, joint pain a lot of times, trying to really focus on an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle can many times help.
Speaker 1:Apigenin might help reduce blood pressure and anytime you reduce blood pressure it supports your cardiovascular health. Every day I talk to women who are over 50, sometimes over 40, do you have a blood pressure cuff? Why not? You're getting older. Most people have high blood pressure. Have you listened to my podcast on hypertension? Yes, everyone has great blood pressure and low blood pressure until they don't anymore. So you can't really feel your blood pressure generally speaking. So you really need to have it checked and diet. The Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, with not so much sodium and more magnesium, and fruits and vegetables in a lot of people can reduce blood pressure. Beets and beet powder and beet juice is known to help reduce blood pressure and promote nitric oxide, which is very important for cardiovascular health. Now, chamomile tea is also known for its relaxing and sedative and anti-anxiety effects and has been shown to reduce cortisol anti-anxiety effects and has been shown to reduce cortisol. But if you're allergic to hay fever, you should avoid chamomile tea.
Speaker 1:Now, apigenin may also reduce insulin resistance, and anything that reduces insulin resistance can help reduce diabetes risk and reduce cancers that are driven by insulin. Many patients that are diagnosed with cancer who decide to really clean up their diet and strictly take out sugar, just like people with inflammatory conditions and infections inflammatory conditions and infections many times do improve their general health, and so anything that you can do to reduce excessive growth, which includes growth of tumors, may help fight various cancers, especially the cancers associated with obesity, like colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer. Apigenin may improve NAD levels, which help with cellular energy. So NAD stands for nicotinamide, adenine, dinucleotide, nid, and that's a central metabolic coenzyme and co-substrate that's involved in cellular energy metabolism and production and it's kind of promoted in certain circles as being anti-aging. We're going to have an anti-aging podcast. Certainly I'm in the anti-aging field because I treat midlife women and preventing and treating hormonal deficiencies and vitamin deficiencies and improving sleep and lifestyle. All of those things generally help reduce disease and extend life.
Speaker 1:Getting back to our skin, which many times is kind of a window into what's going on internally, as I mentioned, people that have eczema and psoriasis and even certain skin cancers, including melanoma and vitiligo, may have an imbalance in their immune system and there are different treatments that target the immune system and some quite big advances in cancer treatments, for instance, with melanoma, and apigenin is a substance that is of interest to people studying those skin conditions. That is of interest to people studying those skin conditions. Now I am not advocating that you take supplements of these substances. I'm just trying to bring some of the science and the nutrition and the health benefits of food as medicine kind of full circle. Certainly this is not medical advice.
Speaker 1:You really need to have a good relationship with your physician and we've had podcasts on selecting a physician for yourself, whether concierge care is right for you Practical podcast, one of my favorite that I had guest podcaster Sylvia Morrison and my wonderful administrative assistant, julie Stahl talk about how to get appointments. So really nurturing that relationship and being committed to that on both parties is very important for a number of levels and a lot of times, if patients feel like, oh, I don't need a prescription or I'm not having a problem, I don't want to make that appointment, I have so many other things to do and really that's not how you should think about your relationship with your physician or even surgeon, I send a lot of patients who may or may not need surgery. They possibly do, and I want them to establish a relationship in case they have a flare of diverticulitis and do need that resection of their colon, or maybe the medical treatment of their medical and their menstrual bleeding and their gynecologic problems may not be sufficient and they might need a minimally invasive surgeon to do their hysterectomy and they can be in short supply and so a lot of chronic conditions that may need surgery down the line, like, say, pelvic prolapse, and we've had a lot of podcasts on these topics actually in the past. So it's not just your primary care physician, it's not just your wellness physician or functional medicine physician, but it actually may be a subspecialist or a surgical subspecialist as well that you want to maintain a relationship with medically. Uh, a relationship with medically.
Speaker 1:So, getting back to apigenin, uh, when cooking and I am certainly not a chef, as my husband will tell you. Um, how do you decide if you're going to use celery like in stocks or celery seed? I remember when celery was just poo-pooed as well. It's a diet food because it's so low in calories that the amount of calories you use to chomp on it burns calories. I'm not sure that that's exactly true, but it has been treated in the past as a fluff food, in that it's just almost like a decoration or doesn't have any nutritive value. And that's not true, especially with our understanding of apigenin, this interesting flavonoid, anti-inflammatory agent agent.
Speaker 1:So I've got celery seeds in my spice rack and of course, I periodically go out and buy fresh celery. I like to put that in different sandwich spreads like chicken salad or tuna salad. My husband always complains that I don't chop the celery small enough. He said it's just there for flavor, you shouldn't really be biting into it. I personally like the crunch. I like to bite into it in certain dishes. Some people think it should only be there for flavoring and they just cook it in terms of broths or stews, and in that case some posit that you might want to use celery seeds if you don't want all the stringy aspects of the celery. Certainly, you can store celery seeds easier. You know the fresh celery stalks are only going to be good for so long.
Speaker 1:It's interesting that celery seeds have more protein, fiber and food energy per ounce, as well as choline. Choline is important for brain function and muscle function. We have a list on our website of choline-rich foods. Occasionally, after magnesium and adequate hydration and potassium and calcium, I may actually recommend choline supplements for people bothered with leg cramps. The celery seeds actually have some calcium and vitamin C as well, so approximately one teaspoon of celery seed is equal to two celery stalks, so you can go on Speaking of Women's Health and put in celery. Check out some of our recipes that contain celery and spinach. You can see that list of foods that are rich in zinc, rich in copper, rich in magnesium and our newest list of histamine-rich foods. And if you haven't listened to my prior podcast or columns on food as medicine or foods that interact with medications, as well as talking about herbs and spices, those are good ones to review because food is nutritional therapy and sometimes it can mean life or death.
Speaker 1:Some people have life-threatening food allergies. My granddaughter Artemis has successfully, we hope completed her oral immunotherapy desensitization to cashews. But the other day I gave her her half teaspoon in the morning after having her have food and she immediately said Mimi, my mouth is itchy, can I have something to drink? And she needed to wash that allergen down her throat and eat some additional food to try to mute that. So every year there's thousands of people that can have anaphylactic reactions to food. Some people are intolerant to foods that others of us love and find very healthy. Celiac disease is intolerance to wheat gluten. Celiac disease is intolerance to wheat gluten and that can cause infertility and osteoporosis, and we have an excellent column on celiac disease with links to the Celiac Nonprofit Foundation. So foods that are rich in phytochemicals and nutraceuticals can have medicinal benefits, and nutraceuticals can have medicinal benefits.
Speaker 1:So it's not surprising that we're kind of re-examining different vegetables, herbs and spices as actual potential therapeutic options in your kitchen armamentarium. In general, herbs are green leafy plants, whereas we get spices from roots, flowers, seed or bark. I just recently learned that there's different types of cinnamon and the Ceylon type of cinnamon seems to be a lot more potent in terms of some of its anti-sugar and anti-inflammatory effects. Now the leaves of Corianderum sativum are the source of one of my favorite herbs, cilantro, while Coriander spice is from the seed. Other common herbs that you might like to cook with include sage, which is used by some people to reduce perspiration. My one son loves blackberry sage tea, thyme parsley, which freshens the breath and might be a mild aphrodisiac.
Speaker 1:Basil, fresh basil in the summer on tomatoes. Mozzarella cheese. I love caprese salad, rosemary mint not just mint juleps, although those are fun. I think we have a nice recipe with fresh mint and watermelon and feta cheese. Oregano, which has antiviral properties. That's an Italian spice. We were sprinkling it on some pizza we were making, and Artemis assured me that I have a little bit of Italian in me, mimi, which of course she does not. Neither does her sir, my husband. But we can all pretend, especially if we're making great Italian foods that are so rich in a lot of these great spices Ginger, clove, saffron, nutmeg, cumin mustard seed and of course cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin mustard seed and of course, cinnamon.
Speaker 1:Basil has a lot of antioxidants and antimicrobial effects and it has iron in it. My very first podcast was on iron, because Artemis is low in iron and I was very interested in all the different foods we could present that were rich in iron, because it's hard to get any female to take an iron supplement. Cilantro we talked about. You either love it or hate it. Cinnamon does help our bodies process sugar and cholesterol. We have several podcasts on being less sweet and, on the topic of diabetes, we have a great column on gestational diabetes by uh endocrinologist Dr Yogi Morin.
Speaker 1:Um, I think that you can sweeten a lot of dishes without sugar by simply adding some cinnamon and nutmeg adding some cinnamon and nutmeg and when possible, I try to substitute table sugar and use a little bit of a hundred percent maple syrup. One of my favorite brands now is bourbon flavored maple syrup. It really is very, very rich and aromatic. And honey and trying to get your honey locally is said to help reduce allergies. Curcumin is the antioxidant in turmeric which gives that beautiful yellow color, and this spice is linked to less diabetes, potentially less cancers, and it's certainly a staple in yummy Indian curry dishes.
Speaker 1:Garlic, which my husband says is my perfume of choice, which it really isn't, but it is the spice of life, even though it's not an herb or a spice. It's a vegetable from the lily plant. Dried garlic is referred by some people as a spice. I just learned a new term jar garlic or jar leak, because it's garlic in the jar so you don't have to crush it yourself. It certainly makes it very easy when you're when you're cooking, and it does seem to lower blood pressure. Garlic and have antiviral and antibacterial as well as antifungal effects. Low calorie, rich in vitamin C is related to the onion, the shallot, the leek and chive. But garlic is very spicy and pungent but it does sweeten when you cook it.
Speaker 1:Ginger seems to cleanse the palate and is a great anti-nausea spice. Anytime I'm nauseated I have to have ginger beer, which is not beer, it's not alcohol, but it's very good quality ginger. Ginger goes very well with wasabi uh, also known as Japanese horseradish, and it certainly opens up your sinuses. I mentioned that oregano is a very versatile herb that has expectorant effects, so it's good when people are cold, having colds. It's the pizza herb, um, and I love to pair oregano with crushed red pepper, which is made from the dry red pepper, uh, cayenne and bell pepper, which contains capsaicin, and capsaicin reduces pain and inflammation and helps blood flow, and you can get uh and you can get capsaicin topically to rub and take away the pain of herpetic zoster or shingles. Black pepper is a spice which helps block fat absorption. So I frequently add pepper to lots of my dishes, and a lot of fish dishes call for saffron, call for red pepper.
Speaker 1:Paprika is an interesting spice. It's made from chili and bell peppers and my daughter-in-law brought me some Hungarian paprika back from her last trip with her family to Hungary. And it's colorful. It can be used to add color but also flavor, and it does have antioxidants. It's a great garnish to deviled eggs. I never understood why they're called devil, because they're really very good for you, and one of the perfect Hungarian comfort foods is Hungarian chicken paprikash.
Speaker 1:So what would that be without paprika and parsley? It's not just a garnish, it's rich in K vitamin, k, k1. We have a list of foods, k1, and then K2 is totally different. M7, we have another list of those foods. It contains chlorophyll, which freshens the breath but is rumored to be an ancient aphrodisiac. And what are parsley potatoes without parsley? We have all these recipes on our website and discussions about other types of spices. So thanks so much for joining me on this Apigenin Herb and Spice Food as Medicine podcast, and thank you, our listeners, for tuning in to our Speaking of Women's Health podcast. We're grateful for your support. Please share this podcast with your friends. Consider giving us a five-star rating. It's just one little click and, if you're so inclined, you can go on speakingofwomenshealthcom and give usa donation to our nonprofit. It's free to subscribe so you don't miss any podcast. Thanks again for listening and we will see you next time in the Sunflower House. Be strong, be healthy and be in charge.