Why You Should Eat More Wasabi

Additional Info

• Segment Number: 3
• Audio File: healthy_talk/1524ht3c.mp3
• Featured Speaker: Mike Smith, MD
• Organization: Life Extension
• Guest Website: Healthy Talk MD
• Transcription: RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: June 10, 2015
  Host: Michael Smith, MD
  
  Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. And now here's the country doctor with the city education, Dr. Mike.
  
  DR MIKE: Let's talk about why we all should be eating more wasabi. You know, that stuff you get with sushi. Although the stuff you get with sushi is probably not wasabi and I will get into that in a moment. That stuff that clears your sinuses, gives you that real kick, your eyes water and then it's gone and you just feel awesome. I love it. We should be eating more wasabi. Let me just tell you about wasabi. Let's discuss the wasabi japonica story because that's the plant name. Wasabi japonica has been grown and eaten in Japan for centuries. It is believed that the daily consumption of this plant wasabi japonica improves the health and fights off a large number of illnesses.
  
  This has now been born out in a large and increasing number of scientific studies on the actions of these naturally occurring compounds in wasabi. For centuries, there have been a lot of traditional uses of wasabi, a lot of anecdotal evidence, historical evidence, even folklore, surrounding wasabi and its medicinal properties. More and more scientists are starting to back up what traditional users of wasabi have always known: it's good for you.
  
  More and more people are seeing wasabi as a functional food for human health--consuming it on a daily basis. Let me just tell you the problem, though. At least in the United States, when we think we are eating wasabi, we are probably not. Wasabi, apparently – and I had to do the research because I really don't know anything about wasabi japonica- but what I've come to understand is that it's not a very hearty plant. It's hard to grow and cultivate mainly because it has to be done at higher elevations.
  
  Of course, in higher elevations temperature can change so much and if it gets too warm the wasabi plant doesn't do too well and if it gets too cold it doesn't do well. So, there's this right elevation, this perfect elevation, where it's not too cold not too warm in the mountains of Japan. Yet people don't want to go up there and cultivate the plant anymore. Then you add to the fact that there's so much pollution in Japan and the bottom line is the actual plant wasabi japonica is not really grown that much anymore because it's just too hard and no one wants to do it. Here's what the Japanese did, knowing that this was going to be a growing industry.
  
  The Japanese having a great business eye for this kind of stuff. In order to make up for the reduction in true wasabi, the Japanese food industry provided a solution. They took powder or paste that contains European horseradish mixed with mustard seed and FDA approved coloring. So, that green stuff that you thought was wasabi that you are getting with your Americanized sushi is horseradish with food coloring in it and maybe a little mustard seed. And it's really not providing us that much benefit.
  
  Now, I've talked about horseradish before on the show a long time ago. It does have some benefit but probably not to the level of wasabi. So, when you think you are eating wasabi in this country, you probably aren't. You can get it and you have to ask for it. It's going to cost a little bit more but it's probably worth it. When you look at the wasabi plant, the most important part of it is the stem. There's a specific type of compound in the stem called an isothiocyanate. That's the key compound that we want from the wasabi.
  
  I did some research after learning about wasabi and learning about how hard it is to grow the plant and cultivate it and all that kind of stuff and then learning about how the Japanese kind of have a work-around with horseradish. I left all of those sites. I decided I'm going to do some straight forward, good, old-fashioned research and searching on PubMed to find out what are the true benefits of wasabi that maintain this isothiocyanate compound.
  
  Here's what I found. Number one, real wasabi with isothiocyanate inhibits the development of lung tumors, at least in mice. There are a lot of cancer researchers who are now are pushing the NIH to do some human clinical trials with wasabi standardized to isothiocyanate.
  
  This was published in Cancer Letters 2000. There hasn't been much follow up with this, I don't think. If you go to clinicaltrials.gov, you can search "wasabi" and/or "isothiocyanate" and "lung cancer" and see what kind of trials are out there. I don't think there are too many. This has been shown, at least in mouse models, to work. Number two, real wasabi has potent anti-bacterial activity. Now, this has been known and this has probably been one of the big reasons that traditional cultures have used real wasabi in wounds and when people are sick with cold, flu, whatever.
  
  Historically speaking, they made the claims it works wonders but now there is some research evidence that it truly does have at least anti-bacterial activity not so much anti-viral. The International Journal of Food and Medicine, 2004 did a really good study on this. Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Biochemistry (that's a long name for a journal) ,1998 did some research looking at the anti-bacterial activity and it does seem to have some. Number three, real wasabi suppresses glandular stomach cancer.
  
  This is a good one. We don't have a lot of great treatments for stomach cancer. This was published in Nutrition and Cancer, 1991. Looking at real wasabi and isothiocyanate and the effect on cancer was positive published in a peer review journal a long time ago. Again, go to clinicaltrials.gov and there's not a lot of follow up with these things and that's a shame. Number four, wasabi has some anti-platelet properties so it can help work in kind of the same way aspirin does.
  
  Maybe in a post-stroke type situation or maybe even used in combination with other anti-platelets with people with A-fib to prevent blood clot formations. This was shown to be true in a publication in Biofactors, 2000. So, you see what I'm doing here.
  
  There's a bunch of traditional benefits of wasabi, a lot of historical, anecdotal claims about wasabi and I took those claims and I'm backing it up with solid, peer reviewed publications, sometimes in animals, sometimes in a petri dish, sometimes in humans. Here's another one. This is number five. Wasabi increases the abundance of protective detox enzymes. Those are your liver enzymes. Detox is a big issue. My friend Suzanne Somers has a new book out about detox and the toxins in our environment.
  
  I've seen her on her show talking about it. She's been on my show talking about it. We know that we have a built in, really awesome detox system called the liver. But the liver is overwhelmed, so it needs help. Maybe wasabi can be that help. The Journal of Biology and Chemistry, 2002 showed that wasabi can enhance the activity of phase one and phase two detox in the liver. Other things that can do that are milk thistle, melon extracts, B Vitamins and now you can add wasabi to that list.
  
  Number seven, wasabi has a protective effect against colon cancer risk. That was in Nutrition and Cancer, 2004. Just a lot of really good benefits of wasabi but you have to make sure you're doing real wasabi if you are going to cook with it. If you are going to do a product make sure it's standardized to isothiocyanate.
  
  This is Healthy Talk on Radio M.D. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
• Length (mins): 10
• Waiver Received: No
• Host: Mike Smith, MD