Baking Soda Plus Water Best for Washing Pesticides Off Apples
(Reuters Health) - Washing apples in water with a dash of baking soda is the most effective way to remove pesticide residue, new research shows.
The mix outperformed Clorox-spiked water for getting rid of the chemicals, and also worked better than plain water, Dr. Lili He of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and her colleagues found. They reported their findings October 25 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Pesticides are widely used in agriculture to kill bugs, fungi and other produce-plaguing pests. They can hurt humans, too, but most of us are exposed to amounts so tiny that they don’t pose a risk, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Many people try to limit their exposure to pesticides by washing produce, but whether or not this does anything to remove them has not been studied, Dr. He and her team note. They coated apples with thiabendazole, a fungicide, or phosmet, which is used to kill a variety of pests, and washed them with water or water mixed with bleach or baking soda. The researchers used Gala apples because they are widely consumed and also likely to contain a wide variety of pesticides.
Using super-sensitive, high-tech tests, the researchers checked on and within the apple for pesticides and measured pesticide concentration within plant tissue. Rinsing the fruit in the baking soda solution for 12 minutes was most effective for removing thiabendazole, they found, while a 15-minute baking soda rinse was most effective for getting rid of phosmet.
Some of the pesticide passed beyond the apple’s surface, with thiabendazole going four times deeper than phosmet. None of the washing methods could fully remove the residue.
After harvest, the EPA requires apple producers to soak the fruit for two minutes in bleach mixed with water. The quick dip is intended to remove bacteria and other organic matter, not to wash off pesticides, Dr. He noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health, but it would be ideal to find a post-harvest treatment that would do both.
The baking soda solution is likely more effective because it can help break apart pesticide molecules, the researcher said, and can be used for washing other types of produce. How well it works “depends on the structure of the fruits and vegetables, but it’s a general method,” she added.
Dr. He and her colleagues used a concentration of about one teaspoon of baking soda per two cups of water. But, she said, “You don’t need to be precise, just adding a little bit is better than not adding it.”
While deeper-penetrating pesticides could be removed by peeling an apple, the researcher said, this would mean missing out on the nutrient-rich skin. “It’s always been a two-sided story.”
We hear that food is medicine all the time and many do not treat it as such. Here is an interesting article by Dr Drew Ramsey....
How Diet Influences Anxiety
I am Dr Drew Ramsey, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City.
I want to discuss how nutritional psychiatry—the use of nutrition and food—influences anxiety disorders.
Anxiety disorders are the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorder. Of note, we do not have the same robust set of data that we have with depression. There are no randomized controlled trials that look at the effects of foods, nutrition, or specific nutritional supplements on anxiety disorders in general or specific anxiety disorders.
I will go over the growing and quite interesting data that do exist. Then I will talk about how we use food to help patients with anxiety disorders in our clinic in New York City.
First, the Data
In 2009, data about nutrition and anxiety emerged from Felice Jacka's group, which looked at the Hordaland data set, a large epidemiologic data set in Scandinavia.[1,2]There were two notable findings. The first was that overall dietary pattern does correlate with anxiety: Specifically, increased consumption of Western foods, or a more modern dietary pattern, correlated with an elevated risk for anxiety disorder by about 25%-29%.[1]
In addition, Dr Jacka and her group found a correlation between anxiety and the nutrient choline.[2] Choline is a B-like vitamin. It is very similar to folate, which is used in the methylation cycle. Patients who were in the lowest tertile of choline consumption had about 33% higher risk of having anxiety disorder. Choline is primarily found in eggs and tofu, but also in most meats.
Fermented Foods
Moving beyond the epidemiologic data, studies of a few specific nutrients and foods grabbed my attention. The first are fermented foods. As we have begun to think more about the gut/brain connection and the influence of the microbiome on our mental states, the use of fermented foods in patients with anxiety have become a subject of interest.
A 2017 review[3] focused primarily on depression; however, several of the trials included in the article looked at anxiety rating scales and subscales. The results were mixed, but some studies found positive effects of probiotics. For example, a 2011 assessment of two strains of bacteria in healthy volunteers[4] found that on formal rating scales, anxiety ratings went down following a 30-day trial with the probiotic, similar to the clinical trial that was positive for the treatment of depression.[5]
In 2013, a trial by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and France looked at fermented milk products,[6] such as kefir and yogurt. This trial used functional MRI to compare individuals who ingested the fermented dairy product on a daily basis with control participants. The study found a significant influence of the fermented foods on the brain circuitry. The investigators hypothesized that fermented foods can alter some of the circuitry by which we process somatic senses and emotions. Potentially, this may be quite useful to our patients with anxiety.
A 2015 cross-sectional study looked at neuroticism, fermented foods, and social anxiety.[7]This very interesting trial used an interaction model to show that individuals who have higher neuroticism but ate more fermented foods reported less social anxiety.
All of this together seems to indicate that fermented foods may be something to consider offering your patients with anxiety. We are using fermented foods in our clinic to help increase diversity of the microbiome, and also to enrich the microbiome with more of these "good bugs," as we call them—bacteria that seem to influence anxiety and mental health circuitry.
Omega-3 Fats
Another nutrient that always stands out when I think about food and mental health are the long-chain omega-3 fats. A 2009 review described some of the data that existed at that time, but really did not find a lot.[8]There was still a lack of experimental trials, which continues to be the case today.
However, a 2011 trial[9]looked at medical students and their stressors around test time. The students took about 2.5 g of long-chain omega-3 fats, primarily a very heavily weighted eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) formulation with about 2 g of EPA and 0.5 g of docosahexaenoic acid.
The study found that compared with baseline Beck Anxiety Inventory scale scores, the medical students had a roughly 20% lower level of anxiety after taking the omega-3 supplement. The researchers also looked at lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-6 levels and found that those were also significantly reduced.
Thus, omega-3 fats may have a therapeutic role to play. In nutritional psychiatry, that translates to encouraging our patients to eat more fatty fish and more bivalves as one way to take in more of those long-chain omega-3 fats.
Gluten and Sugar
A Scandinavian trial[10] followed 35 patients with celiac disease for 1 year after the patients were placed on a gluten-free diet. At baseline, approximately 72% of these individuals had significant levels of anxiety, compared with 24% of 59 healthy controls. Over the year, the percentage of patients eating a gluten-free diet who reported significant anxiety went down to about 25%, with no significant change in the control group. It was a robust finding. The gluten-free diet did not improve the depressive symptoms in the patients with celiac disease, however. This is an interesting finding: A gluten-free diet can improve anxiety, but not necessarily depression.
Finally, a 2002 meta-analysis[11] looked at diabetic patients, blood sugar control, and anxiety. The authors found some significant correlations between hyperglycemia and anxiety. For those of you who are working in hospital settings or have a significant number of patients with diabetes in your practices, this is something to pay attention to.
Our Clinic Experience
What do we do at the Brain Food Clinic? Anxiety is one of our favorite symptoms to treat with food, for several reasons. We often find that our patients with panic disorder, for example, are not eating in a regulated way. A lot more anxiety and panic happen when patients are hungry or have not been eating a diet that includes robust amounts of protein and fats.
Often, we will discuss the day together, to help patients think of a more structured eating plan. Busy professionals who spend long days at work may skip a meal. This is exactly when we tend to see more anxiety and panic. In this case, we will help them figure out how they can stock the workplace with foods that have a long shelf-life are but highly nutrient-dense, so that such things as apples, yogurt, cheese, and nuts are always available. Those are some of the interventions that we like, so people can be truly well fed.
Overall, anxiety certainly can be influenced by food. The same data that told us about depression and food seems to spill over to anxiety. Given that many of our interventions that treat depression, such as psychotherapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, also treat anxiety. Overall, increasing the nutrient density of your patients' diets, focusing on leafy greens, rainbow vegetables, and more seafood and eliminating the highly processed, sugary foods, should be beneficial. In some patients, food can certainly contribute to anxiety, as the data tell us.
References:
Jacka FN, Mykletun A, Berk M, Bjelland I, Tell GS. The association between habitual diet quality and the common mental disorders in community-dwelling adults: the Hordaland Health study. Psychosom Med. 2011;73:483-490.
Bjelland I, Tell GS, Vollset SE, Konstantinova S, Ueland PM. Choline in anxiety and depression: the Hordaland Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;90:1056-1060.
Wallace CJ, Milev R. The effects of probiotics on depressive symptoms in humans: a systematic review. Ann Gen Psych. 2017;16:14.
Messaoudi M, Violle N, Bisson JF, Desor D, Javelot H, Rougeot C. Beneficial psychological effects of a probiotic formulation (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175) in healthy human volunteers. Gut Microbes. 2011;2:256-261.
Jacka FN, O'Neil A, Opie R, et al. A randomized controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the 'SMILES' Trial). BMC Medicine. 2017;15:23.
Tillisch K, Labus J, Kilpatrick L, et al. Consumption of fermented milk product with probiotic modulates brain activity. Gastroenterology. 2013;144:1394-1401.
Hillmire MR, DeVylder JE, Forestell CA. Fermented foods, neuroticism, and social anxiety: an interaction model. Psychiatry Res. 2015;228:203-208.
Sarris J, Schoendorfer N, Kavanagh DJ. Major depressive disorder and nutritional medicine: a review of monotherapies and adjuvant treatments. Nutr Rev. 2009;67:125-131.
Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Belury MA, Andridge R, Malarkey WB, Glaser R. Omega-3 supplementation lowers inflammation and anxiety in medical students: a randomized controlled trial. Brain Behav Immun. 2011;25:1725-1734.
Addolorato G, Capristo E, Ghittoni G, et al. Anxiety but not depression decreases in coeliac patients after one-year gluten-free diet: a longitudinal study. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2001;36:502-506.
Anderson RJ, Grigsby AB, Freedland KE, et al. Anxiety and poor glycemic control: a meta-analytic review of the literature. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2002;32:235-247.
Protein Beneficial for Satiety and Weight Management Introduction Protein is required in the body for providing the necessary amino acid building blocks for growth, development, tissue repair, hormone and enzyme building. Evidence suggests that protein may also be beneficial for weight management, improved body composition, and satiety. There is slight variability in protein recommendations depending on the source. Generally, most research agrees that protein intake must be consistent for weight management and body composition benefit.1 The United States Food and Nutrition Board Recommends 0.8g/kg/day for adults, while the World Health Organization (WHO), recommends 0.838g/kg/day and the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the US Department of Agriculture and the US department of Health recommend between 10-35% of total daily dietary macronutrient intake to be from protein.2, While the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is generally similar among sources, many researcher suggest that the RDA is a minimum recommendation for protein intake, and that higher than RDA levels should be recommended for optimal health.1 Protein intake of approximately 20-30% of total caloric intake promotes better diabetes control and weight reduction, while improving inflammatory markers, lipid profile, blood pressure and insulin response, ultimately leading to significant reduction in hemoglobin A(1c).3 Protein for Weight Management Obesity is strongly associated with a significant increase in all cause mortality, specifically diabetes, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease stroke and hypertension. Optimal management of body weight in overweight and obese people requires a multi- pronged approach, including dietary interventions, exercise promotion, and lifestyle and behavioral modifications. In one large multi-center trial in the Diabetes Prevention Program, researchers found that a weight reduction of 7% prevented the progression of glucose intolerance, to diabetes by 58%.4 In general, weight reduction above 5% has been shown to decrease dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes, which are all risk factors for cardiovascular disease.5 Optimizing protein intake in overweight and obese individuals may provide a beneficial non-pharmacologic, low cost and accessible treatment option for improving weight and body composition while decreasing obesity related mortality. Protein quantity, type and timing of ingestion all play a role in the successful application of protein as weight management intervention tools. Protein levels near 50g per ingestion time have been shown to have a strong effect on satiety, while other research supports satiety promotion at doses between 15-20g.6,9 In one study of 60 subjects, those assigned to a low calorie, high protein, and low fat diet had better weight maintenance, of approximately 2.3 kg, after four weeks, when compared to subjects on a high-carbohydrate and low fat diet.6 Protein may assist in weight management by promoting satiety better than other macronutrients.7,8,9 Timing of ingestion seems to play an important role in the physiologic activity of protein ingestion. Breakfast macronutrient composition had significant effect on postprandial response and feelings of hunger in overweight, obese and normal weight children ages 8-12 years old. Children that consumed a protein rich breakfast, consisting of 18g of protein, 22% of total energy intake, showed increased fullness, decreased desire to eat, and consumed less food following the protein rich breakfast than the children eating the carbohydrate rich breakfast regardless of body weight. This data suggests that including a protein rich breakfast may positively influence satiety enough to cause weight reduction over time.10
Protein Types There is still some uncertainty about the best sources or combinations of protein for optimal satiety, but milk, whey, pea, casein, soy and egg have all shown strong satiating ability.7 In a 2015 study of dietary protein composition in adults with metabolic syndrome, researchers concluded that improvement in metabolic syndrome criteria and weight loss resulted regardless if protein was from animal or plant sources.11 In overweight adults with metabolic syndrome weight loss of approximately 5% was achieved and maintained after 23 weeks of intervention and follow-up an all protein rich diet groups. The assigned diet groups were as follows: Modified DASH diet with 18% protein and two-thirds plant protein sources, DASH diet rich in animal protein 18% protein with two-thirds animal source, moderate protein diet 27% protein two-thirds animal sources.11 This data suggests that weight reduction and improvements in metabolic syndrome criteria can be achieved with both plant and animal protein sources. Animal Sources Some research has suggested that whey has a stronger effect over casein protein for satiety and decreasing overall food intake, however more recent research finds whey and casein to have similar effects.7,12 Whey protein may be beneficial as a functional food because of its strong ability to effect feelings of satiety. Whey appears to influence satiety signals that affect short-term and long-term food intake regulation.13 Short term food intake is influenced by whey protein when compared to placebo, carbohydrates and other proteins.13 Some research suggests that whey protein may also be insulinotropic and have an effect on the rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, thus may provide benefit for overweight and obese people with other associated comorbidities, like hypertension, type two diabetes and dyslipidemia.13 Dairy products and milk proteins have been shown to reduce food intake and promote satiety, which is crucial for weight reduction and management. Milk proteins may also help stabilize blood glucose response when consumed both alone or in combination with other carbohydrates.14 Milk protein supports healthy body weight and may have physiologic functions that could prove beneficial for people with metabolic syndrome and associated conditions, by regulating food intake and blood glucose.14 Plant Sources Interest in non-animal protein sources is increasing. Research on plant protein sources suggests that pea protein may offer significant dietary therapeutic benefit for promoting satiety and controlling weight. Research suggests that pea protein, given at a dose of 15g may offer superior ability to promote satiety when compared to a the same dose of whey protein, or milk protein (80% casein, 20%whey), based on hunger score and longest inter-meal interval, the time it takes the hunger score to reach baseline following the protein ingestion.15 Another study suggests that 20g of casein or pea protein had a stronger influence on reducing food intake and promoting the feeling of satiety, when compared to whey, egg albumin, or maltodextrin.7
Conclusions Dietary macronutrient content has a significant influence on weight reduction, weight maintenance and a number of cardiologic risk markers. Achieving protein intake in the range of 18-30% of total caloric intake may promote greater feelings of fullness and satiety, while reducing food intake and body weight by 5-7%. Plant and animal sources of protein both appear to have similar influence on physiologic mechanisms controlling food intake, blood glucose regulation, and other markers of metabolic syndrome. Including protein rich dietary composition in the treatment of overweight and obese adults and people with metabolic syndrome is an effective, non-pharmacologic nutrition- based intervention for the management of body weight and cardiometabolic disease. References 1 Bosse JD, Dixon BM. Dietary protein in weight management: a review proposing protein spread and change theories. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2012;9(1):81.2 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 2010. http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010. Accessed October 22, 2015. 3 Hamdy O, Horton ES. Protein content in diabetes nutrition plan. Curr Diab Rep. 2011;11(2):111- 9. 4 Goldberg T, Kroehl ME, Suddarth KH, Trinkley KE. Variations in Metformin Prescribing for Type 2 Diabetes. J Am Board Fam Med. 2015;28(6):777-84.5 Douketis JD, Macie C, Thabane L, Williamson DF. Systematic review of long-term weight loss studies in obese adults: clinical significance and applicability to clinical practice. Int J Obes (Lond). 2005;29(10):1153-67. 6 Claessens M, Van baak MA, Monsheimer S, Saris WH. The effect of a low-fat, high- protein or high-carbohydrate ad libitum diet on weight loss maintenance and metabolic risk factors. Int J Obes (Lond). 2009;33(3):296-304.7 Abou-samra R, Keersmaekers L, Brienza D, Mukherjee R, Macé K. Effect of different protein sources on satiation and short-term satiety when consumed as a starter. Nutr J. 2011;10:139. 8 Westerterp-plantenga MS. The significance of protein in food intake and body weight regulation. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2003;6(6):635-8.9 Anderson GH, Moore SE. Dietary proteins in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans. J Nutr. 2004;134(4):974S-9S 10 Baum JI, Gray M, Binns A. Breakfasts Higher in Protein Increase Postprandial Energy Expenditure, Increase Fat Oxidation, and Reduce Hunger in Overweight Children from 8 to 12 Years of Age. J Nutr. 2015;145(10):2229-35.11 Hill AM, Harris jackson KA, Roussell MA, West SG, Kris-etherton PM. Type and amount of dietary protein in the treatment of metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(4):757-70.
12 Bowen J, Noakes M, Trenerry C, Clifton PM. Energy intake, ghrelin, and cholecystokinin after different carbohydrate and protein preloads in overweight men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91(4):1477-83.13 Luhovyy BL, Akhavan T, Anderson GH. Whey proteins in the regulation of food intake and satiety. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007;26(6):704S-12S. 14 Anderson GH, Luhovyy B, Akhavan T, Panahi S. Milk proteins in the regulation of body weight, satiety, food intake and glycemia. Nestle Nutr Workshop Ser Pediatr Program. 2011;67:147-59. 15 Diepvens K, Häberer D, Westerterp-plantenga M. Different proteins and biopeptides differently affect satiety and anorexigenic/orexigenic hormones in healthy humans. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008;32(3):510-8.
Amending patients’ diet and lifestyle can help restore balance to the gut-brain axis
THE MATRIX OF THE MICROBIOME, THE GUT AND THE BRAIN — the gut-brain axis — is a new paradigm for understanding health. When the matrix is functioning well, the body and mind function well. When the matrix is out of balance, physical health issues such as arthritis, diabetes, gut issues such as IBS and IBD, food sensitivities, liver problems, inflammation, musculoskeletal disorders and autoimmune diseases can arise. Mental health suffers, and neurodegenerative disorders can develop.
The role of the vagus nerve
The vagus nerve (10th cranial nerve) is the longest of the cranial nerves. In Latin, the word “vagus” means wandering, an appropriate way to describe the path of this nerve. It runs from the brain stem to the transverse colon. Along the way, it innervates the larynx, esophagus, lungs, trachea, heart and most of the digestive tract. The brain and gut feedback and feed-forward loops are linked by the vagus nerve.
The long, convoluted pathway means the vagus is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, often called the “rest and digest” system. This is the autonomic system that helps the body conserve energy by slowing the heart rate (rest). The vagus nerve modulates digestion through the migrating motor complex and relaxes the ileocecal valve and other sphincter muscles in the gut (digest). The messages the vagus nerve transmits to the brain from the gut microbiome also impact the hypothalamus-pituitary axis, which in turn controls the neuroendocrine system, mood and the immune response.
Gut-brain axis call and response
The vagus nerve link is bidirectional. Approximately 80% of the messages sent along the vagus superhighway go from the gut to the brain; about 20% go in the other direction. What are they talking about?
Signals from the gut microbiome and from the gut itself tell the brain what’s going on down there; signals from the brain tell the gut what changes to make in response. The gut tells the brain about the production, expression and turnover of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and GABA, and growth factors such as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). The gut also reports on the production of intestinal barrier chemicals and tight junction integrity, the modulation of enteric sensory afferents, bacterial metabolites, and mucosal immune regulation. The brain responds with messages that tell the gut to alter mucus and biofilm production, motility, intestinal permeability and immune function.
For example, when vagus afferent nerve fibers within the gut detect inflammatory cytokines and other indicators, such as tumor necrosis factor, created by the gut bacteria, they pass the message to the brain. The brain responds by stimulating the production of anti-inflammatory neurotransmitters that regulate the immune response.
Gut bacteria and brain health response
Recent research confirms the idea that gut health and brain health are tightly linked. Metabolites excreted by gut bacteria are sensed by afferent nerve endings in the gut; their level is reported to the brain via the vagus nerve. Bacterial metabolites include some substances that are very similar to brain neurotransmitters such as dopamine. In other words, microbial metabolites can interact with the brain and influence behavior and feelings.
The human gut contains more than 1,000 bacteria species. Trillions of individual bacteria are in the gut, meaning the human body contains more bacteria just in the gut than cells in the entire body. The gut microbiome weighs in at about three pounds. It contains 20 million bacteria genes; the human body has only approximately 2,000. And the gut contains far more neurotransmitter chemicals than the brain itself. In fact, about 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut by enterochromaffin (EC) cells. The process is highly dependent on the presence of gut bacteria. The bacteria grow and produce metabolites within the gut that stimulate the EC cells to produce serotonin.
Gut bacteria and autism, Alzheimer’s
Gut bacteria metabolites may also be important in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. In autism, for example, gut microbiota appear to alter the immune system and metabolism. People with autism often have higher intestinal permeability and show a higher antigenic load from gut bacteria. Their gut biome bacteria are less diverse, and Candida is twice as abundant, impacting the gut-brain axis.
People with autism also have higher than usual levels of LPS (lipopolysaccharides, also known as endotoxin) in their blood. LPS is released from the outer cell walls of gram-negative bacteria when they are destroyed. LPS leads to inflammation that carries over from the digestive tract to the bloodstream. The presence of antibodies against LPS in the blood indicates that the endotoxin has infiltrated the systemic circulation through the intestinal wall — the well-known leaky gut syndrome. LPS elicits a strong immune response that may be closely related to autism symptoms.
Similarly, elevated LPS from intestinal permeability is noted in brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline, dementia and mood disorders.
Damaged gut bacteria
When the gut bacteria are damaged or out of balance, the health consequences can be severe. What causes the damage? The chief culprit is the Standard American Diet (SAD), which loads the gut with highly processed foods that are high in chemical additives, sugar, and bad fats and low in fiber.
Exposure to the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup), found throughout the modern food system, is another significant cause of damage — this chemical kills beneficial gut bacteria and damages the microvilli. Glyphosate may also break down the blood-brain barrier and allow LPS and other toxins to enter the brain. Other common culprits include antibiotics and other medications, alcohol, toxic environmental chemicals such as glyphosate pesticides, and that all-purpose gut destroyer, stress. Even healthy foods can be to blame if they contain gluten or lactose or are high in lectins (an indigestible protein found in beans and nightshade plants such as peppers).
What all this comes down to is: “Gut on fire, brain on fire.” The loop is initiated by intestinal inflammation. That leads to the production of inflammatory cytokines that cross the blood-brain barrier and activate brain microglia (the brain’s immune system), causing inflammatory degeneration. At the same time, macrophages in the intestines are also activated, leading to degeneration in the enteric nervous system. The result? An ongoing cycle of inflammatory neurodegeneration throughout the brain-gut axis. The early symptoms are subtle. There’s no pain because the brain has no pain receptors and the inner lining of the gastrointestinal mucosa contains no pain fibers. The symptoms are bloating, followed immediately by brain fog.
SIBO: small intestine bacterial overgrowth
The small intestine is a harsh environment for bacteria. Some do thrive there, but the bulk of the gut bacteria are found in the colon. Small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) happens when colon bacteria travel to the small intestine and take hold, or when the bacteria naturally found in the small intestine increase too much. SIBO symptoms include bloating and flatulence, diarrhea or constipation, abdominal pain, nausea and fatigue.
SIBO can be a complication of conditions such as diabetes, IBS and concussion, but it can also occur as a result of antibiotic use, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use, low stomach acid, decreased bile acids, and alcohol use. A low-fiber diet such as SAD slows movement in the small intestine and can lead to SIBO. Just getting older and being female are risk factors.
The excess bacteria in the small intestine can gobble up nutrients before they can be absorbed. In addition, CDTs from the harmful bacteria damage the epithelial layer, causing leaky gut from damaged tight junctions, damage to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and systemic inflammation.
Guide patients toward change
The gut-brain axis is complex and, in today’s toxic world, easily damaged. A thorough understanding of how the brain and gut are linked gives practitioners the ability to treat the damage with relative ease by guiding patients through the needed changes to diet and lifestyle. The reward? What every practitioner wants: a patient restored to vigorous physical and mental health.
Sidebar: 7 steps to restoring the balance
RESET — The first action step is to reset the diet, lifestyle and mindset of patients. The key dietary component is an anti-inflammatory diet, one that is free of GPS: gluten, processed foods and sugar. The ketogenic diet is ideal for this, or a modified Mediterranean diet that is free of GPS and DNA (dairy, nicotine and artificial sweeteners). In addition to the basic diet, adding two teaspoons of MCT oil from coconut oil is very helpful for antimicrobial and antifungal effects. Also helpful are stress reduction techniques, such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga and regular exercise.
REMOVE — Remove foods that are damaging the gut — processed foods, sugar, dairy and gluten should be removed to allow the gut to heal and inflammation to subside. At the same time, remove unwanted pathogens to restore beneficial gut bacteria and the gut-brain axis link. Serum-derived bone immunoglobulins (SBI) help prevent immune activation by binding microbes and toxins, leading to decreased inflammation and less tissue damage. Berberine HCL activates the enzyme AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase), sometimes called the body’s metabolic master switch. It is the first supplement to turn to for the patient with serious imbalance of the gut microbiome.
REPLACE — People with gut dysbiosis often need to replenish and replace digestive enzymes and stomach acid. Paradoxically, symptoms often attributed to excess stomach acid may actually be caused by low gastric acidity. To improve acidity, titrate betaine HCL with pepsin up to a warming dose. Pancreatic enzymes can be dosed with each meal to improve insufficiency. A comprehensive enzyme complex that includes amylase, papain, trypsin and lipase helps promote healthy digestive function.
REGENERATE — After the diet has been reset and the toxins removed, the damaged intestinal mucosa need help to regenerate and repair the intestinal wall. The amino acid glutamine is key to this process. Overall, glutamine protects muscle tissue and supports immune function during periods of immune and muscular stress. Other nutrients that may be helpful include omega-3 fatty acids (to improve bacterial diversity, downregulate TLR4, and attenuate the NF-kB pro-inflammatory signaling pathway). Other tools for regenerating the mucosa include curcumin, N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG), ginger, aloe vera and grass-fed collagen peptides, to name just a few.
RE-INOCULATE — In gut dysbiosis, the bacterial balance is disrupted. Re-inoculating the gut with high-quality prebiotics and probiotics can help restore beneficial bacteria and crowd out harmful bacteria. Fiber is crucial to resetting the microbiome — it is the fertilizer that makes a healthy microbiome flourish. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), found in complex soluble fiber, act as prebiotics that nurture the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon. Supplements of FOS powder containing inulin ensure regular and controlled dosing. Probiotics should be chosen for the specific beneficial bacteria in the formulation.
REINTRODUCE — When dysbiosis symptoms are reduced or gone, foods removed earlier can be gradually reintroduced. Continue to avoid GPS, DNA, fried foods and those shown by testing to cause allergic responses.
RETAIN — Retaining gains in gut integrity and overall physical and mental health is an ongoing process. Avoiding a poor diet, lack of movement and stress takes commitment and knowledge. Help your patients by educating and supporting them as they seek improved health. Going forward, gains can be retained with a daily multivitamin plus phytonutrients, vitamin D with vitamin K, omega-3 fatty acids, a quality probiotic and green drinks. Follow GPS and DNA. Regular exercise is a must.
Robert G. Silverman, DC, DACBN, DCBCN, MS, CCN, CNS, CSCS, CIISN, CKTP, CES, HKC, FAKTR, is a chiropractic doctor, clinical nutritionist, international speaker and author of Inside-Out Health: A Revolutionary Approach to Your Body, an Amazon No. 1 bestseller in 2016. The ACA Sports Council named Silverman the Sports Chiropractor of the Year in 2015. He can be contacted at drrobertsilverman.com.
REFERENCES
[1] Shilling M. et al. Antimicrobial effects of virgin coconut oil and its medium-chain fatty acids on Clostridium difficile. J Med Food. 2013 Dec;16(12):1079-85. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2012.0303.
[2] Gu L et al. Berberine ameliorates intestinal epithelial tight-junction damage and down-regulates myosin light chain kinase pathways in a mouse model of endotoxinemia. J Infect Dis. 2011 Jun 1;203(11):1602-12. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jir147
[3] Joanne Slavin. Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits. Nutrients. 2013 Apr; 5(4): 1417–1435. Published online 2013 Apr 22. doi: 10.3390/nu5041417.
Dr. Diane Harper was a leading expert responsible for the Phase II and Phase III safety and effectiveness studies which secured the approval of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines, Gardasil™ and Cervarix™. Dr. Harper also authored many of the published, scholarly papers about the vaccines. She is now the latest in a long string of experts who are pressing the red alert button on the devastating consequences and irrelevancy of these vaccines. Dr. Harper made her surprising confession at the 4th International Converence on Vaccination which took place in Reston, Virginia. Her speech, which was originally intended to promote the benefits of the vaccines, took a 180-degree turn when she chose instead to clean her conscience about the deadly vaccines so she “could sleep at night”. The following is an excerpt from a story by Sarah Cain:
“Dr. Harper explained in her presentation that the cervical cancer risk in the U.S. is already extremely low, and that vaccinations are unlikely to have any effect upon the rate of cervical cancer in the United States. In fact, 70% of all HPV infections resolve themselves without treatment in a year, and the number rises to well over 90% in two years. Harper also mentioned the safety angle. All trials of the vaccines were done on children aged 15 and above, despite them currently being marketed for 9-year-olds. So far, 15,037 girls have reported adverse side effects from Gardasil™ alone to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), and this number only reflects parents who underwent the hurdles required for reporting adverse reactions. At the time of writing, 44 girls are officially known to have died from these vaccines. The reported side effects include Guillian Barré Syndrome (paralysis lasting for years, or permanently — sometimes eventually causing suffocation), lupus, seizures, blood clots, and brain inflammation. Parents are usually not made aware of these risks. Dr. Harper, the vaccine developer, claimed that she was speaking out, so that she might finally be able to sleep at night. ‘About eight in every ten women who have been sexually active will have HPV at some stage of their life,’ Harper says. ‘Normally there are no symptoms, and in 98 per cent of cases it clears itself. But in those cases where it doesn’t, and isn’t treated, it can lead to pre-cancerous cells which may develop into cervical cancer.'”
Although these two vaccines are marketed as protection against cervical cancer, this claim is purely hypothetical. Studies have proven “there is no demonstrated relationship between the condition being vaccinated for and the rare cancers that the vaccine might prevent, but it is marketed to do that nonetheless. In fact, there is no actual evidence that the vaccine can prevent any cancer. From the manufacturers own admissions, the vaccine only works on 4 strains out of 40 for a specific venereal disease that dies on its own in a relatively short period, so the chance of it actually helping an individual is about about the same as the chance of her being struck by a meteorite.”
UPDATE #1: Since coming forward with the truth about the devastating consequences of the HPV vaccine, Dr. Harper has been victim of a relentless campaign attempting to discredit the validity of her claims. Harper was even misquoted by British tabloid The Sunday Express which printed a false story loaded with fabricated quotations attributed to Harper. In an interview with The Guardian, Harper makes it very clear about what exactly she said in order to protect herself from a potential lawsuit. In an interview with CBS NEWS, Harper clarifies her position, and once again makes it crystal clear just how devastating this vaccine can be: “If we vaccinate 11 year olds and the protection doesn’t last … we’ve put them at harm from side effects, small but real, for no benefit,” says Dr. Harper. “The benefit to public health is nothing, there is no reduction in cervical cancers, they are just postponed, unless the protection lasts for at least 15 years, and over 70% of all sexually active females of all ages are vaccinated.” She also says that enough serious side effects have been reported after Gardasil use that the vaccine could prove riskier than the cervical cancer it purports to prevent. Cervical cancer is usually entirely curable when detected early through normal Pap screenings.
“The risks of serious adverse events including death reported after Gardasil use in (the JAMA article by CDC’s Dr. Barbara Slade) were 3.4/100,000 doses distributed,” Harper tells CBS NEWS. “The rate of serious adverse events on par with the death rate of cervical cancer. Gardasil has been associated with at least as many serious adverse events as there are deaths from cervical cancer developing each year. Indeed, the risks of vaccination are underreported in Slade’s article, as they are based on a denominator of doses distributed from Merck’s warehouse. Up to a third of those doses may be in refrigerators waiting to be dispensed as the autumn onslaught of vaccine messages is sent home to parents the first day of school. Should the denominator in Dr. Slade’s work be adjusted to account for this, and then divided by three for the number of women who would receive all three doses, the incidence rate of serious adverse events increases up to five fold. How does a parent value that information,” said Harper.
“Parents and women must know that deaths occurred,” Harper tells CBS NEWS. “Not all deaths that have been reported were represented in Dr. Slade’s work, one-third of the death reports were unavailable to the CDC, leaving the parents of the deceased teenagers in despair that the CDC is ignoring the very rare but real occurrences that need not have happened if parents were given information stating that there are real, but small risks of death surrounding the administration of Gardasil.” She also worries that Merck’s aggressive marketing of the vaccine may have given women a false sense of security. “The future expectations women hold because they have received free doses of Gardasil purchased by philanthropic foundations, by public health agencies or covered by insurance is the true threat to cervical cancer in the future. Should women stop Pap screening after vaccination, the cervical cancer rate will actually increase per year. Should women believe this is preventive for all cancers — something never stated, but often inferred by many in the population — a reduction in all health care will compound our current health crisis. Should Gardasil not be effective for more than 15 years, the most costly public health experiment in cancer control will have failed miserably.” Harper notes that her concern for the vaccine’s deadly side effects applies only to women in the Western world. “Of course, in developing countries where there is no safety Pap screening for women repeatedly over their lifetimes, the risks of serious adverse events may be acceptable as the incidence rate of cervical cancer is five to 12 times higher than in the US, dwarfing the risk of death reported after Gardasil.”
UPDATE #2: THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER HAS CONFIRMED TWO VIROLOGISTS, STEPHEN KRAHLING AND JOAN WLOCHOWSKI HAVE FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST THEIR FORMER EMPLOYER AND VACCINE MANUFACTURER MERCK. NVIC WRITES: “THE LAWSUIT ALLEGES THAT MERCK DEFRAUDED THE U.S. FOR OVER 10 YEARS BY OVERSTATING THE MMR VACCINE’S EFFECTIVENESS. THE VIROLOGISTS CLAIM IN THEIR LAWSUIT THAT THEY ‘WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THE IMPROPER TESTING AND DATA FALSIFICATION IN WHICH MERCK ENGAGED TO ARTIFICIALLY INFLATE THE VACCINE’S EFFICACY FINDINGS.” NVIC PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, BARBARA LOE FISHER, WARNS OF THE DISTURBINGLY COZY RELATIONSHIP AND OVERWHELMING CONFLICT OF INTEREST BETWEEN FEDERAL AGENCIES CHARGED WITH VACCINE SAFETY OVERSIGHT (SUCH AS THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL) AND VACCINE MANUFACTURERS. MERCK’S GLOBAL VACCINE SALES TOTAL MORE THAN $20 BILLION A YEAR.
As the world’s pharmaceutical giants continue to be driven less by moral accountability and more by profit and shareholder-driven bottom lines, we are going to see more and more products such as this vaccine which are marketed as “essential to one’s survival.” While some vaccines are indeed essential, such as vaccines for polio and measles, the HPV vaccine is a new beast entirely. To learn more about how pharmaceutical giants are putting profits ahead of ethics you need to watch FRONTLINE’s terrifying new documentary “Hunting The Nightmare Bacteria.”
Sweet News: Dark Chocolate Tied to Lower Depression Risk
Eating dark chocolate may positively affect mood and relieve depressive symptoms, new research suggests.
However, at least one expert said that at this point, the findings, although intriguing, are no more than food for thought and should not change dietary habits. Using data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), investigators at University College London in the United Kngdom found that individuals who reported eating any dark chocolate in two 24-hour periods had 70% lower odds of reporting clinically relevant depressive symptoms compared to their counterparts who reported no chocolate consumption.
"This study provides some evidence that consumption of chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, may be associated with reduced odds of clinically relevant depressive symptoms," lead author Sarah E. Jackson, PhD, said in a release.
The study, she added, is the first to examine the association between depression and the type of chocolate consumed.
The study was published online July 29, 2019 in Depression and Anxiety.
Mood Enhancer
Chocolate has been widely reported to have mood-enhancing properties. Several mechanisms for a relationship between chocolate and mood have been proposed. Chocolate contains a number of psychoactive ingredients, including two analogues of anandamine, which produce effects similar to that of cannabinoid, an agent that causes feelings of euphoria from ingesting cannabis. In addition, chocolate contains several endogenous biogenic amines, as well as phenylethylamine, a neuromodulator that is believed to be important for regulating mood, the investigators note.
To learn more, the researchers analyzed NHANES survey data from 2007 to 2008 and from 2013 to 2014. The total data set included 13,626 adults. Daily chocolate consumption was determined from two 24-hour dietary recalls. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire–9. Among study participants, 7.6% who consumed no chocolate had depressive symptoms, compared to just 1.5% of persons who ate dark chocolate. The rate of depressive symptoms in persons who ate chocolate other than dark chocolate was 6.2%.
After adjusting for multiple factors, participants who reported any dark chocolate consumption had 70% lower likelihood of reporting clinically relevant depressive symptoms compared to those who did not eat any chocolate (odds ratio [OR], 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.21 – 0.72). However, the researchers found no significant link between any non–dark chocolate consumption and clinically relevant depressive symptoms.
In models that included the amount of chocolate consumed, participants who were in the highest quartile of chocolate intake (104 to 454 g/day) had 57% lower odds of depressive symptoms compared with those who reported no chocolate consumption (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.19 – 0.96), after adjusting for the type of chocolate consumed. These associations were evident after adjustment for age, marital status, level of education, annual household income, weight status, chronic conditions, leisure-time physical activity, smoking status, alcohol intake, total energy intake, and total sugar intake.
Inconsistent Findings
These observations, the investigators note, are in line with most experimental studies, which have shown benefits of chocolate consumption for mood, at least in the short term.
However, the findings are inconsistent with those of previous surveys that have shown positive associations between chocolate consumption and depressive symptoms.
"The discrepant results may be attributable to the adjustment in the present analyses for a wide range of covariates accounting for potential confounding," the investigators write.
Further research is needed to "clarify the direction of causation — it could be the case that depression causes people to lose their interest in eating chocolate, or there could be other factors that make people both less likely to eat dark chocolate and to be depressed," said Jackson.
"Should a causal relationship demonstrating a protective effect of chocolate consumption on depressive symptoms be established, the biological mechanism needs to be understood to determine the type and amount of chocolate consumption for optimal depression prevention and management," she added.
Commenting on the findings for Medscape Medical News, Michelle Riba, MD, clinical professor and associate director, University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center, Ann Arbor, told Medscape Medical News,"You wouldn't hang your hat on this study in terms of telling patients to have dark chocolate. It is not that kind of study. However, looking for adjunctive treatments and what people can do to stay healthy is important.
"The problem is, if you tell someone dark chocolate is good, likely people would eat a lot of dark chocolate and not eat their fruits and veggies. For everyone, it is important to exercise and have a good, balanced diet," added Riba.
The study had no specific funding. The authors and Riba have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
It always amazes me how much of an ego I have, especially when I watch carefully and pay close attention. And it sneaks in when I least expect it or it may be better said that it is when my guard is down.
Teaching is a great time to watch that ego and keep it in check. Sharing knowledge and skills is a wonderful gift and made so much more effective and powerful when done in a humble and open hearted manner. Feeling the need for recognition when teaching shifts the energy and disrupts the peace and ease with which things flow....or that has been my personal experience.
I have the pleasure of being able to teach a body and brain yoga and Tai Chi class on occasion and I take this responsibility very seriously. I believe it is my job to hold space for everyone to have a loving and empowering experience. I take pride (ego) in offering a good class. The last class I taught felt more disjointed and I left feeling a little disappointed in myself. Upon examination, I allowed my energy to be affected and did not keep a calm and peaceful energy. I felt like I allowed my ego to take the reigns and not my heart.
Teaching is our greatest teacher too. I learned a lot about how I handle situation and energy and how I must stay within my own power and awareness. It is not about the recognition or hearing everyone say how good you are or how well you did, it is about your own vision and what you set out to achieve. Were you humble and did you offer an experience rich in love, wanting more for everyone than for yourself. Did you let your ego go and let you soul and spirit guide you?
These are the questions I pondered and with which I searched myself. I am also keenly aware of the judgement and attachments I have to things and outcomes and watch this carefully too. I must accept that I do have an ego and that it does disrupt my energy at times. I pay attention to not having any judgement about times when my ego take me on a joy ride and when my human condition and needs and desires override my souls purpose.
After some meditation and self healing I was able to accept and forgive myself, letting go of my need for perfection and outcome. I invited everyone into my class to receive whatever they are meant to receive and that includes me. I am not attached to the outcome and I am not always going to be perfect (perfection is an illusion anyway as it is only my perception, which stems from learned behavior or a belief system I took on and is not grounded in true reality...let's not get started down that rabbit hole)
I am on this journey for the growth of my soul. I learned that I am human and that this is truly a journey of discovery and not a final destination.
