Group items tagged

A new (March 24th) report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, shows that Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer. Dr. John S. Witte, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, says that previous research has shown protection against prostate cancer, but that this is one of the first studies to show protection against advanced prostate cancer.

Add vitamin D to achieve our target serum level . . . HDL jumps to 50, 60, 70, even 90 mg/dl. The first few times this occurred, I thought it was an error or fluke. But now that I've witnessed this effect many dozens of time, I am convinced that it is real. Just today, I saw a 40-year old man whose starting HDL was 25 mg/dl increase to 87 mg/dl. Responses like this are supposed to be impossible. Before vitamin D, I had never witnessed increases of this magnitude.

True to form, Dr. John Cannell has published yet another wonderfully insightful Vitamin D Newsletter. One item caught my eye, a response to a question about the Marshall Protocol. I, like Dr. Cannell, was inundated with questions about this so-called protocol, which amounts to little more than the unfounded speculations of a non-physician, actually someone not even involved in health care. In all honesty, I blew the whole issue off after I read Dr. Marshall's rants. They smack of pure quackery, though from somebody who clearly has a command of scientific lingo. To Dr. Cannell's credit, he took the time and effort to construct a rational response in the latest issue of the newsletter. I reproduce his response here:

Why is it that vitamin D deficiency can manifest in so many different ways in different people? One big reason is something called vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotypes, the variation in the receptor for vitamin D. Why is it that the dose of vitamin D necessary to reach a specific level differs so widely from one person to the next? VDR genotype, again. Variation in blood levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D from a specific dose of vitamin D can vary three-fold, as shown by a University of Toronto study. In other words, a dose of 4000 units per day may yield a 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood level of 30 ng/ml in Mary, 60 ng/ml in Paul, and 90 ng/ml in Pete--same dose, different blood levels

Friday, January 16, 2009 The Tokelau Island Migrant Study: Weight Gain Between 1968 and 1982, Tokelauans in nearly all age groups gained weight, roughly 5 kilograms (11 pounds) on average. They also became slightly taller, but not enough to offset the gain in weight. By 1980-82, migrants to New Zealand had become especially heavy, with all age groups weighing more than non-migrants by about 5 kg (11 lb) on average, and 10 kg (22 lb) more than Tokelauans did in 1968.

In response to the Heart Scan Blog post, Post-Traumatic Grain Disorder, Anne commented: While on the American Heart Association diet my lipids peaked in 2003. I even tried the Ornish diet for a short time, but found it impossible. Total Cholesterol: 201 Triglycerides: 263 HDL: 62 LDL: 86 After I stopped eating gluten (I am very sensitive), my lipid panel improved slightly. This past year I started eating to keep my blood sugar under control by eliminating sugars and other grains. Now this is my most recent lab: Total Cholesterol: 162 Triglycerides: 80 HDL: 71 LDL: 75

It is not difficult to raise HDLs. This is observed at TYP and in clinical practice ALL THE TIME. Eliminating wheat/d*mn-dirty-GRAINS/carbs, adding some vitamin D, omega-3s, Taurine, and Slo-Niacin 1-2 grams/day. Throwing away the Mazola and any packaged food items. Oh yeah, and add some fat. Individuals may continue their EVO (but not too much b/c it cranks up hepatic lipase, see HERE) but they increase eggs 2-6 daily, add some (organic nitrate-free preferably) bacon and some coconut oil.

In 1939, Dr. Abraham Myerson measured initial levels of circulating testosterone in men and exposed their various body parts to UVB light. After five days of chest exposure sufficient to cause reddening, circulating testosterone increased by 120%. After eight days without additional UV exposure, testosterone returned to initial levels. When the genital area was exposed, testosterone levels increased by 200%!

While sterols occur naturally in small quantities in food (nuts, vegetables, oils), food manufacturers are adding them to processed foods in order to earn a "heart healthy" claim. The FDA approved a cholesterol-reducing indication for sterols , the American Heart Association recommends 200 mg per day as part of its Therapeutic Lifestyle Change diet, and WebMD gushes about the LDL-reducing benefits of sterols added to foods. Sterols--the same substance that, when absorbed to high levels into the blood in a genetic disorder called "sitosterolemia"--causes extravagant atherosclerosis in young people. The case against sterols, studies documenting its coronary disease- and valve disease-promoting effects, is building

Sleep allows an overactive adrenal to rest overnight, also allowing your melatonin to give you a good night's sleep. Cortisol and melatonin are agonists, and fight for dominance. Cortisol is a stress hormone made by the adrenal gland and melatonin is an antioxidant sleep hormone produced by the pineal gland at night, in darkness.

There is new research out this morning from South Dakota State University which offers evidence that including flax in the diet may help prevent colorectal tumors or keep tumors from growing as quickly when they do form. Professor C. Dwivedi, head of SDSU's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, directed the study. The study was conducted in mice that develop spontaneous intestinal tumors. This strain of mouse is often used as a model by cancer researchers due to this mutation.

Calorie-restricted diets are thought to protect against cancer and slow tumor growth, and a new study published in this week's Nature begins to tease out why the measure works for some tumors, and not for others. For almost a century, researchers have known that fasting helps animals live longer and avoid some cancers, "but which type of cancers would be amenable to this approach, from a therapeutic standpoint, is still an open question," said Pier Paolo Pandolfi, a cancer geneticist at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center in Boston, Mass., who was not involved in the study. The study is exciting because it is one of the first to start answering that question at the genetic level, he said.

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren't. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren't always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth," to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don't always find their way into our shopping carts. Here's his advice.

ZaidLearn is back from another non-blogging vacation (Who cares!)! Excellent point! Anyway, before I get back to my wacky 5-part learning series (in 2 weeks time!), I need to settle something urgently, and that is to compile and organize all my University learning related OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Open Educational Resources (OER) links that are scattered here and there, into one smashing post. In short, this post is about smashing all free University learning related OCW and OER resources and collections discovered into an all-in-one (sounds like shampoo!) quick-to-access/find juicy compilation. Hopefully, it will satisfy my thirst for quick access to free University learning related content. Interestingly, this post will be a dynamic one, meaning that I will continue to update (and revamp!) it as I discover, or others share ideas and recommend new oceans of free knowledge.

Weston Price established the importance of the MK-4 isoform of vitamin K2 (hereafter, K2) with a series of interesting experiments. He showed in chickens that blood levels of calcium and phosphorus depended both on vitamin A and K2, and that the two had synergistic effects on mineral absorption. He also showed that chickens preferred eating butter that was rich in K2 over butter low in K2, even when the investigators couldn't distinguish between them. Young turkeys fed K2-containing butter oil along with cod liver oil (A and D) also grew at a much faster rate than turkeys fed cod liver oil alone.

"Under year round UV exposure conditions (low latitudes, broken line, "High UV") there is no association between 25(OH)D and either prostate or pancreatic cancer. At high latitudes (Solid line, "Low UV") there is a positive association between blood levels of 25(OH)D and these cancers. The average year round levels of 25(OH)D actually tend to be higher in northern latitudes, higher than those where there is year-round solar UVB. Vieth explains that we know almost nothing about the enzymes controlling tissue 1,25(OH)2D levels and much of his discussion is extrapolated from renal enzyme activity."

"As far as I can tell, MK-4 is capable of performing all the functions of vitamin K. MK-4 can even activate blood clotting factors, which is a role traditionally ascribed to vitamin K1. Babies are often born clotting deficient, which is why we give newborns vitamin K1 injections in the U.S. to prevent hemorrhaging. In Japan, they give children MK-4 to prevent hemorrhage, an intervention that is very effective. Could that have to do with the fact that Japan has half the infant mortality rate of the U.S.? Today, I found another difference between MK-4 and MK-7. I was reading a paper about SXR-independent effects of vitamin K2 on gene expression. The investigators found that MK-4 strongly activates transcription of two specific genes in osteoblast cells. Osteoblasts are cells that create bone tissue. The genes are GDF15 and STC2 and they're involved in bone and cartilage formation. They tested K1 and MK-7, and in contrast to MK-4, they did not activate transcription of the genes in the slightest. This shows that MK-4 has effects on gene expression in bone tissue that MK-7 doesn't have. That being said, MK-7 may still have a place in a healthy diet. Just because it can't do everything MK-4 can, doesn't mean it has no role. It may be able to fill in for MK-4 in some functions, or reduce the dietary need for MK-4. But no one really knows at this point. Hunter-gatherers would have had a source of longer menaquinones, including MK-7, from livers. So it's possible that we're adapted to a modest MK-7 intake on top of MK-4. "

"A friend has emailed me the full text of Pawel Grieb's paper documenting a number of physiological parameters of medium to long term Optimal Diet (OD) eaters in Poland, as pointed out by Flo and Stan. There are a few points worth making. The biggest mistake, BTW, is that the authors claim (correctly) that the OD diet aims for >70% fat with (incorrectly) "no restriction on the type of fat (saturated or unsaturated) or cholesterol level". I think they meant that the OD does not ban saturated fats. This is of course true but the impression given is that the OD allows "healthy" fats, which are, of course, inedible. So the heavy emphasis on saturated fats is missed by the paper. A pity, anyone might be left thinking corn oil is a human food... The first positive aspect is that this is a multi author study, eleven authors from several medical centres/unversities. So it's not a one man band case report. I like that. The second is that it is remarkably positive about the findings throughout. Even the elevated LDL cholesterol levels are not taken as extreme and are not trumpeted from the rooftops as the portent of imminent cardiovascular doom. So refreshing!"

"The diet-heart hypothesis is the idea that saturated fat, and in some versions cholesterol, raises blood cholesterol and contributes to the risk of having a heart attack. To test this hypothesis, scientists have been studying the relationship between saturated fat consumption and heart attack risk for more than half a century. To judge by the grave pronouncements of our most visible experts, you would think these studies had found an association between the two. It turns out, they haven't. The fact is, the vast majority of high-quality observational studies have found no connection whatsoever between saturated fat consumption and heart attack risk. The scientific literature contains dozens of these studies, so let's narrow the field to prospective studies only, because they are considered the most reliable. In this study design, investigators find a group of initially healthy people, record information about them (in this case what they eat), and watch who gets sick over the years."

According to Dr. Willcox, Principal Investor for the Okinawa Centenarian Study that started in 1975, "Among the entire population, which takes a sparing approach to food, there is 90 percent less coronary artery disease than in the wider world, a third less incidence of cancer, and breast cancer is virtually unheard of." HERE. In long-living Okinawan and Japanese, their dietary intake as surveyed in the 1970s was higher in both protein and dietary saturated fatty acids (see below abstract) compared to their shorter-lived peers at that time. When Okinawans move away (like to Brazil) heart disease risk factors appear (see last abstract). Diet is 80-90% of our health I believe because our bodies are designed to express what is dictated by our environment and food macro- micronutrients (foraging/hunting v. lounging; fecundity v. fasting). (These are the PPAR alpha gamma and delta receptors; their role is to 'sense nutrients' and to 'sense energy demand' in order to ultimately balance our energy needs). To me, the observations from blue zones and centenarian data always seem to reinforce that the physically active, low carb mod-high fat Paleo/TYP approach is the most optimal at this time, as it was for centenarians studied in the 1970s.