Not Just a Pretty Face
The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry
By Stacy Malkan
Lead in lipstick? 1,4 dioxane in baby soap? Coal tar in shampoo? How is this possible?
Simple. The $35 billion cosmetics industry is so powerful that they've kept themselves unregulated for decades.
Not one cosmetic product has to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market. Incredible?
Consider this:
• The European Union has banned more than 1,100 chemicals from cosmetics. The United States has banned just 10.
• Only 11% of chemicals used in cosmetics in the US have been assessed for health and safety – leaving a staggering 89% with unknown or undisclosed effects.
• More than 70% of all personal care products may contain phthalates, which are linked to birth defects and infertility.
• Many baby soaps are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4 dioxane.
It's not just women who are affected by this chemists' brew. Shampoo, deodorant, face lotion and other products used daily by men, women and children contain hazardous chemicals that the industry claims are "within acceptable limits." But there's nothing acceptable about daily multiple exposures to carcinogenic chemicals — from products that are supposed to make us feel healthy and beautiful.
Not Just a Pretty Face delves deeply into the dark side of the beauty industry, and looks to hopeful solutions for a healthier future. This scathing investigation peels away less-than-lovely layers to expose an industry in dire need of an extreme makeover.
15 percent of the purchase price of each book sold benefits the national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, administered by the Breast Cancer Fund, through December 31, 2012.
About the Contributor(s)
Stacy Malkan is Communications Director of Health Care Without Harm and media strategist for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition working to eliminate hazardous chemicals from personal care products. Stacy is a former journalist and newspaper publisher who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Lifestyle Therapy Proven Effective in Chronic Disease Prevention
by John Phillip
Lifestyle therapies that include proper nutrition, stress management, regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy body weight are key elements in the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke and dementia are all strongly influenced by fine tuning diet with plenty of raw organic foods and taking advantage of regular moderate physical activity. Once referred to as alternative medicine, health conscious individuals now embrace a natural lifestyle approach to health maintenance. Important research confirms that following four simple behavior patterns can help prevent chronic disease development and progression by more than 90%.
Lifestyle Therapy Proven Effective in Chronic Disease Prevention
Health minded individuals are opting for lifestyle interventions to control chronic disease. Big Pharma alternatives promote existing disease, and they all have side effects that can be more severe than the symptoms they are supposed to mask. The results of the EPIC study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine show that adherence to four simple lifestyle pillars can dramatically lower the risk from virtually every major chronic illness.
This significant study followed 23,000 people for nearly 8 years and examined smoking behavior, food consumption, exercise and maintenance of a healthy weight. The researchers found that those participants who didn`t smoke, consumed a diet high in fresh vegetables and low in meat, exercised at least 3.5 hours per week and maintained a normal weight (BMI less than 30) reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 93%. Heart attack risk was reduced by 81%; stroke risk was cut in half and 36% of all cancers were prevented. Allopathic interventions only perpetuate chronic disease and are ineffective at reducing disease risk.
Traditional Allopathic Statin Therapy Increases Diabetes Risk
Many traditional physicians hand out statins as if they were candy and some even joke that this Big Pharma sanctioned form of poisoning should be added to our public water supply. Statins are known to cause a wide variety of side effects. Muscle deterioration and cognitive decline are two of the most commonly reported detrimental effects that result from the unnatural suppression of cholesterol from long term statin therapy.
The results of research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association show how using a dietary approach including fiber, almonds and natural plant sterols can lower cholesterol as much as dangerous statins. Another side effect of statin therapy is increased levels of insulin. Following a natural diet protocol does not raise insulin and has been shown to lower blood pressure, increase HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides and alter the ratio of atherogenic dense LDL particles toward the harmless large buoyant variety.
American Life Expectancy Drops, Lifestyle Therapies Needed
Americans have enjoyed a steady increase in life expectancy over the past century. A report from the CDC now indicates that this trend may have finally come to an end as more people suffer the effects of poor diet, decreased physical fitness and obesity. Despite a never ending supply of pharmaceuticals prescribed by medical professionals, lifestyle disease such as Alzheimer`s, kidney disease and hypertension experienced a marked increase. Following a natural lifestyle approach as detailed in the EPIC study would dramatically increase life expectancy.
The importance of following a natural lifestyle cannot be underestimated and is a powerful tool to prevent chronic disease. Pharmaceuticals such as statins are ineffective and are known to affect insulin levels that can lead to the development of diabetes. Lifestyle therapies have been repeatedly shown to cut disease risk and extend healthy lifespan.
Article References:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/29...
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/co...
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/n...
About the author
John Phillip is a Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal.
Lifestyle therapies that include proper nutrition, stress management, regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy body weight are key elements in the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke and dementia are all strongly influenced by fine tuning diet with plenty of raw organic foods and taking advantage of regular moderate physical activity. Once referred to as alternative medicine, health conscious individuals now embrace a natural lifestyle approach to health maintenance. Important research confirms that following four simple behavior patterns can help prevent chronic disease development and progression by more than 90%.
Lifestyle Therapy Proven Effective in Chronic Disease Prevention
Health minded individuals are opting for lifestyle interventions to control chronic disease. Big Pharma alternatives promote existing disease, and they all have side effects that can be more severe than the symptoms they are supposed to mask. The results of the EPIC study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine show that adherence to four simple lifestyle pillars can dramatically lower the risk from virtually every major chronic illness.
This significant study followed 23,000 people for nearly 8 years and examined smoking behavior, food consumption, exercise and maintenance of a healthy weight. The researchers found that those participants who didn`t smoke, consumed a diet high in fresh vegetables and low in meat, exercised at least 3.5 hours per week and maintained a normal weight (BMI less than 30) reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 93%. Heart attack risk was reduced by 81%; stroke risk was cut in half and 36% of all cancers were prevented. Allopathic interventions only perpetuate chronic disease and are ineffective at reducing disease risk.
Traditional Allopathic Statin Therapy Increases Diabetes Risk
Many traditional physicians hand out statins as if they were candy and some even joke that this Big Pharma sanctioned form of poisoning should be added to our public water supply. Statins are known to cause a wide variety of side effects. Muscle deterioration and cognitive decline are two of the most commonly reported detrimental effects that result from the unnatural suppression of cholesterol from long term statin therapy.
The results of research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association show how using a dietary approach including fiber, almonds and natural plant sterols can lower cholesterol as much as dangerous statins. Another side effect of statin therapy is increased levels of insulin. Following a natural diet protocol does not raise insulin and has been shown to lower blood pressure, increase HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides and alter the ratio of atherogenic dense LDL particles toward the harmless large buoyant variety.
American Life Expectancy Drops, Lifestyle Therapies Needed
Americans have enjoyed a steady increase in life expectancy over the past century. A report from the CDC now indicates that this trend may have finally come to an end as more people suffer the effects of poor diet, decreased physical fitness and obesity. Despite a never ending supply of pharmaceuticals prescribed by medical professionals, lifestyle disease such as Alzheimer`s, kidney disease and hypertension experienced a marked increase. Following a natural lifestyle approach as detailed in the EPIC study would dramatically increase life expectancy.
The importance of following a natural lifestyle cannot be underestimated and is a powerful tool to prevent chronic disease. Pharmaceuticals such as statins are ineffective and are known to affect insulin levels that can lead to the development of diabetes. Lifestyle therapies have been repeatedly shown to cut disease risk and extend healthy lifespan.
Article References:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/29...
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/co...
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/n...
About the author
John Phillip is a Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal.
Monday, May 23, 2011
WHAT IF THERE WAS A CURE FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND NO ONE KNEW?
A Case Study by Dr. Mary Newport July 22, 2008
There is a growing epidemic of obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and predictions that 15,000,000 people in the United States alone will have Alzheimer’s Disease by the year 2050.
In 2001, Dr. Richard L. Veech of the NIH, and others, published an article entitled, “Ketone bodies, potential therapeutic uses.”1 In 2003, George F. Cahill, Jr. and Richard Veech authored, “Ketoacids? Good Medicine?”2 and in 2004, Richard Veech published a review of the therapeutic implications of ketone bodies.3 These articles are not found in journals that the average physician would read, much less the lay public. Unless you are researching the topic, it is unlikely that you would ever randomly come across this information.
My husband Steve, age 58, has had progressive dementia for at least five years. He had an MRI in May 2008 showing a diffuse involutional change of the frontal and parietal lobes and moderate left-sided and severe right-sided amygdala and hippocampal atrophy with no ischemic change, which would support a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. For non-medical people, this means that he has shrunken areas of the brain. Many days, often for several days in a row, he was in a fog; couldn’t find a spoon or remember how to get water out of the refrigerator. Some days were not so bad; he almost seemed like his former self, happy, with his unique sense of humor, creative, full of ideas. One day I would ask if a certain call came that I was expecting and he would say, “No.” Two days later he would remember the message from so-and-so from a couple of days earlier and what they said. Strange to have no short-term memory and yet the information was filed somewhere in his brain. My gut feeling is that diet has something to do with the fluctuation, but what. I knew that he was locked up in there somewhere, if only there was a key to open up the areas of his brain that he didn’t have access to.
Steve has a BSBA in accounting, and did billing, bookkeeping and accounting for my neonatology practice from home, so that he could stay with our girls. He loved computers and was a fast typist. He could open computers up to repair them and fix practically anything else without ever having instruction. If he did not have a tool to do something he would “invent” it and make a usable prototype. He loved to kayak and made an attachment to keep his kayak moving in a straight line. About five years ago he began to have trouble organizing to do his accounting work. He would procrastinate as much as possible. He made mistakes with the payroll and I began to sit with him to help him get it right. I thought it was just that our practice had gotten more complicated with more employees. He knew that something was wrong and depression set in. We took him to a neurologist about 4 years ago, who did a Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE,) and Steve scored a 23 out of 30, putting him into the mild range of dementia. On this test, the lower the score is, the worse the dementia. His MRI was reported as normal at that time.
About three years ago, Steve started taking Aricept and two years ago Namenda. We were hopeful that, if we could slow his decline enough, a treatment would come along that would turn things around for him. He was changed over from Aricept to Exelon in August 2007 after losing ten pounds over several weeks. In the past 12 months there was a noticeable change. He can no longer cook for himself, remember to eat a good meal, use a calculator or even perform the simplest addition, however he still keeps busy all day working in the yard or in his garage and he is still in good physical condition. I now do all the cooking for a man who used to cook for his family regularly. I give him the medications because he can’t remember to take them, much less take the right pills. Every night, we hold each other before we go to sleep and I wonder how many more times we will get to do this. It has been a nightmare to watch his decline and feel helpless to do anything but watch it happen. He is fully aware of his dementia, and we talk about it frequently. He is no longer depressed, probably with the help of counseling, Lexipro and Wellbutrin, or maybe worsening of his disease.
I subscribe to various alerts and check the website www.clinicaltrials.gov periodically to look for drug studies that he may qualify for. Two years ago we tried to get him into a study for a promising anti-inflammatory drug, Flurizan, but he did not qualify because he had a history of depression within the previous two years. Wouldn’t you be depressed if you knew you had Alzheimer’s? In fact, depression may be a symptom or precursor of Alzheimer’s.
Until very recently, I didn’t see anything regarding the potential use of medium chain triglycerides (MCT oil), or ketone bodies (also called ketoacids,) the end product of their metabolism, which may not only treat, but also prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Further, this is a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), drug resistant epilepsy, brittle type I diabetes, and diabetes type II, where there is insulin resistance. Ketone bodies may help the brain recover after a loss of oxygen in newborns through adults, may help the heart recover after an acute attack, and may shrink cancerous tumors. Children with drug resistant epilepsy sometimes respond to an extremely low carbohydrate ketogenic diet. MCT oil appears to be useful as an aid in weight loss and body builders use it already to improve their lean body mass (MCT oil can be easily purchased on the internet.) Athletes and soldiers could use MCT oil as a source of fuel when the body runs out of carbohydrates, which occurs rather quickly when food is not readily available.
What do these entities have in common? Our cells can use ketone bodies as an alternative fuel when glucose is not available. Brain cells, specifically neurons, are very limited, more limited than other cells, in what kinds of fuel they can use to function and to stay alive. Normally, they require glucose (sugar), but they can also use ketone bodies. Humans do not normally have ketone bodies circulating and available to the brain unless they have been starving for a couple of days or longer, or are consuming a ketogenic (very low carbohydrate) diet, such as Atkins. In Alzheimer’s disease, the neurons in certain areas of the brain are unable to take in glucose4, 5 due to insulin resistance and slowly die off, a process that appears to happen one or more decades before the symptoms become apparent. If these cells had access to ketone bodies, they could potentially stay alive and continue to function. It appears that persons with Parkinson’s disease,6 Huntington’s disease, 7 multiple need to take 35 grams or just over two tablespoons (about 35 ml or 7 level teaspoons) of coconut oil. The following morning, around 9 A.M., I made oatmeal for breakfast and stirred two tablespoons, plus more for “good luck,” into his portion. I had some as well, since I cannot expect him to eat something that I won’t eat.
On the way to the 1:00 P.M. screening, I tried to prepare Steve by asking him the season, the month, the day of the week, reminding him that we were going to Tampa, in Hillsborough county. He couldn’t remember the word “spring,” came up with April instead of May for the month every time I asked him and he couldn’t remember it was Wednesday. During the hour-long drive, we went through these facts at least 10 times, but he still couldn’t remember. Shortly after we arrived he was whisked away for the test, about 4 ½ hours after consuming the coconut oil. When he returned, he was very unhappy about his performance. Laura, the research coordinator, returned shortly thereafter and began to take his vital signs and blood pressure, and, suspecting that we were continuing with the screening process, I asked her if she could share his score with us. She said, “Didn’t he tell you? He scored an 18!” more than he needed to qualify for the vaccine study. He remembered it was spring, it was May, it was Wednesday, that he was in Tampa, in Hillsborough county and that we were at the Byrd Institute, all points that he missed on the previous attempt at USF. As a result of the screening, we learned that he is positive for APOE4, but do not know at this time if he has one or two copies.
According to the Ketasyn studies, Steve should not have improved, but rather he should have stayed about the same. Since then he has retested for the Eli Lilly study drug, now available closer to home and scored an MMSE of 17 - he even remembered the date of July 2, 2008 this time. We have decided, after looking at the potential side effects of the vaccine for APOE4+ people, to go with the Eli Lilly drug.
At the time of this writing it has been 60 days since he started taking coconut oil (May 21, 2008.) He walks into the kitchen every morning alert and happy, talkative, making jokes. His gait is still a little weird. His tremor is no longer very noticeable. He is able to concentrate on things that he wants to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distractible and rarely accomplished anything unless I supervised him directly, a source of some contention between us!
After about two weeks, and again at 37 days, after starting the coconut oil, I asked him to draw a clock (see Clocks #2 and #3.) There is an obvious marked improvement. I promise that I did not help him. He tells me that he could not even picture a clock at the St. Pete screening, but with the last two attempts, he was very concerned that the 6 was opposite the 12 and the 9 opposite the 3 on the face of the clock. He drew “spokes” to
and ALS9 have a similar defect in utilizing glucose but in different areas of the brain or spinal cord.
MCT oil is digested differently by the body than other fats. Instead of storing all MCTs as fat, the liver converts them directly to ketone bodies, which are then available for use as energy. Oral and intravenous administration of MCT oil produces hyperketonemia, 10 or circulating ketone bodies, which are then available to the brain for energy, in the absence of glucose19 and even in the presence of glucose.22 In addition, hyperketonemia results in a substantial (39%) increase in cerebral blood flow, 18 and appears to reduce cognitive dysfunction associated with systemic hypoglycemia in normal humans. 19
About 2 months ago, we took Steve to the Johnny B. Byrd, Jr. Alzheimer’s Institute at University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida for an annual evaluation and screening for a vaccine study (Elan.) He was fasting for blood work and had an MMSE of 12, much too low to qualify for the vaccine study – a minimum score of 16 was required. We were very disappointed, but were advised that we could come back another time to try again, since he met all of the other criteria.
We made an appointment in mid-May 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida to screen Steve for an Eli Lilly gamma-secretase inhibitor and made another appointment for Steve to be screened for entry into the Elan study at USF the following day. The evening before the first screening in St. Pete, I researched the two drugs to help us decide which drug to choose, should he qualify for both studies. I came across another drug, Ketasyn, or AC-1202, that was also recruiting healthy older people to test the tolerability of three different formulations. Investigating further, I learned that this treatment brought about significant improvement over a 90-day period in about half of the subjects who had a certain genetic profile (APOE2 or APOE3.) The APOE4 group remained about the same, whereas the controls (people taking the placebo) continued to show decline. The results were even more impressive for people who were already taking certain Alzheimer’s medications. In a pilot study, some people improved on memory testing with the very first dose. Upon doing an internet search for Ketasyn, I found a January 2008 patent application (see www.freepatentsonline.com ,)10 a continuation of a 2000 application, 75 pages long, with a well-written and thorough description of the science of Alzheimer’s disease and description of the “invention,” including these study results and numerous potential formulations in combination with other substances that may enhance its effect.
I learned that the promising “ingredient” in Ketasyn is simply MCT oil, and that a dose of 20 grams (about 20 ml or 4 teaspoons) was used to produce these results. The MCT oil that these researchers used was obtained from Stepan Company and consists of primarily 6 and 8 carbon chains, however they state that MCT of any combination of medium chains (6 to 12 carbon chains are medium chain) would also be effective. Just once in this application, the author mentions that MCT oil is derived from coconut or palm oil (this is incorrect, the author should have stated palm kernel oil.)
I didn’t know at that point that I could easily purchase MCT oil online, so I researched coconut oil and found out that coconut oil is about 60% medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), contains no cholesterol and also contains omega-6 fatty acids and some other short and long chain fatty acids of up to 18 carbon chains. 11 Coconut oil can be found in many health food stores and even some grocery stores. Wal-Mart sells a non-hydrogenated (no transfat) brand of coconut oil in a one-liter size (almost 32 ounce containers) for about $7 in our area of Florida. It can be purchased in quantities as small as a pint and up to five gallons online. It is important to use coconut oil that is non-hydrogenated and contains no transfat. There is a widely held misconception that coconut oil is the “artery clogging oil,” a term coined in the mid-1900’s by the president of Proctor and Gamble, the manufacturer of Crisco and other hydrogenated vegetable oils. The early studies in animals used hydrogenated coconut oil, which we now know produces the notorious trans-fats, and the essential fatty acids were excluded from the diet. 13
The largest producer of coconut oil is the Philippines, where coconut and its oil are food staples, and it is also produced in India, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, the Caribbean islands and even in south Florida. The Philippines has one of the lowest incidences of cardiovascular disease in the world. Studies have shown that total cholesterol to HDL ratio improves with non-hydrogenated coconut oil.14, 15, 16, 17 The people in this part of the world also eat fish regularly, providing them with omega-3 fatty acids, which probably contributes as well to the lack of cardiovascular disease. My nurse friends from the Philippines tell me that many of their relatives back home cook everything in coconut oil and have coconut in one form or another at nearly every meal.
I have also learned that after coconut and palm kernel oil, the food that medium chain triglycerides are most concentrated in is human breast milk. 12 It is also found in smaller concentrations in goat and cow’s milk, as well as the butters from these milks. In fact, we used to add MCT oil 20-25 years ago to premature formulas to add calories, and MCT, coconut and palm oils are currently added to premature and full term infant formulas, along with ARA and DHA to mimic breast milk.
Back to Steve, it was too late to find coconut oil before the first screening. On the way, I reminded him repeatedly that we were in St. Petersburg, in Pinellas County. On the MMSE, he remembered the city but not the county, and he couldn’t remember the season, the month or day of the week, much less the date, even though he had to initial and date numerous pages of consent forms before the MMSE. He had to be reminded on every single page where to initial and what the date was and even how to write out the date. He scored a 14, too low for entry into the study. Dr. Margarita Nunez spent considerable time with us and asked Steve to draw a clock (see clock #1), which she said was a specific test for Alzheimer’s. She took me aside and told me that his “clock” indicated he was leaning more towards severe than moderate AD, a devastating, but not surprising revelation to me, considering that I am his wife of 36 years and now his caretaker.
Thinking, what have we got to lose, we stopped at a health food store on the way home and picked up a quart of 100% “virgin” coconut oil. I calculated that in order to provide 20 gm of MCT, he would help them line up. I did not ask him to try to put in a time, the next part of that test.
Steve has not been able to type for at least two years, but he feels that he can picture the position of the letters on the keyboard. At this point he is afraid to sit down and try to type, worried that he will be discouraged if it doesn’t come back right away. We are considering trying occupational therapy to see if he can relearn some of the skills he has lost. I cannot explain why he has improved, except that perhaps the 10 and 12 carbon chains are important, or the APOE4 people in the Ketasyn studies were not taking omega-3 fatty acids. We eat salmon at least twice a week and take fish oil supplements twice a day and have for at least the past two years.
I have been researching on the internet everything I can find about coconut oil, MCT oil, fatty acids, ketone bodies, fatty acid composition of breast milk, ketones and various disease states. When I researched ketone bodies, I came across the name of Dr. Richard Veech of the National Institutes of Health. I contacted him to ask questions about all of this and he very kindly spoke with me and emailed me articles he had written on the subject. I have had numerous questions and ideas, and he has continued to provide me with answers and more papers to read. I am thinking not only about people with neurodegenerative diseases like my husband, but also the sick and premature newborns that I take care of, and potential uses for those at both ends of the spectrum of life and everyone in between. I wonder about autism and whether something very important is missing in infant formulas and in the diets of women who are breastfeeding. 23
Beta-hydroxybutyrate is the primary ketone body that is the end product of fatty acid metabolism and appears to protect neurons when glucose is not available. 20 Dr. Veech can make an ester form of beta-hydroxybutyrate in his lab from MCT oil that can be taken orally and converted to energy by neurons and other cells. Potentially, higher levels of ketone bodies could be obtained by ingesting beta-hydroxybutyrate directly. He has done studies on animals, but needs to produce this in quantity to be able to do human studies. He could start testing this year, if only he had the funding. He needs $15 million to build a plant to produce his beta-hydroxybutyrate. That is a lot of money, but not so much if you consider that it is $1.00 for every person that is expected to have Alzheimer’s disease by the year 2050.
We visited Cincinnati at the end of June and all of my family and Steve’s family noticed a very significant difference in how he interacted with them socially compared to a year ago. Instead of looking lost, he was involved and interested in what they had to say. He recognized relatives (brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews) by name immediately that were unfamiliar to him a year ago. His facial expression was more animated. He participated actively in conversations, understood jokes immediately and even came up with his own humorous comments. He still had difficulty finding some words, but he was talking in sentences and even stringing sentences together. In the morning he would come to the kitchen and ask me to walk the “big hill” with him before breakfast to get some exercise. He is a very different person than he was a year ago and perhaps even two or three years ago. He has serious atrophy of his brain and will never be “normal,” but for now we are very pleased with where he is at and, should coconut oil stop or slow down the progress of his disease, it will be worth every drop that he takes.
My sister Lois told a lady she works with about the coconut oil and Steve’s response to it. Her father began to give this to her mother, who has Alzheimer’s and she has had a similar response, with more alertness, conversation and sense of humor.
On July 9, 2008, Steve had blood samples drawn at various times before and following breakfast and dinner. He received 35 ml of coconut oil at each of those meals. He did not receive any other coconut oil or other coconut products during the rest of that day. Normally, he receives more coconut oil than that on the average day. Steve’s ketone body levels began to increase after breakfast over 3 hours, but at relatively low levels, dropped again before dinner and were steadily rising about 3 hours after dinner. We do not know when his levels peaked because we did not draw any further levels thereafter. Dr. Veech stated that it is surprising that Steve would improve with these relatively low levels of ketones. This study reaffirms his belief that it is necessary to go forward with the production and testing of his ketone body b-hydroxy butyrate esters, since considerably higher levels of ketone bodies, timed and controlled could be achieved, and more ketones would be available for the neurons to use, and therefore greater improvement could be expected.
It is urgent that funding become available to move forward for the sake of the millions who currently suffer, and will in the future suffer, from Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, multiple sclerosis, ALS, type I and type II diabetes, as well as any number of other conditions that involve a defect in transport of glucose into neurons and other cells.
Until Dr. Veech’s beta-hydroxybutyrate is tested and available for use, a simple dietary change to coconut oil could make a difference for people who believe they are at risk and for those who already have one of these diseases.
To duplicate the dose of MCT taken in the Ketasyn study, about 7 level teaspoons should be taken at one time, once a day, which should circulate ketone bodies for about 24 hours. I do not know if it is necessary to take this much at one time or if the dosage could be spread out over the course of the day. Studies obviously need to be done to determine this. We actually give this amount to Steve at least twice a day to make sure that there are no periods without ketone bodies circulating. Many days he receives at least 50% more than this. The amounts we are taking would not be excessive in areas of the world where coconut is a staple. If a person can tolerate more, or can work up to tolerating more, it may be a good idea to do so. As an alternative, one could take 4 teaspoons of MCT oil once or twice a day, or more often as tolerated.
Some people may experience a sense of “fullness” or even have diarrhea after taking this much to start, but this problem can be reduced by starting with one or two teaspoons and increasing over a week or so to the full amount. We put it in oatmeal, combine it with salad dressings, use it to cook with, and put it on anything that one would normally put butter on, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, pasta or noodles. Coconut ice cream can be purchased at Asian stores, contains coconut oil and is the most pleasant way I can think of to make ketone bodies. Likewise, coconut milk is a combination of coconut oil and coconut water and can be found in the Asian and condensed milk sections of many grocery stores. It is a pleasant substitute for milk, and can be added instead of milk, for example, to make scrambled eggs, French toast,
Clock #2 - Two weeks after starting coconut oil.
Clock #3 - Thirty-seven days after starting coconut oil.
Clock #1 - The day before starting coconut oil.
and mashed potatoes. You can figure out portion sizes of various combinations of foods containing coconut and coconut oil equivalent to at least 35 grams of fat from coconut oil.
If you are using any type of hydrogenated vegetable oil or any oil with transfat, do not use any more and get rid of it! Extra virgin olive oil, butter and other natural, non-hydrogenated oils are okay to use along with the coconut oil. It is possible to use coconut oil in place of all other oils, however, since it contains no omega-3 fatty acids, it is very important to eat salmon twice a week or get enough omega-3 fatty acid from other rich sources such as fish oil capsules, flax meal, flax oil (not for cooking) or walnuts.
It is inconceivable that a potential dietary prevention and cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases, has been out there for so many years, and yet has gone unnoticed. It is very likely that these diseases are becoming more prevalent due our current diet. The American diet has changed drastically from what it was before the 1950’s, when our parents and grandparents used lard and coconut oil to cook. Cardiovascular disease was rare at the beginning of the 20th century, and has skyrocketed, along with other devastating diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes type II, obesity, since mass produced hydrogenated vegetable oils containing trans fats were introduced into our diets and replaced these other natural fats. Sadly, the incidences of cardiovascular and other serious diseases are becoming more and more common among people in other areas of the world who have changed over from their indigenous foods to the “western” diet.
I plan to tell everyone I can and get this information to persons in positions to investigate this with the hope that Dr. Veech and other MCT oil and ketone body researchers get the funding they need. Feel free to make copies and pass this write-up on.
If you have a loved one or a patient with Alzheimer’s or one of these other degenerative neurologic diseases, consider trying coconut oil.
Dr. Veech suggests that, if possible, a videotape of the person before starting and at various points after starting the coconut oil would be very useful to document change. He suggests including segments of the persons face, speech and gait (walking).
He also advises to have ketone bodies measured. What have you got to lose?
Coconut oil and MCT oil websites:
www.coconutoilresearch.com
www.nutiva.com • www.amazon.com
www.tropicaltraditions.com
www.oilsbynature.com
www.cheapvitamins.com
Palm kernel oil website:
www.oilsbynature.com
Coconut oil and coconut milk are also available at most health food stores and many grocery stores.
References:
1. “Ketone bodies, potential therapeutic uses,” RL Veech, B Chance, Y Kashiwaya, HA Lardy, GC Cahill, Jr., IUBMB Life, 2001, Vol. 51 No.4, 241-247
2. “Ketoacids? Good Medicine?” George F. Cahill, Jr., Richard L. Veech, Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association,
Vol. 114, 2003.
3. “The therapaeutic implications of ketone bodies: the effects of ketone bodies in pathological conditions: ketosis, ketogenic diet, redox states, insulin resistance, and mitochondrial metabolism,” Richard L. Veech, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, 70 (2004) 309-319.
4. “Diminished glucose transport and phosphorylation in Alzheimer’s Disease determined by dynamic FDG-PET,” M Piert, et.al., The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol.37 No.2, February 1996, 201-208.
5. “Glucose metabolism in early onset versus late onset Alzheimer’s Disease: an SPM analysis of 120 patients,” EJ Kim, et. al., Brain, 2005,
Vol. 128, 1790-1801.
6. “Cerebral glucose metabolism in Parkinson’s disease with and without dementia,” RF Peppard, et.al., Archives of Neurology, Vol. 49 No.12,
December 1992.
7. “Cortical and subcortical glucose consumption measured by PET in patients with Huntington’s disease,” Brain, October 1990, Vol 113, part 5, 1405-23.
8. “Reduced glucose metabolism in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia of multiple sclerosis patients with fatigue: a 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography study,” U Roelcke, et. al., Neurology, 1997, Vol. 48, Issue 6, 1566-1571.
9. “ALS-linked Cu/Zn-SOD mutation impairs cerebral synaptic glucose and glutamate transport and exacerbates ischemic brain injury,” Z Guo, et. al., Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow Metabolism, March 2000, Vol. 20 No. 3, 463-8.
10. “Combinations of medium chain triglycerides and therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases resulting from reduced neuronal metabolism,” United States Patent 20080009467, Inventor Samuel T. Henderson, Accera, Inc., Broomfield,
Colorado (Ketasyn).
11. Nutrient analysis of coconut oil (vegetable), NDB No: 04047 – www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp .
12. “Lipids in (human) milk and the first steps in their digestion,” M Hamosh, et. al., Pediatrics, 1985, Vol. 75, 146-150.
13. “Nutritional factors and serum lipid levels,” EH Ahrens, American Journal of Medicine, 1957, vol. 23, 928 (used hydrogenated coconut oil).
14. “Trans fatty acids and coronary artery disease,” NEJM, 1999, Vol. 340, 1994-1998.
15. “Effect of mixed fat formula feeding on serum cholesterol level in man,” SA Hashim, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1959, Vol. 7, 30-34.
16. “Modified-fat dietary management of the young male with coronary disease: a five-year report,” JL Bierenbaum, JAMA, 1967, Vol. 202, 1119-1123.
17. “Cholesterol, coconuts and diet in Polynesian atolls-a natural experiment; the Pukapuka and Toklau island studies,” IA Prior, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1981, Vol. 34, 1552-1561.
18. “Changes in cerebral blood flow and carbohydrate metabolism during acute hyperketonemia,” S.G. Hasselbalch, et.al, Am J Physiol, 1996,
Vol. 270, E746-51.
19. “Effect of hyperketonemia and hyperlacticacidemia on symptoms, cognitive dysfunction, and counterregulatory hormone responses during hypoglycemia in normal humans,” T. Veneman, et. al., Diabetes 43:1311-7 (1994).
20. “D-b-Hydroxybutyrate protects neurons in models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” Y Kashiwaya, et. al. including RL Veech, PNAS, May 9, 2000, Vol. 97 No. 10, 5440-5444.
21. “High carbohydrate diets and Alzheimer’s disease,” Samuel T. Henderson, Medical Hypotheses, 2004, Vol 62, 689-700 (Another article of interest).
22. “Effects of b-Hydroxybutyrate on cognition in memory-impaired adults,” MA Reger, ST Henderson, et. al., Neurobiology of Aging, 2004,
Vol. 25, 311-314.
23. “Breastfeeding, infant formula supplementation, and Autistic Disorder: the results of a parent survey,” ST Schultz, et. al., International Breastfeeding Journal, 2006, Vol. 1 No. 16.
Other Important Resources
“Ketones: Metabolism’s Ugly Duckling,” TB VanItallie, TH Nufert, Nutrition Reviews, Vol 61, No 10, 327-341.
“Fuel Metabolism in Starvation,” GF Cahill, Jr., Annual Reviews in Nutrition, 2006, 26:1-22.
“Ketone Bodies as a Therapeutic for Alzheimer’s Disease,” ST Henderson, Journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics,
Vol 5, 470-480, July 2008.
There is a growing epidemic of obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and predictions that 15,000,000 people in the United States alone will have Alzheimer’s Disease by the year 2050.
In 2001, Dr. Richard L. Veech of the NIH, and others, published an article entitled, “Ketone bodies, potential therapeutic uses.”1 In 2003, George F. Cahill, Jr. and Richard Veech authored, “Ketoacids? Good Medicine?”2 and in 2004, Richard Veech published a review of the therapeutic implications of ketone bodies.3 These articles are not found in journals that the average physician would read, much less the lay public. Unless you are researching the topic, it is unlikely that you would ever randomly come across this information.
My husband Steve, age 58, has had progressive dementia for at least five years. He had an MRI in May 2008 showing a diffuse involutional change of the frontal and parietal lobes and moderate left-sided and severe right-sided amygdala and hippocampal atrophy with no ischemic change, which would support a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. For non-medical people, this means that he has shrunken areas of the brain. Many days, often for several days in a row, he was in a fog; couldn’t find a spoon or remember how to get water out of the refrigerator. Some days were not so bad; he almost seemed like his former self, happy, with his unique sense of humor, creative, full of ideas. One day I would ask if a certain call came that I was expecting and he would say, “No.” Two days later he would remember the message from so-and-so from a couple of days earlier and what they said. Strange to have no short-term memory and yet the information was filed somewhere in his brain. My gut feeling is that diet has something to do with the fluctuation, but what. I knew that he was locked up in there somewhere, if only there was a key to open up the areas of his brain that he didn’t have access to.
Steve has a BSBA in accounting, and did billing, bookkeeping and accounting for my neonatology practice from home, so that he could stay with our girls. He loved computers and was a fast typist. He could open computers up to repair them and fix practically anything else without ever having instruction. If he did not have a tool to do something he would “invent” it and make a usable prototype. He loved to kayak and made an attachment to keep his kayak moving in a straight line. About five years ago he began to have trouble organizing to do his accounting work. He would procrastinate as much as possible. He made mistakes with the payroll and I began to sit with him to help him get it right. I thought it was just that our practice had gotten more complicated with more employees. He knew that something was wrong and depression set in. We took him to a neurologist about 4 years ago, who did a Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE,) and Steve scored a 23 out of 30, putting him into the mild range of dementia. On this test, the lower the score is, the worse the dementia. His MRI was reported as normal at that time.
About three years ago, Steve started taking Aricept and two years ago Namenda. We were hopeful that, if we could slow his decline enough, a treatment would come along that would turn things around for him. He was changed over from Aricept to Exelon in August 2007 after losing ten pounds over several weeks. In the past 12 months there was a noticeable change. He can no longer cook for himself, remember to eat a good meal, use a calculator or even perform the simplest addition, however he still keeps busy all day working in the yard or in his garage and he is still in good physical condition. I now do all the cooking for a man who used to cook for his family regularly. I give him the medications because he can’t remember to take them, much less take the right pills. Every night, we hold each other before we go to sleep and I wonder how many more times we will get to do this. It has been a nightmare to watch his decline and feel helpless to do anything but watch it happen. He is fully aware of his dementia, and we talk about it frequently. He is no longer depressed, probably with the help of counseling, Lexipro and Wellbutrin, or maybe worsening of his disease.
I subscribe to various alerts and check the website www.clinicaltrials.gov periodically to look for drug studies that he may qualify for. Two years ago we tried to get him into a study for a promising anti-inflammatory drug, Flurizan, but he did not qualify because he had a history of depression within the previous two years. Wouldn’t you be depressed if you knew you had Alzheimer’s? In fact, depression may be a symptom or precursor of Alzheimer’s.
Until very recently, I didn’t see anything regarding the potential use of medium chain triglycerides (MCT oil), or ketone bodies (also called ketoacids,) the end product of their metabolism, which may not only treat, but also prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Further, this is a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), drug resistant epilepsy, brittle type I diabetes, and diabetes type II, where there is insulin resistance. Ketone bodies may help the brain recover after a loss of oxygen in newborns through adults, may help the heart recover after an acute attack, and may shrink cancerous tumors. Children with drug resistant epilepsy sometimes respond to an extremely low carbohydrate ketogenic diet. MCT oil appears to be useful as an aid in weight loss and body builders use it already to improve their lean body mass (MCT oil can be easily purchased on the internet.) Athletes and soldiers could use MCT oil as a source of fuel when the body runs out of carbohydrates, which occurs rather quickly when food is not readily available.
What do these entities have in common? Our cells can use ketone bodies as an alternative fuel when glucose is not available. Brain cells, specifically neurons, are very limited, more limited than other cells, in what kinds of fuel they can use to function and to stay alive. Normally, they require glucose (sugar), but they can also use ketone bodies. Humans do not normally have ketone bodies circulating and available to the brain unless they have been starving for a couple of days or longer, or are consuming a ketogenic (very low carbohydrate) diet, such as Atkins. In Alzheimer’s disease, the neurons in certain areas of the brain are unable to take in glucose4, 5 due to insulin resistance and slowly die off, a process that appears to happen one or more decades before the symptoms become apparent. If these cells had access to ketone bodies, they could potentially stay alive and continue to function. It appears that persons with Parkinson’s disease,6 Huntington’s disease, 7 multiple need to take 35 grams or just over two tablespoons (about 35 ml or 7 level teaspoons) of coconut oil. The following morning, around 9 A.M., I made oatmeal for breakfast and stirred two tablespoons, plus more for “good luck,” into his portion. I had some as well, since I cannot expect him to eat something that I won’t eat.
On the way to the 1:00 P.M. screening, I tried to prepare Steve by asking him the season, the month, the day of the week, reminding him that we were going to Tampa, in Hillsborough county. He couldn’t remember the word “spring,” came up with April instead of May for the month every time I asked him and he couldn’t remember it was Wednesday. During the hour-long drive, we went through these facts at least 10 times, but he still couldn’t remember. Shortly after we arrived he was whisked away for the test, about 4 ½ hours after consuming the coconut oil. When he returned, he was very unhappy about his performance. Laura, the research coordinator, returned shortly thereafter and began to take his vital signs and blood pressure, and, suspecting that we were continuing with the screening process, I asked her if she could share his score with us. She said, “Didn’t he tell you? He scored an 18!” more than he needed to qualify for the vaccine study. He remembered it was spring, it was May, it was Wednesday, that he was in Tampa, in Hillsborough county and that we were at the Byrd Institute, all points that he missed on the previous attempt at USF. As a result of the screening, we learned that he is positive for APOE4, but do not know at this time if he has one or two copies.
According to the Ketasyn studies, Steve should not have improved, but rather he should have stayed about the same. Since then he has retested for the Eli Lilly study drug, now available closer to home and scored an MMSE of 17 - he even remembered the date of July 2, 2008 this time. We have decided, after looking at the potential side effects of the vaccine for APOE4+ people, to go with the Eli Lilly drug.
At the time of this writing it has been 60 days since he started taking coconut oil (May 21, 2008.) He walks into the kitchen every morning alert and happy, talkative, making jokes. His gait is still a little weird. His tremor is no longer very noticeable. He is able to concentrate on things that he wants to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distractible and rarely accomplished anything unless I supervised him directly, a source of some contention between us!
After about two weeks, and again at 37 days, after starting the coconut oil, I asked him to draw a clock (see Clocks #2 and #3.) There is an obvious marked improvement. I promise that I did not help him. He tells me that he could not even picture a clock at the St. Pete screening, but with the last two attempts, he was very concerned that the 6 was opposite the 12 and the 9 opposite the 3 on the face of the clock. He drew “spokes” to
and ALS9 have a similar defect in utilizing glucose but in different areas of the brain or spinal cord.
MCT oil is digested differently by the body than other fats. Instead of storing all MCTs as fat, the liver converts them directly to ketone bodies, which are then available for use as energy. Oral and intravenous administration of MCT oil produces hyperketonemia, 10 or circulating ketone bodies, which are then available to the brain for energy, in the absence of glucose19 and even in the presence of glucose.22 In addition, hyperketonemia results in a substantial (39%) increase in cerebral blood flow, 18 and appears to reduce cognitive dysfunction associated with systemic hypoglycemia in normal humans. 19
About 2 months ago, we took Steve to the Johnny B. Byrd, Jr. Alzheimer’s Institute at University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida for an annual evaluation and screening for a vaccine study (Elan.) He was fasting for blood work and had an MMSE of 12, much too low to qualify for the vaccine study – a minimum score of 16 was required. We were very disappointed, but were advised that we could come back another time to try again, since he met all of the other criteria.
We made an appointment in mid-May 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida to screen Steve for an Eli Lilly gamma-secretase inhibitor and made another appointment for Steve to be screened for entry into the Elan study at USF the following day. The evening before the first screening in St. Pete, I researched the two drugs to help us decide which drug to choose, should he qualify for both studies. I came across another drug, Ketasyn, or AC-1202, that was also recruiting healthy older people to test the tolerability of three different formulations. Investigating further, I learned that this treatment brought about significant improvement over a 90-day period in about half of the subjects who had a certain genetic profile (APOE2 or APOE3.) The APOE4 group remained about the same, whereas the controls (people taking the placebo) continued to show decline. The results were even more impressive for people who were already taking certain Alzheimer’s medications. In a pilot study, some people improved on memory testing with the very first dose. Upon doing an internet search for Ketasyn, I found a January 2008 patent application (see www.freepatentsonline.com ,)10 a continuation of a 2000 application, 75 pages long, with a well-written and thorough description of the science of Alzheimer’s disease and description of the “invention,” including these study results and numerous potential formulations in combination with other substances that may enhance its effect.
I learned that the promising “ingredient” in Ketasyn is simply MCT oil, and that a dose of 20 grams (about 20 ml or 4 teaspoons) was used to produce these results. The MCT oil that these researchers used was obtained from Stepan Company and consists of primarily 6 and 8 carbon chains, however they state that MCT of any combination of medium chains (6 to 12 carbon chains are medium chain) would also be effective. Just once in this application, the author mentions that MCT oil is derived from coconut or palm oil (this is incorrect, the author should have stated palm kernel oil.)
I didn’t know at that point that I could easily purchase MCT oil online, so I researched coconut oil and found out that coconut oil is about 60% medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), contains no cholesterol and also contains omega-6 fatty acids and some other short and long chain fatty acids of up to 18 carbon chains. 11 Coconut oil can be found in many health food stores and even some grocery stores. Wal-Mart sells a non-hydrogenated (no transfat) brand of coconut oil in a one-liter size (almost 32 ounce containers) for about $7 in our area of Florida. It can be purchased in quantities as small as a pint and up to five gallons online. It is important to use coconut oil that is non-hydrogenated and contains no transfat. There is a widely held misconception that coconut oil is the “artery clogging oil,” a term coined in the mid-1900’s by the president of Proctor and Gamble, the manufacturer of Crisco and other hydrogenated vegetable oils. The early studies in animals used hydrogenated coconut oil, which we now know produces the notorious trans-fats, and the essential fatty acids were excluded from the diet. 13
The largest producer of coconut oil is the Philippines, where coconut and its oil are food staples, and it is also produced in India, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, the Caribbean islands and even in south Florida. The Philippines has one of the lowest incidences of cardiovascular disease in the world. Studies have shown that total cholesterol to HDL ratio improves with non-hydrogenated coconut oil.14, 15, 16, 17 The people in this part of the world also eat fish regularly, providing them with omega-3 fatty acids, which probably contributes as well to the lack of cardiovascular disease. My nurse friends from the Philippines tell me that many of their relatives back home cook everything in coconut oil and have coconut in one form or another at nearly every meal.
I have also learned that after coconut and palm kernel oil, the food that medium chain triglycerides are most concentrated in is human breast milk. 12 It is also found in smaller concentrations in goat and cow’s milk, as well as the butters from these milks. In fact, we used to add MCT oil 20-25 years ago to premature formulas to add calories, and MCT, coconut and palm oils are currently added to premature and full term infant formulas, along with ARA and DHA to mimic breast milk.
Back to Steve, it was too late to find coconut oil before the first screening. On the way, I reminded him repeatedly that we were in St. Petersburg, in Pinellas County. On the MMSE, he remembered the city but not the county, and he couldn’t remember the season, the month or day of the week, much less the date, even though he had to initial and date numerous pages of consent forms before the MMSE. He had to be reminded on every single page where to initial and what the date was and even how to write out the date. He scored a 14, too low for entry into the study. Dr. Margarita Nunez spent considerable time with us and asked Steve to draw a clock (see clock #1), which she said was a specific test for Alzheimer’s. She took me aside and told me that his “clock” indicated he was leaning more towards severe than moderate AD, a devastating, but not surprising revelation to me, considering that I am his wife of 36 years and now his caretaker.
Thinking, what have we got to lose, we stopped at a health food store on the way home and picked up a quart of 100% “virgin” coconut oil. I calculated that in order to provide 20 gm of MCT, he would help them line up. I did not ask him to try to put in a time, the next part of that test.
Steve has not been able to type for at least two years, but he feels that he can picture the position of the letters on the keyboard. At this point he is afraid to sit down and try to type, worried that he will be discouraged if it doesn’t come back right away. We are considering trying occupational therapy to see if he can relearn some of the skills he has lost. I cannot explain why he has improved, except that perhaps the 10 and 12 carbon chains are important, or the APOE4 people in the Ketasyn studies were not taking omega-3 fatty acids. We eat salmon at least twice a week and take fish oil supplements twice a day and have for at least the past two years.
I have been researching on the internet everything I can find about coconut oil, MCT oil, fatty acids, ketone bodies, fatty acid composition of breast milk, ketones and various disease states. When I researched ketone bodies, I came across the name of Dr. Richard Veech of the National Institutes of Health. I contacted him to ask questions about all of this and he very kindly spoke with me and emailed me articles he had written on the subject. I have had numerous questions and ideas, and he has continued to provide me with answers and more papers to read. I am thinking not only about people with neurodegenerative diseases like my husband, but also the sick and premature newborns that I take care of, and potential uses for those at both ends of the spectrum of life and everyone in between. I wonder about autism and whether something very important is missing in infant formulas and in the diets of women who are breastfeeding. 23
Beta-hydroxybutyrate is the primary ketone body that is the end product of fatty acid metabolism and appears to protect neurons when glucose is not available. 20 Dr. Veech can make an ester form of beta-hydroxybutyrate in his lab from MCT oil that can be taken orally and converted to energy by neurons and other cells. Potentially, higher levels of ketone bodies could be obtained by ingesting beta-hydroxybutyrate directly. He has done studies on animals, but needs to produce this in quantity to be able to do human studies. He could start testing this year, if only he had the funding. He needs $15 million to build a plant to produce his beta-hydroxybutyrate. That is a lot of money, but not so much if you consider that it is $1.00 for every person that is expected to have Alzheimer’s disease by the year 2050.
We visited Cincinnati at the end of June and all of my family and Steve’s family noticed a very significant difference in how he interacted with them socially compared to a year ago. Instead of looking lost, he was involved and interested in what they had to say. He recognized relatives (brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews) by name immediately that were unfamiliar to him a year ago. His facial expression was more animated. He participated actively in conversations, understood jokes immediately and even came up with his own humorous comments. He still had difficulty finding some words, but he was talking in sentences and even stringing sentences together. In the morning he would come to the kitchen and ask me to walk the “big hill” with him before breakfast to get some exercise. He is a very different person than he was a year ago and perhaps even two or three years ago. He has serious atrophy of his brain and will never be “normal,” but for now we are very pleased with where he is at and, should coconut oil stop or slow down the progress of his disease, it will be worth every drop that he takes.
My sister Lois told a lady she works with about the coconut oil and Steve’s response to it. Her father began to give this to her mother, who has Alzheimer’s and she has had a similar response, with more alertness, conversation and sense of humor.
On July 9, 2008, Steve had blood samples drawn at various times before and following breakfast and dinner. He received 35 ml of coconut oil at each of those meals. He did not receive any other coconut oil or other coconut products during the rest of that day. Normally, he receives more coconut oil than that on the average day. Steve’s ketone body levels began to increase after breakfast over 3 hours, but at relatively low levels, dropped again before dinner and were steadily rising about 3 hours after dinner. We do not know when his levels peaked because we did not draw any further levels thereafter. Dr. Veech stated that it is surprising that Steve would improve with these relatively low levels of ketones. This study reaffirms his belief that it is necessary to go forward with the production and testing of his ketone body b-hydroxy butyrate esters, since considerably higher levels of ketone bodies, timed and controlled could be achieved, and more ketones would be available for the neurons to use, and therefore greater improvement could be expected.
It is urgent that funding become available to move forward for the sake of the millions who currently suffer, and will in the future suffer, from Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, multiple sclerosis, ALS, type I and type II diabetes, as well as any number of other conditions that involve a defect in transport of glucose into neurons and other cells.
Until Dr. Veech’s beta-hydroxybutyrate is tested and available for use, a simple dietary change to coconut oil could make a difference for people who believe they are at risk and for those who already have one of these diseases.
To duplicate the dose of MCT taken in the Ketasyn study, about 7 level teaspoons should be taken at one time, once a day, which should circulate ketone bodies for about 24 hours. I do not know if it is necessary to take this much at one time or if the dosage could be spread out over the course of the day. Studies obviously need to be done to determine this. We actually give this amount to Steve at least twice a day to make sure that there are no periods without ketone bodies circulating. Many days he receives at least 50% more than this. The amounts we are taking would not be excessive in areas of the world where coconut is a staple. If a person can tolerate more, or can work up to tolerating more, it may be a good idea to do so. As an alternative, one could take 4 teaspoons of MCT oil once or twice a day, or more often as tolerated.
Some people may experience a sense of “fullness” or even have diarrhea after taking this much to start, but this problem can be reduced by starting with one or two teaspoons and increasing over a week or so to the full amount. We put it in oatmeal, combine it with salad dressings, use it to cook with, and put it on anything that one would normally put butter on, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, pasta or noodles. Coconut ice cream can be purchased at Asian stores, contains coconut oil and is the most pleasant way I can think of to make ketone bodies. Likewise, coconut milk is a combination of coconut oil and coconut water and can be found in the Asian and condensed milk sections of many grocery stores. It is a pleasant substitute for milk, and can be added instead of milk, for example, to make scrambled eggs, French toast,
Clock #2 - Two weeks after starting coconut oil.
Clock #3 - Thirty-seven days after starting coconut oil.
Clock #1 - The day before starting coconut oil.
and mashed potatoes. You can figure out portion sizes of various combinations of foods containing coconut and coconut oil equivalent to at least 35 grams of fat from coconut oil.
If you are using any type of hydrogenated vegetable oil or any oil with transfat, do not use any more and get rid of it! Extra virgin olive oil, butter and other natural, non-hydrogenated oils are okay to use along with the coconut oil. It is possible to use coconut oil in place of all other oils, however, since it contains no omega-3 fatty acids, it is very important to eat salmon twice a week or get enough omega-3 fatty acid from other rich sources such as fish oil capsules, flax meal, flax oil (not for cooking) or walnuts.
It is inconceivable that a potential dietary prevention and cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases, has been out there for so many years, and yet has gone unnoticed. It is very likely that these diseases are becoming more prevalent due our current diet. The American diet has changed drastically from what it was before the 1950’s, when our parents and grandparents used lard and coconut oil to cook. Cardiovascular disease was rare at the beginning of the 20th century, and has skyrocketed, along with other devastating diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes type II, obesity, since mass produced hydrogenated vegetable oils containing trans fats were introduced into our diets and replaced these other natural fats. Sadly, the incidences of cardiovascular and other serious diseases are becoming more and more common among people in other areas of the world who have changed over from their indigenous foods to the “western” diet.
I plan to tell everyone I can and get this information to persons in positions to investigate this with the hope that Dr. Veech and other MCT oil and ketone body researchers get the funding they need. Feel free to make copies and pass this write-up on.
If you have a loved one or a patient with Alzheimer’s or one of these other degenerative neurologic diseases, consider trying coconut oil.
Dr. Veech suggests that, if possible, a videotape of the person before starting and at various points after starting the coconut oil would be very useful to document change. He suggests including segments of the persons face, speech and gait (walking).
He also advises to have ketone bodies measured. What have you got to lose?
Coconut oil and MCT oil websites:
www.coconutoilresearch.com
www.nutiva.com • www.amazon.com
www.tropicaltraditions.com
www.oilsbynature.com
www.cheapvitamins.com
Palm kernel oil website:
www.oilsbynature.com
Coconut oil and coconut milk are also available at most health food stores and many grocery stores.
References:
1. “Ketone bodies, potential therapeutic uses,” RL Veech, B Chance, Y Kashiwaya, HA Lardy, GC Cahill, Jr., IUBMB Life, 2001, Vol. 51 No.4, 241-247
2. “Ketoacids? Good Medicine?” George F. Cahill, Jr., Richard L. Veech, Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association,
Vol. 114, 2003.
3. “The therapaeutic implications of ketone bodies: the effects of ketone bodies in pathological conditions: ketosis, ketogenic diet, redox states, insulin resistance, and mitochondrial metabolism,” Richard L. Veech, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, 70 (2004) 309-319.
4. “Diminished glucose transport and phosphorylation in Alzheimer’s Disease determined by dynamic FDG-PET,” M Piert, et.al., The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol.37 No.2, February 1996, 201-208.
5. “Glucose metabolism in early onset versus late onset Alzheimer’s Disease: an SPM analysis of 120 patients,” EJ Kim, et. al., Brain, 2005,
Vol. 128, 1790-1801.
6. “Cerebral glucose metabolism in Parkinson’s disease with and without dementia,” RF Peppard, et.al., Archives of Neurology, Vol. 49 No.12,
December 1992.
7. “Cortical and subcortical glucose consumption measured by PET in patients with Huntington’s disease,” Brain, October 1990, Vol 113, part 5, 1405-23.
8. “Reduced glucose metabolism in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia of multiple sclerosis patients with fatigue: a 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography study,” U Roelcke, et. al., Neurology, 1997, Vol. 48, Issue 6, 1566-1571.
9. “ALS-linked Cu/Zn-SOD mutation impairs cerebral synaptic glucose and glutamate transport and exacerbates ischemic brain injury,” Z Guo, et. al., Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow Metabolism, March 2000, Vol. 20 No. 3, 463-8.
10. “Combinations of medium chain triglycerides and therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases resulting from reduced neuronal metabolism,” United States Patent 20080009467, Inventor Samuel T. Henderson, Accera, Inc., Broomfield,
Colorado (Ketasyn).
11. Nutrient analysis of coconut oil (vegetable), NDB No: 04047 – www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp .
12. “Lipids in (human) milk and the first steps in their digestion,” M Hamosh, et. al., Pediatrics, 1985, Vol. 75, 146-150.
13. “Nutritional factors and serum lipid levels,” EH Ahrens, American Journal of Medicine, 1957, vol. 23, 928 (used hydrogenated coconut oil).
14. “Trans fatty acids and coronary artery disease,” NEJM, 1999, Vol. 340, 1994-1998.
15. “Effect of mixed fat formula feeding on serum cholesterol level in man,” SA Hashim, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1959, Vol. 7, 30-34.
16. “Modified-fat dietary management of the young male with coronary disease: a five-year report,” JL Bierenbaum, JAMA, 1967, Vol. 202, 1119-1123.
17. “Cholesterol, coconuts and diet in Polynesian atolls-a natural experiment; the Pukapuka and Toklau island studies,” IA Prior, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1981, Vol. 34, 1552-1561.
18. “Changes in cerebral blood flow and carbohydrate metabolism during acute hyperketonemia,” S.G. Hasselbalch, et.al, Am J Physiol, 1996,
Vol. 270, E746-51.
19. “Effect of hyperketonemia and hyperlacticacidemia on symptoms, cognitive dysfunction, and counterregulatory hormone responses during hypoglycemia in normal humans,” T. Veneman, et. al., Diabetes 43:1311-7 (1994).
20. “D-b-Hydroxybutyrate protects neurons in models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” Y Kashiwaya, et. al. including RL Veech, PNAS, May 9, 2000, Vol. 97 No. 10, 5440-5444.
21. “High carbohydrate diets and Alzheimer’s disease,” Samuel T. Henderson, Medical Hypotheses, 2004, Vol 62, 689-700 (Another article of interest).
22. “Effects of b-Hydroxybutyrate on cognition in memory-impaired adults,” MA Reger, ST Henderson, et. al., Neurobiology of Aging, 2004,
Vol. 25, 311-314.
23. “Breastfeeding, infant formula supplementation, and Autistic Disorder: the results of a parent survey,” ST Schultz, et. al., International Breastfeeding Journal, 2006, Vol. 1 No. 16.
Other Important Resources
“Ketones: Metabolism’s Ugly Duckling,” TB VanItallie, TH Nufert, Nutrition Reviews, Vol 61, No 10, 327-341.
“Fuel Metabolism in Starvation,” GF Cahill, Jr., Annual Reviews in Nutrition, 2006, 26:1-22.
“Ketone Bodies as a Therapeutic for Alzheimer’s Disease,” ST Henderson, Journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics,
Vol 5, 470-480, July 2008.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Natural Organic Bug Away Insect Deterrent
Now that we are nearing summer and bug season, wanted you all to know that we have a natural organic solution to help keep the bugs/bites away from your body.
Natural Organic Bug Away Insect Deterrent is perfect for the summer-time swarms. 4 oz. spray bottle and 16 oz. refill bottle available.
Ingredients:
Water, natural lavender essential oil, castile liquid soap made with organic oils, essential oils of citronella, eucalyptus, catnip, cedarwood, lemongrass, lavender, listsea cubeba, tea tree, patchouli and cinnamon leaf essential oil.
Note: The FDA does not allow the use of the word "REPELLENT" on any natural insect deterrents.
Catnip:
Researchers report that nepetalactone, the essential oil in catnip that gives the plant its characteristic odor, is about ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET — the compound used in most commercial insect repellents.
Cedarwood:
antiseptic, relieves skin inflammation, bug bites
Cinnamon Leaf:
shows promise as a great-smelling, environmentally friendly pesticide, with the ability to kill mosquito larvae, according to a new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The researchers also expect that cinnamon oil could be a good mosquito repellant, though they have not yet tested it against adult mosquitoes.
Citronella:
Insect deterrent, keeps away mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and other pesky insects.
Eucalyptus:
insect bites and rashes, antiseptic
Lemongrass:
Lemongrass oil, which is closely related to citronella, repels a greater variety of pests than most natural "one-scented" oil mixtures.
Patchouli:
repels bugs, and relieves insect bites.
Tea Tree:
Rashes and insect bites.
Natural Organic Bug Away Insect Deterrent is perfect for the summer-time swarms. 4 oz. spray bottle and 16 oz. refill bottle available.
Ingredients:
Water, natural lavender essential oil, castile liquid soap made with organic oils, essential oils of citronella, eucalyptus, catnip, cedarwood, lemongrass, lavender, listsea cubeba, tea tree, patchouli and cinnamon leaf essential oil.
Note: The FDA does not allow the use of the word "REPELLENT" on any natural insect deterrents.
Catnip:
Researchers report that nepetalactone, the essential oil in catnip that gives the plant its characteristic odor, is about ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET — the compound used in most commercial insect repellents.
Cedarwood:
antiseptic, relieves skin inflammation, bug bites
Cinnamon Leaf:
shows promise as a great-smelling, environmentally friendly pesticide, with the ability to kill mosquito larvae, according to a new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The researchers also expect that cinnamon oil could be a good mosquito repellant, though they have not yet tested it against adult mosquitoes.
Citronella:
Insect deterrent, keeps away mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and other pesky insects.
Eucalyptus:
insect bites and rashes, antiseptic
Lemongrass:
Lemongrass oil, which is closely related to citronella, repels a greater variety of pests than most natural "one-scented" oil mixtures.
Patchouli:
repels bugs, and relieves insect bites.
Tea Tree:
Rashes and insect bites.
Vaccines
Excerpt from Dr. Mercola May 22, 2011
American prosecutors are attempting to extradite a Danish scientist.
Poul Thorsen has been charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering; a federal grand jury alleges that Thorsen stole over $1 million from autism research funding between February 2004 and June 2008.
Thorsen is said to have used the proceeds to buy a home in Atlanta, two cars and a Harley Davidson. He is said to have stolen the money while serving as the 'principal investigator' for a program that studied the relationship between autism and exposure to vaccines.
The Copenhagen Post reports:
"... Over the four-year period he submitted over a dozen false invoices from the CDC for research expenses to Aarhus University, where he held a faculty position, instructing them to transfer the funds to a CDC account, which was in fact his personal account ...
Thorsen's research on autism is widely known in academic circles, where he was until this week a highly respected figure. A paper of his on the subject, which is known as 'The Danish Study', is quoted extensively to refute the autism vaccine connection."
Another prominent name in vaccine medicine, Dr. Paul Offit, well-known shill for the vaccine industry, has also been called out for making false and unsubstantiated statements about CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson and her report looking into the ties between vaccine supporters and the vaccine industry.
On April 18, 2011, the California Orange County Register issued a retraction of an August 4, 2008 article containing disparaging statements made by Dr. Offit about Attkisson.
According to Adventures in Autism:
"Upon further review, it appears that a number of Dr. Offit's statements, as quoted in the OC Register article, were unsubstantiated and/or false. Attkisson had previously reported on the vaccine industry ties of Dr. Offit and others in a CBS Evening News report 'How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders?'"
The unsubstantiated statements included a claim that Attkisson "lied", and a claim that CBS News sent a "mean spirited and vituperative" email. Offit also told the OC Register that he provided CBS News "the details of his relationship ... with pharmaceutical company Merck", but documents provided by CBS News indicate Offit did not disclose all of his financial relationships with Merck.
Sources:
Atlanta Journal Constitution April 14, 2011
WKAR Atlanta April 13, 2011
The Copenhagen Post April 15, 2011
American prosecutors are attempting to extradite a Danish scientist.
Poul Thorsen has been charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering; a federal grand jury alleges that Thorsen stole over $1 million from autism research funding between February 2004 and June 2008.
Thorsen is said to have used the proceeds to buy a home in Atlanta, two cars and a Harley Davidson. He is said to have stolen the money while serving as the 'principal investigator' for a program that studied the relationship between autism and exposure to vaccines.
The Copenhagen Post reports:
"... Over the four-year period he submitted over a dozen false invoices from the CDC for research expenses to Aarhus University, where he held a faculty position, instructing them to transfer the funds to a CDC account, which was in fact his personal account ...
Thorsen's research on autism is widely known in academic circles, where he was until this week a highly respected figure. A paper of his on the subject, which is known as 'The Danish Study', is quoted extensively to refute the autism vaccine connection."
Another prominent name in vaccine medicine, Dr. Paul Offit, well-known shill for the vaccine industry, has also been called out for making false and unsubstantiated statements about CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson and her report looking into the ties between vaccine supporters and the vaccine industry.
On April 18, 2011, the California Orange County Register issued a retraction of an August 4, 2008 article containing disparaging statements made by Dr. Offit about Attkisson.
According to Adventures in Autism:
"Upon further review, it appears that a number of Dr. Offit's statements, as quoted in the OC Register article, were unsubstantiated and/or false. Attkisson had previously reported on the vaccine industry ties of Dr. Offit and others in a CBS Evening News report 'How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders?'"
The unsubstantiated statements included a claim that Attkisson "lied", and a claim that CBS News sent a "mean spirited and vituperative" email. Offit also told the OC Register that he provided CBS News "the details of his relationship ... with pharmaceutical company Merck", but documents provided by CBS News indicate Offit did not disclose all of his financial relationships with Merck.
Sources:
Atlanta Journal Constitution April 14, 2011
WKAR Atlanta April 13, 2011
The Copenhagen Post April 15, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Beat Depression Naturally
Friday, April 01, 2011 by: Dr. David Jockers
(NaturalNews) People with chronic depression often times have significant biochemical imbalances in their neurological tissue. New research has indicated that this imbalance is not a genetic flaw as was once thought. Instead it is due to a heavy onslaught of toxicity or severe nutritional and lifestyle based deficiencies that cause massive brain inflammation; this in effect disrupts normal neurological processing. Fortunately, when these causative factors are addressed, one can overcome the chemical imbalances and beat depression naturally.
Depression and neuro-emotional diseases such as bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. are at an all-time high. The pharmaceutical industry has brought out dozens of blockbuster drugs to treat all of these conditions with billions of $ of revenue every year. Unfortunately, none of these drugs treat the cause of the chemical imbalance, but they merely treat the symptoms and come with a whole host of frightening side effects. In fact, years back the FDA mandated labeling requiring anti-depressant manufactures to include a warning that these drugs increase suicide risk (which is one of the things they are supposed to prevent).
The true cause of depression from a biochemical and lifestyle perspective is due to toxicity or deficiency at the cellular level. Common toxicity problems associated with depression include heavy metals like mercury, lead, aluminum, etc. that accumulate in the fatty tissue of the brain and create massive free radical damage and inflammation that alters neurological function. Viruses and environmental toxins are common inflammatory agents in the brain as well.
Another common toxin that causes massive inflammatory conditions in the brain is certain food intolerances. The most common food allergens to avoid include gluten containing grains such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, kamut, & spelt. Soy products, different nuts, eggs, and heavy proteins are often not tolerated well. Obviously all processed and man-made foods need to be avoided at all costs. Other common allergens include those of the nightshade family such as eggplant, tomatoes, & onions.
An anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle are critical for full recovery from these conditions. Anti-inflammatory foods help to modulate the immune system and give it a more accurate pair of eyes so as to not over-inflame when stimulated. To effectively de-inflame it is key to completely avoid man-made foods, sugars, and food allergens as listed above. The long chain omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA not only are critical for healthy brain function, but also powerfully de-inflame the body by restoring natural balance to the lipid wall of the cell membrane.
Healthy movement patterns produce proprioception (movement information) which is a critical essential for healthy brain enhancing and mood regulating patterns. Boosting proprioceptive input through maintaining healthy spinal function and exercise training has been shown to prevent and reverse depression. Regular chiropractic care and customized physical therapy exercises are critical lifestyle factors for maintaining healthy spinal function. A daily exercise regimen of a high-intensity burst and resistance training program that incorporates core stability and functional balance training enhances proprioceptive input into the brain and balances key hormones that play a role in weight regulation and muscle tone which are factors involved in mental health as well.
Other critical nutrients that are key for mood stabilization include Vitamin D, Folic acid, Pyridoxine (B6), Vitamin B12, Zinc, CoQ10, and trace minerals. Vitamin D levels should be between 60-100 ng/ml. Boost Vitamin D naturally with 20-60 minutes of healthy sunlight every day or 10,000-50,000 IU of emulsified vitamin D3 daily to get the levels where they should be. A raw, whole-food multi-vitamin that supplies ample amounts of folic acid (400 mcg), B6 (4mg), B12(100 mcg), Zinc (15 mg), trace minerals, & CoQ10 (500 mcg) should be consumed daily.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031916_depression_remedies.html#ixzz1MuPXNaVu
(NaturalNews) People with chronic depression often times have significant biochemical imbalances in their neurological tissue. New research has indicated that this imbalance is not a genetic flaw as was once thought. Instead it is due to a heavy onslaught of toxicity or severe nutritional and lifestyle based deficiencies that cause massive brain inflammation; this in effect disrupts normal neurological processing. Fortunately, when these causative factors are addressed, one can overcome the chemical imbalances and beat depression naturally.
Depression and neuro-emotional diseases such as bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. are at an all-time high. The pharmaceutical industry has brought out dozens of blockbuster drugs to treat all of these conditions with billions of $ of revenue every year. Unfortunately, none of these drugs treat the cause of the chemical imbalance, but they merely treat the symptoms and come with a whole host of frightening side effects. In fact, years back the FDA mandated labeling requiring anti-depressant manufactures to include a warning that these drugs increase suicide risk (which is one of the things they are supposed to prevent).
The true cause of depression from a biochemical and lifestyle perspective is due to toxicity or deficiency at the cellular level. Common toxicity problems associated with depression include heavy metals like mercury, lead, aluminum, etc. that accumulate in the fatty tissue of the brain and create massive free radical damage and inflammation that alters neurological function. Viruses and environmental toxins are common inflammatory agents in the brain as well.
Another common toxin that causes massive inflammatory conditions in the brain is certain food intolerances. The most common food allergens to avoid include gluten containing grains such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, kamut, & spelt. Soy products, different nuts, eggs, and heavy proteins are often not tolerated well. Obviously all processed and man-made foods need to be avoided at all costs. Other common allergens include those of the nightshade family such as eggplant, tomatoes, & onions.
An anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle are critical for full recovery from these conditions. Anti-inflammatory foods help to modulate the immune system and give it a more accurate pair of eyes so as to not over-inflame when stimulated. To effectively de-inflame it is key to completely avoid man-made foods, sugars, and food allergens as listed above. The long chain omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA not only are critical for healthy brain function, but also powerfully de-inflame the body by restoring natural balance to the lipid wall of the cell membrane.
Healthy movement patterns produce proprioception (movement information) which is a critical essential for healthy brain enhancing and mood regulating patterns. Boosting proprioceptive input through maintaining healthy spinal function and exercise training has been shown to prevent and reverse depression. Regular chiropractic care and customized physical therapy exercises are critical lifestyle factors for maintaining healthy spinal function. A daily exercise regimen of a high-intensity burst and resistance training program that incorporates core stability and functional balance training enhances proprioceptive input into the brain and balances key hormones that play a role in weight regulation and muscle tone which are factors involved in mental health as well.
Other critical nutrients that are key for mood stabilization include Vitamin D, Folic acid, Pyridoxine (B6), Vitamin B12, Zinc, CoQ10, and trace minerals. Vitamin D levels should be between 60-100 ng/ml. Boost Vitamin D naturally with 20-60 minutes of healthy sunlight every day or 10,000-50,000 IU of emulsified vitamin D3 daily to get the levels where they should be. A raw, whole-food multi-vitamin that supplies ample amounts of folic acid (400 mcg), B6 (4mg), B12(100 mcg), Zinc (15 mg), trace minerals, & CoQ10 (500 mcg) should be consumed daily.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031916_depression_remedies.html#ixzz1MuPXNaVu
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Omega-3 Fats Shown to Decrease Risk of Dying from Inflammatory Diseases
Omega-3 fats can regulate inflammatory processes and responses. Researchers recently investigated omega-3s and other fats (such as omega-6 fats and alpha linolenic acid) to see if their consumption was associated with a reduction in mortality due to inflammatory diseases.
More than 2,500 participants were tracked over a period of 15 years. Their diet was assessed using a food-frequency questionnaire.
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
"Women in the highest tertiles of total [omega-3] intake, compared with those in the lowest tertile of intake at baseline, had a 44 percent reduced risk of inflammatory disease mortality ... In both men and women, each ... increase in energy-adjusted intake of alpha-linolenic acid was [also] inversely associated with inflammatory mortality."
Sources:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2011; 93(5): 1073-1079
More than 2,500 participants were tracked over a period of 15 years. Their diet was assessed using a food-frequency questionnaire.
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
"Women in the highest tertiles of total [omega-3] intake, compared with those in the lowest tertile of intake at baseline, had a 44 percent reduced risk of inflammatory disease mortality ... In both men and women, each ... increase in energy-adjusted intake of alpha-linolenic acid was [also] inversely associated with inflammatory mortality."
Sources:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2011; 93(5): 1073-1079
The Most Important Food for Healthy Eyes
By Dr. Mercola
Do you have any idea what causes wild Pacific salmon to have its color? It is one of the hottest new nutrient discoveries from a marine algae called astaxanthin, which is a far more powerful cousin of beta-carotene.
If farm raised salmon don't eat this or are not given artificial colors, they are a dark grey fish. Also, you might not know that baby flamingos are born white and they don't become pink until they start eating food with astaxanthin in it.
It is clearly one of the most amazing supplements I have ever learned about, the only one that exceeds it, from my perspective, is vitamin D.
Astaxanthin belong to a class of naturally occurring pigments called carotenoids which have powerful antioxidant properties that are crucial for your health. Carotenoids are the compounds in your foods that give them that vibrant cornucopia of color,from green grasses to red beets, to the spectacular yellows and oranges of your bell peppers..
There are more than 700 naturally occurring carotenoids, but most people are familiar with only a few. Right now, you probably have about 10 different carotenoids circulating through your bloodstream. Other carotenoids are easily obtainable through a good diet rich in fresh organic produce. However, astaxanthin is harder to come by.
Astaxanthin is in a League of Its Own
Astaxanthin is produced only by the microalgae Haematoccous pluvialis when its water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It's the algae's survival mechanism—Astaxanthin serves as a "force field" to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.
There are only two main sources of astaxanthin: the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill).
Astaxanthin is now thought to be the most powerful antioxidant found in nature.
Astaxanthin not only provides the color to salmon but is also the reason salmon have the strength and endurance to swim up rivers and waterfalls for days on end.Their diets are high in this pigment, which concentrates in their muscles and makes them one of the "kings of endurance" of the animal kingdom.
Astaxanthin is leaps and bounds more powerful than beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein, other members of its chemical family. It exhibits VERY STRONG free radical scavenging activity and protects your cells, organs and body tissues from oxidative damage.
Astaxanthin's unique "antioxidative artillery" provides for an impressive array of health benefits, including improving cardiovascular health, stabilizing blood sugar, boosting your immune system, fighting cancer, improving endurance and athletic performance, improving fertility—and even protecting you from sunburn.
But for the purpose of this article, I will focus on the benefits specifically related to your eyes, brain and central nervous system.
What Makes Astaxanthin Special?
There are many properties that make this carotenoid unique. Here are the main differences:
•Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
•Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.
•Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reducing your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
•Astaxanthin is soluble in lipids, so it easily incorporates into cell membranes and protects them from oxidative damage.
•It's a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
•It's a very potent natural anti-inflammatory.
In terms of how this powerful nutrient can benefit your eyes, brain and central nervous system, astaxanthin has been shown to be protective against:
•Glaucoma
•Cataracts
•Retinal arterial occlusion
•Venous occlusion
•Diabetic retinopathy
•Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD)
•Cystoid macular edema
•Injuries to the brain and spine
•Inflammatory eye diseases (i.e., retinitis, iritis, keratitis, and scleritis)
•Parkinson's, Huntington's and Lou Gehrig's (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and other types of dementia
And how about some more great news?
There have been no adverse reactions found for people taking astaxanthin, that is right, there is no toxicity. The only known side effect if you consumed too much is that you would turn pink for awhile...
Why "Eat Your Carrots" Was Good Advice!
When you were a child, odds are you were told, "Eat your carrots—they're good for your eyes." There is some truth to that old adage, as carrots contain carotenoids—many of which are important for your eyes. Vitamin A, or retinal, is vital to your retina—without it, you would simply go blind.
But vitamin A is another nutrient that is readily available from your diet.
Your retina is a highly light and oxygen rich environment, needing a large force of free radical scavengers to prevent oxidative damage there.
Two carotenoids, zeaxanthin and lutein, are actually concentrated in the macula of your retina to help combat these free radicals. The concentration of these two pigments in your retina is what gives it its characteristic yellow color. (The macula is actually called the "macula lutea" which literally means "yellow spot.")
It is interesting that your eye preferentially concentrates zeaxanthin over lutein in the central macular retinal area (called the fovea), where the greatest amount of light impinges—and zeaxanthin is a more effective singlet oxygen scavenger than lutein. Your body seems to naturally "know" this and accumulates it where it's most needed!
Leading Causes of Blindness: Macular Degeneration and Cataracts
Although zeaxanthin and lutein do provide benefits to your eyes, science is now revealing that astaxanthin is the ULTIMATE carotenoid for eye health and prevention of blindness. Blindness is an enormous problem worldwide.
These statistics might disturb you:
•Age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of blindness for people over the age of 50.
•Sixty million people suffer from ARMD worldwide, and 10 million are blind.
•Severe, irreversible vision loss affects 30 percent of people over the age of 55.
•Cataracts are another major cause of blindness, affecting more than 20 million people in the US alone. Cataracts are caused by lipid peroxidation of the epithelial layer of the lens. Although they can have other causes, most are related to aging.
•Cataracts result in 3 million cataract surgeries every year.
Substantial evidence exists that most eye and brain diseases result from oxidation and inflammation in those vital organs. Free radicals and singlet oxygen wreak havoc over time, eventually leading to problems such as macular degeneration, blindness, and Alzheimer's disease.
As you age, your body loses some of its ability to produce the high levels of antioxidants it needs to counter the everyday assault on your tissues and organs by pollution, contaminants in food and water, household chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, and the high levels of stress in modern life.
Your eyes are now subjected to much higher levels of oxidation than our ancestors experienced. Not only are there more contaminants in today's environment, but the depletion of our ozone layer is causing more intense sunlight than ever before, which directly exposes your eyes and skin to more free radicals.
Clinical studies tell us that photic injury from the cumulative effect of repeated "photic insults" and the resulting gradual loss of photoreceptor cells is a major cause of ARMD. Free radicals and singlet oxygen oxidize fatty acids in your retina, compromising your retinal cell membranes and causing damage to your retinal cells.
Once your retina is damaged, it cannot be replaced.
Therefore, anything you can do to cut your losses from these photic insults will reduce your risk for developing macular degeneration and other diseases. Antioxidants that cross the blood-brain-retinal barrier to reach the inner eye are crucial to protect you from increasing numbers of free radicals as you age.
How Astaxanthin Protects Your Retina—Research is Pouring in!
Scientists have studied the most common carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin) and compared their respective abilities to protect the retina. But none perform to the degree that astaxanthin does, in terms of potency as a free radical scavenger and permeability across the blood-brain-retina barrier.
In studies, canthaxanthin was actually found to be potentially damaging to the eye as it caused eye inclusions, which can lead to retinopathy, so this carotenoid was ruled out as a supplement.
Dr. Mark Tso of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University has aptly demonstrated that astaxanthin is the clear winner when it comes to protecting your eyes.
He discovered that astaxanthin easily crosses into the tissues of the eye and exerts its effects safely and with more potency than any of the other carotenoids, without adverse reactions.
Specifically, Tso determined astaxanthin could ameliorate or prevent light induced damage, photoreceptor cell damage, ganglion cell damage, and damage to the neurons of the inner retinal layers. Other researchers (Shimidzu et al, Bagchi, Martin et al, and Beutner) have since confirmed Dr. Tso's finding that astaxanthin is the most powerful antioxidant ever discovered for eye health, giving your eyes an additional layer of long-term protection.
For example, eye fatigue, eyestrain, blurring and diplopia (aka "double vision," caused by unequal action of your eye muscles) are problems for many people today who work in front of computer displays for long periods of time.
A 2002 Japanese study by Nagaki set out to examine the effects, if any, of astaxanthin on these types of visual problems among computer workers.
They found that giving these workers just 5 mg of astaxanthin daily for four weeks resulted in a 46 percent reduction in eyestrain and improved eye focusing. Another Japanese study by Nakamura in 2004 found similarly positive effects on eyestrain at doses of 4mg, and even better effects at 12mg. In fact, there are now NINE different human clinical astaxanthin studies published in the area of eye fatigue, all showing positive results.
Additional studies have demonstrated that natural astaxanthin supplementation can also help with a wide range of other common eye issues, including the following:
•Reducing eye soreness, dryness, tiredness and blurred vision (Shiratori 2005 and Nagaki 2006)
•Preventing eye fatigue from occurring in healthy people (Takahashi and Kajita 2005)
•Improving retinal capillary blood flow (Yasunori 2005)
•Improving your eye's ability to focus by enabling the lens to more easily adjust
•Improving depth perception by 46 percent (Sawaki 2002)
•Reducing ocular inflammation (Suzuki 2006)
But astaxanthin's performance doesn't end with your eyes—studies are suggesting it may have equally astounding benefits for your brain!
Your Brain on Astaxanthin
Less research has been done about the effects of astaxanthin on your brain than the extensive work related to your eyes. However, what has been done shows great promise. Most of the research to date has been performed on rats.
Blood pressure is a causative factor for many brain and eye diseases.
A study at the International Research Center for Traditional Medicine in Japan found astaxanthin reduced blood pressure in hypertensive rats after only five weeks of supplementation. Researchers discovered the nutrient appears to have a neuroprotective effect in ischemic mice—mice whose blood flow to the brain was obstructed.
This finding offers hope that astaxanthin may be protective against stroke.
If plaque builds up in your carotid arteries, the blood flow to your brain can be compromised, since your carotids are the primary arteries serving your brain. This arterial obstruction can lead to many different serious conditions, including stroke and dementia.
Other studies showed the following:
•Astaxanthin may improve memory in vascular dementia (Hussein 2005)
•Astaxanthin may boost intelligence
•Astaxanthin may prevent brain damage due to ischemia (Kudo et al 2002 and Oryza Company 2006)
There are also indications that astaxanthin can potentially improve recovery from spinal cord and other central nervous system injuries. Although scientific studies to date have been restricted to animal models, the results are nevertheless exciting and demonstrate great promise for humans.
Make Sure Your Astaxanthin is the Natural Variety from Marine Algae—NOT Synthetic
Synthetic (laboratory-made) astaxanthin is now commonly used worldwide to supplement fish feeds in order to obtain the desired pinkish to orange-red color.
Please avoid synthetic astaxanthin because it's made from petrochemicals.
Some aquaculture companies are beginning to use natural astaxanthin instead of synthetic, even though it costs more, because it's better for the health of the animals, and it's far superior for pigmentation. Animals fed fish food with natural astaxanthin have higher survival rates, better growth rates, better immunity, fertility and reproduction.
Unfortunately, synthetic astaxanthin still dominates the farmed salmon industry worldwide.
If your salmon label does not read "wild" or "naturally colored," you're probably going to be eating a coloring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant. Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times stronger as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin.
Wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than farmed salmon, and 100 percent of their pigment is natural astaxanthin, rather than synthetic. Plus, wild salmon have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than the farmed version. Just make sure to get wild Pacific salmon.
But even if you are successful in purchasing genuine wild salmon, there is the problem with high levels of mercury and other unwanted toxins, not to mention the skyrocketing prices.
Final Recommendations
You may recognize the name astaxanthin because I have mentioned it in reference to krill oil, my favorite source of animal based omega-3 fatty acids. One of the reasons I am such a fan of krill is that it naturally contains astaxanthin.
But, as high as it is, new research suggests you could enjoy even MORE benefits by further increasing your astaxanthin, even if you are already taking a krill oil supplement. If you decide to give astaxanthin a try, I recommend starting with 2 mg per day. If you are on a krill oil supplement, take that into consideration; different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.
Astaxanthin is in a number of our products including krill, Eye Support Formula and Astaxanthin with ALA.
Reference:
Natural Astaxanthin: King of the Carotenoids
By Bob Capelli with Dr. Gerald Cysewski
ISBN-13: 978-0-9792353-0-6
ISBN-10: 0-9792353-0-8
Do you have any idea what causes wild Pacific salmon to have its color? It is one of the hottest new nutrient discoveries from a marine algae called astaxanthin, which is a far more powerful cousin of beta-carotene.
If farm raised salmon don't eat this or are not given artificial colors, they are a dark grey fish. Also, you might not know that baby flamingos are born white and they don't become pink until they start eating food with astaxanthin in it.
It is clearly one of the most amazing supplements I have ever learned about, the only one that exceeds it, from my perspective, is vitamin D.
Astaxanthin belong to a class of naturally occurring pigments called carotenoids which have powerful antioxidant properties that are crucial for your health. Carotenoids are the compounds in your foods that give them that vibrant cornucopia of color,from green grasses to red beets, to the spectacular yellows and oranges of your bell peppers..
There are more than 700 naturally occurring carotenoids, but most people are familiar with only a few. Right now, you probably have about 10 different carotenoids circulating through your bloodstream. Other carotenoids are easily obtainable through a good diet rich in fresh organic produce. However, astaxanthin is harder to come by.
Astaxanthin is in a League of Its Own
Astaxanthin is produced only by the microalgae Haematoccous pluvialis when its water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It's the algae's survival mechanism—Astaxanthin serves as a "force field" to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.
There are only two main sources of astaxanthin: the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill).
Astaxanthin is now thought to be the most powerful antioxidant found in nature.
Astaxanthin not only provides the color to salmon but is also the reason salmon have the strength and endurance to swim up rivers and waterfalls for days on end.Their diets are high in this pigment, which concentrates in their muscles and makes them one of the "kings of endurance" of the animal kingdom.
Astaxanthin is leaps and bounds more powerful than beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein, other members of its chemical family. It exhibits VERY STRONG free radical scavenging activity and protects your cells, organs and body tissues from oxidative damage.
Astaxanthin's unique "antioxidative artillery" provides for an impressive array of health benefits, including improving cardiovascular health, stabilizing blood sugar, boosting your immune system, fighting cancer, improving endurance and athletic performance, improving fertility—and even protecting you from sunburn.
But for the purpose of this article, I will focus on the benefits specifically related to your eyes, brain and central nervous system.
What Makes Astaxanthin Special?
There are many properties that make this carotenoid unique. Here are the main differences:
•Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
•Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.
•Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reducing your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
•Astaxanthin is soluble in lipids, so it easily incorporates into cell membranes and protects them from oxidative damage.
•It's a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
•It's a very potent natural anti-inflammatory.
In terms of how this powerful nutrient can benefit your eyes, brain and central nervous system, astaxanthin has been shown to be protective against:
•Glaucoma
•Cataracts
•Retinal arterial occlusion
•Venous occlusion
•Diabetic retinopathy
•Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD)
•Cystoid macular edema
•Injuries to the brain and spine
•Inflammatory eye diseases (i.e., retinitis, iritis, keratitis, and scleritis)
•Parkinson's, Huntington's and Lou Gehrig's (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and other types of dementia
And how about some more great news?
There have been no adverse reactions found for people taking astaxanthin, that is right, there is no toxicity. The only known side effect if you consumed too much is that you would turn pink for awhile...
Why "Eat Your Carrots" Was Good Advice!
When you were a child, odds are you were told, "Eat your carrots—they're good for your eyes." There is some truth to that old adage, as carrots contain carotenoids—many of which are important for your eyes. Vitamin A, or retinal, is vital to your retina—without it, you would simply go blind.
But vitamin A is another nutrient that is readily available from your diet.
Your retina is a highly light and oxygen rich environment, needing a large force of free radical scavengers to prevent oxidative damage there.
Two carotenoids, zeaxanthin and lutein, are actually concentrated in the macula of your retina to help combat these free radicals. The concentration of these two pigments in your retina is what gives it its characteristic yellow color. (The macula is actually called the "macula lutea" which literally means "yellow spot.")
It is interesting that your eye preferentially concentrates zeaxanthin over lutein in the central macular retinal area (called the fovea), where the greatest amount of light impinges—and zeaxanthin is a more effective singlet oxygen scavenger than lutein. Your body seems to naturally "know" this and accumulates it where it's most needed!
Leading Causes of Blindness: Macular Degeneration and Cataracts
Although zeaxanthin and lutein do provide benefits to your eyes, science is now revealing that astaxanthin is the ULTIMATE carotenoid for eye health and prevention of blindness. Blindness is an enormous problem worldwide.
These statistics might disturb you:
•Age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of blindness for people over the age of 50.
•Sixty million people suffer from ARMD worldwide, and 10 million are blind.
•Severe, irreversible vision loss affects 30 percent of people over the age of 55.
•Cataracts are another major cause of blindness, affecting more than 20 million people in the US alone. Cataracts are caused by lipid peroxidation of the epithelial layer of the lens. Although they can have other causes, most are related to aging.
•Cataracts result in 3 million cataract surgeries every year.
Substantial evidence exists that most eye and brain diseases result from oxidation and inflammation in those vital organs. Free radicals and singlet oxygen wreak havoc over time, eventually leading to problems such as macular degeneration, blindness, and Alzheimer's disease.
As you age, your body loses some of its ability to produce the high levels of antioxidants it needs to counter the everyday assault on your tissues and organs by pollution, contaminants in food and water, household chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, and the high levels of stress in modern life.
Your eyes are now subjected to much higher levels of oxidation than our ancestors experienced. Not only are there more contaminants in today's environment, but the depletion of our ozone layer is causing more intense sunlight than ever before, which directly exposes your eyes and skin to more free radicals.
Clinical studies tell us that photic injury from the cumulative effect of repeated "photic insults" and the resulting gradual loss of photoreceptor cells is a major cause of ARMD. Free radicals and singlet oxygen oxidize fatty acids in your retina, compromising your retinal cell membranes and causing damage to your retinal cells.
Once your retina is damaged, it cannot be replaced.
Therefore, anything you can do to cut your losses from these photic insults will reduce your risk for developing macular degeneration and other diseases. Antioxidants that cross the blood-brain-retinal barrier to reach the inner eye are crucial to protect you from increasing numbers of free radicals as you age.
How Astaxanthin Protects Your Retina—Research is Pouring in!
Scientists have studied the most common carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin) and compared their respective abilities to protect the retina. But none perform to the degree that astaxanthin does, in terms of potency as a free radical scavenger and permeability across the blood-brain-retina barrier.
In studies, canthaxanthin was actually found to be potentially damaging to the eye as it caused eye inclusions, which can lead to retinopathy, so this carotenoid was ruled out as a supplement.
Dr. Mark Tso of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University has aptly demonstrated that astaxanthin is the clear winner when it comes to protecting your eyes.
He discovered that astaxanthin easily crosses into the tissues of the eye and exerts its effects safely and with more potency than any of the other carotenoids, without adverse reactions.
Specifically, Tso determined astaxanthin could ameliorate or prevent light induced damage, photoreceptor cell damage, ganglion cell damage, and damage to the neurons of the inner retinal layers. Other researchers (Shimidzu et al, Bagchi, Martin et al, and Beutner) have since confirmed Dr. Tso's finding that astaxanthin is the most powerful antioxidant ever discovered for eye health, giving your eyes an additional layer of long-term protection.
For example, eye fatigue, eyestrain, blurring and diplopia (aka "double vision," caused by unequal action of your eye muscles) are problems for many people today who work in front of computer displays for long periods of time.
A 2002 Japanese study by Nagaki set out to examine the effects, if any, of astaxanthin on these types of visual problems among computer workers.
They found that giving these workers just 5 mg of astaxanthin daily for four weeks resulted in a 46 percent reduction in eyestrain and improved eye focusing. Another Japanese study by Nakamura in 2004 found similarly positive effects on eyestrain at doses of 4mg, and even better effects at 12mg. In fact, there are now NINE different human clinical astaxanthin studies published in the area of eye fatigue, all showing positive results.
Additional studies have demonstrated that natural astaxanthin supplementation can also help with a wide range of other common eye issues, including the following:
•Reducing eye soreness, dryness, tiredness and blurred vision (Shiratori 2005 and Nagaki 2006)
•Preventing eye fatigue from occurring in healthy people (Takahashi and Kajita 2005)
•Improving retinal capillary blood flow (Yasunori 2005)
•Improving your eye's ability to focus by enabling the lens to more easily adjust
•Improving depth perception by 46 percent (Sawaki 2002)
•Reducing ocular inflammation (Suzuki 2006)
But astaxanthin's performance doesn't end with your eyes—studies are suggesting it may have equally astounding benefits for your brain!
Your Brain on Astaxanthin
Less research has been done about the effects of astaxanthin on your brain than the extensive work related to your eyes. However, what has been done shows great promise. Most of the research to date has been performed on rats.
Blood pressure is a causative factor for many brain and eye diseases.
A study at the International Research Center for Traditional Medicine in Japan found astaxanthin reduced blood pressure in hypertensive rats after only five weeks of supplementation. Researchers discovered the nutrient appears to have a neuroprotective effect in ischemic mice—mice whose blood flow to the brain was obstructed.
This finding offers hope that astaxanthin may be protective against stroke.
If plaque builds up in your carotid arteries, the blood flow to your brain can be compromised, since your carotids are the primary arteries serving your brain. This arterial obstruction can lead to many different serious conditions, including stroke and dementia.
Other studies showed the following:
•Astaxanthin may improve memory in vascular dementia (Hussein 2005)
•Astaxanthin may boost intelligence
•Astaxanthin may prevent brain damage due to ischemia (Kudo et al 2002 and Oryza Company 2006)
There are also indications that astaxanthin can potentially improve recovery from spinal cord and other central nervous system injuries. Although scientific studies to date have been restricted to animal models, the results are nevertheless exciting and demonstrate great promise for humans.
Make Sure Your Astaxanthin is the Natural Variety from Marine Algae—NOT Synthetic
Synthetic (laboratory-made) astaxanthin is now commonly used worldwide to supplement fish feeds in order to obtain the desired pinkish to orange-red color.
Please avoid synthetic astaxanthin because it's made from petrochemicals.
Some aquaculture companies are beginning to use natural astaxanthin instead of synthetic, even though it costs more, because it's better for the health of the animals, and it's far superior for pigmentation. Animals fed fish food with natural astaxanthin have higher survival rates, better growth rates, better immunity, fertility and reproduction.
Unfortunately, synthetic astaxanthin still dominates the farmed salmon industry worldwide.
If your salmon label does not read "wild" or "naturally colored," you're probably going to be eating a coloring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant. Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times stronger as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin.
Wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than farmed salmon, and 100 percent of their pigment is natural astaxanthin, rather than synthetic. Plus, wild salmon have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than the farmed version. Just make sure to get wild Pacific salmon.
But even if you are successful in purchasing genuine wild salmon, there is the problem with high levels of mercury and other unwanted toxins, not to mention the skyrocketing prices.
Final Recommendations
You may recognize the name astaxanthin because I have mentioned it in reference to krill oil, my favorite source of animal based omega-3 fatty acids. One of the reasons I am such a fan of krill is that it naturally contains astaxanthin.
But, as high as it is, new research suggests you could enjoy even MORE benefits by further increasing your astaxanthin, even if you are already taking a krill oil supplement. If you decide to give astaxanthin a try, I recommend starting with 2 mg per day. If you are on a krill oil supplement, take that into consideration; different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.
Astaxanthin is in a number of our products including krill, Eye Support Formula and Astaxanthin with ALA.
Reference:
Natural Astaxanthin: King of the Carotenoids
By Bob Capelli with Dr. Gerald Cysewski
ISBN-13: 978-0-9792353-0-6
ISBN-10: 0-9792353-0-8
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Best Sleep Position
Your preferred sleep position could be giving you back and neck pain, stomach troubles, or can even be aging you prematurely. CNN has listed both the best positions for your body, and the ones to avoid.
The Best: Back position
Sleeping on your back prevents neck and back pain, reduces acid reflux, minimizes wrinkles, and helps maintain perky breasts. However, it is a bad position in terms of snoring.
Next Best: Side position
Sleeping on your side also prevents neck and back pain and reduces acid reflux, and it also reduces snoring. It's the best position for sleeping during pregnancy, if you sleep on your left side. However, it can be bad for your skin and your breasts.
Not Ideal: Fetal position
It's good for snoring less and sleeping during pregnancy, but it's not so good for neck and back pain, minimizing wrinkles, or maintaining your breasts.
The Worst: Stomach position
It's good for easing snoring, but it's bad for everything else. The pose puts pressure on your joints and muscles, which can irritate nerves and lead to pain, numbness, and tingling.
Sources: CNN April 19, 2011
The Best: Back position
Sleeping on your back prevents neck and back pain, reduces acid reflux, minimizes wrinkles, and helps maintain perky breasts. However, it is a bad position in terms of snoring.
Next Best: Side position
Sleeping on your side also prevents neck and back pain and reduces acid reflux, and it also reduces snoring. It's the best position for sleeping during pregnancy, if you sleep on your left side. However, it can be bad for your skin and your breasts.
Not Ideal: Fetal position
It's good for snoring less and sleeping during pregnancy, but it's not so good for neck and back pain, minimizing wrinkles, or maintaining your breasts.
The Worst: Stomach position
It's good for easing snoring, but it's bad for everything else. The pose puts pressure on your joints and muscles, which can irritate nerves and lead to pain, numbness, and tingling.
Sources: CNN April 19, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Airport X-Ray Scans - Opt Out
I recently traveled to Houston for a family renunion and even though it takes a little bit longer, I opted out of the x-ray security scan and got the full pat down. I have had enough x-rays in my life without adding more radiation at an airport. In my view, radiation like other toxins has an accumulative effect on the body.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) claims that backscatter scans are safe. But how do medical professionals personally feel about it?
Many doctors don't opt out of the scans. Dr. Drew Pinsky calls the amount of radiation "inconsequential." However, some researchers question whether the manufacturers' measurements are valid -- the exposure to radiation may actually be 10 times more than what the manufacturers claim.
And Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, takes a pat-down instead of going through a scanner when he travels. Brawley's deputy, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, has the same opinion.
According to CNN:
"Lichtenfeld says it doesn't necessarily give him great comfort that the TSA says the scans are safe. 'I can still remember getting my feet radiated as a child when I went to the shoe store and they had a machine which could see how my foot fit in the new shoes,' he says. 'We were told then that they were safe, and they were not.'"
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) claims that backscatter scans are safe. But how do medical professionals personally feel about it?
Many doctors don't opt out of the scans. Dr. Drew Pinsky calls the amount of radiation "inconsequential." However, some researchers question whether the manufacturers' measurements are valid -- the exposure to radiation may actually be 10 times more than what the manufacturers claim.
And Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, takes a pat-down instead of going through a scanner when he travels. Brawley's deputy, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, has the same opinion.
According to CNN:
"Lichtenfeld says it doesn't necessarily give him great comfort that the TSA says the scans are safe. 'I can still remember getting my feet radiated as a child when I went to the shoe store and they had a machine which could see how my foot fit in the new shoes,' he says. 'We were told then that they were safe, and they were not.'"
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