Wednesday, April 15, 2009
DIET SPRAYS, BAD BREATH ANALYZER AND ALERTS PREDICTING WEATHER-CAUSED ACHES
Americans are being criticized for outsourcing our technology and manufacturing but you can’t stop them from being creative. The following new ideas may be fun but they also may have a significant affect on your health.
• FLAVOR SPRAYS. The inventor, David Burke, a famed chef and author as well as an inventor, has created mists that have no fat, cholesterol, calories, carbohydrates or sugar. They work with any kind of diet or just for pleasure. Eliminating the need for gravies, dressings, and sauces, Flavor Spray can make food more palatable. And if you crave chocolate but want to lose weight, just spray chocolate on your tongue and the craving is reportedly under control. Inexpensive, the pump spray contains FDA-approved natural and artificial flavors. Check: http://flavor-spray.com
• BREATH ANALYZER DETECTS TUMMY TROUBLES. The inventor, Ralph Giannella, MD and his colleagues at Cincinnati’s University Hospital have a special plastic bag that people breath into. They remove some of the breath with a syringe and then analyze it. The tests can be done for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, sugar intolerances, dairy intolerances, or intestinal transit time from the mouth to the large intestines. The researchers in the digestive diseases division at UC says bacteria helps break down our food which metabolizes into gas. Using the gases in a person’s breath can help determine problems in their GI tract. For more info check: http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/8301.
• IT’S THE WEATHER: A weather website offers Migraine, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes and Heart Disease sufferers relief with North America's a Medical Climate (MediClim) health warning forecasts. MediClim.com tracks weather patterns, identifies when conditions are more likely to affect health and alerts subscribers with an email the day before potential weather health risks. It is a health-weather forecast in North America and it's free; users simply sign-up with an email and zip code (to localize weather warnings). Founded by physician Dr. John Bart and senior career meteorologist Denis Bourque, this free service gives warnings via custom email alerts when health problems are likely to be aggravated by local weather conditions. Check: www.MediClim.com for more information
• NOT FISHY. If you don’t like or just won’t eat fish oil which reportedly is good for your body, consider Powdered Omega-3 Salts may soon be offering supplement makers an alternative, according to new research from Ocean Nutrition Canada (ONC). Findings published in the Journal of Functional Foods indicate that calcium- and magnesium-fatty acid salts of omega-3 fish oil are equally bioavailable as traditional liquid fish oil. Solid forms of omega-3 could offer several advantages over the liquid oil capsules, said the researchers, including increased stability, better tolerability, a lower cost, and the inclusion of other dry ingredients such as vitamins and minerals. It would also allow for an alternative for consumers who wish to avoid animal gelatin
Other countries can steal our innovations but they can’t keep our scientists from creating more all the time.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
LIPSTICK ON YOUR LIPS TELLS A TALE ABOUT YOU
No matter how bad the economy gets, the irrepressible cosmetic marketers can still create innovative products and encourage consumers to open their wallets. New lipsticks are a prime example.
It is estimated the average woman will eat two pounds of lipstick in her lifetime. So why not make an edible lipstick that is good for you? A company, founded by Scott-Vincent Borba, already has one on the market, its: Inside Out Lipstick—Revive. Borba claims it is “the first lipstick that’s actually good for you.” While the long-lasting lipstick beautifies you on the outside, Borba’s nutraceutical infused with vitamins and other healthy ingredients beautifies you on the inside. He says “This is the first-ever lipstick that will nourish, moisturize and rejuvenate lips” The price: $22.
To feed your ego, if you can afford it, French luxury firm Guerlain has released its KissKiss Gold and Diamonds lipstick in selected stores in the US, with the impressive price tag of $62,000.
The lipstick is a replica of the KissKiss lipstick released in 2005, designed by Olivier Echaudemaison and Herve Van Der Staeten. KissKiss contains light reflectors, to create a 'dazzling effect', and a softening complex of vitamin A, alpha bisabol and waxes, to provide instant and long lasting moisture.
I found this one while researching alpha bisabol for my Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients published by Three Rivers Press. Bisabol also called Oplopanax is a myrrh-type gum resin obtained from African trees. Widely used in cosmetics including bath soaps, eye makeup removers, fragrances, deodorants, foundations, shaving creams, skin fresheners, baby lotions, powders, lipsticks, and after-shave lotions.
Nothing spectacular so far perhaps, but the key to the notable price tag lies in the packaging. The casing of Guerlain's latest super-luxury lipstick is made from 110g of 18 carat yellow gold, with 119 diamonds decorating its surface.
And so why did a lipstick merit such a lavish design? According to the designer Herve Van Der Straeten: "Lipstick is simple, yet mysterious”. This element of surprise creates curiosity and longing, which is what I hope each woman experiences when she clutches KissKiss Gold and Diamonds in the heart of her hand. It is powerful and unimaginable, unique and desired, obtainable and unobtainable at the same time." Fellow designer Echaudemaison, more simply describes the lipstick as being designed for those who 'indulge in lavishness and appreciate exquisite design'.
If that lipstick is not in your pocketbook range, then maybe you’ll be interested in this innovation. Paris Hilton has a gold Lipstick—Lilycharm-- for dogs. It’s Pink and costs $15.99
It is estimated the average woman will eat two pounds of lipstick in her lifetime. So why not make an edible lipstick that is good for you? A company, founded by Scott-Vincent Borba, already has one on the market, its: Inside Out Lipstick—Revive. Borba claims it is “the first lipstick that’s actually good for you.” While the long-lasting lipstick beautifies you on the outside, Borba’s nutraceutical infused with vitamins and other healthy ingredients beautifies you on the inside. He says “This is the first-ever lipstick that will nourish, moisturize and rejuvenate lips” The price: $22.
To feed your ego, if you can afford it, French luxury firm Guerlain has released its KissKiss Gold and Diamonds lipstick in selected stores in the US, with the impressive price tag of $62,000.
The lipstick is a replica of the KissKiss lipstick released in 2005, designed by Olivier Echaudemaison and Herve Van Der Staeten. KissKiss contains light reflectors, to create a 'dazzling effect', and a softening complex of vitamin A, alpha bisabol and waxes, to provide instant and long lasting moisture.
I found this one while researching alpha bisabol for my Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients published by Three Rivers Press. Bisabol also called Oplopanax is a myrrh-type gum resin obtained from African trees. Widely used in cosmetics including bath soaps, eye makeup removers, fragrances, deodorants, foundations, shaving creams, skin fresheners, baby lotions, powders, lipsticks, and after-shave lotions.
Nothing spectacular so far perhaps, but the key to the notable price tag lies in the packaging. The casing of Guerlain's latest super-luxury lipstick is made from 110g of 18 carat yellow gold, with 119 diamonds decorating its surface.
And so why did a lipstick merit such a lavish design? According to the designer Herve Van Der Straeten: "Lipstick is simple, yet mysterious”. This element of surprise creates curiosity and longing, which is what I hope each woman experiences when she clutches KissKiss Gold and Diamonds in the heart of her hand. It is powerful and unimaginable, unique and desired, obtainable and unobtainable at the same time." Fellow designer Echaudemaison, more simply describes the lipstick as being designed for those who 'indulge in lavishness and appreciate exquisite design'.
If that lipstick is not in your pocketbook range, then maybe you’ll be interested in this innovation. Paris Hilton has a gold Lipstick—Lilycharm-- for dogs. It’s Pink and costs $15.99
Friday, December 26, 2008
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHOLESTEROL LOWERING DRUGS
In the interest of transparency, I must reveal that I have extremely high cholesterol in my blood and a family background of cardiovascular disease. My doctors have all prescribed cholesterol lowering drugs. I have been through every one of them on the market starting with niacin and each time, within three days, I have become a victim of severe muscle aches. That is one of the signs of serious and even fatal side-effects of such drugs.
Recently, while researching material for the updates of my seventh editions of A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives and A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, I was looking through the FDA’s Medwatch Safety Alerts for Human Medical Products.
I found several describing side-effects from these multi-billion dollar medications in the category. Here they are:
Simvastatin Used With Amiodarone
Audience: Cardiologic healthcare professionals, pharmacists, other healthcare professionals
FDA notified healthcare professionals of the risk of muscle injury, rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to kidney failure or death, when simvastatin is used with amiodarone, (Crodarone®) a medication to keep the heart beating in sync. This risk is dose-related and increases when a dose of simvastatin greater than 20 mg per day is given with amiodarone. Although a revision of the simvastatin labeling in 2002 described an increased risk of rhabdomyolysis when amiodarone is taken with simvastatin doses greater than 20 mg daily, FDA continues to receive reports of rhabdomyolysis in patients treated concurrently with amiodarone and simvastatin. Prescribers should be aware of the increased risk of rhabdomyolysis when simvastatin is prescribed with amiodarone, and they should avoid doses of simvastatin greater than 20 mg per day in patients taking amiodarone.
Statin drugs and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Audience: Neurologists, cardiologists, consumers
[Posted 09/30/2008] An FDA analysis provides new evidence that the use of statins does not increase incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." The FDA analysis was undertaken after the agency received a higher than expected number of reports of ALS patients on statins. It is based on data from 41 long-term controlled clinical trials. The results showed no increased incidence of the disease in patients treated with a statin compared with those given a placebo.
The FDA is anticipating the completion of a case-control or epidemiological study of ALS and statin use. Results from this study should be available within 6-9 months. FDA is also examining the feasibility of conducting additional epidemiologic studies to examine the incidence and clinical course of ALS in patients taking statins.
Based on currently available information, health care professionals should not change their prescribing practices for statins and patients should not change their use of statins.
Ezetimibe/Simvastatin (marketed as Vytorin)
Simvastatin (marketed as Zocor)
Ezetimibe (marketed as Zetia)
Audience: Endocrinologists, cardiologists, other healthcare professionals, patients
FDA informed healthcare professionals that the Agency is investigating a report from the Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis (SEAS) trial of a possible association between the use of Vytorin and a potentially increased incidence of cancer. Vytorin is a combination product of simvastatin and ezetimibe used to decrease the production of cholesterol by the liver and inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine to reduce LDL-cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. Recently, FDA obtained preliminary results from the SEAS trial. The clinical trial tested whether lowering LDL-cholesterol with Vytorin would reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in individuals with aortic stenosis. A lower overall cardiovascular risk was not found with Vytorin. However, there was an additional observation that a larger percentage of subjects treated with Vytorin were diagnosed with and died from all types of cancer combined when compared to placebo during the 5-year study.
FDA anticipates receiving a final SEAS study report in about 3 months and the Agency's review and evaluation of the clinical trial data and other relevant information should take approximately 6 months. FDA will communicate its conclusions and recommendations at that time. Healthcare professionals and caregivers should continue to monitor patients taking Vytorin and report side effects from the use of this drug to the Agency.
It has been reported recently the incidence of heart disease and stroke have dropped significantly in recent years. Many credit it to the use of cholesterol lowering drugs. Others say, “What about the drop in cigarette smoking, a known culprit in cardiovascular disease? Could that be responsible for the good news and not the drugs?
There have been many negative cholesterol drug reports popping up periodically without much fanfare. For example, with the multi-billion dollar powerful drug Crestor was reported to be “ significantly more likely than other statins to cause muscle deterioration that can lead to kidney disease and failure” according to a study in the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation.
Documents on the FDA website reveal that pharmaceutical companies Merck and Schering-Plough conducted numerous safety studies on the popular cholesterol drug Zetia but did not publish the results, which suggested that the drug may cause liver damage when mixed with statins.
Zetia is a trade name for the drug, ezetimibe, also marketed under the names Ezetrol and Ezemibe. It is a major seller for Merck and Schering, and is estimated to have earned them $5 billion in 2007.
The website http:// www.naturalnews.com explained the Zetia blocks cholesterol absorption in the gut, and is often prescribed in conjunction with another class of cholesterol drugs, called statins. Because statins function in a different fashion by increasing the rate at which LDL cholesterol is cleared from the blood, the combination leads to a greater overall decrease in cholesterol levels. This combination is so popular that Merck and Schering also sell a combination Zetia-Zocor (simvastatin) pill under the brand names Vytorin and Inegy.
But concerns have long existed that the combination of Zetia and statins may lead to liver damage. As early as 2002, an FDA reviewer recommended against allowing the drugs to be mixed, due to liver damage in animal studies. Since the drug's approval, various case studies of liver damage have been published in medical journals.
It may be that the statins are life-safer for the majority of users. But then, again, with the money behind promoting them, they may not be as good as publicity promotes.
Statins currently available in the U.S.include:
* Atorvastatin (Lipitor®)
* Fluvastatin (Lescol®)
* Lovastatin (Mevacor®, Altoprev™)
* Pravastatin (Pravachol®)
* Rosuvastatin Calcium (Crestor®)
* Simvastatin (Zocor®)
To make up your own mind, it might help if you followed the FDA’s http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/ as well as some cynical sites such as http://naturalnews.com. I, of course, will alert you when I am able, to what is happening backstage.
Recently, while researching material for the updates of my seventh editions of A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives and A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, I was looking through the FDA’s Medwatch Safety Alerts for Human Medical Products.
I found several describing side-effects from these multi-billion dollar medications in the category. Here they are:
Simvastatin Used With Amiodarone
Audience: Cardiologic healthcare professionals, pharmacists, other healthcare professionals
FDA notified healthcare professionals of the risk of muscle injury, rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to kidney failure or death, when simvastatin is used with amiodarone, (Crodarone®) a medication to keep the heart beating in sync. This risk is dose-related and increases when a dose of simvastatin greater than 20 mg per day is given with amiodarone. Although a revision of the simvastatin labeling in 2002 described an increased risk of rhabdomyolysis when amiodarone is taken with simvastatin doses greater than 20 mg daily, FDA continues to receive reports of rhabdomyolysis in patients treated concurrently with amiodarone and simvastatin. Prescribers should be aware of the increased risk of rhabdomyolysis when simvastatin is prescribed with amiodarone, and they should avoid doses of simvastatin greater than 20 mg per day in patients taking amiodarone.
Statin drugs and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Audience: Neurologists, cardiologists, consumers
[Posted 09/30/2008] An FDA analysis provides new evidence that the use of statins does not increase incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." The FDA analysis was undertaken after the agency received a higher than expected number of reports of ALS patients on statins. It is based on data from 41 long-term controlled clinical trials. The results showed no increased incidence of the disease in patients treated with a statin compared with those given a placebo.
The FDA is anticipating the completion of a case-control or epidemiological study of ALS and statin use. Results from this study should be available within 6-9 months. FDA is also examining the feasibility of conducting additional epidemiologic studies to examine the incidence and clinical course of ALS in patients taking statins.
Based on currently available information, health care professionals should not change their prescribing practices for statins and patients should not change their use of statins.
Ezetimibe/Simvastatin (marketed as Vytorin)
Simvastatin (marketed as Zocor)
Ezetimibe (marketed as Zetia)
Audience: Endocrinologists, cardiologists, other healthcare professionals, patients
FDA informed healthcare professionals that the Agency is investigating a report from the Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis (SEAS) trial of a possible association between the use of Vytorin and a potentially increased incidence of cancer. Vytorin is a combination product of simvastatin and ezetimibe used to decrease the production of cholesterol by the liver and inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine to reduce LDL-cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. Recently, FDA obtained preliminary results from the SEAS trial. The clinical trial tested whether lowering LDL-cholesterol with Vytorin would reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in individuals with aortic stenosis. A lower overall cardiovascular risk was not found with Vytorin. However, there was an additional observation that a larger percentage of subjects treated with Vytorin were diagnosed with and died from all types of cancer combined when compared to placebo during the 5-year study.
FDA anticipates receiving a final SEAS study report in about 3 months and the Agency's review and evaluation of the clinical trial data and other relevant information should take approximately 6 months. FDA will communicate its conclusions and recommendations at that time. Healthcare professionals and caregivers should continue to monitor patients taking Vytorin and report side effects from the use of this drug to the Agency.
It has been reported recently the incidence of heart disease and stroke have dropped significantly in recent years. Many credit it to the use of cholesterol lowering drugs. Others say, “What about the drop in cigarette smoking, a known culprit in cardiovascular disease? Could that be responsible for the good news and not the drugs?
There have been many negative cholesterol drug reports popping up periodically without much fanfare. For example, with the multi-billion dollar powerful drug Crestor was reported to be “ significantly more likely than other statins to cause muscle deterioration that can lead to kidney disease and failure” according to a study in the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation.
Documents on the FDA website reveal that pharmaceutical companies Merck and Schering-Plough conducted numerous safety studies on the popular cholesterol drug Zetia but did not publish the results, which suggested that the drug may cause liver damage when mixed with statins.
Zetia is a trade name for the drug, ezetimibe, also marketed under the names Ezetrol and Ezemibe. It is a major seller for Merck and Schering, and is estimated to have earned them $5 billion in 2007.
The website http:// www.naturalnews.com explained the Zetia blocks cholesterol absorption in the gut, and is often prescribed in conjunction with another class of cholesterol drugs, called statins. Because statins function in a different fashion by increasing the rate at which LDL cholesterol is cleared from the blood, the combination leads to a greater overall decrease in cholesterol levels. This combination is so popular that Merck and Schering also sell a combination Zetia-Zocor (simvastatin) pill under the brand names Vytorin and Inegy.
But concerns have long existed that the combination of Zetia and statins may lead to liver damage. As early as 2002, an FDA reviewer recommended against allowing the drugs to be mixed, due to liver damage in animal studies. Since the drug's approval, various case studies of liver damage have been published in medical journals.
It may be that the statins are life-safer for the majority of users. But then, again, with the money behind promoting them, they may not be as good as publicity promotes.
Statins currently available in the U.S.include:
* Atorvastatin (Lipitor®)
* Fluvastatin (Lescol®)
* Lovastatin (Mevacor®, Altoprev™)
* Pravastatin (Pravachol®)
* Rosuvastatin Calcium (Crestor®)
* Simvastatin (Zocor®)
To make up your own mind, it might help if you followed the FDA’s http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/ as well as some cynical sites such as http://naturalnews.com. I, of course, will alert you when I am able, to what is happening backstage.
Friday, October 31, 2008
STEM CELLS AND WRINKLES
Now that the cosmetics industry has helped us to make us obsessed with wrinkles, can their scientists give us products that do more than peel or puff the outer layer of skins and get rid of those outward signs of aging?
For at least ten years since I’ve been following the efforts to harness stem cells for anti-aging-skin products. Unspecialized stem cells are like chameleons with the ability to grow into any one of the body's more than 200 cell types. Scientists are searching for ways to cultivate stem cells into specific tissues or substances that could be used to treat a variety of illnesses from cancer to heart disease and Alzheimer’s. They believe eventually, such cells may be manipulated into liver, bone, skin cells or other tissues to replace missing, defective or diseased tissue. Stem cell research, however, has faced a political quagmire because stem cells seem to be most potent in the tissue of developing fetuses. The Right To Lifers and others were horrified that such cells might be taken from aborted fetuses or from in embryos grown in a Petri dish---even to help save a human life. How would they react if they knew that stem would be just used for vanity purposes?
In an effort to find other non-controversial ways of obtaining useful stem cells, researchers reported they could get such stem cells from cast off umbilical cords after birth and from other cells in the adult body including skin cells. Progress has been slow in the world of human medicine because of opposition and lack of funding but in the laboratories of cosmetic companies, the chase is on to find anti-aging stem cells. The idea is to fight wrinkles with stem cells that would correct diminishing elastin and collagen.
Elastin is a protein in connective tissue. It is now used in hair and skin products as a moisturizer and conditioner. Collagen is also a protein found in connective tissue. It is elastin and collagen in the skin that undergo changes from aging and over exposure to the sun which contribute to the appearance of wrinkles and outward signs of aging. Both now used in cosmetics are derived from animal tissue.
.
A Salt Lake City company released its product, Amatokin, at Bloomingdale's last year with the advertising slogan "Stem Cells: The future of skin rejuvenation." The price--- $190 for a 30-milliliter tube - about 1 ounce. Are the stem cells in the product able to actively reproduce elastin and collagen cells in the skin?
PhytoCellTecTM Mallus Domestica of Mibelle Biochemistry announced in October that “for the first time the potential of stem cells for skin rejuvenation is evident”. The company claims “Only stem cells are indispensable for tissue regeneration. Only stem cells can produce new tissue cells. Because the terminally differentiated cells in the epidermis are shed from the skin there must be a continuous delivery.”
The manufacturer says it stem cell products may not only fight wrinkles, it can help keep hair from aging and protect the skin against the sun. Cosmetic companies are known to manipulate the truth but PhytoCellTec TM Mallus Domestica definitely has stem cells in their product. Their compound is derived from cultured Mallus Domestica--apple stem cells.
For at least ten years since I’ve been following the efforts to harness stem cells for anti-aging-skin products. Unspecialized stem cells are like chameleons with the ability to grow into any one of the body's more than 200 cell types. Scientists are searching for ways to cultivate stem cells into specific tissues or substances that could be used to treat a variety of illnesses from cancer to heart disease and Alzheimer’s. They believe eventually, such cells may be manipulated into liver, bone, skin cells or other tissues to replace missing, defective or diseased tissue. Stem cell research, however, has faced a political quagmire because stem cells seem to be most potent in the tissue of developing fetuses. The Right To Lifers and others were horrified that such cells might be taken from aborted fetuses or from in embryos grown in a Petri dish---even to help save a human life. How would they react if they knew that stem would be just used for vanity purposes?
In an effort to find other non-controversial ways of obtaining useful stem cells, researchers reported they could get such stem cells from cast off umbilical cords after birth and from other cells in the adult body including skin cells. Progress has been slow in the world of human medicine because of opposition and lack of funding but in the laboratories of cosmetic companies, the chase is on to find anti-aging stem cells. The idea is to fight wrinkles with stem cells that would correct diminishing elastin and collagen.
Elastin is a protein in connective tissue. It is now used in hair and skin products as a moisturizer and conditioner. Collagen is also a protein found in connective tissue. It is elastin and collagen in the skin that undergo changes from aging and over exposure to the sun which contribute to the appearance of wrinkles and outward signs of aging. Both now used in cosmetics are derived from animal tissue.
.
A Salt Lake City company released its product, Amatokin, at Bloomingdale's last year with the advertising slogan "Stem Cells: The future of skin rejuvenation." The price--- $190 for a 30-milliliter tube - about 1 ounce. Are the stem cells in the product able to actively reproduce elastin and collagen cells in the skin?
PhytoCellTecTM Mallus Domestica of Mibelle Biochemistry announced in October that “for the first time the potential of stem cells for skin rejuvenation is evident”. The company claims “Only stem cells are indispensable for tissue regeneration. Only stem cells can produce new tissue cells. Because the terminally differentiated cells in the epidermis are shed from the skin there must be a continuous delivery.”
The manufacturer says it stem cell products may not only fight wrinkles, it can help keep hair from aging and protect the skin against the sun. Cosmetic companies are known to manipulate the truth but PhytoCellTec TM Mallus Domestica definitely has stem cells in their product. Their compound is derived from cultured Mallus Domestica--apple stem cells.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
ABOUT FOOD ADDITIVES AND GOOD BACTERIA
By Ruth Winter, MS
We have all heard about the evil bacteria that contaminate our meat and spinach and other edibles we may ingest but can there be good bacteria deliberately added to our food? The answer is “yes” and I’ve been giving some to myself and my family for years. The beneficial ones are called probiotics--- a word compounded from Latin and a Greek meaning "favorable to life.”
The World Health Organization defines probiotics as "live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the on the host." The idea that friendly bacteria in yogurt, for example, can crowd out pathogenic organisms was originally purported by Russian-French bacteriologist Ilya Metchnikoff in The Prolongation of Life published in 1907.
Today, most products contain bacteria isolated from milk products and typically contain species of Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium, both of which I have used in powdered or pill form. Now, more and more live micro-organisms are being added to food or added to animal feed. They are considered "friendly germs," due to their ability to help restore microbial balance in the intestine and in the immune system. In addition to lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, streptococci, and some yeasts and molds--alone or as mixtures-- are now direct food additives.
In marketing probiotics, companies either make health claims based on their own research or refer to the wide range of studies conducted with various probiotic strains. Many studies have shown that probiotics may, indeed, boost the immune system. A recent investigation reported by Dr. Mark Besselink of Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands in the journal Surgery described 14 randomized-controlled trials on the use of probiotics. The friendly bacteria were given to patients undergoing abdominal surgery, liver transplantation or severe trauma. Nine showed a significant decrease in infectious complications causing Dr. Besselink to say he was “enthusiastic about preoperative probiotics." In another study published in 2008 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, probiotic supplements were found to reduce the number and length of infections suffered by long-distance runners. Strenuous training can affect the immune system and make athletes vulnerable to coughs and colds. The study conducted in Australia found taking probiotics more than halved the days the athletes had symptoms. In another clinical study published in The British Medical Journal, 113 patients had been hospitalized and given antibiotics. A follow-up after discharge showed the group taking probiotic drinks fared much better. Only 12% of those people developed antibiotic-associated diarrhea compared to 34% of the ex-patients not taking probiotics.
The belief is that when administered orally, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG adheres to the mucous membrane of the intestines and helps restore the balance of the gastrointestinal (GI) microflora; promote gut-barrier functions; diminish the production of cancer-causing compounds by other intestinal bacteria; and activate the innate immune response and enhance adaptive immunity, especially during infections.
Scientific understanding of probiotics and their potential for preventing and treating health conditions is still in an early stage, despite the fact that probiotic have been used in folk medicine for many years. Traditional medicine practioners are now paying attention to the “friendly bacteria”. A conference co-funded by the US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and convened by the American Society for Microbiology explored this topic. According to the conference report, there is encouraging evidence shown by scientific studies for some uses of probiotics. They are as follows:
• To treat diarrhea (this is the strongest area of evidence, especially for diarrhea from rotavirus)
• To prevent and treat infections of the urinary tract or female genital tract
• To treat irritable bowel syndrome
• To reduce recurrence of bladder cancer
• To shorten how long an intestinal infection lasts that is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium difficile
• To prevent and treat pouchitis (a condition that can follow surgery to remove the colon)
• To prevent and manage atopic dermatitis (eczema) in children
Some preliminary studies cited by researcher at the NCCAM Conference also report that certain probiotics can play a role in reducing the development of allergy in children. They also reported the apparent ability of probiotics to decrease Helicobacter pylori colonization in the stomach (which produces ulcers); help patients cope with side effects of antibiotic therapy; manage relapse of some inflammatory bowel conditions; lower the risk of certain cancers; decrease dental-caries-causing microbes in the mouth, and keep healthy people healthy.
The conference panel, in addition noted that in studies of probiotics as cures or any beneficial effect was usually low; a strong placebo effect often occurs; and more research (especially in the form of large, carefully designed clinical trials) is needed in order to draw firmer conclusions. Such research has started. For example:
• At the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, researchers have been examining probiotics for possibly decreasing the levels of certain substances in the urine that can cause problems such as kidney stones.
• A team at Tufts-New England Medical Center is studying probiotics for treating an antibiotic-resistant type of bacteria that causes severe infections in people who are hospitalized, live in nursing homes, or have weakened immune systems.
• Researchers at Tufts University are conducting a preliminary study on whether yogurt has the potential to reduce growth problems related to diarrhea and malnutrition in weaning infants.
• An Ohio State University team is studying whether Lactobacillus could potentially boost infants' immune systems and help ward off diarrhea-causing infections.
• Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University are investigating whether probiotics could have a role in treating fatty liver disease (a chronic condition in which fat accumulates in the liver).
Among the many questions yet to be answered are:
• Exactly how do probiotics interact with the body (such as the gut and its bacteria) to prevent and treat diseases and will new technology in medicine find the answers?
• How really viable and effective are probiotic bacteria after being added to food?
• What are the most effective ways to administer probiotics for therapeutic purposes, as well as the best doses and schedules?
• What is the potential of probiotics to help with the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut?
• Can probiotics prevent unfriendly bacteria from getting through the skin or mucous membranes and traveling through the body such in cases of patients suffering burns, shock, trauma, or suppressed immunity?
What about side-effects? Some live microorganisms have a long history of use as probiotics without causing illness in people. Probiotics' safety has not been thoroughly studied scientifically, however. More information is especially needed on how safe they are for young children, elderly people, and people with compromised immune systems. Probiotics' side effects, if they occur, reportedly tend to be mild and digestive such as gas or bloating. More serious effects have been seen in some people. Probiotics, for example, might theoretically cause infections that need to be treated with antibiotics, especially in people with underlying health conditions. They could also cause unhealthy metabolic activities, too much stimulation of the immune system, or gene transfer (insertion of genetic material into a cell).
Probiotic products taken by mouth as a dietary supplement are manufactured and monitored as foods, not drugs. Their quality (e.g., their identity, potency, purity, and shelf life) can vary--even from lot to lot or bottle to bottle. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Institutes of Health are funding research. For more information you can check the US government’s http://nccam.nih.gov/health/probiotics/ and usprobiotic.org (commercially sponsored).
We have all heard about the evil bacteria that contaminate our meat and spinach and other edibles we may ingest but can there be good bacteria deliberately added to our food? The answer is “yes” and I’ve been giving some to myself and my family for years. The beneficial ones are called probiotics--- a word compounded from Latin and a Greek meaning "favorable to life.”
The World Health Organization defines probiotics as "live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the on the host." The idea that friendly bacteria in yogurt, for example, can crowd out pathogenic organisms was originally purported by Russian-French bacteriologist Ilya Metchnikoff in The Prolongation of Life published in 1907.
Today, most products contain bacteria isolated from milk products and typically contain species of Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium, both of which I have used in powdered or pill form. Now, more and more live micro-organisms are being added to food or added to animal feed. They are considered "friendly germs," due to their ability to help restore microbial balance in the intestine and in the immune system. In addition to lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, streptococci, and some yeasts and molds--alone or as mixtures-- are now direct food additives.
In marketing probiotics, companies either make health claims based on their own research or refer to the wide range of studies conducted with various probiotic strains. Many studies have shown that probiotics may, indeed, boost the immune system. A recent investigation reported by Dr. Mark Besselink of Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands in the journal Surgery described 14 randomized-controlled trials on the use of probiotics. The friendly bacteria were given to patients undergoing abdominal surgery, liver transplantation or severe trauma. Nine showed a significant decrease in infectious complications causing Dr. Besselink to say he was “enthusiastic about preoperative probiotics." In another study published in 2008 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, probiotic supplements were found to reduce the number and length of infections suffered by long-distance runners. Strenuous training can affect the immune system and make athletes vulnerable to coughs and colds. The study conducted in Australia found taking probiotics more than halved the days the athletes had symptoms. In another clinical study published in The British Medical Journal, 113 patients had been hospitalized and given antibiotics. A follow-up after discharge showed the group taking probiotic drinks fared much better. Only 12% of those people developed antibiotic-associated diarrhea compared to 34% of the ex-patients not taking probiotics.
The belief is that when administered orally, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG adheres to the mucous membrane of the intestines and helps restore the balance of the gastrointestinal (GI) microflora; promote gut-barrier functions; diminish the production of cancer-causing compounds by other intestinal bacteria; and activate the innate immune response and enhance adaptive immunity, especially during infections.
Scientific understanding of probiotics and their potential for preventing and treating health conditions is still in an early stage, despite the fact that probiotic have been used in folk medicine for many years. Traditional medicine practioners are now paying attention to the “friendly bacteria”. A conference co-funded by the US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and convened by the American Society for Microbiology explored this topic. According to the conference report, there is encouraging evidence shown by scientific studies for some uses of probiotics. They are as follows:
• To treat diarrhea (this is the strongest area of evidence, especially for diarrhea from rotavirus)
• To prevent and treat infections of the urinary tract or female genital tract
• To treat irritable bowel syndrome
• To reduce recurrence of bladder cancer
• To shorten how long an intestinal infection lasts that is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium difficile
• To prevent and treat pouchitis (a condition that can follow surgery to remove the colon)
• To prevent and manage atopic dermatitis (eczema) in children
Some preliminary studies cited by researcher at the NCCAM Conference also report that certain probiotics can play a role in reducing the development of allergy in children. They also reported the apparent ability of probiotics to decrease Helicobacter pylori colonization in the stomach (which produces ulcers); help patients cope with side effects of antibiotic therapy; manage relapse of some inflammatory bowel conditions; lower the risk of certain cancers; decrease dental-caries-causing microbes in the mouth, and keep healthy people healthy.
The conference panel, in addition noted that in studies of probiotics as cures or any beneficial effect was usually low; a strong placebo effect often occurs; and more research (especially in the form of large, carefully designed clinical trials) is needed in order to draw firmer conclusions. Such research has started. For example:
• At the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, researchers have been examining probiotics for possibly decreasing the levels of certain substances in the urine that can cause problems such as kidney stones.
• A team at Tufts-New England Medical Center is studying probiotics for treating an antibiotic-resistant type of bacteria that causes severe infections in people who are hospitalized, live in nursing homes, or have weakened immune systems.
• Researchers at Tufts University are conducting a preliminary study on whether yogurt has the potential to reduce growth problems related to diarrhea and malnutrition in weaning infants.
• An Ohio State University team is studying whether Lactobacillus could potentially boost infants' immune systems and help ward off diarrhea-causing infections.
• Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University are investigating whether probiotics could have a role in treating fatty liver disease (a chronic condition in which fat accumulates in the liver).
Among the many questions yet to be answered are:
• Exactly how do probiotics interact with the body (such as the gut and its bacteria) to prevent and treat diseases and will new technology in medicine find the answers?
• How really viable and effective are probiotic bacteria after being added to food?
• What are the most effective ways to administer probiotics for therapeutic purposes, as well as the best doses and schedules?
• What is the potential of probiotics to help with the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut?
• Can probiotics prevent unfriendly bacteria from getting through the skin or mucous membranes and traveling through the body such in cases of patients suffering burns, shock, trauma, or suppressed immunity?
What about side-effects? Some live microorganisms have a long history of use as probiotics without causing illness in people. Probiotics' safety has not been thoroughly studied scientifically, however. More information is especially needed on how safe they are for young children, elderly people, and people with compromised immune systems. Probiotics' side effects, if they occur, reportedly tend to be mild and digestive such as gas or bloating. More serious effects have been seen in some people. Probiotics, for example, might theoretically cause infections that need to be treated with antibiotics, especially in people with underlying health conditions. They could also cause unhealthy metabolic activities, too much stimulation of the immune system, or gene transfer (insertion of genetic material into a cell).
Probiotic products taken by mouth as a dietary supplement are manufactured and monitored as foods, not drugs. Their quality (e.g., their identity, potency, purity, and shelf life) can vary--even from lot to lot or bottle to bottle. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Institutes of Health are funding research. For more information you can check the US government’s http://nccam.nih.gov/health/probiotics/ and usprobiotic.org (commercially sponsored).
Monday, January 14, 2008
ANTIBIOTICS ON YOUR PLATE
My interest in food safety was first sparked by an allergist saying my little daughter’s seemingly incurable hives might be due to penicillin in the milk.
“What’s penicillin doing in the milk?” I asked. As a reporter, I found that not only was penicillin the milk, it was in poultry, beef and in many of our edibles. My daughter now has a grown daughter of her own and still more than half the antibiotics produced are fed to animals today.
Currently 16 different antimicrobial drugs are approved for use in United State’s poultry production with gentamicin reported to be the most widely used. Our country is not alone in lacing meat and milk with antibiotics.
The Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) in Britain, for example, just released a study pointing to the growing resistance of specific food pathogens to antimicrobials, drugs used to combat the germs in animals at the production stage. Up to 29 per cent of the Campylobacter, now the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning, are now resistant to commonly used antimicrobials, according to a UK survey.
The report warns processors about the problems of resistant germs being passed along the food chain to consumers. The survey found that cephalosporin, a popular human antibiotic medication, is increasingly ineffective against E. coli. In humans E. coli is one of the two most important bacterial pathogens causing sickness. Over half of the E. coli bacteria isolates tested were resistant to ampicillin or amoxicillin, and up to 19 per cent were resistant to ciprofloxacin. The majority of E. coli O157, one of the most dangerous forms of the pathogen, were found in humans to show resistance to tetracyclines, sulphonamides and streptomycin in some regions.
Health providers and consumers have been widely blamed for overusing antibiotics in human illnesses and thus causing the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotic medicines but poultry workers may be the unknowing culprits. Researchers in the United States have just reported the poultry employees may be spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria to those who do not work in the sector.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that these workers were 32 times more likely to be carriers of E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic gentamicin when compared to other employees.
The results, published in a recent edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, suggest that food processing could play a greater role than previously thought in the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
"One of the major implications of this study is to underscore the importance of the non-hospital environment in the origin of drug resistant infections," said Ellen K. Silbergeld, PhD, senior author of the study. It was noted many of these workers wear uniforms and these could be handled by other household members during laundry who would then be exposed to the bacteria.
The study, which was conducted by the research faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, concluded: The findings will lend weight to those who are critical of antibiotic use in the poultry sector. Antibiotic resistance has become a serious problem for public health services around the world.”
Ask my daughter. That’s not news to me. Is it to you? Who is going to do something about it? Stay tuned.
“What’s penicillin doing in the milk?” I asked. As a reporter, I found that not only was penicillin the milk, it was in poultry, beef and in many of our edibles. My daughter now has a grown daughter of her own and still more than half the antibiotics produced are fed to animals today.
Currently 16 different antimicrobial drugs are approved for use in United State’s poultry production with gentamicin reported to be the most widely used. Our country is not alone in lacing meat and milk with antibiotics.
The Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) in Britain, for example, just released a study pointing to the growing resistance of specific food pathogens to antimicrobials, drugs used to combat the germs in animals at the production stage. Up to 29 per cent of the Campylobacter, now the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning, are now resistant to commonly used antimicrobials, according to a UK survey.
The report warns processors about the problems of resistant germs being passed along the food chain to consumers. The survey found that cephalosporin, a popular human antibiotic medication, is increasingly ineffective against E. coli. In humans E. coli is one of the two most important bacterial pathogens causing sickness. Over half of the E. coli bacteria isolates tested were resistant to ampicillin or amoxicillin, and up to 19 per cent were resistant to ciprofloxacin. The majority of E. coli O157, one of the most dangerous forms of the pathogen, were found in humans to show resistance to tetracyclines, sulphonamides and streptomycin in some regions.
Health providers and consumers have been widely blamed for overusing antibiotics in human illnesses and thus causing the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotic medicines but poultry workers may be the unknowing culprits. Researchers in the United States have just reported the poultry employees may be spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria to those who do not work in the sector.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that these workers were 32 times more likely to be carriers of E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic gentamicin when compared to other employees.
The results, published in a recent edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, suggest that food processing could play a greater role than previously thought in the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
"One of the major implications of this study is to underscore the importance of the non-hospital environment in the origin of drug resistant infections," said Ellen K. Silbergeld, PhD, senior author of the study. It was noted many of these workers wear uniforms and these could be handled by other household members during laundry who would then be exposed to the bacteria.
The study, which was conducted by the research faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, concluded: The findings will lend weight to those who are critical of antibiotic use in the poultry sector. Antibiotic resistance has become a serious problem for public health services around the world.”
Ask my daughter. That’s not news to me. Is it to you? Who is going to do something about it? Stay tuned.
Monday, December 10, 2007
SALT CAN BE SICKENING
An analysis of a number of studies reported in the Lancet Chronic Diseases Series revealed that reducing salt intake around the world by 15 per cent could prevent almost nine million deaths between 2006 and 2015 in 23 low- and middle-income countries. Having a genetic sensitivity to salt, I have a great deal of experience trying to obtain food that is salt-free or very low salt. I once was hospitalized because personnel at a New York restaurant assured me that they didn’t cook with salt. They did—a lot of it. Usually I can tell if a dish contains salt but with certain entrees with adornments, it is hard to tell.
While I was researching A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, I asked a scientist at a major food company why, when you leave out an additive such as salt, the product costs more? He explained: “We’ll, we have to stop the line with the regular product in order to keep from adding an ingredient and that is expensive.”
I don’t know whether that is true but I do know that restaurant personnel often say a dish will have “no salt” added but figure if you are a tourist, you won’t come back to complain.
As far as the supermarket, there are terms on packages that may be misleading. For example "unsalted", "processed without salt" or "no salt added" may signify that the producer didn't put any additional salt in during processing but the food may still be naturally high in sodium. For example, a low sodium soy sauce has 390 mg of sodium per teaspoon (and who can use only a teaspoon of soy sauce on a dish) and a popular tomato-vegetable drink with "no salt added" has 90 milligrams per 4.5 fluid ounces. Salt can also be listed under dozens of "sodium" designations such as monosodium glutamate and sodium caseinate adding additional salt to your diet. Sugar labeling, like salt, can be deceptive. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labeling signifies “low sodium” as being 140 mg or less and “very low sodium” to be 35 mg.
ConAgra, a major American producer of packaged foods and meats, recently reported it has removed nearly three million pounds of sodium from a range of products without affecting taste. The firm said it will continue to look at ways of cutting down salt, and said it has already managed to remove up to 20 per cent from many of its popular lines. Exact details of what the firm has used as a replacement to sodium in its range of foods - which includes Kid Cuisine, Chef Boyardee and Marie Callender - have not yet been released. ConAgra also reveals it is working on a proprietary sodium technology that can cut 30 per cent of sodium in popcorn.
Salt is a vital nutrient and is necessary for the body to function, but campaigners for salt reduction, such as the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) consider the average daily salt consumption in the western world, between 10 and 12g, far too high. Medical and consumer organizations want (FDA) to strengthen labeling and to change salt's current status from "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) to being controlled as a food additive.
Two sites you may want to check: www.mrsdash@mrsdash.com and livinglowsodium.com
While I was researching A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, I asked a scientist at a major food company why, when you leave out an additive such as salt, the product costs more? He explained: “We’ll, we have to stop the line with the regular product in order to keep from adding an ingredient and that is expensive.”
I don’t know whether that is true but I do know that restaurant personnel often say a dish will have “no salt” added but figure if you are a tourist, you won’t come back to complain.
As far as the supermarket, there are terms on packages that may be misleading. For example "unsalted", "processed without salt" or "no salt added" may signify that the producer didn't put any additional salt in during processing but the food may still be naturally high in sodium. For example, a low sodium soy sauce has 390 mg of sodium per teaspoon (and who can use only a teaspoon of soy sauce on a dish) and a popular tomato-vegetable drink with "no salt added" has 90 milligrams per 4.5 fluid ounces. Salt can also be listed under dozens of "sodium" designations such as monosodium glutamate and sodium caseinate adding additional salt to your diet. Sugar labeling, like salt, can be deceptive. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labeling signifies “low sodium” as being 140 mg or less and “very low sodium” to be 35 mg.
ConAgra, a major American producer of packaged foods and meats, recently reported it has removed nearly three million pounds of sodium from a range of products without affecting taste. The firm said it will continue to look at ways of cutting down salt, and said it has already managed to remove up to 20 per cent from many of its popular lines. Exact details of what the firm has used as a replacement to sodium in its range of foods - which includes Kid Cuisine, Chef Boyardee and Marie Callender - have not yet been released. ConAgra also reveals it is working on a proprietary sodium technology that can cut 30 per cent of sodium in popcorn.
Salt is a vital nutrient and is necessary for the body to function, but campaigners for salt reduction, such as the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) consider the average daily salt consumption in the western world, between 10 and 12g, far too high. Medical and consumer organizations want (FDA) to strengthen labeling and to change salt's current status from "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) to being controlled as a food additive.
Two sites you may want to check: www.mrsdash@mrsdash.com and livinglowsodium.com
Friday, November 16, 2007
NEWS ABOUT FISH AND YOUR BRAIN
NEWS ABOUT FISH AND YOUR BRAIN
The hot “new” category in the food industry is “functional foods”. We consumers are becoming convinced that by eating certain products can prevent or treat our ailments, according to presentations at a recent meeting of The Natural Marketing Institute's (NMI) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Steve French, executive vice president and managing partner of NMI, for example, cited Coca-Cola's opening of the Coca-Cola Research Center for Chinese Medicine at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing.
Rhona Applebaum, vice president, chief scientific and regulatory officer of Coca-Cola, said at the time of the facility’s opening last October:” This collaboration will ultimately help us bring the insights and benefits of traditional Chinese medicine to consumers all over the world…"As the world's largest beverage company, we can add global reach and world-class marketing skills to help promote Chinese wisdom in preventive holistic health through new and innovative beverages." NMI’s French says because very large food and beverage companies such as Coca-Cola tend to follow promising trends rather than set them, the link between healing and food looks to become further entrenched in the consumer’s mind.
Using foods to prevent and treat disease is not new, of course. Therapeutic uses of food dates back at least several thousand years to ancient Egypt where onions were recommended to induce sleep; almonds and cabbage to prevent hangovers; lemons to protect against the evil eye, and salt to stimulate passion. Who hasn’t heard that eating oysters will enhance one’s sexual desire and performance? This may be just a myth, but in fact oysters are rich in zinc and scientists have discovered that a zinc deficiency interferes with sexual function.
My husband, Dr. Arthur Winter, Director of New Jersey’s Neurological Institute, Livingston, NJ, and I wrote a book, Smart Food: Diet and Nutrition for Maximum Brain Power first published by St. Martin’s Press in 1988 and now back in print by ASJA Books. In it we point out that if your mother told you fish is brain food and she may have been right because fish contains compounds that can:
· Decrease blood pressure in persons with normal and moderately high blood pressure
· Decrease blood viscosity
· Decrease blood triglycerides
· Decrease vascular response to norepinephrine, a hormone that can stimulate anxiety
· Decrease irregular heartbeats
· Decrease cardiac toxicity of cardiac glycosides (sugars)
· Decrease stickiness of platelets, a type of blood cell that helps prevent bleeding by causing blood clots to form.
· Increase platelet survival.
Now new studies from New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Norway all suggest significant benefits of fish consumption, specifically the omega-3 fatty acid content, and cognitive health. Dutch researchers, led by Carla Dullemeijer from Wageningen University, used data from a trial, involving 807 men and women (average age 60). A cross-sectional analysis studied all 807 participants, while a longitudinal analysis only focused on the 404 participants in the placebo group. The researchers reported increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood were associated with a 69 percent less decline in reaction time and a 60 percent lower decline in complex cognition speed over three years. Since earlier studies have shown that fish intake is associated with better brain function, the researchers are now seeking what components in fish makes it good for the cognition besides Omega 3 fatty acids since fish contais a good supply of niacin and perhaps other factors that may benefit brain function.
Mercury and other pollutants that may adversely affect the brain can also be in fish so the complete picture of fish and the brain is still in deep water. Stay tuned.
The hot “new” category in the food industry is “functional foods”. We consumers are becoming convinced that by eating certain products can prevent or treat our ailments, according to presentations at a recent meeting of The Natural Marketing Institute's (NMI) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Steve French, executive vice president and managing partner of NMI, for example, cited Coca-Cola's opening of the Coca-Cola Research Center for Chinese Medicine at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing.
Rhona Applebaum, vice president, chief scientific and regulatory officer of Coca-Cola, said at the time of the facility’s opening last October:” This collaboration will ultimately help us bring the insights and benefits of traditional Chinese medicine to consumers all over the world…"As the world's largest beverage company, we can add global reach and world-class marketing skills to help promote Chinese wisdom in preventive holistic health through new and innovative beverages." NMI’s French says because very large food and beverage companies such as Coca-Cola tend to follow promising trends rather than set them, the link between healing and food looks to become further entrenched in the consumer’s mind.
Using foods to prevent and treat disease is not new, of course. Therapeutic uses of food dates back at least several thousand years to ancient Egypt where onions were recommended to induce sleep; almonds and cabbage to prevent hangovers; lemons to protect against the evil eye, and salt to stimulate passion. Who hasn’t heard that eating oysters will enhance one’s sexual desire and performance? This may be just a myth, but in fact oysters are rich in zinc and scientists have discovered that a zinc deficiency interferes with sexual function.
My husband, Dr. Arthur Winter, Director of New Jersey’s Neurological Institute, Livingston, NJ, and I wrote a book, Smart Food: Diet and Nutrition for Maximum Brain Power first published by St. Martin’s Press in 1988 and now back in print by ASJA Books. In it we point out that if your mother told you fish is brain food and she may have been right because fish contains compounds that can:
· Decrease blood pressure in persons with normal and moderately high blood pressure
· Decrease blood viscosity
· Decrease blood triglycerides
· Decrease vascular response to norepinephrine, a hormone that can stimulate anxiety
· Decrease irregular heartbeats
· Decrease cardiac toxicity of cardiac glycosides (sugars)
· Decrease stickiness of platelets, a type of blood cell that helps prevent bleeding by causing blood clots to form.
· Increase platelet survival.
Now new studies from New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Norway all suggest significant benefits of fish consumption, specifically the omega-3 fatty acid content, and cognitive health. Dutch researchers, led by Carla Dullemeijer from Wageningen University, used data from a trial, involving 807 men and women (average age 60). A cross-sectional analysis studied all 807 participants, while a longitudinal analysis only focused on the 404 participants in the placebo group. The researchers reported increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood were associated with a 69 percent less decline in reaction time and a 60 percent lower decline in complex cognition speed over three years. Since earlier studies have shown that fish intake is associated with better brain function, the researchers are now seeking what components in fish makes it good for the cognition besides Omega 3 fatty acids since fish contais a good supply of niacin and perhaps other factors that may benefit brain function.
Mercury and other pollutants that may adversely affect the brain can also be in fish so the complete picture of fish and the brain is still in deep water. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AROUND YOU
An epidemic of thyroid disease among pet cats may be caused by toxic flame retardants that were widely found in household dust and some pet food, government scientists reported recently.
The often-lethal disease was rare in cats until the 1980s when it became widespread, especially in California Cats. That was at the same time industry stated using large volumes of brominated flame retardants in consumer products, including furniture cushions, electronics, mattresses and carpet padding.
One of our beloved cats died of kidney failure not long after we had the carpets professionally cleaned years ago. We suspected it was the cleaner used but couldn’t prove it. Never-the-less, we haven’t had the carpets cleaned again without using non-toxic, allergenic products.
Since then, I have researched the common chemical products used in the home, yard, and office. I gathered is common chemicals in my book, A Consumer’s Dictionary of Household, Yard and Office Chemicals. There are 82,000 chemicals in use in the United States and more than 700 new ones are introduced into commerce each year.
Why worry? The cats may be like the miner’s canaries—warning us of dangers around us. Budget cuts for government agencies and increasing pressure from industrial lobbyists have allowed products to enter or remain on the market that contain substances know to cause liver, kidney, central nervous system damage, birth defects and many other health ailments. Your knowledge, therefore, is your vital safeguard today.
Take a look around your home, yard, or office. Many of those innocent-looking, brightly packaged products you purchased at the supermarket, hardware, or office supply store and use so casually may cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, loss of coordination or headaches. Some products have also been associated with heart and lung damage.
Check around your living and working areas. Do you have a product containing methylene chloride? It is widely used as a solvent, de-greaser, and paint and varnish thinner. It is in pesticide aerosols, refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, in cleansing creams, and in paint and varnish removers. Some paint strippers, as a matter of fact, are 80 percent methylene chloride. You may be more cautious about using products containing the chemical after you read the reported health effects under the listing for it in this book. They include liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage; it increases the carbon monoxide level in the blood and people with angina (chest pains) are extremely sensitive to the chemical; methylene chloride has been linked to heart attacks and cancer.
Do you have oven cleaners in your cleaning-supply closet? Many spray types are highly irritating to the skin and lungs, particularly those with methylene chloride, sodium and potassium hydroxide (lye), and petroleum distillates.
What about your carpets and cabinets? Detergent and pesticide residues can accumulate on carpeting and vaporize, causing respiratory symptoms.
Have you sprayed your pet with a product containing DDVP or hung a flea collar with it around your pet’s neck? A study performed by the national Toxicology Program of the Department of Health and Human Services revealed a significant leukemia hazard from this common household pesticide widely used in pet, house, and yard aerosol products since the 1950s, and the EPA reported the cancer risk for applying DDVP sprays ranged from one in a hundred to one in a hundred thousand. The generally accepted “significant” threshold is one cancer incidence in one million persons. The EPA, as this is being written, is moving to have DDVP banned as a pesticide for food packaging because it was found in animal tests to cause “more than a negligible risk.” It may take years to get it off the market as a food package pesticide, but what about the hundreds of other products that still contain DDVP? The EPA conducted a major study of nonoccupational exposure to pesticides and found indoor exposure to pesticides is widespread, with as many as ten different pesticides being detected in a single home.
We live in a sea of chemicals. In fact, our bodies are made of chemicals and we eat, breathe and slather chemicals on ourselves but how much do we really know about the chemicals in us, on us and around us? Surprisingly little.
Companies are not required by the US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to test new chemicals before they are submitted for the EPA’s review, and they generally do not voluntarily perform such testing. Because chemical companies claim data about their products are confidential business information, government agencies face challenges in obtaining the information necessary to assess chemical risks to the public. US Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced legislation coauthored with Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) in July 2005 to force chemical manufacturers to provide health and safety information on chemicals used in consumer products instead of presuming a substance is safe until proven dangerous.
“Every day, Americans use household products that contain hundreds of chemicals,” says Senator Lautenberg. “Most people assume that those chemicals have been proven safe for their families and children. Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong.”
Lautenberg says there are no laws that require analysis for the chemicals used in baby bottles, water bottles, food packages and thousands of other products. This is inexcusable.”It is really up to us. As consumers, we have to educate ourselves and use the chemicals in our homes, yards and offices with awareness of potential health effects and to substitute products that may be less hazardous.
The often-lethal disease was rare in cats until the 1980s when it became widespread, especially in California Cats. That was at the same time industry stated using large volumes of brominated flame retardants in consumer products, including furniture cushions, electronics, mattresses and carpet padding.
One of our beloved cats died of kidney failure not long after we had the carpets professionally cleaned years ago. We suspected it was the cleaner used but couldn’t prove it. Never-the-less, we haven’t had the carpets cleaned again without using non-toxic, allergenic products.
Since then, I have researched the common chemical products used in the home, yard, and office. I gathered is common chemicals in my book, A Consumer’s Dictionary of Household, Yard and Office Chemicals. There are 82,000 chemicals in use in the United States and more than 700 new ones are introduced into commerce each year.
Why worry? The cats may be like the miner’s canaries—warning us of dangers around us. Budget cuts for government agencies and increasing pressure from industrial lobbyists have allowed products to enter or remain on the market that contain substances know to cause liver, kidney, central nervous system damage, birth defects and many other health ailments. Your knowledge, therefore, is your vital safeguard today.
Take a look around your home, yard, or office. Many of those innocent-looking, brightly packaged products you purchased at the supermarket, hardware, or office supply store and use so casually may cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, loss of coordination or headaches. Some products have also been associated with heart and lung damage.
Check around your living and working areas. Do you have a product containing methylene chloride? It is widely used as a solvent, de-greaser, and paint and varnish thinner. It is in pesticide aerosols, refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, in cleansing creams, and in paint and varnish removers. Some paint strippers, as a matter of fact, are 80 percent methylene chloride. You may be more cautious about using products containing the chemical after you read the reported health effects under the listing for it in this book. They include liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage; it increases the carbon monoxide level in the blood and people with angina (chest pains) are extremely sensitive to the chemical; methylene chloride has been linked to heart attacks and cancer.
Do you have oven cleaners in your cleaning-supply closet? Many spray types are highly irritating to the skin and lungs, particularly those with methylene chloride, sodium and potassium hydroxide (lye), and petroleum distillates.
What about your carpets and cabinets? Detergent and pesticide residues can accumulate on carpeting and vaporize, causing respiratory symptoms.
Have you sprayed your pet with a product containing DDVP or hung a flea collar with it around your pet’s neck? A study performed by the national Toxicology Program of the Department of Health and Human Services revealed a significant leukemia hazard from this common household pesticide widely used in pet, house, and yard aerosol products since the 1950s, and the EPA reported the cancer risk for applying DDVP sprays ranged from one in a hundred to one in a hundred thousand. The generally accepted “significant” threshold is one cancer incidence in one million persons. The EPA, as this is being written, is moving to have DDVP banned as a pesticide for food packaging because it was found in animal tests to cause “more than a negligible risk.” It may take years to get it off the market as a food package pesticide, but what about the hundreds of other products that still contain DDVP? The EPA conducted a major study of nonoccupational exposure to pesticides and found indoor exposure to pesticides is widespread, with as many as ten different pesticides being detected in a single home.
We live in a sea of chemicals. In fact, our bodies are made of chemicals and we eat, breathe and slather chemicals on ourselves but how much do we really know about the chemicals in us, on us and around us? Surprisingly little.
Companies are not required by the US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to test new chemicals before they are submitted for the EPA’s review, and they generally do not voluntarily perform such testing. Because chemical companies claim data about their products are confidential business information, government agencies face challenges in obtaining the information necessary to assess chemical risks to the public. US Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced legislation coauthored with Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) in July 2005 to force chemical manufacturers to provide health and safety information on chemicals used in consumer products instead of presuming a substance is safe until proven dangerous.
“Every day, Americans use household products that contain hundreds of chemicals,” says Senator Lautenberg. “Most people assume that those chemicals have been proven safe for their families and children. Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong.”
Lautenberg says there are no laws that require analysis for the chemicals used in baby bottles, water bottles, food packages and thousands of other products. This is inexcusable.”It is really up to us. As consumers, we have to educate ourselves and use the chemicals in our homes, yards and offices with awareness of potential health effects and to substitute products that may be less hazardous.
Friday, July 13, 2007
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE A MARGINAL VITAMIN DEFICIENCY?
The pressure to put restrictions on over-the-counter sale of vitamins may affect you if you have a marginal deficiency, according to Smart Food: Diet and Nutrition for Maximum Brain Power by Arthur Winter, MD and Ruth Winter, MS, just reissued by ASJA Press.
Marginal deficiency, by definition, is a state of gradual vitamin depletion in which there is evidence of personal lack of well being associated with impairment of certain chemical reactions in the body. The reactions impaired are those that depend on sufficient amounts of vitamins.
How do you know if you have a marginal deficiency?
One of the pioneers in the effects of this condition, Herman Baker, PhD of the University of Medicine of New Jersey, described the symptoms:
• You'll always feel tired.
• You may have insomnia
• You may a loss of appetite.
• A decreased ability to concentrate.
• Your brain does not function well.
• You complain to your physician, "I feel under the weather. I don't know what is
bothering me but I keep getting colds."
You doctor examines you and tells you he or she can find nothing wrong. So your doctor may say, 'take some vitamins!’ If you have an absorption problem or the liver cannot bind or store vitamins, you can take a ton of vitamins but you will just enrich the sewage system. You can take one tenth or three tenths of a milligram of vitamin B 12, and you won't absorb anymore than one tenth milligram since that is all your body can absorb at one time. The rest is wasted. But if you break the dose into three times a day, you can absorb a total of three tenths of a milligram of thiamine a day."
Vitamin B12, according to Dr. Winter, director of New Jersey Neurological Institute’s Memory Clinic, Livingston, NJ, is one vitamin which is vitally needed for the aging brain. It is known to be necessary normal growth, a healthy nervous system, and normal red blood cell formation. It can be found only in animal and dairy products. A B12 deficiency produces pernicious anemia, a severe anemia similar to that caused by a B6 deficiency. Vitamin B12, anemia is rarely the result of dietary deficiency, except in vegans (vegetarians who consume no animal food or dairy products), since the liver stores sufficient quantities to sustain the body's needs for three to five years. Vegetarians may obtain vitamin B12 by eating fermented foods such as tamari or tofu or who eat large amounts of raw food. It is believed that they can manufacture B12 in their own systems with the aid of friendly bacteria. Like the other B vitamins, a deficiency in this one can lead to brain and nerve damage. In most patients, the symptoms develop insidiously and progressively as the large liver stores of B 12, are depleted. As has been noted, as we grow older, there is less stomach acid to process B 12 and taking the vitamin by mouth is often ineffective. It must be given by injection about once a month.
Symptoms of B12 deficiency include:
• Loss of appetite,
• Intermittent constipation and diarrhea,
• Stomach pain.
• Fatigue
• Patchy, diffuse, and progressive nerve degeneration. There may be a loss of
Balance, numbness and weakness of the limbs
• Irritability,
• Mild depression
• paranoia, a condition known as megaloblastic madness.
Alcohol, estrogen, and sleeping pills can lower B 12 levels in the body. Vitamin C, however, does not destroy vitamin B 12, as some medical reports have proposed. Dr. Baker and associates tested Nobelist Linus Pauling, an advocate of massive doses of vitamin C, and Dr. Pauling's colleagues, all of whom had taken large amounts of vitamin C for years. Dr. Baker found that all of the vitamin C takers had normal levels of B 12.
The RDA's for B 12 are 6 micrograms for adults and 0.5 to 3 micrograms for infants and children.
Dr. Baker says taking vitamins with food will aid absorption, while mineral supplements are best absorbed when taken between meals. "Not only lay persons but physicians are often unaware of these simple facts," he maintains.
Vitamin deficiency is not something that occurs abruptly or acutely and it is very difficult to diagnose. There are four basic stages:
The preliminary stage. Body stores of a micronutrient are gradually depleted. When there is not enough of a particular vitamin to work for the body, the body's chemistry is impaired. In this preliminary stage, there is no indication of depletion in clinical terms of growth or appearance.
The physiological stage. These changes are ones that you might not associate with nutrient deficiencies for example, loss of appetite, depression, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, or sleepiness. The person is not sufficiently ill to seek medical care or go to the hospital, yet his or her general health is less than optimal. If the deficiency continues, symptoms of classic deficiency disease will appear.
The clinical stage. Something is obviously seriously wrong and if left untreated the person progresses to the next stage
Marginal deficiency, by definition, is a state of gradual vitamin depletion in which there is evidence of personal lack of well being associated with impairment of certain chemical reactions in the body. The reactions impaired are those that depend on sufficient amounts of vitamins.
How do you know if you have a marginal deficiency?
One of the pioneers in the effects of this condition, Herman Baker, PhD of the University of Medicine of New Jersey, described the symptoms:
• You'll always feel tired.
• You may have insomnia
• You may a loss of appetite.
• A decreased ability to concentrate.
• Your brain does not function well.
• You complain to your physician, "I feel under the weather. I don't know what is
bothering me but I keep getting colds."
You doctor examines you and tells you he or she can find nothing wrong. So your doctor may say, 'take some vitamins!’ If you have an absorption problem or the liver cannot bind or store vitamins, you can take a ton of vitamins but you will just enrich the sewage system. You can take one tenth or three tenths of a milligram of vitamin B 12, and you won't absorb anymore than one tenth milligram since that is all your body can absorb at one time. The rest is wasted. But if you break the dose into three times a day, you can absorb a total of three tenths of a milligram of thiamine a day."
Vitamin B12, according to Dr. Winter, director of New Jersey Neurological Institute’s Memory Clinic, Livingston, NJ, is one vitamin which is vitally needed for the aging brain. It is known to be necessary normal growth, a healthy nervous system, and normal red blood cell formation. It can be found only in animal and dairy products. A B12 deficiency produces pernicious anemia, a severe anemia similar to that caused by a B6 deficiency. Vitamin B12, anemia is rarely the result of dietary deficiency, except in vegans (vegetarians who consume no animal food or dairy products), since the liver stores sufficient quantities to sustain the body's needs for three to five years. Vegetarians may obtain vitamin B12 by eating fermented foods such as tamari or tofu or who eat large amounts of raw food. It is believed that they can manufacture B12 in their own systems with the aid of friendly bacteria. Like the other B vitamins, a deficiency in this one can lead to brain and nerve damage. In most patients, the symptoms develop insidiously and progressively as the large liver stores of B 12, are depleted. As has been noted, as we grow older, there is less stomach acid to process B 12 and taking the vitamin by mouth is often ineffective. It must be given by injection about once a month.
Symptoms of B12 deficiency include:
• Loss of appetite,
• Intermittent constipation and diarrhea,
• Stomach pain.
• Fatigue
• Patchy, diffuse, and progressive nerve degeneration. There may be a loss of
Balance, numbness and weakness of the limbs
• Irritability,
• Mild depression
• paranoia, a condition known as megaloblastic madness.
Alcohol, estrogen, and sleeping pills can lower B 12 levels in the body. Vitamin C, however, does not destroy vitamin B 12, as some medical reports have proposed. Dr. Baker and associates tested Nobelist Linus Pauling, an advocate of massive doses of vitamin C, and Dr. Pauling's colleagues, all of whom had taken large amounts of vitamin C for years. Dr. Baker found that all of the vitamin C takers had normal levels of B 12.
The RDA's for B 12 are 6 micrograms for adults and 0.5 to 3 micrograms for infants and children.
Dr. Baker says taking vitamins with food will aid absorption, while mineral supplements are best absorbed when taken between meals. "Not only lay persons but physicians are often unaware of these simple facts," he maintains.
Vitamin deficiency is not something that occurs abruptly or acutely and it is very difficult to diagnose. There are four basic stages:
The preliminary stage. Body stores of a micronutrient are gradually depleted. When there is not enough of a particular vitamin to work for the body, the body's chemistry is impaired. In this preliminary stage, there is no indication of depletion in clinical terms of growth or appearance.
The physiological stage. These changes are ones that you might not associate with nutrient deficiencies for example, loss of appetite, depression, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, or sleepiness. The person is not sufficiently ill to seek medical care or go to the hospital, yet his or her general health is less than optimal. If the deficiency continues, symptoms of classic deficiency disease will appear.
The clinical stage. Something is obviously seriously wrong and if left untreated the person progresses to the next stage
Sunday, March 18, 2007
BULL SEMEN FOR HAIR CARE
Do cowboys know something we don’t know? Bull semen is now attracting the attention of the hair care industry after a United Kingdom hair salon made a splash introducing it as a lead ingredient in a hair treament product. Hari’s Salon in London revealed to CosmeticDesign, a trade publication, that they chose bull’s semen because they discovered “the rich proteins it contains creates a shine to the hair other treatments could not.”
I don’t know who was the first to think about trying bull semen as an ingredient but Hari’s mixes the semen with a katria plant root extract. The treatment takes about 45 minutes and, according to Hari’s, the protein in the semen “actively compliments the protein contained in hair molecules”. The katria root make the compound almost odorless.
This is not the first time semen has been used as a cosmetic ingredient. A Norweigian based company, Maritex, uses Cod sperm. The company suggests that the sperm successfully binds water in body lotions and make-up. The company reportedly has sold seven tons of processed cod sperm for use in cosmetics in just one year.
Cosmetic manufacturers have tried to use hormones from cows but the side-effects have caused a ban on those products. Other natural estrogenlike ingredients, however, are being employed and just recently, lavendar used in hair products, which contains an estrogenlike substance, reportedly caused breast growth in young boys.
Placental extracts, prepared from the nourishing lining of the womb expelled at birth, is in many expensive anti-wrinkle skin creams. As an American Medical Association expert once pointed out about placental use:“then why are babies born with wrinkled skin?”
Stay tuned. We will have to see how much sperm is spread around in cosmetics.
I don’t know who was the first to think about trying bull semen as an ingredient but Hari’s mixes the semen with a katria plant root extract. The treatment takes about 45 minutes and, according to Hari’s, the protein in the semen “actively compliments the protein contained in hair molecules”. The katria root make the compound almost odorless.
This is not the first time semen has been used as a cosmetic ingredient. A Norweigian based company, Maritex, uses Cod sperm. The company suggests that the sperm successfully binds water in body lotions and make-up. The company reportedly has sold seven tons of processed cod sperm for use in cosmetics in just one year.
Cosmetic manufacturers have tried to use hormones from cows but the side-effects have caused a ban on those products. Other natural estrogenlike ingredients, however, are being employed and just recently, lavendar used in hair products, which contains an estrogenlike substance, reportedly caused breast growth in young boys.
Placental extracts, prepared from the nourishing lining of the womb expelled at birth, is in many expensive anti-wrinkle skin creams. As an American Medical Association expert once pointed out about placental use:“then why are babies born with wrinkled skin?”
Stay tuned. We will have to see how much sperm is spread around in cosmetics.
Friday, December 01, 2006
A COSMETIC AND FOOD ADDITIVE THAT MAY SPEED AGING
A COSMETIC AND FOOD ADDITIVE THAT MAY SPEED AGING
We humans are exposed a many environmental chemicals that may interfere with DNA, the blueprints of our cells... One of the latest cited involves DHC (Dihydrocoumarin), widely added to our foods and cosmetics. In my Dictionary of Food Additives I describe it as “a flavoring from many plants including sweet cover and Tonka bean used in many flavorings for beverages, ice cream and baked goods.” I noted that prolonged feeding revealed a possible trend towards liver injury. In my Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, DHC is listed as “a fragrant ingredient and is related to is related to coumarin that has anti-blood clotting effects and is prohibited in foods because it is toxic by ingestion and carcinogenic on the skin.”
Now researchers at the School of Public Health, University of California at Berkley headed by Andrew J. Olaharski, found that DHC can interfere with sirtuins, a family of enzymes. In recent years, scientists have learned that sirtuins play critical roles in a wide array of vital life processes, including metabolism, aging, and gene expression. Some studies have shown that low-calorie diets that extend life boost sirtuins activities dramatically, suggesting an intriguing link between metabolism and aging through the enzymes. Humans have at least seven different sirtuins performing different tasks, and given the evident importance of the work they do, researchers have been trying to better understand how they function. Insights into their mode of action could represent early steps toward developing a novel class of drugs that might promote health in various ways and also identify environmental toxins that may interfere with sirtuins.
Reporting their research in journal PLos Genetics published by The Public Library of Science, the Californians found that DHC damages sirtuins .The scientists tested a number of environmental chemicals known to inhibit sirtuins and concluded that DHC is one of the culprits.
If you wonder why DHC is necessary to be added to our food and cosmetics, sit down and relax with a glass of red wine. A number of researchers have reported found that a sirtuin-activating compound found in red wine, reservatol, increased the life span of yeast cells by more than two-thirds . Resveratrol is synthesized by plants in response to stress, like a lack of nutrients or contracting a fungal infection. It exists in the skin of both red and white grapes but is found in amounts 10 times higher in red wine because of differences in the manufacturing processes.
According to the Oxford Companion to Wine, Pinot Noir tends to have high levels of the chemical, while Cabernet Sauvignon has lower levels. "Wines produced in cooler regions or areas with greater disease pressure, such as Burgundy and New York, often have more resveratrol," the book says, whereas wines from drier climates like California or Australia have less.
On the other hand, Dr. Toren Finkel, the head of cardiovascular research at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said that "I would be cautious in sending out the message that one glass of wine a day will make you live 10 years longer." "The concentration of resveratrol in different wine differs," he said. "As a drug, it is not ready for prime time." But he acknowledged that the concept of a drug that mimicked caloric restriction "is a great idea.”
We humans are exposed a many environmental chemicals that may interfere with DNA, the blueprints of our cells... One of the latest cited involves DHC (Dihydrocoumarin), widely added to our foods and cosmetics. In my Dictionary of Food Additives I describe it as “a flavoring from many plants including sweet cover and Tonka bean used in many flavorings for beverages, ice cream and baked goods.” I noted that prolonged feeding revealed a possible trend towards liver injury. In my Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, DHC is listed as “a fragrant ingredient and is related to is related to coumarin that has anti-blood clotting effects and is prohibited in foods because it is toxic by ingestion and carcinogenic on the skin.”
Now researchers at the School of Public Health, University of California at Berkley headed by Andrew J. Olaharski, found that DHC can interfere with sirtuins, a family of enzymes. In recent years, scientists have learned that sirtuins play critical roles in a wide array of vital life processes, including metabolism, aging, and gene expression. Some studies have shown that low-calorie diets that extend life boost sirtuins activities dramatically, suggesting an intriguing link between metabolism and aging through the enzymes. Humans have at least seven different sirtuins performing different tasks, and given the evident importance of the work they do, researchers have been trying to better understand how they function. Insights into their mode of action could represent early steps toward developing a novel class of drugs that might promote health in various ways and also identify environmental toxins that may interfere with sirtuins.
Reporting their research in journal PLos Genetics published by The Public Library of Science, the Californians found that DHC damages sirtuins .The scientists tested a number of environmental chemicals known to inhibit sirtuins and concluded that DHC is one of the culprits.
If you wonder why DHC is necessary to be added to our food and cosmetics, sit down and relax with a glass of red wine. A number of researchers have reported found that a sirtuin-activating compound found in red wine, reservatol, increased the life span of yeast cells by more than two-thirds . Resveratrol is synthesized by plants in response to stress, like a lack of nutrients or contracting a fungal infection. It exists in the skin of both red and white grapes but is found in amounts 10 times higher in red wine because of differences in the manufacturing processes.
According to the Oxford Companion to Wine, Pinot Noir tends to have high levels of the chemical, while Cabernet Sauvignon has lower levels. "Wines produced in cooler regions or areas with greater disease pressure, such as Burgundy and New York, often have more resveratrol," the book says, whereas wines from drier climates like California or Australia have less.
On the other hand, Dr. Toren Finkel, the head of cardiovascular research at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said that "I would be cautious in sending out the message that one glass of wine a day will make you live 10 years longer." "The concentration of resveratrol in different wine differs," he said. "As a drug, it is not ready for prime time." But he acknowledged that the concept of a drug that mimicked caloric restriction "is a great idea.”
Monday, November 13, 2006
NEVER MIND MANICURED LAWNS-THINK OF MANICURED MOMS
When I was a girl, I used to watch my mother get her “nails done” by a manicurist in the back of the New Jersey beauty parlor. Today, stand-alone nail salons are proliferating so rapidly that two New Jersey towns passed ordinances prohibiting nail salons from being within 500 feet of each other. In some districts nail salons growth force out shops offering goods to shoppers and thus weakening downtown enticements. Today, free-standing nail salons dot the commercial blocks and strip malls of cities from Southern California to South Carolina. According to nail trade journals, Americans are spending more than 6 billion a year on salon services and about 239,000 people work as "licensed nail technicians.” Reportedly more than 400 manufacturers make everything from polishes, nippers, and acrylic nail-sculpting compounds to manicure tables, polish racks, and toeless pedicure socks, none of which were available when my mother had her nails done. She never heard of “basic acrylic overlays with tips” or silk or cotton nail wraps and organic and botanical products for pedicure as well as flower power wraps.
As the author of A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, I am, of course interested in the ingredients in the products applied to fingernails and toe nails.
Efforts by The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics, a lobbying group, are now producing results after many years. The campaign has targeted specific brands of nail varnish that are reportedly contain ingredients including phthalates, formaldehyde, and toluene---all of which as described in my book have potential health consequences.
Sally Hansen, a major producer of nail varnish, said it is reformulating all its products to remove dibutyl phthalate (DBP), formaldehyde and toluene. Other companies are also removing these ingredients prodded by California’s Prop. 65 listing chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
The European Union has banned DBP. Recent scientific studies have linked the chemical to underdevelopment of newborn baby boys.
Toluene has also been linked to skin irritations, liver damage and anemia, while formaldehyde has been linked to cancer and lung problems.
In some salons, air filters are used to stop the smell of acrylics from hurting the client's nose or eyes.
And then there is the danger of infection from improperly sterilized instruments and water in nail salons. This has led to many physicians recommending you bring your own clippers and other tools to a salon you are patronizing. The California Department of Consumer Affairs, in the meantime, recommends the following tips. Make sure:
• The establishment license is posted prominently in the reception area
• Each operator's license is posted in plain view at his or her work station• The Board’s Health and Safety poster is displayed in the reception area
• There is adequate ventilation for release of fumes created by artificial nail products, nail polish, or other chemicals
• The salon must have clean working equipment and a clean work area.
• Licensees must wash and disinfect all tools and instruments before they can be used on customers.
• Make sure the operator never uses the same tools on you that were just used on someone else without first disinfecting them. If an item cannot be disinfected (such as a nail buffer block or an emery board), it must be throwaway immediately after use.
• Don’t allow an operator to perform a service on you if the manicurist doesn’t use a clean set of tools. The improper disinfecting of tools and equipment can spread disease and bacteria from one person to another. A prime example would be the spread of nail fungus during a manicure or pedicure.
• You have every right to ask the operator to explain the disinfection procedures before a service begins. Various viruses can be transmitted through the use of dirty instruments, including HIV and Hepatitis B.
• In addition to disinfecting tools and instruments, operators are required to wash their hands before their next client. Before an operator begins nail care services, they should also ask their clients to wash their hands.
• Don’t risk your health. If the disinfection procedure doesn’t sound adequate, you should refuse the service.
As the author of A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, I am, of course interested in the ingredients in the products applied to fingernails and toe nails.
Efforts by The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics, a lobbying group, are now producing results after many years. The campaign has targeted specific brands of nail varnish that are reportedly contain ingredients including phthalates, formaldehyde, and toluene---all of which as described in my book have potential health consequences.
Sally Hansen, a major producer of nail varnish, said it is reformulating all its products to remove dibutyl phthalate (DBP), formaldehyde and toluene. Other companies are also removing these ingredients prodded by California’s Prop. 65 listing chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
The European Union has banned DBP. Recent scientific studies have linked the chemical to underdevelopment of newborn baby boys.
Toluene has also been linked to skin irritations, liver damage and anemia, while formaldehyde has been linked to cancer and lung problems.
In some salons, air filters are used to stop the smell of acrylics from hurting the client's nose or eyes.
And then there is the danger of infection from improperly sterilized instruments and water in nail salons. This has led to many physicians recommending you bring your own clippers and other tools to a salon you are patronizing. The California Department of Consumer Affairs, in the meantime, recommends the following tips. Make sure:
• The establishment license is posted prominently in the reception area
• Each operator's license is posted in plain view at his or her work station• The Board’s Health and Safety poster is displayed in the reception area
• There is adequate ventilation for release of fumes created by artificial nail products, nail polish, or other chemicals
• The salon must have clean working equipment and a clean work area.
• Licensees must wash and disinfect all tools and instruments before they can be used on customers.
• Make sure the operator never uses the same tools on you that were just used on someone else without first disinfecting them. If an item cannot be disinfected (such as a nail buffer block or an emery board), it must be throwaway immediately after use.
• Don’t allow an operator to perform a service on you if the manicurist doesn’t use a clean set of tools. The improper disinfecting of tools and equipment can spread disease and bacteria from one person to another. A prime example would be the spread of nail fungus during a manicure or pedicure.
• You have every right to ask the operator to explain the disinfection procedures before a service begins. Various viruses can be transmitted through the use of dirty instruments, including HIV and Hepatitis B.
• In addition to disinfecting tools and instruments, operators are required to wash their hands before their next client. Before an operator begins nail care services, they should also ask their clients to wash their hands.
• Don’t risk your health. If the disinfection procedure doesn’t sound adequate, you should refuse the service.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
ANCIENT PLANTS NEWLY PROMOTED FOR SKIN PRODUCTS
Tanosa, an extract from the bark of the Pau d’Arco tree is being promoted in cosmetics to suppress inflammation. The bark, itself, is very interesting. Found in the rainforests of Central and South America, its common names include lapacho, taheebo and trumpet tree. The inner bark of pau d’arco is used by native tribes to treat cancer, lupus, infectious diseases, wounds, backache, toothache and sexually transmitted diseases. Pau d’arco is available in health food stores as capsules, tablets, alcohol solutions, dried bark and tea. However, pau d’arco must be boiled for at least eight minutes to release the active ingredients, making a tea from the bark ineffective unless properly prepared.
How is pau d’arco thought to treat cancer? Researchers at Moores University of California San Diego Cancer Center, the medicinal value of pau d’arco is thought to reside in certain compounds, called naphthaquinones, in the inner bark. Proponents claim that naphthaquinones enhance the immune system, cleanse the body and stimulate the production of red blood cells, which can increase the amount of oxygen the blood can carry contributing to healing.
What has been proven about the benefit of pau d’arco for cosmetics? Naphthaquinones, the active ingredients in pau d’arco bark, have shown potent antifungal properties in laboratory tests. These same compounds also have anticancer properties. Pau d’arco has killed lung cancer cells grown in the laboratory and reduced the rate of lung tumor growth in mice. Unfortunately, it must be taken in very toxic doses for any effects to occur. Because of the toxic effects, the National Cancer Institute did not seek approval to use pau d’arco as an anticancer drug and research has, for the most part, ceased. The American Cancer Society urges patients to avoid pau d’arco as an alternative treatment for cancer until more evidence is available.
What is the potential risk or harm of pau d’arco? The whole bark has no known side effects. The unrefined bark is much safer than taking extracts of the active ingredients. High doses of naphthaquinones can cause uncontrolled bleeding, nausea and vomiting.
How much does pau d’arco cost? Costs will vary depending on the health food store or the cosmetic outlet where it is purchased.
Pueraria mirifica is another natural substance being promoted in cosmetics. It comes from the White Kwao Krua herb (also known as Kwao Krua or Butea Superba) found in Thailand and Myanmar.
Its tuber contains phytoestrogens ( estrogen-like substances made by some plants) such as miroestrol, deoxymiroestrol, and coumestans, and has been used in breast enhancement supplements such as Mirifem and St. Herb. Miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol contain stronger phytoestrogens than soy or red clover, and are under investigation for possible use in hormone replacement therapy. Now in skin creams, pueraria mirifica reportedly promotes “healthy, vibrant skin” and helps to bring the body into natural balance when estrogen deficiencies are present.”
Because cosmetics and health food products are not regulated for quality and purity, the amount of pau d’arco or pueraria mirifica in different products may vary. Some may only contain trace amounts of the active ingredients.
How is pau d’arco thought to treat cancer? Researchers at Moores University of California San Diego Cancer Center, the medicinal value of pau d’arco is thought to reside in certain compounds, called naphthaquinones, in the inner bark. Proponents claim that naphthaquinones enhance the immune system, cleanse the body and stimulate the production of red blood cells, which can increase the amount of oxygen the blood can carry contributing to healing.
What has been proven about the benefit of pau d’arco for cosmetics? Naphthaquinones, the active ingredients in pau d’arco bark, have shown potent antifungal properties in laboratory tests. These same compounds also have anticancer properties. Pau d’arco has killed lung cancer cells grown in the laboratory and reduced the rate of lung tumor growth in mice. Unfortunately, it must be taken in very toxic doses for any effects to occur. Because of the toxic effects, the National Cancer Institute did not seek approval to use pau d’arco as an anticancer drug and research has, for the most part, ceased. The American Cancer Society urges patients to avoid pau d’arco as an alternative treatment for cancer until more evidence is available.
What is the potential risk or harm of pau d’arco? The whole bark has no known side effects. The unrefined bark is much safer than taking extracts of the active ingredients. High doses of naphthaquinones can cause uncontrolled bleeding, nausea and vomiting.
How much does pau d’arco cost? Costs will vary depending on the health food store or the cosmetic outlet where it is purchased.
Pueraria mirifica is another natural substance being promoted in cosmetics. It comes from the White Kwao Krua herb (also known as Kwao Krua or Butea Superba) found in Thailand and Myanmar.
Its tuber contains phytoestrogens ( estrogen-like substances made by some plants) such as miroestrol, deoxymiroestrol, and coumestans, and has been used in breast enhancement supplements such as Mirifem and St. Herb. Miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol contain stronger phytoestrogens than soy or red clover, and are under investigation for possible use in hormone replacement therapy. Now in skin creams, pueraria mirifica reportedly promotes “healthy, vibrant skin” and helps to bring the body into natural balance when estrogen deficiencies are present.”
Because cosmetics and health food products are not regulated for quality and purity, the amount of pau d’arco or pueraria mirifica in different products may vary. Some may only contain trace amounts of the active ingredients.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
NEW ANTI-AGING COSMETICS AND DEVICES
Hope springs eternal for eternal youth. What are some of the products promising to turn back the clock? The following are just a few of the latest:
• Jujube fruit, long used by the Chinese as a body invigorator, is being marketed by Boscia, Japanese Company in the United States, as rejuvenating the skin. A small, edible fruit, Jujube is claimed to encourage cell turnover, improve elasticity, and reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks.
• Glucosamine, promoted as an arthritis remedy, is now being advertised to prevent and lighten age spots on the skin. Procter & Gamble Beauty scientists and dermatologists found a combination of the compound and a B vitamin derivative “significantly reduced” the amount of melanin in skin cells, meaning there was less excess pigment to cause age spots.
• ExxonMobil, perhaps thinking we won’t be able to afford gas anymore, is launching a lubricating emollient for the skin. An emollient is a preparation to make the skin feel softer and smoother and may possibly help retard the fine wrinkles of aging. The new ingredient offers, the company says,” ease of application, the correct texture (not to thick and not to runny) as well as the ability to spread evenly on the skin.”
• Anti-aging Patch manufactured by Israeli and South Korean companies combines anti-aging cosmetic ingredients with a thin flexible battery. The device contains an “anti-aging” serum that is placed over wrinkles and delivers a mild electric current.
What about anti-aging devices?
Billed as an alternative to anti-aging creams and cosmetic surgery, Oralift brace is said to train facial muscles around the mouth to tighten up, preventing the sagging affect that is associated with aging. A dentist, Dr. Nick Mohindra, who developed the brace, has set up a practice in Dubai to serve patients from around the world who want the device applied.
And if you are concerned about losing teeth as you age, a team of University of Alberta researchers has created technology to regrow teeth. Using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound, Dr. Tarak El-Bialy from the Faculty and Medicine and Dentistry and Dr. Jie Chen and Dr. Ying Tsui from the Faculty of Engineering have created a miniaturized system-on-a chip that offers a non-invasive system to stimulate jaw growth and dental tissue.
• Jujube fruit, long used by the Chinese as a body invigorator, is being marketed by Boscia, Japanese Company in the United States, as rejuvenating the skin. A small, edible fruit, Jujube is claimed to encourage cell turnover, improve elasticity, and reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks.
• Glucosamine, promoted as an arthritis remedy, is now being advertised to prevent and lighten age spots on the skin. Procter & Gamble Beauty scientists and dermatologists found a combination of the compound and a B vitamin derivative “significantly reduced” the amount of melanin in skin cells, meaning there was less excess pigment to cause age spots.
• ExxonMobil, perhaps thinking we won’t be able to afford gas anymore, is launching a lubricating emollient for the skin. An emollient is a preparation to make the skin feel softer and smoother and may possibly help retard the fine wrinkles of aging. The new ingredient offers, the company says,” ease of application, the correct texture (not to thick and not to runny) as well as the ability to spread evenly on the skin.”
• Anti-aging Patch manufactured by Israeli and South Korean companies combines anti-aging cosmetic ingredients with a thin flexible battery. The device contains an “anti-aging” serum that is placed over wrinkles and delivers a mild electric current.
What about anti-aging devices?
Billed as an alternative to anti-aging creams and cosmetic surgery, Oralift brace is said to train facial muscles around the mouth to tighten up, preventing the sagging affect that is associated with aging. A dentist, Dr. Nick Mohindra, who developed the brace, has set up a practice in Dubai to serve patients from around the world who want the device applied.
And if you are concerned about losing teeth as you age, a team of University of Alberta researchers has created technology to regrow teeth. Using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound, Dr. Tarak El-Bialy from the Faculty and Medicine and Dentistry and Dr. Jie Chen and Dr. Ying Tsui from the Faculty of Engineering have created a miniaturized system-on-a chip that offers a non-invasive system to stimulate jaw growth and dental tissue.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
ANTI-AGING COSMETICS HAVE A NEW POISON TO FIGHT WRINKLES
Would you use a poison to keep you looking younger? Evidently millions of people are willing to do so.
In the past, many women used arsenic on their skin ---but of course they died to look good. Not too long ago, Botulinum toxin A ----popularly known as Botox®--- has come into wide use. A substance derived from a potentially fatal poison, it works by preventing nerve impulses from reaching the muscle, causing the muscle to relax and reduce or eliminate wrinkles or frown lines. Botox is also used clinically in small quantities to treat strabismus (eye muscle imbalance) and facial spasms and other neurological disorders characterized by abnormal muscle contractions. It also currently promoted to stop excessive sweating. If used under careful expert supervision, Botulinum toxin A is believed to be harmless.
A Canadian skin care company Euoko, has now put on the market a new anti-aging poison. A synthetic tripeptide protein that mimics the activity of a protein found in Wagler's pit viper venom, Walgerlin-1. A green snake, it is also called a “Temple Viper” because certain religious cults place it in their temples. Bites are not uncommon for the species; fortunately, fatalities are very rare. It has long fangs. Its venom is hemotoxic causing cell and tissue destruction. It is an arboreal species and its bites often occur on the upper extremities. The cosmetic manufacturer, however, says that the protein is totally safe and has been clinically proven to reduce the size, depth and number of wrinkles---particularly expression lines---by relaxing facial muscles.
Botox injects cost around $400 per procedures and the effects are said to last from two to nine months. Euko claims that its “Intense Lift Concentrate” retails in stores for $450 and is six times more effective than leading competitive products and performs its magic within a month. The copy of the snake venom is combined with a number of other peptides, vitamins and amino acids.
If you really hate your wrinkles, maybe taking a little expensive poison is worth it.
In the past, many women used arsenic on their skin ---but of course they died to look good. Not too long ago, Botulinum toxin A ----popularly known as Botox®--- has come into wide use. A substance derived from a potentially fatal poison, it works by preventing nerve impulses from reaching the muscle, causing the muscle to relax and reduce or eliminate wrinkles or frown lines. Botox is also used clinically in small quantities to treat strabismus (eye muscle imbalance) and facial spasms and other neurological disorders characterized by abnormal muscle contractions. It also currently promoted to stop excessive sweating. If used under careful expert supervision, Botulinum toxin A is believed to be harmless.
A Canadian skin care company Euoko, has now put on the market a new anti-aging poison. A synthetic tripeptide protein that mimics the activity of a protein found in Wagler's pit viper venom, Walgerlin-1. A green snake, it is also called a “Temple Viper” because certain religious cults place it in their temples. Bites are not uncommon for the species; fortunately, fatalities are very rare. It has long fangs. Its venom is hemotoxic causing cell and tissue destruction. It is an arboreal species and its bites often occur on the upper extremities. The cosmetic manufacturer, however, says that the protein is totally safe and has been clinically proven to reduce the size, depth and number of wrinkles---particularly expression lines---by relaxing facial muscles.
Botox injects cost around $400 per procedures and the effects are said to last from two to nine months. Euko claims that its “Intense Lift Concentrate” retails in stores for $450 and is six times more effective than leading competitive products and performs its magic within a month. The copy of the snake venom is combined with a number of other peptides, vitamins and amino acids.
If you really hate your wrinkles, maybe taking a little expensive poison is worth it.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
TEFLON, CANARIES AND US
We should have known when they told us not to have birds in the kitchen when cooking with Teflon pans. Canaries were used to warn miners of toxic gases. The birds keeled over first. Now, we are being told that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an ingredient in Teflon, may be harmful to our health. PFOA is also in grease proof wrapping for foods. In fact, it is in 95 percent of us.
In the late 1990s, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received information that perfluorooctyl sulfonates (PFOS) were widespread in the blood of the general population, and presented concerns for persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Following discussions between EPA and 3 M, the manufacturer of PFOS, the company stopped producing these chemicals. EPA then began to review similar chemicals, including PFOA, starting in 2000.
The Agency found that PFOA, like PFOS, is persistent in the environment and is in the blood of the general US population. Studies indicated that PFOA can cause developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals. PFOA also appears to remain in the human body for a long time.
Fluoropolymers impart properties, including fire resistance and oil, stain, grease, and water repellency. They are used to provide non-stick surfaces on cookware and waterproof, breathable membranes for clothing. They are employed in hundreds of other uses in almost all industry segments.
“At present,” the EPA says, “there are no steps that EPA recommends that consumers take to reduce exposure to PFOA because the sources of PFOA in the environment and the pathways by which people are exposed are not known.”
Hey gang, what about DuPont. The company has agreed to phase out PFOA used in grease proof wrapping for foods. PFOA is used to line grease-resistant packaging for candy, pizza, microwave popcorn and hundreds of other food products. DuPont was hit last year by allegations that it hid studies showing the high health risks of the chemical. DuPont denied the charges. The move to phase out PFOA, however, came just a month after DuPont reached a $16.5 million settlement with EPA over the company's failure to report possible health risks associated with PFOA.
The EPA has recently called on DuPont and six other corporations to voluntarily eliminate PFOA and similar substances from plant emissions and products by 2015. So far, only DuPont has agreed, but says eliminating it altogether may be impossible.
Other US agencies concerned with PFOA include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Toxicology Program. You can obtain more information about their concerns at http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport and http://www.scitechresources.gov/index.php
In the late 1990s, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received information that perfluorooctyl sulfonates (PFOS) were widespread in the blood of the general population, and presented concerns for persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Following discussions between EPA and 3 M, the manufacturer of PFOS, the company stopped producing these chemicals. EPA then began to review similar chemicals, including PFOA, starting in 2000.
The Agency found that PFOA, like PFOS, is persistent in the environment and is in the blood of the general US population. Studies indicated that PFOA can cause developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals. PFOA also appears to remain in the human body for a long time.
Fluoropolymers impart properties, including fire resistance and oil, stain, grease, and water repellency. They are used to provide non-stick surfaces on cookware and waterproof, breathable membranes for clothing. They are employed in hundreds of other uses in almost all industry segments.
“At present,” the EPA says, “there are no steps that EPA recommends that consumers take to reduce exposure to PFOA because the sources of PFOA in the environment and the pathways by which people are exposed are not known.”
Hey gang, what about DuPont. The company has agreed to phase out PFOA used in grease proof wrapping for foods. PFOA is used to line grease-resistant packaging for candy, pizza, microwave popcorn and hundreds of other food products. DuPont was hit last year by allegations that it hid studies showing the high health risks of the chemical. DuPont denied the charges. The move to phase out PFOA, however, came just a month after DuPont reached a $16.5 million settlement with EPA over the company's failure to report possible health risks associated with PFOA.
The EPA has recently called on DuPont and six other corporations to voluntarily eliminate PFOA and similar substances from plant emissions and products by 2015. So far, only DuPont has agreed, but says eliminating it altogether may be impossible.
Other US agencies concerned with PFOA include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Toxicology Program. You can obtain more information about their concerns at http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport and http://www.scitechresources.gov/index.php
Sunday, January 29, 2006
USE YOUR BEAN WHEN IT COMES TO BEANS
Beans are supposed to be a healthy food high in fiber and low in fat. Besides creating intestinal gas, beans also raise blood sugar. A water-extract of a white kidney bean, however, Phase 2, may not cause such a problem. Manufactured by Pharmacem Laboratories, the kidney bean extract coats alpha-amylase, an enzyme that digests starch. By temporarily coating this enzyme your body then digests less starch, which results in a lower Glycemic Index (GI).
What is the Glycemic Index? Originally developed over 20 years ago to help diabetics manage their condition, the GI ranks foods based on their effect on blood sugar (glucose) levels. Foods with a high GI (70 and above) are digested and metabolized rapidly, triggering large fluctuations of blood sugar levels and thus insulin demand to process it. Low- or medium-GI foods (40-69) are digested and absorbed more slowly, giving a slower and sustained release of energy and contributing to longer-lasting feelings of satiety.
The manufacturer is touting it as a potential ingredient for white bread because Phase 2 Starch Neutralizer has been shown to delay the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and to reduce weight. It is already being used in a variety of weight loss supplements.
A recent study, presented at the Third Annual Natural Supplements Conference, reported that the Phase 2 is suitable for use in baked goods, cheese, spices and sweeteners. It appears to be effective for reducing the GI of existing foods without modifying their ingredient profile.
Another bean ingredient has also been in the news recently---soy. An American Heart Association committee reviewed a decade of studies on soy's benefits and came up with results that are now casting doubt on the health claim that soy-based foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol.
The findings could lead the Food and Drug Administration to re-evaluate rules that currently allow companies to tout a cholesterol-lowering benefit on the labels of soy-based food.
The panel also found that neither soy nor the soy component isoflavone reduced symptoms of menopause, such as ``hot flashes,'' and that isoflavones don't help prevent breast, uterine or prostate cancer. Results were mixed on whether soy prevented postmenopausal bone loss.
Based on its findings, the committee said it would not recommend using isoflavone supplements in food or pills. It concluded that soy-containing foods and supplements did not significantly lower cholesterol, and it said so in a statement recently published in the journal Circulation. Nutrition experts say soy-based foods still are good because they often are eaten in place of less healthy fare like burgers and hot dogs. But they don't have as much direct benefit as had been hoped on cholesterol, one of the top risk factors for heart disease.
When I wrote Super Soy The Miracle Bean published by Crown in 1996, scientific studies at the time found the small bean may:
• Lower cholesterol
• Fight cancer
• Reduce blood pressure
• Protect the heart
• Regulate blood sugar
• Ease menstrual and menopausal symptoms
• Promote healthy bowel function
• Nourish babies and adults suffering from allergies
• Strengthen bones
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, on August 3, 1995, created quite a stir among professionals and consumers. Dr. James Anderson and his colleagues at the University of Kentucky and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kentucky analyzed thirty-eight carefully performed studies of the effect of soy protein on blood cholesterol in patients. The Kentuckians concluded that as little as twenty-five to forty-seven grams (about 1/8the to ¼ of a cup) of soybean protein significantly lowered cholesterol. Less publicized but equally as exciting to researchers were reports that nonnutritive substances in soybeans, such as genistein and daizein, show activity against breast, prostate, leukemia, and melanoma (deadly skin) cancers.
The Chinese still believe in the health benefits of the soybean They call the soybean ta-tou— which means "greater bean"—and have been using it for thousands of years as a medicine as well as food. The soybean has been so essential to Chinese civilization in fact that it is considered one of the five sacred grains (the others being rice, barley, wheat, and millet). Legend has it that around 1500 B.C., Yu Xi-ong and Gong Gang-shi—who were either bandits or warlords—became lost in a desert in northern China. They survived on the "peas" of a hitherto unknown plant, believed to be the soybean's wild ancestor, a rambling vine (Glycine ussuriensis). Some centuries after Yu Xi-ong and Gong Gang-shi were long gone; the soybean became a cultigen, a species created by cultivation.
Miso, fermented soybean paste, appeared in Japan in the 600s as a treat for the shogun and his imperial household. The first mention of soybeans in Japanese literature occurred in 712 A.D. in a book of mythology, Kojiki. The current Japanese diet is high in soy and the bean has been credited by some scientists with the lower prostate cancer in Japanese men and lower breast cancer in Japanese women when compared with the rates in Americans.
Stay tuned!
What is the Glycemic Index? Originally developed over 20 years ago to help diabetics manage their condition, the GI ranks foods based on their effect on blood sugar (glucose) levels. Foods with a high GI (70 and above) are digested and metabolized rapidly, triggering large fluctuations of blood sugar levels and thus insulin demand to process it. Low- or medium-GI foods (40-69) are digested and absorbed more slowly, giving a slower and sustained release of energy and contributing to longer-lasting feelings of satiety.
The manufacturer is touting it as a potential ingredient for white bread because Phase 2 Starch Neutralizer has been shown to delay the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and to reduce weight. It is already being used in a variety of weight loss supplements.
A recent study, presented at the Third Annual Natural Supplements Conference, reported that the Phase 2 is suitable for use in baked goods, cheese, spices and sweeteners. It appears to be effective for reducing the GI of existing foods without modifying their ingredient profile.
Another bean ingredient has also been in the news recently---soy. An American Heart Association committee reviewed a decade of studies on soy's benefits and came up with results that are now casting doubt on the health claim that soy-based foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol.
The findings could lead the Food and Drug Administration to re-evaluate rules that currently allow companies to tout a cholesterol-lowering benefit on the labels of soy-based food.
The panel also found that neither soy nor the soy component isoflavone reduced symptoms of menopause, such as ``hot flashes,'' and that isoflavones don't help prevent breast, uterine or prostate cancer. Results were mixed on whether soy prevented postmenopausal bone loss.
Based on its findings, the committee said it would not recommend using isoflavone supplements in food or pills. It concluded that soy-containing foods and supplements did not significantly lower cholesterol, and it said so in a statement recently published in the journal Circulation. Nutrition experts say soy-based foods still are good because they often are eaten in place of less healthy fare like burgers and hot dogs. But they don't have as much direct benefit as had been hoped on cholesterol, one of the top risk factors for heart disease.
When I wrote Super Soy The Miracle Bean published by Crown in 1996, scientific studies at the time found the small bean may:
• Lower cholesterol
• Fight cancer
• Reduce blood pressure
• Protect the heart
• Regulate blood sugar
• Ease menstrual and menopausal symptoms
• Promote healthy bowel function
• Nourish babies and adults suffering from allergies
• Strengthen bones
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, on August 3, 1995, created quite a stir among professionals and consumers. Dr. James Anderson and his colleagues at the University of Kentucky and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kentucky analyzed thirty-eight carefully performed studies of the effect of soy protein on blood cholesterol in patients. The Kentuckians concluded that as little as twenty-five to forty-seven grams (about 1/8the to ¼ of a cup) of soybean protein significantly lowered cholesterol. Less publicized but equally as exciting to researchers were reports that nonnutritive substances in soybeans, such as genistein and daizein, show activity against breast, prostate, leukemia, and melanoma (deadly skin) cancers.
The Chinese still believe in the health benefits of the soybean They call the soybean ta-tou— which means "greater bean"—and have been using it for thousands of years as a medicine as well as food. The soybean has been so essential to Chinese civilization in fact that it is considered one of the five sacred grains (the others being rice, barley, wheat, and millet). Legend has it that around 1500 B.C., Yu Xi-ong and Gong Gang-shi—who were either bandits or warlords—became lost in a desert in northern China. They survived on the "peas" of a hitherto unknown plant, believed to be the soybean's wild ancestor, a rambling vine (Glycine ussuriensis). Some centuries after Yu Xi-ong and Gong Gang-shi were long gone; the soybean became a cultigen, a species created by cultivation.
Miso, fermented soybean paste, appeared in Japan in the 600s as a treat for the shogun and his imperial household. The first mention of soybeans in Japanese literature occurred in 712 A.D. in a book of mythology, Kojiki. The current Japanese diet is high in soy and the bean has been credited by some scientists with the lower prostate cancer in Japanese men and lower breast cancer in Japanese women when compared with the rates in Americans.
Stay tuned!
Monday, January 02, 2006
WHAT DO TREE BARK, MOUNTAIN LAVA AND OATS HAVE IN COMMON?
New promotions for old natural ingredients are filling the media with promises about improving health and beauty. Whether they offer hope or hype, time will tell.
Extracts of pine have long been used in flavorings such as pineapple, citrus and spice. Extracts of various species of Pinus are popular in bath oils, bath salts, and perfumery. In concentrated form, pine oil can cause irritation, allergy and in large amounts, intestinal hemorrhage if ingested. Now, an extract of pine bark known as Pycnogenol® has been reported potentially useful in the treatment of skin ulcers. Varicose veins, the kind that are blue and stand out on the legs of about half the adult population can lead to swollen legs and sometimes ulcers, which are very difficult to treat. Pycnogenol®, distributed by Natural Health Science Inc. of Hoboken, NJ, is a brand of a pine bark that grows along the coast of southwest France. It contains a combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids. In a study in which one group of ulcer sufferers received Pycnogenol® oral tablets and powdered Pycnogenol® sprinkled into the ulcers had complete healing of the sores,. The results were published in Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis in 2005.
Clinical trials for patients suffering from inflammatory problems, primarily osteoarthritis, are now underway with a volcanic mineral deposit found only in the high Sierra Mountains,SierraSil™. While other joint health supplements like chondroitin and glucosamine reduce pain by rebuilding cartilage, an earlier mechanism of action study indicated that SierraSil™ works by inhibiting the gene that causes inflammation.
An eight week, double-blind study involved 107 participants, all with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee. They were divided into four groups: one group received 3g of SierraSil™ a day; one received 2g of SierraSil™; one received 2 grams of SierraSil™ plus 100mg of botanical cat's claw extract; and the last group received a placebo., The researchers, led by Marc Miller of the Center for Cardiovascular Sciences at Albany Medical College, decided to include cat's claw extract in the study since the Amazonian vine has a long history of use for joint pain and inflammation, and earlier in vitro studies suggested a complementary effect when used in combination with SierraSil™. The study was reported in Journal of Inflammation. The advocates of SierraSil™ say it works faster than chondroitin and glucosamine which may not show benefits for several weeks.
Beta-glucan, a soluble fiber derived from the cell walls of oat kernels has long been touted as a food ingredient that lowers cholesterol. Oatmeal, which is listed on European cosmetic labels as Avena sativa, has been used through the ages as a soothing face mask. Oat root extract is used in cosmetics as an astringent. In a study reported in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, it was found that beta-glucan colored by a dye, did indeed penetrate the skin. In a follow up study, 27 subjects applied beta-glucan to fine lines and wrinkles on their faces over an eight week period. Investigators using digital imaging determined that there was a reduction of wrinkle depth and the skin was less rough.
Extracts of pine have long been used in flavorings such as pineapple, citrus and spice. Extracts of various species of Pinus are popular in bath oils, bath salts, and perfumery. In concentrated form, pine oil can cause irritation, allergy and in large amounts, intestinal hemorrhage if ingested. Now, an extract of pine bark known as Pycnogenol® has been reported potentially useful in the treatment of skin ulcers. Varicose veins, the kind that are blue and stand out on the legs of about half the adult population can lead to swollen legs and sometimes ulcers, which are very difficult to treat. Pycnogenol®, distributed by Natural Health Science Inc. of Hoboken, NJ, is a brand of a pine bark that grows along the coast of southwest France. It contains a combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids. In a study in which one group of ulcer sufferers received Pycnogenol® oral tablets and powdered Pycnogenol® sprinkled into the ulcers had complete healing of the sores,. The results were published in Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis in 2005.
Clinical trials for patients suffering from inflammatory problems, primarily osteoarthritis, are now underway with a volcanic mineral deposit found only in the high Sierra Mountains,SierraSil™. While other joint health supplements like chondroitin and glucosamine reduce pain by rebuilding cartilage, an earlier mechanism of action study indicated that SierraSil™ works by inhibiting the gene that causes inflammation.
An eight week, double-blind study involved 107 participants, all with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee. They were divided into four groups: one group received 3g of SierraSil™ a day; one received 2g of SierraSil™; one received 2 grams of SierraSil™ plus 100mg of botanical cat's claw extract; and the last group received a placebo., The researchers, led by Marc Miller of the Center for Cardiovascular Sciences at Albany Medical College, decided to include cat's claw extract in the study since the Amazonian vine has a long history of use for joint pain and inflammation, and earlier in vitro studies suggested a complementary effect when used in combination with SierraSil™. The study was reported in Journal of Inflammation. The advocates of SierraSil™ say it works faster than chondroitin and glucosamine which may not show benefits for several weeks.
Beta-glucan, a soluble fiber derived from the cell walls of oat kernels has long been touted as a food ingredient that lowers cholesterol. Oatmeal, which is listed on European cosmetic labels as Avena sativa, has been used through the ages as a soothing face mask. Oat root extract is used in cosmetics as an astringent. In a study reported in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, it was found that beta-glucan colored by a dye, did indeed penetrate the skin. In a follow up study, 27 subjects applied beta-glucan to fine lines and wrinkles on their faces over an eight week period. Investigators using digital imaging determined that there was a reduction of wrinkle depth and the skin was less rough.
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