Health & WellnessS


Lemon

Israeli woman feared to have irreversible brain damage after going on a three-week fruit juice fast

Chris Pleasance
Daily Mail
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:33 UTC
orange fruit juice
A woman in her 40s suffered brain damage after drinking nothing but fruit juice and water for three weeks as part of an extreme diet programme.
A woman in her 40s has been taken to hospital in Israel with brain damage after being put on a strict juice diet.

The woman, who was not identified, had been on the diet for three weeks after visiting an 'alternative therapist' in Tel Aviv.

As part of the diet she was only allowed to consume fruit juice and water, which caused an imbalance of salt in her brain.

Comment: A juice fast? Are people still doing those? You'd think that with the latest research on fat metabolism and fasting, people would be better informed on how the body works and make appropriate recommendations, ie. don't try to survive on nothing but sugar. But apparently there are still a lot of hippies out there recommending 1970s' health advice, despite its dangers. Buyer beware, folks.

For proper info on fasting, see:

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Shoe

Exercise vs. drugs to treat high blood pressure and reduce fat

Gretchen Reynolds
The New York Times
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
joggers
© Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
Exercise can lower blood pressure and reduce visceral body fat at least as effectively as many common prescription drugs, according to two important new reviews of relevant research about the effects of exercise on maladies.

Together, the new studies support the idea that exercise can be considered medicine, and potent medicine at that. But they also raise questions about whether we know enough yet about the types and amounts of exercise that might best treat different health problems and whether we really want to start thinking of our workouts as remedies.

The possibility of formally prescribing exercise as a treatment for various health conditions, including high blood pressure, insulin resistance, obesity, osteoarthritis and others, has been gaining traction among scientists and physicians. The American College of Sports Medicine already leads a global initiative called Exercise Is Medicine, which aims to encourage doctors to include exercise prescriptions as part of disease treatments.

Comment: It's hardly surprising that exercise can work as well as, if not better than drugs for blood pressure and visceral fat-loss. It is likely similar in other conditions. What isn't mentioned in the above article is that exercise is superior to drugs in that it doesn't come with a host of negative side-effects, as drugs do, and has an overall benefit to health beyond the markers being investigated. In the grand scheme of things, exercise has benefits even when not trying to address a specific health condition. The same cannot be said for drugs, however.

See also:

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Eye 1

Psychosis or Symbiosis? The microbiome and its connection to schizophrenia

Emily Deans M.D.
Psychology Today
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 08:40 UTC
charles bonnet syndrome
© wikimedia commons
Schizophrenia is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects about 1 percent of the world population and tends to strike in the prime of life. Preventing this disease could help tens of millions of families throughout the world, so finding the risk factors for early diagnosis and treatment are paramount. We know there are genetic risks that, at the moment, can't be changed (and as the disorder is polygenic, we will not find a single "schizophrenia gene"). Other major risk factors, such as prenatal infection, also can't be changed 18-35 years later when the disease shows up. We know there are risk factors that can be addressed, such as using large amounts of high-THC marijuana in adolescence. But are there other factors that predispose people to schizophrenia that we may be able to address, such as changes in the microbiome?

We've known for a few years that people with schizophrenia have a different gut microbiome than healthy control populations. In a recent (amazing) paper in Science Advances, researchers categorized and transplanted the microbiomes from 63 patients with schizophrenia and 69 healthy controls into germ-free mice to see what happened.

First off, the microbiomes of everyone involved were catalogued (according to 16S rRNA sequencing, which is now falling by the wayside to total genome sequencing, but has been the standard for many years). In general, patients with schizophrenia had lower microbial diversity and differences in microbial phylum, to the point that patients with schizophrenia could be identified by their microbiome differences in this sample. These were different than the microbiota changes found in people with major depressive disorder (which could also distinguish patients with depression from healthy controls.)

Comment: See also:

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Rose

Keeping a jasmine plant in your room reduces anxiety, panic attacks and depression

hfhadmin
Healthy Food House
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Jasmine
Plants are an excellent way to increase oxygen levels in the room and improve air quality. There are also beneficial plants that will help you improve mood, and fight anxiety, depression, and prevent panic attacks.

Researchers have found that there is a direct link between stress and oxygen levels and showed that high levels of toxins in the air lead to anxiety and stress. Therefore, you can drastically improve your mood and relieve stress and anxiety.

Scientists have conducted studies on mice and discovered that the aroma of jasmine plant and jasmine essential oil significantly calmed them, and made them stop all activity and sit quietly in a corner.

Their brain scans showed that jasmine fragrance boosts the effects of a chemical called GABA on nerve cells, and thus relieves anxiety and encourages rest.
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Marijuana

More than just THC: Pharmacologist looks at the untapped healing compounds of Marijuana

James David Adams
The Conversation
Fri, 15 Mar 2019 15:41 UTC
Medical cannabis
© The Conversation
Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states as of November 2018. Yet the federal government still insists marijuana has no legal use and is easy to abuse. In the meantime, medical marijuana dispensaries have an increasing array of products available for pain, anxiety, sex and more.

The glass counters and their jars of products in the dispensary resemble an 18th century pharmacy. Many strains for sale have evocative and magical names like Blue Dream, Bubba Kush and Chocolope. But what does it all mean? Are there really differences in the medical qualities of the various strains? Or, are the different strains with the fanciful names all just advertising gimmicks?
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Info

What you need to know about sugar beets

Alli Willis
livingnongmo.com
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 23:57 UTC
sugar beets
We Got the Beet

Did you know humans have been growing and enjoying beets for more than 4,000 years? Beets, or Beta vulgaris, are part of the Caryophyllale family like cacti, carnations, succulents, and many types of carnivorous plants. Thousands of years ago, they had long, thin, fibrous roots and were grown primarily for their tasty greens. Over time, scientists and farmers-including George Washington-used traditional breeding techniques to create the wide variety of hearty beets with thick roots that are available now.

The plump red and golden beets we love to roast, pickle, and puree are table beets. There are no genetically modified table beets on the market at this time!

Sugar beets are a little different. These pale white beets were bred (through traditional methods) for the high sucrose content that makes them so sweet. Food manufacturers get useful sugar out of the beets by slicing them and then cooking them in very hot water. After the sugar dissolves into the water, the resulting sugar liquid can be purified and dried into crystals. The remaining fibrous beet material is typically turned into pellets for animal feed.
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Brain

The brain needs animal fat

Georgia Ede MD
Psychology Today
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
neurons DHA conducts electricity
© nexusplexus / 123RF
When you think of animal fat, what comes to mind? Unsightly blobs of cellulite? Artery-clogging strips of gristle to be trimmed off your steak and tossed into the trash? Or a sophisticated substance that contains within it the secret to human intelligence?

Fun facts about fat

We think of fat as bad - the less of it we eat, and the less of it we carry on our bodies, the better - but this isn't the right way to think about it. Fat is not just for insulation and energy storage, it's also for nutrient absorption, cell signaling, immune function and many other critical processes. Many people think the main difference between plant and animal fats is that animal-sourced foods contain more saturated fat, but here are a few fun fatty facts that may surprise you:
  1. All whole plant and animal foods naturally contain a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats.
  2. Some plant foods are higher in saturated fat than animal foods, with coconut oil topping the charts at 90% saturated fat. That's more than twice the saturated fat found in beef fat (tallow).
  3. The primary type of fat found in pork is a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) called oleic acid, the same fat found in olive oil.

Comment: See also:

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Cow

Questionable study which found low-carb diets dangerous cleared of collusion with EAT-Lancet, despite obvious collusion

Richard Feinman
feinmantheother.com
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
eat-lancet weekly meat consumption
The bizarre behavior of the medical nutritional establishment in recent years has caused critics to see an analogy with the Federal government. The continued influx of low-carb researchers across the borders of traditional medicine has caused a strong backlash which, in turn, has led to accusations of a breakdown of style and even financial misdeeds. A key issue was a paper by Sarah Seidelmann, MD, a cardiologist with no experience in nutrition and her coworkers at Harvard School of Public Health and the associated Brigham and Women's hospital. The article claimed that the increasingly popular low-carbohydrate diets were actually life-threatening. Apparent communication between the authors and a Norwegian-based vegetarian pressure group called EAT-Lancet led to investigation by the so-called Moola Committee. The committee was concerned that Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard, one of the authors on Seidelmann, et al., was also a co-chairman of a recent EAT-Lancet commission and had been present at various meetings with foreign nutritional powers. It was revealed today, however, that it did not find evidence of collusion with Norway or other nations.

Comment: The EAT-Lancet commission is a ideologically possessed propaganda pushing outfit and what they publish should not be confused with science. Anything they have their fingers in should be viewed as highly suspect.

See also:

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Attention

The role of the CDC in America's 'Medical Deep State'

Arjun Walia
Collective Evolution
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 15:36 UTC
the CDC
You don't have to go far to see the problem with American's federal regulatory health agencies. It's a huge problem. I am reminded of more than a dozen scientists from within the CDC who put out an anonymous public statement detailing the influence corporations have on government policies. They were referred to as the Spider Papers.
We are a group of scientists at CDC that are very concerned about the current state of ethics at our agency. It appears that our mission is being influenced and shaped by outside parties and rogue interests. It seems that our mission and Congressional intent for our agency is being circumvented by some of our leaders. What concerns us most, is that it is becoming the norm and not the rare exception. Some senior management officials at CDC are clearly aware and even condone these behaviors. Others see it and turn the other way. Some staff are intimidated and pressed to do things they know are not right. We have representatives from across the agency that witness this unacceptable behavior. It occurs at all levels and in all of our respective units. These questionable and unethical practices threaten to undermine our credibility and reputation as a trusted leader in public health. (source)
There are literally so many examples it's ridiculous that agencies like the CDC and FDA are even allowed to operate the way they are currently operating. They control the entire medical industry, and everything in health, including medical education, is made and designed by these rogue interests.

Comment: Spider Papers reveal how Monsanto & the EPA bury cancer research

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Arrow Down

World Happiness Report: Americans are unhappy and the opioid epidemic may be a factor

Beth Leipholtz
The Fix
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:40 UTC
happiness
For the third straight year, the U.S. has dropped in the rankings of the World Happiness Report.

The United States is now the 19th happiest country on Earth, its ranking falling for the third consecutive year.

This is according to the most recent World Happiness Report, released on Wednesday (March 20) or the United Nations' International Day of Happiness.

The Washington Post reports that the seventh annual report surveyed 156 different countries and took into account six factors: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, the freedom to make life choices, social support, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

The top 10 countries in the report were Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Austria.

Comment: America: A deeply unhappy and drugged up nation
If Americans are so happy, then why do we consume 80 percent of the entire global supply of prescription painkillers? Less than 5 percent of the world's population lives in this country, and yet we buy four-fifths of these highly addictive drugs. In the United States today, approximately 4.7 million Americans are addicted to prescription pain relievers, and that represents about a 300 percent increase since 1999. If you personally know someone that is suffering from this addiction, then you probably already know how immensely destructive these drugs can be. Someone that was formally living a very healthy and normal life can be reduced to a total basket case within a matter of weeks.

And of course many don't make it back at all. According to the CDC, more than 28,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2014. Incredibly, those deaths represented 60 percent of all drug overdose deaths in the United States for that year...


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