Health & WellnessS


Magnify

For the first time gut bacteria spotted eating brain chemicals

Andy Coghlan
New Scientist
Tue, 05 Jul 2016 15:15 UTC
gut bacteria
© Custom Medical Stock Photo/SPL
Bacteria have been discovered in our guts that depend on one of our brain chemicals for survival. These bacteria consume GABA, a molecule crucial for calming the brain, and the fact that they gobble it up could help explain why the gut microbiome seems to affect mood.

Philip Strandwitz and his colleagues at Northeastern University in Boston discovered that they could only grow a species of recently discovered gut bacteria, called KLE1738, if they provide it with GABA molecules. "Nothing made it grow, except GABA," Strandwitz said while announcing his findings at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston last month.

GABA acts by inhibiting signals from nerve cells, calming down the activity of the brain, so it's surprising to learn that a gut bacterium needs it to grow and reproduce. Having abnormally low levels of GABA is linked to depression and mood disorders, and this finding adds to growing evidence that our gut bacteria may affect our brains.

Comment: More information on how the gut microbiome affects mood:

Read More...
Padlock

US Senate controls the fate of Vermont's historic GMO-Labeling law

Deirdre Fulton
Common Dreams
Sun, 03 Jul 2016 21:18 UTC
GMO labeling
© ConsumeristPepsiCo’s Frito-Lay group began making label changes on a nationwide basis a couple of months in advance of the July 1 deadline.
As the nation's first GMO labeling law takes effect, food policy experts are warning that its benefits could be "fleeting," should the U.S. Senate pass a so-called "compromise" bill this week that would nullify Vermont's historic law as well as other state efforts in the works.

Vermont's law (pdf) requiring food manufacturers to clearly state whether a product is "produced with genetic engineering" went into effect Friday.

"Vermont had the courage to say, 'If it's the right thing to do, what are we waiting for,'" Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin told a rally of about 150 people on the Statehouse steps. He asked supporters of the law to celebrate on social media under the hashtag#WeLabeledGMOS.

Comment: The Grocery Manufacturers Association has a lot to gain from the labeling bill not being implemented on any real level. Don't be fooled by their 'strategic communications' they have been fighting honest food labeling since the beginning:

Read More...
Health

Flashback Gut Bacteria can affect fat absorption, and act in accordance to "Social structures"

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00 UTC
Much new research is now emerging on the importance of bacteria - intestinal bacteria, to be more exact. These are commonly referred to as probiotics, and are the antithesis to antibiotics, both of which I'll discuss below.

These microscopic critters are also known as your microbiome.

Around 100 trillion of these beneficial bacterial cells populate your body, particularly your intestines and other parts of your digestive system. In fact, 90 percent of the genetic material in your body is not yours, but rather that of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that compose your microflora.

Comment: See also:
Gut reactions: Intestinal bacteria may help determine whether we are lean or obese
Dr. Justin Sonnenburg: Is a disrupted gut microbiome at the root of modern disease?

Read More...
Info

In the vaccine debate - the 'experts' are the historians

Marco Caceres
idsent.wordpress.com
Sun, 15 Mar 2015 20:03 UTC
Polio Vaccine
© wnpr.org
Do you want to know who are the real experts in the debate on vaccine safety and efficacy? No, it's not the scientists. Nope, it's not the medical researchers. Nah, not the doctors. It's the historians — those who know history and understand the lessons of history, and argue passionately against mindlessly repeating the mistakes of the past — those who do not have financial interests, conflicts of interest, or personal agendas.

Those who understand the human toll of the DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) fumigations during 1946-1972. Those who understand the human tragedy of DES (Diethylstilbestrol) given to pregnant women during 1938-1971. Those who understand the human horror of using Thalidomide to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women beginning in 1957. Those who understand the countless and ongoing recalls of prescription drugs such as Vioxx that kill or maim hundreds of thousands of patients.

And finally, those who understand that the so-called "experts" in whom we're supposed to confide and trust have consistently gotten their wonderful "science" dead wrong. Let me give you a short history lesson.

Comment: Also read Marco Caceres' excellent article about the ongoing vaccine debate: Current vaccine paradigm: Media struggles to pin stupid label on well-educated vaccine dissenters
There have been numerous articles in mainstream newspapers and magazines with titles that disparage anyone who questions the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, disagrees (in part or in total) with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommended schedule of vaccines, or opposes the idea of forcing people to get vaccinated against their will. You can be a vaccine skeptic, a complete "anti-vaxxer" or someone who simply doesn't like the government dictating what one should or shouldn't do with one's body. It doesn't matter.

If you choose to reject any part of the current vaccine paradigm, as crafted by the government and the pharmaceutical industry, you will be put on to stupid list, even though, ironically, it is widely acknowledged that people who choose to chart their own way on the issue of vaccines tend to be extremely well-educated and often have advanced degrees.1 2 3 4 5


Read More...
Question

Should we be worried about how bacteria is evolving?

Kristina Martin
Organic Lifestyle Magazine
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 15:57 UTC
evolving bacteria
Ah, bacteria, the original cockroach. No matter what you use to try and annihilate it, it keeps coming back, stronger than before. Strains of bacteria like listeria, campylobacter, and salmonella caused food poisoning affecting one in six people in the U.S. The bacteria resistant to the "antibiotic of last resort" has arrived in the U.S., and researchers in Canada have discovered a newly evolved, heat-loving strain of E. coli that survives temperatures high enough to cook meat medium-well. If harmful bacteria were to go into business, the stock would be climbing and the future would look terrific.

Comment: Evolutionary war between microorganisms affecting human health, biologist says

Read More...
Health

The crumbling cholesterol myth: Research finds that higher levels of LDL cholesterol lead to longer life

Marco Torres
Prevent Disease
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 15:45 UTC
HDL and LDL cholesterol
Mainstream medicine promotes in large what they want to sell from a fear perspective. The don't sell health. They can't, because they sell little fear pills that have consumers in the billions gobble up out of fear fictitious diseases. Bad cholesterol is a good example because there is nothing bad about any type of cholesterol. The fact that people with high cholesterol live the longest has already emerged clearly from many scientific papers. Now a University of South Florida professor and an international team of experts have once again found that older people with high levels of a certain type of what is known as bad cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein, live as long, and often longer, than their peers with low levels of this same cholesterol.

Consider the finding of Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, who reported in 1994 in the Journal of the American Medical Association that old people with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as did old people with a high cholesterol. Supporters of cholesterol campaigns who routinely provide disinformation about LDL cholesterol consistently ignore this observation, or consider it as a rare exception, produced by chance among a number of studies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry which have found the opposite.

Comment: Considering that cholesterol is needed by all cells of the body and is required to make Vitamin D and other hormones --Yes, Vitamin D is a hormone -- higher levels of LDL being linked to longer life makes sense. (Just a nit-picky note: LDL and HDL aren't cholesterol, they're lipoproteins which transport cholesterol. )

Read More...
Bandaid

The best sunburn remedies that aren't aloe vera

Pamela Bofferding
Ready Nutrition
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 15:13 UTC
sunburn
As proactive as some of us are at trying to mitigate the harmful effects of the sun, sometimes those warm rays are just too much for our skin, and sunburns occur. While aloe vera is our first go-to product to start the healing process, there are a few other remedies to consider.

The best defense against sunburned skin is prevention—try to avoid being outdoors between the hours of 10am and 2pm, when the sun's rays are the strongest. Make sure you wear at least an SPF 30 sunscreen and a large hat for shading your face. But when it's too late and you come home looking like a lobster, there are some home remedies beyond aloe vera that you might want to try.

Comment: Sunburn can also prevented not just by what you put on your skin but what you put in your mouth.
Avoid sunburn and tan better by eating real food?

Read More...
Question

Does the developing world have to be awash with pesticides?

Aleszu Bajak
Truth-out
Sat, 02 Jul 2016 13:41 UTC
pesticides
© PixabayHerbicides, insecticides and fungicides threaten the environment and human health in many parts of the world. But research is pointing to a better approach.
In today's globalized world, it is not inconceivable that one might drink coffee from Colombia in the morning, munch cashews from Vietnam for lunch and gobble grains from Ethiopia for dinner. That we can enjoy these products is thanks, in large part, to expanded pesticide use across the developing world.

Every year, some 3.5 billion kilograms (7.7 billion pounds) of pesticides - a catch-all term for the herbicides, insecticides and fungicides applied to crops from seed to harvest - are used to preserve the quality and quantity of fruits, vegetables and grains. Herbicides, such as Monsanto's weed killer glyphosate, make up the bulk of the pesticides applied worldwide.

In the developing world, where swelling populations, increased urbanization and growing economies create a demand for ever-more food - produced quickly and inexpensively - pesticide application rates are rising. Bangladesh and Thailand have quadrupled their pesticide use since the early 1990s, while Ghana, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, countries newer to the pesticide game, have seen a 10-fold increase over the same period, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Read More...
Alarm Clock

What's the effect of a full moon on sleep?

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Sat, 02 Jul 2016 17:35 UTC
full moon and sleep
Sleep may be one of the simplest changes you make to your daily routine, affecting everything from your mental and emotional health to your physical health.

Impaired sleep or lack of sleep may impact your immune system, increase your risk of heart disease, raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease.1

Poor-quality sleep may also impact other serious or chronic underlying health conditions, such as kidney disease, multiple sclerosis or gastrointestinal disorders.

Unfortunately, according to the National Sleep Foundation's (NSF) annual survey, both children and parents experience interrupted or poor-quality sleep related to a variety of factors, including room temperature, noise, light, pets and evening activities.2
Read More...
Telephone

Lawsuit filed against California's mandatory vaccine law SB 277

Tim Bolen
bolenreport.com
Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:32 UTC
SB277
So, I called attorney Jim Turner about 5:00AM PST this morning and say "Where's the case, dude?" He laughed... He'd been up all night. Right now it's 5:00PM PST on Friday, July 1st, 2016 and I've got the final copy of the case against SB 277 in my hands. It will take a while to get this article out - a lot to read, and make phone calls about. But...

I LOVE it.

The case I talked about two days ago has been electronically filed by Carl Lewis in the San Diego Federal Court. I have attached copies of each of the individual document sets to this article. They will be easy to find. Take the time to familiarize yourself.

The actual name of the filing is "Complaint For Declaratory and Injunctive Relief - Temporary Restraining Order Sought." Below I will explain what all that means.

And, there's a bunch of backup documents. You can see every one.

Comment: The lawsuit filed is in response to the following: California vaccine law takes effect - requires vaccinations for all school-aged kids

Read More...