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High fat/low carb diet could combat schizophrenia


ScienceDaily
Thu, 17 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
Image
© Getty ImagesHigh-Fat Ketogenic Diet
Research by James Cook University scientists has found a diet favoured by body-builders may be effective in treating schizophrenia.

Associate Professor Zoltan Sarnyai and his research group from JCU's Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) have discovered that feeding mice a ketogenic diet, which is high on fat but very low on carbohydrates (sugars), leads to fewer animal behaviours that resemble schizophrenia.

The ketogenic diet has been used since the 1920s to manage epilepsy in children and more recently as a weight loss diet preferred by some body builders.

Dr Sarnyai believes the diet may work by providing alternative energy sources in the form of so-called ketone bodies (products of fat breakdown) and by helping to circumvent abnormally functioning cellular energy pathways in the brains of schizophrenics.

Comment: For for more information on the benefits of Ketogenic diets, read:

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Cupcake Pink

Do gut bacteria influence weight gain and obesity?

Mark Sisson
Mark's Daily Apple
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
Obese man

We know how important gut health is for overall health. We understand that it improves digestion, that our pursuit of extreme sterility has compromised our immune systems, and that the gut biome is etiologically involved in the pathogenesis of various health and disease states. We're even familiar with the more esoteric functions of gut bacteria, like converting antinutrients into biovailable nutrients, synthesizing sex hormones and neurotransmitters, and mitigating the allergenicity of gluten. But what about gaining and losing body fat, the real reason most people get interested in diet in the first place—are the bacteria in your gut responsible for the fat on it?

Maybe.

Comment: Excess adipose tissue (body fat) generally has a number of contributing factors and despite mainstream dogma, the number of calories consumed is generally not the primary factor. Inflammation is a significant factor, so reducing inflammatory foods such as toxic artificial foods, carbohydrates, gluten/grains, dairy (except butter/ghee), soy, beans, and nightshades can significantly reduce excess body fat in many individuals. General toxic load is also a factor, since the body stores toxins and heavy metals in body fat to protect the organs from the toxins. Detoxing heavy metals and other toxins can reduce body fat, as well as using a Far Infrared Sauna for stimulating the mitochondria to detoxify the body. Pathogens of various types can be another factor, so eliminating pathogens while simultaneously improving the gut biome can reduce excess body fat.

Metabolism and Thyroid function is also a factor, so supplementing with iodine can help reduce excess body fat, by improving metabolism, detoxing the body, and eliminating pathogens.

In short, excess body fat is not simply the result of eating too many calories and not exercising enough, but is the result of a number of other factors that can be addressed for improved health. See also:

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Sun

Scientists found a link between irritable bowel syndrome & vitamin D deficiency

Lisa Ryan
Daily Mail
Mon, 21 Dec 2015 18:16 UTC
irritated bowels
Scientists revealed that 82 per cent of people with irritable bowel syndrome may be vitamin D deficient. IBS is a 'chronic and debilitating' disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that causes both diarrhea and constipation.
People suffering from irritable bowel syndrome may not be getting enough sunshine, experts believe.

Scientists from the University of Sheffield found that 82 per cent of irritable bowel syndrome patients have insufficient vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D is most commonly produced when sunlight hits your skin, which kicks off vitamin synthesis.

It is also naturally occurring in a number of foods - including milk and tuna.

The study suggests that vitamin D supplements may help alleviate IBS symptoms.

Comment: Read more about The virtues of Vitamin D: It's time we saw the light

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Life Preserver

Treat ADHD naturally - without resorting to pharmaceutical grade amphetamines

Carolanne Wright
Wake Up World
Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:09 UTC
ADHD Kids
© fitlife.tv
The diagnosis and subsequent medicating of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has jumped to alarming levels in the United States over the last few years. The stimulants used to treat the condition have more than doubled since 2007 to an astounding $9 billion in 2012. In light of this, many are questioning whether children are diagnosed accurately or if this is yet another medical label that pharmaceutical companies can exploit to reap massive profits.

To date, 1 in 5 high school aged boys are diagnosed with ADHD, while 1 in 10 are said to have the condition across all age groups below eighteen. According to data collected in 2013 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it's estimated 6.4 million children in the U.S. aged 4 through 17 have received an ADHD diagnosis at one point during their lifetime, which equates to a 16 percent increase since 2007 and a 41 percent jump over the last decade. "Those are astronomical numbers. I'm floored," Dr. William Graf, a pediatric neurologist in New Haven and professor at the Yale school of Medicine, told the New York Times.

What exactly is going on?

Comment: Consider the following: Does ADHD really exist!?
As explained by The Sons of Liberty host Bradlee Dean, who also writes for The D.C. Clothesline, ADHD was merely a theory developed by Eisenberg. It was never actually proven to exist as a verifiable disease, despite the fact that Eisenberg and many others profited handsomely from its widespread diagnosis. And modern psychiatry continues to profit as well, helping also to fill the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry by getting children addicted early to dangerous psychostimulant drugs like Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Adderall (amphetamine, dextroamphetamine mixed salts).

"ADHD is fraud intended to justify starting children on a life of drug addiction," said Dr. Edward C. Hamlyn, a founding member of the Royal College of General Practitioners, back in 1998 about the phony condition. Adding to this sentiment, psychiatrists Peter Breggin and Sami Timimi, both of whom oppose pathologizing the symptoms of ADHD, say that ADHD is more of a social construct than it is an objective "disorder."

The purpose all along for pathologizing ADHD symptoms, of course, was to generate more profits for the drug industry. According to the citizen watchdog group Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHRI), roughly 20 million American children today are taking dangerous, but expensive, psychiatric drugs for made-up behavioral conditions like ADHD. And another one million or so children have been blatantly and admittedly misdiagnosed with phony behavioral conditions for which psychiatric medications are being prescribed.

"Remember, there are two ways drug companies can make money: Invent new drugs, and invent new diseases already invented drugs can treat," writes Dr. Jay Parkinson, M.D., M.P.H., about the fake disease-creation industry. "In the past decade or so, Big Pharma has created no less than 10 new novel drugs per year," he adds, noting that many of the people who have been told they suffer from ADHD actually suffer from "the consequence of bad design," meaning a conventional social and educational system that is unable and unwilling to recognize unique individuality.


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Top Secret

Michigan state officials lied about lead in Flint's water - knowingly poisoning countless children

Andrew Emett
Activist Post
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 16:55 UTC
lead poisoning
After filing a FOIA request, a Virginia Tech professor recently discovered Michigan state officials knew the city of Flint's water supply was giving children lead poisoning while falsely assuring residents that the water was safe. Although the government had been aware of the increased levels of lead poisoning since July, they continued to lie to the public until a Flint pediatrician published a study in September that found lead exposure in children had doubled citywide and nearly tripled in high-risk areas.

Agreeing to temporarily switch from Detroit's water supply to the Flint River in April 2014, residents in the city of Flint immediately noticed their tap water appeared cloudy while emitting a pungent odor. After testing the water supply on August 14, 2014, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) discovered the water tested positive for fecal coliform bacteria, also known as E. coli. Although the city issued several boil advisories to kill the bacteria, the CDC has found that heating or boiling water only increases the lead concentration in the water.

Comment: More disturbing information about this serious public health crises in Michigan:

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Heart

Cholesterol levels go up; heart disease rates go down

Dr. Malcolm Kendrick
drmalcolmkendrick.org
Fri, 25 Dec 2015 18:18 UTC
Heart Health
© eggs.org.nz
As readers of this blog will know well, I do not believe that cholesterol levels have anything to do with heart disease, which would more accurately be called coronary artery disease (CAD) or coronary heart disease (CHD).

This is not a view that is widely accepted in the medical community, nor in society as a whole. In fact, this view places me very firmly in the 'nut job' category. I have been told that my views mean that I feature on several quack watch sites. Hoorah, fame - of a kind - at last.

So when I come across information that supports my position, I am always keen to make as much noise about it as possible. Today, or at least today as I write this, someone sent me an article entitled 'Continuous decline in mortality from coronary heart disease in Japan despite a continuous and marked rise in total cholesterol: Japanese experience after the Seven Countries Study.'

Now, that's the kind of thing that I like to see. Cholesterol levels go up; heart disease rates go down. Here is the abstract of the paper, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology:
'The Seven Countries Study in the 1960s showed very low mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Japan, which was attributed to very low levels of total cholesterol. Studies of migrant Japanese to the USA in the 1970s documented increase in CHD rates, thus CHD mortality in Japan was expected to increase as their lifestyle became Westernized, yet CHD mortality has continued to decline since 1970. This study describes trends in CHD mortality and its risk factors since 1980 in Japan, contrasting those in other selected developed countries.

We selected Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA. CHD mortality between 1980 and 2007 was obtained from WHO Statistical Information System. National data on traditional risk factors during the same period were obtained from literature and national surveys.

Age-adjusted CHD mortality continuously declined between 1980 and 2007 in all these countries. The decline was accompanied by a constant fall in total cholesterol except Japan where total cholesterol continuously rose. In the birth cohort of individuals currently aged 50 - 69 years, levels of total cholesterol have been higher in Japan than in the USA, yet CHD mortality in Japan remained the lowest: >67% lower in men and >75% lower in women compared with the USA. The direction and magnitude of changes in other risk factors were generally similar between Japan and the other countries.

Conclusions: Decline in CHD mortality despite a continuous rise in total cholesterol is unique. The observation may suggest some protective factors unique to Japanese.'1
This paper was actually published in July, but I missed it until now. I have to say that I like everything about the abstract (and the entire paper) apart from the last ten words. 'The observation may suggest some protective factors unique to Japanese.' You may be thinking, what's wrong with that suggestion. It seems completely reasonable.
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Arrow Up

U.S. Congress may force FDA to label GMO salmon

Julie Fidler
Natural Society
Sun, 20 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
gmo salmon
In the massive spending bill unveiled Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill, 2 small paragraphs contain language that may force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to finalize guidelines for the labeling of the recently-approved genetically modified (GM) salmon, or "Frankenfish."

In the $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government through September 2016, the agency is instructed to ban the sale of GM salmon until it can complete labeling guidelines and "a program to disclose to consumers" whether a fish has been genetically altered. The FDA is expected to spend a minimum of $150,000 of its funding to develop these guidelines. [1]

Comment: This is indeed good news and a hopeful development in the push against this toxic experiment on humanity. However, considering the power of BigAg and the biotech industry and the extent of their financial tentacles on lawmakers, it is questionable at this point whether the forced labeling of this Frankenfish will actually occur.

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Beaker

Environmental contaminants may be contributing to antibiotic resistance in bacteria


Phys.org
Wed, 23 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
tinker creek, antibiotic resistance
© Linda Lee/University of Georgia Tinker Creek is a pristine black water stream on the Savannah River Site. The bacteria in this stream are susceptible to antibiotics.
While the rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has prompted the medical community, non-profit organizations, public health officials and the national media to educate the public to the dangers of misusing and overusing antibiotics, the University of Georgia's J. Vaun McArthur is concerned that there's more to the problem than the misuse of common medications.

McArthur, a senior research ecologist with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Odum School of Ecology, believes environmental contaminants may be partly to blame for the rise in bacterial resistance, and he tested this hypothesis in streams on the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site.

The 310-square mile site near Aiken, South Carolina, east of the Savannah River, was closed to the public in the early 1950s to produce materials used in nuclear weapons. This production led to legacy waste, or contamination, in limited areas of the site. This waste impacted some of the streams in the industrial areas.

"The site was constructed and closed to the public before antibiotics were used in medical practices and agriculture," McArthur said. "The streams have not had inputs from wastewater, so we know the observed patterns are from something other than antibiotics."
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Info

Ayahuasca: The power of a plant from the Amazon and the respect it demands

Dr. Gabor Mate
Alternet
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:42 UTC
ayahuasca
© Chris KilhamThe Banisteriopsis caapi, a vine found in the jungles of South America, and used to brew the psychedelic drink ayahuasca.
The spirit of the plant puts people in touch with their repressed pain and trauma.

As a Western-trained doctor, I have long been aware of modern medicine's limitations in handling chronic conditions of mind and body. For all our achievements, there are ailments whose ravages we physicians can at best alleviate. In our narrow pursuit of cure, we fail to comprehend the essence of healing.

Thus the popularity of ayahuasca, the Amazonian plant medicine that many Westerners seek out for the healing of physical illness or mental anguish or for a sense of meaning amid the growing alienation in our culture.

Comment: Read more about Ayahuasca

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Bullseye

Another Canadian doctor killed, body found in makeshift grave

Erin Elizabeth
Health Nut News
Wed, 23 Dec 2015 17:17 UTC
Dead doctor
Just 48 hours after I'd written about another Canadian doctor who researched cancer, founded murdered... We have another one who is about the same age.

The doctor in the link above was from Toronto, while Dr. Linnea Veinotte in this article was from Nova Scotia.

As with all the stories I've written about the mysterious doctor deaths, many who we knew; my heart goes out to the family and friends of yet another doctor who has been found dead, just days before Christmas.

Canadian doctor, Linnea Veinotte, was described as super smart with a "big heart" and was married to her high school sweetheart, Matt Venoitte- the
couple had two boys, ages five and six.

Comment: See more: 2 Doctors walking home, both found dead, one stabbed to death in "safe neighborhood"

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