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Category: healthy living

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Another good reason to breastfeed. Exposure to pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and airborne particles can cause negative effects on motor and mental development in infants, but a new study says those effects are countered in babies who are breast-fed for at least 4 months by their mothers. Researchers in Spain began monitoring rural, pregnant women in 2006 and analyzed samples from 638 women and their infants at 15 months. They reported that babies who are breast-fed did not suffer from the potentially harmful developmental impact of PM2.5 (pollution particle matter) and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide). From Science Daily:

Breastfeeding protects against environmental pollution

Living in a city with a high level of vehicle traffic or close to a steel works means living with two intense sources of environmental pollution. However, a study conducted by the UPV/EHU researcher Aitana Lertxundi indicates that the harmful effect of PM2.5 pollution particle matter and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) disappears in breastfed babies during the first four months of life. According to the results of the research, breastfeeding plays a protective role in the presence of these two atmospheric pollutants.

Lertxundi's study focusses on the repercussions on motor and mental development during the first years of life caused by exposure to the PM2.5 and NO2 atmospheric pollutants .... "In the fetal phase the central nervous system is being formed and lacks sufficient detoxification mechanisms to eliminate the toxins that build up," pointed out Aitana Lertxundi.

The PM2.5 particles measure less than 2.5 micra, in other words, they are four times thinner that a single hair and are suspended in the air. As they are so small they can easily penetrate the body and as they weigh so little they can spread without any difficulty through the air and can move far away from the initial emission source. The composition of these neurotoxic particles depends on the emission sources in the area. The INMA Gipuzkoa area under study has a high presence of neurotoxic particle matter made up of lead, arsenic and manganese from industrial activity and traffic. In comparison with urban averages where the main source of pollution is traffic, the concentration is lower.

One result of the study is that the existence of an inverse relationship has been detected between exposure to pollution particle matter and the motor development of babies. In this respect, the researcher highlights the fact that "these indices display an alteration with respect to the average and, even if they are not worrying, they are significant in that they reveal the relationship existing between air quality and motor development." The analysis of the data also shows that neither the PM2.5 particle matter nor the NO2 exert a harmful effect on babies breastfed on mother's milk for at least four months.

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This study, like previous research, found an association between increased dietary fiber intake (specifically from cereal and vegetable fiber) and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, they did not find this link with fruit fiber, and also if the person was obese. From Medical Xpress;

Study adds to evidence that increasing dietary fiber reduces the risk of developing diabetes

New research published today in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) indicates that consuming greater quantities of dietary fiber reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In this article the authors evaluated the associations between total fiber as well as fiber from cereal, fruit, and vegetable sources, and new-onset type 2 diabetes in a large European cohort across eight countries, in the EPIC-InterAct Study.

The authors divided the study participants into four equally sized groups from lowest to highest fiber intake, and assessed their risk of developing type 2 diabetes over an average of 11 years' follow-up.They found that participants with the highest total fiber intake (more than 26 g/day) had an 18% lower risk of developing diabetes compared to those with the lowest total fiber intake (less than 19 g/day), after adjusting for the effect of other lifestyle and dietary factors. When the results were adjusted for body mass index (BMI) as a marker of obesity, higher total fiber intake was found to be no longer associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes, suggesting that the beneficial association with fiber intake may be mediated at least in part by BMI.

When the authors evaluated the different fiber sources, they found that cereal fiber had the strongest inverse association: those with the highest levels of cereal and vegetable fiber consumption had a 19% and 16% lower risk of developing diabetes respectively, compared with those with the lowest consumption of these types of fiber. Again, these associations disappeared when the results were adjusted for BMI. By contrast, fruit fiber was not associated with a reduction in diabetes risk. Cereals accounted for 38% of the total fiber intake, and were the main source of fiber in all the countries involved in the study (with the exception of France where vegetables were the main source).

The authors also undertook a meta-analysis, where they pooled the data from this EPIC-InterAct study with those from 18 other independent studies (eight in the United States, four in Europe, three in Australia, and three in Asia). The meta-analysis included over 41,000 new-onset cases of type 2 diabetes and found that the risk of diabetes fell by 9% for each 10 g/day increase in total fiber intake, and by 25% for each 10 g/day increase in cereal fiber intake. They did not find a statistically significant relationship between increasing either fruit or vegetable fiber and reducing diabetes risk.

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Finding out that so many of probiotics currently contain traces of gluten is of serious concern to people wishing to avoid gluten in food products, for example those with celiac disease. Too bad the researchers didn't publish the brands.From Science Daily:

Many probiotics are contaminated with traces of gluten

More than half of popular probiotics contain traces of gluten, according to an analysis. Tests on 22 top-selling probiotics revealed that 12 of them (or 55%) had detectable gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, and patients with celiac disease need to eliminate it from their diet or face pain, bowel symptoms, and an increased risk of cancer.

Probiotics are commonly taken by patients for their theoretical effect in promoting gut health, though evidence of benefits is limited to a few clinical situations. "Many patients with celiac disease take dietary supplements, and probiotics are particularly popular," said Dr. Samantha Nazareth, a gastroenterologist at CUMC and the first author of the study. "We have previously reported that celiac patients who use dietary supplements have more symptoms than non-users, so we decided to test the probiotics for gluten contamination," said Dr. Nazareth.

 Most of the probiotics that tested positive for gluten contained less than 20 parts per million of the protein, and would be considered gluten-free by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. However, four of the brands (18% of the total) contained in excess of that amount.

More than half of the 22 probiotics were labeled gluten-free, but this had no bearing on whether or not traces of gluten were present. Two probiotics that did not meet FDA standards carried the label.It is uncertain whether these trace amounts of gluten could cause symptoms or otherwise harm patients with celiac disease. 

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Finding endocrine disrupting chemicals in 2 out of 10 baby teethers, which are supposedly safe products for babies, is disturbing. Unfortunately the study did not give the manufacturers names. There was even an 11th teether made of natural rubber that was found to leach compounds that were "cytotoxic"(toxic to living cells), but the manufacturer recalled the product before the study results were published. One of the teethers leaching parabens was made of EVA plastic filled with a cooling gel, and the researchers thought the parabens came from the gel used. Note that this study occurred in Europe where the regulations regarding endocrine disrupting chemicals are stricter than in the USA. The researchers themselves suggest that manufacturers should use "green chemistry" when manufacturing products - that is, design products without using problem ingredients right from the start. Problem solved. From Science Daily:

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in baby teethers

In laboratory tests, two out of ten teethers, plastic toys used to sooth babies' teething ache, release endocrine disrupting chemicals. One product contains parabens, which are normally used as preservatives in cosmetics, while the second contains six so-far unidentified endocrine disruptors. 

"The good news is that most of the teethers we analyzed did not contain any endocrine disrupting chemicals. However, the presence of parabens in one of the products is striking because these additives are normally not used in plastic toys," says Dr. Martin Wagner, of the Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology at the Goethe University. The substances detected -- methyl, ethyl and propyl parabens -- can act like natural oestrogen in the body and, in addition, inhibit the effects of androgens such as testosterone. The EU Commission recently banned two parabens in certain baby cosmetics, because of concerns over their health effects.

"Our study shows that plastic toys are a source of undesirable chemicals. Manufacturers, regulatory agencies and scientists should investigate the chemical exposure from plastic toys more thoroughly," Wagner concludes from the study. The additives have only limited benefits for the quality of the product, but can represent a potential health issue. This is especially true for babies and infants, whose development is orchestrated by a delicately balanced hormonal control and who are more susceptible to chemicals exposures than adults.

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Much has been written in the past few months on how to keep your brain sharp and avoid cognitive and memory declines due to aging, and especially how to lower the risk of dementia.

Many studies have shown the following to be beneficial to brain health: exercise (any exercise, including walking, is good), having friends and social networks to interact with, eating a lot of healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (beans), seeds, nuts, and fish), having a purpose in life, using the computer, playing video games (action puzzle games such as Portal 2 and NeuroRacer, but according to one study - not Lumosity), participating in arts or crafts, and learning new skills - that is, try out and learn new things (a musical instrument, a new language, take a class, a new craft, etc), or even visit new places.

Many of these can be summarized as: feed your brain and body, and keep your brain and body active. Here is one recent study of aging, from Medical Xpress:

Civic engagement may stave off brain atrophy, improve memory

Instead of shrinking as expected, as part of the normal aging process, the memory center in the brains of seniors maintained their size and, in men, grew modestly after two years in a program that engaged them in meaningful and social activities, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests. At the same time, those with larger increases in the brain's volume over two years also saw the greatest improvements on memory tests, showing a direct correlation between brain volume and the reversal of a type of cognitive decline linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.

The research, published online in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, studied participants in the Baltimore Experience Corps, a program that brings retired people into public schools to serve as mentors to young children, working with teachers to help them learn to read in understaffed school libraries."By helping others, participants are helping themselves in ways beyond just feeding their souls. They are helping their brains. The brain shrinks as part of aging, but with this program we appear to have stopped that shrinkage and are reversing part of the aging process."

For the study, Carlson and her colleagues randomized 111 men and women to either participate in the Experience Corps (58) or not (53).... The control arm of the study, those not involved in Experience Corps, exhibited age-related shrinkage in brain volumes. Typically, annual rates of atrophy in adults over age 65 range from .8 percent to two percent. The men who were enrolled in Experience Corps, however, showed a .7 percent to 1.6 percent increase in brain volumes over the course of two years. 

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An interesting small study of one family shows how quickly one can eliminate many pesticides from the body by switching to an all organic diet. One Swedish family of 2 adults (aged 40 and 39) and 3 children (aged 12, 10, and 3) who had been eating mainly conventional food were studied.

For the study they only ate conventionally grown food for one week and then they switched to an all organic diet for 2 weeks (fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, etc,). Urine was collected every morning from all family members, and a food diary was kept. Common pesticides and their metabolites were analyzed: atrazine, chlorpyrifos, 2.4-D, pyrethroids, MCPA, chlormequat chloride (CCC) etc.

However, the most commonly used pesticide in the world - glyphosate (Roundup) was not looked at. The results showed that pesticide levels were reduced very quickly once they started eating an all organic diet.

The report also mentioned that currently pesticide standards are only for one pesticide at a time, but people have exposure to many pesticides in daily life (foods, their environment, cleaning supplies, etc) - thus people are exposed to a chemical cocktail that we know very little about about - whether looking at short-term or long-term effects. Article (and video link) from The Sydney Morning Herald:

Family eats organic for just two weeks, removes nearly all pesticides from body

A Swedish family has shown just how quickly an organic diet change can rid the body of pesticides. In a fortnight-long experiment, the family of five - parents Anette and Mats, and kids Vendela, Evelina and Charlie - swapped their conventional diet for an organic one and found that just two weeks of eating an organic diet managed to rid their bodies of most traces of pesticides.

The video explaining the experiment, which was conducted by Swedish supermarket Coop and the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube. 

The researchers measured the levels of plant growth regulators chlormequat chloride, mepiquat, 3-PBA and cleaning agent TCP in urine samples taken from each family member before and after their two weeks of organic eating. Before the experiment, middle child Evelina's urine was showing nearly five nanograms of chlormequat chloride per millilitre. After eating only organic foods for two weeks, the chemical was unable to be detected in her sample. The most profound effects were found in toddler Charlie's samples. Despite his urine before the experiment showing high levels of all four of the chemicals, after the experiment none of the substances were detected.

The original 2015 report Coop Sverige AB, Report number U 5080, from the Swedish Environmental Research Institute: Human exposure to pesticides from food: A Pilot Study  ...continue reading "Eat Organic Foods to Quickly Lower the Pesticide Levels In Your Body"

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More reasons to eat a variety of foods - each food will contribute something different, and the effects may be subtle. Here are two healthy foods from plants: orange juice and shiitake mushrooms. From Medical Xpress

Orange juice could help improve brain function in elderly people

Drinking orange juice could help improve brain function in elderly people, according to new research from the University of Reading.The study saw a group of 37 healthy adults (mean age 67 years) consuming 500 ml (just under a pint) of orange juice, daily over an eight week period. At the beginning and end of the eight weeks their memory, reaction time and verbal fluency was measured. These were then combined into one overall score known as 'global cognitive function'. The adults showed an 8% overall improvement in global cognitive function after orange juice consumption compared to a control drink (matched for taste and calories) given during a different eight week period. Although subtle, these improvements are significant. ."

Orange juice is a major source of a group of naturally occurring plant phytochemicals known as flavonoids, being particularly rich in a sub-class of flavonoids, known as flavanones. Recent studies from the School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy have shown that flavonoids may improve memory through the activation of signalling pathways in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is associated with learning and memory. 

Previous Reading research has shown that other flavonoid rich foods such as blueberries are beneficial for cognition. Research is still ongoing to determine the exact mechanisms by which flavonoids may exert benefits to the brain. Several mechanisms haveboosting immune systbeen proposed such as improved blood flow in the brain and protecting neurons against oxidative damage and increasing the efficiency with which neurons transmit signals.

This study was published in April 2015, from Science Daily:  Mushrooms boost immunity, suggests research

Could a mushroom a day help keep the doctor away? A new University of Florida study shows increased immunity in people who ate a cooked shiitake mushroom every day for four weeks.... 52 healthy adults, age 21 to 41, came to the Gainesville campus, where researchers gave them a four-week supply of dry shiitake mushrooms. Participants took the mushrooms home, cleaned and cooked them. Then they ate one, 4-ounce serving of mushrooms each day during the experiment. Through blood tests before and after the experiment, researchers saw better-functioning gamma delta T-cells and reductions in inflammatory proteins.

"If you eat a shiitake mushroom every day, you could see changes in their immune system that are beneficial," said Percival, an Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty member. "We're enhancing the immune system, but we're also reducing the inflammation that the immune system produces."

Published on Leave a comment on Urinary Tract Infections and D-Mannose

Image result for pills wikipedia My last post was about a recent Medscape article discussing whether probiotics can be used to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) (answer: probiotics are promising, but too little is known right now to recommend any). Two alternative treatments that the article did not discuss were drinking cranberry juice or taking cranberry supplements (studies are currently mixed regarding their effectiveness in UTIs - possibly due to varying cranberry products and doses used) and taking D-mannose supplements (whether as a powder or pill).

D-mannose is recommended on alternative medical sites as an effective treatment for UTIs caused by E.coli, including recurrent UTIs. Studies show that up to 90% of UTIs are caused by E. coli.The majority of both males and females writing comments about UTI treatments on these sites and for D-mannose product reviews (on Amazon) rave about D-mannose as the only treatment that worked for them after suffering from recurrent UTIs (antibiotics typically did not work well for them).

D-mannose is a naturally occurring sugar found in a number of fruits, especially cranberries and blueberries. D-mannose is effective because it attaches to E. coli bacteria, and prevents them from attaching to the walls of the urinary tract. (Researchers write that D-mannose "inhibits bacterial adhesion to uroepithelial cells.") Persons taking D-mannose are also advised to drink plenty of water, which then flushes out the bacteria.

The typical dose of D-mannose for UTI treatment is 500 mg, in capsule or powder form, taken in a glass of water or juice, every few hours for five days (perhaps 5 or 6 tablets a day). Then continue taking for a few days after all symptoms go away to make sure all the bacteria are flushed out of the urinary tract.

Many long-term recurrent UTI sufferers continue taking D-mannose at lower doses to prevent the UTIs from recurring. There are no known side-effects. D-mannose is easily found at grocery stores, health food stores, and online.

After doing a D-mannose and urinary tract infection search using PubMed (from Medline, the National Institute of Health), I found that currently there is only one published study looking at the use of D-Mannose in urinary tract infections.

The 2014 study by B. Kranjcec, D. Papes, and S. Altarac looked at the effectiveness of D-mannose powder for recurring urinary tract infections in women. 308 women with a history of recurrent UTIs were first treated with an antibiotic (ciprofloxacin) for an UTI, and then were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups for 6 months. The 3 groups were: D-mannose (2 g of D-mannose in 200 ml water daily), or prophylactic antibiotics (50 mg Nitrofurantoin daily) or a control group that didn't take anything (no prophylaxis).

Results were that 98 patients (31.8%) had a recurrent UTI. Of those 98, 14.6% (15 women) were in the D-mannose group, 20.4% (21 women) in the Nitrofurantoin antibiotic group, and 60.8%  (62 women) in the no treatment (no prophylaxis) group. In other words, the D-mannose group did the best in preventing recurrences, even better than the antibiotic. 

From World Journal of Urology: D-mannose powder for prophylaxis of recurrent urinary tract infections in women: a randomized clinical trial.

Overall 98 patients (31.8%) had recurrent UTI: 15 (14.6) in the D-mannose group, 21 (20.4) in Nitrofurantoin group, and 62 (60.8) in no prophylaxis group, with the rate significantly higher in no prophylaxis group compared to active groups (P < 0.001). Patients in D-mannose group and Nitrofurantoin group had a significantly lower risk of recurrent UTI episode during prophylactic therapy compared to patients in no prophylaxis group (RR 0.239 and 0.335, P < 0.0001). In active groups, 17.9% of patients reported side effects but they were mild and did not require stopping the prophylaxis. Patients in D-mannose group had a significantly lower risk of side effects compared to patients in Nitrofurantoin group (RR 0.276, P < 0.0001), but the clinical importance of this finding is low because Nitrofurantoin was well tolerated.

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Amusing but also scary. The negative effects on the gut microbes of one person consuming an all fast food diet for 10 days occurred very quickly, and his gut microbes did not recover even 2 weeks after the fast food diet ended. Biggest problem seemed to be loss of gut diversity - about 40% of his gut bacterial species. Loss of gut diversity is considered a sign of ill health. Written by Tim Spector, with Tom Spector's assistance, from The Conversation:

Your gut bacteria don’t like junk food – even if you do

When Morgan Spurlock famously spent a month eating large portions of McDonalds for the purposes of his documentary Supersize Me, he gained weight, damaged his liver and claimed to have suffered addictive withdrawal symptoms. This was popularly attributed to the toxic mix of carbs and fat plus the added chemicals and preservatives in junk foods. But could there be another explanation?

We may have forgotten others who really don’t enjoy fast food. These are the poor creatures that live in the dark in our guts. These are the hundred trillion microbes that outnumber our total human cells ten to one and digest our food, provide many vitamins and nutrients and keep us healthy. 

For the sake of science and research for my book The Diet Myth, I have been experimenting with several unusual diets and recorded their effects on my gut microbes...My son Tom, a final year student of genetics at the University of Aberystwyth suggested an additional crucial experiment: to track the microbes as they changed from an average western diet to an intensive fast food diet for over a week.

I wasn’t the ideal subject since I was no longer on an average diet, but Tom, who like most students enjoyed his fast food, was. So he agreed to be the guinea pig on the basis that I paid for all his meals and he could analyse and write up his results for his dissertation. The plan was to eat all his meals at the local McDonalds for ten days. He was able to eat either a Big Mac or Chicken nuggets, plus fries and Coke. For extra vitamins he was allowed beer and crisps in the evening. He would collect poo samples before, during and after his diet and send them to three different labs to check consistency.

While it was clear the intensive diet had made him feel temporarily unwell, we had to wait a few months for the results to arrive back....They all told the same story: Tom’s community of gut microbes (called a microbiome) had been devastated.

Tom’s gut had seen massive shifts in his common microbe groups for reasons that are still unclear. Firmicutes were replaced with Bacteroidetes as the dominant type, while friendly bifidobacteria that suppress inflammation halved. However the clearest marker of an unhealthy gut is losing species diversity and after just a few days Tom had lost an estimated 1,400 species – nearly 40% of his total. The changes persisted and even two weeks after the diet his microbes had not recovered. Loss of diversity is a universal signal of ill health in the guts of obese and diabetic people and triggers a range of immunity problems in lab mice.

That junk food is bad for you is not news, but knowing that they decimate our gut microbes to such an extent and so quickly is worrying...We rely on our bacteria to produce much of our essential nutrients and vitamins while they rely on us eating plants and fruits to provide them with energy and to produce healthy chemicals which keep our immune system working normally.

We are unlikely to stop people eating fast food, but the devastating effects on our microbes and our long term health could possibly be mitigated if we also eat foods which our microbes love like probiotics (yogurts), root vegetables, nuts, olives and high-fibre foods. What they seem to crave, above all else, is food diversity and a slice of gherkin in the burger just isn’t enough.

Tom Spector. Credit: Tim Spector

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More studies need to be done, but the possibility of simply taking 500 mg twice a day of nicotinamide (a vitamin B3 derivative) to reduce the incidence of basal and squamous cell carcinoma is exciting.

Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world.

From Medical Xpress: Study: Vitamin B3 may help prevent certain skin cancers

For the first time, a large study suggests that a vitamin might modestly lower the risk of the most common types of skin cancer in people with a history of these relatively harmless yet troublesome growths.

In a study in Australia, people who took a specific type of vitamin B3 for a year had a 23 percent lower rate of new skin cancers compared to others who took dummy pills. In absolute terms, it meant that vitamin takers developed fewer than two of these cancers on average versus roughly 2.5 cancers for the others.The study did not involve melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Instead, it aimed at more common forms—basal and squamous cell cancers. He and other doctors with the oncology group said the vitamin, called nicotinamide, could offer a cheap, easy way to lower risk.

The study involved 386 people who had at least two skin cancers in the previous five years. They took either 500 milligrams of the vitamin or dummy pills twice a day for a year. Neither they nor their doctors knew who got what until the study ended.

Besides reducing the rate of skin cancers, vitamin use also seemed to cut the rate of precancers—scaly patches of skin called actinic keratoses—by 11 percent after three months of use and 20 percent after nine months. Participants were tracked for six months after they stopped taking their pills, and the rate of new skin cancers was similar in both groups. "The benefit wears off fairly quickly," Damian said. "You need to continue taking the tablets for them to continue to be effective."

Nicotinamide is thought to help repair DNA in cells damaged by sun exposure. It is not the same as nicotine, the addictive stuff in tobacco. It's also not the same as niacin and some other forms of B3, which can cause flushing, headaches and blood pressure problems. Those problems were not seen with nicotinamide in the study. Nicotinamide is sold over the counter, is easy to take, and "there are essentially no side effects," Schilsky said.

 Credit: WebMD, Healthwise, Inc.