B12 and sulphites
Fact of the day: B12 might reduce sulphite sensitivity. B12 binds to sulphites and clears them from the body (they turn into sulfitocobalamin). Apparently this has been shown in studies to be effective in treating sulphite induced asthma, urticaria, contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis. That would explain a few things!
This is great, however, it does not help convert sulphites to sulphates, which is what we need to do to get the PST enzyme back up and running.
I’ve also read that nitrites destroy the B12 and folate coenzymes. Therefore one should not attempt to get one’s daily B12 requirements from processed meats!
Papain and bromelain
I think I’ve found the reason, or one of the reasons, why pineapple and papaya could be particularly problematic foods for failsafers.
Papain turns out not to be “an enzyme that helps you to digest protein”, but a cysteine protease!
Papain is a cysteine protease (EC 3.4.22.2) present in papaya (Carica papaya) which is useful in tenderizing meat and other proteins. It consists of 212 amino acids stabilised by 3 disulfide bridges. Its 3D structure consists of 2 distinct structural domains with a cleft between them. This cleft contains the active site, which contains a catalytic triad that has been likened to that of chymotrypsin. Its catalytic triad is made up of 3 amino acids – cysteine-25 (from which it gets its classification), histidine-159, and asparagine-175.
The mechanism by which it breaks peptide bonds involves deprotonation of Cys-25 by His-159. Asn-175 helps to orient the imidazole ring of His-159 to allow this deprotonation to take place. Cys-25 then performs a nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon of a peptide backbone. This frees the amino terminal of the peptide, and forms a covalent acyl-enzyme intermediate. The enzyme is then deacylated by a water molecule, and releases the carboxy terminal portion of the peptide. Papain, Wikipedia
—- snip —-
Proteases are enzymes that degrade polypeptides. Cysteine proteases have a common catalytic mechanism that involves a nucleophilic cysteine thiol in a catalytic triad. The first step is deprotonation of a thiol in the enzyme’s active site by an adjacent amino acid with a basic side chain, usually a histidine residue. The next step is nucleophilic attack by the deprotonated cysteine’s anionic sulfur on the substrate carbonyl carbon. In this step, a fragment of the substrate is released with an amine terminus, the histidine residue in the protease is restored to its deprotonated form, and a thioester intermediate linking the new carboxy-terminus of the substrate to the cysteine thiol is formed. The thioester bond is subsequently hydrolyzed to generate a carboxylic acid moiety on the remaining substrate fragment, while regenerating the free enzyme. Cysteine Protease, Wikipedia
So is bromelain, which is also a sulphur containing protease.
Bromelain is not a single substance, but rather a collection of enzymes and other compounds. It is a mixture of sulfur-containing protein-digesting enzymes—called proteolytic enzymes or proteases—and several other substances in smaller quantities including: peroxidase, acid phosphatase, protease inhibitors, and calcium. Bromelain, Wikipedia
Question: What do you get when you break down sulphur containing proteins? Answer: You get sulphur, sulphides, and sulphites.
Lyme disease
I just posted this on native-nutrition and for the record I am going to show bad form and quote myself, since it will clarify my stance on lyme and candida.
> Emma:
> In your opinion…what is a genuine scientific diagnosis?
> vspBiopsy and isolation in culture is the only definite diagnosis of lyme disease that exists. ELISA and western blot abound with large numbers of both false positives and false negatives, as the tests cross-react with numerous other common pathogens. Doctors never diagnose lyme disease based on either symptoms OR test results alone, because accurate diagnosis is unlikely.
ELISA and western blot may well be adequate for very obvious cases of lyme disease in which the bull’s eye rash is present and/or the person remembers getting a bite when in an area where lyme disease is widespread.
But in other cases – for example cases where someone has flu-like symptoms, chemical sensitivities, or symptoms which could well be diagnosed as fibromyalgia, CFS, or an autoimmune disorder like arthritis or MS, blood tests are not at all adequate. Autoimmune conditions, lyme vaccination, and harmless infections can cause false positives, as can syphilis, other spirochetes, Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus, and even herpes simplex! One can easily imagine a scenario in which someone who has cold sores develops fibromyalgia or salicylate sensitivity and is misdiagnosed with lyme.
Purely symptom based diagnosis is extremely risky. Like R-, six months ago I rated positive for around 50 out of 75 of the symptoms on the www.canlyme.com site. But. I. Do. Not. Have. Lyme.
My concern is the sheer quantity of people who read about lyme on the internet and then diagnose themselves, bypassing proper medical study, and then go on to “treat” themselves with alternative therapies which can actually make their symptoms worse – as in the case of the use of herbal remedies when the problem is salicylate intolerance. I have even heard of cases where people will infect themselves with malaria in an effort to kill lyme parasites. A further problem is that the antibiotics which are used to treat lyme disease can have lasting, damaging effects on the body in themselves, and as the patient continues to feel very ill, they continue to blame lyme for their symptoms.
Lyme – like candida – has caught on on the internet as a catch-all way of explaining people’s mysterious symptoms of ill-health. I appreciate that people are desperate for a cure to their problems (me too), but overdiagnosis and sloppy diagnosis of lyme or candida is an insult and a barrier to proper awareness and acceptance of these diseases by the medical establishment. False diagnosis of lyme hurts people with genuine lyme every day. It also hurts people who do not have lyme – like those with salicylate intolerance – who may desperately pursue lyme treatments for years in the hopes of getting better.
In all cases, whether lyme is present or not, accurate testing and very careful, cool, calm, critical, logical assessment of the situation is vital in order to pursue the correct course of treatment.
Research on salicylates
I’ve come across this page a few times in my perusal of the internet, but I’ve never posted it before. It’s all the research on salicylate sensitivity.
It makes pretty good ammunition to heave at the silly and the skeptical.
Coming up against a brick wall
I tried to communicate with a couple of people on the native-nutrition board recently, but they were having none of it. One is taking a lot of salt and vitamin C. I believe from her other symptoms she is a possible candidate for food chemical intolerance and I hoped she would try the diet, at least in order to rule it out (she has been diagnosed with lyme disease – something I always have questions about). Adrenaline (for which you need salt and vitamin C) is good at masking the effects of food chemical intolerance symptoms, but it is not a cure. Sodium bicarbonate would be more effective. It did not surprise me at all when she mentioned this new symptom, because every time she mentions a new symptom, she fits more and more the food chemical intolerance profile.
The other recently complained of excess sebum and ridiculously greasy hair. Again, I’ve been there and it’s no surprise to see this symptom in someone I already suspected had food chemical intolerance. Before I discovered failsafe, I spent two years asking myself: why is my skin and hair so appallingly greasy? Am I a teenager? Have I got excessively high testosterone levels? What the heck is going wrong in my body when I’m eating such a “healthy” natural diet?
This week I’ve been sneaking: I’ve been having a caffeinated coffee every day – partly because it helps me lose weight, and partly because it fuels weight-lifting at the gym pretty effectively. Four days in I realised I was addicted to caffeine again and if I stopped I would have a completely useless day where I was knocked out by a migraine. I also realised my face was starting to flush again. Caffeine has that effect – but also salicylates, also in coffee. Day five, and after being clear of dermatitis for several months, I’ve a patch appeared above my mouth. Interesting how quickly it happens. Something else I’ve noticed is that my back, which had become very firm and pain-free, has started popping and cracking again, and I’ve somehow hurt my knee very easily whilst swimming.
On the subject of communicating with people, I have a friend who I was drawn to because she seemed to be similar to me. She has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and has funny routines for her kitchen. As a child she had frequent ear infections and had to have grommits, and was deaf until she was a teenager. She has strange problems with her eyes which she blames on an overdose of malaria medication when she was a teenager. She was a very rebellious as a teenager – one might say she had Oppositional Defiance Disorder – to the extent her parents sent her away to a foreign country. She gets migraines, and frequent infections. Her brothers and sisters all have moodswings and problems of their own (one – oh so fittingly – swears by a macrobiotic diet). She has a tendency to make rash choices and spontaneous decisions. She has a three year old daughter who gets frequent ear infections just like her mother did. Her daughter overheated and had a seizure last year. She also has lazy eye (amylopia), which is a brain/laterality problem closely related to strabismus (deviating eye), both of which are food intolerance associated. I noticed last year that she gets hyperactive, naughty, and tearful approaching mealtimes, and is off in her own world some of the time. It’s also a big battle to get her to go to sleep at nights. In other words, there are a lot of indicators.
This seems to me a fairly clear example of a condition running in families. It also seemed clear to me at the time that whatever I had wrong with me, my friend also had wrong with her. Because she is a pescatarian and often vegetarian, and because I am an ex-vegetarian who now eats almost 100% animal foods (though more of these calories come from eggs and dairy than meat), it has been very difficult for me to broach the subject with her, and I’ve repeatedly dropped matters despite having more answers because she’s very independent and has this ODD-style tendency to push back deliberately when people push her.
My friend is determined to be ‘relaxed’ and ‘not feel guilty’ about her diet, because her mother suffered from anorexia. Her partner, who is quite charismatic, does not believe that diet affects people’s health, which does not help matters. My friend regularly eats MSG in Quorn, artificial colours and flavours in ostensibly “healthy” foods like yoghurt and other processed foods, drinks tea, gets lots of sulphites in wine, and eats a lot of vegetables and fish. In short, it’s a very high-chemical, high mercury diet. Of all my friends, trying to talk to her about diet has been like coming up against a brick wall. Despite trying hard not to interfere, she read something on my other blog a few months back and decided it was about her (it wasn’t), and I was telling her what to eat (I wasn’t). When I wrote to tell her I had finally cracked my problems and I was getting better on failsafe, the response was, well, not pretty, and, being rather hurt, I haven’t spoken to her since.
How do I fix this?
Hi, I have ADD, and I’m thirty
These symptoms are taken from the list on the Feingold site.
I’ve highlighted with italics the ones my sister suffered from as a child, and bolded the ones I suffered from during childhood, teenage years, or still suffer from. If an area was particularly bad, I’ve marked the title too.
Marked hyperactivity:
Constant motion
Running instead of walking
Inability to sit still
Inappropriate wiggling of legs/hands
Impulsive Actions:
Disruptive behavior / disturbs others
Unresponsiveness to discipline
Unkindness to pets
Poor self-control
Destructive behaviors: throws, breaks things
Little or no recognition of danger to self
Inappropriate noises
Excessive talking
Loud talking
Interrupts often
Abusive behavior
Unpredictable behavior
Compulsive Actions:
Aggression
Perseveration/repeating of an activity
Touching things or people excessively
Workaholic habits
Chewing on clothing, other objects
Scratching, biting & picking at skin
Emotional Concerns:
Low frustration tolerance
Depression
Frequent crying
Demands immediate attention
Irritability
Overreaction to touch, pain, sound, lights
Panics easily
Nervousness
Low self-esteem
Mood swings
Suicidal thoughts
Learning Problems:
Short Attention Span
Impatience
Distraction
Failure to complete projects
Inability to listen to whole story
Inability to follow directions
Neuro-Muscular Involvement:
Accident prone
Poor muscle coordination
Difficulty writing, drawing
Dyslexia/reading problems
Speech difficulties/delays
Difficulty with playground activities, sports
Eye muscle disorder (nystagmus, strabismus)
Tics (unusual or uncontrollable movements)
Seizures (some forms)
Cognitive and Perceptual Disturbances:
Auditory memory deficits (difficulty remembering what is heard)
Visual memory deficits (difficulty remembering what is seen)
Difficulty in comprehension and short term memory
Disturbance in spatial orientation (up-down, right-left)
Difficulties in reasoning (simple math problems, meaning in words)
Frequent Physical Complaints:
Ear infections
Asthma
Bedwetting (enuresis)
Daytime wetting
Stomachaches
Headaches, migraines
Hives, rashes (urticaria)
Eczema
Leg aches
Constipation, diarrhea
Congestion
Seizures (some types, especially if combined with migraine or hyperactivity)
Sleep Problems:
Resistance to going to bed
Difficulty falling asleep
Restless / erratic sleep
Nightmares, bad dreams
When my sister and I were growing up, there was no such thing as “ADD” or “ADHD”. My sister was apologetically labelled “hyperactive” by our stressed-out mother, who frequently complained to her “you’re like a bull at a gate, you are!”. She was very noisy, and as a baby cried so much at night that her cot had to be moved downstairs into the dining room.
By contrast I had been a “good” baby, and was a “good” child – I was very quiet, off in my own world all the time, extremely shy, and had real trouble fitting in at school. Like my sister, I was oversensitive and very easily hurt by other’s actions. I don’t think my parents realised at the time – the disease had yet to be labelled – that these are the symptoms of ADD.
Stupidly, it only struck me about a month ago when I read Sue Dengate’s “Fed Up with ADHD”, that I have all the symptoms of ADD. I have been describing my symptoms to bored friends for two or three years now as being “like ADD”, with phrases like “I get these brain fogs and I can’t concentrate on anything”. When I read “Fed Up with ADHD” I ended up in tears, because it was explaining exactly who I was, and all of the negative character traits I have felt guilty about since childhood. My partner read the symptoms of Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) over my shoulder, and without prompting – he meant it in humour – said to me “that’s just like you!”. Which it was. It’s strange how for six months I’ve known this condition causes ADD/ADHD in children, that I’ve described my condition as “like ADD” for years, but it still took me a full six months to put two and two together: I have adult ADD.
My paternal cousins were similarly affected by a great many of these symptoms. One was troubled by dyslexia. Another had life-threatening asthma and was a decidedly moody teenager. I have a number of character traits which make my mum compare me to my paternal uncle, who suffers some very similar problems to me. Is it just a coincidence that he independently discovered Atkins a couple of years ago and started feeling much better on it?
I have a strange perceptual disorder. I have always jokingly referred to a problem I have as “aural dyslexia”. When people speak, I can’t always process what they say. I can hear them just fine (in fact, I have perfect pitch). The problem is I can’t make out what they are saying – the meaning eludes me and the noise of the words doesn’t turn into words. I would also not be able to lip read to save my life. Quite often I find myself in shops saying “pardon?” to the checkout assistant if she says something unexpected, or apologetically lying, “I’m sorry I’m slightly deaf” after she has to repeat something for the third time.
When I start having a reaction, one of the first things to go is my ability to make sentences and recall words. For example, if I need to do something in the car, like open the window or turn off the fan, it is easier for me to reach across and do it myself than be able to ask my partner to do it for me. I forget the word for “fan” or “window”, and it might take me a couple of stammers to get the right word out – usually I end up saying something like: “Can you turn of the thing – the wotsit – the air blower?”. I associate this disorder with my maternal grandmother (mamma), who had this trait, and a related one. In our family we call malapropisms – the misuse of words – mammaisms, because mamma did this so often. Both my sister and I have this trait too. My sister once famously talked about the “directions” (decorations) on the ceiling. I suppose you had to be there.
Another disorder associated with ADD, which isn’t listed here is mixed laterality.
Laterality is left or right handedness. If you are right handed, you should also be right footed, and have a dominant right eye when looking at things. Laterality is also the way your brain is wired. One side is wired for language and the minutiae, the other side is wired for spacial ability, and an ability to make abstract connections such as jokes and eureka moments, as in “lateral thinking”. People often oversimplify brain laterality and talk about themselves as being left-brained (logical, critical, analytical and accurate) or right-brained (creative, illogical, spiritual and emotional).
ADD/ADHD children often have mixed laterality, and as in the above study, adults with ADHD have been found to use the “wrong” parts of their brain to do tasks. ADD/ADHD children are often specialists – idiot savantes – as in the autism related condition Asperger’s syndrome. Some are extremely good at maths but weak on language, others are extremely good at language but weak on maths.
I am strongly right-handed. I don’t appear to have a dominant foot (ambipedarous?). I have a very dominant left eye. I am decidedly left-brained to the point where I am weak on the ability to think laterally and cryptically (something I am trying to train out of myself). Something interesting is though I have always had problems with speech, I have no problems with writing. In fact my chosen career was to be a writer. My spelling is unusually good. However, ask me to add up a double digit number in my head and I will find myself using my fingers. My school marks reflected this, ranging from A through to E. The subjects I really focussed on I always got an A. But I didn’t have the stamina to focus on them all!
I don’t want to get into a great discussion about left and right handedness here. In a nutshell: though 10% of the population are left handed, it doesn’t appear to be clearly genetic and instead appears to be congenital (running in families but not genetic, rather passed down neural tube/methylation style like Pottenger’s cats) or developmental. There is a growing mass of evidence to suggest that left handedness was in fact extremely rare before the last century, that this is not because left handedness was culturally suppressed (though it was when it appeared), but that it simply didn’t happen that often. And it appears that left handedness is increasing in the current population.
The point here? My mother and my sister are both left handed. How does this connect to the mixed laterality of ADD/ADHD?
Hyperactivity: my maternal grandfather is eighty years old and he still can’t sit still for more than five minutes. He is always on the go, to the extent where it has to be characterised as a disorder.
Obsessiveness, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are another aspect of ADD/ADHD. In some, particularly autistics, this shows as a desire for rigid routines. My maternal grandmother stuck to her routines to the point of insanity. In others, OCD manifests as workaholism – like my paternal uncle. Personally, I use the computer obsessively, I research my disorder obsessively, I wash my hands far too frequently, and as a child I had very odd obsessive routines and had to do everything “evenly” – that is, If I touched the ground with my left hand, I then had to touch it with my right hand.
At school, I ate my lunch very slowly, and I hated the taste of most food. It turns out that I’m a supertaster, and it’s really not my fault: food really does taste bad. Joan Breakey’s research into food chemical intolerance suggests some sort of connection with supertasting.
The effects of a double blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative challenge on hyperactivity
The effects of a double blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children
B Bateman, J O Warner, E Hutchinson, T Dean, P Rowlandson, C Gant, J Grundy, C Fitzgerald and J Stevenson
Aims: To determine whether artificial food colourings and a preservative in the diet of 3 year old children in the general population influence hyperactive behaviour.
Methods: A sample of 1873 children were screened in their fourth year for the presence of hyperactivity at baseline (HA), of whom 1246 had skin prick tests to identify atopy (AT). Children were selected to form the following groups: HA/AT, not-HA/AT, HA/not-AT, and not-HA/not-AT (n = 277). After baseline assessment, children were subjected to a diet eliminating artificial colourings and benzoate preservatives for one week; in the subsequent three week within subject double blind crossover study they received, in random order, periods of dietary challenge with a drink containing artificial colourings (20 mg daily) and sodium benzoate (45 mg daily) (active period), or a placebo mixture, supplementary to their diet. Behaviour was assessed by a tester blind to dietary status and by parents’ ratings.
Results: There were significant reductions in hyperactive behaviour during the withdrawal phase. Furthermore, there were significantly greater increases in hyperactive behaviour during the active than the placebo period based on parental reports. These effects were not influenced by the presence or absence of hyperactivity, nor by the presence or absence of atopy. There were no significant differences detected based on objective testing in the clinic.
Conclusions: There is a general adverse effect of artificial food colouring and benzoate preservatives on the behaviour of 3 year old children which is detectable by parents but not by a simple clinic assessment. Subgroups are not made more vulnerable to this effect by their prior levels of hyperactivity or by atopy.
Keywords: artificial food colouring; benzoate preservatives; hyperactivity; atopy; double blind placebo controlled challenge
Abbreviations: ADHD, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder; APHR, aggregated parental hyperactivity ratings; AT, atopy; ATH, aggregated test hyperactivity; BCL, Behaviour Checklist; HA, hyperactivity; WWP, Weiss–Werry–Peters Activity Scale
There have been no population based studies examining the prevalence of hyperactivity related to intolerance to food additives following the initial claims of the detrimental effect of artificial additives on children’s behaviour.1 Subsequent studies, despite improved methodology, have failed to substantiate this claim2–7 or have only shown a small effect.8–18
A double blind placebo controlled high dose azo dye challenge in a highly selected group of children with behaviour disturbance suggested a small adverse effect on the children’s behaviour based on ratings on the Connor scale.16 There was no association between response and atopy, leading the authors to conclude that any effect was pharmacological rather than IgE mediated. Further clinical evidence from research on urticaria linked artificial food additive responses to IgE independent histamine (and other mediator) release.19 An in vitro study showed that circulating basophils released histamine in a non-IgE dependent response on exposure to azo dyes,20 and in an in vivo study in which high doses of tartrazine were administered to normal subjects induced significant histamine release.21 Despite this suggested mechanism of action there continues to persist, particularly in the public mind, links between “allergy” to artificial food additives and behaviour disturbance. The generalisability of findings from previous studies is limited by samples which are small, depend on an attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis,9 are in patients already thought to show adverse behaviour triggered by artificial additives,16 or are recruited from specialist clinics.11 Some studies have identified a higher than expected proportion of atopic children within those whose behaviour appeared to be affected,13 but this has never been systematically examined.
The present study used population based screening to identify children with or without hyperactivity (HA) and with and without atopy (AT). Children were selected from this population for the dietary challenge phase of a within subject double blind placebo controlled study examining the impact of artificial colourings and benzoate preservatives on hyperactive behaviour. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that food additives have a pharmacological effect on behaviour irrespective of other characteristics of the child.16
The free full text for this abstract is available from the BMJ.
Asthma, GERD connected, say scientists slow on the uptake
This is from the latest LEF magazine newsletter:
The incidence of asthma cases has surged in recent years, although researchers aren’t sure exactly why. According to some studies, up to 5 percent of the US population is affected by asthma, with half of these cases developing before age 10 (Kasper DL et al 2005). Asthma attacks can be triggered by allergies and environmental irritants. Scientists have also discovered links between asthma and other diseases and conditions, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and obesity (Flaherman V et al 2006).
[...]
Scientists are also beginning to better understand the interaction between allergies, asthma, and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when highly reactive molecules, known as free radicals, interact with molecules within the body, especially DNA and mitochondrial membranes. Experimental evidence suggests that some pollutants, such as vehicle exhaust, may produce oxidative stress in the bronchial tubes (Gilmour MI et al 2006). Studies suggest that dietary supplementation with precursors of glutathione (an internal antioxidant), such as cysteine and alpha-lipoic acid, can enhance the pulmonary defenses, thus countering oxidative stress (Bridgeman MM et al 1991).
Interestingly, asthma and GERD seem to be strongly associated. GERD is a chronic condition in which partially digested stomach contents, including acid, flow backward into the esophagus. Heartburn and other symptoms usually result. Although the relationship between asthma and GERD is unclear, there is evidence for two related mechanisms. The irritation by acid of nerve receptors in the esophagus may produce a reflex irritability in the vagus nerve, producing increased sensitivity to cough-inducing stimuli in the lungs. Alternatively (or in addition), microscopic food particles and acid may be aspirated into the lungs from the refluxed material, triggering the initial round of inflammation that sets off the attack (Jiang SP et al 2005). Both mechanisms involve an initial inflammatory stimulus from the irritating stomach contents. LEF, Asthma
The “rising air pollution” theory of asthma has been discounted numerous times and in numerous different ways, but it is still trotted out on a regular basis by people who can’t imagine what else could possibly be different between industrial countries and rural peasant communities. People have a tendency to assume simple connections: because asthma affects the lungs, it must be “something in the air” that causes it! The hygeine hypothesis is more plausible and actually has some evidence to support it, but is still very tenuous. I’ll give folks a clue here: the difference between industrial countries and rural peasant communities is E-numbers. As well as being backed up by clinical trials on asthmatics, it’s backed up by epidemiological evidence: Italy. Italians are very wary of using food additives and regard additive-free, fresh food as a mark of good quality. Asthma rates in Italy are much lower than the rest of Europe. This is in spite of the average Italian’s diet being heavily laden with strong flavours like tomato, and large quantities of refined carbohydrate (pasta).
I’ve read articles where scientists ponder on the asthma/GERD connection before, and they make me want to bang my head on the desk. The same goes for when I read articles on the asthma/eczema/arthritis connection, or the asthma/ADHD connection, the fibromyalgia/ADD connection, or any combination thereof, or indeed any article that describes all of these conditions as being associated with or caused by “stress”. Whatever “stress” is defined as, it isn’t a cause of chronic disease, but a symptom!
Here, LEF have an only vaguely plausible mechanical explanation for the connection. I have a friend in his thirties who has suffered from GERD for many years and has treated it with H2 blockers. Recently he tried seeing a nutritionist, a complete fraudster who waved a crystal around. She told him he was “allergic” to gluten and dairy, and he embarked on a gluten and dairy free diet. Three months later we asked how he was doing, and he had developed asthma. His doctor told him to get rid of his pet dog, which he had owned for over a year. I suspect the truth is he had started eating sausages for breakfast, and had begun eating more vegetables and chocolate in place of bread and dairy.
Asthma and GERD are both food chemical related. They emerge from an interaction of factors: genetic vulnerabilities, combined with multiple chemical interactions and provocations. Salicylates (in fruits, vegetables and tea) are particularly good at irritating the stomach lining and the airways. Lectins (in grains) attack the protective glycoprotein surface of the stomach lining allowing pathogens in, salicylates further degrade it by opening tight junctions and promoting internal bleeding. Histamine produces inflammation and irritation of both airways and stomach. Sulphites trigger asthma attacks in 70% of asthmatics, 30% react to other additives including MSG, and 20% react to salicylates. Add to this common environmental allergic triggers like pollen and animal dander, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Independent thought is a virtue
I don’t want to invite trouble (I already get enough hassle from internet weirdos thank you). I was recently lurking on the Weston A. Price Foundation group and was surprised by the number of creationists that came out of the woodwork when the subject of evolution was raised. I heard on Radio 4 last week that there is only one country in the Western world whose population is less able to accept the notion of evolution than the USA, and that is Turkey.
Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals: true or false? This simple question is splitting America apart, with a growing proportion thinking that we did not descend from an ancestral ape. A survey of 32 European countries, the US and Japan has revealed that only Turkey is less willing than the US to accept evolution as fact.
Religious fundamentalism, bitter partisan politics and poor science education have all contributed to this denial of evolution in the US, says Jon Miller of Michigan State University in East Lansing, who conducted the survey with his colleagues. “The US is the only country in which [the teaching of evolution] has been politicised,” he says. “Republicans have clearly adopted this as one of their wedge issues. In most of the world, this is a non-issue.”
Miller’s report makes for grim reading for adherents of evolutionary theory. Even though the average American has more years of education than when Miller began his surveys 20 years ago, the percentage of people in the country who accept the idea of evolution has declined from 45 in 1985 to 40 in 2005 (Science, vol 313, p 765). That’s despite a series of widely publicised advances in genetics, including genetic sequencing, which shows strong overlap of the human genome with those of chimpanzees and mice. “We don’t seem to be going in the right direction,” Miller says. New Scientist
—– snip —–
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Surveys by a Michigan State University researcher find that about one-third of the American population does not believe in evolution, a figure which is much higher than those found in similar surveys in European nations and Japan.
The research of Jon D. Miller, MSU Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies, is published in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science.
“One in three American adults firmly rejects the concept of evolution, a significantly higher proportion than found in any western European country,” Miller said.
For example, in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and France, 80 percent or more of adults accepted the concept of evolution, as did 78 percent of Japanese adults. Michigan State University
Only 40% of Americans accept the idea of evolution, compared to around 80% of adults from Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, France and Japan. Around a third of Americans completely reject the concept of evolution (the rest, presumably, are undecided).
This is really astonishingly bad news. What has gone wrong with the US? I’ve spent a fair bit of time criticising the scientific community for poor scientific method, for being riddled with silly and outdated beliefs, and for burying its head in the sand. But if the general population can’t even get its head together about something as fundamentally proven as evolution, what hope do we have?
I personally find any form of spiritualism to be the most extreme form of arrogance. The idea that one can “just know” something is true without any factual evidence is deeply egotistical.
I’m aware that many people are indoctrinated into such beliefs from childhood, even that many people find solace in religion when they are grieving. But for many, religion is a great opt out. A way to get out of finding the answers to life’s problems, morals, and politics yourself, a way to get out of personal responsibility for your own life and health (after all this life doesn’t matter so much if one is going to come back as an ant in the next one), a way to get out of all the hard work of independent thinking.
Personally, for my ‘religion’, I would rather focus on increasing my quality of life and extending my lifespan, and using what energy I have in making this life better and more enjoyable for myself and others, whilst I am still here.
All that meat and no potatoes
A man works hard then comes on home,
Expects to find stew with that fine ham bone.
He opens the door, then start to lookin’,
Says, “Woman, what’s this stuff you’re cookin’?”All that meat and no potatoes
Just ain’t right, like green tomatoes.
Here I’m waiting, palpitatin’,
For all that meat and no potatoes.All that meat and no potatoes
All that food to the alligators, yes.
Hold me steady. I am ready
For all that meat and no potatoes.I don’t think that peas are bad.
With meat most anything goes.
I look into the pot. I’m fit to bite
‘Cause, woman, you know that mess ain’t right.All that meat and no potatoes
Just ain’t right, like green tomatoes.
Yes, I’m steamin’. I’m really screamin’
All that meat and no potatoes.Where is my fry and ham bone? Where is it?
(Lyrics by Ed Kirkeby, tune by Fats Waller, 1941) Source
Fats Waller was a fantastic jazz singer and pianist of the early 20th Century, who lead a colourful life: “Fats Waller was in Chicago in 1926 and, upon leaving the building where he was performing, Waller was kidnapped by four men, who bundled him into a car and drove off. The car later pulled up outside the Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. Fats was ordered inside the building, to find a party in full swing. With a gun against his back, Waller was pushed towards a piano, whereupon the gangsters demanded he start playing. A terrified Waller suddenly realised he was the “surprise guest” at Al Capone’s birthday party. Soon comforted by the fact that he wouldn’t die, Waller played, according to rumor, for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash given to him by Capone himself and by party-goers as tips.”
I’m often reminded of this song when I hear people complaining about “needing” carbohydrates, as Fats Waller, nicknamed for his weight which was unusual in those days, tipped the scales at around 300lbs.
My uncle, who also low-carbs, sent me a copy of Meatshake by Ugly Duckling, the lyrics of which amused me greatly. As he says, too bad it’s ironic!
“I’ve been havin MeatShake for forty years”
“I love MeatShake!”
“Meat and shake, that’s all I need, m-hm”
“I have MeatShake every day at school”
“Look, when I’m hungry I need some meat
I don’t need none of that rabbit food they’re servin over at Veggie Hut”“Meat to the Shizzake”
“Bro, I down lots of MeatShakes, man”
“I’d love to taste the secret”
“Lunch break, only got a half an hour
Gotta get something in my system, I go to MeatShake”“Eat at MeatShake!”
“Taste the secret at MeatShaaaaake, hey”
“MeatShakes are so soft, I can eat em without my dentures”
Well hi, welcome to MeatShake where you can ‘taste the secret’
And when I tell you what it is, you won’t believe it
There’s something special in our food you’ll taste when you start eating it
Everything we serve has meat in itBut don’t you serve french fries and a vegetable plate?
It all has meat (What?)
What about the green salad and the cookies you bake?
Everything has meat (Oh…)
It’s nice and tender
Mixed in a blender
Don’t you want some meat? (Yeah)
So hot and steamy
Yet smooth and creamy
Come and get your meat (Hey)Now when your body’s hungerin, drive on down and stumble in
Come on, give us half a chance, I promise that you’ll come again
If you’re not carniverous consider us a challenge
You’re too lean and need some proteine, we got it by the gallons
Rest assured our healthy indiscriminating guests prefer
The sweet and meaty morsels we concoct behind my register
Giving good service plus a smile in a paper hat
Our competition’s food is crap, who would wanna pay for that?
Please try a beef pie, top it with some meat fries
And a classic MeatShake, baked until the grease dried
40 cents more, you can have your meal meat-sized
Plus you get three tries, scratch and win a free prize
All except you vegan men who need to be leavin and
Head into the Veggie Hut where you can eat some leaf and gran
That is unless of course you wanna taste the secret sin
Come on, breathe it in, you can use your teeth again
Remember that meat’s your friend, so let it inside you
Cows gotta die too, don’t let them survive you
There’s an offer for a free shake when you buy two
Lasts while supplies do, thanks, please drive throughSkinny mini or a beefcake
Hey, you don’t need steak, get a MeatShake!
You want a meaty meal but your teeth ache
Hey for Pete’s sake, get a MeatShake!
You’re gonna take your girl on a cheap date
And you’re a cheapskate, so get a MeatShake!
When you purchase a combo meal you receive a souvenir keepsake
Get a MeatShake!Offer for free souvenir keepsake for a limited time only
at participating MeatShake stores in your area
The MeatShake Corporation is in no way responsible for
high blood pressure, heart disease or bad body odor
MeatShake!“Mmhh… I better go taste the secret right now”
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