by Maireid Sullivan 2012, updated 2023
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"It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease
than to know what sort of disease a person has.”
- attributed to Hippocrates
Introduction
- There's an APP
- The Human Genome Project
Part 1
- Why is it important to maintain pH Balance?
Part 2
- The role of OXYGEN in preventing immune system breakdown
- Breathing is not just for oxygen
- On Mothering
- From the Archives
Part 3
- The Power of Food as Medicine
- Study finds psychiatric diagnosis ‘scientifically meaningless’
- Lessons from the food movement
- Trade Secrets
Part 4
- International health statistics deserve our attention
- The Odds
- The False Advertising Industry!
Part 5
- Navigating through deceitful product claims
- Truth in Skin Care
- Nanotechnology
- The Things Most Likely to Kill You in One Infographic
Part 6
- Selected reports
- 75-year Study: The Good Life is Built on Good Relationships
"In many shamanic societies,
if you came to a medicine person
complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed,
they would ask one of four questions:
When did you stop dancing?
When did you stop singing?
When did you stop being enchanted by stories?
When did you stop being comforted
by the sweet territory of silence?" Gabrielle Roth
"...people feel less stressed —even when they're really busy— if they're able to live out personal values that matter to their life. Whatever your values are, if you don't get to practice them, it's hard to feel calm." – Michelle Carlstrom, Johns Hopkins University, Work, Life & Engagement Blog.
"By adopting your own personal stress-busters, the chaos of life can become a lot more manageable. But how to start? Carlstrom says relaxed people take an inventory of how they deal with stress and then figure out healthy strategies to balance out coping mechanisms that aren't beneficial." – Lindsay Holmes, 7 Habits of People Who Never Lose Their Cool (2013)
We each need to do our own research. We need to become your own health maintenance detective.
We need to listen to our own 'body-language' because every body is different.
We seek information when we need it, and, of course, we go to the "experts" for peer-reviewed reports. When those answers aren't satisfying, and we have the inclination -the will and the energy- to continue investigating, independent cross-discipline study can be enlivening.
The key is to stay focused on the point -the question- because we can find clues in the most unexpected places, and connecting with like-minded people turns the effort into a very exciting journey of discovery - for sharing. The ABC has published a helpful list: "seven litmus tests you can apply to see if a health claim or news story is legit."
Article 25 (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
"We are all healers, and with love and sympathy in our natures we are also able to help anyone who really desires health. Seek for the outstanding mental conflict in the patient, give him the remedy that will assist him to overcome that particular fault, and all the encouragement and hope you can, and then the healing virtue within him will of itself do all the rest."
Dr Edward Bach, (1886-1936), English pathologist & bacteriologist - Download "12 Healers" (1933).
There's an APP . . . for better food & cosmetics choices
Toxic Personal Care Products Beware that products boasting "all-natural" labels can still contain harmful chemicals, so be sure to check the full list of ingredients.
Today, there are many valuable resources available online to help research the potential toxicity of ingredients.
#1. Back at the turn of the century, Y2K, Gippsland, Australia-based Homeopath Bill Stratham "became increasingly concerned about the detrimental effects on health caused by synthetic chemicals in the foods we eat and cosmetic products we use every day". In 2001, Stratham self-published The Chemical Maze, supported by his local Lions Club, to make it simpler and easier for the general public to recognise additives and ingredients in foods and cosmetics. Needless to say, "it went viral" which encouraged him to continue documenting his research via annual updates.
Now, 'there's an APP for that' which makes it so much easier to use. >>> more
#2.
EWG USA: Environmental Working Group - Areas of Focus - Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 - Food/Water
About
With scientific insight from EWG experts, we developed the world’s first online database to score tens of thousands of personal care products for human health and safety. Since then, we’ve launched consumer guides that score cleaning products, food and drinking water and give advice on home products...
We're not just a product of our human cells.
We are a product of our microbiome as well.
The Human Genome Project, (HGP) launched in 1990 and completed in 2003, was an international project coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Institutes of Health with the following goals:
– identify all the approximately 20,500 genes in human DNA,
– determine the sequences of 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA,
– store this information in databases,
– improve tools for data analysis,
– transfer related technologies to the private sector, and
– address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project. . .>>> more
The HGP produced radical new insights, such as the major discovery that (i) the human body consists of far fewer genes than previously believed,
(ii) our genes are also shaped by 'foreign' bacteria and other microbes in our body,
(iii) these genes do not function as expected. Analysis of the data continues:
July 2012
NIH: National Human Genome Research Institute The Human Microbiome Project:
Extending the definition of what constitutes a human
By Joy Yang
Excerpt:
…(July 2012) the HMP Consortium coordinated the publication of two major scientific reports in Nature (Human Microbiota) and a set of 14 Public Library of Science (PLoS) companion papers (The Human Microbiome Project Collection ) to report on the research over the past five years.
...
The first surprise from this study: an analysis of the full gene content and composition of these microbiomes (i.e. the metagenome) predicts that there may be more than 8 million unique microbial genes associated with the microbiomes across the human body of these healthy adults. When compared to the total number of human genes, this suggests that the genetic contribution of the microbiome to the human supraorganism may be many hundreds of times greater than the genetic contribution from the human genome. Also, somewhat surprisingly, researchers found that opportunistic pathogens, which cause disease by taking advantage of those with weakened immune systems, were prevalent in these healthy individuals.
…
Establishing what constitutes a healthy microbiome is important because high or low microbial diversity can have different implications for health or disease, depending on the body site. For example, it has been shown that low microbial diversity in the gut is associated with obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease... >>>more
May 2015
"You are just 10% human. For every one of the cells that make up the vessel that you call your body, there are nine impostor cells hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and blood, muscle and bone, brain and skin, but also bacteria and fungi. Over your lifetime, you will carry the equivalent weight of five African elephants in microbes. You are not an individual but a colony." - Dr. Alanna Collen, (2016), From Germ Theory to the Microbiome: Why Microbes Still Rule Our Lives
... Dr. Alanna Collen"draws on the latest scientific research to show how our personal colony of microbes influences our weight, our immune system, our mental health, and even our choice of partner. She argues that so many of our modern diseases–obesity, autism, mental illness, digestive disorders, allergies, autoimmunity afflictions, and even cancer–have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our personal colony of microbes. Many of the questions about modern diseases left unanswered by the Human Genome Project are illuminated by this new science.And the good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better."
>>> more
Part 1 Why is it important to maintain pH Balance? Back to top
"One of the most romantic ideas contained in the evolution of life is that any two living organisms, no matter how different they are, shared a common ancestor at some time in the past." - Antonio Barbadilla, 1999, LA EVOLUCIÓN BIOLÓGICA
Understanding how our Immune Systems evolved via 'collaboration' is our most encouraging 'sustainability' factor.
High School-level Biology curriculum teaches cell structure, anatomy, and genetics for plants, animals, and humans: The potential for 'cell' mutation is deeply embedded in all multi-cellular organisms - mammals, birds, fish and reptiles, with shared evolutionary roots going back hundreds of millions of years.
While dissecting frogs, we were informed of a long-established scientific theorem: 'primordial single cells' developed on earth long before oxygen formed (Samson Lectures); before "The Great Oxygenation Event" (ScienceDailyNews, 2013), which "caused an ecological upheaval, because oxygen is such a reactive molecule” (Holmes, 2017), and that "primordial cells" chose to form a 'cluster' inside a 'skin' to protect themselves from OXYGEN (Biello, 2009), and those 'clusters' EVOLVED (Cooper, 2000) to become our 'body' - every body.
Self-preservation encouraged collaboration over many millions of years,
'in tandem' with mitochondria, DNA, RNA: The human Immune System is a survival strategy (Temperley et al, 2010).
In short, we now know that "primordial cells" remain opportunistic
- they prefer an oxygen-free environment.
At the first opportunity - (low oxygen / inflammation)
- they will 'revert' to "cancer cell" status:
- they will 'de-couple' from the Immune System to form tumours that "look very like early stages of embryonic growth" (Davies, 2012), defined as "cancer tumours" which 'consume' their 'host' body:
Maintain pH balance for healthy longevity:
power of Hydrogen (pH) and Oxygen.
That body pH imbalance (acidosis) is the primary cause of kidney failure, cancer, and premature aging is not a new idea.
Empower your kidneys to boost your immune system.
Paying attention to acid-alkaline balance,
aka maintaining pH Balance
is one of the most effective ways to support our health:
"It impacts immunity, digestion, bone strength, symptoms of joint disease, hormones, and the function of essential internal organs." – Susan Lark, M.D., co-author: The Chemistry of Success: Six Secrets of Peak Performance.
The role of OXYGEN
in preventing immune system breakdown:
Breathing is not just for oxygen - It’s now linked to brain function and behaviour. How we inhale and exhale, including breathing through the nose or mouth, effects our brain power: Physical movement, in fresh air, oxygenates the body – all movement: laughing, singing, dancing, yoga, tai chi, walking, running, sports, etc.
A very informative overview: The Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to Your Body’s Oxygen Detector
Three scientists won the award for uncovering the molecular switch that regulates how cells behave when oxygen levels drop.
by Megan Molten
Science,
July 2019
Every time you breathe in, you supply your body’s cells with the oxygen they need to convert food into energy. Scientists have long known that cells must sense how much oxygen is available to adjust their metabolic rates, so they can efficiently and safely burn fuel to build new tissues... >>>more
"The rhythm of breathing through the nose sparks electrical activity in the human brain that enhances emotional judgement and memory recall." - Professor of Neurology Jay Gottfried 2016
Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that the rhythm of breathing creates electrical activity in the human brain that enhances emotional judgments and memory recall. . . . This discovery led scientists to ask whether cognitive functions typically associated with these brain areas — in particular fear processing and memory — could also be affected by breathing. >>> more
The respiratory diaphragm is the most important muscle for breathing. . . Breathing is a systemic act, involving the whole body, the viscera, the nervous system, and emotions. The diaphragm muscle is the main breathing muscle, influencing with its contractions the respiratory activity. >>> more
Rest and relaxation. It's such a common expression that it has become a cliche. And although rest really can be relaxing, the pat phrase causes many men to overlook the fact that exercise can also be relaxing. It's true for most forms of physical activity as well as for specific relaxation exercises.
Exercise is a form of physical stress.
Can physical stress relieve mental stress?
Alexander Pope thought so: "Strength of mind is exercise, not rest." Plato agreed: "Exercise would cure a guilty conscience."
You'll think so, too — if you learn to apply the physical stress of exercise in a controlled, graded fashion. >>> more
Excerpt from Introduction
Joseph Priestley clearly demonstrated the importance of molecular oxygen (O2) for animal life in 1774 when he placed a burning candle in a bell jar alongside a mouse. O2 consumption by the candle had obvious deleterious effects on the unfortunate rodent, underscoring the potentially lethal outcome of exposure to low levels of O2 (hypoxia). Even moderate hypoxia elicits immediate, transient responses, which range from rapid changes in the carbohydrate metabolism of tissues to more permanent changes in local blood vessel networks. Most organisms, including bacteria, yeasts, invertebrates and vertebrates, require O2 for survival. O2 is the primary electron acceptor in many intracellular biochemical reactions and is harnessed by mitochondria to generate ATP via aerobic metabolism.
Excerpt:
# 5. Kissing your baby changes your breast milk. Did you know that the undeniable urge to cover your baby in kisses serves a biological purpose? When a mother kisses her baby, she samples the pathogens on baby's face, which then travel to mom's lymphatic system. Mom's body then creates antibodies to fight those pathogens, which baby receives through breast milk. What?! Amazing, right? When my son and I both got H1N1 (he was 8-months-old), our physicians called us the poster people for breastfeeding. I was running near 105* temperatures and pretty much miserable; still I nursed. My little guy, on the other hand, had some explosive poops and a bit of a runny nose, but otherwise? Unscathed. They couldn't believe how happy and jolly he was, but told me that it was a testament to the power of breastmilk and my antibodies protecting him.
2. New Baby 101 - A Midwife's Guide for New Parents
"practical guide for the first few months of your parenting journey. These early weeks are precious even though they pass in a blur of elation and sleep deprivation." - Lois Wattis is a Registered Nurse/Midwife, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives.
From the archives: A
legendary 1903 tome from the Yoga masters
The Hindu-Yogi SCIENCE OF BREATH by Yogi Ramacharaka
(Download pdf)
A wonderful historical document shared by a friend with this comment: "VERY VERY USEFUL and hilarious in the way he talks about the ‘occidental’ view of things! It was written over 100 years ago and is so
pertinent and useful, and I find if I breathe properly my body can go way beyond what I think it can do (eg riding 60 km after not having ridden much for 2 years! And people keep saying ‘how do you do it’!!)"
Excerpt:
"We may be pardoned if we express ourselves as pleased with our success in condensing so much Yogi lore into so few pages and by use of words and terms which may be understood by anyone. Our only fear is that its very simplicity may cause some to pass it by as unworthy of attention, while they pass on their way searching for something "deep", mysterious and non-understandable. However, the Western mind is eminently practical and we know that it is only a question of a short time before it will recognize the practicality of this work".
The Power of Food as Medicine Research on the impact of nutrition in maintaining good health and preventing chronic disease continues.
The Role of Epigenetics Until very recent times, it was believed that genes were self-regulating and were, therefore, the direct cause of various diseases.
We now know that genes are NOT self-regulating. Now that the role of epigenetics in health and disease is clearer, this field of study could eventually supplant the current medical paradigm.
The idea that one can have "bad genes" is no longer supported by science. Genes are now understood to be blueprints that are activated and controlled by their environment— including diet, exposure to toxins, as well as thoughts and emotions —which create innumerable variations from each blueprint, allowing for vast array of variations and modifications in the expression or 'read-out' of each gene! For example:
"Transcription and translation are the means by which cells read out, or express, the genetic instructions in their genes." Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al, "From RNA to DNA" Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition, 2002. See the full report here
"Leaves are the sole organs on Earth able to create new material substance; in contrast, everything else on Earth is a recycling of materials." – Australian Bio-Dynamic agriculture pioneer Alex Podolinsky, 2007
"Poor diet and sedentary lifestyle" Be wary of processed 'food-like' products, which bear no resemblance to real food. They are full of sugars and synthetic food additives that have been scientifically proven to cause metabolic dysfunction leading to other health problems, not to mention food addictions. E.g. Colon and rectal cancers are rising in young people.
Gen-Xers and Millennials need to reassess their lifestyle choices, as the ramifications of poor diet and sedentary lifestyle are now impacting
people in their 20s and 30s. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) findings are a wakeup call!
Exposure to environmental toxins - if not carefully managed - can lead to kidney failure, brain damage, and cancer. Environmental toxins challenge our immune system - i.e. moulds, EMFs, 'processed' food, fluoride-contaminated water, etc. Even the condition of our teeth and gums impacts our brain health.
We’re faced with a 'Catch 22' situation when Vaccine science 'design' is based on the concept of a fully functioning "Basic" immune system, and fails when an immune system demonstrates symptoms of 'inflammation' aka pH acidosis - due to unhealthy and unsustainable lifestyles, aka "pre-existing conditions".
View the evidence: Database on Autoimmune Disease Research >>>
"Question the Dogma"
The wonderful English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist, James Lovelock (b. 1919-), of Gaia Hypothesis fame, has shared a wealth of wisdom and information- specifically related: #13 "Question the Dogma!"
New and ongoing research is providing an increasing amount of information regarding the role of epigenetics in a variety of human disorders including various cancers, mental retardation associated disorders, immune disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders and pediatric disorders.
The growing understanding that both the environment and individual lifestyle can interact directly with the genome to influence epigenetic change is influencing our understanding of diseases and their treatments. >>> more
Treating symptoms
July, 2019 How mindfulness privatised a social problem Hettie O'Brien, New Statesman
The £3.4trn industry encourages a preoccupation with the symptoms of mental illness, rather than their social causes.
EXCERPT: In December 2008, while forcibly evicting tenants from a concrete high-rise in south London, Southwark Council pulled off a remarkable feat of complacency. Though residents didn’t know it at the time, every flat in the development that replaced the Heygate Estate would be sold to foreign investors, despite the council’s repeated promises of new social housing.
Recognising that people were “stressed”, councillors hired life coaches and “spiritual ministers” to run workshops teaching residents how to progress emotionally. The company behind the workshop, the Happiness Project, was founded by the British positive psychologist Robert Holden, the author of Shift Happens! The firm’s motto was: “Success is a state of mind; happiness is a way of travelling; love is your true power.”
That people about to lose their homes were stressed is hardly surprising. The council encouraged residents to look inwards, towards their brain chemistry, and in doing so cast itself as a solution, rather than a cause of the problem. Its response typified the idea of “magical voluntarism”, which the writer Mark Fisher described as “the belief that it is within every individual’s power to make themselves whatever they want to be”.
The connection between stress and economics is well documented. In their 2009 book The Spirit Level, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson identified a strong correlation between inequality and poor reported mental health. In a report published last month, Dr Dainius Puras, the UN’s special rapporteur on health, stated that confronting inequality would be a more effective prophylactic for poor mental health than excessive therapy or medication.
Yet governments often opt for treatments that focus on the individual rather than social maladies. “Most don’t want to be thinking about how their policies might be contributing to problems in the first place,” says David Harper, a clinical psychologist at the University of East London. >>>more
On dealing with consequences of narrowly focused medical specialisation,
September, 2014
ABC RN, Health Report "Unexplained medical symptoms - a panel discussion" Transcript link:
What happens when symptoms can't be explained? The panel looks into complicated issues surrounding unexplained medical symptoms …
Taking part in the discussion are Professor Ian Hickie from the Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Sydney, Dr Mualla McManus, founding director of the Karl McManus Foundation and Professor Christian Gericke, Director and CEO of the Wesley Research Institute.
Excerpt: It's when the medical profession struggles to explain symptoms, and in desperation people come up with all sorts of labels, some of them real and some of them causing difficulties themselves. And there's all sorts of names that float around; there's chronic Lyme disease, there's gluten sensitivity, there is fibromyalgia, there's chronic fatigue syndrome.
And I say 'labels' here not to demean people with these symptoms, because the symptoms are real, the question is whether the labels help the symptoms and whether the medical profession actually does any good at all here or actually makes things worse. And still we're left with real people with real issues and real symptoms to be dealt with. And sometimes the medical profession casts them off and says 'it's all in your head' when it is something very real indeed and blames it on one's psyche all too readily. . .
January, 2020
STATINS & neurosis
BBC The medications that change who we are
By Zaria Gorvett They’ve been linked to road rage, pathological gambling, and complicated acts of fraud. Some make us less neurotic, and others may even shape our social relationships. It turns out many ordinary medications don’t just affect our bodies – they affect our brains. Why? And should there be warnings on packets? Excerpt:
“Patient Five” was in his late 50s when a trip to the doctors changed his life.
He had diabetes, and he had signed up for a study to see if taking a “statin” – a kind of cholesterol-lowering drug – might help. So far, so normal.
But soon after he began the treatment, his wife began to notice a sinister transformation. A previously reasonable man, he became explosively angry and – out of nowhere – developed a tendency for road rage. During one memorable episode, he warned his family to keep away, lest he put them in hospital.
. . .
Then one day, Patient Five had an epiphany. “He was like, ‘Wow, it really seems that these problems started when I enrolled in this study’,” says Beatrice Golomb, who leads a research group at the University of California, San Diego.
. . .
In almost every case, the symptoms began when they started taking statins, then promptly returned to normal when they stopped ... >>>more
JULY, 2019
NEUROSCIENCE NEWS Study finds psychiatric diagnosis to be ‘scientifically meaningless’
Summary:
A new study, published in Psychiatry Research, has concluded that psychiatric diagnoses are scientifically worthless as tools to identify discrete mental health disorders.
Excerpt: The main findings of the research were:
Psychiatric diagnoses all use different decision-making rules
There is a huge amount of overlap in symptoms between diagnoses
Almost all diagnoses mask the role of trauma and adverse events
Diagnoses tell us little about the individual patient and what treatment they need
Alarm bells!
The following report reveals that a third of outpatient psychiatry patients take three or more psychotropic drugs for ‘naturally’ preventable symptoms of acidosis, including depression, anxiety and sleep disorders.
Psychiatric polypharmacy refers to the prescription of two or more psychiatric medications concurrently to a patient. It can be categorised as same-class, multi-class, adjunctive, augmentation and total polypharmacy. Despite advances in psychopharmacology and a better understanding of the principles of therapeutics, its practice is increasing rapidly.
. . .
psychiatric polypharmacy is more prevalent in adult men than in women, and those between 25 and 45 years of age. Psychiatric polypharmacy is not only widespread in adult population, but is also increasingly been seen in child and adolescent population and the geriatric age group. . . – Kukreja et. al, (2013), Polypharmacy in Psychiatry:
A Review, PSYCHIATRY, MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOANALYSIS, 2013, Vol. 11/1, pp. 82-99
Read the full review here
Biologist and stem-cell research pioneer at Stanford University Dr. Bruce Lipton explained how our body replaces 1 billion cells every hour.
"Everything we think, feel, do, and eat in an hour influences that cell replacement more than stem cell therapy... Genes can be turned on and off by environmental signals from outside the cell, including thoughts, feelings and emotions."
— Bruce H. Lipton
"We can control our lives by controling our perceptions.”
— Bruce H. Lipton
“The overuse of prescription drugs provides a vacation from personal responsibility.”
— Bruce H. Lipton
"We are leaving behind a world that is no longer sustainable,
and moving into a world in which we can thrive."
– Dr. Bruce Lipton's pioneering stem cell research at Stanford Medical School led to the revolutionary new field of epigenetics. On the 10th anniversary of the release of his international best selling book, The Biology of Belief (2005), he gave the book away! Download the FREE pdf HERE:
From 1987 to 1992, Professor of Anatomy Bruce Lipton was involved in the early stages of stem cell research at Penn State and Stanford University Medical Center. Author of several books, including his pivotal work, The Biology of Belief (2005), in which he shares the personal life drama that led to of his groundbreaking scientific insight - thatgenes can be turned on and off by environmental signals from outside the cell, including thoughts, feelings and emotions.
"If we could ultimately get rid of fear in our population, then basically we would put all of our reserves, all of our energy and all of our body systems into the mode of growth and maintenance, and therefore, not only would we be healthy as individuals, but then, as a community, all healthy individuals in a community would raise the level of life in that particular community so that there is the great possibility of a future of growth and peace and harmony once the concept of fear is removed from our belief system." – Dr. Bruce Lipton
The Occupy Movement
and The Evolution of the Butterfly In this short video, stem-cell biology pioneer Professor Bruce Lipton shares his vision of the Occupy Movement: "As the butterfly is an evolutionary advance over the caterpillar, so the Occupy Movement can be seen as an effort to promote an advance over an unjust economic model."
Introductory comments by the film producer, director Abraham Heisle, "Like a caterpillar, which must change its form to survive, our society birthed a revolutionary movement when it became evident that the system the 1% built was no longer sustainable for humanity. After society broke down and went into its metaphorical cocoon (triggered by the economic collapse), unique individuals came together, carrying with them the blueprint for a beautiful new structure, mirroring the cellular process of the caterpillar as it takes on a new form."
– Film producer, director Abraham Heisle
What is Bruce Lipton's point? Partial video interview transcript:
We perceive ourselves as single individual entities. The truth is we are actually comprised of upwards to 50 trillion individual living cells. Each cell is a sentient being, so therefore each cell is like a citizen in a large community of 50 trillion entities in one population. So the body is not a single entity. It is a community. In the body, the shared vision that coordinates all the functions of the cell is what we call 'the mind'. The mind is like a government for the 50 trillion cells. But the moment you introduce fear into the system, that is the first thing that causes the community to break down. Fear is the primary cause of the stresses that promote the illnesses and diseases that we face as humans.
If we could ultimately get rid of fear in our population, then basically we would put all of our reserves, all of our energy and all of our body systems into the mode of growth and maintenance, and therefore, not only would we be healthy as individuals, but then, as a community, all healthy individuals in a community would raise the level of life in that particular community so that there is the great possibility of a future of growth and peace and harmony once the concept of fear is removed from our belief system.
“When all is said and done, how do we not know but that our own unreason may be better than another’s truth? for it has been warmed on our hearths and in our souls, and is ready for the wild bees of truth to hive in it, and make their sweet honey. Come into the world again, wild bees, wild bees!"
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), The Celtic Twilight (1893), Belief and Unbelief
Our bodies produces DMT naturally.
Everything You Need to Know About DMT, the ‘Spirit Molecule’
Healthline, 13 July, 2022
DMT — or N, N-dimethyltryptamine in medical talk — is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug. Sometimes referred to as Dimitri, this drug produces effects similar to those of psychedelics, like LSD and magic mushrooms.
DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States, which means it’s illegal to make, buy, possess, or distribute it. Some cities have recently decriminalized it, but it’s still illegal under state and federal law.
Three reports
The psychedelic escape from depression
by Michael Eisenstein, Nature, OUTLOOK, 28 September 2022
Clinical trials suggest that psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms — can provide durable remission from an increasingly common mental health condition.
Excerpt:
In January 2023, Oregon is due to embark on a groundbreaking real-world experiment in psychedelic medicine. This follows a ballot measure in 2020, in which voters called on the state to begin creating the infrastructure needed to make the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin available as a treatment for mental-health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Canada made a similar move in January 2022, albeit with far more restrictions, allowing designated clinicians to prescribe psilocybin to people with debilitating mental illnesses, such as severe, treatment-resistant depression.
This drug, and the ‘magic mushrooms’ from which it is derived, remain illegal in both the United States and Canada, as they are in most countries. But psilocybin is experiencing a renaissance as a potential therapeutic. The most excitement surrounds the treatment of depression, with half-a-dozen clinical trials showing that a few doses of psilocybin can provide lasting remission for people who have otherwise struggled to obtain relief.
Abstract
Background:
Experiences of having an encounter with seemingly autonomous entities are sometimes reported after inhaling N,N-dimethyltryptamine.
Aim:
The study characterized the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes that people attribute to N,N-dimethyltryptamine-occasioned entity encounter experiences.
Methods:
Two thousand, five hundred and sixty-one individuals (mean age 32 years; 77% male) completed an online survey about their single most memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine.
Results:
Respondents reported the primary senses involved in the encounter were visual and extrasensory (e.g. telepathic). The most common descriptive labels for the entity were being, guide, spirit, alien, and helper. Although 41% of respondents reported fear during the encounter, the most prominent emotions both in the respondent and attributed to the entity were love, kindness, and joy. Most respondents endorsed that the entity had the attributes of being conscious, intelligent, and benevolent, existed in some real but different dimension of reality, and continued to exist after the encounter. Respondents endorsed receiving a message (69%) or a prediction about the future (19%) from the experience. More than half of those who identified as atheist before the experience no longer identified as atheist afterwards. The experiences were rated as among the most meaningful, spiritual, and psychologically insightful lifetime experiences, with persisting positive changes in life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning attributed to the experiences.
Conclusion:
N,N-dimethyltryptamine-occasioned entity encounter experiences have many similarities to non-drug entity encounter experiences such as those described in religious, alien abduction, and near-death contexts. Aspects of the experience and its interpretation produced profound and enduring ontological changes in worldview. >>>more
Fast-Acting Psychedelic Associated With Improvements In Depression/Anxiety
by Emily Dressel, John Hopkins Medicine, Newsroom, 03/18/2019
"use of the synthetic psychedelic 5-methocy-N,-N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) appears to be associated with unintended improvements in self-reported depression and anxiety when given in a ceremonial group setting."
“Remember, medical science once told us that corn syrup was healthier than sugar, that meat and dairy products contained essential nutrients, and that the latest "discovered" patent medicines were far more reliable than "alternative" medicines that people had been using for tens of thousands of years.”
– Dan Sullivan, Director at Saving Communities
December, 2020
Why are there Fewer Nutrients in Our Food?
by Mary Lowther (Columnist for the Lake Cowichan Gazette, British Columbia, Canada)
(Includes a compost recipe and worm farming guidelines) Source:
Orthomolecular Medicine News ReleasesINDEX: (scroll to listings)
Excerpt:
Why do we seldom hear about the deteriorating quality of nutrition in our food crops? A recent article, quoting from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2000 food tables, reports that between 1963 and 2000 the nutrient content in all types of fruits and vegetables had declined by up to 50% and continues to decline.
. . .
- What's Happened?
- What's the solution?
- Indoor Gardening
- Here's a good potting soil mix that I have found works well: >>>more
Excerpt:
The American Chemistry Council, in its ongoing effort to discredit the PBS broadcast TRADE SECRETS: A Moyers Report, issued a press release dated March 26, 2001 that purports to rebut the historical record presented in the investigative report by claiming that the chemical industry played an activist role in addressing the health risks of these chemicals.
In fact, the American Chemistry Council response ignores the contrary information in the industry's own documents which are at the heart of the PBS broadcast, and which are posted on the PBS.org/tradesecrets web site.
... The chemical revolution of the past 50 years has altered nearly every aspect of our lives. Many of the products we rely upon every day – from plastic bags to computers – would not exist without synthetic chemicals. Most of us believe the chemicals in consumer products have been tested and approved by some government agency.
In fact, until they are proven harmful, most chemicals are presumed safe.
No one today can avoid synthetic chemicals, but there are steps that people can take – in their homes and their communities – to lessen their exposures to the most hazardous compounds.
The first step is knowledge. "Right-to-Know" laws have made it possible for citizens to identify specific companies that release the most toxic chemicals identified by the EPA, although efforts to discover what products may contain these chemicals have been largely thwarted. In this special investigation, Bill Moyers reveals secrets the chemical industry has kept hidden for almost fifty years. >>> more
2.
Excerpt:
In TRADE SECRETS: A MOYERS REPORT, journalist Bill Moyers (BIO) and producer Sherry Jones investigated the Ross archive – secrets the chemical industry never intended the public to see – and discovered a shocking story. The confidential papers reveal the industry's early knowledge of vinyl chloride's dangerous effects, as well as the industry's long silence on the subject.
The program also reports a much larger story. Buried in the thousands of pages of documents – minutes from board meetings, reports from industry scientists, internal memoranda – is a never-before-told account of a campaign to limit the regulation of toxic chemicals and any liability for their effects, at the same that the companies work to withhold vital information about risks from workers, the government – and the public.
"Almost everyone understands that the chemical revolution of the last 50 years has increased our standard of living," says Bill Moyers. "The industry has made sure we know how much they have done for us. What the industry does not want us to know are the negative consequences of that revolution."
Over the last five decades, more than 75,000 chemicals have been produced, turned into consumer products or released into the environment. Today, every man, woman and child has synthetic chemicals in their bodies. No child is born free of them. Are they safe? Does anyone know?>>>more
In essence, the core of it was looking at how exposure in the womb to contaminants that behave like hormones altered development and then leads, subsequently, to diseases later in life. … (1:00) What this book did, most importantly, it helped stimulate hundreds of millions of dollars for research – by governments around the world – into asking some of the questions we, and other scientists at the time, were asking:
“Now we know something is happening, what is happening?"
Our book was full of questions. It acknowledged the uncertainty. But in the outpouring of results - and tens of thousands of articles have been written about endocrine disruption in the peer reviewed literature since we published as a result of the investigations – we really know a lot more. But what I thought I would do today would be to rise up to 30,000 feet — above the scientific plane — and tell you about some core themes that have emerged out of that scientific literature. (1:55)
Part 4 International health statistics deserve our attention Back to top
Studying the impacts of "fast-food" – processed, chemically laden, GMO – environmental contaminants and pharmaceuticals.
What is Codex Alimentarius?
"The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of internationally adopted food standards and related texts presented in a uniform manner. These food standards and related texts aim at protecting consumers' health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade." UN: about
"...
a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization relating to food, food production, food labeling, and food safety: Wikipedia
Annual USDA reports on Codex Alimentarius - dating back to 2009:
"After every Codex Committee and Commission meeting, the United States Codex Program reports on outcomes of each session from a United States perspective."
Examples from America & New Zealand
1. America Source:
The Melbourne Age: Odd Spot, Oct. 2017
New Scientist report: "There are always better restaurants in the city, and that could be making the town mice of New York genetically distinct from their country cousins." >>> more
Q. What developed country has the lowest probability of survival to age 50?
A.
The United States of America.
– #4 leading cause of death in the US is due to the adverse effects of pharmaceuticals properly prescribed by doctors in hospitals.
Now over 110,000+ deaths per year. – Barbara Starfield, (John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health), Is US Health Really the Best in the World?, Journal of American Medical Association, July 26, 2000, 284(4):483-5.
– #1 cause of bankruptcy in American is medical debt.
Estimated over 750,000 (90% from Middle class families - 75% with health insurance. – Elizabeth Warren, et al. (2007), Medical Bankruptcy in the United States: Results of National Study, The American Journal of Medicine
(2009) 122, 741- 746
Abstract
Our 2001 study in 5 states found that medical problems contributed to at least 46.2% of all bankruptcies. Since then, health costs and the numbers of un- and underinsured have increased, and bankruptcy laws have tightened.
Methods
We surveyed a random national sample of 2314 bankruptcy filers in 2007, abstracted their court records, and interviewed 1032 of them. We designated bankruptcies as “medical” based on debtors' stated reasons for filing, income loss due to illness, and the magnitude of their medical debts.
Results
Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92% of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5000, or 10% of pretax family income. The rest met criteria for medical bankruptcy because they had lost significant income due to illness or mortgaged a home to pay medical bills. Most medical debtors were well educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations. Three quarters had health insurance. Using identical definitions in 2001 and 2007, the share of bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by 49.6%. In logistic regression analysis controlling for demographic factors, the odds that a bankruptcy had a medical cause was 2.38-fold higher in 2007 than in 2001.
Conclusion: Medical bills contribute to an increasing share of US bankruptcies.
2. New Zealand
Under the tenure of former Prime Minister Paul Key and Minister of Social Development (2011–14) Paula Bennett:
A comprehensive overview of New Zealand's proposed FOOD BILL laws (2013) raised public concern on how such laws will result in sovereignty over food production being forfeited to international corporations, and that handing over controls to Codex Alimentarius "standards" may lead to the lowering of domestic production quality.
New Zealand Food Bill Issues List: 2013 (no longer online) Introduction:
Food Bill & Codex Alimentarius will make fundamental changes to New Zealand’s food supply and food sovereignty. 42,000 kiwis have already signed the petition to oppose it. The primary intention behind Food Bill 160-2 is to enhance international trade rather than improve NZ food safety, and that is based upon a flawed theory that harmonisation of the domestic food regulatory regime with that of our trading partners will result in improved exports. Not only will this harmonisation destroy our ‘clean green’ image, it will lead to a long term reduction in export profitability as NZ forfeits its unique competitive advantage as a producer of clean/safe/natural food, to become ‘just like America and everyone else’. Food Bill also paves the way for multinational food corporations to control NZ’s local food market and allow bulk entry of inferior food products into NZ.
Food Bill petition Link: Public submissions have been called on the Food Bill.
The closing date for submissions was Friday, 16 August 2013 The Food Bill was returned to the Primary Production Select Committee for further consideration on 2 July 2013. The Minister for Food Safety, Hon Nikki Kaye has released a Supplementary Order Paper containing further proposed amendments to the bill. The Minister’s proposed amendments seek to clarify issues relating to industry programmes, food handler guidance, fundraising, seeds for sowing, regulations for charging fees, standards in relation to GM foods, and ensuring the legislation is aligned to recent legislative developments.
The bill is available for download from the `Related documents´ panel.
Print copies can be ordered online from Bennetts Government Bookshops.
"The 'germ theory' vs 'terrain theory' is basically the argument that germs are what we need to worry about and we need to keep finding ways to kill them off. Terrain theory argues that if the body is well and balanced then germs that are a natural part of life and the environment will be dealt with by the body without causing sickness.">>>more
"...his decade of hand-washing abstinence was based on his belief that germs did not exist. If he could not see them, he explained, they were not real.... reciting the creed of germ theory deniers, a mixed group whose beliefs range from hardline renunciation of germ theory – in which the very notion that germs exist is denied – and the softer disavowal of the significance of germs to explain disease." >>> more
The Natural effect Taking 100% Natural to a whole other level
Excerpt: "… Scientists were recently able to take the genes from bug-killing bacteria and cross 'em with the genes of corn to make the corn "pest resistant" …. People think this is unnatural. Well, right now, it's on the shelves as 100% Natural. … But genetically combining 2 organisms - that's 200% natural."
Video notes: Learn more online at Only Organic.
"The False Advertising Industry" reveals the shocking truth about what is allowed in "Natural" food.
Only the USDA Organic Seal guarantees your food contains no Genetically Modified Organisms, no toxic pesticides, and no growth hormones or antibiotics. Share the truth with your friends.
"chemical ingredients that lack safety data" In 2004, a six-month study was carried out on personal care product use. More than 10,000 body care product ingredients were evaluated, involving 2,300 participants. One of the findings was that the average adult uses nine personal care products each day, containing 126 different chemicals. The study also found that more than 250,000 women, and one out of every 100 men, use an average of 15 products daily. E.g. Deodorants and antiperspirants — Shampoos and conditioners — Shaving gel — Toothpaste — Lotions and sunscreens — Make-up / cosmetics — Pharmaceutical drugs — Food additives
Chemical Exposures: The Ugly Side of Beauty Products
Excerpt:
In June 2004, Environment California issued Growing Up Toxic: Chemical Exposures and Increases in Developmental Diseases, which details chemicals found in consumer products and their potential health impacts. Other reports released around the same time by the Environmental Working Group (Skin Deep: A Safety Assessment of Ingredients in Personal Care Products) and Friends of the Earth (Shop Till You Drop? Survey of High Street Retailers on Risky Chemicals in Products 2003–2004) support Environment California’s publication.
>>> more
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently published a list:
The 12 worst hormone-disrupting chemicals you may be coming into contact with on a regular basis. As stated in their report:
“There is no end to the tricks that endocrine disruptors can play on our bodies: increasing production of certain hormones; decreasing production of others; imitating hormones; turning one hormone into another; interfering with hormone signaling; telling cells to die prematurely; competing with essential nutrients; binding to essential hormones; accumulating in organs that produce hormones.”
"The human gut houses a complex microbial ecosystem referred to as the microbiota. It has become clear that the influence of the microbiota transcends the confines of the gut, forging intimate connections with all aspects of human biology"
Part 5 Navigating through deceitful product claims Back to top
Truth in skincare Dr. David, M.D. –
Searching for truth in the skincare industry. Dr. David's website is dedicated to consumer awareness and education Excerpts:
I'd like to discuss what I call camouflage ingredients and landmark ingredients.With the knowledge of these 2 important ingredient types, you'll know if you're holding a jar of gold... or toxic sludge. ... Camouflage ingredients are ingredients listed on a label to either 1. embellish the formula's ingredient list or
2. hide the actual active ingredients used in the product.
... It's a good thing that companies protect their formulas, after all, if they created it, they should have a right to profit from it and keep others from copying them. However, this is not the most truthful representation of the product's contents. This does become an issue in at least 2 cases: 1. When companies misrepresent their product as containing a wealth of "valuable" ingredients, but, in reality, they might hardly be found in the product. All you need is a microscopic sprinkling, shall we say, and then you can list it.
2. When a consumer reacts to a product, but, unfortunately, won't know to exactly what ingredient they were allergic to.
See Examples ... >>> more
Nanotechnology
All new technology must be examined for potential toxicity and environmental impact, which leads to debate amongst advocacy groups and government agencies on whether special regulation is necessary. This is especially so for nanotechnology.
What is Nanotechnology? Let's begin with an excerpt from this undated US National Nanotechnology Initiative overview:
How it Started
The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) on December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his talk, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules. Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining, Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology. It wasn't until 1981, with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope that could "see" individual atoms, that modern nanotechnology began.
Fundamental Concepts in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. Here are a few illustrative examples:
There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch
A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth
Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the ability to see and to control individual atoms and molecules. Everything on Earth is made up of atoms—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies.
But something as small as an atom is impossible to see with the naked eye. In fact, it’s impossible to see with the microscopes typically used in a high school science classes. The microscopes needed to see things at the nanoscale were invented relatively recently—about 30 years ago. >>>more
Excerpt: Nanomaterials pose new threats to human health, the environment and society and Friends of the Earth is calling for a moratorium on the commercial use of nanomaterials until the risks associated with the use of nanotechnology are properly assessed and its safety established.>>>more
Update May 2020: Expert groups providing advice to FSANZ: Until now, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) code has not required nanoparticles to be declared on labelling.
"a sham, a lie"
Nanotechnology found in popular foods despite repeated denials by regulator by Esther Han, September 17, 2015 Sydney Morning Herald
E.g.
Nano-titanium dioxide (E171) can be simply described as the conventional-sized type and as "Colour (171)".
Nano-silica (E551) can be listed as the conventional version and as "Anti-caking agent (551)".
REPORT Excerpt Nanoparticles used in food Professor Thomas Faunce, from the Australian National University's College of Law and College of Medicine, said the Friends of the Earth's research exposed FSANZ's safety claims as "a sham, a lie". He said at the very least companies should be required to declare nanoparticles on food labelling so that shoppers can make an informed choice, like in the European Union.
New research shows evidence of widespread use of nano ingredients in popular food products despite the Food Standards regulator claiming there is no need to test for particles.
A human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide. Nanoparticles are typically less than 100 nanometres and are used to stretch the shelf life and improve the texture of food. There is no conclusive evidence that nano-titanium dioxide, which whitens and brightens, and nano-silica, which prevents caking, are completely safe to eat. They have been shown to interfere with the immune system and cause cell damage.
... FSANZ has previously told federal Parliament it was not aware of nanomaterials being used in food. It said it had not conducted testingor surveyed food makers and importers to determine whether nanoparticles were in food. It said there was no evidence to justify using resources to determine the presence of nanomaterials. It also said there was no inventory of nanomaterials for use in foods in Australia. FSANZ said it has recently engaged a leading toxicologist to undertake a review of nanotechnology in food and expects the report at the end of this year. It was criticised by health campaigners last November for deciding to exclude nanomaterials from its review of chemical migration from packaging into food.>>> more
Abstract
Disease and health are commonly thought of as distinct opposites. We propose a different view in which both may be seen to be facets of healthy functioning, each necessary for the other, each giving rise to the other. Thus, disease may be thought of as a manifestation of health. It is the healthy response of an organism striving to maintain physical, psychologic, and spiritual equilibrium. Disease is not necessarily to be avoided, blocked, or suppressed. Rather, it should be understood to be a process of transformation.
The process should therefore be facilitated because it is an integral part of the dynamic equilibrium that we ordinarily think of as health. In many cases, perhaps all, people get ill because there is something going "wrong" in their lives. This could occur in a whole range of ways— relationships, environment, food, or job. Our view, however, is that disease is a meaningful state that can inform health workers how to help patients to heal themselves. In this way, instead of being meaningless, people's problems become diseases of meaning, enabling people to see that things are not necessarily "going wrong" but are, in fact, helping them become stronger, to live more fully and with more understanding. Seen from this perspective, depression; cancer; heart disease; neurodegenerative and autoimmune disease; dementia; and conditions such as community violence, genocide, and the problem of environmental devastation are "diseases of meaning." World Health Organization forecasts make it clear that diseases of meaning will continue well into the next millennium to be the major cause of suffering and death worldwide. To deal with them, the world needs to reformulate the biomolecular paradigm that has been exploited in the last two centuries. It does not address the reasons why these diseases arise, attending mainly to their molecular consequences. A paradigm that includes the importance of meaning must now be given top priority. The concept that diseases are a manifestation of health—a call to a different relationship with ourselves and our environment, both animate and inanimate— is in itself a different approach. Programs for care and education based upon it would have immediate application in medicine, industry, education and ecology. We believe that this model would have far-reaching consequences for the understanding, treatment, and prevention of diseases and behaviors that lead to violence and environmental destruction. >>>more
Dr. Melanie Joy didn’t become a vegan until her 20s. But during her psychological studies at Harvard and Saybrook University, she pondered what it is that makes humans think it’s normal to kill and/or eat animal products. And why it is that so many vegans and vegetarians have a tough time holding onto relationships with nonvegans after their perspective on animal agriculture changes.
“Every day we engage in a behavior that requires us to distort our thoughts, numb our feelings, and act against our core values,” Joy, a Saybrook alumna, said during a TEDx Talk she gave in February 2015.
That “integral, human behavior” Joy is speaking of is eating and wearing animal products. The author of three books—Strategic Action for Animals: A Handbook on Strategic Movement Building, Organizing, and Activism for Animal Liberation and Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, and a November 2017 release Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters—has traveled to 39 countries on six continents to speak about this topic: carnism.
According to her nonprofit organization’s official site, Beyond Carnism, carnism is defined as “the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of veganism, as ‘carn’ means ‘flesh’ or ‘of the flesh’ and ‘ism’ refers to a belief system.”
Her second book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows emerged from her Ph.D. dissertation in psychology.
“When I found the Saybrook program, which had a focus on Social Transformation and also Ecopsychology, I was very interested in the courses,” Joy says. “That’s what made me go to Saybrook. I had not developed my theory of carnism. I was just interested in how it was possible for compassionate, rational people to turn away from atrocities that are carried out toward humans and also nonhumans. >>>more
February 2017 The good life is built with good relationships This 75-Year Harvard Study found the 1 Secret to Leading a Fulfilling Life
Here's some wisdom gleaned from one of the longest longitudinal studies ever conducted:
According to George Vaillant, the Harvard psychiatrist who directed the study from 1972 to 2004, there are two foundational elements to this: "One is love. The other is finding a way of coping with life that does not push love away.”
Excerpt: Prioritizing what's important is challenging in today's world.
The split focus required to maintain a career and a home, not to mention a Facebook feed, can feel overwhelming.
Enter the science of what to prioritize, when.
For over 75 years, Harvard's Grant and Glueck study has tracked the physical and emotional well-being of two populations: 456 poor men growing up in Boston from 1939 to 2014 (the Grant Study), and 268 male graduates from Harvard's classes of 1939-1944 (the Glueck study).
Due to the length of the research period, this has required multiple generations of researchers. Since before WWII, they've diligently analyzed blood samples, conducted brain scans (once they became available), and pored over self-reported surveys, as well as actual interactions with these men, to compile the findings.
The conclusion? According to Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one thing surpasses all the rest in terms of importance:
"The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period." >>> more
February 2018 To Heal Wounds, Cells Time-Travel Back to a Fetal State
To repair and restore themselves after damage, body tissues need new cells. To get them, researchers are discovering, tissues sometimes recruit ordinary mature cells and revert them to a highly proliferative state usually associated with fetuses.
"Cells can reprogram themselves after an injury much more radically than people thought" by Jordan Cepelwicz
. . . In the early 1900s, scientists theorized that the specific blood cell types they’d learned to distinguish from one another under a microscope — red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets — came from a common, more primitive source: a stem cell. But it wouldn’t be until the 1950s and ’60s that researchers could offer definitive proof of their existence and begin to delineate their unique properties. . . >>> more
Abstract: The field of microbiome research has evolved rapidly over the past few decades and has become a topic of great scientific and public interest. As a result of this rapid growth in interest covering different fields, we are lacking a clear commonly agreed definition of the term “microbiome.” Moreover, a consensus on best practices in microbiome research is missing. Recently, a panel of international experts discussed the current gaps in the frame of the European-funded MicrobiomeSupport project. The meeting brought together about 40 leaders from diverse microbiome areas, while more than a hundred experts from all over the world took part in an online survey accompanying the workshop. This article excerpts the outcomes of the workshop and the corresponding online survey embedded in a short historical introduction and future outlook. We propose a definition of microbiome based on the compact, clear, and comprehensive description of the term provided by Whipps et al. in 1988, amended with a set of novel recommendations considering the latest technological developments and research findings. We clearly separate the terms microbiome and microbiota and provide a comprehensive discussion considering the composition of microbiota, the heterogeneity and dynamics of microbiomes in time and space, the stability and resilience of microbial networks, the definition of core microbiomes, and functionally relevant keystone species as well as co-evolutionary principles of microbe-host and inter-species interactions within the microbiome. These broad definitions together with the suggested unifying concepts will help to improve standardization of microbiome studies in the future, and could be the starting point for an integrated assessment of data resulting in a more rapid transfer of knowledge from basic science into practice. Furthermore, microbiome standards are important for solving new challenges associated with anthropogenic-driven changes in the field of planetary health, for which the understanding of microbiomes might play a key role.
November 2021 Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D
On 29 November 2021, it was announced that Rupert Sheldrake's son Merlin Sheldrake won the £25,000 Royal Society Science Book Prize for Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures.
Summary
When we think of fungi, we probably think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that support and sustain nearly all living systems. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.
Sheldrake’s mind-bending journey into this hidden world ranges from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that sprawl for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the ‘Wood Wide Web’, to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision.
Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms – and our relationships with them – are changing our understanding of how life works.
Part 7 Encouraging reports for wine buffs Back to top
All alcohol and carbonated drinks (including soft drinks and 'sparkling mineral' water) are acid pH (power of Hydrogen), and pH can easily be managed.
1.
October 2023 So THAT'S Why Alcohol Makes You More Anxious
As You Get Older
Waking up with more post-drinking "hangxiety" than you used to? There's a reason for that.
By Ashley Broadwater
Oct 31, 2023, HuffPost
“The ability to tolerate alcohol actually reduces as you age, resulting in an increase in anxiety symptoms and the reduced ability for the liver to manage alcohol effectively,” she explained.” - Teri Wilder, a licensed mental health counselor with Thriveworks in Lafayette, Indiana, who specializes in addiction and anxiety
- We have less muscle mass as we get older.
- We also experience a decrease in the neurotransmitter GABA.
- There’s decreased liver function.
- We see long-term effects on serotonin levels. >>>more
Excerpt
The skins and seeds of grapes and berries contain resveratrol, making red wine high in this compound. Research shows promising health benefits, but more is needed regarding how much supplementation you need.
If you’ve heard that red wine can help lower cholesterol, chances are you’ve heard of resveratrol — the much-hyped plant compound found in red wine.
But beyond being a healthful part of red wine and other foods, resveratrol has health-boosting potential in its own right.
In fact, resveratrol supplements have been linked to many exciting health benefits, including protecting brain function and lowering blood pressure … >>> more
3.
April 2016
Wine investigated! Preservatives in wine and beer Are preservatives and by-products to blame for hangovers and other adverse reactions? 26 April 2016 CHOICE, Australia's leading consumer advocacy group: - Sulphites, Histamines, Tannins, etc.
- Is organic wine better?
- What causes a hangover?
- Preservatives may be getting a bad rap
The perception that preservatives in wine and beer cause headaches and bad hangovers has led to a growing market in preservative-free beers and wines. But experts say it's most often just the alcohol that's doing the damage, and it's unclear whether preservatives cause other discomforts outside of a run-of-the-mill hangover.
We investigate the role of preservatives and by-products such as tannin, sulphites and histamines in your favourite tipple.
Excerpt:
For millions of drinkers, the scariest two words on a bottle of wine are “CONTAINS SULFITES.”
Sulfites comprise a range of sulfur compounds---particularly sulfur dioxide (SO2)---that are a natural by-product of the fermentation process that work as a preservative against certain yeast and bacteria (which will quickly destroy a wine if they start to multiply). But fermentation alone doesn’t produce enough sulfite to preserve a wine for more than a few weeks or months in the bottle, so winemakers add extra in order to keep microbes at bay. Sulfites aren’t just in wine. Many, many foods ranging from crackers to coconut contain sulfites. Anything that’s at all processed is likely to contain at least some level of sulfites.
In 1986, the FDA identified sulfites as an allergen, following a rash of asthma cases reported around that time. Sulfites were promptly banned from raw fruits and vegetables, and as part of the warning label push in the late 1980s the feds required that sulfites be disclosed on wine labels if they could be detected at a level of 10 mg/L or higher. If you prove your wine has less than that, you can apply for an exemption---thus so-called “sulfite-free” wines exist. They are universally quite vile. Though many foreign producers include US warning labels, technically the rules only apply to domestic wines. Either way, sulfites are a regular part of winemaking around the world as a matter of necessity. Just because your bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape doesn’t have the warning doesn’t mean it isn’t full of sulfites.
And that’s how the hysteria over sulfites in wine got started. The Headache Conundrum
Put simply, sulfites are to wine as gluten is to food. While the FDA says the overall prevalence of “sulfite sensitivity” is unknown, it notes that it is “probably low” and is most frequently associated with severe asthmatics.
. . .
Do sulfites cause headaches? Legions of drinkers say they do. Science says they don’t. (Same goes for MSG, by the way.) Here’s a look at the research.
A 2008 study in The Journal of Headache and Pain on alcohol and headaches said that even in individuals with asthmatic sulfite sensitivity, sulfites have not been shown to cause headaches. The study goes on to say that “On the other hand, there are many foods such as dried fruits, chips, raisins, soy sauce, pickles and juice fruits containing concentration of sulphites [sic] even ten times higher than that of wine.”
The Journal of Head and Face Pain noted in 2014 that “Sulfites were once linked to headache after wine ingestion. However, most of this belief is either speculative or in fact wrong, since the food and wine preservative sulfur dioxide (SO2), called generically sulfite, although present in wines, is much more existent in common foods that do not trigger headache attacks, such as dried fruit… Moreover, recently produced organic wines contain lower levels of sulfites or, indeed, have none at all, but the persistence of the headache triggering potential remains.
In addition, published literature has not yet established any links between the presence of sulfite and headache.”
(In other words, studies have found that people complain of headaches just as much after drinking sulfite-free wines.)
. . . >>>more
. . . all about wine, especially red wine. This is an important point because of the intrinsic psychic influences of wine.
Beer is associated with boisterous behavior at sporting events. Hard liquor is associated with serious drinking and dark moods. Wine, on the other hand, is associated with relaxation, reflection, celebration, conviviality, toasting, and a certain amount of dry humor. So, in this spirit, I will lace this article with a modicum of these wine-related characteristics. Archeologists tell us that humans made and drank wine in the Middle East (Fig. 1) beginning in ~7000 BCE—well before recorded time. During its 9,000-year history, wine has been used for many purposes, including religious and medical ones. >>> more
6.
January 2009 Does red wine make you look younger?
Scientists have long thought a natural compound called resveratrol, which is found in some red wines, could help slow the aging process by helping to protect tissues inside the body.
How Red Wine May Keep You Young
Anti-aging properties may be the latest reason to toast red wine.
By DAVID MUIR, January 8, 2009, ABC News
Excerpt
A group of scientists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison says there is a new reason to toast to the benefits of red wine.
Scientists have long thought a natural compound called resveratrol, which is found in some red wines, could help slow the aging process by helping to protect tissues inside the body. The question has been whether just a glass or two of wine could really make a difference.
The Wisconsin researchers announced today that it doesn't take as much red wine as many researchers had previously thought.
And at wine bars in New York City, they were already fielding calls.
"This morning I started getting phone calls saying, 'we heard about the red wine that prolongs your life. Which wine has it?'" said Nikos Antonakeas, owner of Morrell Wine Bar and Cafe.
Scientists at Harvard Medical School who have studied the impact of resveratrol on mice showed ABC News images of two rodents. Both were the same age, but the one on resveratrol was much more agile and running much more quickly than the other.
Many scientists are convinced that humans could see the same kind of anti-aging benefits, but there is a catch. How much resveratrol would it take?
In previous studies, mice had been given the equivalent of what they would have gotten from 100 bottles of wine a day.
But that's what is different with the findings in the Wisconsin study released today. The researchers used much lower levels on their mice and still had positive results.
"The precise number of glasses of wine or bottles of wine are difficult to predict," said Wisconsin-Madison professor Richard Weindruch, the author of the study. >>>more
