Journal Club and Literature Review

Three cheers for saturated fats!

Lloyd — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:30:19

A study bound to give O's some cheer:

http://m.advances.nutrition.org/content/4/3/294.long

Cleaning Your Gut aka Immune Recovery System Plan

passionprincess — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:06:24

I just noticed this article on the FRONT page of my Yahoo page for health news.

I really wish the doctor would push the BTD/GTD and emphasize the need to heal the gut in a more individualized manner.

Just wanted to bring this article to the forum's attention...

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/why-clean-gut-now-135500155.html

Roundup Ready

Lloyd — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:31:08

http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416

Roundup residues on crops (think especially those GMN crops made to make use of Roundup) interferes with the microbiome function.

Omega 3 from soy

Lloyd — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:52:01

http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/sda-omega-3-soybean-oil-food-use

Coming your way in the not too distant future.

Quoted Text

SDA omega-3 soybean oil is a plant-based source of SDA, which naturally converts in the body to EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) omega-3 – one of two main omega-3s that has been clinically shown to promote heart health. This pipeline product would be the first vegetarian SDA derived from soybeans for use in food and beverage products in North America.

Monsanto will develop SDA soybean varieties and sell the seeds to its farmer customers. DSM Nutritional Products will have the exclusive global rights to brand, market, package and sell the SDA soybean oil to the food industry.

Magnesium Gut Bacteria Leaky Gut

AKArtlover — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:01:50

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/140/3/509.full.pdf+html

Carnitine (red meat) and Cardiovascular Health*

Lloyd — Sun, 7 Apr 2013 20:40:13

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130407133320.htm

Quoted Text

The study shows that bacteria living in the human digestive tract metabolize the compound carnitine, turning it into trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a metabolite the researchers previously linked in a 2011 study to the promotion of atherosclerosis in humans. Further, the research finds that a diet high in carnitine promotes the growth of the bacteria that metabolize carnitine, compounding the problem by producing even more of the artery-clogging TMAO.

Andbolding mine)

Quoted Text

Additionally, they found specific gut microbe types in subjects associated with both plasma TMAO levels and dietary patterns, and that baseline TMAO levels were significantly lower among vegans and vegetarians than omnivores. Remarkably, vegans and vegetarians, even after consuming a large amount of carnitine, did not produce significant levels of the microbe product TMAO, whereas omnivores consuming the same amount of carnitine did.
"The bacteria living in our digestive tracts are dictated by our long-term dietary patterns," Hazen said. "A diet high in carnitine actually shifts our gut microbe composition to those that like carnitine, making meat eaters even more susceptible to forming TMAO and its artery-clogging effects. Meanwhile, vegans and vegetarians have a significantly reduced capacity to synthesize TMAO from carnitine, which may explain the cardiovascular health benefits of these diets."

Th1:Th2 Switch Mitogen-Stimulated Cells

Dr Jacquie — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:48:58

I would like to add some research in answer to a paragraph in Dr Peter D'Adamo's discussion on Lectins and Mitogens in http://www.dadamo.com/science.htm

"How mitogens work is still imperfectly understood. Con-A has been shown to induce microtubule assembly in polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Lectins have been shown to cause early changes in cytoplasmic free Ca2+ and influence the lymphocyte membrane potential. Both Con-A and PHA were studied as to their effect on lymphocyte glycosyltransferase activty. The investigators found that this enzyme, associated with increased transport activity of sialic acids, galactose and NAG was stimulated by Con-A but not by PHA. Thus the mitogenic effects of lectins on lymphocytes is not constant."

The research of Brand and others found what really happens in mitogen- and antigen- stimulated cells. ConA and PHA are found in all eukaryotic cell membranes including bacteria. It was found that the amount of ATP produced by mitotic division was similar to the amount produced by mitochondria during non-mitotic cellular operations, i.e. the vegetative state of a cell up to the early "S"phase of the cell cycle. However, during mitosis there is a switch to a so called "aerobic glycolysis," i.e., without the involvement of mitochondrial aerobic respiration, where glucose is reduced to form pyruvate and lactate.

Brand's research group demonstrated that the switch from ROS (reactive oxygen species) formation of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation during the vegetative state to mitotic aerobic glycolytic gene expression is redox dependent. The former requiring oxidative signals and the latter requiring reductive signals. This switching of ATP production is one of the oldest effective strategies to minimise oxidative stress on proliferating cells.

Droge research group found that the mitochondrial DNA in ConA stimulated T lymphocytes were protected by the anti-oxidative sulfur molecules (thiols), cysteine and glutathione, and the addition of H2O2 which is neutralized by selenium-dependent enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, where oxidized glutathione is further reduced by glutathione reductase and NADPH. The author suggests that the deciding factor to switch to aerobic glycolysis may be a critical level reached in the thiol pool.

Brand K, Hermfisse U. Aerobic glycolysis by proliferating cells: a protective strategy against reactive oxygen species. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9141507

Droge W, Eck HP, Mihm S. HIV-induced cysteine deficiency and T-cell dysfunction--a rationale for treatment with N-acetylcysteine. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1378279

Leaky Gut links

AKArtlover — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:03:42

Nice. http://www.greenmedinfo.com/disease/intestinal-permeability

Mislabeled fish common

Lloyd — Fri, 1 Mar 2013 15:20:40

http://oceana.org/sites/default/files/reports/National_Seafood_Fraud_Testing_Results_FINAL.pdf

Quoted Text

....Seafood substitutions included species carrying health advisories (e.g. king mackerel sold as grouper; escolar sold as white tuna), cheaper farmed fish sold as wild (e.g. tilapia sold as red snapper),....

Diabetes and sugar

Lloyd — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:01:54

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/oped40/Lustig.pdf

Quoted Text

...we found that every 150 kcal/person/day increase in sugar availability (about one can of soda/day) was associated with increased diabetes prevalence by 1.1% (p <0.001) after testing for potential selection biases and controlling for other food types(including fibers, meats, fruits, oils, cereals), total calories, overweight and obesity, period-effects, and several socioeconomic variables such as aging, urbanization and income. No other food types yielded significant individual associations with diabetes prevalence after controlling for confounders. The impact of sugar on diabetes was independent of sedentary behavior and alcohol use, and the effect was modified but not confounded by obesity or overweight...