CHOLINE

I’ve been harping on minerals, especially in terms of what prevents cancer.  I stand by the information.  More looking at research is just more convincing.  You probably are low in some or most that I have discussed unless you are supplementing or have a very unusual source of produce and protein.  The nutrient I want to talk about today is choline, sort of in the family of B Vitamins.  And btw, a deficiency of this nutrient may play a role in causing liver cancer.  But it has far reaching effects that I want to touch on.  Another btw, it’s pronounced Coline. 

Here is a list of the things the research indicates (just cut and pasted from numerous sites): 

·         Choline is positively associated with specific cognitive functions, namely verbal memory and visual memory.

·         A choline deficiency can greatly impair your memory and reasoning functions while also making it harder to focus and even affecting your mood.

·         structural integrity and fluidity of neuronal membranes

·         Lower levels may be associated with inattention, difficulty remembering new information and recalling stored memories, diminished mental energy and the characteristic sensation of “brain fog”.

·         Anti-inflammatory

·         Helps to prevent certain birth defects, such as spina bifida

·         May help you run the final miles of your marathon at a faster-than-usual pace.  Athletes have also been known to use Choline to give them an edge in sports performance. This is normally for the purpose of delaying the onset of fatigue. Endurance athletes benefit greatly, as do weight lifters and body builders looking to perform extra reps before their muscles fill with lactic acid.

·         Able to prevent fat from accumulating in the liver. Autopsies and ultrasound studies have shown that up to 75% of the obese and 70-85% of type 2 diabetics have fatty livers. And the low-profile but essential nutrient choline appears to provide the solution to the problem

·         May be useful to limit neurologic damage in stroke patients and improve retinal function in some glaucoma patients, maybe in dementia and head trauma cases as well.

·         Using Choline to lose weight is a proven, effective technique.

·         Helps reverse insulin resistance

 The last two are particularly of interest to me and I have recently started supplementing with choline.  I will report later. 

The Importance of Minerals

First of all, I have a correction.  I went back over old blog posts and realized I mis-spoke mathematically about how much selenium I took.  At most I was taking 600 mcg and then dropped that amount to 400.  The upper safe limit is 600 per day and more is not likely to help and may hurt.   I am currently looking into what difference the form of selenium supplement makes and will report.  Also, it needs to be taken with some Vitamin E as they work together.

I've run into information recently that zinc also plays a role in cancer prevention--probably other health issues.  Bottom line, all the minerals are extraordinarily important for our long term wellness.  I'd like to find a mineral supplement that is good.  All formulations I've so far looked at, are heavy on calcium and low on magnesium for a start.  We need at least as much magnesium per day as calcium, and a glass of milk is 300 mg of calcium.  If you drink milk, that Ca needs to be factored in.  None of the formulation I've looked at, has anything close to enough iodine or selenium, either, considering that nearly everyone is dangerously low in those.

Vitamins matter.  But vitamins are fairly easy to get.  Because they are so depleted in soils, I can almost guarantee you are low in many minerals and they matter big time.  They are extremely critical to all body processes, all the chemical reactions that constitute the complexity of our biology.

Miscellaneous Research

Today’s post is a collection of things I’ve run into in research that I think are interesting and useful information in terms of wellness and aging.  I will give you a plain explanation first then cut and paste from the research.

 

1)  Since we’ve been talking about cancer, this first is about cancer.  The Warburg effect is the discovery that cancer only feeds on glucose.  Unlike your muscles which can switch to another fuel, cancer cells cannot.  This research found that short term fasting kills cancer cells.  It does so by depriving them of a way to generate energy for cell activities.  This is up and coming research and we’ll be hearing more about it.

 

Fasting induces anti-warburg effect that increases respiration but reduces ATP-synthesis to promote apoptosis in colon cancer models

 

These findings indicate that the glucose and amino acid deficiency conditions imposed by STS (short term starvation) promote an anti-Warburg effect characterized by increased oxygen consumption but failure to generate ATP, resulting in oxidative damage and apoptosis.

 

2)  This one brings up our old friend inflammation.  Parkinson’s is another autoimmune disease where the immune system is cranked into high gear, then attacks its own tissues.

 

New link between neurodegenerative diseases, abnormal immune responses found

 

New insight into the link between neurodegenerative disorders and inflammation has been gained by a new study that provides a framework to explore more fully the possibility that viral infection may lead to onset of these diseases.

 

3)  This one is easy to understand. 

 

Exercise largely absent from US medical school curriculum, study shows

 

Fewer than half of the physicians trained in the United States in 2013 received formal education or training on the subject of exercise, according to new research. "There are immense medical benefits to exercise; it can help as much as medicine to address some health concerns," said a national expert on the benefits of physical activity. "Because exercise has medicinal as well as other benefits, I was surprised that medical schools didn't spend more time on it."

4)  If you are insulin resistant…and the only way to really know is a fasting insulin test (not glucose)…this is very important information.  BTW, most people I know—even some thin ones are insulin resistant.  I was really pleased with what I learned about selenium and iodine, but magnesium is every bit as critical if not more so.  Like all minerals, if it’s not in the soil it doesn’t get into the plants. 

I go in for blood work next week and will have more to say about what minerals have done for me.  But one unexpected result of adding magnesium supplements is that of reduced incidence of getting up in the night to use the bathroom.  That’s a biggie for it means my sleep is better.

 

This study basically says that magnesium can prevent the transition from insulin resistance to type II diabetes because it reduces insulin resistance.  Take some.

 

Oral magnesium supplementation reduces insulin resistance in non-diabetic subjects - a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

       Abstract

The incidence of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome correlates with the availability of magnesium (Mg). We studied the effect of oral Mg supplementation on insulin sensitivity and other characteristics of the metabolic syndrome in normomagnesemic, overweight, insulin resistant, non-diabetic subjects.. The results provide significant evidence that oral Mg supplementation improves insulin sensitivity even in normomagnesemic, overweight, non-diabetic subjects emphasizing the need for an early optimization of Mg status to prevent insulin resistance and subsequently type 2 diabetes.

 

5)  Along the same lines, the following from Diabetes Care, is self explanatory

 

In a 2011 controlled trial, vitamin K2 supplementation improved insulin sensitivity.

 

To summarize, we have demonstrated for the first time that vitamin K2 supplementation for 4 weeks increased insulin sensitivity in healthy young men.

 

A Few More Ideas re: Nutrition

Quick heads up of research I ran across today:  They found that one out of three college athletes have low Vitamin D levels making them more prone to injury and more pain.

Pregnant women with low Vitamin D levels have more painful labors.  Get your Vitamin D level checked.  Sweet spot according to the best info I can find is 50-70.

You’ve ‘heard’ me talk about nutrition for a while now.  If nutrition is perfect, health and vigor is perfect.  That’s the premise I support.  Otherwise we’d not be a successful species.  The following article link is a parallel demonstration of that idea from the plant world.  Below is just an excerpt from that article.  By the way, the premise is not about blame or trying to induce guilt, but rather gaining knowledge and getting back to real food, supplementing where it is advisable and losing the toxic components we’ve been brainwashed into accepting as nutrition.

The Amish Farmers Reinventing Organic Agriculture

By studying the immune systems of plants, they've developed a technique that eliminates the need for chemicals.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/the-amish-farmer-replacing-pesticides-with-nutrition/380825/

Kempf is the unlikely founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a consulting firm established in 2006 to promote science-intensive organic agriculture. The entrepreneur’s story is almost identical to Zook’s (the farmer in this story).  A series of crop failures on his own farm drove the 8th grade-educated Kempf to school himself in the sciences.  For two years, he pored over research in biology, chemistry, and agronomy in pursuit of a way to save his fields.

The breakthrough came from the study of plant immune systems which, in healthy plants, produce an array of compounds that are toxic to intruders.  “The immune response in plants is dependent on well-balanced nutrition,” Kempf concluded, “in much the same way as our own immune system.”  Modern agriculture uses fertilizer specifically to increase yields, he added, with little awareness of the nutritional needs of other organic functions.  Through plant sap analysis, Kempf has been able to discover deficiencies in important trace minerals which he can then introduce into the soil. With plants able to defend themselves, pesticides can be avoided, allowing the natural predators of pests to flourish.

"Instead of trying to grow crops that are healthy with fungicides and pesticides, I started to grow crops that are healthy with nutrition."  (Zook)

And one more point to ponder today.  In Great Britain the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN),  is in the process of updating the Government’s recommendations for carbohydrate consumption.  Of the 40 scientists in the SCAN group, all but 13 have received funding from sugar and related industries. 

Lest we Americans get big heads about England’s level of corruption, our own is just as bad or worse.  What’s wrong with having the sugar industry (or wheat farmers or corn farmers) dictate government nutrition recommendations? 

Why is Cancer Prevention Using Nutrition Not in the Media a Lot More?

If it’s clear from the literature that cancer prevention hinges mainly on minerals, Vitamin D and blood sugar (staying low) why don’t we hear more about cancer prevention using these strategies?

To answer that, ask yourself who benefits from the use of these (minerals, Vitamin D and low blood sugar)?  The general public could, but the general public is not trying to make a buck treating sick people. 

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Would the pharmaceutical companies benefit from minerals, vitamins?  Nope.

Would the junk food industry who wants to sell you lots of their sugar saturated junk?  Nope.

Would your doctor benefit by taking an hour to tell you all about selenium, iodine, magnesium, Vitamin D and keeping blood sugar low?  Nope.

How about the oncologist who makes a living once you HAVE cancer? Nope.

 

There is no one who benefits from pushing this information—not even me who has spent the better part of six weeks finding out all this information and talking about it?  Nope.  Except my own wellness has benefited.  For not only are these cancer prevention but they are disease prevention as well.  And cure. 

 

So today, a short blog and I leave you with this Amazon review for the book “Megans’s Cure” which is a book about a cure for cancer.  And when you finish, ask yourself, “How sick is that?”

 an Amazon review of a kindle book, Megans cure

”Several decades ago, one of my college professors told my class that the world cannot afford to find a cure for cancer. It would undermine not just the US economy but the entire world economy. He went on to discuss things such as how many people are employed because of cancer... doctors, nurses, technicians, hospital personnel (even the maids, cafeteria workers and admission clerks), insurance company personnel, pharmacists (and their clerks, buyers, warehouse and delivery people), drug company personnel, researchers, grant writers and other research fund-seekers, workers in hotels, taxis and airlines who deliver loved ones to where they need to be and all the people who design, build, lease/sell and maintain the health facilities, just to name a few. If there were no cancer, he told us, a huge percentage of our workforce would be unemployed. And don't forget the loss in tax revenue from all of these people and companies who are no longer earning taxable money. I didn't know if I believed him then. But years later I still mull over the premise and have to confess that I have, indeed, come to believe him.”

I do too.

Cancer Prevention Number Five

 As I get to the final post in this series on cancer prevention, let me review what I’ve already talked about.  The following nutrients have enormous numbers of scientific studies backing up their role in keeping you free of cancer as well as many other unpleasant and deadly conditions.

1.       Selenium

2.      Iodine

3.      Magnesium

4.      Vitamin D

 

These are not controversial.  The science is good and pretty overwhelming.  That they are not more mainstream reflects the lack of profit from them, rather than questions about their effectiveness in prevention.  They are also nutrients that are in short supply in nearly all populations.  You need all of them—and you probably do not get what you need.  New info about Vitamin D supplementing is worth reading.  Found here  http://preview.tinyurl.com/l8gl7fu  If you are older they are now recommending 8,000 iu per day.

 

The final subject of this series is an anti-nutrient—something you need less of than you’re probably getting.  It is sugar.  

 

The sugar industry would have you believe sugar is innocuous and that because it begins life as cane, beets or corn, it is “natural” and ok as part of your diet.  More and more research and even mainstream information indicates this is far from the truth.  In this series of articles my premise has been about the things known to prevent development of cancer.  High blood sugar is without doubt a player in that development.  The question remains, how much is too much.  

 

Here’s a study done in Sweeden in 2007 published in Diabetes Care.  When researchers looked at specific types of cancer, they found that both men and women with the highest blood sugar levels were more likely to have pancreatic cancer, urinary tract cancer, and malignant melanoma (the most deadly type of skin cancer) than those with the lowest blood sugar levels.  And for women, endometrial and breast cancer risk was highest for those with the highest blood sugar.

 

Because there is too much information on this anti-nutrient for this venue, and because I am busy writing a whole chapter on it for my upcoming book, I will briefly mention a few items of proof. 

 

Those  with highest glucose levels are 63% more likely to develop breast cancer.  A study of 33,293 women – which measured fasting and after meal glucose spikes – found those in the highest range were 75% more likely to develop other cancers. 

 

Pancreatic cancer is more likely to occur in people who have long-standing (over 5 years) diabetes than in people who do not have diabetes. In pancreatic cancer patients who have had diabetes for less than five years, it is unclear if the diabetes contributed to the cancer or if the precancerous cells caused the diabetes.

 

From a Feb 2013, study in Madrid, what is less well known is that diabetes and obesity are linked to an increase in cancer risk. The diabetic population has up to twice the risk of pancreatic or colon cancer among others.  Dr. Custodia García said "We were surprised to realize that changes in our metabolism caused by dietary sugar impact our cancer risk. We are now investigating what other dietary components may influence our cancer risk. Changing diet is one of easiest prevention strategies that can potentially save a lot of suffering and money."

 

The connection between diabetes and cancer was first reported in 2004 in large population studies by researchers from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. It is not controversial. What it means is that you are more likely to get cancer if you’re diabetic than if you’re not, and you’re more likely to get cancer if you have metabolic syndrome than if you don’t.

 

Suggesting that sugar might kill us is what zealots do. But Robert Lustig, who has genuine expertise, has accumulated and synthesized a mass of evidence, which he finds compelling enough to convict sugar.  It is given in his hour and a half long indictment of sugar widely seen on Youtube (found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM )

 

If it’s sugar that causes insulin resistance, then the conclusion is hard to avoid that sugar causes cancer — some cancers, at least — radical as this may seem and despite the fact that this suggestion has rarely if ever been voiced before publicly.  For just this reason, neither of these men (Robert Lustig and Gary Taubs, Author of Good Calories, Bad Calories) will eat sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.  

 

As if that were all not bad enough, sugar—high blood sugar is implicated in many, many diseases and health problems.  Nancy Applegate, author of “Lick the Sugar Habit” lists dozens of them based on research and studies that prove or strongly suggest the connections.  

 

Of particular concern to me at this age, is the connection between high blood sugar and brain shrinkage and dementia/Alzheimers.  Dr. Permutter, a Neurologist and author of “Grain Brain” preaches constantly about sugar (from any source) and the dangers to brain health.  His blog and newsletters are worth the time to read/watch.

 

One last thing in this shortened version of this topic.  The mechanism by which high blood sugar does the damage that it does, is inflammation.  We are not designed for high blood sugar.  The actual role of insulin in a healthy metabolism is to move nutrients into cells.  It’s lesser role of reducing blood sugar was designed to be only an emergency purpose in rare cases of elevated blood sugar.    Both high blood sugar and high insulin are highly inflammatory and inflammation causes damage—ultimately all disease and un-healthy states.

 

Blood sugar comes from what you put in your mouth.  Not only the sugar in sodas and desserts and junk food, but from the added sugar in virtually every processed food in the grocery store.  Read labels.   But even for people trying hard to eliminate that sort of sugar, remember that grains are huge condensed packages of sugar.  Look up glycemic load of any wheat, rice or corn product here http://nutritiondata.self.com/ (and even the “good” grains like quinoa and the like or gluten-free substitutes.)

 

Protein and fat do not convert to blood sugar in digestion.  All carbohydrates do, some in dangerously high amounts and quickly.  For lifelong health, freedom from cancer, especially, but good brain health into old age, less sugar—from all sources-- is mandatory.

 

Next article will examine why the information in the last few article is not more widely known and promoted.

Another Biggie in Cancer Prevention

I’m writing this blog because no one else is (that I know of).  The information is just too important to be hidden away in obscure internet files.  Hidden is not the right word, but it takes a lot of time and focus to find it all.  So I’m trying to get the cheap, or free, health promoting things out there to get some publicity.  If you get breast cancer, I promise it’s not from a lack of tamoxifen or chemotherapy drugs.  It’s from nutritional things that are under your control.  (Ok, there may be a few exceptions—but go with the numbers).

This blog is not commercial.  But I’m stealing from my time needed to make a living to bring it to you.  So today, you’re getting less writing and more just cut and paste.  There is so much information!  The last blog I wrote about the three minerals involved in cancer protection took me two days to write.  Can’t do that today, so bear with the choppy nature of the following.

 

Vitamin D

 

Vitamin D isn’t really a vitamin.  It behaves more like a hormone.  Nevertheless, it’s named Vitamin D.  We convert sunlight to vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight.  The sun exposure paranoia of the last few decades has certainly contributed to increased cancer rates.  A recent review article estimated that 50,000-70,000 Americans die prematurely from cancer each year due to insufficient vitamin D.

 

And here’s some evidence.

 

On the PubMed database, there are 63 observational studies about vitamin D status in relation to cancer risk.  They include 30 of colon, 13 of breast, 26 of prostate, and 7 of ovarian cancer.  The majority of these studies found a protective relationship between sufficient vitamin D and lower risk of cancer. The evidence suggests that efforts to improve vitamin D status, for example by vitamin D supplementation, could reduce cancer incidence and mortality at low cost, with few or no adverse effects.

 

Theories linking vitamin D deficiency to cancer have been tested and confirmed in more than 200 epidemiological studies, and understanding of its physiological basis stems from more than 2,500 laboratory studies. 

 

One particularly noteworthy study was completed by Joan Lappe and Robert Heaney in 2007.   A group of menopausal women were given enough vitamin D to raise their serum levels to 40 ng/ml. These women experienced a 77 percent reduction in the incidence of all cancers, across the board, after just four years.  The remarkable thing is, 40 ng/ml is a relatively modest level. The latest information suggests the serum level “sweet spot” for vitamin D is 50 to 70 ng/ml. To have such stunning findings at just 40 ng/ml underscores just how powerful and important vitamin D is to your body’s optimal functioning.

 

Vitamin D plays a huge role in many other conditions.  Levels below 30 ng/ml show evidence of issues associated with mood disorder, autism, bone health, cancer and heart disease as well as several autoimmune diseases.

 

Emerging research suggests that vitamin D also has applications in promoting bone strength, as well as in mitigating autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, mood disorders, autism and heart disease.  Other potential benefits include promoting dental and skin health, and helping to prevent stroke, metabolic syndrome, and musculoskeletal pain.  In fact, vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia.

 

In another study Vitamin D supplementation of just 1200 units (very low) reduced flu by 42%.  That’s better than a flu shot.  It’s also been linked to better lung function, a stronger immune system, and an enhanced ability to fight off certain infections, such as tuberculosis.

 

Statistically, you are probably low in Vitamin D since reports are that between October and May, almost no one can get enough sun.  Also if your skin is dark, it takes more sun to get the same amount of Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is virtually absent from food with the exception of sea food and egg yolks.  If you are overweight, you need more sun or more supplementation to get levels up.  If you’ve not been tested, get it done.  Shoot for a score of 50-70.   I’m trying to reach at least 50 and am currently taking 10,000 units daily.  When I first started testing my level was 31—almost dangerously low--and that was after a summer of outdoor work and sun worshipping.   But in Oregon, so far into the north.

 

Since this is already plenty long, I am going to save the last nutrient involved in cancer protection for next time.  Start now on how to improve your minerals and Vitamin D level.  There’s more.  But you need to start somewhere.  I can promise you’re not getting enough from your grocery store of any of them.