Feds probe salmonella outbreak

On the heels of the recent E.Coli outbreak, federal officials are now looking into how salmonella bacteria has sickened 172 people in 18 states over the last two weeks. While not life-threatening, it can cause diarrhea, nauseau, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, and headache. While very early in the investigation, officials hypothesize that produce may be the culprit.

Bonnie - this unfortunately, is becoming a redundant theme...if the host is healthy, it is more difficult for virulent substances to express themselves negatively. It is similar to genetic expression, where many chronic diseases are derived from genes that have been negatively expressed through poor lifestyle choices.

These organisms have been around forever and are here to stay. They are always part of our gut flora. As we continue to try to kill them off, they will continue to mutate.

What are a few easy things we can do to arm ourselves?

• Antibiotics, used for any reason, make the problem worse because they kill good flora. One must be very cautious and judicious about its use.

• Supplement with probiotics! Yogurt and kefir will not cut it because much of its cultures are rendered ineffective on its way down the digestive tract.

• Reduce sugar consumption. There is nothing that impedes proper immune system function more than sugar.

Children: antibiotics unhelpful against many ear infections

Antibiotic treatment for children with ear infections is not helpful in all cases, a new study has found. The report, which appears in the Oct. 21 issue of The Lancet, analyzed data from six studies and included more than 1,600 children from 6 months to 12 years old. In a few cases, researchers found, antibiotics were useful. Fifty-five percent of untreated children under 2 with infections in both ears still had pain or fever after three to seven days, while only 30 percent of those given antibiotics did. But treating infants who had infection in only one ear was ineffective — 40 percent of untreated children under 2 still had pain after three to seven days, and so did 35 percent of those who received antibiotics. In children older than 2, antibiotics were generally unhelpful. Twenty-six percent of untreated children still had pain or fever after three to seven days, and so did 19 percent of children who received treatment.

Courtesy NY Times

Steve - this is not really news, because we have cited several studies over the last few years that have found similar results. The reason we are posting this is to remind you to be cautious with the use of antibiotics.

Bonnie appears today on CNBC's Morning Call

Congrats Bonnie on your appearance today on CNBC's Morning Call. Your insight on trans fats will further continue the movement towards eliminating them from the food supply!

Vitamins may help infertility

Some infertile women could improve their chances of having children by taking multivitamin tablets, research in the US has suggested.

The dietary supplements can protect against failure to ovulate, according to a Harvard Medical School study of 18,000 nurses over eight years. Women who took multivitamins six times a week were 40 per cent less likely to fail to ovulate than those who took none. Less frequent use had a smaller effect. Ovulation failure affects 8.4 per cent of those in Britain who have problems conceiving.

Jorge Chavarro, who led the study, told the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in New Orleans that the beneficial effects seemed to derive from folic acid, which helps to prevent birth defects: “I don’t think I could say ‘use vitamins to prevent infertility’, but using vitamins is unlikely to have a detrimental effect. If a woman is thinking about becoming pregnant, she should be thinking about taking folic acid and it would be reasonable to consider a multivitamin.”

KFC to switch to no-trans-fat frying oil

KFC, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., on Monday said it will switch to a cooking oil with no trans fat in all its U.S. fried-chicken restaurants by April 2007.

Yum Brands joins hamburger chain Wendy's International Inc. in a move to cut its use of the artery clogging oil at a time when fast-food restaurants have come under criticism that their food contributes to obesity.

McDonald's Corp. promised in 2002 to reduce trans fats in some of its products. While the chain has introduced healthier foods -- such as apple and walnut salads -- it has yet to convert its oils entirely, saying that it has not found an alternative that works as well.

Yum said it would start using low linolenic soybean oil, a zero trans-fat cooking oil. The change will take effect in all 5,500 U.S. restaurants following a two-year trial to identify cooking oils with the same characteristics as the trans fats.

Courtesy Reuters

Steve - as we said when McDonald's made their announcement...we'll believe it when we see it!

Quick fixes feed obesity rate

Misinformed consumers rely on unproven weight-loss products, a new survey says.

The nation's soaring obesity rates won't fall until Americans stop placing their faith in unproven and possibly fraudulent weight-loss products and treatments. That's the message from some of the nation's top obesity experts, commenting on new data about Americans' continued, naïve hope for the quick fix.

A national survey released last week at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, a scientific group dedicated to the study of obesity, contend that the nation's weight problem — two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese — is exacerbated by the scores of weight-loss products and treatments on the market that make unsubstantiated claims.

Courtesy LA Times

Steve - this a breath of fresh air. I like this organization. Last year, the Obesity Society came out and said for sustained weight-loss and proper balanced eating, meals need to be 30% protein, 50% carbohydrate, and 20% healthy fat. That mirrors our Circle of Health. This year, they say that quick fixes from weight-loss products are not the answer. We could not have said it better ourselves.

Curcumin linked to better performance for elderly brains

Curcumin, the natural pigment that gives the spice turmeric its yellow colour, could slow mental decline in elderly people by 49 per cent, suggests a study of non-demented Asian people.

Cognitive performance declines naturally with age, but the results of the new study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Vol. 164, pp. 898-906) suggests that eating curries "often or very often" had significantly better cognitive performance than those who "never or rarely" ate the dish.

The Singapore National Mental Health Survey of the Elderly, led by Tze-Pin Ng from the National University of Singapore, recruited 1,010 elderly Asian subjects (average age 68.9) and compared scores for the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). When the researchers looked at the consumption of curry with measures of cognitive impairment (scores below 23 on the MMSE), it was reported that those who consumed curry “often or very often” were associated with a 49 per cent reduced risk of cognitive impairment, compared to those who never or rarely consumed. Eating curry “occasionally” was associated with a 38 per cent reduced risk.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Highlights - October

As we do every month, we give you the latest from our favorite nutrition journal:

• Vitamin D2 should not be regarded as a nutrient suitable for supplementation or fortification (vitamin D3 is the source required).

• A study of overwight Swiss children showed that as young as six years-old, elevated concentrations of inflammatory markers were expressed. Intakes (or lack thereof) of the antioxidants vitamin E, vitamin C, and Beta Carotene were significant predictors of increased inflammation.

• Plant sterol-infused orange juice was effective in reducing CRP (C-Reactive Protein) and LDL cholesterol, both markers of cardiac health.

• In a large Danish study (43,000 men and women) over a five year period, lower waist circumference was associated with those who ate predominately fruit and vegetable carbohydrates. Higher waist circumference was exhibited in than those who ate more carbohydrates from simple sugars, added sugars, refined grains, and whole grains. In addition, lower waist circumference was found in those who ate sufficient animal protein, while there was no association with vegetable protein.

• During pregnancy, a diet emphasizing low glycemic index foods may influence favorable long-term outcomes.

• In obese, insulin-resistant persons, a calorie-restricted diet consisting of low carbohydrate, high unsaturated fats is as efficacious as the traditional low-fat diet in producing weight-loss and more beneficial in reducing markers for CVD.

• Neither decaffeinated or caffeinated filtered coffee (sans sugar or cream) has a detrimental effect on endotheial function (an inflammation marker). In fact, coffee consumption may reduce the inflammation associated with increased endothial expression.

• Higher maternal total intakes of antioxidants during pregnancy may decrease the risks for wheezing illnesses in early childhood.

Steve - I would say some very compelling studies to nosh on!

New Mexico legislators demand aspartame withdrawal

Eleven legislators in New Mexico have asked President GW Bush, FDA chief Von Eschenbach and the Health Secretary Michael Leavitt, to override and cancel the previous approval of Aspartame, a controversial artificial sweetener that was approved over the resistance of FDA scientists, as a result of the political intervention of now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In their letter, the legislators reason that the sweetener's FDA approval should be rescinded, citing the tendency of aspartame to be metabolized into methanol and formaldehyde, both highly toxic to humans. Additionally, when Aspartame is heated, it turns into a brain tumor-causing agent called diketopiperazine.

Courtesy of Healthy News Service

Foods most likely to contain trans fats

1. Spreads (such as margarine and nut butters)
2. Packaged foods
3. Soups
4. Fast food
5. Frozen food
6. Baked goods
7. Chips and crackers
8. Breakfast foods
9. Cookies and candy
10. Toppings and dips
11. Fried foods
    

These foods are in random order, not most to least.

Alderman Burke adds to trans fat requirements

Chicago Adlerman Ed Burke proposed additional legislation that restaurants post trans fat warnings on their packaging. Specifically, he wants the warnings to say "increases the risk of cornoary heart disease."

Burke wants to impose strict trans fat limits on restaurant conglomerates that make at least $20 million in gross annual revenues. Currently, restaurants do not have to list ingredients on their menus, which includes often used trans fats.

Steve - we support Alderman Burke's proposal. We wish he would go further.

Being overweight takes toll at gas pump?

Want to reduce gasoline consumption in the United States? Lose weight.

According to a study released by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, overweight drivers and passengers are responsible for cars on U.S. roads burning about 1 billion additional gallons of gasoline each year.

Some 1.7 million cars could be filled with gas for an entire year using the 938 million gallons of fuel that could be saved by trimming down the weight of drivers and passengers.

Further details of the study show that heavier Americans are cancelling out some of the vehicle fuel-economy improvements achieved by keeping tires inflated to the proper pressure, tuning up engines and removing unnecessary items from trunks.

Steve - something the average person would never think about. However, this is pretty significant data.

Infertility link to child autism

Couples with fertility problems are three times more likely to have a child with serious conditions like autism and cerebral palsy, research suggests. The extra risk is likely to be caused by health problems that make it difficult for these couples to conceive in the first place, scientists believe. Fertility treatments, such as IVF, may contribute too, an American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting heard. But the experts stressed the overall risk was still relatively low.

They said couples should be counselled about the risks and encouraged to improve their health before undergoing fertility treatment. Professor Mary Croughan, who led the University of California research on 4,000 women and their children aged up to six years, explained those with fertility problems were also more likely to have other health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes, and were more at risk of pregnancy and labour complications. She said: "What has caused them to be unable to conceive goes on to cause problems. "It is as if a brick wall has stopped you becoming pregnant. Treatment allows you to climb over the wall, but it is still there and it goes on to cause problems."

Her team found the risk of five conditions - autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, seizures and cancer - was 2.7 times higher among the children born to 2,000 women who experienced fertility problems than among those born to the 2,000 women who did not have difficult conceiving. For autism alone, the risk was four times higher. Moderate developmental problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities or serious sight or hearing disorders were also 40% more common in the children born to the couples who struggled to start a family.

Courtesy of BBC

Bonnie - while only one study, it is one that we must take notice of. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry, I cannot emphasize enough taking proper lifestyle and nutritional action well before a couple tries to conceive.

Mutated gene found to raise risk of autism

This is the first study to find a definitive genetic link to the disorder, which affects as many as 1 in 175 U.S. children.

Dr. Pat Levitt and colleagues at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, studied 743 families in which 1,200 family members were affected by autism spectrum disorders, which range from fully disabling autism to Asperger's syndrome.

They found a single mutation in a gene called MET, which is known to be involved in brain development, regulation of the immune system and repair of the gastrointestinal system.

"This is a vulnerability gene," Levitt said. "There are not genes that actually cause autism. It raises the risk." People with two copies of the mutated gene have 2 to 2.5 times the normal risk of autism and people with one mutated copy have 1.7 times the risk, he said.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offer a way to start looking for the actual causes of autism, Levitt said.

Levitt said the mutation does not change the function of the gene, but changes gene expression -- how active the gene is. "Let's say it is exposure to some chemical. It is a long list of everything from food additives to mercury to fertilizers. This will help."

Courtesy of Reuters

Bonnie - this is a very important discovery. The most important thing the researchers said is that the gene needs to be expressed to promote autistic symptoms. How long have we said that poor diet, lifestyle, and environment contributes to genes expressing themselves negatively. It is not a coincidence that the lead researcher mentioned food additives and mercury as two of the examples. When you are thinking about having children, the process of taking care of yourself starts even before conception, during pregnancy, and though lactation (if applicable). Then, the process of taking care of your child lasts until they can take care of themselves.

It is possible to keep negative gene expression at bay!

Alkaline potassium supplements linked to thicker bones

According to new research published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, for the first time, the benefits of pH regulation with potassium and the subsequent effects on bone mineral density (BMD) has been established.

pH balance is important for regulating body fluids, blood pressure, muscle and nerve cells, osmotic pressure and water balance. Its effect on bone mineral density makes sense, but has never been researched until now.

Of 161 post-menopausal women with low bone mass, those taking an alkaline potassium supplement saw a significant 1% increase in BMD compared to those taking a non-alkaline potassium supplement.

Women taking the alkaline potassium were also found to have lower amounts of calcium excreted in the urine.

The mechanism behind the apparent benefits is proposed to be by the alkaline supplement neutralizing the high acidity of the modern Western Diet. "In the modern diet, acid is generated from foods like dairy products, grains and meats," explained one of the researchers. "Previous studies have found that the kidney does not quite keep up in removing excess acid load."

Bonnie - this is such an important study and backs up what I have been saying for a long time. Excess acidity contributes to bone loss! I have used a sodium/potassium bicarbonate supplement for years to balance pH in my clients with high osteoporatic risk.

Hospitals trying preventive care for uninsured

With the number of uninsured people in the United States reaching a record 46.6 million last year, up by 7 million from 2000, a small number of hospital systems around the country to have done the math and acted on it. Officials decided that for many patients with chronic diseases, it would be cheaper to provide free preventive care than to absorb the high cost of repeated emergencies.

“Patients can have better care and we can reduce the costs for the hospital,” said Dr. Melissa Smith, medical director of three community health centers run by Seton, a Roman Catholic hospital network that uses its profits and donations to provide nearly free care to 5,000 of the working poor. Smith has seen many patients medical bills have been cut nearly in half.

Reaching out to uninsured patients, especially those with chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure or asthma, is a recent tactic of “a handful of visionary hospital systems around the country,” said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation in New York that concentrates on health care. These institutions are searching for ways to fend off disease and large debts by bringing uninsured visitors into continuing basic care.

“For most preventive efforts there is an upfront expense,” said Alan D. Aviles, president of the corporation. “But over the long term it saves money.”

Courtesy of NY Times

Steve - wow! This piece says a mouthful. It is a breath of fresh air to see a few hospitals catching on. Unfortunately, the reason is not because of improving patient care, it is because they see the monetary savings. Regardless of the reason, they are seeing improvement in their patients' health. That is all that matters.

Here's a novel idea: drink water instead of sugary drinks - lose weight!

In a shocking discovery :) by The Obesity Society, you can lose five pounds per year by replacing sugary drinks with water.

The organization released another revelation: foods that are marketed as lowfat are really not! They still are full of calories and the chemicals added to the products create more adipose (fat) tissue to house the toxins.

Steve - for the frequent readers of this blog, none of this comes as a surprise. However, for the average American, it may be a revelation. Once again, you are always better off eating "real" foods.

Another diet/memory loss prevention link: vegetables

Elderly people who reported eating at least 2.8 servings of vegetables a day compared to people who ate less than one serving a day saw their rate of memory loss and other mental decline slow by 40 percent over six years, according to research published in the journal Neurology.

People who ate the most green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach had the least memory loss, on average. Next best were yellow vegetables such as squash and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli.

Steve - stop the presses! Sometimes, it amazes me that research needs to be done to confirm this. Yet, many of us need that extra motivation to eat their veggies every day! I'm hard pressed to find a better motivation than maintaining your mental faculties.

Huge study shows further effects of trans fat

According to results from Harvard's prestigious Nurse's Health Study (41,518 women), every increase of one percentage point in the portion of calories from trans fats translated to a two-pound weight gain over eight years. For example, a woman who was consuming 6% of calories from trans fat would be 12 pounds heavier after eight years than someone eating none.

Courtesy of USA Today

Steve - and restaurants are putting up a fight against removing them? What else do they need to see? In addition, the current trans fat labelling law needs to be refined because in its current state, a product can say no trans fat even though there is 0.5% in the product.

Fears of a new bacterial threat

Excerpt taken from an article by Shari Roan, LA Times Staff Writer, October 23, 2006

While infections with drug-resistant staph and E. coli have been grabbing headlines and public attention in recent months, a new bacterial threat has quietly emerged. Typically seen in elderly hospitalized patients, the illness has begun popping up in the community at large — specifically among healthy younger people, including children and pregnant women.

The bacterium responsible, called Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile, has been blamed for recent outbreaks of intestinal infections in about 10 states, as well as Canada and Europe. Patients become ill with frequent bouts of watery diarrhea, fever and abdominal tenderness. In rare cases, the infection can progress to sepsis, colitis and even death. The strain, identified as NAP1, appears to be more virulent than its predecessor.

C. difficile is found in feces and is one of the leading causes of hospital-acquired diarrhea. People become infected by touching items or surfaces contaminated with the bacterium and then transmitting it to their mouths. It gains ground when patients take antibiotics — often broad-spectrum antibiotics, such as clindamycin, penicillin and increasingly the class of drugs called fluoroquinolones. The drugs upset the balance of normal bacteria in the colon, killing good types of bacteria that protect the body.

In doing so, they allow C. difficile to flourish and begin releasing toxins that damage the intestines, says Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC who has studied C. difficile trends. Two primary toxins, toxin A and toxin B, cause the diarrhea and inflammation. The NAP1strain may also explain why more cases are being identified outside of the hospital and in people who haven't taken antibiotics.

The use of proton pump inhibitors for gastric reflux disease has been proposed as a possible cause of the C. difficile upsurge because the medications can have an antibiotic effect and can lower acid levels in the gastrointestinal tract. The acid would normally kill harmful bacteria. But the hypothesis is controversial.

Researchers are also stumped as to why children, and pregnant and postpartum women and other gynecological patients, seem particularly likely to be affected. A study in this month's issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found a 6.7% rate of C. difficile in children admitted to an emergency room with severe diarrhea — far above the 1.9% rate found in a previous study of diarrhea among children in a community.

Anyone with diarrhea lasting more than three days and accompanied by a fever or blood in the stool should seek help. Proper hand washing is essential to reduce spread of the illness. Antibiotics should be prescribed only when clearly necessary.

"We hope all clinicians and patients will think about antibiotic use," McDonald says. "They are important and save lives, but they are not without risk. If there is a silver lining in the C. difficile problem, it might be just that. It brings a little closer to home that antibiotics can have severe consequences."

Bonnie - I have seen many clients with C. difficile and the common threads are that they have been on antibiotics and/or GERD (reflux) medication. While the aforementioned article mentioned the reflux meds as just theory, I have seen it clinically. If a physician from the CDC is speaking this strongly about the effect antibiotics have on normal gut bacteria balance, the public should take it seriously.

For ANYONE going on or have been on antibitoics, you must supplement with a high quality, high potency broad-spectrum probiotic to replenish destroyed beneficial gut bacteria. Yogurt and Kefir is not going to cut it.

For those on GERD/Reflux meds, try to minimize the length of time on them and get to the cause of the GERD through dietary modification. Besides lowering gut acid, which keeps pathogens at bay, GERD/Reflux meds also deplete essential vitamins and minerals.