Sally Fallon presents information that seems to have been largely compiled by Dr. Mary Enig. I really like the critique of the research that has been used to support The Lipid Hypothesis. It is also a good history lesson on one of the largest dietary changes made over the last 100 years.
Omega 3 Algae Oils
I have not tried any of these so this listing is not an endorsement. I do want to test some of these with clients. There are 3 main concerns with marine animal oils that algae oils avoid:
- Contamination – fish oils are often high in contaminants such as mercury.
- Overfishing – the numbers on overfishing are depressing and the rise in fish oil sales only contributes to that problem.
- Vegetarian/Vegan – people who choose a vegetarian or vegan diet are often deficient on omega-3’s but will not consume fish oil.
So here are some products I’ve been made aware of that I have not tried but would be interested in investigating further:
Sports Drink Recipe
Personally my most common drink when exercising is high quality water plus high quality sea salt. However, people seem to feel that is not enough to optimize their performance. I steer people away from sports drinks because they contain a lot of junk which is not beneficial to health or performance. Anyway, a recipe came my way from a practitioner who works with athletes and I adapted a bit for a start point template:
- 2-4 parts high quality water (filtered, mineral, spring)
- 1 part high quality coconut water
- pinch of high quality sea salt
- squeeze of organic lemon or lime
- some liquid amino acids
- if endurance exercise greater than 2 hours then optionally add small amount of raw maple syrup
Thoughts on celiac and autism
So here is a case study of a 5-year-old boy whose symptoms led to a diagnosis of severe autism but who was actually suffering from gluten sensitivity (improper diet) leading to digestive dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies. As I’ve stated before, it’s not that I’m suggesting that “Gluten Causes Autism” but rather that “improper diet, digestive dysfunction, food sensitivities, and nutritional deficiencies can manifest symptoms, especially in young children, that may be receive a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder.” For those parents with children that have received such a diagnosis for a child it is important to at least examine the possibility that the root cause is a problem with diet, digestion, nutrition, and/or immunity.
A case is presented of a 5-year-old boy diagnosed with severe autism at a specialty clinic for autistic spectrum disorders. After initial investigation suggested underlying celiac disease and varied nutrient deficiencies, a gluten-free diet was instituted along with dietary and supplemental measures to secure nutritional sufficiency. The patient’s gastrointestinal symptoms rapidly resolved, and signs and symptoms suggestive of autism progressively abated. This case is an example of a common malabsorption syndrome associated with central nervous system dysfunction and suggests that in some contexts, nutritional deficiency may be a determinant of developmental delay. It is recommended that all children with neurodevelopmental problems be assessed for nutritional deficiency and malabsorption syndromes
Celiac Disease Presenting as Autism (Journal of Child Neurology)
Ways to start and end the day
I really liked these 2 posts from Mark’s Daily Apple. Even for those not into the paleo/primal lifestyle these are worth reading.
Making sense of Biotics Folate (B9) + Cobalamin (B12) products
I had to write down the ingredients to all 5 of Biotics Folate + B12 supplement formulations to better understand their uses. Here’s my cheat sheet followed by the ingredient list:
- Methylfolate Plus – high quality methylfolate + methylcobalamin
- B12-2000 Lozenges – high dose hydroxocobalamin + some calcium folinate + some pyridoxal-5-phosphate
- Folate-5 Plus – high dose calcium folinate + some methylcobalamin
- B12/Folate Plus – methylcobalamin + calcium folinate + ascorbic acid
- Folic Acid 800 – folic acid + methylcobalamin
Continue reading ‘Making sense of Biotics Folate (B9) + Cobalamin (B12) products’ »
“The Origins and Drivers of Insulin Resistance”
An article available online from Cell called “The Origins and Drivers of Insulin Resistance” is very technical but well worth a read. The major take-away points are that research supports 3 primary drivers of insulin resistance:
- inflammation
- impaired lipid metabolism
- dysbiosis
… we believe that inflammation, lipid metabolism, and the microbiota are the major interacting components [implicated in insulin resistance] and that other proposed factors ultimately work through one or more of these mechanisms.
Effectiveness and Risks of Duloxetine (Cymbalta) and Milnacipran (Savella) for Fibromyalgia
Among fibromyalgia patients taking either of two commonly prescribed drugs to reduce pain, 22 percent report substantial improvement while 21 percent had to quit the regimen due to unpleasant side effects, according to a new review in The Cochrane Library.
Drugs to treat fibromyalgia just as likely to harm as help, review finds
I would consider a 22% rate of reported improvement an indication of moderately low effectiveness and a 21% rate of reported unpleasant side effects (serious enough to discontinue) to be moderately high risk.
Proteolytic enzymes for joint health
I’ve been seeing a lot of people recently who test and respond well to proteolytic enzymes (aka proteases and peptidases) for joint pain, especially for athletes who are runners or play sports with a high occurrence of joint injuries. I think this might be a major missing piece of nutritional information being given to athletes. Proteolytic enzymes help repair tissue damage by breaking down the proteins in the tissues. It seems more common, at least among the people I’m working with, that these enzymes are deficient rather than the raw materials to build new tissue (though both deficiencies may be present).
So it may be the case that supplementing with glucosamine, chondroitin, and/or MSM might help repair joint tissue but it may also be the case that the building of new tissues slows or stalls until the damaged tissue is broken down. If this is the case than proteolytics enzymes may be extremely useful in speedy tissue repair, especially from exercise or injury.
Human sensory perception
Aristotle was wrong about many things but one of the more enduring legacies has been his belief about the number of human senses. Granted, Aristotle only identified 4 senses, 1 for each of his proposed “elements” (seeing = water, hearing = air, smelling = fire, touching = earth) [On Sense and the Sensible by Aristotle], but his beliefs seemed to have largely shaped the notion of “the 5 senses” that would be taught in the following centuries.
The definition of what constitutes a sense is still debated so counting the number of senses depends entirely on that definition. I’ve seen counts from 3 to over 20 depending on the definition of sense. But I think it is important to understand the nature of some of the additional sensory information the human body possesses. These include:
- equilibrioception – perception of balance, acceleration, gravity
- thermoception – perception of heat, cold, rate of heat flow
- proprioception – perception of where one’s own body is relative to itself
- nociception – perception of pain
- chronoception – perception of the passage of time
You can read more about these, and other senses here: Sense – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This is not a closed subject but, rather, still being debated and researched. I would expect understandings of human sensory perception to continue to expand given time.