SUMMARY: Sunscreen Safety. A JAMAstudy posted a few days ago (May 6, 2019) that investigated if the active ingredients in sunscreen of FOUR commercially available products gets absorbed into the human blood stream. Spoiler alert: ALL 4 of the sunscreen chemicals tested (avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, or ecamsule) were absorbed into the blood stream within one days useand in amounts greater than ever thought, exceeding amounts the FDA considers as Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective(GRASE) which is 0.5 ng/mL. This post details –> –>WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW and provides LINKS TO TWO RESOURCES YOU CAN USE FOR CHOOSING SAFER SUNSCREENS<– <– I won’t unduly burden this post with the [Matta et al 2019] study results, but you need to to know that the researchers tested different formulations for the chemicals: two different sprays, one lotion, and one cream to see if formulary mattered for skin absorption.It did not. SYSTEMIC CONCENTRATIONS GREATER THAN 0.5 ng/mL WERE REACHED FOR ALL 4 PRODUCTS AFTER 4 APPLICATIONS ON DAY 1.CNN reported on this study and said that “the amount used was twice the amount that would be applied in what the scientific community considers real-world conditions.” But the authors of the study say the amount they used is in accordance with the product usage instructions, and it is an amount that is commonly used at the beach. The authors note that it is not known what the clinical effect of plasma concentrations for these active ingredients in excess of 0.5 ng/mL means for health, so further research is needed. The FDA agrees and has proposed a new rule which requires evaluation of suncreen chemcial absorption considering reproductive, developmental, and carcinogenic effects. The authors of the study note that the study results do not indicate that individuals should refrain from the use of sunscreen despite the absorption amounts exceeding the threshold established by the FDA that permits potentially waiving some nonclinical toxicology studies for sunscreens. Hmmm… So, if you going to continue to use sunscreen, what sunscreen ingredients are you going to USE, or AVOID? I am also interested in what products you TRY and your thoughts about them! LMK in the comments below!
Summary: I don’t write a lot about toxin loads but should. They affect all of us and this study by UC Davis[Vogt et al, 2008]found that for children, the cumulative toxin load in all 364 children evaluated for 11 food based toxins in 44 foods, exceeded cancer benchmark levels for arsenic, dieldrin, DDE (a DDT metabolite), and dioxins, AND 10% exceeded mercury levels! In addition, for preschool aged children 2-4 years, OVER 95% exceeded cancer benchmark levels for acrylamide and they fared worse than the 5—7 yr age group. Acrylamide is a cooking byproduct found in processed foods like potato, tortilla chip and processed grains). So… while I don’t write often about toxins, going into the holiday season when we likely are eating even more of the foods contributing to the toxin burden, I wanted to remind all of the reality of these loads particularly in our children. So here is a Roundup of Healthy Holiday Trays ALL kids will luv! Try them since ALL 364 kids exceeded cancer benchmark levels of toxins in this UC Davis study! Instead of the processed foods and chips, these gems (anytime of the year really) will draw your children to less toxin loaded foods. Be sure to use EWG Dirty Dozen lists! I also like the UC Davis researcher recommendations to reduce these toxin loads: Vary diet to help protect us from accumulating too much of any one toxin since different toxins are applied to different fruit and vegetables. Acrylamides are relatively easy to remove from the diet. They form in chips and processed grains. Also reduce consumption of animal meat and fats, which may contain high levels of pesticide DDE and other persistent organic pollutants, and switch to organic milk. Eat smaller fish, lower on the food chain, which generally have lower mercury levels. Good SMASH fish are: Salmon, mackerel, anchovy, sardine, and herring.
Healthy Holiday Trays
Instead of the foods contributing to high cumulative cancer toxin loads in our children (like processed foods, processed grains, and chips and grains) try a tray or two of these gems and see how your children are drawn to less toxin loaded foods.
Be sure to use EWG Dirty Dozen lists (also below)!
Consider using lactose-free cheeses, such as those used in the SCD diet:
The Cumulative Food Toxin Load UC Davis study (currently the EPA looks only at individual toxin risk):
The study,Cancer and non-cancer health effects from food contaminant exposures for children and adults in California: a risk assessmentalso discussed in this article,Kids may risk cancer from toxins in food looked at cumulative toxin load in children for 11 food based toxins in 44 foods and found that all of the 364 children exceeded cancer benchmark levels for arsenic, dieldrin, DDE (a DDT metabolite), and dioxins. Over 95% of preschool aged children 2-4 years exceeded levels for acrylamide (a cooking byproduct found in processed foods like potato, tortilla chip and processed grains) and 10% exceeded mercury levels. The preschool age group also had significantly higher estimated intakes of 6 of 11 compounds compared to school-age children age 5-7. Even relatively low exposures can greatly increase the risk of cancer or neurological impairment. Pesticide exposure was particularly high in tomatoes, peaches, apples, peppers, grapes, lettuce, broccoli, strawberries, spinach, dairy, pears, green beans, and celery. The results of this study demonstrate a need to prevent exposure to multiple toxins in young children to lower their cancer risk. The 11 toxin compounds looked at were: metals, arsenic, lead, and mercury; pesticides chlorpyrifos, permethrin, and endosulfan; persistent organic pollutants dioxin, DDT, dieldrin, and chlordane; and the food processing byproduct acrylamide. The cohort was 207 preschool-age children (2–4 years), 157 school-age children (5–7 years), parents of young children (n=446), and older adults (n=149). young children.
To mitigate the toxins load, the researchers recommend:
Vary diet to help protect us from accumulating too much of any one toxin since different toxins are applied to different fruit and vegetables.
Also reduce consumption of animal meat and fats, which may contain high levels of pesticide DDE and other persistent organic pollutants, and switch to organic milk. Despite the DDT ban 40 years ago, the study showed significant persistence and risk of legacy DDE exposure. While mercury is most often found in fish, accumulation varies greatly by species. Smaller fish, lower on the food chain, generally have lower mercury levels.
In addition, acrylamides are relatively easy to remove from the diet. They form in chips and processed grains.
SUMMARY: Here it is, the 2017 EWG Clean Dirty list… Buy produce to the EWG Clean/Dirty list to preclude the most toxin loads! Also, consider those that are most dirty for growing in your garden or buying at clean farm markets!
The big changes from last year… Spinach jumps to second most dirty and pears appear for the first time…
The Dirty Dozen, in order of greatest to least toxin load, is: strawberries, spinach, nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, celery, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, and potatoes.
Here’s a YouTube for how to grow potatoes in a container!
And spinach, kale, and other greens (as well as herbs like basil, parsley rosemary and thyme), grow well in simple containers on the deck near the kitchen which makes for easy daily harvest! Matter of fact, so too does an organic vegetable soil bag!
SUMMARY: Don’t be duped into believing diet has nothing to do with your disease, or in preventing disease. When the researchers themselves rethink and change up their own diet to eliminate the ubiquitous food additive emulsifiers because their research is finding serious adverse impact on the gut lining, I want everyone to rethink their emulsifier intake too, for your gut’s health. Meet here, Dr. Andrew Gewirtz and learn about his important work on Microbiome, Emulsifiers, and their association with IBD and Metabolic Syndrome (defined by NIH as having three or more of these factors or you take drugs to control them: High triglyceride level, reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, increased blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, & large waist circumference. How concerned should you be about chowing down emulsifiers? Their connection to gut inflammation and microbiome skew at the mucosal level caused Dr. Gewirtz to eliminate such from his and his family’s diet. One tenet of the healing diets — eliminate processed foods — results in the elimination of emulsifiers. Perhapsit is time toreconsider your emulsifier intake too.
WHY ELIMINATE EMULSIFIERS?
Andrew Gewirtz’s studies in mice show that it is a matter of microbiome and microbes when it comes to emulsifiers in the diet.
Feeding mice emulsifiers altered the microbiota microbiome and Gerwirtz found, for mice, they got:
IBD (for mice with predisposition to this disease), and
Low-grade or mild intestinal inflammation and metabolic syndrome for mice having normal immune systems. Metabolic syndrome is characterized by increased levels of food consumption, diabetes, hyperglycemia, elevated cholesterol, elevated triglycerides.insulin resistance, and obesity. This work supports earlier findings that low-grade inflammation resulting from an altered microbiota can be an underlying cause of excess eating.
Large waist circumference — a waistline that measures at least 35 inches (89 centimeters) for women and 40 inches (102 centimeters) for men,
High triglyceride level — 150 milligrams per deciliter,(mg/dL), or 1.7 millimoles per liter (mmol/L), or higher of this type of fat found in blood,
Reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol — less than 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) in men or less than 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) in women of this “good” cholesterol,
Increased blood pressure — 130/85 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher,
Gerwirtz’s study suggests that the current means of testing and approval of food additives may not be adequate to prevent use of chemicals that promote diseases driven by low-grade inflammation and/or which will cause disease primarily in susceptible hosts. Actually though, you know by now that low grade inflammation is synonymous with many diseases, and many diseases have signature microbiomes. If you don’t — check out the drop down menu over on the right side bar to see your disease of interest.
Next up for Gewirtz’s animal microbiome emulsifiers findings — these studies are now being extended to human trials led by researcher Dr. Gary Wu, University of Pennsylvania
I am looking forward to the human data. A simulation of emulsifiers in the human gut performed in Belgium hasconfirmed the inflammation increase observed in the mice. If similar results are obtained in the human trials, such would indicate that emulsifiers play a role in driving the epidemic of obesity, its inter-related consequences and a range of diseases associated with chronic gut inflammation.
Microbiome dysbiosis cause and effect at this time is not clear. Dysbiosis might cause disease as researchers learn more about how the microbiota can influence the host, but diseased states can also lead to changes to the microbiota. Some mechanisms include the addition of medications such as antibiotics as well as microbiome changes resulting from eating habits [think about the emulsifier additives discussed in this post] and bowel function [IBS, SIBO…].-The gut microbiome in health and in disease, 2016
New restrictions on common ubiquitous emulsifiers would require food processors to scramble for alternatives to maintain texture, appearance, and quality of their foods and beverages; or we get use to understanding what real unadulterated food is supposed to look like… we learn to stir our peanut butter… This is beginning to sound similar to the death knell of trans-fat elimination from countless products.
What are emulsifiers?
Gerwirtz explains: Emulsifiers are a common class of food additives in virtually all processed food. Many are chemicals, and many are synthetic meaning they do not exist in nature such as carboxomethylcellous and polysorbate 80 . They improve texture but mainly their main role is to increase shelf life. Emulsifiers stabilize mixtures (prevents ice crystals for ice cream, keeps cookies or bread soft, salad dressings and other liquids stay blended that otherwise would separate, etc… ) and they are detergents. -Gewirtz interview, the American Microbiome Institute, Episode 3:Emulsifiers in our food with Dr. Andrew Gewirtz, March 2015.Actually, emulsifiers are only one type of food additive; for a complete listing of emulsifiers see the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21.
Many components in the food system instigate gut inflammation
It only makes sense to look at your diet and rethink those dietary components now known to cause gut inflammation. Some components of diet found associated with gut inflammation in susceptible animal models was summarized in the study,Reciprocal Interaction of Diet and Microbiome in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Such included certain types of higher fat (palm, soy and other fats are discussed here — PUFA Omega-6 corn oil was used in this researcher’s work, seefull text study here), as well as the Gerwirtz emulsifier studies (the focus of this post), and the artificial sweetener studies. Most all of these can be reasonably eliminated and substituted with anti-inflammatory choices. You can read about the soybean oil, vegetable oil, and corn oil connection to diabetes and metabolic syndrome here. The type of fat consumed and the connection to breast cancer diagnosis can be read here. The conclusions of those posts is that until the dust settles on fat types and disease… just use oils having long term non controverted known benefit such as EVOO (be certain it is not adulterated with the soybean, corn and vegetable oils — see those posts for listings).
Gut inflammatory food substrates are so ubiquitous in today’s food system that It has come to the point that label reading, though it takes time, is worthwhile. Decrease inflammatory instigation in the gut by choosing foods containing ingredients so that you know what they are.
Eating out at restaurants? Why would you drop $20/meal to eat a lot of ingredients that are going to inflame your gut? Choose raw produce for salads including avocado and hard boiled eggs, bring your own EVOO salad based dressing, and tell them to cook your meat/fish using only EVOO. Update: I did not include chicken. Why? Most have non-SCD broth injection. You can go so far as to bring your own seasonings and sea salt to eliminate the anti-clumping additives of their spice blends and spice powders such as garlic powder and onion powder.
SUMMARY: The focus of this post is to better your understanding of vegetable oils and unsaturated fats. Raw vegetable salads are chock-full of important vitamins and nutrients, but the latest science says you won’t get much benefit without eating them along withboth the right type &amount of fat.In fact,essentially no or very low absorption of carotenoids was observed when salads with fat-free salad dressing were consumed (see this study or this study, Table 3.)
In this post learn: the preferred fat/oil forbest carotenoid absorption (spoiler alert: that would beunadulterated, organic, and cold pressed EVOO brands which are listed in theUC Davis pdf report here— scroll down to the lightbulb for more details), that you can actually ditch dressing and instead add half an avocado, or you can add cooked eggs to an incredibly small amount of dressing to even further boost carotenoid absorption. Make certain you consider the sections entitled What inhibits Carotenoid Absorption for possible impact due to your particular health status, and the tips forDecoding Labels.
Ummm… all those low or fat-free eaters, listen up….Ends up, fat really does matter when it comes to carotenoid absorption as thisPurdue University studyshows. Bonus: You are going to learn fatty acids (and those not healthy) in this post. Use this to choose the fat/oils you want in all your foods, not just salad dressings.
If you use diet to avoid or battle chronic disease, you’d better be absorbing it’s micronutrients and antioxidants; thus the point of this post focusing on fats/oils and carotenoid absorption.
Adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet is the answer to reducing, managing, and even reversing chronic disease. Through diet we increase anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids, decrease inflammatory (Omega-6 fatty acids, and food intolerances), and increase fruits and vegetables to increase antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. High quality meat, grains, and diary have a place in a nutrient dense diet, but this post is about cold use oils and maximizing nutrient and antioxidant absorption from uncooked produce.
The point is to reduce your risk of chronic disease that shortens lifespans and to live with vitality. The lifespans of babies born today are shorter than their parents, and thediseases affecting men and women, are devastating lives, families, and incomes. What diseases?Ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 are shown in the below slides & are telling:
3 Dietary Factors Deliver 80% of value in terms of disease risk and body composition.
Dr. Peter Attia, M.D. (mechanical engineer ⇒ Stanford MD ⇒ surgical oncology fellow ⇒ healthcare consultant ⇒ NUSI (founder with mission to answer with scientific certainty through the best possible research— what we need to eat to be healthy questioning current guidelines — check out NUSI NEWS page) has gone so far as to say,“My point: Just modifying your diet by the 3 factors I mention in this post:
SUMMARY: Antibiotic resistance is invisible to most of us until you, a family member, or an acquaintance acquires such an infection. You can check out the slides below to see state by state, US Antibiotic Resistance Risk and state Antibiotic Use. erhaps the most reasonable mechanism to prevent antibiotic need in the first place, is explained in the post PRESERVE & RESTORE LOSS OF MICROBIOME DIVERSITY IS AGGRESSIVE PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE. These concepts are especially important given that theaverage American has lost1/3 of their microbiome diversity, as estimated byDr. Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello as seen on this interview for the film “Microbirth.”Another study estimates 1 in 4 have 40% less bacteria (see This Danish study, orread the scientific article here).
This post teaches that the WHO, and the United States, this month took their first steps to recognize the invisible threat of antibiotic resistance, which missed the microbiome connection. You can comment to the US Request for [Microbiome] Information and help bring this to the forefront. Of course their goal of providing alternate antibiotics to wage the war on antibiotic resistance is wrought with difficulties due to the antibiotic pipeline:
And the cost: The report, Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, estimates that we need 15 new antibiotics over 10 years, of which four would have to be truly new formulas (two broad-spectrum, or capable of attacking a number of bacteria, and two narrow-spectrum), while the remainder could be incremental improvements on existing formulas. It estimates the effort would require between $16 billion and $37 billion over that decade—huge amounts, but as the report points out, the global market for antibiotics now earns $40 billion every year, while resistance costs just the United States $20 billion per year in excess healthcare costs. Read morehereandhere, and the problem of the antibiotic pipeline, if interested.
⇒⇒Also covered last in this post, for background, is who actually lives in your gut and why it is difficult to know who truly is living in your gut. There are four dominant phyla that comprise the intestinal commensal microbiota of humans. These include Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, which normally account for >90% of the bacterial populations in the colon, as well as Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. The intestinal commensal populations are altered when comparing certain disease with non-disease. In addition, when some of these gut players are reduced, skewed, or absent there is health ramifications even beyond disease —for example, acetaminophen is toxic to the liver.
WHO commits unanimously to tackle antibiotic resistance
The annual World Health Assembly is the meeting of health minsters from 194 countries that serves as the decision-making body for the World Health Organization (WHO). For the first time, the global crisis of antibiotic resistance was addressed; the delegatescommitted unanimouslyto tackling the issue; WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan’s welcome speech, May 2015:
“This is a unique time in history where economic progress is actually increasing threats to health instead of reducing them… As the century progressed, more and more first- and second-line antimicrobials failed. The pipeline of replacement products ran dry, raising the spectre of a post-antibiotic era in which common infections will once again kill. A draft global action plan on antimicrobial resistance is on your agenda. I urge you to adopt it.”
SUMMARY: Incredulously, the latest 16S rRNA research now challenges what was thought for years to be a ‘protective,’ ‘normal,’ and healthy vaginal microbiome. Our many microbiomes ideally are “inherited” and originate from our passage through the vagina, and yet it seems a ‘healthy’ and ‘normal’ vaginal microbiome has been elusive; in fact, many women have a compromised vaginal microbiome and many are asymptomatic, or perhaps not…
16S rRNA now proves the notion of a Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbiome as ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’ is overly simplistic and is giving way to an appreciation of diverse and dynamic bacterial communities. Indeed, the composition and stability of the vaginal microbiome varies by race, age, even within an individual—and it’s quickly become clear that the formula for a “normal,” “healthy” microbial community cannot be computed by ratios of bacterial species.In fact, there is a racial difference in the vaginal environment and the microbial [community] in parallel. Thus, it is time to learn what a ‘normal‘ and ‘healthy’ vaginal microbiome looks like, and if you read this post, you’ll know more than your doctor at your next exam! This 16S rRNA study title says it all: “The vaginal microbiome: rethinking health and diseases.
Yep, we’re going there folks… and men pay attention, if not for yourself… your significant other, daughters, and future children will love you for this information!
The whole foods and lubricant take on vaginal health
I was surprised by the number of women I work with who report that a whole foods diet (such includes live probiotics) along with toxin eliminations (a big change relative to vaginal health I would imagine is ditching personal lubricants and instead use coconut oil), were actually resolving many vajayjay issues. I am talking all ages…. bacterial vaginosis (BV), yeast, discomfort during togetherness, vaginal atrophy, dry vagina… and I mean resolved to the point where prescription and estrogen based suppositories were no longer needed!
Granted, this is anecdotal, but the numbers don’t lie. Curiosity got the best of me, and I learned there is real science that supports my observations relative to vaginal microbiome. Also worth noting: one lubricant, K-Y®Jelly differs regionally in ingredient formulation and composition. Just to repeat: K-Y® Jelly ingredients differs worldwide — I find that incredibly odd, don’t you?!? That’s just one more reason to distrust and ditch such, just saying…
Defining a “healthy” vaginal microbiome is elusive as it can look like it is on the verge of chronic disease…“These findings challenge the common wisdom that the occurrence of high numbers of lactobacilli and a vaginal pH <4.5 is synonymous with ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’.”
What is a ‘healthy’ vaginal microbiome (or gut… or any other microbiome for that matter) is not really known:
In the third trimester, the vaginal microbiome changes and ends up looking like the microbiomes of people with metabolic syndrome, a condition characterized by obesity, high blood sugar and a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease. This microbiome community might indicate someone on the verge of chronic disease — or merely motherhood. But think about it… packing fat and building up blood sugar really does make perfect sense when nourishing a growing fetus [and I add, prepping for breast milk production].-Of the bugs that shape us: maternal obesity, the gut microbiome, and long-term disease risk,and
SUMMARY: Roundup on your yard means runoff in your garden, from you or your neighbors use. It’s ubiquitous in the restaurant and grocery food chain hidden in ingredients: corn, soybeans, canola, and cottonseed oil, and meat from alfalfa-corn-soy eating animals and their other byproducts. It’s found in our urine and breast-milk and cattle’s tissues: intestine, liver, muscle, spleen, kidney, and bone .
What’s the harm of eating ubiquitous glyphosate? Dr. Stephanie Seneff asserts that the glyphosate and disease link is: autism, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and the gmo intestinal gut having related digestive system disorders leading to disease… In simpleton, glyphosate exposure impairs detox pathways through the microbiome including the liver’s P450 enzymes. Toxins taken onboard are not sufficiently eliminated from the body. Gyphosate kills beneficial gut bacteria allowing pathogens to grow; it interferes with the synthesis of amino acids including methionine which leads to shortages in critical neurotransmitters and folate; it chelates (removes) important minerals like iron, cobalt, manganese, and much more.
Many need a spaghetti substitute especially when first decreasing gluten and grain consumption, and instead are increasing vegetable consumption. A Paderno Spiralizer (this Williams-Sonoma website has a nice How-To use video) is what I use to make vegetable spiralizer noodles. There are other spiralizer brands but I find the three blade Paderno to not be cost prohibitive (shop online), and it has lasted through many uses.
Vegetable noodles is a neat trick for spaghetti sides, be it scampi or marinara sauce based. Recipes abound on the internet using spiralizer vegetable noodles, but a few of my favorites are:
Recipe Source: Just a Taste blog, Skinny Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles http://www.justataste.com/2014/07/skinny-shrimp-scampi-zucchini-noodles-recipe/
Here’s another good YouTube by Danielle Walker from the blogAgainst All Grain, demonstrating just how easy it is to make zucchini noodles using the Paderno vegetable spiralizer:
Vegetable Noodles Can Replace Arsenic Rice Based Noodles (another plus)
So now you know how you can add in vegetable noodles instead of grain based noodles for any recipe needing noodles. Also worth noting, increasing vegetable consumption and variety has the biggest positive impact on the gut microbiome (see the post, OPTIMAL MICROBIOME DIET FROM AMERICAN GUT DATA). And the kidos love these dishes… always an added bonus.
Consumer Reports (CR) today issued new consumption guidelines for inorganic arsenic (IA) in rice and other grains. While past reports on the subject by CR and others have been complex and academic, this one is consumer friendly.
CR says its new guidelines were developed in response to consumer questions after its 2012 study found measurable levels of IA in all 60 rice varieties and rice products it tested. Consumers wanted to know whether there were types of rice that are lower in arsenic and whether other grains also contain arsenic.
Feeding mice emulsifiers altered the microbiota microbiome and Gerwirtz found, for mice, they got:
