The Real Bears

Ever wonder what happened to those polar bears on the Coca Cola commercials? This version comes from The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). It's very cute.

"The F Word: Forgiveness" from One Human Journey

I know I haven't written much lately, I have been so busy, all with good stuff, but little time to post. I stumbled across a post called "The F Word: Forgiveness" from One Human Journey and I just had to pass this on...it's too lovely not to.

To understand why this topic is so important to me, a little of my background info (this isn't the most comfortable thing to talk about, kinda difficult, but this is why this post touched me so): My brother, now 42, has autism. He's very bright and yet he never reached his potential because my parents were never told he could have a potential. They were told the worst thing you could tell someone with a special needs child..."there's nothing you can do". So there they were with this kid, a rare condition, there's nothing they can do, no one in the same boat to even swap stories with, and they had to cope somehow. Like most parents of special needs kids there is no where to put the anger and negative feelings you may have to deal with. Their other child, me, was full of questions, giggles, and into everything, clueless to my parents need to grieve (or whatever it is they needed).  I think they tended to overreact to my annoying ways as a way to put those feelings somewhere. I always thought there was a bit of a black cloud over our family. I know if the doctors had told my parents to keep working with him to help him reach his potential, they would have done more and felt better.

When autism struck our family again, it was a big blow to my parents. Our son regressed into autism at age 2. But their heartbreak was soon relieved by our son's diet response and my Celiac diagnoses. They had finally gotten some answers  (gluten and gut issues) as to what was plaguing our family. The best news was there was something that could be done. That dark cloud seemed to disintegrate. My own dark cloud disappeared as well when I could understand what my parents had been through.

The other side of the family had a much different reaction, aimed right at me and our son's diet. Although we were working with a nutritionist, an allergist, and a gi doctor, they decided I was lying about the gluten and other allergy issues, and made comments about the potential for CPS to be called on me. No effort was made to learn anything about the diet or our sons health issues. This went on for a couple of months (this was 2008). My husband finally had to step in. There was absolutely nothing he could say on my behalf, so he had to explain they were insinuating him as well. I suspect some of them did what they did out of sheer meanness. But others, faced with the horrible news of autism, found it easier to demonize me than to deal with the autism (deja-vu for me).  One of those members didn't want to be stuck in the middle, while trying to avoid autism, and found it easier to jump on that bandwagon. Luckily things have calmed down and my mother-in-law makes the most delicious SCD baked goods for my son. I think she has really started to understand more. The others have varying degrees of acceptance.

It took a few years of struggling with shell shock to understand something very important: the power of forgiveness (especially when you can make no sense of someones behavior). I could be bitter or I could let it go, and living with the bitterness was just awful. The whole reason I am writing this is not to get any sympathy, or to get back at my in-laws (they are only human), those are the last thing I want. I just want to mention this because I think we all struggle with something similar, and those of us with compromised immune systems do not need this additional burden. I think resentment and negative feelings can undermine all of the work we put into trying to regain health. We also have to realize with autism, adhd, autoimmunity, cancer, etc...more and more people are forced to deal things that were never this common. Attacking someone else may be a coping mechanism.

I feel so blessed to stumble upon "The F Word: Forgiveness". Feeding our mind with healing messages can have same the powerful impact as feeding our bodies with healing foods, and maybe more.

The Alchemy of Flavor

Tweaking Tastes and Creating Cravings with Morley Safer. Stephen Guyenet posted on this 60 Minutes report today. It goes behind the closed doors of the flavor creating industry. It also sheds some light on why the ingredient "natural flavor" gives you no idea of what you are putting into your body. Morley does a great job of presenting both sides respectfully. For those of you starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, GAPS, Paleo or any other diet forsaking processed foods, I hope this will help strengthen your motivation.

If You Give a Lab Mouse a Cookie

Here's my grown up geeky version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. I have bookmarked a few pieces of interesting research that involve mice. Some of these articles involve inducing a condition to test new drugs. For example, say you need to test a drug for epilepsy or colitis, instead of trying to locate thirty mice with the condition, you induce it. As someone who never paid attention in biology class, this was news to me...and what was used to induce was sometimes more interesting than what they induced for. Please note I'm not trying to make fun of the poor plight of lab mice, who give their lives for our benefit.

If You Give a Lab Mouse a Cookie

If you give a lab mouse a cookie and them give him a glass of water with chlorinated by-products to wash it down with, he develops autistic symptoms: Chlorination byproducts induce gender specific autistic-like behaviors in CD-1 mice, post on Questioning Answers,
And cancer: Assessment of the carcinogenic potential of chlorinated water: experimental studies of chlorine, chloramine, and trihalomethanes

If you give a lab mouse a cookie with MSG and partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening he develops fatty liver disease: Effect of dietary monosodium glutamate on trans fat-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and becomes forgetful: Dietary trans-fat combined with monosodium glutamate induces dyslipidemia and impairs spatial memory

If you give a lab mouse a cookie with MSG he develops a smorgasbord of creepy health issues: Atorvastatin improves insulin sensitivity in mice with obesity induced by monosodium glutamate,
Long term effect of monosodium glutamate in liver of albino mice after neo-natal exposure,
Effects of bezafibrate in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis model mice with monosodium glutamate-induced metabolic syndrome, Chronic Administration of Monosodium Glutamate under Chronic Variable Stress Impaired Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function in Rats,

If you give a lab mouse a cookie with MSG or Aspartame he becomes forgetful again: Glutamate and aspartate impair memory retention and damage hypothalamic neurons in adult mice

If you give a lab mouse a low-protein cookie and candida yeast, he develops colon permeability and evasive candida: Preventive strategy for Candida gut translocation during ischemia-reperfusion injury supervening on protein-calorie malnutrition.

If you give a Syrian hamster (not a mouse, but everyone is welcome here) a cookie with antibiotics and candida yeast, his protective gut flora is wiped out and candida is found in his organs: Ecology of Candida albicans gut colonization: inhibition of Candida adhesion, colonization, and dissemination from the gastrointestinal tract by bacterial antagonism.

If you give a pregnant lab mouse a cookie with antibiotics her offspring have affected immune systems: See post at Gutness Gracious Me

If you give a lab rabbit a cookie with LPS he develops colitis. (actually he's injected with it, not eating it)  Lipopolysaccharide-induced colitis in rabbits. What is LPS? It is short for lipopolysaccharide, which is a toxin put off by gram-negative bacteria in your gut. Too much is a bad thing, which can also give the rabbit, an yourself, a host of bad issues: depression, anti-social behavior, liver problems, kidney problems, gi problems, etc. There is a wonderful website covering this called Microbial Influence.

If you give a lab mouse a cookie with high fructose corn syrup and trans-fat, the same amount to correlate with an American fast food diet, he develops metabolic syndrome: Severe NAFLD with hepatic necroinflammatory changes in mice fed trans fats and a high-fructose corn syrup equivalent

If you give a lab mouse a cookie with azo dyes (such as red 40), he develops DNA damage in his colon: DNA Damage Induced by Red Food Dyes Orally Administered to Pregnant and Male Mice

What's in your cookie?

This post is linked to Sunday School, Monday Mania, Fightback Friday, and Real Food 101.

Dan Rather on Colony Collapse

Bee keepers around the world are losing an average of 34 percent of their bee population each year. In this facinating, thought provoking and somewhat creepy report, Dan Rather looks into the role of neonicotinoid pesticides, a systemic pesticide whose release coincides with the bee epidemic. This report can be viewed here at PAN North America

Can a Grain-Free Diet Reverse Tooth Decay?

Here's an interesting post from Stephen Guyenet of Whole Health Source called Dr. Mellanby's Tooth Decay Reversal Diet. He discusses a study published in 1924 called "Remarks on the Influence of a Cereal-free Diet Rich in Vitamin D and Calcium on Dental Caries in Children". Three different diets were studied for their effect on dental caries. The grain-free diet supplemented with vitamin D not only slowed the rate of dental caries, but actually reversed some decay.

Honey and Intestinal Flora

Honey is legal on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for digestive reasons. It is a monosaccaride which requires almost no work for a damaged digestive tract to process. It may also offer another benefit for the gi tract. Here's is an interesting research article finding that it may help with intestinal flora. Effect of dietary honey on intestinal microflora and toxicity of mycotoxins in mice is a fairly easy to read piece. It's conclusion "Substituting sugars with honey in processed food can inhibit the harmful and genotoxic effects of mycotoxins, and improve the gut microflora."

A Good Excuse to Play in the Dirt

My son's health seems much more vibrant when he's had plenty of time to play outdoors. While the first thing that comes to mind is Vitamin D, I have suspected there's much more to it. I have tried supplementing his wintertime diet with Cod Liver Oil, but he's still not the same. It turns out playing in dirt offers health and brain benefits. There is an interesting article called "Breathing soil bacteria makes you smarter" on Mother Nature Network. After reading this, you may want to roll up your sleeves and join your kids (or someone else's) in the sandbox.

What's the Fat on Breakfast?

For some reason I have to start my day with a high fat breakfast. If I don't then I can't make it to lunch and I just don't feel right. I could eat a plate of veggies for dinner and be fine, but for some reason I need that fat in the mornings like some folks need coffee. So I found this article very interesting:

Bacon or Bagels? Higher Fat at Breakfast May Be Healthier Than You Think

The Dangers of Antacids and PPI's

If you or someone you know has Heartburn, GERD, Acid Reflux or has been taking antacids or PPI's (such as Nexium) please take a few moments to read about these. Chris at The Healthy Skeptic has done an excellent job covering this topic:

FDA sounds alarm on dangers of antacid drugs

Heartburn/GERD At the bottom of this article there are links to several more in his series on this.