Sodas, Fries, Snacks and Inactivity Raise Diabetes Risk

Posted on: 

Sunday, September 30th 2012 at 5:00 am

Written By: 

Case Adams, Naturopath

Researchers from the The Netherlands' Utrecht University Medical Center have determined in a large study that a diet rich in soft drinks, fries and snacks substantially increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The research followed 20,835 Dutch people. The researchers monitored the diets and diet patterns of the patients through questionnaires and cross-referenced these with the incidence of type 2 diabetes among the subjects.

The analysis allowed the researchers to separate the subjects' diets into two general patterns. The first pattern found a variety of foods, which included diets rich in fruits, vegetables and lean protein foods were accompanied by a lower risk of diabetes. Those subjects with a dietary pattern with increased intake of soft drinks, fries and snacks, however, had an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes.

The dietary analysis found that those in the highest quarter percentile of this dietary pattern (increased intake of soft drinks, fries and snacks) had a 70% higher incidence of type 2 diabetes than those in the lowest quarter percentile of this dietary pattern.
Additionally, type 2 diabetes increased to more than twice the incidence among subjects who were in the highest quarter percentile together with less physical activity.
Increased physical activity also decreased the incidence of type 2 diabetes among those who were in the highest quarter percentile of eating more soft drinks, fries and snacks. The risk of type 2 diabetes decreased from 70% more incidence to 35% more incidence in those who got more exercise.

The researchers concluded

A high score on a pattern high in soft drinks, fries and snacks and low in fruit and vegetables was associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes in overweight and obese subjects especially among physically less active individuals.

The hard news on soft drinks

As we break down the increased risk to the type of consumption, we find that soft drinks have been linked with not just diabetes, but also cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome(which includes diabetes and cardiovascular disease), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gout in men, obesity, increased dental caries and gum disease. Many have connected this to the increased level of sugar in the diet, and newer research has linked this to increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
For example, in a recent study of over 2,700 Taiwanese teenagers, researchers from Taiwan's National Yang Ming University found that those who drank more beverages sweetened with sugar and HFCS had three to five times the risk of being obese, and double the risk of having gout when compared to those who did not drink sodas.

Fried risk

As for fries, research has also connected the eating of fried foods with increased cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. Other risks include breast cancer, as we reported on a recent study showing the increased consumption of acrylamide is linked to greater levels of breast cancer.

Whether the acrylamide content is the only precipitating factor with fried foods has yet to be determined, but there is strong evidence pointing to overcooked oils becoming toxic in themselves. When many oils are heated beyond their smoke point, the fatty acids can convert to trans fats or other types of damaged fats. These can become peroxidized and form lipoperoxides within the body. These lipoperoxides will form greater levels of LDL and VLDL, and will damage the liver and blood vessels, forming atherosclerosis.

Illustrating this effect, in a recent study from the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, researchers found a link between type 2 diabetes and stroke in those with higher levels of lipid peroxidation.

A lethal combo

These two diet issues – increased consumption of refined sweeteners such as HFCS and eating fried foods – come together in the form of many of our snack foods. Many snacks are both sweetened with these refined sugars and deep-fried. These include many of our potato chips, crackers and others.

Baked snacks with little or no sugar should thus be considered healthier, but a survey of snacks in practically any store will reveal that healthier snacks - outside of fruits and vegetables - often require a bit more diligence to find.

Learn about the living food diet.

REFERENCES

• Bauer F, Beulens JW, van der A DL, Wijmenga C, Grobbee DE, Spijkerman AM, van der Schouw YT, Onland-Moret NC. Dietary patterns and the risk of type 2 diabetes in overweight and obese individuals. Eur J Nutr. 2012 Jul 28.
• Bray GA. Fructose and Risk of Cardiometabolic Disease. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2012 Sep 5.
• Carvalhana S, Machado MV, Cortez-Pinto H. Improving dietary patterns in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2012 Sep;15(5):468-73.
• Lin WT, Huang HL, Huang MC, Chan TF, Ciou SY, Lee CY, Chiu YW, Duh TH, Lin PL, Wang TN, Liu TY, Lee CH. Effects on uric acid, body mass index and blood pressure in adolescents of consuming beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. Int J Obes (Lond). 2012 Aug 14. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2012.121.
• Sanny M, Jinap S, Bakker EJ, van Boekel MA, Luning PA. Is lowering reducing sugars concentration in French fries an effective measure to reduce acrylamide concentration in food service establishments? Food Chem. 2012 Dec 1;135(3):2012-20.
• Ronco AL, Stefani ED, Deneo-Pellegrini H. Risk Factors for Premenopausal Breast Cancer: A Case-control Study in Uruguay. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2012;13(6):2879-86.
• Tsakanova GV, Ayvazyan VA, Boyajyan AS, Arakelova EA, Grigoryan GS, Guevorkyan AA, Mamikonyan AA. A comparative study of antioxidant system and intensity of lipid peroxidation in type 2 diabetes mellitus and ischemic stroke aggravated and not aggravated by type 2 diabetes mellitus. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2011 Sep;151(5):564-6.

The 18 Foods Americans Are Most Likely To Throw Out

BY EMI BOSCAMP, MBG EDITORIAL
DECEMBER 2, 2014 1:35 PM EST

You May Also Enjoy

Tyson Foods Is Eliminating Antibiotics From Its Chicken

The biggest chicken seller in the U.S. has finally seen the light. By the end of September 2017, Tyson Foods will cease to use human antibiotics in its chickens, reported Bloomberg. The  Read 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, your fridge is stuffed with, well, stuffing. And turkey. And mashed potatoes. And cranberry sauce. You've already had your fair share of turkey sandwiches, and you know that with each passing day, your leftovers' conditions are worsening. And as much as you hate to admit it, you see a major fridge clean-out in the near future.

But Thanksgiving is certainly not the only time Americans waste their food. In fact, the amount of food we toss out annually is becoming a pretty big problem. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps make up 20% of our landfills, and each year Americans toss 35 million tons of untouched groceries.

The EPA says that restaurants and businesses are responsible for about half of food waste, and consumers for the other half — which costs American households $124 billion each year.

So which foods do we throw out the most? Well, fresh fruits are a major culprit, sitting out proudly (until bruised) on our counters. According to The Atlantic, Americans throw away 31% of all tomatoes they buy, or 21 tomatoes a year per person.

Here's the rest of the list, thanks to the USDA's food-loss estimates among consumers for 2010:

1. Fish and seafood
2. Added sugar and sweeteners
3. Fresh fruit
4. Fresh vegetables
5. Meat
6. Vegetables
7. Meat, poultry, and fish
8. Eggs
9. Dairy products
10. Fluid milk
11. Grain products
12. Fruit
13. Other dairy products
14. Processed vegetables
15. Poultry
16. Added fats and oils
17. Processed fruit
18. Tree nuts and peanuts

So how do we break this wasteful habit? The EPA recommends a number of strategies for reducing waste, like making shopping lists, learning the proper way to store your groceries, composting food scraps, and donating excess. You can also check out their program "Food: Too Good to Waste," which offers families the tools they need to reduce food waste and save time and money at the grocery store.

While we'd never suggest eating food past its prime — especially with items like eggs and poultry — we urge you to shop more consciously, keeping shelf life (or better yet, a complete menu) in mind. Your wallet will thank you.

(h/t The Atlantic)

Photo Credit: Stocksy

What is Functional Medicine?

“Frustrated with impersonal, ineffective, symptom-centric medical approaches, a growing number of patients are searching for better solutions. And they are finding them in the field of Functional Medicine, a radical new model for how to practice medicine and treat chronic disease.”¹

THE INSTITUTE FOR FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE INVITES YOU TO DISCOVER A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT HEALTH CARE.

If you live with a chronic condition, you already know that our current system of medical care isn’t working very well. 

• Obesity and diabetes rates are at an all-time high, with no end in sight.
• Heart disease is still our country’s #1 killer after more than 50 years of modern medical treatments.
• Diseases related to excess weight, poor diet, and inactivity now account for more than 70% of health care spending.

The rising cost of care for these “lifestyle-related” diseases is quickly becoming unsustainable. Many families, no matter their incomes, find the health care costs related to living with chronic disease devastating.

WHY HASN’T MODERN MEDICINE ADDRESSED THESE PROBLEMS?

The current health care system is designed to treat urgent medical problems, also known as "acute” conditions. But chronic, lifestyle-related diseases can’t be treated successfully using that same approach. 

“Magic bullets” don’t work to treat chronic conditions. What does work is an individualized approach to patients—with an emphasis on the ways our environment and lifestyle choices interact with our genes.

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

Functional Medicine is an innovative approach to medical care. It uses the latest medical research to develop personalized care for each patient based on his or her unique environment, lifestyle, and genes. The result is a dynamic, effective way to address chronic disease. And it really works.

- See more at: https://www.functionalmedicine.org/Patients/WhatisFM/#sthash.vQmv55C5.dpuf

Iatrogenic Induction of Vitamin D Deficiency

Posted on: 

Sunday, April 19th 2015 at 8:15 am

Written By: 

Alex Vasquez DC ND DO FACN

Vitamin D Controversy: Article and Video from ICHNFM.org on Vimeo.

Originally published in International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine

The Position Against This Potentially Harmful Practice and Open Invitation for Its Proponents to Articulate Substantiation

Introduction

 Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is unique in nutritional science for its impressive safety, low cost, and wide range of clinical applications. The breadth of its clinical applications provides evidence of the importance of this nutrient/hormone in a wide range of physiologic functions, including calcium absorption and bone health, maintenance of gut mucosal integrity, maintenance of muscle strength, anti-inflammatory benefits, modulation of NFkB, antirheumatic and anti-autoimmune benefits, immunosupportive and anti-infection benefits, anti-cancer benefits, cardioprotection, neuroprotection, and ability to prevent deficiency-induced musculoskeletal pain, weakness, and seizures. In 2004, the current author lead the writing of an important review paper for the integrative medicine and functional medicine communities in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, and this paper sought to effect a "paradigm shift" in the way vitamin D is perceived by clinicians with the hope that more clinicians would embrace its use for the benefit of their practices and patients. For the eleven years following that publication, the key points of that article and its derivatives—including a letter published in the British Medical Journal and a clinical trial published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism— remain strong, and they have been further supported and extended by the accumulation of additional clinical experience and a wide range of scientific investigations, ranging from in vitro studies, to animal studies, to clinical trials, to epidemiologic studies and meta-analyses. Humans have an absolute requirement for vitamin D3, with catabolic use of approximately 4,000 IU per day for adults, consistent with physiologic production and doses ≥4,000 IU/d used in several successful clinical trials.^,,
In contrast to this consistent and logical science, the mechanistic understandings and clinical success, a small group of presenters, authors, and clinicians have advocated, not simply against the manifold merits of vitamin D3, but have actually championed the intentional iatrogenic induction of vitamin D deficiency. The purpose of this article is to briefly outline the arguments for and against and to invite proponents of "medically endorsed nutritional deficiency" to clearly articulate their position, its mechanisms, and to provide a risk/cost-benefit ratio substantiating what is otherwise contrary to the bulk of science and clinical practice on this topic.

Background

Vitamin D3 functions via the vitamin D receptor (VDR) to support innate and acquired immune responses via several mechanisms including

1. regulating inflammation via mechanisms that include modulation of NFkB
2. inhibiting viral replication and enhancing anti-viral defenses via elaboration of antimicrobial peptides (AMP)
3. via the AMP, enhancing innate immunity against cancer, bacteria, fungi and other microbes
4. assisting in the maintenance of gastrointestinal integrity, helping prevent intestinal hyperpermeability (per research showing that VDR-knockout animals have "leaky gut" whereas wildtype animals do not), and others

Although not all trials have shown benefit, the vast bulk of clinical research shows improved outcomes in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases when physiologically appropriate doses of vitamin D3 are used, especially when supplementation guidelines^1,2 are followed.

Controversial position by Waterhouse, Marshall, et al, advocating iatrogenic induction of vitamin D deficiency in the "treatment" of the same infectious and inflammatory conditions that vitamin D has already been shown to prevent or treat

In 2009, Waterhouse et al, relying impressively on several unpublished substantiations and unpublished and non-peer-reviewed conference presentations by Marshall, state that in autoimmunity, intracellular bacteria cause vitamin D receptor (VDR) dysfunction within phagocytes leading to a decline in innate immune function that causes susceptibility to additional infections that contribute to inflammatory/autoimmune disease progression. The authors propose treatment aimed at "gradually restoring VDR function with the VDR agonist olmesartan and subinhibitory dosages of certain bacteriostatic antibiotics." They state that with this approach, "Diseases showing favorable responses to treatment so far include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, sarcoidosis, Sjogren's syndrome, autoimmune thyroid disease, psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, [reactive arthritis], type I and II diabetes mellitus, and uveitis." The most controversial part of this strategy is the iatrogenic induction of vitamin D deficiency; the authors state, "Disease reversal using this approach requires limitation of vitamin D in order to avoid contributing to dysfunction of nuclear receptors..." In this protocol, patients are advised to strictly avoid all dietary vitamin D and to wear "protective" full-body clothing, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen to block all possible consumption or production, respectively, of vitamin D3, with the proposed goal being that of specifically inducing profound vitamin D deficiency.
Articles and videos by this same group and advocates of the so-called "Marshall protocol" intermix scientific accuracy (e.g., microbes contribute to inflammatory diseases) with profound inaccuracies (e.g., microbes cause overconversion of 25-OH-vitamin D to 1,25-dihydrovitamin D [and perhaps other "immunosuppressive" metabolites], and that administering vitamin D prolongs these diseases); the protocol remains scientifically unsupported, and its availability (on the internet) continues to promote confusion among some doctors and the general public.^,, I propose here that these positions are easily deflated with minimal effort, and that the arguments espoused lack internal consistency. As an example, when they note that patients benefit fromvitamin D supplementation, these proponents countermeasure not with fact but with additional supposition; Albert, Proal, and Marshall state "...symptomatic improvements among those administered vitamin D is the result of 25-D's ability to temper bacterial-induced inflammation by slowing VDR activity. While this results in short-term palliation, persistent pathogens that may influence disease progression, proliferate over the long-term." Thus, when faced with evidence showing that patients have less inflammation and fewer symptoms after receiving vitamin D3, the authors superstitiously attribute this to an analgesic/anti-inflammatory drug-like effect, suppressing symptoms while allowing the disease to fester; their proposal is unsupported by science.
Furthermore, if this proposal were true, then vitamin D deficiency would reduce disease and mortality, and this is contrary to the bulk of the science, which consistently shows improved clinical and population-wide health benefits with enhanced vitamin D nutriture. The landmark 1999 review of "Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety" by Vieth already laid to rest most of the concerns raised by Marshall's group, leaving one to wonder if the latter has read the former; Vieth's article is one of the most powerful ever published in the medical nutrition literature and his clear statements such as "Except in those with conditions causing hypersensitivity, there is no evidence of adverse effects with serum 25(OH)D concentrations <140 nmol/L, which require a total vitamin D supply of 250 microg (10000 IU)/d to attain" demonstrated clear authority of the literature and paved the way for our 2004 "paradigm shift" paper that followed after (Vasquez et al, op cit).

Argument in favor of iatrogenic vitamin D deficiency 

Some authors and clinicians state that, in autoimmunity and chronic illnesses, vitamin D is being converted by microbes into metabolites that actually cause immunosuppression by interfering with VDR function, thereby leading to the perpetuation of microbial colonization, which promotes illness. Proponents state that induction of vitamin D deficiency is necessary to deprive microbes of the vitamin D that the microbes will use to create these immunosuppressive VDR antagonists. Microbes and mechanisms are scarcely specified.

Counterarguments against iatrogenic induction of vitamin D deficiency

Counterargument #1—Lack of risk-benefit analysis
Even if the argument were true, the risk-to-benefit ratio would have to be evaluated. Iatrogenic induction of vitamin D deficiency for the supposed purpose of supposedly liberating the VDR from microbial metabolites would have to be justified by being proven superior to the known and likely effects of vitamin D deficiency, including immunoimpairment, leaky gut, depression, migraine/seizure, pain, increased risk for cancer, autoimmunity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Proponents of "iatrogenic hypovitaminosis D as treatment" have failed to substantiate favorable risk:benefit and cost:benefit arguments for their intervention.
Counterargument #2—Lack of consideration for repletion or supranutritional supplementation of vitamin D to overcome VDR impairment
An argument could be made that increasing vitamin D nutriture would help overcome the VDR impairment, even more so considering that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is directly affected by dietary supplementation, has biological activity, albeit less than that of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Why not allow vitamin D itself to serve as its own VDR agonist by raising the levels of 25-OH-D and/or 1,25-dihydroxy-D to overcome the supposed microbial monkeywrench?
Counterargument #3—Failure to define microbes, mechanisms
Zero or insufficient mechanistic evidence has been presented.
Counterargument #4—Per the proposed hypothesis, vitamin D supplementation should be harmful and vitamin D deficiency should be beneficial in these prototypic autoimmune diseases when in fact the research shows the opposite to be true
If, as the authors state, microbes are converting vitamin D into an immunosuppressive metabolite, then providing vitamin D supplementation should itself be immunosuppressive; not only has this not been shown, but the opposite has been consistently demonstrated. Providing vitamin D supplementation to autoimmune and chronically ill patients provides benefit. The ultimate proof is shown—as always—in clinical trials, a representative sample of which are provided here:

• Vitamin D supplementation benefits patients with back pain ("despite" the high prevalence of bacterial infection reported in this condition^,,):
  • "This article reviews 6 selected cases of improvement/resolution of chronic back pain or failed back surgery after vitamin D repletion... This case series supports information that has recently become apparent in the literature about vitamin D deficiency and its influence on back pain, muscle pain, and failed back surgery. Doses in the range of 4000 to 5000 IU of vitamin D3/day may be needed for an adequate response."
  • "Findings showed that 83% of the study patients (n = 299) had an abnormally low level of vitamin D before treatment with vitamin D supplements. After treatment, clinical improvement in symptoms was seen in all the groups that had a low level of vitamin D, and in 95% of all the patients (n = 341). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency is a major contributor to chronic low back pain in areas where vitamin D deficiency is endemic. Screening for vitamin D deficiency and treatment with supplements should be mandatory in this setting. Measurement of serum 25-OH cholecalciferol is sensitive and specific for detection of vitamin D deficiency, and hence for presumed osteomalacia in patients with chronic low back pain." 
• Vitamin D supplementation benefits patients with lupus/SLE: Cholecalciferol 100,000 IU per week for 4 weeks followed by 100,000 IU of cholecalciferol per month for 6 months in 20 SLE patients with hypovitaminosis D increased serum 25(OH)D levels from 18 ng/mL to 51 ng/mL at 2 months and to 41 ng/mL. "Vitamin D was well tolerated and induced a preferential increase of naïve CD4+ T cells, an increase of regulatory T cells and a decrease of effector Th1 and Th17 cells. Vitamin D also induced a decrease of memory B cells and anti-DNA antibodies." Comment: Anti-DNA antibodies are the defining laboratory and pathologic hallmark of SLE; their reduction is worthy of interpretation as a clear indication in reduced disease activity by vitamin D. 
• Vitamin D supplementation benefits patients with viral hepatitis:
  • "Cases treated with vitamin D [vitamin D3 2000 IU/d orally] showed significant higher early (P<0.04) and sustained (P<0.05) virological response. There was a high frequency of vitamin D deficiency among the Egyptian HCV children, with significant decrease in bone density. The vitamin D level should be assessed before the start of antiviral treatment with the correction of any detected deficiency. Adding vitamin D to conventional Peg/RBV therapy significantly improved the virological response and helped to prevent the risk of emerging bone fragility."
  • "Low vitamin D levels predicts negative treatment outcome, and adding vitamin D [oral vitamin D3 2000 IU/d] to conventional Peg/RBV therapy for patients with HCV genotype 2-3 significantly improves viral response."

Counterargument #5—The Marshall Protocol proponents claim that vitamin D supplementation is harmful despite the fact that essentially all studies have shown clinical benefit and reduced mortality and disease incidence with improved vitamin D nutriture

My conclusion is that iatrogenic vitamin D deficiency is almost certainly harmful and clearly not beneficial, neither in the long-term nor the short-term. Several studies and metaanalyses involving tens of thousands of patients have shown dose-dependent (i.e., causal) benefits of vitamin D supplementation. 

• Vitamin D supplementation reduces total mortality (Arch Intern Med 2007 Sep): "Intake of ordinary doses of vitamin D supplements seems to be associated with decreases in total mortality rates." Comment: Most of the studies reviewed in this meta-analysis used subphysiologic doses of vitamin D; yet they still produced benefit in terms of reduced total mortality, some of which is likely attributable to reductions in the incidence and severity of infections and autoimmunity. 
• Vitamin D supplementation in first year of life reduces risk of type 1 diabetes by at least 78%. (Lancet 2001 Nov): In this pioneering and prophetic study—amazingly started in 1966 and ended in 1997—the authors assessed the effect of vitamin D supplementation in more than 10,000 infants (n = 10366) to find that "Vitamin D supplementation was associated with a decreased frequency of type 1 diabetes when adjusted for neonatal, anthropometric, and social characteristics (rate ratio [RR] for regular vs no supplementation 0.12, and irregular vs no supplementation 0.16. Children who regularly took the recommended dose of vitamin D (2000 IU daily) had a RR of 0.22 (0.05-0.89) compared with those who regularly received less than the recommended amount. Children suspected of having rickets during the first year of life had a RR of 3.0 compared with those without such a suspicion. Interpretation: Dietary vitamin D supplementation is associated with reduced risk of type 1 diabetes. Ensuring adequate vitamin D supplementation for infants could help to reverse the increasing trend in the incidence of type 1 diabetes." This is a landmark study that should have resulted in routine implementation of vitamin D supplementation in all children because the cost is minimal, the health benefits (including and beyond diabetes) are massive, and the risks are truly almost negligible—in this study of more than 10,000 infants, not a single adverse effect was reported. Note the very clear dose-response relationship and that vitamin D deficiency rickets was associated with a 300% increased risk for diabetes. 
• Estimated health benefits and reduction in economic burden and premature deaths due to vitamin D deficiency in Canada. (Mol Nutr Food Res 2010 Aug): "Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many diseases and conditions in addition to bone diseases, including many types of cancer, several bacterial and viral infections, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. ... It is estimated that the death rate could fall by 37,000 deaths, representing 16.1% of annuals deaths and the economic burden by 6.9% or $14.4 billion ($8.0 billion-$20.1 billion) less the cost of the program." 
• Vitamin D reduces risk of multiple sclerosis:
  • Estimated vitamin D intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) during pregnancy were assessed in 35,794 mothers and correlated with offspring incidence of developing MS. "The relative risk of MS was lower among women born to mothers with high milk or vitamin D intake during pregnancy. ... The predicted 25[OH]D level in the pregnant mothers was also inversely associated with the risk of MS in their daughters. Comparing extreme quintiles, the adjusted RR was 0.59; (95% CI, 0.37-0.92; p trend = 0.002). INTERPRETATION: Higher maternal milk and vitamin D intake during pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of developing MS in offspring." 
  • "Dietary vitamin D intake was examined directly in relation to risk of MS in two large cohorts of women: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS; 92,253 women followed from 1980 to 2000) and Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II; 95,310 women followed from 1991 to 2001). ... The pooled age-adjusted relative risk (RR) comparing women in the highest quintile of total vitamin D intake at baseline with those in the lowest was 0.67. Intake of vitamin D from supplements was also inversely associated with risk of MS; the RR comparing women with intake of >or=400 IU/day with women with no supplemental vitamin D intake was 0.59. ... CONCLUSION: These results support a protective effect of vitamin D intake on risk of developing MS." 

Invitation 

Advocates for "intentional induction of vitamin D deficiency as therapy against chronic infections and microbe-induced inflammatory disease" are invited to write a succinct and articulate review detailing the

1. involved microbes
2. mechanisms
3. risk:benefit analysis addressing the concerns described previously and in the table below, and
4. justification of iatrogenic vitamin D deficiency versus nutritional immunoenhancement and targeted antimicrobial therapy. 

History of this publication:

This article was conceived and written by Dr Alex Vasquez; editorial critiques and peer reviews were provided by a quorum of IJHNFM reviewers. Publication does not imply endorsement by all members of IJHNFM Editorial Review Board. In order to ensure and enhance the openness of the review process, the document was also posted publicly—and specifically to professional forums of licensed healthcare providers—with a request for additional peer-review prior to publication; total number of exposures/invitations is estimated to be 12,000 prior to publication, and the article received more than 400 downloads within the first 24 hours, thereby ensuring that opportunity for peer-review had been achieved. This version is the final version—posted 12 Apr 2015; if any changes, corrections, withdrawals are made or rebuttals/replies posted, these will be made freely available at www.ICHNFM.org and www.IntJHumNutrFunctMed.org. 

Disclosures:

Dr Vasquez writes and lectures on topics related to nutrition, inflammation, and infectious diseases and has served as a consultant to Biotics Research Corporation, a company that manufactures nutritional supplements in the United States.

Invitation:

Authors replying to this invitation need to submit an articulate, well-written reply addressing the conceptual and mechanistic faults outlined in this paper along with risk-benefit and cost-effectiveness assessments, all of which have already been documented in favor of vitamin D3 supplementation.

References

¹Vasquez A, Manso G, Cannell J. The clinical importance of vitamin D (cholecalciferol): a paradigm shift with implications for all healthcare providers. Altern Ther Health Med. 2004 Sep-Oct;10(5):28-36  ICHNFM.ORG/reprints, direct: http://ow.ly/LkBoK.

²Vasquez A, Cannell J. Calcium and vitamin D in preventing fractures: data are not sufficient to show inefficacy. BMJ. 2005 Jul 9;331(7508):108-9 http://www.ichnfm.org/reprints/vasquez-2005-cannell-bmj-reprint.pdf

³Gordon CM, Williams AL, Feldman HA, May J, Sinclair L, Vasquez A, Cox JE. Treatment of hypovitaminosis D in infants and toddlers. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jul;93(7):2716-21

⁴Heaney RP, Davies KM, Chen TC, Holick MF, Barger-Lux MJ. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan;77(1):204-10

⁵Al Faraj S, Al Mutairi K. Vitamin D deficiency and chronic low back pain in Saudi Arabia. Spine. 2003 Jan 15;28(2):177-9. This study used vitamin D in the form of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3. 

^​6Vieth R, Kimball S, Hu A, Walfish PG. Randomized comparison of the effects of the vitamin D3 adequate intake versus 100 mcg (4000 IU) per day on biochemical responses and the wellbeing of patients. Nutr J. 2004 Jul 19;3:8

^​7Gendelman O, Itzhaki D, Makarov S, Bennun M, Amital H. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study adding high dose vitamin D to analgesic regimens in patients with musculoskeletal pain. Lupus. 2015 Apr;24(4-5):483-9

⁸Waterhouse et al. Reversing bacteria-induced vitamin D receptor dysfunction is key to autoimmune disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Sep;1173:757-65

⁹Waterhouse JC. Reversing Bacteria-Induced Vitamin D Receptor Dysfunction to Treat Chronic Disease: Why Vitamin D Supplementation Can Be Immunosuppressive, Potentially Leading to Pathogen Increase.  Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients 2009 Jan townsendletter.com/Jan2009/vitaminD0109.htm

¹⁰Mercola J. Clearing Up Confusion on Vitamin D: Why I Don't Recommend the Marshall Protocol. Mercola.com 2009 March 14. articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/14/clearing-up-confusion-on-vitamin-d--why-i-dont-recommend-the-marshall-protocol.aspx 

¹¹Brady D, et al, "‎TAP Experts": Vitamin D Testing. TAP Integrative. Feb 18, 2015www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww_DLRU-27s. Brady D, personal emails in group discussion, July 25-29, 2014. 

¹²Albert PJ, Proal AD, Marshall TG. Vitamin D: the alternative hypothesis. Autoimmun Rev. 2009 Jul;8(8):639-44

¹³Vieth R.  Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56

¹⁴Sample I. Antibiotics could cure 40% of chronic back pain patients. The Guardian 2013 Mayhttp://ow.ly/LvBeK

¹⁵"In total, microbiological cultures were positive in 28 (46 %) patients. Anaerobic cultures were positive in 26 (43 %) patients, and of these 4 (7 %) had dual microbial infections, containing both one aerobic and one anaerobic culture." Albert HB, Lambert P, Rollason J, et al. Does nuclear tissue infected with bacteria following disc herniations lead to Modic changes in the adjacent vertebrae? Eur Spine J. 2013 Apr;22(4):690-6

¹⁶Albert HB, Sorensen JS, Christensen BS, Manniche C. Antibiotic treatment in patients with chronic low back pain and vertebral bone edema (Modic type 1 changes). Eur Spine J. 2013 Apr;22(4):697-707

¹⁷Schwalfenberg G. Improvement of chronic back pain or failed back surgery with vitamin D repletion. J Am Board Fam Med. 2009 Jan-Feb;22(1):69-74

¹⁸Al Faraj S, Al Mutairi K. Vitamin D deficiency and chronic low back pain in Saudi Arabia. Spine(Phila Pa 1976). 2003 Jan 15;28(2):177-9

¹⁹Terrier B et al. Restoration of regulatory and effector T cell balance and B cell homeostasis in systemic lupus erythematosus patients through vitamin D supplementation. Arthritis Res Ther. 2012 Oct 17;14(5):R221

²⁰Eltayeb et al. Vitamin D status and viral response to therapy in hepatitis C infected children.World J Gastroenterol. 2015 Jan 28;21(4):1284-91

²¹Nimer A, Mouch A. Vitamin D improves viral response in hepatitis C genotype 2-3 naïve patients. World J Gastroenterol. 2012 Feb 28;18(8):800-5

²²Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D supplementation and total mortality: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.  Arch Intern Med. 2007 Sep;167(16):1730-7

²³Hyppönen et al. Intake of vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study. Lancet. 2001 Nov 3;358(9292):1500-3

²⁴Grant WB, Schwalfenberg GK, Genuis SJ, Whiting SJ. An estimate of the economic burden and premature deaths due to vitamin D deficiency in Canada. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Aug;54(8):1172-81

²⁵Mirzaei et al. Gestational vitamin D and the risk of multiple sclerosis in offspring. Ann Neurol. 2011 Jul;70(1):30-40

²⁶Munger et al. Vitamin D intake and incidence of multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2004 Jan 13;62(1):60-5

7 Signs You're Not Getting Enough Magnesium

Y BRITNI THOMAS
APRIL 26, 2015 7:36 AM EDT

You May Also Enjoy

Can't Poop? You May Need More Of This Mineral

Constipation has always been a problem in my life. It's awful, and unfortunately it's apparently a family curse for me. So there is all the regular advice that I try to follow; drink lots of water,  Read 

Are your chocolate cravings so intense that you feel like it screams your name? Do you ever jump out of bed in the middle of the night because of a muscle spasm? Or, no matter what you try, do you have difficulty sleeping? There's a good chance you're deficient in magnesium.

Learn how to get proper nutrition.

Substantial numbers of Americans are deficient in the mineral magnesium. However, most people have no idea that they’re missing this vital mineral. Nutritionists often call magnesium the master mineral because it affects over 300 different enzymatic processes that help your body function properly.

As a registered dietitian, I’d like to share seven of the most common symptoms of magnesium deficiency — backed up by research — I see when clients come for nutrition counseling:

1. Muscle cramps or spasms

If you’ve had one of these, you know how awful they can be whether you're sitting at your desk or awakened in the middle of the night with a painfully tight calf! Muscle cramps are a result of muscle spasms, which are involuntary muscle contractions. Magnesium helps relax muscles throughout your body, so when you're deficient your muscles will contract involuntarily.

2. Trouble sleeping 

Millions of Americans have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Magnesium plays an important role in the function of your central nervous system. Without sufficient magnesium, you may experience insomnia. Also, magnesium levels drop in your body at night, leading to poor quantity and quality of REM sleep, which is the most critical sleep cycle to recharge your body and mind.

3. Chocolate cravings

Dark chocolate is high in magnesium, and one square provides about 24% of your daily value of magnesium. Intense “I have to have it” chocolate cravings are another sign of magnesium deficiency. Your body actually craves what it needs sometimes.

4. Anxiety

Magnesium is the most powerful relaxation mineral. If you experience anxiety, this is a common early symptom of how your central nervous system is affected by magnesium deficiency. When you feel anxious, taking 200mg of magnesium may make you feel more relaxed.

5. High blood pressure

Many people wonder why they have high blood pressure even though they follow a healthy, whole food diet. Magnesium may be the answer; another important function of magnesium is relaxing and dilating your blood vessels. When you're low in magnesium, your blood vessels constrict more, causing high blood pressure. Adequate magnesium levels also help balance your electrolytes. Unbalanced electrolytes can create high blood pressure as well.

6. Irregular heartbeat

It has become common for people to develop heart arrhythmias, then be put on medications. Your heart is a muscular organ, making the cardiovascular system highly dependent on magnesium to properly function. If your heart is deficient in magnesium, it can’t contract properly, which may cause irregular heartbeats.

7. Constipation 

If you experience constipation regularly, that’s another sign you’re deficient in magnesium. When you’re low in magnesium, your intestines contract more, making it harder for stool to pass. Not only will magnesium relax your bowel to create a more regular bowel rhythm, but it also has an osmotic effect. Magnesium pulls water into the bowels, softening the stool. Choose magnesium citrate to help constipation.

Most of my clients have at least one of the above symptoms and have found great relief after increasing their magnesium levels.

How can you increase your magnesium levels?

First, stop eating foods that deplete nutrients, such as flour and sugar. Instead eat foods high in magnesium, such as meat, avocados, leafy green vegetables and nuts. If you're eating chocolate to restore some of your magnesium, make sure it’s at least 70% cocoa, and keep your chocolate intake to one ounce or less per day.

Even if you eat a healthy diet, you will likely still need to supplement with magnesium. Look for a good-quality magnesium supplement in the form of magnesium glycinate, which is one of the most absorbable forms. Most people need about 400 mg, but you can go up to 1,000 mg per day if needed. Take magnesium at bedtime for best absorption and to provide deep, rejuvenating sleep!

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Beginning Is Here

• Empowerment
• False Flag Events
• Forbidden Knowledge
• New World Order

by Zen Gardner -Apr 26, 2015

13 79

“Is everything a conspiracy?  No, just the important stuff.” – Jeff Wells

by Zen Gardner

Waking up to the realities presented before us and even more importantly what they imply is a very profound and personal experience. Once we become aware we are living in a world that’s been deliberately fabricated in ways we never would have imagined and that even our own true nature is anything but what we’ve been told, there’s no turning back.

It may appear to be a lonely path at first, but we are by no means alone in this awakening. It is happening in all walks of life. Whether a banker or corporate employee wakes up to the scam being perpetrated on humanity and pulls out of the matrix, or a normal taxpaying worker realizes they’re contributing to a military industrial machine hell bent on control and world domination, we’re all the same.

And those are just surface issues compared to the deliberate suppression of man’s innate spiritual nature, whether we call it social liberty or the simple freedom to create and manifest as we truly are. Not the least of which control mechanisms we are faced with is religion which works hand in hand with this suppression of humanity. All part of this repressive, controlling matrix.

Triggers for Awakening

There are many such triggers that wake people up. Once someone realizes, for example, how the world was scammed on 9/11 and that the powers that be are willing to continue to perpetrate such atrocities to promote their agenda, the digging begins. When we realize we seem to be at the complete mercy of parasitic central bankers more than willing to not only implode the world’s economy, but finance both sides of any conflict for personal gain and control, and that our governments are complicit in this scheme, we start to grasp the enormity of what befalls us.

That we have rapidly evolved into an advanced militarized surveillance police state is driving many to ask some hard questions – and the answers can be startling and difficult to swallow, especially when you realize they’re attempting to cut off all avenues of recourse.

Another major issue is that it’s more evident by the day that our very health is under attack, again by complicit government and multinational corporations pushing GMOs, adulterated food, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, atmospheric aerosols, genetic alterations and the like, all of which are clearly extremely hazardous to humanity. Yet they push harder by the day, mandating program after destructive program. Meanwhile, natural and organic farming and foods, as well as supplements, are under intense attack by these very same perpetrators.

The truth about these issues and many, many more including awareness of the massive planet harming programs such as fracking, electrosmog, genetic modification, technologically driven transhumanism and the ongoing geoengineering assault on humanity are driving a major perceptual paradigm shift amongst all walks of life as we delve more deeply into who is doing all this and why.

What exactly is their agenda? Volumes of evidence points to not just control, but literal depopulation motives. Is this shadow force literally that Machiavellian?

There Is No “They” – Or Is There?

This is often the final breakthrough point for many people. As the true picture starts to crystallize, the horrific realization that the “powers that be” are fundamentally a clandestine cabal with puppet-like front men comes into focus. These are powerful minions, more interested in weakening and subjugating humanity via health degradation, dumbed down education, mindless “bread and circus” government controlled media, depraved violence and sex oriented entertainment, and a draconian militarized police crackdown. The ugly truth then comes to the fore.

It can be staggering. If you take just 9/11 and other false flag events and realize they were staged to bring about this Orwellian police state where the citizens are now terrorist suspects, it can be very difficult to swallow.

A quick perusal of history soon follows, where people realize these same false flag/false enemy tactics were used to justify almost every war, leading to such totalitarian states as Stalinist Russia, Communist China and Nazi Germany, each of which descended into horrific pogroms, decimating their own populations of anyone potentially daring to question the new regime. With that perspective, the trees we’re amongst on the edge of the forest become strikingly transparent. America and its allies are indeed exactly the same, only much much worse, being pawned off to a numbed down generation who actually believe this is all a fight for liberty and freedom when in fact it is the exact opposite.

It’s not all black and white. There are of course good people working for bad people, powers and programs, wittingly and unwittingly. Many are trying to change and improve our existing structure. Many good people are performing wonderful services within this overarching societal program thinking it can be changed constructively. What we’re addressing are the deceitful and destructive powers and mechanisms at play that are attempting to bring humanity into a weakened subservient role to some sort of worldwide fascist control state, eliminating personal and national sovereignty to support and obey a very few powerful self-appointed elites.

And it’s coming on fast.

This becomes evident as one pursues almost any avenue we’re discussing here. To realize this massive program is being orchestrated by some form of “they” soon becomes obvious. The reality of the conspiracy that JFK so eloquently pointed out before he was surgically removed from office via assassination hits squarely home. Here’s an excerpt from this landmark speech.

For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day.

It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. – John F. Kennedy

We Have to Find Out for Ourselves

An essential element to a true awakening is investigating and learning for ourselves. One of the main control mechanisms has been teaching humanity to only trust what they’ve been told by these same agendized so-called authorities. How many times have you heard, “If 9/11 was an ‘inside job’, surely it would have been on CNN. If something was really wrong surely someone would have said something.”

Well, a lot of people have and continue to speak out. And what’s the response? Anything contrary to the official narrative is “outlandish conspiracy theory”, and results in the subsequent demonization and marginalization of any  form of questioning or healthy criticism.

Waking up from that media and education entrancement is another shocker. Could they do such a thing? Could we really be facing such a totalitarian crackdown and mind and information control? Do they really have such sway on humanity?

When I was young there were over 60 media companies vying for audiences. Real investigative reporting, although it’s always been tampered with or suppressed, was still available. Today 6 mega corporations own all of the media. The very same corporations that own much of the corporate military industrial infrastructure. Conspiracy is not a stretch – of course these power brokers would twist information to suit their intentions. The word conspiracy has been stigmatized for a reason – don’t ask questions or there will be consequences.

All of this will take some serious researching, most likely in places people have never dared to look before. And this is good. Don’t let anyone tell you what the truth is, find out for yourself and be convinced in your own mind and heart. That’s a new phenomenon for most, as odd as that may seem, but stepping outside the propaganda mainstream is a must. And it is oh so refreshing.

The Shock Does Wear Off – But the Indignation Doesn’t

There are so many interconnected “rabbit holes” of similarly repressed, twisted or hidden areas of information that it can be staggering. Once we realize we’ve been lied to about any one of these serious issues, we begin to question everything. And that is extremely healthy. You may not find support for your new found perspective from those around you, but there are millions who are sharing your experience. Thanks to the internet you can find others undergoing the same transformation quite readily and derive a lot of affirmation, encouragement and support.

Battling through the naysaying of close friends and loved ones seems to act like a chrysalis, much like the cocoon a metamorphosing butterfly has to struggle to escape. And as we know, that is exactly what drives the blood into the wings of the birthing creation that will soon bear the beautiful new awakened soul to glorious new heights and vistas.

One thing that won’t wear off is your absolute disdain for what is being perpetrated on our fellow humans. As the expression goes, “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.” If you knew your home was under attack and malevolent forces were coming for you and your children, you would do anything in your power to protect your family. That soon becomes an innate awareness regarding the current toxic social and physical world we’re experiencing and the need for a conscious response.

We are Responding – They Know It and Don’t Like It

Globalist adviser to 5 American presidents including Barak Obama, Zbigniew Brzezinski has clearly laid out the plan for global hegemony at any cost. His book, The Grand Chessboard even alludes to the need for a new Pearl Harbor, later echoed by the oft quoted PNAC report issued before 9/11 literally forecasting the event.

In one of his many addresses to the globalist advisory board called the Council on Foreign Relations, he made some very revealing statements. They are very aware of and afraid of the global awakening, and have surreal plans on how to control it.

Not lauding this awakening, but decrying it, Brzezinski chillingly said: [Emphasis mine]

For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive… The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world painfully scarred by memories of centuries-long alien colonial or imperial domination… The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening… That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing… The nearly universal access to radio, television and increasingly the Internet is creating a community of shared perceptions and envy that can be galvanized and channeled by demagogic political or religious passions. These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches…

The youth of the Third World are particularly restless and resentful. The demographic revolution they embody is thus a political time-bomb, as well… Their potential revolutionary spearhead is likely to emerge from among the scores of millions of students concentrated in the often intellectually dubious “tertiary level” educational institutions of developing countries. Depending on the definition of the tertiary educational level, there are currently worldwide between 80 and 130 million “college” students. Typically originating from the socially insecure lower middle class and inflamed by a sense of social outrage, these millions of students are revolutionaries-in-waiting, already semi-mobilized in large congregations, connected by the Internet and pre-positioned for a replay on a larger scale of what transpired years earlier in Mexico City or in Tiananmen Square. Their physical energy and emotional frustration is just waiting to be triggered by a cause, or a faith, or a hatred…

[The] major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people.

Zbigniew Brzezinski

The Conscious Awakening

This dark yet ultimately empowering information goes hand in hand with anyone experiencing this paradigm shift. If things here are so massively manipulated, what lies beyond all of this? What are we being kept from? Why do we sense we are so much more?

These are very important questions to pursue. There must be meaning in all of this. “Certainly all of humanity is not as wicked as these psychopathic control freaks.” Yes, that’s true. Unfortunately, the aggressor usually rules the day in this hierarchy of control our world has adopted for millennia. History bears this out.

The beauty of gaining a greater new found spiritual perspective is that it puts these influences in their place. We discover new ways to perceive our true indomitable nature which gives tremendous peace and confidence in spite of what we’re currently faced with. This sense of profound conscious awareness and spirituality only grows as our pursuit for truth, in love, gains momentum.

Awake, But Never Alone

A sense of isolation following the initial awakening is natural. It’s foreign to everything we’ve been taught, with implications that can be mind-boggling as well as heart breaking. However, we are very much connected and sharing a profound common experience. Knowing we are not alone is very important to keep in mind.

Building community also becomes a priority, where we can contribute to the healing of the planet at every level possible. Whether it’s activist or spiritual associations these are very important. It may only be on-line at first, that’s fine. Find kindred spirits and empowering and informative websites and blogs and even attend meet up events in your area on some of these subjects of concern.

This awakening of empowered consciousness is upon us, and is transpiring at an accelerating pace, and something to be very encouraged about. Once you get past the shock of what you’ve “found out”, it becomes easier, but it will drastically alter your life. For the better.

Enjoy it, be empowered, and take action accordingly.

The beginning is here.

Much love, Zen

ZenGardner.com