The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a preliminary finding that implicates a vitamin E additive as the potential cause of lung injury from THC vaping.

The agency examined fluid samples from the lungs of 29 patients with vaping-related illness and found vitamin E acetate in all 29 samples. This is a major development in the search for answers, and it was of great interest to me generally as a public health researcher.

Even more, it was of special interest to me because I previously researched vitamin Es role in lung health and development. For three years, as a post-doctoral research fellow, I studied the role of vitamin Es typical role in lung health, lung development and the epidemiology of childhood lung diseases when it is absorbed from our diet.

Vitamin E comes from oily foods in our diet. It has also long been known to be important for child development, especially in the womb, where it contributes to healthy lung and nervous system growth, among other things. Vitamin E has eight different isoforms, or types, and each may do slightly different things in our bodies. The kind of vitamin E you get from your diet can therefore vary widely based upon the types of oily foods that you eat.

When we eat vitamin E, it is absorbed by our gastrointestinal tract along with fats. It then travels throughout our bloodstream in the fatty molecules called cholesterol. Finally, it is taken up into our bodys fatty tissues and cellular membranes.

Once incorporated into the body, vitamin E serves as an antioxidant, protecting us from some of the harmful effects of our metabolism and respiration. Antioxidants stabilize what are called free radicals, unstable and highly chemically reactive compounds with extra electrons generated by our metabolism. Free radicals, when left unchecked, can destabilize other molecules around them and cause cellular damage.

When vitamin E comes into contact with certain kinds of free radicals, it transfers that instability onto itself and neutralizes those free radicals.

So, in the aftermath of the vaping illnesses and deaths, an important question emerges: What happens if, instead of eating vitamin E in your diet, you inhale vitamin E, along with a vaporized solution of THC?

I have no idea.

There are only a tiny handful of studies in which someone tried to nebulize, or vaporize, vitamin E in experiments related to lung health. All were animal studies with a small sample size, and none were combined with a THC vaping fluid.

Its also not clear in this case why vitamin E acetate was added to the vaping fluid, but reports suggest it is used as a cutting agent to make the THC oils less thick. Perhaps someone thought it was safe to do this in an inhaled product because vitamin E was a natural vitamin. Importantly, however, many substances that are helpful when taken orally can be harmful when inhaled.

The fact that vitamin E typically has to travel in fat-soluble lipids may perhaps provide a clue as to the harms vitamin E acetate can cause when vaped. Physicians have long known that inhaling oils and other lipids can lead to the deposition of oily droplets in the lungs. They also know that this deposition can in turn can lead to inflammation and the potential for permanent lung scarring, respiratory failure or death. Its not a good idea to consistently inhale particles like small solids or oily liquid drops into your very delicate lungs.

We all know what it feels like to choke on something large enough to block our windpipe. But a small, inhaled particle can go past the large airways and lodge in the tiniest airways and the alveoli that transfer oxygen into our bloodstream, causing damage to these fragile structures.

We may not notice right away that we are being harmed. Only tiny segments of the lung are affected, and our lungs are designed to have some reserve capacity.

But over time, as these small injuries add up, more and more lung tissue becomes involved, and symptoms develop. Such injuries can become fatal. For example, think of the diseases caused by asbestos, silica from sand blasting, coal dust and tobacco smoke.

So, perhaps a vitamin E additive could cause damage in a similar way in this context.

In addition, I believe this is actually a symptom of a broader problem, brought about in part by the 1994 law that allows dietary supplements and some devices to go to market without meeting stringent safety and efficacy standards. Supplement makers dont have to provide evidence that their products work, and the FDA allows them to monitor the safety features themselves.

Its a good business for the manufacturers; dietary supplements sales are estimated to be worth about US$120 billion by 2020. But it may not be good for the American public. By taking untested products, or by using products that are safe in one context but not studied in another, consumers end up participating in millions of uncontrolled experiments in which safety data are frequently absent. There is minimal quality control, minimal oversight and minimal knowledge of what might happen.

Any type of minimally regulated product that we inhale into our lungs on a regular basis clearly deserves a special level of scrutiny before use. I would argue that any inhaled product should have to demonstrate significant safety data prior to being allowed on the consumer market. Do these products even work? How do they work? If they do work, whats the right dose so that its safe, but still effective? How long can you safely use it? Without that knowledge, we are sailing in dangerous waters with no map.

So, until the day that our poorly regulated, uncontrolled market of self experimentation in lung health comes to an end, I will share a motto that experiments and experience have equally proven to be true. If you want your lungs to outlast your hair, please dont inhale anything but air.

[ Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter. ]

Here is the original post:
Vitamin E and vaping injuries: What's safe in your diet is rarely safe in your lungs - The Conversation US

On a bitterly cold January afternoon in 2011, Tom Gable was snowmobiling to his familys remote cabin near Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario.

Suddenly, on his right flank, a dark figure appeared across the frozen lake. Initially, I wasnt sure what I was looking at but then I realized it was a wolf, he said. I could hardly believe it I had never seen a wolf before, let alone watch one for a minute or so. I was enthralled.

It wouldnt be Gables last encounter. Far from it. Since 2015, Gable, 28, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota, has been the project lead for the Voyageurs Wolf Project an ongoing research effort to uncover the secretive lives of North Woods wolves. It began as a small project in 2012 at Voyageurs National Park and increased in scope and intensity in 2015.

Gable said the project addresses one of the biggest knowledge gaps in wolf ecology: What do wolves do during the summer? The projects goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding of summer wolf ecology (number of pups born, where they den, what wolves kill and eat) in the roughly 218,000-acre Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem (which includes Voyageurs National Park) in northern Minnesota.

The research, Gable said, is conducted by trapping and fitting wolves with GPS collars that take locations every 20 minutes throughout the field season (April-October). When a collared wolf remains relatively stationary for more than 20 minutes, the site is investigated. By doing this we get all sorts of great information such as where wolves have their dens and where wolves are killing prey, Gable said.

The research is aided by remote trail cameras that capture photos and video of what Gable calls the unique and mysterious behavior of wolves in high-traffic parts of the study area. Since 2016, the wolf project has produced 13 peer-reviewed research papers. Last November, in an effort to reach a broader audience, Gable began posting findings from daily field work (including captured photos and video) on Facebook and Instagram. Its been a big hit. The wolf projects Facebook page alone has roughly 26,000 followers.

We wanted to give an intimate view into our research and the animals and ecosystem that we study, said Gable. We got a sizable following quickly. That confirmed our suspicion that the public is extremely interested in wildlife, wildlife research and wolf ecology. By maintaining our social media presence, we are able to provide content that entertains, engages, and educates the public.

Gable and his seven-person crew recently finished the 2019 field season in which the group monitored 11 collared wolves from seven packs. Now Gable begins analyzing the research and writing papers.

We had a wonderful crew this year, said Gable. Finishing up is very satisfying but also a relief because after seven months of continual field work, we are just running on fumes both physically and mentally. Our field seasons are pretty intense because we cover a lot of ground every day in all kinds of conditions.

The Voyageurs Wolf Project is a collaborative effort between the National Park Service and the University of Minnesota. Its funded by the states lottery-funded Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund and other sources.

In a recent conversation, Gable elaborated on some discoveries about wolves diets and their much-publicized pursuit of fish. The excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

On research discoveries

Wolves hunt and kill beavers by bedding down around beaver ponds and waiting for many hours to ambush them. This has been a particularly fascinating finding because before our work, wolves were not really thought of as ambush predators. Most of the time wolves hunt their prey by outrunning and outlasting their prey, like chasing down a deer. Our study is the first to systematically show that wolves can ambush prey, and we are learning more every year about how they actually do this. We were the first to document wolves hunting and killing freshwater fish. Researchers had known wolves went after spawning salmon in coastal areas of Alaska and British Columbia, but that is categorically different from wolves catching suckers in a little creek in the North Woods. And not only did we document it, but we were able to get it on video footage.

On the varied diets of wolves

Wolves are adaptable predators. They have very flexible diets that change dramatically throughout the summer season. During winter, wolves diets are not nearly as varied because they are mainly hunting and killing whitetail deer. But from spring to fall, things are much different. We have shown that during this period wolves rely on all sorts of food sources including deer, beavers, blueberries, fish, trumpeter swans, bear bait piles, and hunter-killed bear carcasses. Typically, the diet of our wolf packs is different from month to month.

On using social media

Ultimately, our vision with our social media platforms is to couple cutting-edge wolf research with highly effective outreach, which allows the Voyageurs Wolf Project to have tremendous value to both the scientific community and the public. I think most in the scientific community know that effective public outreach is important, but this is something that researchers are often not great at. Part of this is because most researchers receive little to no training on how to effectively share their research. The other part is that good outreach, just like good science, requires time and effort. And there is little incentive for researchers to devote their often limited time or financial resources to developing materials or content for outreach.

On rigors of the work

We estimate that a typical person on our crew covers between 700 to 850 miles during the field season. And most of these miles are not on nicely maintained hiking trails. Instead, we are usually bushwhacking through the thick, dense and often swampy forests of northern Minnesota. June to August are by far the most challenging months for our crew because its hot, humid, and the bugs (in particular, the deer flies) are horrible. Thats in part why theres so little research on summer wolves.

On research in 2020

We basically have to start over. We start trying to collar wolves in mid-April. The reason is battery life. When collars take locations every 20 minutes (which is what we need for our work), it chews up a lot of battery life, so our collars only last one field season. To continue our work, we need to get fresh collars on wolves.

On the future of the project

Our goal is to secure permanent, long-term funding that allows the Voyageurs Wolf Project to continue for decades to come. We have published several research papers since 2016 and presented our results at numerous regional, national and international scientific conferences. I would like to write a book someday but think we need at least a few more years of research before that is something I would seriously consider.

Tori J. McCormick is a freelance writer. Reach him at torimccormick33@gmail.com.

Continued here:
Uncovering the secretive lives of Minnesota's North Woods wolves - Minneapolis Star Tribune

The current population of the United States: 327.2 million. The number of students attending New York Public Schools: 1.1 million. The number of meals the system serves each day: 1 million. And the number of those meals with meat on Mondays?

Zero.

In March NYC announced that for the 2019-2020 school year, the citys more than 1,800 public schools would join Meatless Monday, a global movement promoting healthy people and the environment by swapping meat for veggies, just one day a week. Theyre joining hundreds of other K-12 schools, more than 150 U.S. universities, large hospital systems, celebrities like Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney and others from more than 40 countries.

By 2050, the worlds population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. And in a special UN Report in August, more than 100 scientists suggested that industrialized nations like the United States should move toward plant-based diets to ensure everyone eats in an environmentally friendly way.

As younger generations embrace plant-based foods, going meatless just one day a week offers hope for a simple solution. Could it be so easy?

We examined the nations largest school system for a sneak peak: One in 300 Americans are sitting in our schools every single day, said Isabelle Boundy, Assistant Press Secretary at the NYC Department of Education. Were very aware that the eyes of the nation are often on New York.

On Mondays, New Yorks k-12 students munch down on vegetarian specials like stuffed shells with marinara, mac-and-cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hummus. Recently, fourth-graders visited a test kitchen in Queens to sample vegan burgers that will potentially make the menu.

NYC is part of a trend thats likely here to stay. The market for plant-based foods, worth nearly $4.5 billion, grew 31 percent in just two years.

Call it flexitarian, reductaterian or just an interest in testing out new plant-based foods, surveys have found that 22 percent of Americans are working on consuming less meat, and 39 percent which includes 50 percent of millennials are trying to eat more plant-based foods. Even Burger Kingand McDonalds are testing the waters.

It's really the thought that, oh, I can have more plant based meals in my diet and be O.K, said Becky Ramsing, Senior Program Officer for Food, Communities and Public Health at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and a scientific advisor for Meatless Mondays.

The future is plant-forward. Cutting meat is doable. But measuring what that means for the climate is complicated.

Economists like Ramsing, nutritionists and climate scientists studying food and the environment say theres no blanket formula to reach a sustainable future. Food systems are complicated, global, interdependent and interconnected, leaving researchers with a planet-sized balancing act instead. Food sourcing, production methods (even with meat), menu planning, nutritional needs, economic priorities, cultural traditions and how meatless days roll out from place to place: They all add weight.

You can create a model diet, or a scenario diet, or an average diet, but theres just so much variation across people, across diets, across foods, nothing is perfect, says Rebecca Boehm, an economist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

But the research is still useful.

Counting carbon

A recent study looking at how meatless days affected greenhouse gas and water footprints in 140 countries found that if everyone in the United States participated in a meatless day, they could cut greenhouse gasses by 22 percent. Just half participation could cut 11 percent, and a third? Six percent. But thats if substitution diets were healthy. With more typical American diets, which contain more dairy and fewer veggies, meatless days dropped greenhouse gasses by only 4 percent.

It matters where you produce the food, from a climate perspective, but it also matters how you consume it, from a nutrition and health perspective. And those elements are not always in sync, said Martin Bloem, director at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and author on the study.

Thats especially important in schools, where menu planners balance nutritional standards, feasibility, affordability and taste, says Sean Cash, an economist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

Cashhasnt examined New York, but in another large school district practicing Meatless Mondays, hes found that when planners simply rearrange existing menu items, such as serving burgers on Monday or Tuesday, it doesnt matter.

New York City only shared that its meatless meals are healthy, free, evaluated highly by students and still contain cheese, which limits their impact.

In some cases we might caution with: If you run all the numbers of the greenhouse gas impact of a meatless meal one day a week in a school, it's going to be low, said Ramsing. "But if you think about its potential, it can be huge.

Starting conversations

Whats more important than some kind of magic formula, she added, is realizing that the next generation of eaters has a better chance of adopting lifelong habits and influencing others.

Peggy Neu, President of the Meatless Mondays campaign, agrees: Its a promotional platform for conversation and often participants extend meatless meals to other days or their families, their surveys have shown. It doesnt work without the conversation, adds Bloem.

New York City took a big step toward opening this conversation by announcing their plans years ahead. Theyve removed politics, finances and stigma from the equation by providing free lunch for all. And as part of the Urban School Food Alliance,a nonprofit group including school food service professionals from the largest cities in the nation, theyre ultimately influencing school systems nationwide with purchasing power that drives supply.

But it doesnt always play out this way, said Cash. Other paths to a sustainable future may be more appropriate in cases where cultural, financial, political or personal positions clash with Meatless Mondays.

We need to be creative again how to use food, said Bloem. We are at the beginning of a big shift in thinking. Food is now linked with health, nutrition, climate, culture and money. Thats not the way we thought about it ten years ago.

I think it will be a small revolution.

Visit link:
What happens when the nation's largest school system goes meatless one day a week? - The Hill

As we enter the holiday season, Americans are abandoning their attempts to be healthy,as about half will break their diet andgive in to the temptation of holiday food, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 Americans who celebrate the holidaysfound that 47 percent have succumbed tothe lure of their favorite treats, and ended up quitting their diet as a result.The biggest food temptations were found to be cookies (53 percent), pies or cakes (53 percent) and home-cooked holiday meals (44 percent).

Santa will eat 300 million cookies alone. (iStock)

NEIL CAVUTO 'CAN'T STAND' THIS ONE DISH AT HIS THANKSGIVING DINNER

But theyre not alone in making unhealthy decisions at the end of the year: The results of the second annual Writing Off the End of the Year survey have found that 41 percent use the holidays as an excuse to postpone being healthy, compared to 47 percent the previous year.

Commissioned by Herbalife Nutrition and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found that for those planning to start again in January,"a third start postponing their healthy habits by mid-November.

Fifty-ninepercent of respondents said it was hardest to stay healthy during the winter holiday season, and food is a major reason why. Forty-four percent also admitted to having eaten more than one dessert at a meal, while 36 percent have eaten more than one holiday dinner in a day. Another30 percent say theyve had to undo a button on their pants because of eating too much.

In fact, the average person expects to gain six pounds during the holiday season, according to both the 2018 and 2019 survey.

The biggest food temptations were found to be cookies (53 percent), pies or cakes (53 percent) and home-cooked holiday meals (44 percent). (iStock)

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

And the survey found that three in 10 actually plan to eat more during the holidays specifically because their New Years resolution is to be healthier.

Staying on track can be hard especially if you are tackling it on your own,"says Dr. John Agwunobi, co-president and chief health and nutrition officer at Herbalife Nutrition."Developing a support system of people who know your goals, strengths and weaknesses can be extremely beneficial in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, especially during the challenging times of the year.

In addition to overindulging, not getting enough exercise was another reason respondents might be piling on the pounds during the holidays. Twenty-seven percent of respondents say they exercise less during the holidays and of those, the average time spent working out each week was two hours less than usual.

Interestingly, this years survey showed that respondents are less optimistic about their ability to stay healthy in the new year (45 percent)as compared to 2018 when54 percent believed their efforts would be successful.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But with January comes a new year, new me attitude, and results found that 33 percent are planning to make a New Years resolution compared to 34 percent last year.

The top resolution for the second consecutive year is to exercise more. In 2018, however, that resolution ranked higher among respondents. (Just 59 percent listed it as their 2019 goal, as compared to 71 percent in 2018.) Eating healthier and saving more money accounted for the second and third most common resolutions, with59 percentand 53 percent planning to do so, respectively.

See the article here:
Half of Americans plan to abandon their diets around the holidays, survey finds - Fox News

YOUR morning coffee may have the power to get you out of bed in the morning - but it could also be making it more difficult for you to lose weight.

Top nutritionist and fitness blogger Graeme Tomlinson has revealed that your choice of cup of joe could be adding over 15,000 calories to your monthly diet.

2

Despite this, he says you can still incorporate coffee into a healthy diet, as long as you make the right choices.

He says: "There is nothing wrong with consuming cappuccinos, lattes or caramel macchiatos.

"But if one is persistently bemoaning lack of progress regarding composition, reduction of such beverages offer a very easy opportunity to support a caloric deficit without upheaval of habitual eating habits."

In particular, Graeme highlights thatcoffee in its purest form - such as a large americano - contains no calories whatsoever.

Whether its coffee, a biscuit or any given food, seemingly insignificant alternations to minuscule parts of overall diet are likely to be the tweaks that finally deliver significant results

However, if you opt for a caramel macchiato you would be consuming 250 calories, and if you have 14 of these a month that's 3500 calories.

Similarly, a large caffe latte contains 290 calories, and 14 of these a month would total up to 2660 calories.

And a large cappuccino contains 120 calories, and you'd be drinking 1680 liquid calories a month if you had 14.

Graeme points out that simply picking an americano over a macchiato, latte or cappucino could make a huge difference to your diet and maximise your weight loss results.

2

He says: "Selection of alternative coffee inclusive drinks at lower (or no) caloric cost can ensure that one still gets their fill of daily coffee whilst also getting more progress in their compositional goal."And while it may be difficult to ditch that creamy coffee at first, small changes can ultimately make a big difference.

Graeme adds: "Whether its coffee, a biscuit or any given food, seemingly insignificant alternations to minuscule parts of overall diet are likely to be the tweaks that finally deliver significant results.

"But more importantly, make the results last forever."

NHS tips for weight loss success

The NHS has shared their three key tips for weight loss success:

Lots of useat and drink more than we realise and do little physical activity. The result is often weight gain.

To lose weight, we need to change our current habits. Thismeans eating less even when eating ahealthy, balanced diet and getting more active.

Fad dietsand exercise regimes that result in rapid weight loss are unlikely to work for long, because these kinds of lifestyle changes can't be maintained.

Once you stop the regime, you're likely to return to old habits and regain weight.

Source: NHS

Graeme's comments come after scientists found a cup of coffee can help the body burn calories faster.

They say it stimulates "brown fat", which burns calories to generate body heat.

Professor Michael Symonds, from the University of Nottingham, said theirs is the first study to show how coffee can affect brown fat in humans.

FESTIVE FAT LOSS Harry Styles & Ellie Goulding's PT shares 5 tips to blast fat by Christmas

NO WEIGH Mum with postnatal depression who gained weight after kids lost 7st in a year

DREAM WORLD The 5 ways to burn fat while you SLEEP - according to science

BUSHTUCKER VILES I'm A Celeb's pig womb, kangaroo balls & croc penis are 'rich in protein'

GET FIT FAST Ex-Olympian PT to Caroline Flack and Professor Green shares fat blasting tips

FINGER LICKIN Man ate only KFC for a week and LOST weight - but it's not all good news

FAT FIGHTER Size 32 woman sheds staggering 10st and looks like a totally different person

FAT FUNDAMENTALS Best ways to blast belly fat fast WITHOUT giving up carbs

BREAK THE FAST Top tips to maximise fat burning first thing - & best breakfasts for dieters

He said the breakthrough could help tackle the obesity crisis.

"Brown fat works in a different way to other fat in your body and produces heat by burning sugar and fat, often in response to cold," he explained.

"Increasing its activity improves blood sugar control as well as improving blood lipid (fat) levels and the extra calories burnt help with weight loss.

"This is the first study in humans to show that something like a cup of coffee can have a direct effect on our brown fat functions."

More here:
Weight loss: Coffee could be adding 15,000kcals to your diet a month the best swaps for dieters - The Sun

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a preliminary finding that implicates a vitamin E additive as the potential cause of lung injury from THC vaping.

The agency examined fluid samples from the lungs of 29 patients with vaping-related illness and found vitamin E acetate in all 29 samples. This is a major development in the search for answers, and it was of great interest to me generally as a public health researcher.

Even more, it was of special interest to me because I previously researched vitamin Es role in lung health and development. For three years, as a post-doctoral research fellow, I studied the role of vitamin Es typical role in lung health, lung development and the epidemiology of childhood lung diseases when it is absorbed from our diet.

Free radical fighter

Vitamin E comes from oily foods in our diet. It has also long been known to be important for child development, especially in the womb, where it contributes to healthy lung and nervous system growth, among other things. Vitamin E has eight different isoforms, or types, and each may do slightly different things in our bodies. The kind of vitamin E you get from your diet can therefore vary widely based upon the types of oily foods that you eat.

When we eat vitamin E, it is absorbed by our gastrointestinal tract along with fats. It then travels throughout our bloodstream in the fatty molecules called cholesterol. Finally, it is taken up into our bodys fatty tissues and cellular membranes.

Once incorporated into the body, vitamin E serves as an antioxidant, protecting us from some of the harmful effects of our metabolism and respiration. Antioxidants stabilize what are called free radicals, unstable and highly chemically reactive compounds with extra electrons generated by our metabolism. Free radicals, when left unchecked, can destabilize other molecules around them and cause cellular damage.

When vitamin E comes into contact with certain kinds of free radicals, it transfers that instability onto itself and neutralizes those free radicals.

So, in the aftermath of the vaping illnesses and deaths, an important question emerges: What happens if, instead of eating vitamin E in your diet, you inhale vitamin E, along with a vaporized solution of THC?

I have no idea.

There are only a tiny handful of studies in which someone tried to nebulize, or vaporize, vitamin E in experiments related to lung health. All were animal studies with a small sample size, and none were combined with a THC vaping fluid.

Its also not clear in this case why vitamin E acetate was added to the vaping fluid, but reports suggest it is used as a cutting agent to make the THC oils less thick. Perhaps someone thought it was safe to do this in an inhaled product because vitamin E was a natural vitamin. Importantly, however, many substances that are helpful when taken orally can be harmful when inhaled.

No place for oily molecules

The fact that vitamin E typically has to travel in fat-soluble lipids may perhaps provide a clue as to the harms vitamin E acetate can cause when vaped. Physicians have long known that inhaling oils and other lipids can lead to the deposition of oily droplets in the lungs. They also know that this deposition can in turn can lead to inflammation and the potential for permanent lung scarring, respiratory failure or death. Its not a good idea to consistently inhale particles like small solids or oily liquid drops into your very delicate lungs.

We all know what it feels like to choke on something large enough to block our windpipe. But a small, inhaled particle can go past the large airways and lodge in the tiniest airways and the alveoli that transfer oxygen into our bloodstream, causing damage to these fragile structures.

We may not notice right away that we are being harmed. Only tiny segments of the lung are affected, and our lungs are designed to have some reserve capacity.

But over time, as these small injuries add up, more and more lung tissue becomes involved, and symptoms develop. Such injuries can become fatal. For example, think of the diseases caused by asbestos, silica from sand blasting, coal dust and tobacco smoke.

So, perhaps a vitamin E additive could cause damage in a similar way in this context.

A bigger issue

In addition, I believe this is actually a symptom of a broader problem, brought about in part by the 1994 law that allows dietary supplements and some devices to go to market without meeting stringent safety and efficacy standards. Supplement makers dont have to provide evidence that their products work, and the FDA allows them to monitor the safety features themselves.

Its a good business for the manufacturers; dietary supplements sales are estimated to be worth about US$120 billion by 2020. But it may not be good for the American public. By taking untested products, or by using products that are safe in one context but not studied in another, consumers end up participating in millions of uncontrolled experiments in which safety data are frequently absent. There is minimal quality control, minimal oversight and minimal knowledge of what might happen.

Any type of minimally regulated product that we inhale into our lungs on a regular basis clearly deserves a special level of scrutiny before use. I would argue that any inhaled product should have to demonstrate significant safety data prior to being allowed on the consumer market. Do these products even work? How do they work? If they do work, whats the right dose so that its safe, but still effective? How long can you safely use it? Without that knowledge, we are sailing in dangerous waters with no map.

So, until the day that our poorly regulated, uncontrolled market of self experimentation in lung health comes to an end, I will share a motto that experiments and experience have equally proven to be true. If you want your lungs to outlast your hair, please dont inhale anything but air.

[ Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter. ]

Cosby Stone, Instructor in Allergy/Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

View post:
How Vaping Could Create a Bigger Health Risk - The National Interest Online

We love sweet treats. But too much sugar in our diets can lead to weight gain and obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dental decay. We know we shouldnt be eating candy, ice cream, cookies, and cakes and drinking sugary sodas, but sometimes they are so hard to resist.

Its as if our brain is hardwired to want these foods.

As a neuroscientist, my research centers on how modern day obesogenic, or obesity-promoting, diets change the brain. I want to understand how what we eat alters our behavior and whether brain changes can be mitigated by other lifestyle factors.

Your body runs on sugarglucose to be precise. Glucose comes from the Greek word glukos, which means sweet. Glucose fuels the cells that make up our bodyincluding brain cells (neurons).

On an evolutionary basis, our primitive ancestors were scavengers. Sugary foods are excellent sources of energy, so we have evolved to find sweet foods particularly pleasurable. Foods with unpleasant, bitter, and sour tastes can be unripe, poisonous, or rottingcausing sickness.

So to maximize our survival as a species, we have an innate brain system that makes us like sweet foods since theyre a great source of energy to fuel our bodies.

When we eat sweet foods the brains reward systemcalled the mesolimbic dopamine systemgets activated. Dopamine is a brain chemical released by neurons and can signal that an event was positive. When the reward system fires, it reinforces behaviorsmaking it more likely for us to carry out these actions again.

Dopamine hits from eating sugar promote rapid learning to preferentially find more of these foods.

Our environment today is abundant with sweet, energy-rich foods. We no longer have to forage for these special sugary foodsthey are available everywhere. Unfortunately, our brain is still functionally very similar to our ancestors, and it really likes sugar. So what happens in the brain when we excessively consume sugar?

The brain continuously remodels and rewires itself through a process called neuroplasticity. This rewiring can happen in the reward system. Repeated activation of the reward pathway by drugs or by eating lots of sugary foods causes the brain to adapt to frequent stimulation, leading to a sort of tolerance.

In the case of sweet foods, this means we need to eat more to get the same rewarding feelinga classic feature of addiction.

Food addiction is a controversial subject among scientists and clinicians. While it is true that you can become physically dependent on certain drugs, it is debated whether you can be addicted to food when you need it for basic survival.

Regardless of our need for food to power our bodies, many people experience food cravings, particularly when stressed, hungry, or just faced with an alluring display of cakes in a coffee shop.

To resist cravings, we need to inhibit our natural response to indulge in these tasty foods. A network of inhibitory neurons is critical for controlling behavior. These neurons are concentrated in the prefrontal cortexa key area of the brain involved in decision-making, impulse control, and delaying gratification.

Inhibitory neurons are like the brains brakes and release the chemical GABA. Research in rats has shown that eating high-sugar diets can alter the inhibitory neurons. The sugar-fed rats were also less able to control their behavior and make decisions.

Importantly, this shows that what we eat can influence our ability to resist temptations and may underlie why diet changes are so difficult for people.

A recent study asked people to rate how much they wanted to eat high-calorie snack foods when they were feeling hungry versus when they had recently eaten. The people who regularly ate a high-fat, high-sugar diet rated their cravings for snack foods higher even when they werent hungry.

This suggests that regularly eating high-sugar foods could amplify cravingscreating a vicious circle of wanting more and more of these foods.

Another brain area affected by high sugar diets is the hippocampusa key memory center.

Research shows that rats eating high-sugar diets were less able to remember whether they had previously seen objects in specific locations before.

The sugar-induced changes in the hippocampus were both a reduction of newborn neurons, which are vital for encoding memories, and an increase in chemicals linked to inflammation.

The World Health Organization advises that we limit our intake of added sugars to 5% of our daily calorie intake, which is 25g (six teaspoons).

Considering the average Canadian adult consumes 85g (20 teaspoons) of sugar per day, this is a big diet change for many.

Importantly, the brains neuroplasticity capabilities allow it to reset to an extent following cutting down on dietary sugar, and physical exercise can augment this process. Foods rich in omega-3 fats (found in fish oil, nuts, and seeds) are also neuroprotective and can boost brain chemicals needed to form new neurons.

While its not easy to break habits like always eating dessert or making your coffee a double-double, your brain will thank you for making positive steps.

Read the original post:
This is what consuming sugar does to your brain - Fast Company

It looks like Briana Culberson is still going strong with her Keto diet that has been a part of her ongoing commitment to getting fit and eating well even as we head into the holiday season. In a new Culberson family photo, Vicki Gunvalson's daughter is all smiles as she walks alongside her two boys and husband for a holiday pic. We can't believe how amazing Briana looks in just a casual pair of jeans and mom-friendly top and apparently, followers are just as excited as we are to see her success.

On November 21, Briana's husband Ryan posted a shot from the young family's holiday shoot as they walked hand-in-hand in North Carolina. Briana is all smiles wearing a classic pair of dark denim skinny jeans and a burgundy blouse. The blonde beauty paired her low-key look with a coordinating lip shade and loose (but polished) waves. Though we love her effortless mom style, fans were especially taken with her fit physique.

Some followers expressed their excitement writing everything from "You guys look great!" to "Gorgeous!".

Now the only question is how can we work a little Keto into our holiday diet?!

The Lookbook is Bravos celebration of personal style. We keep you up to date on the inspiring looks from trend-setting stylistas, test and report on the most-coveted fashion and beauty products, and offer solutions to all your style-related conundrums. Like us on Facebook to stay connected to our daily updates.

Read the original here:
Everyone's Freaking Out About How Amazing Briana Looks in the New Culberson Holiday Photo - Bravo

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

HOLMES COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) In the rolling hills of Holmes County, just over and hour away from downtown Cleveland, theres a farm that looks so idyllic, it could be right out of a picture book.

Its at Wholesome Valley Farm in Wilmot that part of Americas culinary heritage is being preserved by the raising of heritage turkeys just in time for Thanksgiving.

Trevor Clatterbuck is the owner of Wholesome Valley Farm where he and a dedicated team sustainably produce organic vegetables and pasture-raised beef, pork and poultry, including the rare Standard Bronze Heritage Turkey.

Its a breed thats been the same for the last 100 years, it tastes better, its more like a wild turkey, you can see they look very much like the Eastern Wild Turkey, Clatterbuck said.

One of the breeds most distinctive characteristics is its ability to mate and reproduce naturally, unlike turkeys bred industrially, which cant reproduce without the help of scientists and artificial insemination.

You wont find heritage turkeys on many farms because they take an extreme investment of time, effort and money on the part of the farmer, and they dont produce the profits most would like.

I would guess theres somewhere around 500 in the Northeast Ohio area, Clatterbuck said. And theres 275 right here, he continued, pointing to the heritage turkeys in their pasture.

Clatterbuck himself says hes considered stopping his heritage turkey program, but hes committed to what it represents in farming and knows customers all across Northeast Ohio wouldnt let him.

Its a lot of work and not big numbers, but they sell out every year. Customers come looking for them, weve always got a wait list, he said.

Like other pasture-raised poultry, heritage turkeys need a lot of space.

At Wholesome Valley Farm all the turkeys have free reign of 10 to 15 acres of land, which gives them a much different life than the typical Thanksgiving bird.

The trade-off for us is they take twice as long as one of the traditional hybrid or market turkeys, but the flavor, the additional fat, which is also flavor and moisture and the culinary heritage are all important to us, Clatterbuck explained.

And what about the flavor? How is it different? Heritage turkeys have smaller but more flavorful breast meat. They also have more dark meat, which Clatterbuck describes as having a gamey and rich flavor.

Wholesome Valley Farm starts their heritage birds in January and takes them from mating and reproduction to the egg, through incubation and hatching.

We keep them very warm about 99.5 degrees, theyre very, very picky. After about two weeks they start to get hardier, Clatterbuck said. Eventually, the turkeys are brought outside to fresh air where they roam the pastures, corn fields and even wooded areas of the farm.

The turkeys grow and mature over 28-30 weeks before being harvested, which is about double the time of turkeys raised in an industrial setting.

Clatterbuck faithfully monitors the turkeys activity levels and checks for illnesses on a daily basis. Every day they are moved to fresh pasture so they have lush green grass full of nutrients right under their beaks.

The turkeys also eat a combination of corn, smashed pumpkins, grasses, bugs and kitchen scraps.

Its more of a foraging diet that imitates what a turkey in the wild would have, Clatterbuck said.

Clatterbuck explains pumpkin seeds have natural antimicrobial properties and act almost as an antiviral medicine when the turkeys ingest them.

The foraging diet results in a flavorful, juicier and richer-tasting bird that grows at a slower and more natural rate, the way nature intended.

The birds themselves actually have more fat, which I find amazing, Clatterbuck said.

An estimated 45 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving every year. Heres hoping none of us dry ours out, but what we know for sure is that only a very small percentage of those turkeys carry on Americas culinary heritage.

If we can have a bird that tastes better and that happens to be from food the way it was done years ago, thats all were after, Clatterbuck said.

More on Wholesome Valley Farm here.

40.554093-81.909826

Link:
Thanksgiving turkeys the way nature intended in Northeast Ohio - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland

Chances are youve heard of the latest diet and weight-loss fad sweeping the nation: the ketogenic diet (keto for short). Its a low-carb, high-fat plan thats become so popular, it was credited for making a dent in Weight Watchers numbers.

By drastically cutting back on carbs, keto followers reduce the amount of blood sugar available to be used as energy, which, in turn, causes their livers to produce more ketones for fuel. Since ketones are produced from fat and the body is relying on them for energy, fat burn increases dramatically.

As effective as keto may be, is it really healthy to manipulate the body in such a way? Dr. Joshua Latzman, cardiologist at Maple Medical, believes it can be. A well-formulated keto diet full of non-starchy vegetables, healthy fats and high-quality protein can be healthy, he says.

The keto diet isnt just an effective way to lose weightit may help improve your health in other aspects too. From a cardiac standpoint, reducing the amount of carbs in the diet generally improves triglyceride levels, Dr. Latzman says.

Keto may also help manage diabetes. The diet prevents swings in blood sugar that can result from ingesting large amounts of carbohydrates, especially in people whose bodies have difficulty regulating blood sugar, Dr. Latzman says. The keto diet is even suspected to be good for conditions such as epilepsy, dementia, and certain cancers, though much more research needs to be done.

But before you dive right in, consult with your doctor. People with elevated LDL should be careful about significantly increasing their intake of saturated fat when undertaking the keto diet, as this may further increase their LDL levels, Dr. Latzman warns. He recommends having bloodwork done prior to starting the keto diet and then being monitored on a regular basis to ensure that issues do not develop.

Additionally, people taking exogenous insulin must work closely with their endocrinologists when drastically lowering their carbohydrate intake, Dr. Latzman says. In fact, if youre on any medications, its a good idea to check in with your doctor just to make sure keto is the best plan for you. Taking the proper precautions is important whenever implementing a new diet or weight-loss plan, but generally, it is safe to give keto a go.

Heres what to eat:

Structure your diet to be low carb, moderate protein and high fat

Choose minimally processed, whole foods and avoid anything highly processed

Low-carb veggies such as arugula, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bell pepper, kale and zucchini

Low-sugar fruits such as tomatoes, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries

Healthy fats such as avocado, almonds, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, nut oils, walnuts, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts

Quality proteins such as wild or sustainably farmed salmon, tuna, codfish, shrimp, organic chicken, turkey, grass-fed organic beef and eggs

Snacks such as nut butters with no added sugars, sugar-free jerky, cheese, plain Greek yogurt, kale chips and dark chocolate thats at least 70 percent cacao

More here:
Is the Keto Diet Really Healthy? - theLoop