Videos:
- Joe Biden – Bloodthirsty vampire – About the bombing of FR Yugoslavia and about Serbs (1:26)
- Gerard Rennick – THIS VIDEO HAS TO GO VIRAL. (10:56)
- The Media’s Deranged Hysteria Over Elon Musk’s Restoration of Free Speech (5:00)
- “Foot-Long Blood Clots” From mRNA, Says Pathologist Dr. Ryan Cole w/ Dr Kelly Victory – Ask Dr. Drew (20:30 – 40:30)
Peanuts and herbs and spices may positively impact gut microbiome
Penn State University, December 2, 2022
Adding a daily ounce of peanuts or about a teaspoon of herbs and spices to your diet may affect the composition of gut bacteria, an indicator of overall health, according to new research from Penn State. In two separate studies, nutritional scientists studied the effects of small changes to the average American diet and found improvements to the gut microbiome. “Research has shown that people who have a lot of different microbes have better health, and a better diet, than those who don’t have much bacterial diversity,” said Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Evan Pugh University Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Penn State. For the peanut study, which published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, Kris-Etherton and her colleagues compared the effects of snacking on 28 grams (approx. 1 ounce) of peanuts per day, versus a higher carbohydrate snack—crackers and cheese. At the end of six weeks, participants who ate the peanut snack showed an increased abundance of Ruminococcaceae, a group of bacteria linked to healthy liver metabolism and immune function. In the herbs and spices study, which published in The Journal of Nutrition, scientists analyzed the impact of adding blends of herbs and spices — such as cinnamon, ginger, cumin, turmeric, rosemary, oregano, basil and thyme — to the controlled diets of participants at risk for cardiovascular disease. The team examined three doses — about 1/8 teaspoon per day, a little more than 3/4 teaspoon per day and about 1 1/2 teaspoon per day. At the end of four weeks, participants showed an increase in gut bacteria diversity, including an increase in Ruminococcaceae, most notably with the medium and high doses of herbs and spices. “It’s such a simple thing that people can do,” said Kris-Etherton. “The average American diet is far from ideal, so I think everyone could benefit by adding herbs and spices. It’s also a way of decreasing sodium in your diet but flavoring foods in a way that makes them palatable and, in fact, delicious! Taste is really a top criterion for why people choose the foods they do.” In both studies, the increase in Ruminococcaceae and bacterial diversity was viewed positively, as scientists continue to learn more about the connection between the gut microbiota and a spectrum of health factors, from blood pressure to weight. However, Kris-Etherton is quick to point out that more research is needed to understand all of the implications.”
(NEXT)
Cocoa flavanols may boost skin from within: 24-week RCT
Seoul National University (Korea), November 23, 2022
High-flavanol cocoa supplementation may have positive impacts on facial wrinkles and skin elasticity in photo-aged Korean women, says a new study from scientists from Seoul National University. Twenty-four weeks of consuming 320 milligrams per day of cocoa flavanols were associated with a 9% improvement in skin roughness, compared to a 1.3% improvement in the placebo group, according to findings published in the Journal of Nutrition. “In moderately photo-aged women, regular cocoa flavanol consumption had positive effects on facial wrinkles and elasticity,” wrote the researchers. “Cocoa flavanol supplementation may contribute to the prevention of the progression of photo-aging.” For the new study, the scientists recruited 62 Korean women with visible facial wrinkles to participate in their 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The women were randomly assigned them to either placebo or the cocoa flavanol supplements (Barry Callebaut Belgium). Results showed that, in addition to the decreases in skin roughness, there were significant effects on skin elasticity at both 12 and 24 weeks for the cocoa flavanol consumers. On the other hand, no significant differences between the two groups were detected for skin hydration and barrier integrity, said the researchers. “The dietary consumption of antioxidants as well as the application of topical antioxidants can increase the amount of antioxidant in the skin,” they wrote. “Increased amounts of antioxidant in the skin can protect skin from UV-induced damage.
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Playing the piano shown to boost brain processing power and help lift the blues
University of Bath (UK), December 2, 2022
A new study published by researchers at the University of Bath demonstrates the positive impact learning to play a musical instrument has on the brain’s ability to process sights and sounds, and shows how it can also help to lift a blue mood. Publishing their findings in Scientific Reports, the team behind the study shows how beginners who undertook piano lessons for just one hour a week over 11 weeks reported significant improvements in recognizing audio-visual changes in the environment and reported less depression, stress and anxiety. In the randomized control study, 31 adults were assigned into either a music training, music listening, or a control group. Individuals with no prior musical experiences or training were instructed to complete weekly one-hour sessions. Whilst the intervention groups played music, the control groups either listened to music or used the time to complete homework. The researchers found that within just a few weeks of starting lessons, people’s ability to process multisensory information—i.e., sight and sound—was enhanced. Improved ‘multisensory process’ has benefits for almost every activity we participate in—from driving a car and crossing a road, to finding someone in a crowd or watching TV. These multisensory improvements extended beyond musical abilities. With musical training, people’s audio-visual processing became more accurate across other tasks. Those who received piano lessons showed greater accuracy in tests where participants were asked to determine whether sound and vision ‘events’ occurred at the same time. In addition, the findings went beyond improvements in cognitive abilities, showing that participants also had reduced depression, anxiety and stress scores after the training compared to before it. The authors suggest that music training could be beneficial for people with mental health difficulties, and further research is currently underway to test this.”Learning to play an instrument like the piano is a complex task: it requires a musician to read a score, generate movements and monitor the auditory and tactile feedback to adjust their further actions. In scientific terms, the process couples visual with auditory cues and results in a multisensory training for individuals.” “The findings from our study suggest that this has a significant, positive impact on how the brain processes audio-visual information even in adulthood when brain plasticity is reduced.”
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Loneliness triggers cellular changes that can cause illness, study shows
University of Chicago November 23, 2022
Loneliness is more than a feeling: For older adults, perceived social isolation is a major health risk that can increase the risk of premature death by 14 percent.
Researchers have long known the dangers of loneliness, but the cellular mechanisms by which loneliness causes adverse health outcomes have not been well understood. Now a team of researchers, including UChicago psychologist and leading loneliness expert John Cacioppo, has released a study shedding new light on how loneliness triggers physiological responses that can ultimately make us sick.
The paper, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that loneliness leads to fight-or-flight stress signaling, which can ultimately affect the production of white blood cells. Along with Cacioppo, the research team includes Steven W. Cole of UCLA and John P. Capitanio of the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The study examined loneliness in both humans and rhesus macaques, a highly social primate species. For the current study, the team examined gene expression in leukocytes, cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against bacteria and viruses. As expected, the leukocytes of lonely humans and macaques showed the effects of CTRA—an increased expression of genes involved in inflammation and a decreased expression of genes involved in antiviral responses. But the study also revealed several important new pieces of information about loneliness’ effect on the body. First, the researchers found that loneliness predicted future CTRA gene expression measured a year or more later. Interestingly, CTRA gene expression also predicted loneliness measured a year or more later. Leukocyte gene expression and loneliness appear to have a reciprocal relationship, suggesting that each can help propagate the other over time. These results were specific to loneliness and could not be explained by depression, stress or social support. Next, the team investigated the cellular processes linking social experience to CTRA gene expression in rhesus macaque monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center, which had been behaviorally classified as high in perceived social isolation. Like the lonely humans, the “lonely like” monkeys showed higher CTRA activity. They also showed higher levels of the fight-or-flight neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. Previous research has found that norepinephrine can stimulate blood stem cells in bone marrow to make more of a particular kind of immune cell—an immature monocyte that shows high levels of inflammatory gene expression and low levels of antiviral gene expression. Both lonely humans and “lonely like” monkeys showed higher levels of monocytes in their blood. More detailed studies of the monkey white blood cells found that this difference stemmed from expansion of the pool of immature monocytes. In an additional study, monkeys repeatedly exposed to mildly stressful social conditions (unfamiliar cage-mates) also showed increases in immature monocyte levels. These analyses have finally identified one reason why CTRA gene expression is amplified in the white blood cell pool: increased output of immature monocytes. Finally, the researchers determined that this monocyte-related CTRA shift had real consequences for health. In a monkey model of viral infection, the impaired antiviral gene expression in “lonely like” monkeys allowed simian immunodeficiency virus (the monkey version of HIV) to grow faster in both blood and brain.
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Grapes may help protect against UV damage
Western New England University, December 2022.
On November 30, 2022, Antioxidants reported the findings of a protective effect for consuming grapes against damage caused by ultraviolet exposure in the skin of human volunteers. In the current study, 29 men and women consumed 2 packets of freeze-dried grape powder per day (equivalent to 3 servings of grapes) for 2 weeks. UV radiation was delivered to an area on the back and minimal erythema dose (the minimum dose of UV light that causes skin reddening 24 hours after exposure) and other factors were assessed prior to and at 2 time points after the period during which the participants consumed grapes. Urine and fecal samples obtained before and after the 2-week grape treatment period were evaluated for metabolites and microbiome species. The nine participants who exhibited greater resistance to UV irradiation after consuming grapes had differences in urinary metabolites and microbial abundance compared to the nonresponders. Among responders, 3 participants who continued to demonstrate greater UV resistance 4 weeks after the period during which grapes were consumed were found to have unique metabolic and microbiome profiles.
“We conclude that a segment of the population is capable of demonstrating greater resistance to a dermal response elicited by UV irradiation as a result of grape consumption,” the authors wrote. “It is uncertain if modulation of the gut-skin axis leads to enhanced UV resistance, but there is correlation. More broadly, it is reasonable to expect that these mechanisms relate to other health outcomes anticipated to result from grape consumption.”
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Fluoridated water calcifies your arteries: study
University of Zaragoza (Spain), October 22, 2022
A major promoter of heart disease in the U.S. today could be a chemical that the government has been intentionally dumping into the water supply for decades on the premise that it prevents tooth decay. Fluoride, according to a study published in the journal Toxicology, shows demonstrated cardiotoxic effects, which include the calcification and hardening of arteries. Researchers from the University of Zaragoza in Spain looked at the effects of water fluoridation on the progression of vascular calcification in renal (kidney) disease. The team used real-world concentrations of fluoride as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for optimal oral health — 1.5 milligrams per liter (mg/L) — administering this amount to rats via water in the same way humans would receive it. It was observed that, for five days, the rats, all of whom had experimental chronic kidney disease (CKD), experienced calcification of their aortic smooth muscle cells. The rats also experienced further declines in renal function as a result of exposure to fluoride, demonstrating the nephrotoxicity of this common water additive. “[F]luoridation of drinking water… dramatically increased the incipient aortic calcification observed in rats with experimental chronic kidney disease,” wrote the authors. “[T]he WHO’s recommended concentrations in drinking water become nephrotoxic to CKD rats, thereby aggravating renal disease and making media vascular calcification significant.” Previous research, as noted in the new study, has confirmed that 90 percent or more of digested fluoride is absorbed through the intestines and distributed throughout the body to soft tissues, calcified structures and blood plasma. At WHO-recommended doses, fluoride can still get lodged throughout the body and remain there for many years.