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Protect Yourself From “Poison Pushers”

The AHA! Team — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 06:12:58 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – Our modern food supply is turning healthy people into diabetics. And people already battling diabetes are now facing cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. While the connection that links these chronic diseases is often ignored by the media and medical journals, the carefully crafted narrative that tricks the public into eating these poison foods is rooted in junk science. Let me explain… The big, multinational companies that produce the majority of our food are puppet masters. And they’re pulling the strings of the research institutions and their “scientific studies” that frame the medical advice you receive from trusted national organizations. The companies who produce these fake foods have billions of dollars at their disposal. They’re using this money to literally take over our food supply. You’ll find evidence simply by looking for corporate sponsors. The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics is sponsored by corporations like PepsiCo, Danone, and the Campbell Company.1 And the American Diabetes Association is backed by pharmaceutical behemoths Merck and AstraZeneca.2 Business Insider reported that only 10 companies control almost every large food and beverage brand in the entire world. This includes names you’ll be familiar with — Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and General Mills.3 Lobbying to influence our food choices is one thing. But actively manipulating scientific studies is even worse. Often, these large corporations will fund nutritional research — leaving us with biased outcomes and cherry-picked results. Kellogg’s Australia funded one such study. They were looking at whether whole grain cereal could help people with type 2 diabetes manage their condition. Of course, they proudly concluded that whole grains were an “important” part of a diabetic’s diet.4 It wasn’t long before this study came under fire by a number of respected health experts. They accused Kellogg’s of practicing “junk science.”5,6 This assertion that “grains are important for diabetics” is one of the most reckless and dangerous claims I see today. Let’s take a closer look at how a high carbohydrate diet affects your type 2 diabetes. In the past 60 years, our modern diet has become more starch-loaded than at any other time in human history.7 Our Standard American Diet (SAD) is filled with processed foods containing an unnaturally high amount of grains. This is made even worse by cheap and unhealthy seed oils. Refined sugars are added at every opportunity. Even the red meat you buy at the grocery store is from animals that have been grain-fed. And milk, cheese, and butter come from grain-fed cows. A nationwide analysis of U.S. grocery stores revealed that more than 60% of the calories we buy come in the form of highly processed foods.8 Our levels of disease have kept pace with this increase in grain and processed food consumption. If you look back to 1957, you’d find that only about 1% of the U.S. population had high blood sugar.9 It was around this time the American Heart Association famously – and falsely – linked dietary fat to heart disease. The result? Millions of Americans began to remove fat from their diet and replace it with low fat/high-carbohydrate items. Fast forward to the decades between 1980 and 2016. The number of people suffering from high blood sugar rocketed from around 6 million to 111 million people. That’s a 1,750% increase in just 35 years! It gets worse. By the year 2030, the World Health Organization estimates that 40% of the U.S. population — 144 million people — will be diabetic or prediabetic.10 The American Diabetes Association still encourage 25% of a diabetic’s food plate to be filled with grains and starches. And they list whole grains as a superfood on their website.11 The result of all this bad messaging is a widespread pandemic that was raging out of control long before our most recent pandemic hit the news cycle. People are dealing with uncontrollable weight gain, fatigue, high blood sugar, and organ malfunction. This has resulted in a constellation of chronic diseases that threaten every man, woman, and child on our planet. It’s insulin resistance on a global scale. At the Sears Institute, I help my patients beat diabetes and insulin resistance using intermittent fasting. It helps improve glucose regulation… increases stress resistance… and suppresses inflammation. It also helps cells to activate an important process called autophagy. This is where the body cleans house and disposes of old or damaged cells. One study of 16 healthy people found “alternate-day fasting” for 22 days helped them lose 2.5% of their initial weight and 4% of their fat mass. This came with a 57% decrease in insulin levels.12 To see the positive effects of this way of eating, we just need to look to the island inhabitants of Okinawa in Japan. This population traditionally eats on an intermittent fasting schedule and has low rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. They also live extremely long lifespans — many more exceeding 100 years of age. Lower Insulin Resistance with Intermittent Fasting If you’d like to start using intermittent fasting to control your type 2 diabetes, start with a form known as time-restricted eating. It calls for an 8-hour eating window each day, followed by a 16-hour fast. Here’s how it works: Start your day with a 10 a.m. breakfast Lunch at your regular time Finish your dinner by 6 p.m. Your body gets no additional food from 6 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next day When your body gets used to the 16-hour fast, you can move up to the 24-hour mark. You can practice one-day fasts as often as every two weeks. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, “Meet Our Sponsors,” https://www.eatrightpro.org/about-us/advertising-and-sponsorship/meet-our-sponsors. Accessed on September 30, 2024. American Diabetes Association, “Corporate Support,” https://www.diabetes. org/about-us/corporate-support. Accessed on September 30, 2024. Business Insider, “These 10 companies control everything your buy.” www.businessinsider.com/10 companies-control-food-industry-2017-3. Accessed on September 30, 2024. Deloitte, “Analysis: Healthcare and productivity savings from increased intake of grain fiber.” www2.deloitte.com. Accessed on September 30, 2024. Harcombe, PhD, “Increasing Australia’s grain fiber intake could save the economy $3.3 billion a year.” www.zoeharcombe.com. Accessed on September 30, 2024. Demasi M. “Kellogg’s ‘junk science’ and Australia’s health policy.” www.michaelwest.com.au. Accessed on September 30, 2024. Pew Research Center. “Modern American Diet Has Gotten Bigger, Heavier on Grains and Fat.” Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). “Highly processed foods dominate U. S. grocery purchases.” ScienceDaily. 29 March 2015. https://www.sciencedaily.com. Accessed on September 30, 2024. “Long-term Trends in Diabetes.” April 2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Global Report on Diabetes. World Health Organization. Fact sheet. American Diabetes Association, “Nutrition.” www.diabetes.org/ nutrition. Accessed on September 30, 2024. Heilbronn LK, et al. “Alternate day fasting in nonobese subjects: effects on body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism.” Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:69-73. To read the original article click here.

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Researchers Crack a Key Celiac Mystery

The AHA! Team — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 08:18:59 +0000

McMaster University via Newswise – Where in the body does the gluten reaction begin? People with celiac disease must navigate everyday life by avoiding gluten, a protein in wheat, rye and barley which can trigger painful symptoms in the gut, impede the absorption of nutrients and raise the risk of other serious long-term issues. The autoimmune disorder affects about 1 per cent of the population Its rate of occurrence has roughly doubled in the past 25 years, but there is no treatment available. An interdisciplinary team of medical and engineering researchers centered at Canada’s McMaster University and including colleagues from the US, Australia, and Argentina, has spent the last six years working to unlock a significant piece of the puzzle in the search for a cure: how and where the gluten response begins. It had previously been thought that the inflammatory response to gluten occurred inside the gut wall and exclusively involved immune cells, but In a new paper published today in the journal Gastroenterology, the team has shown there is more to the story. They found that the inner lining of the upper intestine, called the “epithelium” –composed of a variety of cells that are not classically part of the immune system – also plays an active role in directing the inflammatory response to gluten. Using microscopic biomaterials in the laboratory, the team created a biologically functioning model of the intestinal epithelium which allowed the researchers to isolate the effects of specific molecules in the epithelial cells of people with celiac disease. The model allowed the researchers to generate and observe the reactions under controlled conditions, an option that is simply not available in extremely complex gut environments of living beings. They were able to observe how the molecules alert immune cells to the presence of gluten, and to conclude definitively that the epithelium plays a crucial role in activating the immune system in celiac disease. Such a mechanism had been postulated before but was never proven. Answering this controversial question is expected to advance the development of new drugs. “The only way we can treat celiac disease today is by fully eliminating gluten from the diet. This is difficult to do, and experts agree that a gluten-free diet is insufficient,” says Elena Verdu, a corresponding author on the paper who is a professor of gastroenterology and director of McMaster’s Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute. Precisely locating the spark of the immune response could stimulate research into drug delivery to inhibit this newly found role of the epithelium, using drugs already in clinical trials, Verdu says. “This allowed us to narrow down the specific cause and effect and prove exactly whether and how the reaction takes place,” says Tohid Didar, a corresponding author on the paper and an associate professor at McMaster’s School of Biomedical Engineering who holds the Canada Research Chair in Nano-biomaterials. Another significant finding from the study is that after detecting gluten, the epithelium sends stronger signals to immune cells if pathogens are also present. This means that in the future it may be possible to detect the pathogen in a person at risk of developing the disease and inhibit the interactions with gluten and the gut epithelium to prevent the disease, says the paper’s lead author, Sara Rahmani, a PhD candidate in Verdu and Didar labs. To read the original article click here.

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Military Researcher Explores Ways to Prevent Chronic Pain

AHA Publisher — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 08:00:15 +0000

University of Kentucky via Newswise – The ultimate goal of the study is to determine which factors are most influential toward the development of chronic pain, and then create a screening platform that can categorize patients into different levels of risk. Newswise — LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2019) – Josh Van Wyngaarden grew up in a military family, traveling all over the world during his father’s 22 years in the Air Force. “It’s really all I ever knew,” he said. “And I knew I wanted to serve in that way, too.” The University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences doctoral student was in high school when 9/11 occurred. It moved him to follow in his father’s footsteps by applying for the Air Force Academy, where he studied for four years. Knowing he wanted to pursue a medical career, he ultimately chose the path of physical therapy, earning his doctorate of physical therapy at San Antonio’s Army-Baylor DPT Program. While in San Antonio, Van Wyngaarden worked at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s Center for the Intrepid, a rehabilitation facility where military wounded warriors receive treatment for blast-related injuries experienced during deployment. Despite evidence-based treatment, many of the patients ultimately developed chronic pain. “Chronic pain and suffering were such huge problems in that population,” he said. “I knew then we need to find better ways to figure out who’s at risk for a bad outcome.” Van Wyngaarden spent the next several years traveling the world himself: a stint at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where he practiced clinical physical therapy. An assignment to Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina, where he helped build a platform to transport patients with Ebola from West Africa to the United States for treatment. A humanitarian mission in Nepal to provide healthcare to people in need. Finally, a deployment to South Korea, where he both directed the physical therapy clinic and also led the team in charge of base decontamination in the case of a chemical, nuclear or biological attack. With years of experience in the field, Van Wyngaarden then decided to pursue a Ph.D. in rehabilitation sciences, which would allow him to teach and conduct research on the mechanisms behind chronic pain. The good news: the Air Force would cover the cost of his degree for three years. The bad news: most Ph.D. programs in the country take 4-5 years, and very few were willing to accelerate their programming to meet that three-year requirement. Fortunately, the University of Kentucky has a known track record of working with both active duty service members and veterans to achieve their scholarly goals. Van Wyngaarden emailed Brian Noehren, associate professor of physical therapy in the UK College of Health Sciences, to inquire about the possibility of getting his doctorate in three years. “When Josh reached out to me, I really thought long and hard about this – the fact that it was a year shorter for a Ph.D. is a really big deal,” Noehren said. “But I really felt that commitment to our service members, and I wanted to find a way that Josh could be successful here.” Noehren set up regular FaceTime meetings with Van Wyngaarden while he was still stationed in South Korea so he could begin working ahead of his arrival. The 13-hour time difference meant that one of the two was working early while the other worked late, but the effort paid off. “A lot of times, it takes a year or more for the student to really settle into their topic,” Noehren said. “But he was able to come in and hit the ground running.” Van Wyngaarden’s research at UK is inspired by his time at the Center for the Intrepid: he’s studying the potential for chronic pain in patients who have suffered a significant lower extremity fracture that required surgery. Working with UK HealthCare orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Paul Matuszewski to identify patients who agree to participate in the study, Van Wyngaarden monitors patients for 12 months after surgery, conducting surveys and sensory testing to determine possible risk factors for chronic pain. He’s particularly interested in the psychosocial aspects of recovery – in other words, what psychological and environmental factors might play a role in whether patients develop chronic pain over the years. Those issues were prevalent during his time working with wounded veterans. “A lot of those guys did really poorly – understandably – not just because of the trauma of the injury, but also the psychological influence of seeing their best friends injured or killed in action,” Van Wyngaarden said. “I saw the influence those factors carried in those patients, and I wanted to see how that played out in a less severe traumatic injury population.” The ultimate goal of the study is to determine which factors are most influential toward the development of chronic pain, and then create a screening platform that can categorize patients into different levels of risk. For example, a low-risk patient would recover as expected with standard of care; however, a high-risk patient may need some supplemental care focused on mental health to help control pain throughout recovery. While that goal has obvious applications in the military setting, it also has the potential to make an impact on a public health issue that’s particularly impacted the Commonwealth: the opioid crisis. Noehren notes that Van Wyngaarden’s work is unique and possibly the first of its kind. “With orthopaedic trauma, almost half of patients develop chronic pain and are at risk of long-term use of opioids,” Noehren said. “The best way to prevent opioid use disorder is to not need opioids in the first place. Josh’s work will give us really important insights for non-pharmacological treatments that we can administer to people before they develop chronic pain both in and outside the military setting.” Though his work is ongoing, Van Wyngaarden says they’re noticing definite trends: they can reliably predict those who are at risk for chronic pain at the six-month mark, and they are working to see if that trend holds at 12 months. So far, the most consistent predictor of pain and poor physical function is self-efficacy. “It’s basically the person’s belief and confidence that they can work through an injury – despite any pain they might be having – and return to full activity,” he said. In addition to the insights his research is providing, Noehren says having a student with Van Wyngaarden’s experience has been valuable for the whole rehabilitation sciences program. “It’s been great to have him in our lab because he sees things a little differently,” Noehren said. “Having an actual service member who’s treated individuals wounded in combat has been really important for us. The military system of medicine is different than the civilian, and I think it’s been enriching for our undergraduate and other graduate students who are just now becoming acquainted with the different healthcare systems.” Early next summer, Van Wyngaarden will finish up his degree and defend his dissertation. Though he’s not yet sure of his next assignment, he says he’ll likely be heading back to the Army-Baylor program to teach and train the next generation of military physical therapists. But he’s not finished with UK just yet – in addition to future intervention studies he’ll develop in his new role, he’ll also continue to collaborate on research with Noehren and Matuszewski. The team has secured funding for their work, which will take them through several more years of research. But wherever Van Wyngaarden’s career may take him, Noehren says he’s poised for great things. “We push people in our labs to really take risks and try new and bold ideas, and he has definitely done that,” Noehren said. “I’m really excited to see his future career trajectory. He’s on track to do some amazing things both inside and outside of the military.” To read the original article click here.

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