Fun Fact

I'm a closet Science Friday listener. Science Friday is a program on NPR every Friday (no surprise) that discusses a wide range of scientific topics.

The topic today fascinated me because they were discussing the amazing human body. According to the scientist they were interviewing, the human body can run longer and farther than any other animal (birds not included). The scientist said that if you were to have a marathoner run a marathon against a horse, dog, whatever, that the marathoner would win.

At the speed a marathoner runs, a horse and other mammals are required to gallop, or whatever their equivalent of a run is. Because of the way their physiology works, they are unable to cool their bodies as efficiently as a human can, and quickly overheat. This overheating causes them to stop and cool down.

Additionally, the human body is built for running: the Achilles Heal, and other tendons, act as springs that help store energy, the quadriceps are powerful, long distance pistons, and our cooling system is top notch.

So at the 26.2 mile track, my money's on the biped.

US Recommendations Fail to Correct Vitamin D Deficiency

An article published in the Oct. 2009 edition of Nature Reviews: Endocrinology highlights that supplementation with the currently recommended vitamin D levels of 400 IU falls well short of being effective.

The article was written by Dr. Bruce Hollis, a respected researcher that has published numerous articles on vitamin D and its role in cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis and more. Do any sort of search on vitamin D and chances are good that his name will come up.

Hollis discusses how the current recommendations of 400 IU don't do anything to increase serum (blood) levels of vitamin D. Vitamin D sufficiency (adequate levels) is defined as having vitamin D levels above 75 nmol/l. In one study, they found that 74% of postmenopausal women had levels lower than 50 nmol/l. Vitamin D levels this low are implicated in a number of diseases in epidemiological studies.

The graph below, taken from the article, shows how vitamin D supplementation below 1,000 IUs/day did not significantly increase serum levels of vitamin D.


To put this in plain English:

When you take vitamin D supplements that provide a daily dose of less than 1,000 IU you are paying for nothing, literally.

BoneMate Plus provides you with 4,000 IU of quality vitamin D3, as well as calcium and other minerals that help the body to utilize and better absorb calcium.

Dosage studies show that it is best to space out your calcium supplementation - as more will be absorbed this way. We recommend that you take BoneMate Plus in the morning and then at night.

Scooped...

My wife gave me an article on ways simple ways to combat fatigue at home. See it here. Simple things to do that can help with energy levels. The ladies over at the Women's blog beat me to the post.

I have to say that it has been very intellecutally stimluating attending this conference. I have been eating very well/carefully and exercising but I can't seem to get past the after lunch malaise. Good thing I brought some E with me. It has been a life saver! What experiences have you had with E? Post them in the comments section.

Day 2 recap...

Another day filled with interesting reports and LOTS of data.

1. I attended a session on Pediatrics (mainly due to personal reasons, I am the father of three very delightful kids). Parental example and the inherent responsilibity associated with setting a good example for your children was underscored by great talks and posters. Of the two parents, mothers played a huge role in healthy eating choices, activity levels, etc... more so than fathers. Another interesting study focused on introducing vegetables (low energy, high nutrient foods) at the beginning of a meal to see if vegetable consumption was increased and also how it affected the consumption of other energy sources. The study concluded that giving children vegetables as a "premeal" increased their veggie consumption and decreased the amount of mac&cheese they ate later in the meal. If your kids are clamoring for food, give them some carrots.
2. Turn off the TV. A couple of different research groups showed results correlating turning off the TV or removing a TV with increased phyical exercise. Again, the importance of phyiscal activity cannot be overstated. One researcher joked that they hadn't see a study where exercise has been the cause of cancer. Physical activity improves way too many health parameters to be ignored.
3. In a session for clinicians on obesity treatments, the underlying theme was to assess each person individually (there is no one set way to address weight loss and each person is different). There may be underlying reasons for a person's lack of compliance (i.e. ADHD resulting in a lack of focus and inability to stay on task; joint problems from broken bones resulting in decreased activity) and addressing those issues may lead to improved results. Patients need to set goals that are measurable, attainable and within a specified time frame. Best success comes as patients reward themselves for "good" behavior or achieving small steps to a larger goal. Tracking progress pays large dividends in terms of increasing compliance but also it gives the patient a perspective on how much they have achieved. This is crucial during episodes of weight management fatigue and reflection can be a positive reinforcement for continuing to establish long-term lifestyle changes.

Lots of fun. Will post more tomorrow.

Obesity Society recap day one...

I am attending the 2009 Obesity Society Conference in Washington D.C. There are a number of top-notch researchers presenting their work. The topics are wide ranging from cellular mechanisms that lead to obesity to population studies investigating correlative associations.

Some quick thoughts from day one:

1. Obesity is very complex. There are so many factors both environmental and genetic that contribute to weight gain. There is no one quick fix to obesity
2. A key factor is how we cope with stress. The research data regarding our ability to deal with stress and obesity is very compelling
3. Exercise matters. There data surrounding the health benefits regarding small incremental increases in physical activity are astounding. Some recommendations 150 minutes per week of moderate activity as a minimum for improved health. 250-300 minutes per week for weight loss. Start small and work up to these times.

The conference is very stimulating and hopefully will yield fruitful information for all.

Super Chlorophyll Powder™ and Aflatoxin

Dr. Cutler sent an interesting article to me this morning that I thought I would post on this blog since it is so pertinent to Super Chlorophyll Powder™.

The full article can be found here.

The article discusses how a toxin, aptly named aflatoxin, produced by mold growing on legumes (peanuts, soy beans, etc.) can lead to liver cancer. Here is a quote from the article that astounded me,

"In places such as China, Vietnam and South Africa, the combination of aflatoxin and hepatitis B virus exposure increases the likelihood of liver cancer occurrence by 60 times, and toxin-related cancer causes up to 10 percent of all deaths in those nations."

These; however, aren't the only countries that are exposed to aflatoxin. Have you ever chomped down on a peanut that was slightly black and been assaulted by a pungent, sort of burnt taste, that only went away after you'd eaten twenty more good peanuts? Chances are pretty good that you just ate a peanut contaminated by the mold Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxin is a toxin that can be found everywhere.

The aflatoxin produced by this mold is one of the most potent carcinogens found in nature, and, unfortunately, is quite ubiquitous. These are some of foods that can harbor A. parasiticus:

• Cereals
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Chili peppers
• Black pepper
• Coriander
• Ginger
• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Walnuts
• Coconuts
• And more

Super Chlorophyll Powder™, a green powder known for its use as an antioxidant and beauty enhancer, can also help reduce the danger that occurs as a result of aflatoxin ingestion.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science by Egner PA, and colleagues, they found that chlorophyllin (the scientific name of Super Chlorophyll Powder™) was able to protect DNA from the damage caused by aflatoxin. Their conclusion from this study was that chlorophyllin could be an economical way to protect against this common toxin.

Some information about Super Chlorophyll Powder™:

Chlorophyll is a natural, fat-soluble molecule found in plants, and is responsible for their green color. Chlorophyllin, the form of chlorophyll commonly used in supplements, is a water-soluble version of chlorophyll that contains copper instead of magnesium as its central atom. Plants use chlorophyll to trap light needed for photosynthesis and create the energy needed to separate water to make sugar and oxygen.

Because of its unique chemical properties, chlorophyllin is able to form tight molecular complexes with chemicals that are suspected or known to cause cell damage including aromatic hydrocarbons in tobacco smoke; some heterocyclic amines found in cooked meat; and aflatoxin-B1, a toxin produced by fungi found in food products such as corn, peanuts and soy products.
Super Chlorophyll Powder™ is a green powder that is mixed with water and has a light mint flavor.

Are We Closer to a Cure?

Alzheimer's is a disease that affects millions in the US and has no real cure. It is devastating to watch your loved ones slowly forgot the good times you shared. Scientists continue to attack Alzheimer's from every angle hoping to cure a disease that is too small to surgically remove and because of its location in the brain, protected from easy access by drugs that are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier.

However, scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, may be a step closer to finding a feasible cure. Chakrabarty, et al. published their findings in the FASEB Journal this month.

What they discovered, was that when the brain's immune cells (microglia) are activated by the interleukin-6 protein (IL-6), they actually remove plaques instead of causing them or making them worse. This was a surprise, because they had started the study anticipating that activation of these cells would actually increase inflammation, not lead to the removal of plaques. Like many of the great findings in science, this one was another serendipitous discovery.

This approach to curing Alzheimer's may be better than others because the body uses its own defense mechanisms to clear out beta amyloid plaques (via IL-6) instead of non-specific drugs with harmful and usually unknown side effects.

While the research was performed in a model of Alzheimer's disease established in mice, the researchers feel like this is a close to simulating the human response as possible.

Maybe this will progress to clinical trials down the road...

And the winner is...

The nobel prize in medicine was awarded yesterday. A trio of researchers, whose focus was on the ends of chromosomes called telomeres, won the award. Telomeres are streches of DNA that in simple terms are thought to act as caps to chromosomes.

A little something I thought was interesting was,"This year's prize is the first Nobel to be shared by two women. Blackburn and Greider are just the ninth and 10th women, respectively, to be awarded the prize in physiology or medicine in the award's 108-year history."

Science is beautiful and is a never-ending quest for more knowledge.

Lose it...

I downloaded a new app for my iPhone called Lose It. I wanted to try it out and see what results it could do for me. On a bit of a personal note, I reached a bit of a plateau with some simple modifications and was looking for something else to help me keep progressing with my weight loss and body transformation. Tracking my caloric intake and energy expenditure seemed like a good place to go. The app is simple to use and very intuitive. You need to input some data about yourself and away you go. The beauty of having the app on my iPhone is that it constantly reminds me to input data. It's right there - so in my down time I can add my values for the meals that I have eaten. With a simple monitoring of my food intake (which by the way I found very interesting) I have been able to drop five pounds in the past two weeks. Imagine how much more that will be when I start to incorporate exercise. Here is the link to a fun article in the NY Times that prompted this post. I have been able to make some headway, by simply tracking my activities. There are a number of free websites available to you that will do the same thing (e.g. sparkpeople.com, calorieking.com [paid site]) that will help you track what you eat and motivate you to improve. You need to make the most of what you eat to get and stay healthy!

More on Vitamin D.

Here is some more information collected on vitamin D from another blogger Tom Maguire (h/t Instapundit). Check out his link to the a Scientific American article on vitamin D and the immune system.

It's been a while...

I have been on the road a bit which has kept me pretty busy. However, I continue to find interesting items particularly regarding the health benefits of green tea (think Matcha). This latest entry is focused a recent research article describing the positive benefits of on bone metabolism from the catechins found in green tea (h/t futurepundit).

From the press release, "The scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to three major green tea components — epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) — for several days. They found that one in particular, EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones. The scientists also showed that high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones. The green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells, they note." Interesting results that we will continue to track in future studies.

While green tea has received a great deal of attention due to it's demonstrated effect with weight loss (see another link here sent to me by Todd Smith) there is increasing evidence of other benefits from green tea. Now consider this, that Matcha is the highest quality and most nutrient rich green tea available.

Chi-Oka Matcha and L-Theanine

L-theanine has been getting a lot of attention from drink companies lately. L-theanine can now be found in some types of SoBe Lifewater, Vitamin Water and the king of them all, Gatorade, has decided to add this new wonder supplement into a new drink called Gatorade Tiger Focus. This new drink, a collaboration between one of the world's best golfers, Tiger Woods, and Gatorade, one of the world's largest sports drinks manufacturers, contains L-theanine and more electrolytes than previous Gatorade drinks.

In a Gatorade press release, Tiger said, "I've experienced a lot of amazing moments in my golf career, but Gatorade Tiger is taking me someplace I never imagined with this campaign. I’m really excited about how this launch has come together because it brings to life that I’m always thinking about taking my game to the next level.”

Supposedly, Tiger Woods has been taking L-theanine for some time now and credits his renowned ability to concentrate on the golf course to this wonder amino acid.

A this point, you're asking yourself, "What is L-theanine and why should I take it?"

I'll try not to get too techincal, but here's the shpeel:

What is it?

L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid found predominantly in the green tea plant (Camellia sinensis). In fact, L-theanine makes up ~50% of the total free amino acids in the tea plant! That's a lot.

Why Take It?

Because you want to golf like Tiger Woods.

Seriously though, L-theanine is taken by Tiger and others to: increase focus, stay calm, and reduce stress levels. Studies have shown that L-theanine increases alpha waves as measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG). While the brain and how it works is incredibly complex, it is believed that this increase in activity correlates with an increase in focus. There is also some evidence that it can slow heart rate and has a calming effect.

What about Bios Life E?

Both Bios Life E Super Mental Focus and Bios Life E Super Energy Boost contain naturally-occuring L-theanine. The L-theanine in Bios Life E comes from the green tea in our Chi-Oka Matcha blend. This blend has a mix of lots of healthy antioxidants like green tea, blueberry, pomegranate, apple, and resveratrol.

Add another notch to the belt of Bios Life E

Not to blow our own horn, but Bios Life E is a great energy drink. There are no energy drinks out there that have as much going for them as our does. I know, I've looked at probably close to a hundred. Other energy drinks are either loaded with sugar, have very few antioxidants, have lower levels of B vitamins, etc. I think; however, that the motherload for us is our proprietary Chi-Oka Matcha blend. Green tea has so much science supporting its health boosting effects, from lowering LDL levels to boosting memory, that this ingredient helps us stand head and shoulders above everyone else.

Don't worry - be happy...

I am on my way to Japan for some business meetings and was reintroduced to the Unicity Women's website. Katharine Peterson, a member of our marketing group, posted a cool article about the relationship between the emotional state of a women and their risk for cardiovascular disease. After reading the post and the article - I decided to change my attitude and make my time productive (four hour layover due to delays) here in LA. It's a great site regardless of your gender and you should all check it out!

More Support for Vitamin D

Insufficient levels of vitamin D have been found to correlate with an increase in cardiovascular disease, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine believe they know why. In their study titled, "1,25(OH)₂ Vitamin D Inhibits Foam Cell Formation and Suppresses Macrophage Cholesterol Uptake in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus", which came out this week in the journal Circulation, they demonstrate that vitamin D inhibits the uptake of cholesterol by cells called macrophages. In the absence of vitamin D, macrophages aren't very good at controlling how much cholesterol they take in; basically, if it's around they'll gobble it up.

Cholesterol is transported through the blood attached to lipoproteins such as LDL, which is known as the 'bad' cholesterol". When cholesterol comes into contact with free radicals (like reactive oxygen species), LDL becomes oxidated, and macrophages eat it uncontrollably. At this point, the macrophages become clogged with cholesterol and become what is known as foam cells. This is the beginning of atherosclerosis (stiff blood vessels).

The good news is that vitamin D is able to inhibit the uptake of cholesterol by macrophages and thus prevent or slow their transformation into foam cells.

While these studies were done in vitro (with cells in test tubes), principal investigator Bernal-Mizrachi, has begun another vitamin D study on diabetics that are vitamin D deficient and have high blood pressure to see if vitamin D supplementation will lower blood pressure and improve blood flow.

With all the good news coming out based on vitamin D, we've decided to up our amounts of vitamin D in BoneMate Plus from 400 IU per serving to 2000 IU.

Millions of US Children Low in Vitamin D

I came across this interesting article regarding vitamin D deficiency in American children. At first take, a problem as simple as not getting adequate amounts of vitamin D might be something that you'd think would be confined to third world or developing countries; however, a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College found that 7.6 million American children are vitamin D deficient (defined as less than 15 ng/mL of vitamin D in blood) and 50.8 million are vitamin D insufficient (defined as 15 to 29 ng/mL of vitamin D in blood). Low vitamin D levels were especially common in children who were older, female, African-American, Mexican-American, obese, drank milk less than once a week, or spent more than four hours a day watching TV, playing videogames, or using computers. Low vitamin D levels are associated with higher parathyroid hormone levels, a marker of bone health, higher systolic blood pressure, and lower serum calcium and HDL (good) cholesterol levels, which are key risk factors for heart disease.

The good news is that vitamin D supplementation can help. In the study, children who took vitamin D supplements (400 IU/day) were less likely to be deficient in the vitamin.

The bad news is that only four percent of the study population actually used supplements. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which recently updated its vitamin D guidelines, now recommends that infants, children, and teens should take 400 IU per day in supplement form.

Unicity's current BoneMate Plus formulation contains 400 IUs of vitamin D per serving. We are in the process of reformulating this to increase the amount of vitamin D and be in line with current recommendations of 2000 IUs.

Breakfast cereals and risks for heart failure

Okay, so I'm on a kick of popular articles that have a science slant. This one comes from the Health blog at the Wall Street Journal linking to an article published in JAMA. The gist of the article is the correlation of eating breakfast cereals, particularly whole grain cereals, with a reduced risk of heart failure. The more fiber the cereal contained the greater the reduction of the risk of heart failure.

There are two things that are interesting to me. First, eating a breakfast. Don't skip eating breakfast. Eating a low-carb, high protein breakfast sets a great tone for the rest of the day. The second thing about the article is the use of a whole grain cereals for breakfast. In my home, we eat Mini-wheats or Raisin Bran which deliver 5.1 and 6.5 grams of fiber per serving respectively. This is almost exlcusively insoluble bran fiber which has nice benefits dealing primarily with bowel regularity. Why not double those numbers with a packet of Bios Life Slim or Bios Life Complete? This way you will ensure a diet high in fiber, one that includes soluble fiber which will make your meals last longer, reducing the amount you eat throughout the rest of day. Think about - it's a simple choice and one that is backed by independent research.

Interesting tidbit about green tea...

I saw this article on Yahoo news (not exactly the site for premier scientific news). The listed benefits are fun and the suggestion to add ascorbic acid is a good tip. Unicity just launched an energy drink called Bios Life Energy that is available in a ready to drink (RTD) can and a powder. The powder version has 200 mg of catechins as well as 80 mg of vitamin C. It's a great low calorie drink (we have testing the effects of the drink on serum glucose levels with terrific results) that provides a smooth energy lift. I'll post more of our results when our testing is completed.

Green tea, the wonder antioxidant...

Green tea contains a group of potent antioxidant compounds. Among those polyphenolic compounds is a group called catechins. There is a litany of good primary research listing the positive health benefits (including reduction of the risk for heart disease, improvement of serum lipids, improvement serum glucose levels to name a few) that come from catechins and green tea. Interestingly, green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. It's no wonder given how healthy the drink is for you.

This study, conducted by a research group in at LSU, tracked serum biomarkers of prostate cancer including, "hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA)" in a group of 26 men who had tested positive for prostate cancer (h/t Futurepundit). This group was then assigned to consume four capsules containing polyphenols from green tea (1.3 g per day) until the day of their surgery (this ranged from 12-73 or a median of 34.5 days).

The results showed significant reductions in the following biomarkers, VEGF, HGF, PSA, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Furthermore, toxicity assays, measured by monitoring liver enzymes were negative indicating that the dosage was safe for consumption over that period of time.

This is one of many studies performed either on green tea or catechins but it's the first to measure significant reductions in the markers for prostate cancer. Also, the toxicity assays coincide with previous studies demonstrating the lack of liver toxicity, an issue that has been the source of some discussion with regards to green tea. Look for new Unicity products loaded with green tea!

More on omega-3 fatty acids...

It seems as though there is a new study touting the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids (h/t Futurepundit). This is report trying to mimic the diet of early humans with a lower ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids (ω is the greek letter omega). Based on anthropological evidence, it's surmised that the diet of early humans maintained a lower ω-3:ω-6 ratio (1:2). Changes in dietary habits have produced a currently estimated ratio of 1:10. Coincident with those changes in dietary habits are increases in autoimmune diseases, increased systemic inflammation, and diabetes leading these groups, from Wake Forest and Harvard, to think there is a relationship between the immune system and the ratio of ω-3:ω-6 consumed.

In order to test this hypothesis, they took a group of individuals (27) and had them eat a controlled diet with a lowered ω-3-ω6 ratio for one week. After that first week, they continued on fish oil and borage oil supplements for an additional four weeks. They then compared blood tests taken at the beginning and at the end of the study. They looked the gene levels of many immune signals and cytokines and found that many of the genes that promote inflammation responses had markedly lower levels after the 5 weeks of supplementation. One of the genes involved is phophatidyl-inositol-3 kinase (PI3K), a gene involved in the "critical early steps in autoimmune and allergic inflammation responses."

While this study is one of the first of its kind it appears that lowering the ratio of ω-3-ω6 can help in reducing inflammation. Look for good, solid supplements like this one and consume more fish.

Diabetes and kids...

The incidence of type II diabetes in children has been growing in frequency the past two decades. There are many contributing factors which I'll address in a minute but I did want to address a recent study published in Circulation that highlight some of the harmful effects of type II diabetes in children.

In this study, researchers at the University of Cincinnati, looked at three groups of youth, one group was lean, the second group was obese and the final group was obese with type II diabetes (TIID). They found that the third group had the highest risk for cardiovascular disease and the greatest carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT see this link to the University of Chicago's explanation of cIMT). Basically, this is a measurement that determines the thickness of the arterial walls. This can be a diagnostic tool for determining the extent of plaque formation and your risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Thicker arterial walls would be indicative of an atherosclerotic situation.

Getting back to the study, these results mean that even at a young age, obesity and TIID may contribute to increase of CVD. Aghhhh! The last thing children need to worry about is CVD, particularly when there are preventative measures that one can take avoid obesity and TIID.

As a parent, I feel like I have a strong responsibility to set a good example for my children and teaching them what is a good health lifestyle, particularly when these lifestyles are in decline. Start by eating well (tell me if you've heard this before). Eat lots of vegetables and fruits (at least 5 servings per day). Eat foods that are high fiber. Avoid junk foods. In a recent study, published by a group from New Zealand, they found that supermarkets often discount foods that lack in nutritional value. While you may save pennies now, you may end up paying dollars in medical expenses down the road. Get out and exercise. Exercise will change your life - it simply affects every facet of health in a positive way. Start simple. You don't have to join a gym (you could if felt so inclined) but you can do simple things like walking to work, using the stairs, going for a stroll in the evening with your partner or family members. The important thing is that you start doing it! Limit your alcohol intake and STOP smoking! The benefits are too great to pass up and your children are too important to neglect!