Reduce your carbon food footprint

HOW TO REDUCE YOUR climate FOOTPRINT and get healthy too with smart food choices.

Certain foods require more energy usage in production or/and storage.

Become a vegetarian. Animals use up food crops and require lots of water. Plus, methane production contributes to greenhouse gases. The run off of animal wastes contaminate groundwater, news ref

Stop eating potato chips  They use up too much water in processing. article article

Eat vegetables and fruits in season and grown locally, organic if available.  Washington apples are put in cold storage for many months. article Bananas are picked green and shipped long distances.

Buy nuts in shells. Almonds harvested seasonally are shelled and put in refrigerated cold storage for many months. article  article

MDR Bacteria

You may not yet be familiar with these initials, but will soon learn that MDR stands for

multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Due to the overuse of antibiotics, and over time natural selection, bacteria are mutating into forms that do not respond to even the most powerful medicinal antibiotics currently available. New, stronger drugs are in development, but often exhibit potentially severe adverse reactions for body functions. ref

One option does exist that might help limit the effects of MDR bacteria. While anti-biotics are responsible for indirectly generating MDR, the body has an arsenal of weapons to prevent the MDR bacteria taking hold and growing to sufficient numbers that can cause disease. The immune system needs to be at peak vigilence to find, make, and destroy MDR bacteria. One part of this immune system uses the good bacteria already in the body. These are called pro-biotic bacteria. Supplements of pro-biotic bacteria are available to aid the body's bacterial immune system. Literally, a war begins in your intestinal tract when MDR bacteria invade, often referred to as pathogenic bacteria to distinguish between the healthy and helpful bacteria. 

One important point needs to be clarified here. Some pathogenic bacteria naturally live in the body. But, they are at low numbers and stay controlled by the helpful bacteria. When certain conditions are generated in the body, usually from poor diets or added stress and illness, the resulting state starts to favor the growth of pathogenic bacteria over that of the helpful bacteria. This represents the start of many disease processes. And diseases, once established, further compromise the bacterial intestinal flora make up.

Not all probiotic bacteria exhibit the same degree of protective actions. You want to consume ones that have research showing benefits. These are usually the ones that include a strain code (letters and numbers) after the genius and species name. ex: Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-14) article

Strontium Warning

DO NOT TAKE STRONTIUM 680 mg. UNLESS UNDER MEDICAL CARE

Strontium Renelate (SR) is a drug developed in Europe for fracture prevention from Osteoporosis. Early 3 year results were very positive and while side effects were exactly the same as seen with those from osteoporosis drugs, Strontium group exhibited far lower adverse reactions than drugs. The amazing bone density building factors from SR yielded a 41% reduction in bone fracture rate the first year in one study.

Based on these results, vitamin companies came out with products containing similar strontium dosages but changed the combining element to get around the patent for Strontium being combined with Renelate. During digestion, strontium separates from the combining element, so the results of the drug study would apply to nutritional strontium combinations as well. Actually, there are some differences from animal studies showing some supplement forms of strontium actually exhibit higher absorption amounts than the drug form SR. The Drug company had to use a form of strontium that is not natural by combining it with synthetic Renelate so they could patent the product. MD blog on Strontium.

Now, after longer term SR use, some adverse effects are starting to surface for increased cardiac events. ref  This has prompted the European Medicines Agency in charge of patient safety to issue the following warning about the use of the Osteoporosis drug Strontium Renelate. ref

(Updated April 26, 2013) The European Medicines Agency has confirmed the recommendation to restrict the use of strontium ranelate (Protelos/Osseor, Servier) because of concerns about the risk for adverse cardiac events with the product. The EMA's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) recommended the restrictions earlier this month, and the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has now endorsed this.

Strontium ranelate has been approved in Europe since 2004 for the treatment of osteoporosis to reduce the risk for vertebral and hip fractures in postmenopausal women. In 2012 the indication was expanded to include men at increased risk for fracture. It is not currently approved in the United States.

In a routine benefit/risk assessment of trials involving about 7500 patients, the PRAC found an increased risk for adverse cardiac events, including myocardial infarction (MI), in women receiving strontium ranelate compared with those who received placebo. However, there was no increased risk for death. There was also an imbalance in the number of serious cardiac events seen with the medicine in 2 other studies, one in men with osteoporosis and the other in patients with osteoarthritis, the CHMP said. 

This more in-depth risk evaluation was undertaken due to earlier concerns about other serious adverse events such as venous thromboembolism and rare but serious skin reactions with strontium ranelate.

The following restrictions apply, the CHMP said today:

• Strontium ranelate should only be used for the treatment of severe osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk for fracture and severe osteoporosis in men at increased risk for fracture.

• Strontium ranelate should not be used in patients with current or past history of ischemic heart disease (such as angina or MI), peripheral arterial disease, or cerebrovascular disease or in patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

• Physicians should base their decision to prescribe Protelos/Osseor on an assessment of the individual patient's risks. The patient's risk of developing cardiovascular disease should be evaluated before and at regular intervals during treatment.

The CHMP opinion will be sent to the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, which will issue a legally binding decision,

Analysis: While these adverse events are still in an early stage and research is needed to quantify the risk, the pattern developing is not a welcomed omen. It is Strontium acting like Calcium and not the ranelate part of SR that most likely is related to these effects. The ranelate is just the carrier for patent purposes. Thus, the over the counter nutritional supplement forms such as strontium citrate would most likely have the same effects, but they have not been tested in humans yet. In animal studies, they did exhibit the same type of effects that caused the events that initiated this warning. Strontium replaces calcium not only in bones changing their structure, but also in arteries if the calcium plaque building process is occurring. Calcium replaced by strontium in other soft tissues would be problematic since strontium is double the atomic weight of the calcium it is replacing. This could shorten the time to develop diseases related to this calcification or "strontification" of artery or kidney tissues. Precaution is the order of the day. 

Perhaps the proper protocol under Medical care to monitor would be the use of 680 mg Strontium or slightly less for a limited time or to a measured level of strontium effects and then back off and maintain benefits gained without entering too far into the newly discovered increased cardiovascular risk condition. Medical measurements would need to access body conditions to limit calcification changing into strondificaton in artery walls, but still adding a strength layer to bones. SR also helps limit bone tearing down cell activity. Obviously, vitamin companies hope it is the strontium by itself and not combination with renalic acid that does this particular action. 

A Different Strontium View for Supplements?

Here is a website that sells strontium products and has a different view about the supplement forms of strontium being safer than the drug form used in Europe, Strontium Renelate (SR). They claim using citrate instead as a combining agent with strontium would lower pH values in the body. These values are high in the typical American diet. Thus, this lower pH might mitigate some of the side effects observed from the renelate drug form of strontium. Quite a few assumptions without getting to the real point. It is the strontium displacing calcium in bones or artery walls that is at the root of the problem, not the combining element.

Here is the second study the above website cites in their references for the safety of using the citrate form of strontium. ref  It involves children, rickets, and natural strontium in soils getting into plant cereals and thus into the children's diet. But one part of the RESULT does not appear to be positive for Strontium. It says higher amounts of natural strontium in the diet increased rickets. Now, after reading the study abstract and discussion, is natural strontium as safe as the above website suggests, or otherwise...?

Yes, including adequate calcium makes strontium somewhat safer since calcium hinders strontium absorption, so a little less would be absorbed and participate in displacing calcium. Supplemental Calcium was also part of the SR drug studies that showed the positive outcome of consuming such high amounts of SR in reducing fracture risk.  But, now since higher amounts of natural strontium also will lead to problems in bone growth indicated by the rickets research, it is time to re-evaluate the use of such high amounts of strontium for bone health. After ten years of continuing to evaluate SR studies, an increased risk for heart attacks has surfaced. The length of time consuming could change the early benefits into long term detriments. Your Doctor would determine if short term benefits outweigh any long term adverse effects. 

CAUTION:  If you are consuming Strontium over 300 mg, in any form, it should be under the supervision of your medical Doctor. In the U.S. today, vitamin companies are not only selling over the counter Strontium supplements with the same high dosage as the drug SR, for one company this supplement is that company's number 1 selling product. Customers are completely in the dark about the possible adverse increase in cardiovascular events over time. Dr. Oz some time ago recommended this ingredient on his show for bone health, possibly without mentioning the few side effects and before the current long term adverse cardiovascular effects surfaced.

NOTE: Dec 2016, Supplement strontium availability is currently arriving at that 10 year window. 

What are Endocrine (Hormone) Disruptors?

Also known as hormone interruptors, endocrine disruptors are foreign invaders to the body that either minic hormone actions and/or interfere with them. Copy from this reference is below. ref ref

"Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife. A wide range of substances, both natural and man-made, are thought to cause endocrine disruption, including pharmaceuticals, dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, DDT and other pesticides, and plasticizers such as bisphenol A. Endocrine disruptors may be found in many everyday products– including plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides."

Since hormone disruptors are so prevalent, the question is, Can Vitamins prevent their adverse actions?

PHTHALATE PLASTICIZERS

Plastics are everywhere. Water bottles to baby pacifiers. article Bags of blood are made of PVC plastic since when stored in glass, red blood cells die off faster. The chemicals known as plasticizers, added to plastic to keep it pliable and prevent cracking, migrate into the bagged blood  at a rate of 20-30% by weight. The effects of these chemicals long term are under intense study. In animals they are carcinogenic and interfere with normal growth and development. In Humans, it is not as clear.

Perhaps this next example should be enough for the precautionary approach to limit the use of plastics, but evidently not, or maybe this story is not widely known, or even not viewed as a problem. ref  Puerto Rican young girls mature at a younger age than anywhere else. 68% have higher levels of plasticizers. The increasing problem of lowering fertility rates may or may not be linked to plasticizers. Cancers are increasing while heart disease rates are reducing. Something is driving this change.

Heart Disease and Red Meat

In the news now, April 2013, is a report out of Cleveland Clinic published in NATURE ref. It reports that eating red meat which increases levels of TMAO, a byproduct of certain gut bacteria acting on a protein, L-Carnitine (plus some other food elements), was associated with INCREASED heart disease rates. TMAO is only produced by certain bacteria which are found more in meat and fish eaters than in vegetarians. There was only one vegetarian in the study which is hardly representative for the group as a  whole. Vegetables evidently do not produce the bacteria that makes TMAO precursor, or at least not at significant amounts. This reference from a MD adds some clarity. Return soon as more information becomes available. Look at the date on this ref. Just of interest and some more background. ref

Of Interest: While L-Carnitine has to be converted in the gut by certain bacteria to form TMAO, fish contain already formed TMAO or pre-TMAO ingredient and in quite larger amounts than red meat. But, eating fish lowers cardiovascular disease risk, so what does this say about blaming L-Carnitine converting to TMAO? Is it the TMAO? Or some other associated factor in a red meat or the diet of red meat eaters? And what about fish oil supplements? article <good info with chart

Will consuming good bacteria prevent the TMAO conversion process?

This is just an association and there may very well be other factors working here. Meat and fish have larger amounts of saturated fatty acids plus more acid forming elements than is found in vegetables. Is this a factor?

Article  <This article questions some of Cleveland Clinics assumptions about TMAO, especially from L-carnitine. 

At issue may be the types of bacteria that make up the gut, not necessarily red meat or L-Carnitine. Thus, the value of Probiotics and correct diet to properly feed the growth of beneficial bacteria could be a critical factor.

This test is still waiting to be conducted. Choline in the diet also gets some of the blame for TMAO production. Lecithin, a popular supplement used for nerve functions and weight loss, also contains choline and is in the contributor category but the 1999 study referenced above did not find lecithin was a factor. There is obviouly more to this story and what influences TMAO levels play in heart disease. Here is latest from NIH Government agencies on TMAO. Precautionary approach is prudent unti...