She accidentally spilled 2 drops of dimethyl mercury on her gloved hand… and subsequently died in agony.

Now it’s important you take note this is dimethyl mercury, which is NOTORIOUSLY dangerous. Methyl mercury, which caused the outbreak of Minamata Disease in Japan in the 1960s and 70s was METHYL mercury, not DIMETHYL mercury. We all saw the horrible picture of young kids from the city if Minamata, twitching and jerking in wheelchairs, as they slowly died.

Well, dimethyl mercury is ten times as deadly.* It’s horrible!

KW turned up in ER five months after her accidental exposure. She was sure that she had not touched the chemical. She apparently followed the full detox procedure at the time (she was a professional, after all). But…

This is what happened to her: she noticed progressive deterioration in balance, gait, and speech; she has lost 15 pounds in the 2 months leading up to her admission, and experienced several brief episodes of nausea and abdominal discomfort.

She started walking into walls and assumed she had not been paying proper attention. Then, one day, she almost got into a car accident. She started asking her husband to drive her to university. Maybe she hadn’t slept well, she thought.

When examined, she had a condition called “dysmetria” (“dys-” meaning wrong, and “-metria” meaning length). She was mis-estimating distances and how close or far away things were, which made her extremely clumsy.

Similarly, she had ataxic gait, meaning her walk was awkward, imbalanced, and disorderly. Both of these were combined with lousy handwriting and slurred speech, all of which amounted to severe neurodegeneration, with mercury as the likely culprit.

She was a skilled professional and she knew what all this meant. She was right to be concerned about her condition.

As the days continued, KW reports that she has a tingling in her fingers that’s getting stronger. She sees brief flashes of light in both eyes. She introduces the concept of white background noise that begins to wash away her normal hearing in both ears. Her gait becomes even more ataxic. Her speech becomes more slurred; her field of vision, more narrow.

A blood test revealed that her blood mercury levels were over 4,000 mcg/L. Thats 4,000 times greater than the upper limit of normal. Obviously, mercury poisoning was THE cause of her condition.

But the sad part of the story is that she did not show any signs of recovery, many weeks after leaving the lab. Where was the mercury hiding? It was clearly not being excreted. 95% of her “dose” was unaccounted for.

In fact it ended up in the nervous system. Remember, she was not poisoned by mercury metal but the dimethyl form, which has a strong affinity for fatty tissue. What’s the fattiest organ in the body?

The brain! it’s over . 60% fat.

So a near-lethal dose of organic mercury is transferred to her brain and nervous tissues. She was in big trouble.

The problem with dimethlymercury is that, in the liver, it’s broken down to methylmecury, which still dissolved strongly in fatty tissue (hence Minamata Disease). Even worse, it’s known to bing to tissue and cause free radical damage and oxidative stress, and form complexes that accelerate cell death.

The best solution here is to trap the mercury inside a molecule that’s water-soluble on the outside, so that it will grab the mercury but still dissolve in water and be excreted by the kidneys. We call this “chelation”, from the Latin word for a crab’s claw!

But it was too late. A week later a neuropsychiatric consultant found severe cognitive deficits. She’s losing touch. Her husband tries to speak to her, but she would stare blankly into a void.

At 3 weeks’ time after initially presenting to the emergency room, KW becomes unresponsive to verbal, visual, and touch stimuli. From the depths of her coma, she is sometimes found yawning spontaneously with brief episodes of agitation, screaming, crying, and unpromted sudden, jerky limb movements. There’s someone inside, but that person is trapped in a prison of her own comatose body.

There continued to be some debate whether her condition was caused by steady accumulation of mercury from her work. But a hair analysis showed that was not the case.

The amount of free mercury found in her body halved every 75 days, with a maximum excretion recorded roughly 150 days before presenting to the emergency room: the time she was subject to the spill in the lab.

Working, backwards, it became obvious that she had absorbed a MASSIVE quantity of demethylmercury, four times the lethal dose. She was as good as dead from the moment of the spill. In fact at one point her blood mercury levels were likely to be 16,000 times the upper limit of normal, it was calculated.

It was discovered later the dimethylmercury does, in fact, diffuse through the type of disposable latex gloves KW wore that day, and it does so within seconds. The small exposure, equivalent to a few drops absorbed into her skin, embedded into her body and caused delayed onset of cerebral disease.

In view of the dismal prognosis and after more than three months of trying everything they could do to saver her, the patient’s advance directives were followed, and she was left to die peacefully on June 8, 1997, 298 days after exposure.

Before she lapsed into a vegetative state, the patient requested that her case be presented to the general medical community, to scientists working with mercury, and to toxicologists, in the hope of improving the recognition, treatment, and prevention of future cases of mercury poisoning.

Only three other cases of dimethylmercury poisoning have been documented in history. In 1865, two lab assistants who were synthesizing it for the first time passed away several weeks after doing so. In the 1960s, another lab worker was exposed to it and he too suffered a delayed neurologic decline in the same fashion as KW.

In general, it’s a good rule to not touch things if you don’t know what they are. Be cognizant of what comes in contact with your skin. Unless you’re a chemist, you probably won’t come into direct contact with dimethylmercury the way that KW did. And don’t worry, you would have to eat 65,000kg of fresh Atlantic salmon in one sitting to get you to where she was.

It is important to understand that methyl and dimethylmercury are ORGANIC forms of mercury, not the same as thiomersol at all (mis-spelled by Americans as thimersal).

I don’t think it is appropriate to illustrate this story with an image of the patient. But if you want to watch a YouTube video about this famous case, go here:

A gloomy story, And of course it poses the obvious question: why would they want to put ANY form of mercury into babies? Teething powders resulted in deadly “pink disease”, back in the 1940s and 50s. Then it was used in vaccines. Duh! now we have to worry about polluted fish (from coal burning and other industrial waste). As a general rule, smaller fish, like squid, scallops, sardines, contain less mercury than larger varieties such as tune and swordfish, which are higher up the food chain.

Also- a good idea: get yourself a copy of the Monterey Aquarium phone app. Check the quality of fish you are eating!

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby 

The Official Alternative Doctor

• A figure of speech only.

Sources:

1. Medpage Today

2. June 4, 1998. N Engl J Med 1998; 338:1672-1676 doi: 10.1056/NEJM199806043382305

So I thought I might as well share the whole story with you (this is supposed to be a newsletter, after all!)

Some years ago, I found a formulator with a good idea. It’s a very different version of vitamin C that has amazing, powerful properties (it is vitamin C!) but in a very well-tolerated form. In fact it tastes rather nice, instead of that ghastly sour ascorbic acid form.

Sodium ascorbate tastes a little better but is still not well tolerated in large doses. It causes diarrhea and stomach pains.

But the main value of vitamin C in fighting health conditions is to be able to take substantial doses. The piffling quantities they called the “recommended dietary allowance” (100 mg or less) was drawn up by fools, who cannot understand the different between the minimum amount to stop you getting scurvy and the OPTIMUM amount, to keep you in good health!

Consider: most animals don’t get colds and flu, or cancer (unless they eat the junk fed them by humans). Why so? All animals, with very few exceptions, make their own vitamin C on board. Goats, for example, create themselves about 12 – 15 grams of vitamin C a day. That’s more than 1,000 times the RDA.

You know I’ve always gone with nature, not scientists. She knows what she’s doing. We humans are a bit bigger than goats, so we probably need 15 – 20 grams a day. But we can’t make vitamin C anymore. We could once, but we lost the gene!

So I took on this new form and called it my “Super C”. All went well for years; it’s been one of my most successful products. Lots of people rave over it and say they can tolerate it like never before.

Then one day, a few months ago, Vivien met with this individual who supplied us. She was collecting a batch for distribution. But she noticed the expiry date was all wrong: it was about 7 days from the time of purchase. By the time anyone got their shipment, it would be out of date.

Viv pointed out the inconsistency but this gentleman bullied and harassed her and insisted the products were good for a least a year (probably true, but I can’t sell goods that are past their sell-by date, obviously!) Viv got back with the consignment, very upset and I DESPISE men who push my wife around. I stopped the payment check and told him to come get his out-of-date goods. In the end I had to take them back to him in person.

As people do, when you catch them out in crime or deceit, he became very obnoxious and seems to behave as if we were the party in the wrong. I hope never to speak to him again, though he still hangs around at trade shows etc.

Anyway, because of this wrong-doing, we suddenly found ourselves with no Dr. Keith’s Own® Super C! In a rush we found a new formulator who agreed they could do the job for us. They understood my modifications and improvements and set to work.

But they were starting from scratch; we had to do testing and tastings; then create new labels. It all took an uncomfortable length of time. But I’m writing this with excitement, delighted to tell you that DR. KEITH’S OWN SUPER C is back in stock! Yay!

Go here to order some.

Stock up NOW, just in case there’s a problem. I don’t think so. The manufacturers are the same and we have Victor, a nice young Korean chap, working as our intermediary. He’s very confident things are now ALL GOOD!

There are some tweaks to the formula. As well as EDTA, for chelation purposes, there is MSM (methylsulfonylmethane).

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) has become a popular dietary supplement used for a variety of purposes, including its most common use as an anti-inflammatory agent. According to a 2017 article on PubMed, it has been well-investigated in animal models, as well as in human clinical trials and experiments. A variety of health-specific outcome measures are improved with MSM supplementation, including inflammation, joint/muscle pain, oxidative stress, and antioxidant capacity.¹

I also added glycine. Glycine is a most important and simple, nonessential amino acid in humans, animals, and many mammals.

Glycine acts as precursor for several key metabolites of low molecular weight such as creatine, glutathione, haem, purines, and porphyrins. Glycine is very effective in improving the health and supports the growth and well-being of humans and animals. There are overwhelming reports supporting the role of supplementary glycine in prevention of many diseases and disorders including cancer (I don’t think I’m allowed to say that).

Dietary supplementation using proper doses of glycine is effectual in treating metabolic disorders in patients with cardiovascular diseases, several inflammatory diseases, obesity, cancers, and diabetes. Glycine also has the property to enhance the quality of sleep and neurological functions. ²

So, you’ll not be disappointed! In fact you should notice clarity and energy you have never been aware of before. I think it’s a better formula and I am delighted to take it myself.

Incidentally, it was reported that glycine is very effective in optimizing the activities of g- glutamyltranspeptidase, alkaline phosphatases, asparatate transaminases, tissue fatty acid composition, and alanine transaminase, [these are all liver function enzymes] so oral supplementation of glycine can be very effective in protecting the liver.

And for those of you who like a drink: glycine is an excellent preventive to reduce the alcohol levels in blood.³

A ton of good references in that last article, by the way.

Finally, there is that wonderful heart-healthy sugar: D-ribose.

So, take care of yourself. GET MY NEW SUPER C HERE.

Go here to order some and you can use the coupon code: SUPERC to get a 10% discount.

As I said, stock up NOW, just in case there’s a problem. This is the most wonderful vitamin substance of all time!

To your good health,

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby

The Official Alternative Doctor

References:

1. Nutrients. 2017 Mar; 9(3): 290. Published online 2017 Mar 16.

2. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2017; 2017: 1716701. Published online 2017 Mar 1.

3. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2017; 2017: 1716701. Published online 2017 Mar 1.

In other words, how fast people are walking in midlife tells us a lot about how much the body and brain have aged over time.

The information comes from following 904 individuals from New Zealand, put together as a bunch from birth, who were tracked for more than 40 years beginning at age 3, as part of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal investigation of health and behavior in a representative birth cohort.

But even more remarkably, this study allowed researchers to use a childhood assessment of cognitive function at age 3 to predict how fast an individual would be walking at age 45! Poor neurocognitive function as early as age 3 and deteriorating cognitive function between the ages of 3 – 45 years, correlated with slower midlife gait.

This suggests gait (walking) speed is not only an indicator of aging, but also an indicator of lifelong brain health, with possible origins in childhood nervous system deficits.

I find all this totally fascinating! The study was published online October 11 in JAMA Network Open.

Lifelong Indicator

At age 3, participants were assessed by a pediatric neurologist. They had standardized tests of intelligence, receptive language, and motor skills. In addition, each child’s emotional and behavioral regulation was rated. At ages 7, 9, and 11, they took the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised).

At ages 26, 32, 38, and 45, physiologic health was assessed, including measurements of body mass index, blood pressure, cardiovascular and lung fitness, cholesterol, and other markers.

At age 45, gait speed was measured under three conditions: usual walking, maximum walking speed, and dual-task speed. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV test and balance and strength tests were also administered and brain MRI was obtained. Facial aging was also rated at age 45.

In other words, these individuals were studied pretty closely. That makes the findings more valuable to us.

Average gait speeds at age 45 were 1.30 meters per second for usual gait, 1.99 m/sec for maximum gait, and 1.16 m/sec for dual-task gait (walking while doing something else).

Slower gait speed measured at age 45 was significantly associated with multiple physical indicators of accelerated aging, including poor balance and visual-motor coordination, weak strength, and older facial appearance.

Slower gait speed was also associated with several biological indicators of accelerated aging, including compromised brain integrity (reduced brain volume and cortical thickness).

Now I need to remind you that “associated with” does not mean the same as “caused by” (correlation is not causation, is the mantra!) Even so, given the length and detail of the study, this is clearly telling us something important.

Unfortunately, the message is not a clear one of “Walk fast and you’ll slow down aging.” But such a recommendation is certainly consistent with the data obtained. So I recommend you do it anyway.

In addition to walking speed predictions, lower IQ in midlife and evidence of cognitive decline from childhood to adulthood was also significantly associated with slower gait at age 45. Importantly, the researchers also note that adults who had had poor neurocognitive functioning at age 3 also had slower gait in midlife.

These findings “call for rethinking gait speed, from a geriatric index of functional decline to an index of the role of lifelong neurocognitive functioning in processes of aging,” the investigators tell us.

If you want that translated, it means walking speed is not just a measure of aging (it is) but also a pointer to lifelong neurological health.

Now researchers suggest that walking speed should be expanded from just a test used in geriatric medicine (people over 65), to a tool that is useful and makes solid predictions at any stage of life (actually from 3 years onwards, but they were not that nit-picky!)

In fact gait speed should probably be used at all health check ups and medical assessments, at any stage of life. That’s good.

Other Opinions

As with all studies with interesting findings, those not involved like to throw in their 10 cents worth. Commenting on the study in an accompanying editorial, Stephanie Studenski, MD, MPH, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, says gait speed appears to be a “valuable signal of potential health concerns in midlife adults.”

Although the authors do not provide a clear-cut point for reduced gait speed, they do suggest that rates of aging, cognition, and brain health are most affected among persons in the lowest gait speeds, Studenski notes.

For usual gait speed, using the authors’ data, she suggests a cut point of roughly 1.1 meters per second. “Certainly, as the authors suggest, midlife adults with slow gait speed are a potential target for interventions to prevent late-life disability and dementia,” she writes.

The implications for early childhood are less clear, Studenski says.

Meanwhile, us grown ups and Boomer had better take this to heart. Keep moving is the number one admonition to slow aging anyway. Do NOT get on a frame. It slows you to nothing. If you’re on one, get off it! Change your diet and settle down inflammation and you should be able to get some mobility back. Think positive! Some people have become fully mobile again, just changing their diet and taking omega-3s.

I walk 10 – 12 miles a week. I enjoy walking reasonably fast but lately I have learned to relax and stroll more. Even here in Las Vegas, I get to walk past ponds where there are geese, ducks and turtles (Yes, did you know, we have a unique Las Vegas turtle, called a red-eared slider?)

Red-eared slider

Now I think I’ll pick up the pace again. It’s good being 74, I don’t EVER want to get to 84, just stay 74 for the next 20 years!! The gait study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging and from the UK Medical Research Council. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Studenski has received personal fees from Merck but she was not part of the study. Here’s to walking, walking, walking…Meanwhile, if you want to know hundreds of tips for slowing and preventing aging, get my super book: How to Live Beyond 100 Years.

Click here to learn more >>

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby

The Official Alternative Doctor

Artificial sweeteners have been linked to…

• Cancer
• Depression
• Metabolic syndrome
• Digestive disorders
• Neurodegenerative disease
• Chronic inflammation

As if that wasn’t bad enough, there is new evidence that the two conditions they were thought to help control is actually worsened by their use!

Artificial Sweeteners to Control Weight and Diabetes?

Doctors and nutritionists alike have suggested artificial sweeteners in place of (natural and refined) sugars for diabetics as well as those trying to lose weight.  

In a new study published by Nature, scientists at Weizmann Institute discovered that aspartame leads to glucose intolerance!  Researchers gave laboratory mice the comparative maximum dose allowed in humans by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the control group was given straight glucose in water.

After 11 weeks, the mice receiving the artificial sweetener showed “significant glucose intolerance” compared to the control group mice.  They repeated the experiment several times, using different mice and their results were the same. They also found evidence of specific bacteria linked to obesity in humans.  

This chemical toxin is found in abundance in “diabetic friendly” and “low calorie” foods!

Artificial sweeteners may not have any calories but that is the least of your worries where these supposedly “harmless” substitutes are concerned.  The reason they don’t register calories is due to the fact that your body is unable to digest them.

Think about that for a moment.  

You can’t process these unnatural sweeteners because your body can’t even identify what they are and considers them a contaminant that should be flushed from your system!

The team with Weizmann theorized that gut flora is directly impacted by sugar substitutes.  We need beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in order to keep our bodies in optimum condition.  They directly influence digestion, metabolism, and even brain health.  

Without them, your system begins to break down from the inside out.  

To test the possibility, they reviewed the data of almost 400 people who regularly used artificial sweeteners and found a strong association to their levels of glucose intolerance.  

Taking their theory a step further, the scientists asked seven volunteers who never used artificial sweeteners to consume the maximum allowed for one week.  By the end of the small experiment, four of the participants showed a substantial drop in glucose tolerance and measurable changes in their gut flora.

Yes, additional research will now have to be done to confirm (and larger studies done on humans), but considering the known problems caused by these chemicals already, how much more evidence do we need?

Better Options to Sugar Substitutes

The developed world admittedly consumes too much sugar.  It is the root cause of the obesity epidemic, the explosion of diabetes cases, and is undeniably linked to cancer development.  

When substitute sugar was introduced to the market – at an estimated 20,000 times sweeter option with no calories – doctors and nutritionists worldwide encouraged their use.  Food manufacturers started putting it in everything from sodas to bread.

Decades later, we’re faced with the consequences.  The answer is not to find fake chemical solutions so we can keep eating our favorite junk food.  The answer is to omit the junk – as much as possible – and accept that better nutrition is the answer to a healthy, longer life.

You might love the taste of sugar and the substitutes marketed as a “healthier” option.  Your body doesn’t love it.  Your body sees these products as toxic invaders that are dangerous to you.  That leads to an immune response and inflammation.

Inflammation is the basis of so much sickness and disease around the world and that is the ultimate danger of artificial sweeteners.  Body-wide chaos and a state of alert that throws all your basic systems off balance.  

When you crave something sweet, choose fruit!  Natural fructose (sugars) in fruit don’t overwhelm your body and these foods provide fuel for your beneficial bacteria.  

If you love your coffee and sugary treats, consider using raw, organic honey instead of the refined white sugars.  It is naturally antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory…while still being sweet and delicious! None of those artificial sweetener dangers to detract from your enjoyment of an occasional goodie.  

Whenever possible, choose raw and natural – your gut flora will thank you.  

REFERENCES

Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel: Non-caloric artificial sweeteners and the microbiome: findings and challenges https://genie.weizmann.ac.il/pubs/2015_Elinav_segal_A.pdf

Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel: Gut Bacteria, Artificial Sweeteners and Glucose Intolerance https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/gut-bacteria-artificial-sweeteners-and-glucose-intolerance

The thought police are out again, attacking eating plans that “have not been clinically proven”. Who the hell cares? You don’t have to have your lunch or supper clinically proven!

What possible business of these snooping busybodies is it, what a person chooses to eat? It’s fascism in the full sense of the word, meaning attacking people who are not like us; doing “exposures” (when everything is in full view); bringing in irrelevant arguments to discredit others; and generally taking over the airwaves.

Now they are attacking “detox diets” (and actress Gwyneth Paltrow in particular), implying there is a public scam. I suspect it’s just jealousy because she has a huge following, makes a ton of money, is slim as hell, beautiful, and DARES to look super-sexy! That’ll make the underperforming female journalists jealous.

But they come out with nonsense like this:

“Detox dieters often report a variety of benefits, but most of these improvements may be due to changes in the diet unrelated to any change in “toxin levels.” For instance, a decrease in headaches could be related to elimination of caffeine or alcohol in the diet.”

Have the idiots that wrote this [OK, Michele R. Berman, MD, and husband Mark S. Boguski, MD, PhD] never learned that caffeine and alcohol are serious potential toxins?

Gwyneth Paltrow

I must say the name of Paltrow’s operation: Goop, isn’t particularly appealing to me. Viv thinks the G and P might be based on her initials. (Anyone know?) It sounds like a kind of bowel blockage. But hey, it’s a free world!

Oh no. Sorry. It ISN’T a free world… That was when I was a kid, over 60 years ago, before social media, the greens and gender politics imprisoned everybody in the intellectual tomb of political correctness.

The accusation is that Goop promotes “controversial health and wellness concepts and sells products related to her unusual ideas”. None of it is controversial till the journalists get hacking away. So, excuse my logic; doesn’t that mean her attackers are causing the controversy, not Gwyneth? (The word hack is chosen advisedly, by the way).

“Once again, January is that time of year when Ms. Paltrow’s fancy turns to promoting detox diets,” goes the diatribe.

“As in the past, Gwyneth depends on her detox guru, Dr. Alejandro Junger, who is well known in the “detox market” for his Clean program. Dr. Junger’s basic elimination diet rules include no caffeine, alcohol, dairy, gluten, corn, nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, potatoes), soy, refined sugar, shellfish, white rice, or eggs. The no’s are replaced with nutrient-dense leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, hearty grains, seeds, and lean proteins.”

I don’t see any problem with that—except I would add my usual personal caveat, that no foods are healthy or safe for everyone. They need testing for individual intolerances. Assumptions like Junger’s are not enough. Majority reaction is not enough. Hence my own DIET WISE plan 

They take apart the “5 Day Detox Plan” with barely disguised sneers:

For breakfast, there is grain-free granola, smoothies with coconut and chia, or a cauliflower/black bean scramble. “Portable” lunches include soup (borscht, beans and greens) or salad (leftover salmon patty salad, kale caesar, or detox bun).

Sounds great to me and not at all a “deprivation diet”, as the “experts” claim!

The dinner menu features salmon Patties with turmeric cauliflower rice, beans and greens soup, roasted chicken with cauliflower, tom yum soup, and blackened trout with roasted sweet potatoes and arugula salad. Snacks range from apple with almond butter, date balls, brown rice cakes and “toum with crudités” (a Lebanese garlic sauce — which the website claims: “This condiment — along with the process of making it — is not for the faint of heart”).

[What is the problem for these idiots? It’s a recipe suggestion. People can eat chilies, can’t they? Or does that have to be clinically-proven too?]

The attackers, by the way, are SERIOUSLY ignorant doctors. They take this swipe at Paltrow’s Master Cleanse, also called the Lemonade Diet. It’s a liquid-only diet consisting of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper taken for 10 days.

“Unfortunately, most of the weight loss in a detox diet is water.”

What? You lose several POUNDS of water? I don’t think so. In any case, there’s not the slightest hint of science in their claim. They just grabbed it out of the air (or “off the wall”, as Americans say!)

“The weight returns just as quickly as it left as soon as a normal diet is resumed.”

That is a complete fabrication. It reminds me of the days when “experts” used to pronounce that “The ONLY way to lose weight is eat fewer calories” (now known to be among the most unworkable answers to weight loss!)

But in any case, most people would not return to a normal diet (meaning eating the crap that the journalists eat).

What these idiots don’t know is that this is a kind of keto diet (not the best kind). Ketones make you feel good. They are the most efficient brain fuel you can get—way better than glucose. When you are in keto your insulin resistance drops and you create more stem cells. Not a problem, really, for skinny Paltrow-types.

But still… a good thing! I’m on one of my 2-day fasts while I type this, for goodness sake!

It seems to me that the usual sneering critics of this kind of disciplined eating are mainly overweight harpies with too much attitude and they know, in their heart of hearts, they could never command so much discipline. It’s jealousy bordering on hatred, fuelled by their own massive failures.

Oh, and Berman and Boguski pathetically attempted to manufacture the “danger” of green smoothies, citing a 2018 published example of a woman who oxalate nephropathy (inflamed kidneys, due to oxalate poisoning). BUT—what this hatchet team avoided mentioning—is that this case was extraordinarily rare: a woman who had had bypass surgery and a recent long course of antibiotics.

In what sense is that a problem caused by green smoothies? It’s caused by doctors meddling with Nature plus green smoothies! [Am J Kidney Dis. 2018 Feb;71(2):281-286]

Dr. Junger is not wrong when he says, “When our systems are overtaxed, they begin to break down in a multitude of ways. Allergies, headaches, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, weight gain, and insomnia are just a few of the symptoms that can result. The majority of these common ailments are the direct result of toxin build-up in our systems that has accumulated during the course of our daily lives.”

[Dr. Junger’s book Clean is currently number 7 in Amazon sales rankings for alternative medicine books]

“But the science behind the detox theory is deeply flawed,” says Peter Pressman, MD, an internal medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “The body already has multiple systems in place—including the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract—that do a perfectly good job of eliminating toxins from the body within hours of consumption.”

OK, smart ass, so why are people sick and dying in your country? Could it be that our livers and kidneys can’t cope any more? In fact this kind of eating is Nature’s way: hunter-gatherers lived by intermittent fasting. It’s what we are SUPPOSED to do.

If you want to tone up your liver and kidneys, you might want to get yourself copies of my two books: Love Your Liver and Waters of Life. I sell them singly or as a pair, very inexpensively.

Last quote from the authors of the hatchet job: “Despite the lack of evidence that detox diets have any real health benefits, they remain incredibly popular due to celebrity endorsements and intensive marketing of the diets and related products.”

Or could it be because people love a detox, feel great, get all their energies back and look and feel 10 years younger?

It’s a clever and well documented journalistic trick to juxtapose two threads but one is NOT dependent on the other. There might be HUNDREDS of reason detox diets are popular, nothing to do with celebrity endorsements or intensive marketing!

There! That’s this week’s nark off my chest! (nark: British slang: complain about something irritating or annoying).

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor

SOURCE: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Snake Oil. The science behind actress-turned-wellness guru’s iffy deprivation diet by Michele R. Berman, MD, and Mark S. Boguski, MD, PhD. Medscape Today, January 31, 2019

Finally, mainstream science is catching up to the knowledge that holistic practitioners have known for hundreds of years.  

Hippocrates believed, “All diseases start in the intestines.”

Your bowel system can be a devastating source of inflammation.  Once it begins there, it can affect every other organ in your body, wreaking havoc on your basic functions.  

I call it Fire in the Belly and it will burn down your health.

5 Ways to Keep Gut Flora Healthy

1. Probiotics through your diet.  Fermented foods should be your first choice when it comes to having a healthy gut.  Whenever you can, choose food over supplements since your body will utilize all the nutritional benefits.

While yogurt is the most commonly consumed probiotic food, there are others such as dark chocolate, ginger beer, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented cheese (parmesan, Gouda, cheddar, and Swiss), green peas, miso soup, pickles, and kombucha (fermented tea) offer excellent probiotic benefit.

2. Don’t neglect prebiotics (they are the food source for probiotic bacteria).  Prebiotics are not digested in the same way as the other foods you consume.

They are soluble fiber foods that reach your intestines intact and stimulate the growth of healthy gut flora.  Almonds, asparagus, garlic, onions, leeks, apples, apples, and bananas are great foods rich in prebiotics.

3. Detox from heavy metal poisons.  If you don’t think you’ve been exposed to heavy metal toxins that destroy healthy gut flora and damage your gut (leading to a whole host of health problems), then you are probably one of the rare exceptions.

Mercury in dental fillings, silver in serving ware, aluminum in deodorant and canned goods, lead in children’s toys and paints, arsenic, cadmium, and other toxic substances found in building materials, household cleaners, and our food supply.

4. Remove the overuse of antibiotics in your life.  They are put in our food, over-prescribed by doctors, and used in abundance in cleaning products.  Too much exposure to antibacterial solutions damages more than the “bad” bacteria. These compounds are unable to distinguish between “good” and “bad” bacteria…and kill it all.

Opt for organic foods whenever possible, avoid a prescription if you can, and get rid of all the “helpful” antibacterial cleaning products, soaps, and hand sterilizers in your home.

5. Refuse to allow stress to derail gut health.  Several studies have linked inflammation to the reduction of healthy gut flora.  Stress is (finally) accepted as one of the biggest causes of chronic inflammation.  It might not seem like it but stress is manageable if not outright preventable.

Evaluate the mental, emotional, financial, professional, and physical stresses in your life and make a plan to remove or reduce the causes.  Not only will your gut thank you, so will your heart, your immune system, and your central nervous system. Every cell in your body is negatively affected by stress.  Make it stop.

Your Gut Cannot Be Ignored

Did you know that the gut is considered a “second brain” that contains all the identical neurons and neurotransmitters as the spinal cord and peripheral nerves?  In fact, 95% of the body’s serotonin is found in the gut “brain,” which thus affects our moods and performance.

In my book Fire in the Belly, I tell you so much more about maintaining healthy gut flora – where 80% of your immune system resides.  You need to put out that fire, urgently and permanently.  I’ll be telling you how to do that in this life-saving book.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I share…

• How to rebuild a healthy gut flora colony after damage
• Key symptoms that point to chronic inflammation
• How to eliminate “fire foods”
• Why the symptoms are so diverse that most doctors miss the diagnosis
• How to detox from toxic metals without further damage to your immune system
• The varied effects of brain inflammation
• Genes and metabolic capabilities of trillions of microbes tell your body what to do
• The formation of “leaky” gut (it’s not what you thought)
• Plus…how to quench the fire in your gut once and for all.

You shouldn’t delay.  Diabetes, arthritis, heart attack and stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease are all inflammatory processes.  Even deadly cancer has strongly inflammatory aspects.

All this “fire” in your body is dangerous to keeping your gut flora healthy (and you as their host)!  Understand that chronic inflammation will kill you if you simply ignore it.

REFERENCES

Johns Hopkins Health Review: Understanding Inflammation https://www.johnshopkinshealthreview.com/issues/spring-summer-2016/articles/understanding-inflammation

EMBO Reports: The inflammation theory of disease – the growing realization that chronic inflammation is crucial in many diseases opens new avenues for treatment https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3492709/

Healthline: Understanding and Managing Chronic Inflammation https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-inflammation

Somewhere in here is the answer to your weight control troubles and difficulties. You might have more than one issue, of course.

How Many Of These Weight Hacks Do You Know?

1. Genes

It isn’t your fault. There are genes that will block your success. The chapter on genes will explain how to overcome this obstacle, what genes affect weight, and how to tune them out for easy, successful weight loss. Revealed is the number #1 gene that affects your weight and how to manage it for successful slimming.

2. Keto

Want to lose weight fast and easy? This is the bedrock science of all successful weight loss programs. Never mind the fluff. Learn the core principle: how to burn fat as energy fuel. Just what we want!

3. Paleo

Our ancestors never had weight problems. No primitive tribal peoples have weight issues. Want to learn why they were so slim so you can shed the stubborn pounds? It’s here! Strangely, Items #1 and #2 bear directly on our ancestry and whether we come from nomadic stock or farmer stock. All is explained.

4. Intermittent Fasting

Kill the hunger. Would that help? Nature’s ultimate way of healthy eating is the way our ancestors did it. You cannot possibly be overweight if you eat like a caveman! It’s easy and you won’t feel hungry.

5. Low Carbs

Don’t be fooled. Hunger is not lack of food! Hunger is caused by eating carbs. It’s a withdrawal symptom of a carb addiction. No carbs, never feel hungry.

6. Microbiome

No more heartache! The BEST slimming discovery to date shows you how to harness our intestinal microbes and LET THEM shed the pounds for you! What could be easier?

7. Hypnotism

Wouldn’t it just be easier if you could re-program your mind to take the weight off without even thinking about it? Hypnotism has the potential to put slimming on automatic, so you just have fun and don’t need to think about what you are eating.

8. Sugar

Whatever the food industry wants you to think, no question: sugar is the number #1 killer. Sugar is the number one cause of obesity and overweight (fact). But is there an alternative? How can I enjoy desserts and delicious drinks in my life without gaining weight? [just this week emails have been published between Coca Cola and the CDC, making it very clear that Coca Cola wants the dangers of sugar in its drinks played down]1

9. Enter The Fat Switch!

The what? Yes, there really is a fat switch in the body. The world’s top scientist will explain to you how easy it is to switch it OFF and burn fat and how it switches ON, so you don’t go there! (hint: hibernating bears do it every winter!)

10. Meals To The Door

Yes, this is the ultimate lazy way to lose weight. It could be right for some. But you need to know the pros and cons, otherwise you may end up eating what is wrong for you.

11. Food Allergies

Decades ago, I made a super discovery: if you avoid certain foods your body doesn’t tolerate, the weight just drops off, without feeling hungry. The secret we call “hidden food allergies” and you need to get the dope on this. Everyone has a least one “hidden allergy”.

12. Fiber

Choose the fiber-rich foods and nature will pay you back with easy weight loss. The special chapter will show you how to eat delicious foods with fiber, not just boring vegetables!

13. Diabesity

Diabetes and obesity go hand in hand. We now talk about diabesity. Don’t go there! Diabetes accelerates aging. Even on medication, you still risk blindness and amputations. Doctors don’t even believe there is a cure. In fact you can totally reverse diabesity in as little as 4 weeks, say today’s top doctor diabesity experts.

14. Pills and Tablets

Can’t I just take a simple pill and be done with it? Not without knowing the many dangers of weight loss pills. They screw up your metabolism—that’s what they are supposed to do. That’s never a good idea—not when there are so many better ways to do things.

15. Herbs For Weight Loss

These can help. They won’t do it all for you. Some remedies are scams and this section will tell you what could help, what has little or no science and the absolute scams to avoid. Oh yes, there are lots of them, preying in people who are struggling

16. It’s In My Glands!

You may have suspected that. But friends and family say “Yeah right.” It’s humiliating. Thing is, you may be right. Poor thyroid function and excess estrogen, for example, both cause massive unpleasant weight gain. One of the world’s best patient advocates of thyroid dysfunctionality is here to help you and get your metabolism up to speed.

17. Estrogen Dominance

We live in a strange chemically polluted world that makes it really hard for anyone to be healthy. One of the big problems is estrogen-mimicking chemicals in our environment, the water supply and food. Some make you gain weight and are called obesogens. Every woman knows the estrogens make you gain weight relentlessly and feel grumpy (PMS). You have to learn to correct this if you want to be slim and healthy (men too!)

18. Hidden Shocking Surprise Factors

Science is now telling us there are things that cause weight gain you would never guess. Hidden parasites, poor sleep and stress overload are among many factors that can’t be corrected by just “eating less”. You have to fix the real cause of the problem, then sail onward to your desired target weight. Cortisol, for example, the “stress” hormone, has the unpleasant side effect of causing weight gain. Fortunately, there are ways of improving your sleep or reducing stress (or both) that make it unnecessary to diet.

19. Inflammation

The vicious trap that may have you in its grip! The number one #1 cause of obesity is inflammation. Yet inflammation is the #1 cause of obesity! Want the weight to start tumbling off, with little or no effort? Get rid of inflammation. You can have it measured and there are LOTS of easy ways to reduce inflammation. That could be a better option the starving or munching endless carrots!

20. Exercise

It doesn’t work! Whatever you may believe or have been told about working out, sweating and punishing your body (no pain, no gain, right?), IT DOES NOT HELP MUCH WITH WEIGHT LOSS. There are several good reason to take plenty of healthy exercize—but weight loss isn’t one of them! An hour of strenuous tennis is about equivalent to a spoonful of sugar. Much easier to give up the sugar!

21. Keeping It Off

The second biggest “fail” in weight loss is keeping it off. All too often the slimmer is successful and thinks of rewarding herself by going back to pizza or cheesecake. There are secret for keeping weight off permanently and these are shared in my book from successful slimmers, who have been in good shape for many years. How do they do it? They tell all!

Get yourself a copy of The Ultimate Science Of Weight Loss from this page (more info and purchase options explained too):

LINK: https://theultimatescienceofweightloss.com/

Here’s to a slimmer, fitter you!

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor

Reference:

1. CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/29/health/coca-cola-cdc-emails-study/index.html

Diabetes is a worldwide epidemic.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people who suffer from the disease has exploded from 108 million in 1980 to over 420 million in 2014…and the numbers of cases continue to climb.  By the year 2030, experts estimate that well over half a billion people around the world will be dealing with this disease.

In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that over 100 million people have diabetes (30 million) or prediabetes (84 million).  

It’s almost impossible not to know someone who has diabetes or is at risk of getting it.  

Being diabetic doubles your risk of death from complicating conditions compared to someone who is not diabetic.  

Diabetes is a condition where your body is unable to process glucose (sugar) properly.  This is sometimes because your body is not producing the hormone insulin or because it is unable to utilize insulin appropriately.  

Typically, diabetics must take oral medication or inject themselves with insulin to maintain their blood sugar levels.  In the U.S., only 16% of diabetics can manage their condition without medication.

Lower Blood Sugar Naturally

Diabetes is a devastating disease…so what can you do about it?

Controlling your diet, getting regular exercise, and avoiding negative lifestyle habits should be obvious (but clearly aren’t if you look at the statistics).  Of all the habits you incorporate into a healthy way of life – DIET is most important.  

Let me tell you about the maqui berry.

Sometimes known as the Chilean Wineberry, the maqui berry grows in the Patagonia region of Chile.  It has been consumed for centuries by the Mapuche, the indigenous people of the region who regarded it as a symbol of health.  

The Mapuche used the maqui berry and its leaves as an analgesic, to heal wounds, even to treat sore throats.  Today we know that there is much more to this little berry.

The maqui berry has one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants of any food according to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and some studies show that it may even inhibit the growth of tumors and breast cancer cells.  

The anthocyanins it contains have been shown to have powerful anti-inflammatory properties which can lower the risk of heart disease and cancer as well as possibly inhibit rheumatoid arthritis.

One of the greatest benefits of the maqui berry is the discovery that it can increase insulin production in the body.  Often, diabetics will have to take insulin after meals to balance their blood sugar levels.  Consumption of maqui berries could potentially lead to a decrease in prescribed insulin dosage or the ability to stop taking it entirely.  

A joint study between North Carolina State University and Rutgers University on the maqui berry also have shown that it has anti-inflammatory properties that show promise in reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease.

It has also been shown to prevent the oxidation of cholesterol.  This oxidation can lead to serious medical conditions such as heart attack and stroke.  This was an important discovery as cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among diabetics.  Approximately 68% of patients with diabetes will die of heart disease or a stroke.

Research has also shown maqui berries to be effective against hardening of the arteries.  This helps keep your heart healthy and is another plus for a diabetic or pre-diabetic person.

The latest statistics available show that every year over 65,000 diabetics are forced to make the choice to have a limb amputated due to their illness.  In most cases, this is due to ulcers that have formed due to poor circulation.

Imagine preventing such a thing from ever occurring simply by making a few lifestyle choices and learning how to lower blood sugar naturally.

Maqui berries are an essential choice for the health conscious consumer that wants to stay fit, lower their risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, and would prefer to trust in nature and a healthy lifestyle to help them keep both feet on the ground.

What’s stopping you?

REFERENCES

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0718-diabetes-report.html

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf103461k

https://news.ncsu.edu/in-the-news/maqui-berry-extract-may-help-type-2-diabetes/

Fascism, essentially, means telling other people what to think and do, by naked force if necessary. Medical fascism has surfaced in the constraints to compel parents to have their children vaccinated. Differing opinions are branded as madness, delusion and/or criminality. NO-ONE MAY HOLD A CONTRARY VIEW TO THE CONSENSUS. Absolutely no dissent is tolerated.

One of Hitler’s slogans was, “If you are not with us, you are against us.” That position is logical nonsense but it silenced a lot of critics.

We are starting to get the same intolerance in relation to food and diets. Vegan fascism is emerging. Apparently, if you don’t care to follow their path, you are dumb, lunatic or cruel. Not only must you eat the way they do, but you must do so for the RIGHT reasons!

Sounds silly? I have very good friends who are vegans, but not from issues of animal cruelty, just health reasons. They feel much better eating vegan. Recently this couple went on a vegan cruise and were astonished to find themselves ostracized, because they explained to fellow cruisers they were vegans because they were “plantarians” (plant eaters by choice), not because they were animal lovers or activists.

That wasn’t enough for the thought police mob. Being vegan wasn’t enough. It was implied they must be cruel, evil people if they were not doing it because they were concerned about animal welfare!

Ugh!

Vivien pointed out for me that there are now bands of vegans roaming the streets, carrying placards and bursting in on diners in restaurants, screaming abuse, chanting slogans about animal cruelty and showing horrific pictures purportedly of farming practices they object to.1

It’s all dogma, of course, just like Nazism was all dogma. Dangerous dogma. I’m worried that we are not too far from the era when animal “activists” will actually hurt or kill humans who don’t share their concerns.

The Planetary Diet

I don’t know how many of you saw the recent brouhaha about another stream of food fascism. Someone has proposed that we must all eat responsibly, to “save the planet”. I’ve heard of lots of daft reasons to justify different diets: but politics instead of health?

The UK Guardian picked up on this story and I got it via MedScape, the doctors’ online newspaper. We must all, we are told, cut our intake of red meat and sugar consumption by half, while vegetables, fruit, pulses and nuts must double. North Americans need to eat 84% less red meat but six times more beans and lentils. For Europeans, eating 77% less red meat and 15 times more nuts and seeds meets the guidelines.2

Here it is as a graphic:

It translates to eating just 7g of pork a day, 7g of beef or lamb and 28g of fish – the equivalent of a quarter of a rasher of bacon, a 16th of a burger and two-thirds of a fish finger.

There is no concept of food allergies or intolerance in this “scientifically studied” diet, even though we already know that grains are very bad for the brain and carbs are very bad for metabolic health and diabetes! Beans and lentils too can be pretty toxic, unless cooked really well, which ruins their nutritional worth. It even recommends 31 grams daily of sugar, which is nothing short of criminal. Of course you can’t expect much integrity from a bunch of frauds who got paid serious money to “find” and recommend what the person who funded the study wanted to be “found”.

But the diet is a “win-win”, according to the scientists paid to come up with this plan. It would save at least 11 million people a year from deaths caused by unhealthy food, while preventing the collapse of the natural world that humanity depends upon. Just plain opinions, plucked from the air by “scientists” does not make it science.

As usual The Guardian newspaper (only one step up from communist “Daily Worker”) got it all wrong. This EAT-Lancet diet they said was created by an “international commission”, making it sound very official. You’ll laugh (or spit) when I tell you WHO actually commissioned it…

Norwegian model turned doctor, wife-of-a-billionaire, Gunhild Stordalen funded this vaunted study. She thinks she’s going to save the planet by reducing red meat consumption globally.

This hypocrite wants to tell people what they must eat, to avert planetary disaster, yet she jets around the world in her $25 million Bombardier Challenger 350 private plane, releasing pollution and a massive carbon footprint wherever she goes.

Stordalen has rightly been accused of hypocrisy after flaunting her wealth on her Instagram channel, showing herself and her husband Petter jetting off to Cuba, Spain, Antibes and Mexico. Aircraft fuel consumption and emissions are far more damaging to the environment than the farting of livestock, which is what the scientists were most concerned about, apparently.

Mike Carrato (@MikeCarrato) did the Googling for me and found that a cross country round trip private flight releases about 42 tons of carbon. Another Google estimate was that each cow emits about 6 tons a year. So Stordalen consumes about 7 cows PER TRIP! That’s also her projected beef quota for 20 people for A WHOLE YEAR, every trip.

Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, told the UK Daily Mirror: ‘The hypocrisy of this is breathtaking. This is a campaign telling ordinary people they should be eating less than half a rasher of bacon per day for the sake of the environment, while the patron is flying people around the world in private jets creating one enormous carbon footprint.

This is a classic case of do as I say not as I do. Militant environmentalists can’t resist the chance to tell people how to live their lives and demonise everyday items of food.3

Nutritional Science

There is something fundamentally bad about nutritional science. It is heavily perverted and corrupted by those on an agenda, causing a great deal of confusion over WHAT to eat. Take the 2013 PREDIMED study (Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases with a Mediterranean Diet), billed as one of the most important recent diet studies published.4

It found what we all know: the Mediterranean Diet is good. Eating like the Spanish, Italians, and Greeks do—dousing food in olive oil and loading up on fish, nuts, and fresh produce—cuts cardiovascular disease risk by a third. As Stanford University health researcher (and a famous critic of lousy nutrition science) John Ioannidis put it, as a study: “It was the best. The best of the best.”

Not anymore. In June 2018, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine issued a rare retraction. Apparently the process of randomization was not done correctly. Far from being scientifically excellent, PREDIMED now appears to be quite flawed.

NEJM republished a new version of PREDIMED, based on a reanalysis of the data that accounted for the missteps. It did not change the finding that the Mediterranean Diet was remarkably healthful. But it was a warning to those who want to trust institutional science. Beware!

To date, PREDIMED remains the largest dietary intervention trial to assess the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular disease prevention. It is far more telling and prescriptive than the deceptive one from Ms. Stordalen (sorry, Dr. Stordalen).

Basically, Stordalen has commissioned and launched a scam. Walter Willett is the principal nutritionist on the EAT-Lancet report. The other nutritionists on the paper have published almost nothing on the subject of diet and disease, and nothing that contradicts Willett’s views. Thus, on the subject of diet and health, the report presents only one viewpoint. This report cannot be considered a balanced paper.

Nor can Willett be taken seriously as an objective, unbiased scientist. Look at these conflicts of interest, found by Nina Techolz @BigFatSurprise and reported on her Twitter Channel.5

In fact we cannot take any of these so-called “experts” seriously because, according to The Sun reporter Nick McDermott, none of them ate the recommended diet!

Let me finish by saying I have no issue with someone being a vegan. But I DESPISE self-righteous fools trying to take over other people’s thoughts and lives. It’s fascism, by any other name.

To freedom!

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor

References:

1. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6301237/Vegan-protesters-kicked-steakhouse-storming-restaurant.html
2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/16/new-plant-focused-diet-would-transform-planets-future-say-scientists
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/16/new-plant-focused-diet-would-transform-planets-future-say-scientists
4. Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, Covas MI, Corella D, Arós F, Gómez-Gracia E, Ruiz-Gutiérrez V, Fiol M, Lapetra J, Lamuela-Raventos RM. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013 Apr 4;368(14):1279-90.
5. Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, Covas MI, Corella D, Arós F, Gómez-Gracia E, Ruiz-Gutiérrez V, Fiol M, Lapetra J, Lamuela-Raventos RM. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018 Jun 13.
6. https://isupportgary.com/uploads/articles/397606854-Walter-Willett-Potential-Conflicts-of-Interest.pdf
7. https://isupportgary.com/articles/is-the-eat-lancet-vegan-rule-book-hijacking-health

You may remember an insulting word: cretin. We called people we considered stupid that but, as kids, we never knew why it was bad to be a cretin.

It’s actually not just an insult but a real medical term; or was. A cretin was a child who grew up severely mentally retarded due to lack of iodine in the diet. There are various theories for the origin of the word, including Cretanism (Crete was one place notorious for cretinism, before the real cause was found).

Nowadays, health workers don’t use the term cretin, because it’s insulting. Instead we call it congenital hypothyroidism. But the cause is still too little iodine in the diet.

I’m telling you all this to fix in your mind the fact that mental function is disastrously impaired, in the absence of adequate dietary iodine.

Beware!

Incidentally, many other conditions can be traced to iodine deficiency, including blood pressure, cystic fibrosis of the breasts, bad cholesterol, ovarian cysts, arthritis and, of course, under-performing thyroid, which in turn leads to sluggishness and weight gain.

Despite knowing the importance of this mineral, almost 2 billion people in the world don’t get enough, and over 50 million people have brain damage caused by iodine deficiency.

It’s the most preventable kind of brain damage in infants and children, yet 36.5% of school age children are significantly deficient.^1,2

But iodine deficiency also damages adult brains. Even a small deficiency can lower your I.Q. by 15 points. ³ 

So, what’s the point here? Get plenty of iodine. There doesn’t seem much point in learning really cool philosophies and stuff, if your brain is under performing. Better to fix the nutritional first, then you’ll get better life outcomes anyway.

The current suggested daily dose of 0.15 mg per day of iodine is too low. It doesn’t take into account all the organs of the body that need it to stay healthy. I suggest 12.5 mg up to 50 mg of iodine per day from natural sources to support better health.

I take it as Lugol’s Iodine, which you may obtain via the Internet.

To try to derive enough iodine from food sources is difficult. Most food crops are grown in soil already deficient of iodine. Some foods (like bread) have bromine added, which competitively inhibits iodine.

Here is a list of foods that may contain iodine:

Selected Food Sources of Iodine

*Source:  NIH http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-HealthProfessional

*DV = Daily Value. DVs were developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of products within the context of a total diet. The DV for iodine is 150 mcg for adults and children aged 4 and older.

This is totally inadequate in the opinion of nutritional experts, such as myself.

In times of radiation overdose (possibly the next 100 years after Fukushima?), you need to take extra.

<sup>1. Andersson M, Takkouche B, Egli I, Allen HE, de Benoist B. “Current global iodine status and progress over the last decade towards the elimination of iodine deficiency.” Bull World Health Organ. 2005;83(7):518-525.
2. World Health Organization. “Eliminating Iodine Deficiency Disorders.”http://www.who.int/features/qa/17/en/
(Accessed 02 2010).
3. Ibid</sup>