Tom's Blog on Life

A new study of 30 cheese products including popular and organic boxed mac and cheese has found that all but one of them contain phthalates. These harmful chemicals have been shown to disrupt male hormones like testosterone and have been linked to behavioral problems in children.

“If you asked most scientists about the top 10 or 20 endocrine-disrupting chemicals they worry about, phthalates would be on that list,” Heather B. Patisaul, a professor of biological sciences at the Center for Human Health and the Environment at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, told the New York Times. “We have an enormous amount of data.”

DEHP, which Dr. Mercola calls one of the top six chemical threats to humans, was found more often and at a much higher average concentration than any other phthalate.

The study found that the highly processed cheese powders in boxed mac and cheese mixes, even organic boxed mac and cheese, contained the highest concentrations of these chemicals.

“The phthalate concentrations in powder from mac and cheese mixes were more than four times higher than in block cheese and other natural cheeses like shredded cheese, string cheese and cottage cheese,” said Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, one of four advocacy groups that funded the report, along with the Ecology Center, Healthy Babies Bright Futures, and Safer States.

“Our belief is that it’s in every mac and cheese product — you can’t shop your way out of the problem,” Belliveau told the Times.

The new study was performed after a recent scientific review found that dairy products were the greatest source of dietary exposure to DEHP for infants and women of reproductive age.

Approximately two million boxes of mac and cheese are sold every day in the United States, according to 2013 data from Symphony/IRI Group.

Phthalates are industrial chemicals used to soften plastics and are found in food packaging. They then leech into foods, particularly fatty foods like cheese.

The FDA has not banned phthalates from contact with food. Environmental and food safety groups petitioned the FDA to remove all phthalates from food and food packaging last year, though the petition has been delayed for technical reasons.

https://www.organicauthority.com/buzz-news/nearly-all-boxed-mac-and-cheese-contains-phthalates-new-study-shows

* Natural hollow fibers like silk and wool contain microscopic air channels that create superior temperature regulation and moisture management compared to solid fibers like cotton and linen

* A single wool fiber can contain up to 2,500 air chambers per inch, while silk has a unique triangular cross-section with three hollow chambers that create its characteristic sheen

* Hollow fibers can absorb significant moisture while still feeling dry. Wool can absorb 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet, unlike cotton, which becomes heavy and cold when damp

* Eucalyptus-derived hollow fibers (Tencel/Lyocell) represent a modern, sustainable alternative that combines natural benefits with manufacturing precision, using just a fraction of the water required for cotton production

* While hollow fiber materials like silk and wool typically cost more upfront, they often prove more economical over time due to superior longevity — a silk pillowcase can last five years compared to a cotton one lasting only one year”

https://organicconsumers.org/why-natural-hollow-fibers-outperform-traditional-materials/

Vitamin D deficiency is a widespread issue, affecting nearly 40% of Americans. It often goes unnoticed because symptoms like fatigue, muscle pain, frequent illnesses, and low mood are easily misattributed to other causes. These subtle signs, however, can signal an underlying problem that may lead to more severe health issues if left unaddressed. Keeping vitamin D levels in the optimal range of 60-80 ng/mL is crucial for preventing chronic conditions and maintaining overall health.

The best way to increase vitamin D is through sunlight exposure. Spending 10-20 minutes outside daily without sunscreen can help your body naturally produce this essential nutrient. For those with limited sun exposure, darker skin tones, or diets lacking in foods like fatty fish, fortified dairy, or egg yolks, vitamin D supplements may be necessary.

Additionally, magnesium plays a vital role in helping the body activate and use vitamin D effectively, so including magnesium-rich foods like spinach and nuts can further support bone and immune health.

Maintaining healthy vitamin D levels not only strengthens bones but also reduces the risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disorders. Regular blood testing ensures your levels are within the ideal range and helps you make adjustments as needed. Simple changes, such as more sunlight, a nutrient-rich diet, and proper supplementation, can significantly improve your well-being and protect you from long-term health complications.

https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/home-family-pets/the-silent-drain-signs-you-re-low-on-vitamin-d/

1. Puerarin
Puerarin, an isoflavone from the kudzu plant, has osteoprotective properties. Ovariectomy-induced mice are often used for researching treatments for postmenopausal osteoporosis. In a systematic review of eight such animal studies with 203 subjects, puerarin significantly improved bone mass.

Puerarin alleviates osteoclast-related loss of bone mass in ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic rats by inhibiting the tumor necrosis factor receptor–associated factor/reactive oxygen species or TRAF6/ROS-dependent MAPK/NF-?B signaling pathway within the bone tissue.

In an osteoporosis model of overiectomized rats, the anti-osteoporosis effects of puerarin were related to improvements in gut microbiota via regulating short chain fatty acid levels and repairing the intestinal mucosal integrity.

A high dose of puerarin and zinc together in an ovariectomized rat model worked better than either alone — reversing some bone loss and suppressing the adiposity of bone marrow, a marker of osteoporosis.

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are often associated with increased risk of bone fractures, osteopenia and osteoporosis. In a diabetes-induced study of mice, puerarin markedly attenuated bone loss and suppressed inflammatory markers associated with osteoporosis by inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDAC1/HDAC3) enzyme signaling.

In another study of diabetes-induced rats, those given a puerarin injection of 100 milligrams (mg) per kilogram of body weight per day for six weeks had higher bone mineral density, improved osteoblast numbers, new bone formation and reduced caspase-3 expression — a marker for diabetic osteoporosis — compared to the control group.

2. Vitamin C
Many in vitro and animal model studies confirm the significant influence of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) on the skeletal system, and those who have a severe vitamin C deficiency would benefit from supplementation.

However, if you do not have such a deficiency, it is better to get your vitamin C by eating five servings of vegetables and fruits a day, rather than through vitamin supplementation, which remains controversial. In fact, some reviewers found vitamin C supplementation could actually increase your risk of fractures.

Greater dietary vitamin C intake — fruits and vegetables — was associated with a 33% lower risk of osteoporosis and a lower risk of hip fractures, as well as higher bone mineral density in a meta-analysis study. Similarly, in a study of 73 healthy people, those who added more plant foods to their diet increased their bone mineral density and had higher vitamin D levels.

In a meta-analysis of six articles with 225,062 people, those who added at least one serving of fruits and vegetables per day to their diet decreased their bone fracture risk.

3. Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to poor bone health, osteoporosis and higher risk of bone fractures. In a review of 66 patients aged 50 years or more with hip fractures, 74% had vitamin D deficiencies, with 62% diagnosed with osteoporosis and 18% with severe osteoporosis.

In a study of 100 postmenopausal women, 47% of the group was deficient in vitamin D and 31% had insufficient levels. Hip osteoporosis was 31.9% in the vitamin D deficient group compared to 18.2% in those with sufficient vitamin D levels. Vitamin D insufficiency is a risk factor for osteoporosis associated with increased bone remodeling and low bone mass.

In an induced-vitamin D deficiency mouse model, vitamin D treatment reversed age-related osteoporosis symptoms while promoting proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and bone formation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and osteoblasts — cells that build bones — while inhibiting bone aging and bone resorption — removal of old bones.

If bone resorption is higher than bone building, there are overall bone deficits.

In research of induced-vitamin D deficiency mice, low vitamin D levels accelerated age-related bone loss, increased oxidative stress and DNA damage, were associated with higher bone cell aging, inhibited osteoblastic bone formation and stimulated osteoclastic bone resorption.

4. Vitamin K2
Vitamin K2 plays a significant role in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis because it regulates bone remodeling. When the balance between bone resorption and bone formation shifts to a net bone loss, both men and women can develop osteoporosis.

In a human vitro cell study, vitamin K2 promoted the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells by inhibiting miR-133a expression — an impactor of genes in muscle and skeletal development. In a human studies review of vitamin K2, the commonly used dosage was 45 mg per day and highly benefitted bone health by regulating bone growth and bone loss mechanisms, particularly in osteoporotic postmenopausal women.

Trial subjects including 311 men and postmenopausal women 50 to 75 years of age were randomly assigned to four groups — placebo, 50 micrograms per day or 90 micrograms per day of vitamin K2 or co-supplementation with calcium (500 mg per day) and vitamin D (10 micrograms per day) for one year.

The bone loss of femoral neck was significantly lower in postmenopausal women in the high dose vitamin K2 group compared with placebo, but had no effect in men. High dose supplementation of K2 significantly reduced bone loss in postmenopausal women with no benefit of adding calcium and vitamin D.

In a comprehensive review of vitamin K2, supplementation modulated necrosis factor kappa beta — NF-?B — signaling in the body, which ameliorated bone loss and promoted bone health.

One preclinical study showed that vitamin K2 administration in a Type 2 diabetic rat model increased serum osteocalcin, improved collagen cross-link profiles and increased bone strength, suggesting it as a preventative for bone deterioration and fractures resulting from Type 2 diabetes.

5. Boswellia or Frankincense
Osteoarthritis is a joint disease involving articular cartilage degeneration causing patients pain, joint stiffness, physical disability and significantly reducing quality of life. Forty-nine patients who took a boswellia- and bromelain-based supplement for a period between one and six months found it significantly improved quality of life and various osteoarthritis symptoms.

Based on a meta-analysis of seven trials including 545 osteoarthritis patients, boswellia effectively and safely ameliorated pain, stiffness and joint function with ideal treatment for four or more weeks.[xxiii] Boswellia — also called frankincense — has been found to play a significant role in eliminating inflammation and joint destruction in knee osteoarthritis, with no serious side effects.

The boswellic acids found in gum resin extract were strong anti-inflammatory agents and protectors of cartilage cells in a human in vitro study and improved pain and weight-bearing ability in osteoarthritis-induced rats, which received the supplement for 28 days.

In an osteoarthritis-induced rat model, boswellia was orally administered once per day for three weeks and inhibited increases in osteoarthritis symptoms, synovial fluid cytokines, cartilage damage and expression levels of pro-inflammatory mediators/cytokines in the cartilage.

6. Citrus Naringin
Citrus naringin — a natural flavanone glycoside present in plants like grapefruits, tart cherries, tomatoes, and oregano — modulates different signaling pathways and interacts with numerous cell signaling molecules to treat inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic syndrome, bone disorders and cancers.

Naringin enhanced osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells seen through in vitro study by activating the extracellular signal-regulated kinase, or ERK signaling pathway.

Supplementation with naringin and rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells together was more efficient in repairing cartilage defects in rabbit knees than the use of either treatment alone. Citrus naringin activates and continuously regulates the growth factor beta, or TGF-ß, signaling pathway, which encourages these stem cells to differentiate into chondrocytes, giving function and structure to cartilage.

Naringin promoted bone repair and prevented bone loss in a drug-induced osteonecrosis rat model and through in vitro study impacted the Akt/Bad signal cascades. Naringin also protected against bone loss in a steroid-treated inflammatory bowel disease rat model.

In a meta-analysis of naringin’s effect on postmenopausal osteoporosis in 10 ovariectomized rat studies, citrus naringin improved bone mineral density, bone volume and thickness.

7. Resveratrol
A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of eight studies with 264 subjects showed improvements in two bone biomarkers after resveratrol supplementation over placebo treatment.

Compound medicine of both tanshinone and resveratrol showed the most improvement on peak bone mass compared to placebo or each alone in 40 growing rats. In a bovine cartilage model, supplementation with both resveratrol and curcumin together effectively decelerated age-related and diabetes-induced osteoporosis.

8. Dried Plums
Menopause drastically increases the risk of osteoporosis — ovarian hormone production stops, which causes accelerated bone loss. Fifty-eight postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to either 100 grams of dried plums or 75 grams of dried apples daily for three months. The dried plums significantly increased two indices of higher bone formation in postmenopausal women.

A follow up study — five years later — of postmenopausal women who previously consumed 100 grams of dried plums per day during a three-month trial showed long-lasting bone-protective effects.

Osteoprotection
Using natural supplements such as pueraria, boswellia, certain vitamins and resveratrol or adding fruits and vegetables to your diet can help protect your bone health. Consult GreenMedInfo.com’s database for more detailed research on osteoprotectives, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, bone fractures and bone diseases.

Dr. Anthony Samsel got the US-EPA to reopen files containing safety tests on Glyphosate that had been sealed since 1981 as “Trade Secret” on request of Monsanto. In those files of thousands of pages of data, Dr. Samsel found enough evidence that prompts him to say that Glyphosate is not just a “probable” carcinogen – it is unequivocally a carcinogen. He is legally bound not to show the documents to anybody, but is allowed to say what he feels about them. Here he is speaking about them to me.

Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13yO9VpjwLQ

Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBPfWrFwuI

Introduction Algae are of significant environmental and commercial importance. The environmental impact of algal blooms can have significant negative economic consequences, however these are outweighed by the positive roles of algae. Algae are not only sources of food for humans and animals, but are also the sources of a wide range of chemical compounds such as the phycocolloids used in industry, food technology and as pharmaceuticals. In the last few decades the emphasis has moved from ‘wild’ harvests to the farming and controlled cultivation and to the production of valuable new products. Continued technical innovation and market demand will result in further major advances and an expansion of the commercially available species and products. Genetic engineering methods are also beginning to be used for strain improvement, and algal genes are being used for the improvement of other plants such as crop plants. Australia has a great algal diversity and this, combined with optimal conditions for commercial-scale algal production, provides great opportunities for new industries. Algae, especially toxic microalgae, are also having an increased impact on humans and this is leading to advances in the management of aquatic ecosystems to manage and control algal blooms.   History of Microalgae Culture Microalgae culture is one of the modern biotechnologies. The first unialgal cultures were achieved by Beijerinck in 1890 with Chlorella vulgaris, and the use of such cultures for studying plant physiology was developed by Warburg in the early 1900’s. Mass culture of microalgae really began to be a focus of research after 1948 at Stanford (USA), Essen (Germany) and Tokyo and the classic book edited by Burlew (1953) summarises many of these early studies. Interest in applied algal culture continued, especially with studies on the use of algae as photosynthetic gas exchangers for space travel and as microbial protein sources. Commercial large-scale culture of microalgae commenced in the early 1960’s in Japan with the culture of Chlorella followed in the early 1970’s with the establishment of a Spirulina harvesting and culturing facility in Lake Texcoco, Mexico by Sosa Texcoco S.A. In 1977 Dai Nippon Ink and Chemicals Inc. established a commercial Spirulina plant in Thailand, and by 1980 there were 46 large-scale factories in Asia producing more than 1000 kg of microalgae (mainly Chlorella) per month (Kawaguchi, 1980) and in 1996 about 2000t of Chlorella were traded in Japan alone. Other Spirulina plants were eastablished in the USA (eg. Microbio in California and Cyanotech in Hawaii). Commercial production of Dunaliella salina, as a source of ß-carotene, became the third major microalgae industry when production facilities were established by Western Biotechnology Ltd and Betatene Ltd (now Cognis Nutrition & Health) in Australia in 1986. These were soon followed by other commercial plants in Israel and the USA. As well as these algae, the large-scale production of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) commenced in India at about the same time. More recently several plants producing Haematococcus pluvialis as a source of astaxanthin have been established in the USA and India. Thus in a short period of about 30 years the industry of microalgal biotechnology has grown and diversified significantly.   Products from Microalgae Carotenoids Several species of microalgae, especially green algae, accumulate high concentrations of carotenoids such as ß-carotene, astaxanthin and canthaxanthin. These carotenoids have wide application as natural colourants and antioxidants. The first of these carotenoids to be commercialised was ß-carotene from the green halophilic flagellate, Dunaliella salina and Australia is now the major producer of natural ß-carotene from Dunaliella. Research on Dunaliella production began in Australia in the mid 1970’s at the Roche Research Institute of Marine Pharmacology and also at CSIRO and eventually resulted in the construction of two production plants in South Australia and Western Australia. Other Dunaliella plants are currently being developed at Dampier in Western Australia. The ability to grow at very high salt concentrations where few other organisms can survive, its high temperature tolerance (up to about 40oC), and the high cell content of ß-carotene (up to 14% of dry wt.) made this alga an attractive candidate for commercial production of this carotenoid. The extreme conditions under which this alga grows means that relatively simple cultivation systems can be used. The two commercial production plants in Australia, at Hutt Lagoon in Western Australia and at Whyalla in South Australia use large shallow ponds of several hundred hectares in area to grow the alga. These ponds have a depth of between 30 and 60 cm and are only mixed by wind and thermal convection. The harvested biomass is extracted and pure ß-carotene or mixed carotenoids are sold as a nutritional supplement and natural food colouring. Dried Dunaliella powder is also sold as a feed additive for aquaculture to pigment crustaceans such as prawns. Another carotenoid of great interest is astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is used as a pigmenter for farmed salmonid fish as well as a dietary antioxidant. The production of algal astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis is quite a different process from that used for ß-carotene production from D. salina. The chlorophyte, Haematococcus pluvialis is a freshwater alga which normally grown in temporary water bodies such as depressions in rock, puddles, flowerpots and birdbaths. The optimum temperature for growth is about 22-25oC. Furthermore, the astaxanthin is produced in a thick walled resting stage, the aplanospore, whereas maximum growth occurs in a green thin-walled flagellated stage. This necessitates a two-stage culture process, one optimised for biomass production and the other for astaxanthin production. Being a freshwater alga, open air culture as used for Dunaliella, Chlorella and Spirulina is not feasible, and Haematococcus must be grown in a closed photobioreactor to avoid contamination. The large-scale culture systems proposed for this alga involve a growth stage in a closed, temperature controlled photobioreactor to achieve maximum biomass, followed by a astaxanthin-accumulating stage under high light conditions, preferably in nutrient poor medium. Commercial production is under way in Hawaii and Israel, and other ventures have been proposed elsewhere. Research on algal production of other carotenoids such as lutein and canthaxanthin from other algae such as Chlorella spp. and Chlamydomonas spp. is under way. Phycobilins The phycobilin pigments produced by cyanobacteria, rhodophytes and cryptophytes (i.e. phycocyanin and phycoerythrin) have applications as food colourings, in cosmetics and as fluorescent dyes for flow cytometry and in immunological assays and their use in the latter applications is wide spread . The main commercial sources are the cyanobacterium, Spirulina and the red unicells Porphyridium and Rhodella.