Insulin Resistance may cause Alzheimer's

Chris Masterjohn recently posted a couple of fascinating abstracts that proposed a relationship between high-carbohydrate diets, insulin resistance and Alzheimer's Disease on Native Nutrition.

The first abstract said that a specific variant of a gene called E4 is rare among populations with a long history of agriculture. According to the authors, this implies that individuals with E4, which was more common in pre-agricultural populations, were at a disadvantage when consuming the high carbohydrate diets that agriculture produces. Over time, this lead to a rarity of E4 in the groups that had high carbohydrate diets.

It is also known that those with E4 are at a higher risk of getting late onset Alzheimer's Disease, and that E4 has a similar effect as high carbohydrate diets on lipid (e.g. fatty acid) metabolism. The authors propose that the cause of Alzheimer's Disease can be explained by this similarity, and that one of the ways this is happening is due to elevated levels of insulin causing damage to neurons in the brain.

In conclusion, they state:

A change in diet emphasizing decreasing dietary
carbohydrates and increasing essential fatty acids (EFA) may effectively prevent Alzheimer's Disease. Interventions that restore lipid homeostasis may treat the disease, including drugs that increase fatty acid metabolism, EFA repletion therapy, and ketone body treatment.

The second abstract cites epidemiological research showing that insulin resistance increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's. By studying the effects of creating insulin resistance in mice that were genetically prone to Alzheimer-like brain disease, they conclude:

Our study is consistent with the hypothesis that insulin resistance may be an underlying mechanism responsible for the observed increased relative risk for AD neuropathology

There is an enlightening transcript of a lecture by Dr Ron Rosedale on Mercola's website, Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects, that explains the workings of insulin on your body's cells. According to Rosedale, all age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer and even the effects of aging itself have their roots in cellular signalling, and insulin plays a primary role. What he describes seems consistent with the insulin-Alzheimer's theory proposed in the studies above (e.g. the 3rd part of his transcript on glycation).

Homemade Shampoo & Conditioner

Substitutes for commercial hair shampoo and conditioner have been discussed over the last few weeks on Discussing NT. They include using baking soda for shampoo and apple cider vinegar (ACV) as a rinse or conditioner. A couple people also mentioned that using a chlorine filter seems to help with hair & skin, especially for those who have very oily skin. These threads have been collected below for your convenience:

Thread: Shampoo Alternative [baking soda, vinegar, chlorine filter]

Thread: Re: Shampoo Alternative [baking soda, kelp seaweed for scalp & skin, shampoo "soap"]

Thread: what about hair conditioner (was Shampoo Alternative) [apple cider vinegar, sulfate build-up]

Thread: Soap as Shampoo? [using commercial shampoo "soaps"]

Thread: Re: apple cider vinegar? [more comments from ACV users]

Finally, Why You Should Go No 'Poo has more elaborate instructions on how to use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash hair.

Liver Flush Debate

Liver flushing was debated recently on Native Nutrition, and one participant went as far as getting one of the "stones" analyzed. The results came back as "bile salt." This didn't help clarify the debate, but Filippa posted the most interesting message in this thread. Instead of engaging in the debate on the composition of stones, she addressed the positive changes she experienced:

...in my experience the liver flush definitely DOES work in some way - not just my experience but hundreds of others who post their experiences and results on the curezone liver flush forum. The liver flush totally transformed my health.

Initially afflicted with fatigue, allergies, weakened immunity and skin problems, the liver flushes caused enough changes within months that friends and family noticed the changes:

I was living in Japan and every year I went home, family and friends would comment on how thin, tired and pale I looked. The trip home after the flush, they all said how well I looked (even though I was actually thinner). The fatigue and allergies disappeared. My skin was clear. My skin colour changed. My husband and I were both amazed at how supple and soft my skin suddenly became (from being dry and scaly). My period pain disappeared (it did get worse again later but it was never as bad and got better once I worked on my hormone imbalance). I couldn't believe the difference in my health.

She also notes that she had her flush analyzed and it was also pronounced to be not gallstones, but mentions that labs may not be able to properly analyze the liver flush stones. See this message where she addressed the composition argument in more detail. Finally, she writes that the liver flush alone did not solve all her gallbladder problems - a wholesale change in diet was required to do this.

For more information on the liver flush, Curezone's Liver Cleanse and Gallbladder Cleanse page is the most popular resource. In addition to the Liver Flush & Liver Cleansing Support Forum, Curezone recently added a forum for documenting health effects of the liver flush/cleanse.

Can Kombucha Mold Cause Cancer?

Someone asked about the potential risks of kombucha tea on Microbial Nutrition recently, citing an anecdotal report of a woman who developed pancreatic cancer after a year of drinking kombucha tea. It would be difficult to prove any causal relationship, but Bruce Stordock did post a warning about a source of carcinogens from a web page:

High acidity of the broth aside, I have seen several of my vessels spontaneously contaminate with molds. Of most concern are the species of Aspergillus I have found floating around with Kombucha. I fear that amateurs could think that by merely pulling out the Aspergillus colonies with a fork, that the culture would be de-contaminated, a dangerous, even deadly presupposition.

The water-soluble toxins of Aspergillus can be highly carcinogenic. Several species are known killers. Since the public can not be expected to distinguish a clean fermented culture from one which is not, I fear that the unreserved use of this tea will result, has resulted in illness, if not death. (See Newsweek, April 25th, 1995, pg. 6.)

(source: http://www.fungi.com/info/articles/blob.html)

At first glance, this is alarming because it implies that a culture that is supposed to be healthy could be causing great harm. However, a further look at Aspergillus does not seem to bear out these concerns.

Aspergillus is a genus representing about 200 different species of mold. Of these species, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus are known to cause invasive infections in humans. Aspergillus fumigatus and clavatus are also commonly sources of allergic reactions in humans. And a type of mycotoxin called aflatoxin produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus have been linked to cancer. (See also The Aspergillus Website which has information on Aspergillus-caused illnesses and case histories. Note that the organization is funded by pharmaceutical companies.)

In kombucha cultures, Aspergillus niger and Penicillum notatum were the most common molds found in a survey of cultures:

According to Michael Roussin, Director of the Kombucha Consumer Research Group in Salt Lake City, the two most often found molds on Kombucha are: Penicillum notatum and Aspergillus niger. Mr. Roussin's group of researchers tested many hundreds of Kombucha colonies during 1996, and during this time found that these two molds were the two they isolated from the tested colonies. According to them, Penicillum notatum is the green mold and Aspergillus niger is commonly white, black or gray.

Unfortunately, the full report containing the comprehensive list of moulds is not available for free.

Aspergillus niger is "generally regarded as safe" by the FDA, however it is dangerous to immuno-compromised people, and you should avoid breathing the spores:

A niger is the third most common Aspergillus species to cause pulmonary disease, after Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus. It is also a rare cause of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis. A fermentation by-product of Aspergillus fungi, especially A niger, is oxalic acid, which complexes with calcium from the host to form calcium oxalate crystals. These crystals cause severe tissue necrosis, including damage to blood vessels.

However, I could not find any confirmed reports of other pathological species of Aspergillus in kombucha. An FDA "Talk Paper" mentions Aspergillus, but not any specific species:

The unconventional nature of the process used to make Kombucha tea has led to questions as to whether the product could become contaminated with potentially harmful microorganisms, such as the mold Aspergillus. Such contamination could produce serious adverse effects in immune-compromised individuals.

On the other hand, some species of Aspergillus are necessary for certain fermented products. For example Aspergillus sojae and Aspergillus oryzae are used to make koji and its derivatives which include miso and amazake (a sweet type of sake). Dom mentions that A. oryzae is one of the molds in sourdough starter as well.

Finally, going back to the originally posed question, kombucha just doesn't agree with some people, as Heidi notes:

People tend to react to kombucha either positively or not. On another list, several people got candida-like reactions after imbibing it. Others felt wonderful. I got some almost-migraine like symptoms once after a big glass. A fair number of people get a "niacin flush" after drinking it. There have been issues about it not getting along with certain medications (which is also true of grapefruit, BTW!).

Being exposed to carcinogenic molds does not look like one of the risks involved with making kombucha, especially if hygienic practices are followed.

Survivalism for Everyone

Survivalism sometimes reminds me of people who run away from paying taxes or are preparing for apocalypse. Fair or not, this preconception was changed by a recent mention of Tom Brown Jr on the Native Nutrition mailing list.

Tom Brown rocks! We are all avid archers now and have three of his books. Reading his story first ... well, ds is reading ALL books at once, lol. He was out tracking sugar ants and collecting to eat. I asked how such little things would be worth it. He says TB writes that a handful is as nutritious as 1 lb. of beef (or something like that, don't quote me).

and later in the same thread, from Wanita Spears:

A squirrel, rabbit, elk or any other mammal with a fur hide has a brain proportionate in size to the amount needed for a human to tan it's hide. The relationship of brain to hide to human use and need for survival, was likely one of those insights you quoted from Tom, that changed how Tom saw the world.

Tom Brown is a tracker and wilderness survival expert who has written numerous books, including a series of "field guides" such as Nature Observation and Tracking, Living With the Earth and Wilderness Survival. He also runs a school in New Jersey called Trackerschool.

An earlier thread indicates there is some controversy, perhaps rumours spread by professional jealousy:

I asked Dan about the fraud claims you mentioned. He told me he's familiar with a number of such claims, many from competitors at wilderness schools in the west it seems. Tom's school is the most well known, the oldest, and is in NJ, as I imagine you already know. As you said, what Tom Brown knows is not something one could learn from a book. He is a proven masterful tracker...

Further reading in that thread provides some fascinating reading about the abilities of Tom Brown and other wilderness survivalists. At least, for a city dweller like me!