About ninety million people in the U.S. are on a statin drug for lowering cholesterol. The mechanism of how a statin drug works and its side effects are usually dismissed because of the dangerous perception high cholesterol represents. The mevalonate pathway is a sequence of cellular reactions leading to the synthesis of cholesterol, dolichol, ubiquinol (Coenzyme Q10), sex hormones, and protein synthesis. Anyone who is on a statin should understand how a statin can influence all these other processes.
About three and a half years ago I wrote a newsletter about the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) and discussed the growing influence of this organization, which is part of the United Nations, has on health policies around the world. Specifically, it seems to have changed much of its focus from improving health in third world countries by improving living conditions with clean water, access to medical care etc. to pandemic preparedness and the implementation of a vaccine response in that event. What raised concern for me, and others, was that seventy-five percent of the donations to the W.H.O. come from private donors, pharmaceutical companies, and foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, not member governments. Oftentimes those donors earmark their donations for specific purposes, which begs the question about what motives those private donors might want in the way of policy changes about how the W.H.O. operates. In short, according to Dr. Meryl Nass “the W.H.O. dances to the tune of its donors, not its members.”
Traditional diets from around the world have used animal fat in their diets for thousands of years. Lard is from a monogastric animal such as a pig, although some people believe Duck fat is a form of lard, and tallow is from ruminant animals (animals that eat mainly grass and have multiple stomachs). This would be cows, sheep, and deer. Is there a difference between lard and tallow? Does one offer advantages the other does not? Why have modern humans replaced lard and tallow as a treatment for skincare with artificial ingredients such as phthalates, parabens, seed oils, and petroleum derived chemicals?
In both cases lard and tallow are rendered, which means the fat was heated to remove any water, separate the fat from organs and then cooled. The fat from a pig usually is harvested from under the skin at the belly, its back or around the kidney. The lard from around the kidney of a pig is called leaf lard, is creamier, and softer than the belly or back fat with a less porky taste.
A little over six years ago I wrote a newsletter called The Hydrogen Fix. The article talked about how molecular hydrogen acts as an antioxidant to scavenge free radicals such as hydroxyl radical and peroxynitrite, two of the most damaging free radicals that our bodies produce. What is unique about hydrogen is because it is the smallest molecule, it can pass through the blood brain barrier and reduce inflammation in the brain and in other parts of the body. In the past six years I have had some patients use tablets of molecular hydrogen to dissolve in water and then drink the water to get more hydrogen into their body. In some cases, patients have reported that their memory has improved, it has improved gastrointestinal symptoms, or their brain fog has lifted.
Although molecular hydrogen tablets work well, it can get costly buying the tablets if you are using one to two tablets per day. There are companies making hydrogen water devices, however, understanding what things to look for to determine a good device vs an inferior model can require lots of investigation. Fortunately, I found a company Hydrogen4Health that I think offers a great explanation to understand what makes for a superior device. Their personal use hydrogen generator looks like this. In this video the company explains the use of a PEM plate to separate out chlorine, salts, and ozone that can otherwise show up in the water in addition to hydrogen gas. The devices that use electrolysis to create the hydrogen will be producing the impurities mentioned and are inferior hydrogen generators and that will be reflected in the price. Inferior devices like those will be under 100.00. The device H3 Nano V3 Hydrogen pictured on the left is 199.00 and contains the PEM plate which is a proton exchange membrane that only allows the hydrogen to pass into the water. It takes about 5-10 minutes to saturate the water with a therapeutic dose of molecular hydrogen that most would find useful.
Dr. Gerald Pollack has a PhD in biomedical engineering and is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal Water, and convener of the Annual Conference on the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology of Water. He is the executive director of the Institute for Venture Science. His interests have ranged broadly from biological motion and cell biology to the interaction of biological surfaces with aqueous solutions like water. In 2001, he wrote his second book named Cells, Gels, and the Engines of Life and in 2022 wrote his third book: The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid and Vapor.
Two decades ago, Dr. Pollack met with Dr. Gilbert Ling, another biologist who had started the idea that water in our cells was “structured” and had written much about that in many papers and books. Many think he should have won a Nobel prize for his work and Professor Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who discovered vitamin C, said “Dr. Ling is one of the most inventive biochemists I have ever met”. Ling, who passed away in 2019 just short of his 100th birthday, spent his career questioning the sodium-potassium pump theory on how cells exchange materials...
The latest statistics show that 10.7% or 6.5 million Americans (65 and over) are living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2022. That is about 1 in 9 people, and it is expected to double by 2050. Every 65 seconds, one person in the US is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and almost two-thirds of them are women. The reasons for this are too complex for this one newsletter, but I want to address one cause – Medications. There are three classifications of drugs that can have this effect on our brains.
1. Anti-cholinergic medications 2. Benzodiazepines and 3. Opioids.
Acetylcholine
Before discussing anti-cholinergic medications, understanding what acetylcholine is helpful. It is a neurotransmitter, which means it is a chemical that nerve cells use to communicate within the brain and in the rest of the body. It is important for memory and for the parasympathetic nervous system. The Autonomic Nervous System is made up of two parts the sympathetic nervous system which has an excitatory effect on us, and the parasympathetic nervous system which has a relaxing effect on us. The parasympathetic is referred to as the “rest and digest” part of the nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system by way of acetylcholine release is going to help with digestion, saliva production, and tear production for the eyes. Therefore, taking a medication that interferes with acetylcholine could result in constipation, dry mouth, and dry eyes. Those medications will also decrease brain function and make you feel sleepy. The following are medications that should be a red flag if you are taking them on a regular basis, especially if you are a senior citizen...
Mast cells are made in our bone marrow and travel to various areas of the body where they live for 2-4 years and serve as a sentinel to protect against assaults that might cause harm to the body. They concentrate in the areas of the body where there is an interface between the body and the external environment such as the mucosal surfaces of the gastrointestinal tract, the genitourinary tract, the respiratory tract, and they are also in the connective tissue and the skin. Unfortunately, Mast cells’ efforts to protect us is a reason why we feel allergic and experience inflammation when they are activated.
Mast cells contain granules that secrete multiple chemicals such as:
If you have not seen a label like this in the supermarket yet, it will not be long before you do. Apeel is a new coating called a surface finishing agent, and it has been approved to be sprayed on fruits and vegetables, even organic ones under the name Organipeel. It may also be seen under another name – Edipeel. The different names appear with
different applications. The purpose of the coating is to delay spoilage of the food and give it a longer shelf life. Curb appeal, in real estate vernacular is that from a distance something looks appealing. That too applies here. Apeel looks and sounds good, but once we dig into the details a much different story emerges.
“Apeel keeps produce fresh for longer thanks to the help of a little extra 'peel.' Our plant-based protection slows water loss and oxidation, the primary causes of spoilage… Apeel is composed entirely of purified monoglycerides and diglycerides, edible compounds that can be found in a variety of foods. They are safe to eat as verified by regulatory authorities around the world, including Health Canada, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, they are so safe they are found in products designed for the most sensitive populations, including infant formula and nutrition shakes for the elderly.”
