Monday, December 5, 2011

Adrenal Fatigue and Jimmy Moore's LLVLC Podcast


Beautiful People
Courtesy Youtube.com




Jimmy's Moore's LLVLC Podcast!

I did Jimmy Moore's podcast! And joined the beautiful people... We initially had some technical (cough cough Chinese (?saturated broadband/censorship)) difficulties which required EIGHT ATTEMPTS, but it's complete. I think Jimmy let out a BIG gentlemanly sigh of relief. Jimmy talked also about his latest and pending labs, the idea for the next epic post on sustainable, local farming/livestock and his thoughts on heavy metal chelation, which I am really REALLY into.

I was/am Jimmy, hormonally. Like Jimmy I have been stubbornly challenged with regaining and relosing 10-20% of my body weight in the last few years after the initial epic loss of 50 lbs (Jimmy, ~180 lbs).(!!!!frustr-WTF-ating!!!!)

At the worst, my hormone signatures might resemble what Jimmy reported (if I actually measured):
-- high rT3, unstable cortisol, leptin resistance, insulin resistance
-- estrogen dominance
-- wacko FSH/LH (like a menopausal 'menopot')
-- testosterone/thyroid/adrenal deficiencies



Massive Endocrine Disruption (x3), Weight Re-Gains and Reversal

I wish that the Paleolithic Diet was enough. It's not. Paleo is emphatically not enough for decades of neolethal disease and accumulated damages on our biochemical pathways, adipose storage and mitochondrial health (modern toxins -- omega-6, seed oils, pharmaceuticals, dental amalgams, AMA sanctioned mercury laden vaccines, industrial solvents, new house and carpeting 'gas off', bromide antifungals on food, in California ubiquitous flame retardants, etc).

My problem was 5-10 lbs yo-yo wt gains and yo-yo losses over the last few years after the initial 50 lb loss, which I attribute to MASSIVE endocrine disruptions (three times). The first hormone dyscrasia involved the Mirena IUD (levonorgestrel, a potent fake/mimicker of progesterone), then followed by adrenal fatigue with the popular intermittent fasting and ketosis, and lastly gut dysbiosis with mercury and metal toxicity (tetanus shot, accumulation of annual flu shots/vaccines, and a drilled on titanium dental implant). What helped me after multiple episodes of adrenal fatigue including one after moving to Shanghai, China was a high carb (150-200 g/day) non-paleo 'adrenal reset' modeled by Diana Schwarzbein MD in her book 'The Schwarzbein Principle II'.

It worked.

My daily consumption of low and high GI foods went up (rice, meat/vegs, ice cream, chocolate) and carbs totalled 150-200 grams daily, most days. It worked; I gained 8-10 lbs of fat and my adrenals stabilized. More importantly the serum insulin ECLIPSED the serum cortisol which was high/inappropriate due to various factors (stress from transcontinental moving, circadian shifts from jet lag, gut dysbiosis, metal toxicity, etc). Similar plans are in the blogosphere (high carb Bulletproof, PHD, Masterjohn, Kresser, high carb MDA, high carb GAPS (fruit+honey), Ray Peat, high carb Archevore, 4-Hour Body Slow Carb, Matt Stone). Many individuals have kevlar adrenals and perfectly execute IF/ketosis whilst hiking twenty mountain tops sans food, fasting. NEARLY BAREFOOT. (Asclepius and J. Stanton) But the rest of us are mere mortals.

Successful ketosis requires adequately timed and sufficiently secreted (and appropriately down-regulated) cortisol and adrenaline (NE, EPI).

Someday... I'll re-grow my kevlar and bulletproof organs... *haa ahaaa!*

However after getting tired (and frustrated) with the 8-10 lbs of weight gain, I finished the Schwarzbein 'adrenal reset' and easily transitioned to a high carb Kruse 'leptin reset'. I did attempt the Kruse leptin reset with 100g/day (50 g carbs in the morning) but it didn't work the first few times until AFTER I had gained 8-10 lbs on the Schwarzbein 'reset'. I dunno why this was the case. Recently I returned to a stable LC (paleo) + rice + workouts (which worked for my initial 50 lbs fat loss; 50-100 grams carbs/day) and lost a few kilograms in the last month and half.




Adrenal Resets are Leptin Resets IMHO And Vice Versa

The beauty of the Kruse 'reset' is that imho it is also an 'adrenal reset' (and vice versa). Notwithstanding, I believe for many who are adrenally challenged and severely metabolically damaged (like in cases of metal toxicity, environmental toxicity or former vegetarians, yo-yo dieters, over-trainers, under-eaters, etc), the value of an extreme high carb reset (150-200 g/day) with (or without) fat gain may be inconceivable and controversial but UNQUESTIONABLY HIGH if all else fails... Per Schwarzbein, she reports for some extremely metabolically damaged folks two years on the program are mandatory. For me apparently 2 months was ok and sufficient. To safeguard, FYI I still avoid all ketosis, VLC (very low carb) and IF'ing (intermittent fasting). I continue to consume 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Real salt (Utah Redmonds) and maximally play/nap/laugh as much as I can. Adaptogens, liver/GI support, getting morning sunlight, slow BSS/burn, and 'oxygenizing' (employing slow-twitch muscles) without driving excessive cortisol squirts are unbelievably key to staying on track for me. Also my carbs are substantially higher on workout days (100-150 grams wholly based on glycolytic activity and stress) and the weight is still going down without triggering the adrenals.




Heavy Metal Toxicity and Chelation

Jimmy and I talked about chelation and our thoughts; my family and I are still chelating as it requires a minimum of 6-12 months time. I don't endorse many products but this is one I exceptionally fancy because I find it to be safe, gentle, and gradual; the product has been used for over 10 years in physician and practitioners' offices: ExtendedHealth's oral chelator.




More info on Adrenal 'Resets' and Hormones (T, E1 E2 E3, DHEA-S, Preg, P, Cortisol, Leptin, FT4 FT3 rT3):






The LLVLC Show (Episode 520): Jeff O’Connell’s ‘Sugar Nation’ And ‘Animal Pharm’ Blogger Dr. B G


The topics in our e-coffeetalk (from Jimmy's site)...

• The infectiousness of her e-mail writing style
• Her work in a plant biology lab that showed she hated research
• The love/hate relationship she has with the USDA
• The one-year residency she did working in geriatrics
• The certified diabetes education that she pursued
• Her hesitancy to start blogging with so many great bloggers
• Her contributions to the PaleoHacks.com web site
• The “chronic cardio” she believes is right for her
• The slow rate of weight loss she experienced (50 pounds in 5 years)
• How Keith Norris has a “Zen-like charm” about him
• What her experience was like at the Ancestral Health Symposium
• The important message of Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt in Sweden
• How Aaron Blaisdell and Brent Pottenger are changing the world
• Recollections of past interviews with Gary Taubes
• The positive contributions Taubes has made to the low-carb cause
• How the Dietary Guidelines are making Americans sicker
• The autoimmune issues she and her siblings dealt with growing up
• How even some grass-fed beef can taste a little “off”
• The “scary” nature of finding real food in China
• Whether America would have been successful without carbs
• Her take on the “safe starches” debate that’s happening right now
• The great admiration she has for Dr. Robert Su
• How there are plenty of Asians who get “sick” eating white rice
• How she “completely burned out my adrenals” on intermittent fasting
• Why some people have issues that make it more difficult to get healthy
• The high-carb adrenal resets that need to have for many people
• Why you have to have balance with all of your hormones
• Her weight gain from heavy metal toxicity
• What the future of her “Animal Pharm” concept is
• The book she is writing with her sister on gut health with recipes
• Why she wants to open up a gluten-free cafe to teach cooking
• Her desire for us to outsource the Low-Carb Cruise to China
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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Enchanted Places

Full Sail By Ryan Farish
Courtesy Youtube.com


Stargirl: "You have to find your own way. Sometimes I try to erase myself. I imagine a big pink soft soap erase, and it's going back and forth, back and forth, and it starts down at my toes, back and forth, back and forth, and there they go -- POOF! -- my toes are gone. And then my feet. And then my ankles. But that's the easy part. The hard part is erasing my senses -- my eyes, my ears, my nose, my tongue. And last to go is MY BRAIN. My thoughts, memories, all the voices inside my head. That's the hardest, erasing my thoughts... And then, if I've done a good job, I'm erased. I'm gone. I'm nothing. And then the world is free to flow into me like water into an empty bowl."

Leo: "And?"

Stargirl: "And...I see. I hear. But not with eyes and ears. I'm not outside my world anymore,a nd I'm not really inside it either. The thing is, there's no difference anymore between me and the universe. The boundary is gone. I am it and it is me. I am a stone, a cactus thorn. I am rain..."

Leo: (...something did happen. A small thing. I was aware of stepping over a line, of taking one step into territory new to me. It was a territory of peace, of slience. I had never experienced such utter silence before, such stillness. The compmotion withint me went on, but at a lower volume, as if someone had turned down my dial. And an eerie thing happened. While I never did totally lose awareness of myself, I believe I did, so to speak, lose Cinnamon [Stargirl's pet rat he is cradling]. I no longer felt his pulse, his presence, in my hands. It seemed we were no longer separate, but were one.)

--From Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (sequel:
Love (comma) Stargirl) which NYT reports
it is a 'poetic allegorical tale about the magnificence and rarity
of true nonconformity.' The books are
young adult fiction from my
kids (versus O-L-D-*-S-S adult...)


Dr. Michel de Lorgeril

The French physician who has busted Big Pharma myths synthesized regarding statins, dietary fat and cholesterol, Dr. Michel de Lorgeril has a new published article on the Okinawa ancestral lifestyle. He spent a few weeks living in Okinawa and observing this unique island culture known for one of the highest density of centenarians on earth.

De Lorgeril is really cool. I discussed him earlier HERE (JUPITER=FAIL). Like Peter at Hyperlipid, he's been blogging about disease and health misconceptions for years (archives back to 2008). Also, recall Pedro Bastos, Loren Cordain et al, he wrote a critical re-appraisal for the benefits of dietary saturated fats for heart disease prevention. I added his English/French blog to the animal pharm blogroll (BLOG-ASM) along with several other highly noteworthy resources such as Healthy Guts (by the gorgeous Ms. Consuela Werner who blogs also at RobbWolf.com) and GAPS practitioners + guides.



Benefits of Compassion

Why does chill-axing bring perspective, calm and serenity? Are humans meant to attain higher levels of cerebral functioning for maximal health, longevity and community contributions?

What can be learned from the Okinawans and also our respective ancestors?

De Lorgeril and Salen report 'Besides the traditional diet, three important aspects of the Okinawan lifestyle are physical fitness, the social support network and the spirits of Okinawa. These are all interconnected since keeping physically fit is part of the spiritual belief system of Okinawa, and physical activity can be as simple as ‘kitchen gardening, where plants and herbs are considered imbued with spiritual energy’ [1]. However, physical activity may be a more structured activity such as ‘traditional dance which is meditative and celebrates myths of ancient times’ [1], or it may be an ‘invigorating martial art like karate which demands a harmonious blend of mind and body’ [1]." Emphasizing the strong ties to ancestors and the social network present in their community, Okinwans celebrate frequently with feasting and festivities and memorials for deceased ancestors. In the same spirit, 'Yuimaru is a typically Okinawan concept, and means that everyone must share and help each other' writes Salen and de Lorgeril.

I discussed traditional Okinawa lifestyles and diet HERE which was high saturated fat and high protein compared to mainland Japan. They are fishermen, farmers and pastoralists enjoying many fermented foods, bitter and sour greens and vegetables, raw goat sashimi, raw goat milk and other traditional pork-centered meals.


Oxytocin

This is somewhat unrelated but yet maybe. Watch this TED video by Paul Zak 'Trust, morality -- Oxytocin'.

Where do you get your hits of Oxytocin?

I love e-hugs and hugs from the people I hang with; I think it gives me hits of Oxy-T.

Our little kitten 'Angel' that we fostered for about ~1 month shot up my Oxytocin briefly whilst she tagged around me all day, letting me cuddle and love her and as I watched my daughters care deeply for her like their own baby. After I had to sent her back to the petstore for an opportunity for adoption, the Oxytocin drain out like a dead battery. [BTW she was quickly adopted within 10 days, and we're grateful.]

Oxytocin. Neat hormone.

I'm not sure I'd agree to call it a morality hormone like some scientists. Like a rage or hits of 'E', (not that I'd know) it appears to me to ellicit deep empathy and facilitate connections; imbibing concreteness to emotions which are typically positive (though not always, for instance when baby is crying/shrieking). Scoping and feeling out your family, friends, coworkers (or enemies), businessmen and connecting to what they're experiencing brings understanding that transcends differences no matter how epic. It promotes GAME. Got your game on?

Campbell and Garcia reported in an article Neuroanthropology: Evolution and Emotional Embodiment that 'For instance, among male Arrial pastoralists from northern Kenya, self-reported quality of life, which may be thought of as a measure of well-being, is predicted by the number of male supporters as well as amount of body fat (Campbell unpublished data).' I thought was weird but it makes sense... success in the hunt or herding is tied to cooperation, empathy with your co-patriots and co-herders and effective communication. Better GAME.



Evolution, Oxytocin, Sociality, and the Primate Brain

Researchers Campbell and Garcia also write:
The social brain hypothesis holds that it is the demands of complex social interactions in groups that have spurred the adaptive increase in brain size across the biological order Primates (Dunbar, 1998, 2009), a relationship not found in other mammalian orders (Shultz and Dunbar, 2007). The importance of bonding among primates would explain why affiliation through physical touch initiates a neurochemical cascade, involving oxytocin and opiates, that is positively reinforcing and fundamental to effective social cohesion (Dunbar, 2010). While such neuroendocrine mechanisms remain important in human social interaction, they do not appear sufficient to explain group cohesion among humans for whom language and technology form the foundation for greatly expanded spheres of social interaction.




Social, Complexity, Cortex, and The Behavioral Regulation of the Internal Milieu

Reading more on evolution, the brain and oxytocin, I'm blown away by Schulkin who wrote Social Allostasis: Anticipatory Regulation of the Internal Milieu. 'Most primates are highly social except for the solitary orangutan, with the exception, of course, of a long relationship between the mother and her offspring, present in all primates, including the orangutan (Robson and Wood, 2008; see Figure ​Figure22). Core features in the origins of the genus Homo consist of some of the following (Stringer and Andrews, 1988; Robson and Wood, 2008): longer gestational period, long life spans, forward locomotion with heel and hind limb dominance, dominance of stereoscopic vision and forward movement of the eyes, and expanding use of the hands... hysiological cognitive systems are oriented to the social milieu. Their evolution and expression underlie the diverse forms of complicated social assessments; group size, for instance, is correlated with cortical expansion (Dunbar and Shultz, 2007). Consider the complex social relationships of primates, the hierarchy, and the distribution of food resources, shelter protection, dominance, and comfort through co-alliances. Such systems are quite varied and all involve cephalic innervations and expression.' The side figure depict an 'endocast of the frontal region of a putative Homo around two million years ago and a representation of (a) chimpanzee, (b) orangutan, (c) gorilla, and (d) human frontal plane (Falk, 1983).' In Table 3 the EQ (encephalization quotient) of each hominid is estimated in evolutionary time. I am not sure how accurate the Homo Neanderthal EQ is presented here; I thought I had read that the cranial volume was larger than Hss but need to dig that out. Hormone pathways, infrastructure and neurons (Von Economo neurons (VENs)) supporting the fabric of hominid social interconnectedness (cortisol, CRH, oxytocin, vasopressin, etc) are located in the frontal cortex of great apes and humans.

Many of the prosocial behaviors and the evaluative processes in cephalic systems are anticipatory and not only reactive to events. Information molecules such as CRH (or oxytocin or vasopressin) underlie diverse forms of anticipatory behaviors. The concept of “allostasis” is in part to take account of anticipatory control (Sterling and Eyer, 1988) amidst diverse forms of adaptation underlying this regulatory adaptation that supports social contact and internal milieu (Schulkin, 2003). Importantly, feedforward and social regulation of neuropeptide expression is an important factor.Social contact is at the heart of ontogenetic development, a long noted piece of epistemological history differently expressed across diverse cultures. Family and group structure through meaningful contact is essential for our mental health. Supportive social contact is not an absolute prophylactic but a helpful ameliorative in combating disease and breakdown (Steptoe et al., 2002), along with predictive abilities (Miller, 1957, 1959); intermittent unpredictable aversive events are a long known production of pathology (e.g., gastric Weiss, 1970), increasing allostatic load (e.g., Schulkin et al., 1998; Tannenbaum et al., 2002).Unremitting social distress, high cortisol when cumulative, decreases social competence process (e.g., brain morphology and decreases in memory function (Sapolsky, 1992, 1995), and increases the allostatic load (McEwen and Stellar, 1993; Johnston-Brooks et al., 1998; McEwen, 1998; Seeman et al., 2001). Allostatic load is one predictive factor in aging (Karlamangla et al., 2002; Hellhammer et al., 2004); age, health, and economic disparities are all functionally related to allostatic overload (Crimmins et al., 2003; von Kanel et
al., 2003; Carlson and Chamberlain, 2005; Szanton et al., 2005).


What is really freaky is that Schulkin points out the epigenetic data on cortisol and oxytocin. 'Interestingly, oxytocin and CRH are also altered by maternal care across generations of offspring. Cross-fostering studies in rodents have shown that variation in maternal care is transmitted in both genomic and non-genomic mechanisms; individual differences in maternal behavior are transmitted from one generation to another (Francis et al., 1999; Meaney, 2001; Champagne, 2003).One example is the link between maternal licking and grooming (high or low) which is consistently transmitted to female offspring; moreover, decreased social comforting contact has long-term implications for most mammals studied (e.g., Levine, 1975; Meaney et al., 1996; Liu et al., 1997). There is wide variation in this phenomenon that has long-term implications on cephalic systems; those rat pups comforted by social contact have greater regulatory capacity as adults on diverse systems in the brain, including neuropeptide and neurotransmitter systems (dopamine, serotonin, CRH).' So yeah. Some people may be able to blame their mothers! Grandmothers! And Great-Grandmothers! The lack of licking, caring and grooming does affect perceptions and confidence. [reminds me... need to hug/s-mother my kids more]

Here is a diagram of cortisol release relative to brain structures. Cortisol is great for short term adaptation to situations. Detriment occurs with long-term cortisol disruption of proper signalling: (See Table 4)
• Disruption of immune response
• Protein loss
• Growth and reproductive disruption
• Bone loss
• Brain deterioration

In PTSD (post-tramautic stress syndrome), cortisol and CRH (cortisol releasing hormone) are dysregulated. Low production and inappropriate release of cortisol are common. Prozac deficiency? No. It is an evolutionary programming system with a major bug in it. Gold et al discusses some research done in military Special Forces in high stress circumstances with 2 intereresting findings. Positive correlation was been found between DHEA/Cortisol ratio and better performance. DHEA and Allopregenolone supplemention provided 'resilience to stress by helping terminate HPA activation and preventing harmful effect of glucocorticoids.'



Get ur GAME on... Keep cortisol in check... And don't forget oxytocin, it's not just for boobs (e.g. breastmilk-let downs).

Maybe this is the one of secrets of Okinawan and African Arrial pastoralists...


References:
  1. Oxytocin may mediate the benefits of positive social interaction and emotions.
    Uvnäs-Moberg K.
    Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998 Nov;23(8):819-35. Review.
  2. Short-Term Compassion Training Increases Prosocial Behavior in a Newly Developed Prosocial Game. Susanne Leiberg, Olga Klimecki, Tania SingerPLoS One. 2011; 6(3): e17798.

  3. Integrated metabolic regulation during acute rest states [TCM-like states] in man, similarity to fasting: a biochemical hypothesis.
    Jevning R.
    Physiol Behav. 1988;43(6):735-7. Review.

  4. Long-term endocrinologic changes in subjects practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.
    Werner OR, Wallace RK, Charles B, Janssen G, Stryker T, Chalmers RA.
    Psychosom Med. 1986 Jan-Feb;48(1-2):59-66.

  5. Compassion: An Evolutionary Analysis and Empirical Review
    Jennifer L. Goetz, Dacher Keltner, Emiliana Simon-Thomas
    Psychol Bull. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 May 1.
    Published in final edited form as: Psychol Bull. 2010 May; 136(3): 351–374.

  6. Neuroanthropology: Evolution and Emotional Embodiment
    Benjamin C. Campbell, Justin R. Garcia
    Front Evol Neurosci. 2009; 1: 4. Prepublished online 2009 July 24.

  7. Top-Down and Bottom-Up Mechanisms in Mind-Body Medicine: Development of an Integrative Framework for Psychophysiological Research
    Ann Gill Taylor, Lisa E. Goehler, Daniel I. Galper, Kim E. Innes, Cheryl Bourguignon
    Explore (NY) Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 January 1.
    Published in final edited form as: Explore (NY). 2010 January; 6(1): 29.

  8. Social Allostasis: Anticipatory Regulation of the Internal Milieu
    Jay Schulkin
    Front Evol Neurosci. 2010; 2: 111.

  9. The Neuroendocrine System and Stress, Emotions, Thoughts and Feelings
    George E. Vaillant
    Mens Sana Monogr. 2011 Jan-Dec; 9(1): 113–128.

  10. Adrenocortical activity during meditation. [Testosterone -- same 3 groups, Cortisol --no change in controls, slightly lowered after 3-4 mos TCM practice, significantly lowered and for long time after by long-term TCM practitioners]
    Jevning R, Wilson AF, Davidson JM.
    Horm Behav. 1978 Feb;10(1):54-60.

  11. Neuro-psychopharmacogenetics and Neurological Antecedents of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Unlocking the Mysteries of Resilience and Vulnerability
    Abdalla Bowirrat, Thomas J.H. Chen, Kenneth Blum, Margaret Madigan, John A. Bailey, Amanda Lih Chuan Chen, B. William Downs, Eric R. Braverman, Shahien Radi, Roger L. Waite, Mallory Kerner, John Giordano, Siohban Morse, Marlene Oscar-Berman, Mark Gold
    Curr Neuropharmacol. 2010 December; 8(4): 335–358.

  12. Social vocalizations can release oxytocin in humans.
    Seltzer LJ, Ziegler TE, Pollak SD.
    Proc Biol Sci. 2010 Sep 7;277(1694):2661-6.

  13. The Okinawan diet: a modern view of an ancestral healthy lifestyle.
    Salen P, de Lorgeril M.
    World Rev Nutr Diet. 2011;102:114-23.



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' Death ' Bands: Subfraction LDL-IVb Strongest Predictor of CAD



Modified and Courtesy of a FDA.gov website


Let's review some subfractionation techniques. On the market 3 main methods exist. They all work. Dr. Davis prefers NMR. Superko and Krauss are affiliated with Berkeley HeartLab which uses GGE. Density gradient ultracentrifugation is also very popular (VAP-II). Recently, Krauss also appears to be introducing a new technology based on ion-mobility.

Basically, the denser the particle, the faster and mobile (like sp*rm *haa*) the particle moves through a gel (GGE). The denser the particle, the smaller the diameter (Angstroms or nanometers) as determined via electromagnetic resonance (NMR) or absorbance via density ultracentrifugation (VAP, which are indirectly compared to known sizes).

Pattern 'A' is good (all nice large buoyant fluffy particles).

Pattern 'B' is clearly BAD. Dense small stupid cr*ppy stuff. Guess what causes it? Excessive dietary carbs and/or fruit. Lack of omega-3 fats. Excessive omega-6 refined veggie oxidized refined fats not meant for human or animal consumption. Lack of saturated fatty acids. Lack of antioxidants. Lack of hormones.

The medical literature is rife with studies demonstrating that the conversion of small dense LDL to buoyant LDL is associated with regression of coronary artery disease.



Measuring LDL-Cholesterol Alone is Faulty and a Farce

Why is subfractionation via NMR/gel electrophoresis/UC of lipoproteins the most accurate way to assess cholesterol ? In doing so, the density and particle counts can be determined.

Only the marketing ploy of the statin/fibrate/zetia industries want to measure LDL-C alone without particle sizing. Yes. It is not cheap -- $99 via different labs. Some insurances cover it. Most don't at this time.

LDL-C alone tells nothing. It is like looking at someone's debt. Is it good debt (student loans, low fixed interest)? Or is it all bad debt (variable ARM, no down, several high interest boat/car/house loans)??!? Or No Debt? Or a mix (no debt on car boat house but low good student + low fixed vacation house debt)?

Do you have a good accountant? Do you have a good investor (eg, YOU)? Would you trust your money with a loser? With someone who has no money in the bank? With your statinator cardio-idiot? How many coronary events did he/she avert? Using 'tracking' EBCT/MDCT technology and targeted strategies to raise HDL2 and lower small dense LDL and Lp(a), both Drs. Davis and Blanchett (in Colorado, our colleague) have ancedotally seen single-digit events in their practices that span almost 10 years. HeartHawk likes to refer to this phenomenon as 'no event, no matter what score.' Even if the coronary calcification score is 4-digit, literally no events are seen. The failures they do see are related to noncompliance with the program and calcification scores consistently increasing 10+% or 20+%, respectively.

Well, when you trust your local neighborhood statinator, eg local General Practitioner, internal med LDL-centric drug-rep-pimped-up doc, cardiologist with lipidology credentials and certifications, what do they have in the bank? You must ask them. If they don't provide a good enough answer, seek new advice I would heartily suggest.

What do I look for?

No debt. High safe investments. High money in the B A N K . Demonstrated portofolio performance.

...EBCT regression or no EBCT score at all.

Personally I believe non-physician individuals like Richard Nikoley or Dr. Stephan Guyenet PhD or Dr. Dr. Petro Dobromylskyj (vet) or elite athlete Mark Sisson or Robb Wolf MS (Paleo/Xfit protege) know far more than your local GP statinator ninnyhead who are only focused on NCEPIII-LDL-centric guidelines. Quality of lipoproteins trumps quantity alone. Holds true for economic debt too. Does your statinator know that?!?




Lowering LDL-C Alone Does Not Reverse Heart Disease

Remember Cardio Controversies and Dr. Superko? LDL-C reduction alone was no better than placebo. Event rates barely were improved when Superko look at the whole picture comparing statin trials v. niacin trials. Yes, he made a variety of inferences. Yes, Niacin trumps all statin trials. Niacin in alone or in combo trumps ALL STATIN TRIALS in all-cause mortality, cardiac-death, and cardiac events. Superko makes educated, non-biased, medical-literature-based inferences.

So what? He is correct.

Statins raise %-sdLDL. sdLDL is oxLDL. See below. Statins create and sustain Pattern B which is predominance of small dense LDL. On statin therapy, often the LDL are 50-100% all small dense particles. sdLDL cr*p. OxLDL. On our TYP forum, the same phenomenon does appear to occur. Statins appear to prevent regression. What?? I think Superko is super-right.

On statins, the EBCT progression fails to halt despite niacin, omega-3 fish oil ULTRA high dose, 10-20+ lb fat loss, body recomposition, Lp(a) reduction, HDL2 increases... despite all TYP-directed efforts... EBCT scores increase 10-25+% annualized. Why?

Statins s*ck.

They maintain a high oxLDL concentration which the body cannot escape. It is not unlike bad revolving debt.


This is worse in those with Lp(a) -- anything greater than 3 mg/dl.




Yes. It doesn't matter how much Lp(a) one exhibits. Any amount jacks up the picture. Dr. Hecht, Superko's partner in cardio controversies, has shown that. Hecht, like Drs. Davis and Blanchett, is one of the earliest, most vocal proponents of using CT technology for screening of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. I'll be going over later how he thrashes the retarded Heart Protection Study which marketing ploys by statin companies attempted to lower the LDL-C health standards. *urrg*



It is a good thing at TrackYourPlaque that we no longer rely on this useless drug class. (BTW fibrates s*ck. BTW zetia s*cks too.)



Niacin and n-3 fatty acids trump them all.



Statins Increase OxLDL
For oxLDL to 'transform' to Large fluffy healthy LDL, CETP needs to deposit cholesterol esters into the particles. How can it if statins block cholesterol synthesis? Or if worse Zetia blocks dietary cholesterol uptake from the gut. Frankly the lipoproteins are f*cked. They never seem to attain the large, fluffy particle size associated with regressive Pattern A in the niacin regression trials (70% converted to Pattern A compared with Placebo, HATS trial NEJM 2001).



Statins Raise %-sdLDL, Lp(a) OxLDL (or OxLDL/apoB)

Mechanism? Lp(a) 'tracks' inversely with analogously with growing and increasing Large LDL and HDL2. Statins s*ck. Statins lower all LDL species, including the good stuff, the buoyant LDL which are necessary for regression. A new marker is the oxLDL/apoB ratio and several trials found an increase in oxLDL proportions related to apoB. Yet another adverse finding was an increase in oxPL (oxidized phospholipids) which bind Lp(a). Does oxPL increase toxicity of Lp(a)? I don't know but it probably does not help and likely explains many of the increases in EBCT scores in statinators. How long are these effects in place? I wish I knew.

Increases in Lp(a) were found with every statin tested.

--COMPELL
--PROVE-IT
--lipitor and zocor
--MIRACL
--REVERSAL



Krauss and Superko: Only the Densiest Particles Predict CAD

Superko and Krauss found evidence in 2001 that the small dense LDL-III a+b subspecies tracked the best with CAD. However more recently Krauss made note that the smallest, densest fraction out of 7 subspecies actually tracked the most predictable with progression of subclinical and clinical coronary artery disease. I call this band on gel electrophoresis the 'death band'. No, I'm not talking about a rock 'n roll band. The LDL-IVb fraction is the 'death band'. The goal at Berkeley Heartlab is to achieve < 2.5% based on one trial (when angiogram stenosis > 30%). However, this goal is not low enough. We see EBCT and MDCT progression even at > 1.5%. Likely stenosis is < 30% as the trials demonstrate continued progression.

Other researchers have found similar correlations with small dense LDL being superior in predicting CAD (Koba S et al. J Atherothromb 2008).

Berkeley Heart Lab in fact advise for Pattern B a 'high 40% fat diet.' That is pretty progressive! But they fail to specify the components of the fat: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, n-3 v. n-6 and saturated. Are they afraid of liability? Are they afraid of success? Are they afraid of regression? I dunno.

They do fail to address the carb intake therefore it probably would be fair to say that they can not broach diet unless carbohydrate intake is fairly accurately laid out.



























Only two studies exist that I can find that implicate Large LDL in coronary artery disease risk. Krauss wrote the first one in 1995, then re-clarified oh just last month. I briefly discussed HERE. In the clarification, he and other researchers retrospectively analyzed 3 large seminal trials and found no independent correlation between Large LDL and coronary atherosclerosis. One trial included in the review was the Quebec Cardiovascular trial.








TITLE: Low-density lipoprotein subfractions and the long-term risk of ischemic heart disease in men: 13-year follow-up data from the Québec Cardiovascular Study.
Lamarche B et al. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005 Mar;25(3):553-9.

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that estimated cholesterol levels in the large LDL subfraction were not associated with an increased risk of IHD in men and that the cardiovascular risk attributable to variations in the LDL size phenotype was largely related to markers of a preferential accumulation of small dense LDL particles.
PMID: 15618542


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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The 'Middle Finger' Movement...Paleo? Yes.

Courtesy Youtube.com
Chill Out Music- Mattina By V Dimension




Bloggers Are Disrupting the Fabric of Society, AGAIN *haa*
"I started Paleo because what I was doing (basically eating SAD, not thinking about diet, and never exercising any more) had turned me from a smokin’ hot, excellent athlete into a pumpkin-shaped bag of sand. There are some medical reasons as well, but those only amplified the problem.

Then one day I read a post somewhere in which Diana Hsieh mentioned
Paleo and FTA and MDA. So I came here (here first because you have the cooler blog title), read my first ever paleo article, and had that “middle finger” moment. (I’d had my “middle finger to religion” moment long before.) Apart from a detour where meds I had to be on fucked everything up for about 9 months (despite remaining Paleo), everything has been smooth sailing.

So Diana was the trigger, and you, Richard, are the smoking gun."
Quoted on Richard Nikoley's blog FTA by Michael P (@PizSez blog) on the pulsing, sublime post 'And why are you paleo?'.





'Middle Finger' Movement

It appears to me that amongst the most vocal individuals who have embraced Paleo/Ancestral/Primal lifestyles, there are a bunch middle-finger moments which may add up to h*ll of a lot of moments. Will it crescendo? Grow to be heard? Granted there are all different flavors and versions of 'paleo' so I have no idea which contortion will speak to mainstream. Personally I enjoy somewhere in the middle between the Lynda Frasetto version and Nora Gedgaudes translation. From my observations, 'middle finger' moments are not a common theme on every blog or every forum but the most ardent do not deny it. Following any version of 'paleo' wreaks havoc on people surrounding us who unquestioningly support and follow authorities with titles and engage in formalized associations (AMA, ADA, AHA, FDA, USDA, etc). Apparently it is sacrilege to omit an entire 'food group' (wheat/grains) and decline to engage in scavenging off by-products of grain subsidies (by eschewing grains/GMO/gluten, grain-fed livestock/pork/poultry, and processed junk food products) which put money from the pockets of tax-payers to the pockets government to subsidized farmers back to the deep pockets of Monsanto, pesticide producers and other parasites.

I have a middle finger too. I exercise it. EVERYDAY. *ahaa ha!*

Next post:
Meditation (middle-finger meditation)

Prior posts:
Bloggers Have Destroyed Fabric of SocietyBlog-asm II: More Bloggers Disrupting Fabric of Society
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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Homo Purgare


'Angel' Feral Kitten: Alloparenting
Here's Angel our feral kitten that we fostered for a couple of weeks until she could eat solids on her own. My kids brought her home one day from the pet store where she was apparently dropped off. My kids are in fact anaphylactically allergic to cats yet cannot seem to stay away from them (KITTYCR*CK). At ~ 4 weeks old she was the size of a teacup. I've been busy and we just gave her back this week to be adopted hopefully at the store. In the beginning she had to be handfed softened food every 2 hours and had diarrhea. My kids and I gave her fish oil, probiotics (Flora Balance) and vitamin D supplements as well and as a result the diarrhea ended and she apparently grew like the carnivore that she is! When she first arrived, she walked with a wobbly gait and hopped on her hind legs like a d*ng bunny, but now at 8 weeks old she strides fast and long, like a predator ...bites like one too... then disappears into thin air.


Lactation and Weaning

It is interesting how quickly carnivores are weaned from their mothers and adapt to solid and semi-solid foods compared to primates. Kennedy reports that 'Though humans have a longer period of infant dependency than other hominoids, human infants, in natural fertility societies, are weaned far earlier than any of the great apes: chimps and orangutans wean, on average, at about 5 and 7.7 years, respectively, while humans wean, on average, at about 2.5 years.' Why? Because we're predators, not bunnies.


HunterAngel acts like a predator, day and night. She practices hunting, capturing and stalking her prey. Only predators are playful in the animal kingdom. Here is a picture, she leaped 12-18 inches to grab the camera flash! Other targets including our face, our feet and plump fingers! I have dozens of microscropic puncture wounds from her lovely feral baby claws. After her nails were clipped, it wasn't so painful playing with her. Naturally she practices HIIT -- bursts of hyperactivity and playful brutality with our body parts or her toys, then long, extended naps. She's young and sleeps all day. Unfortunately the pet store feeds the S.A.D. version of cat-kibble, but with us she was given something similar to the below Canadian brand and real food (raw yolks, meat, bone broth).

Orijens: 'biologically appropriate' (grain-free) food for cats and dogs sourced from free-range meat or wild-caught seafood (80/20/0 = meat/vegfruit/grain).



Homo Purgare, Scavenger

Somewhere in our hominid timeline, humans have regressed and are de-evolving -- our guts, our brains, our skeletal system, our fertility/gonads... See top. Like captured predators, zoo humans eat pre-digested and refined, mass manufactured 'food'. Where's our playfulness? Our carnivory lifestyles? The RAW?? On forums and digital savannahs??? Recently we moved from the cement suburbia into the cement jungle of the big city of Shanghai... A lot of adjustments but in some ways neat adventures for us.

Purgare is Latin for 'to clean' (according to my handy dandy Latin dict) or to salvage or scavenge. [please correct me!] Are we as a species in the modern, tech age and interstate/intercountry commerce, more homo purgare than sapien sapien ('doubly wise')?

Milton states that 'As human evolution progressed, young children in particular, with their rapidly expanding large brain and high metabolic and nutritional demands relative to adults would have benefited from volumetrically concentrated, high quality foods such as meat [and fat, I say]. Today, many humans, particularly those in high income nations, have a variety of high quality, non-ASF [animal sourced food] dietary alternatives, but such foods were not generally available to paleolithic human ancestors nor to many people today in low income nations.' Yes. GMO soy products, formula, hydrized high-gluten wheat, GMO rice and refined packaged foods are not available in some third world countries but that is rapidly changing. Big Agra and Fast Food Nation have hit. India, China and Africa are besot with mass produced, manufactured foods now and it shows. Feedlot eggs, dairy, poultry and meat are commonplace as well. Fields of GMO rice and crops growing on vast landscapes (on industrial waste typically, like Pearl River). Obesity and T2DM are epidemic, especially in China where the rule is one child per family, leading to 3 sets of over-feeding influences (parents, 2 sets of grandparents).

Courtesy Youtube.com
ATB ft Tiff Lacey - Ecstasy (Chill In The Sunrise Mix)
Predator of Prized Brain Nutrients Admittedly, Angel's never going to hunt except a few lost flies or mosquitoes, unless she escapes to the outdoors. We did let her scavenge at the dinner table with my kids alloparenting her with pre-chewed scraps (and human mouth flora!)... Going back to Kennedy... Competition with other carnivores (like Angel's predecessors like saber tooth tigers, leopards, etc) may have encouraged selection for earlier weaned humans and scaling the care-giving role from mother to extended family or pack members. What were the nutrients they were competing for? Kennedy argues that acquisition of protein (and thus fats) selected for brain survival and early weaning. Like carnivores, mother's milk wasn't enough to continue growing the predator brain. Like some carnivores, one, single mother alone wasn't enough and alloparenting evolved. Humans are mega-caregivers for long-lived offspring requiring intensive rearing, as well as mega-consumers of specific brain nutrients from protein sources: omega-3, minerals, amino acids, fats. It's a curious combination deeply forged in evolution. Eating tongue-to-testicle and muzzle-to-marrow are the only ways to source the required nutrients for optimal brain maturation and growth. For predators with big brains.
"Assuming that living great apes demonstrate the ancestral weaning pattern, modern humans display a derived pattern that requires explanation, particularly since earlier weaning may result in significant hazards for a child. Clearly, if selection had favored the survival of the child, humans would wean later like other hominoids; selection, then, favored some trait other than the child's survival. It is argued here that our unique pattern of prolonged, early brain growth--the neurological basis for human intellectual ability--cannot be sustained much beyond one year by a human mother's milk alone, and thus early weaning, when accompanied by supplementation with more nutritious adult foods, is vital to the ontogeny of our larger brain, despite the associated dangers. Therefore, the child's intellectual development, rather than its survival, is the primary focus of selection. Consumption of more nutritious foods--derived from animal protein--increased by ca. 2.6 myr ago when a group of early hominins displayed two important behavioral shifts relative to ancestral forms: the recognition that a carcass represented a new and valuable food source-potentially larger than the usual hunted prey-and the use of stone tools to improve access to that food source. The shift in the hominin "prey image" to the carcass and the use of tools for butchery increased the amount of protein and calories available, irrespective of the local landscape. However, this shift brought hominins into competition with carnivores, increasing mortality among young adults and necessitating a number of social responses, such as alloparenting. The increased acquisition of meat ca. 2.6 Ma had significant effects on the later course of human evolution and may have initiated the origin of the genus Homo."
References: 1. Boaz N. Eco Homo. 1997. Basic Books. [Chapter One, NYT] 2. Shlain L. Sex, Time and Power. 2003. Penguin, New York, NY. 3. Switek B. Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record and Our Place in Nature. 2010. Bellevue Literary Press, New York, NY. 4. Cunnane S. Survival of the Fattest: The Key to Human Brain Evolution. 2004. World Scientific. 5. From the ape's dilemma to the weanling's dilemma: early weaning and its evolutionary context. Kennedy GE. J Hum Evol. 2005 Feb;48(2):123-45. 6. Meat-adaptive genes and the evolution of slower aging in humans. Finch CE, Stanford CB. Q Rev Biol. 2004 Mar;79(1):3-50. 7. The critical role played by animal source foods in human (Homo) evolution. Milton K. J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3886S-3892S. Internet sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12721432/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/ancient-die-off-blamed-climate-not-humans/ http://www.beringia.com/centre_info/exhibit.html http://www.onelife.com/evolve/index.html http://www.beyondveg.com/nicholson-w/hb/hb-interview1c.shtml http://www.thefutureoffood.com/resources.html Alloparenting -- John Hawks Neolithic Equids -- Why the Long Face? Jamie Scott, That Paleo Guy posthttp://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/behavior/Spring2009/Landfried/index.html http://www.biology-online.org/articles/alloparenting-what.html
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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Rockstar Edition: THE AHS 2011

Admission: I partied like a R O C K S T A R . *big wink /squeeze*


How about you???

Living (or re-living like me) vicariously through the Ancestral Health Symposium (AHS) roundups and reviews?


How it started: Brent Pottenger like his ancestors dared to dream a dream...

An angel named Mr. Jacobsen planted seed money, AHS was born and as they say the rest is history. Not unlike suffrage ending, for me it was powerful and freeing to attend an event where none of us needed to 'preach to the choir' or convince or persuade anyone that optimal health is within reach by embracing a few precepts modeled by our distant ancestors (more play, less grains, vary your life/n=1, more fighting, attend to gut symbionts, etc). For the initiated, we all had each other's vote for some time now, if not stark fan-following.


Everyone rocked my world!!!!!!!!! ...from fans of the blog (esp the pharmacy boys, keep up the good work and d*mn it publish something to rock the neolethal medical world), other bloggers, AHS presenters, volunteers and interviewers.

Here's my critical top ten for the peeps that attended and made this happen:

1. Prof Aaron Blaisdell ('Xavier' with lots hair), Brent Pottenger (legacy in the making), Mr. Jacobsen (king of angels and sun energy), Seth Roberts, and all the 50+ volunteers that made AHS smoothly operate and happen from behind the scenes to IN THE SCENES. Synergy in action. Awesome dream team!

2. Erwan Le Corre and Clifton Harski -- Thank you for not letting me leave my face or *ss on Muscle Beach/Venice Beach. MovNat is brilliant for all levels and all ages and my take is that it's probably more versatile and healing than crossfit or endurance workouts. I felt great afterwards. My sister noticed she had this kid-like bountiful energy she hadn't felt in years. I'd concur. My daughters were wondering why the h*ck sand was in the bed the next morning and I pleasantly remembered the funked out contortions and mobility combos we did on Sunday for the workshop including laying in the sand for some defensive/ground exercises. Honestly I am not the most coordinated therefore if I can do movenat moves than really anyone can. We swung up bars (mimicking tree branches), climbed up bars barehanded/footed, ran barefoot, jumped with a wavey-hand move, lifted gripless sandbags, and climbed on all fours in sand, on curbs and concrete. I couldn't deadlift much including my sister. Got snickered into deadlifting Erwan, but downgraded to do a functional move like dragging him ~ 4 meters [but had to stop from peeing in my pants from laughter... Do all French parkour experts smell/feel as good as Erwan? I dunno but I'd attend the seminar again to find out.] Clifton ROCKED as our torture master *scratch* I mean, instructor, and as others have mentioned he had the best agility, nimbleness and s*xxxy chest of AHS!!! [And it twitched when he got excited] I would concur with the other female elements of our group... ripping your shirts off did something. I dunno... Request: please do it earlier in the day. It's better than caffeine. Climb a tree? Tell me how high and how fast?? The quiet parts of the day were when Clifton and Erwan explained the philosophy of MovNat... we need to explore and be aware of our terrain. Prepare for the predictable but expect the unexpected. Stress? We all have stress and doing MovNat is one of the best de-stressors. To a question from Amy Holms, Erwan replied that the best way to decrease stress is being with friends and family, be in Nature as Nature is the best de-stressor, listen to reggae, move and do MovNat... We all may have stress (even Erwan). Don't know about you, but I'm taking the G-R-E-E-N P-I-L-L and that's the best thing I learned from AHS.

3. Rockstars -- there are seriously too many to list but at the top for me is Denise Minger. Not only is she a glam ROCKSTAR but she can also nail any crazy-rabid vegetarian straight to down to the ground with just a whoosh of her Louboutin heels and with blinding kindness and grace. My sister and I had the honor to meet and be one of the first to greet at Prof Blaisdell's house at the pre-party and she was far more interested in hearing where we came from than to introduce herself. When she told us of her ghetto motel story (woman screaming from next thin-walled room) you just want to protect and shield her from all idiots and danger. But as we know, she's TOUGH. Anyone who can fell the myth wearing the emperor's clothes (T. Colin Campbell, the statistics hoaxster who rivals Ancel Keys) deserves glorious kudos. Tucker Max accuses the primal/ancestral movement of deficiencies of violence??? Did he listen to Minger present?? She was VIOLENTLY HILARIOUS and VIOLENTLY EFFECTIVE. Period.

[BTW I think Tucker is right on. Even my peaceful futuristic explorers Spock and Captain Kirk fought effectively in hand-to-hand or weapon-assisted combat, when required. Tucker's talk was also a huge highlight]

4. Mat LaLonde -- he doesn't blog so under my radar. WTF. Where did he come from? He is the best brainiac warhead for the paleo/primal folks who don't want to lose credibility (like me) and who want to prevent smackdowns from core academic sciences (NOT fun, been there...). His command for plant derived chemicals and biochem belie his pretty, luminous skin and f*ckme gorgeous biceps+ quads. Is he a supergeek or strongman? Like most of AHS I think he's a renaissance guy and multitalented. Thank you for all the science language tips. It's helpful to not sound like a freak or moron, or worse both.

5. Richard Nikoley/Queen Bea, Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, Seth Roberts, Gary Taubes, Keith Norris and Missus TTP, Mary and Mike Eades, Doug McGuff, Stephan Guyenet, Pedro Bastos-- These are my mainstay pillars of knowledge and wisdom and good to see them again in our AHS element (actually my VIRGIN TIME meeting Doug, the Eades, the Norrises, Pedro, having lunch w/Stephan). I refer tons of people to their blogs/books and websites (as well as the below). They cure, heal and free many of my favorite human animals, making my zoo world a better place. Thank God and Gaia for them.

6. Emily Deans and Jamie Scott -- Emily's a HARVARD-TRAINED PHYSICIAN and HARVARD CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR and SHE GETS IT. Also you'd think that with her sweet online presence she is this delicate, cerebral, tiny, white, lily flower but actually she is a *%$&@ TOTAL BAD*SS and hit the bars at MovNat with ferocity and persistence. Yes. And. She lifted sarcophilic Jamie Scott onto her BACK [he aint heavy, he's my brother]. Her presentation at AHS was the best physician talk IMHO that I heard; it reviewed the history of mental medicine and the recent relevant studies regarding psych on magnesium (which can reduce anxiety and important for adrenals), food toxins, gluten, and many other vital factors (no pharmaceuticals). Jamie Scott is as hunky, calm and sauve as you'd imagine and add the intoxicating NZ accent! Thanks for the tip too! I was having problems with running lately and developed hip pain and he hacked it right on. I stopped hyper-lifting my leg and pushed back more as he kindly suggested, which fixed it. I suspect MovNat was a jaunt in the Christchurch earthquake park for Jamie. It seemed effortless... From his talk, he discussed in length the implementation of the corporate primal/paleo program he is involved with. The world desparately needs more cutting edge programs like this. Can Jamie clone himself and apply these concepts at Google or Wall Street or Microsoft? Resilience? These two are the epitomy.

7. Craig Stanford. He and Caleb Finch have done amazing work in primates and studying behavior. He presented many insights from his research including a really interesting study on chimp meat-eating which occurred in a spastic frenzy for ~10 wks that coincided with the mense of the female chimps. Meaning? Who knows but similar to many things that I find fascinating about evolution is that it presents more questions than answers. This talk just geeked it out for me...

8. Melissa McEwen. For me, she is the rational voice for sustainability, evolutionary tracking and the gut microbiota. A recovering/recovered vegetarian like many who presented and attended, she speaks with authority and experience about the ancestral/primal backdrop that improved her health. Her talk exemplified 'hunting for hypotheses'. What does the literature say? Well. Not much about evolution in many circumstances. So many clues exist but without the proper context, what can we make of it? The last research she brought up in her wonderful talk was how H. pylori, a questionable pathogen, has co-evolved and migrated with humans since tens of thousands of years if not longer. Most of the world are colonized with H. pylori yet in industrial countries the carriage has diminished with sanitation and widespread antibiotic use. She brought up many potential ramifications of its extinction in industrial guts, including the increase in GI disorders and new epidemic levels of esophageal adenocarcinoma (one of the most lethal cancers in 50+ yr olds).

9. Paleo bloggers and Paleohackers. Melissa and Dallas from Whole9 are absolutely stunning, as is their awesome program. [did Melissa's gorgeous xfit gams come all the way up to my eyeballs...??] If anyone appears on Oprah or Oz, I do place my bets on the Whole9. Finally I met my Bay Area sustah from a different mutha: the stellar, hot, MiLFy Nom Nom Paleo 'M' and her ripped husband 'H' at FITBOMB, a blog cracks me the f*ck up a lot. Nom nom has a nutritional sci background and IS A PALEO PHARMAICST(I'm like HER!! and we both c*ss almost as bad as Richard and Bea! wtf). Nom nom is much cuter and does unspeakable things w/her Sous Vide and camera (see rated XXX food porn: HERE). My sister and I had an unforgettable, fresh and unlimited Korean BBQ buffet dinner with author/blogger/thinkr J. Stanton/Gnolls.org and Jolly, gifted photographer, both are experts at knowing how to groove and chill-lax to the ultimate. [Did i gain wt? Coz i ate as much as J. but no coz I did movnat 2 days later. All the upper body/chest/back work... I think my b**bs grew like Clifton's. No. I. Am. Not. Envious. *haa!*] Others in the house were my generous and neato co-speaker Dr. Tim Gerstmar, David Despain (I think we were separated at birth), and the incredible superstar Jaminets. FYI Stanton knows how to EAT WELL as a carnivore. Must be the mohawk contingency factor. The restaurant he chose had had a one-hour-wait and somehow he charmed US ALL IN < 10-15min. The clubbing music, fermented pickles, raw salad, and meat MEAT meaaatttt (!! pork belly, stomach, organs, beef, etc) were nothing short of orgasmically perfect. What an amazing way to finish Day 1. Did you see Jolly's mouthing-watering meat pictures?? Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet are a beautiful and amazing couple. My sister and I loved every minute we had with them. We are big-time fans of their book, blog, generosity and knowledgable insights. I met some PH'ers, THEY ARE SO FUN! I've gotten PDFs and tons of (free, me-lurking) advice from them at Patrik's brilliant site. WCC Paul (dude thanxxx), Kamal (u r WAY way prettier in person), Aravind (watched you 'come out' *haa*), Gone2Croatan (love ur style, sorry didn't realize who you were (!!) next to the droll j/k Andrew/Evolvify) at Napa Grill, etc. Dinner on Day 2 was equally exciting but I was fading fast. I'm so glad to meet and hang out with my bud Christian Wernstedt from Modern Paleo.

10. Chris Masterjohn and Nora Gedgaudas tie for clinically relevant for my personal interests. Gedgaudas: Nora's talk really aligned the mental, nutritional and healing aspects of what I am into -- identifying neoLETHAL damage (mercury toxicity, gluten, EDCs, etc) and health recovery. I wish I had met her but I'm certain our paths will cross or I'll attend her seminar at some point. Masterjohn: My foray into blogging started with cardiology, so I was really appreciated Masterjohn's presentation regarding the 'molecular degeneration' in heart disease. He shredded the topic of atherosclerosis to unidentifiable pieces. HANDS DOWN. Personally out of all the videos that will go viral, I hope this ONE makes major waves. With cheer and acute sarcasm, he tackled, maimed, bled out and academically dismembered the 50+years-embedded cholesterol-heart hypothesis. He reviewed the curious history of the rabbit model for atherosclerosis (everything injected/given did not produce plaque until non-rabbit food, cholesterol, was fed) and additionally discussed the role of thyroid, omega-3 deficiency, plant/animal antioxidants and oxLDL. His charm and beguilingly, azure-blue eyes shield the courage, humor and sharp scientific scrutiny he focuses on any topic he engages in. I've asked him for help to look at stats and studies and until you meet someone in person, you really cannot appreciate the non-online PERSON. I think this is the aspect about AHS that I loved the most. Flesh. Blood. Pheromones. Yaa! Meeting friends who were online comrades over hotel or hallway hugs, hearing presentations that were aurally and visually stimulating experiences (say PHEROMONES), mutual admiration, meals, wine, sharing close company (OKAY... f*ndling primal biceps and brains) and PARTYING LIKE ANCESTRAL ROCKSTARS.


What a lovefest.

My theory is that like many others I'll be in withdrawal from the reward hits from the lovefest for some time...
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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Apo ε4: Less UV-Triggered Vitamin D Required... Evolutionary Adaptation

** Hat tips to both Mr. Tyler Simmons of Evolutionary Health Systems Blog and a wise, flexible, strong mentor, Mr. Marc Simonson.


The 'Genetic Landscape': Apo E4 Gradient in Europe, China, India and Japan

Mr. Simonson's insights for the migration of pastoralists across Europe, originating from the fertile crescent first started my thinking (nutritional bricolage) for how the world populations have exhibited endless varieties of phenotypes and infinite genotypes (mtDNA, apo E, HFE, and thyroid/autoimmune disorders). He often says that no two people are alike unless they are IDENTICAL TWINS. Therefore, no two dietary prescriptions can be alike.

I'd strongly concur. The perfect human diet is perhaps the one suited to one's ancestral past, unique genomic profile, neolethal toxicity/damage status and metabolic goals.

The below quote comes from Lars Ulrik Gerdes work on Apo E4. He's a FANTASTIC APO*E freak! His thesis is mindblowing. I don't agree w/all of his thoughts but he has plucked through the data comprehensively and thoroughly. Regarding the ApoE4 gradient in Europe (which has also been observed in other countries and continents) 'there is a conspicuous south-to-north gradient of APOE*4 frequencies in Europe, with the proportion of APOE*4 carriers rising from only 10-15% in the south to 40-50% in the north. In contrast, the proportion of APOE*2 carriers is a little higher in Central Europe than in the south and the north. Many other genetic polymorphisms show similar south-to-north gradients in Europe, and this peculiarity of the 'genetic landscape' on our continent is presumably caused by the demic expansion of agriculture (i.e. migrations of farmers) from the Middle East that began about 10,000 years ago. The farmers first migrated westwards along the north coast of the Mediterranean sea, and later turned towards the north. Thus, the APOE*4 gradient could have arisen as an 'admixture gradient', if the apoE*4 frequency were low in the migrating populations of farmers but high in the original populations of hunters/gatherers in the north.'




Evolutionary Adaptation To Lower UV Radiation at Northern Latitudes?

Gerdes has hypothesized that apo E4 allele carriers have less of a need for UV radiation derived vitamin D due to internal adaptations to preserving vitamin blood levels and maximizing intestinal absorption from dietary sources. One of the earliest indications that this was the case was research from Willnow et al. With vitamin D binding protein and apo E protein binding sites being shared regions at the same receptor in the proximal tubule of the kidneys, Gerdes theorized that E4 may have escaped the normal urinary losses of vitamin D and its metabolites. E4 typically produce higher protein amounts of apolipoprotein E (high carb diets lower apo E protein concentrations). From Gerdes' thesis, I restated, see the below. Lard, other pastured animal fats, foraged grub, and organ meats contain substantial, rich sources of fat soluble vitamins including vitamin D. For the ancestral hunter-scavenger-forager 200,000 years ago, these fatty sources of vitamin D, K and A may have been crucial and critical for growth, maintenance and reproduction.

In migrating northward out of sun-drenched Africa, with smaller guts, less fruit/fiber/fish and subsequent lower fermentation of fiber that resulted in SCFA (short chain fatty acids like the potently anti-inflammatory butyrate), how in the world did ancestral HGs survive and have babies?

Upregulation of receptors in the gut for the fat soluble goodies from food and downregulation of the kidney's capacity to leak these fat soluble hormones, metabolites and low molecular weight proteins out...? SUPER HIGH FERTILITY, DIESEL BRAIN FUEL, AND LIPOPHILIC BULLETPROOF IMMUNITY...?

Apo E4, I believe, apparently have ALL of these amazing survivor traits.

Does APOE*4 protect against vitamin D deficiency? [p. 33 from Gerdes' thesis]

A putative association of APOE with bone metabolism has been ascribed to an impact of APOE polymorphism on the transport of vitamin K (see page 40), but it could also relate to vitamin D metabolism and embrace a very strong selection pressure. Hypovitaminosis D in childhood (rickets) causes bone deformations, which can reduce the probability of surviving to adulthood, and perhaps more importantly, can cause pelvic deformations in girls that later may cause their death during delivery under primitive conditions, and also the death of their offspring. Inadequate endogenous production of vitamin D3 can be due to insufficient dietary supplementation or reduced intestinal uptake of the vitamin, or to low exposure to sunlight (UVB-radiation). The latter can be a particular problem to people with dark skin, because melanin blocks for ultraviolet photons and thus limits the synthesis of previtamin D3 [Vogel and Motulsky, 1986].

Mourant and co-workers showed that the frequency of Gc-2-allele for the gene coding for vitamin-D-binding protein (DBP; previously known as the group-specific component, Gc, of the α2-globulins of human plasma) was high in populations living in areas with low levels of sunlight and vice versa (with some exceptions). They suggested that the distribution could be explained by means of natural selection if the encoded isoform were more efficient in binding vitamin, and so in protecting Gc-2 carriers from rickets [Mourant et al., 1976]. This may be true, although the concept has been weakened by an analysis including more detailed climatic data [Cavalli-Sforza et al., 1994].

Interestingly, a very consistent pattern appears if one correlates the frequency of APOE*4 in aboriginal peoples around the world to their skin pigmentation, while also considering the intensity of solar radiation in their habitats:

• The APOE*4 frequency is generally higher in dark-skinned humans than in humans with less melanin, and the frequency is particularly high (40-50%) for instance in Papuans, Pygmies and Khoisan, who are dark peoples and whose (recent) habitats are tropical forests where the intensity of sunlight is relatively low.

• High APOE*4 frequencies (20-30%) are also found in Saami and Inuit, who are moderately pigmented humans living in regions with low average solar radiation, and in peoples living in South American rain forests.

• Conversely, the lowest frequencies of APOE*4 (5-10%) is found among lightly or moderately pigmented humans living in areas of high insolation, i.e. around the Mediterranean Sea, in East Asia, in the southern parts of North America and in Central America.

• The APOE*4 gradient in Europe (and possible also in Japan) could be interpreted to indicate natural selection for this allele with decreasing solar radiation.

The putative advantage of APOE*4 could be related to better intestinal absorption of vitamin D (see page 30), but could also be related, somehow, to the fact that apoE and DBP both binds to megalin. This receptor plays a central
role in vitamin D metabolism, since it binds and internalizes DBP on the luminal surface in the renal proximal tubuli. The function prevents systemic loss of vitamin D through the urine and is also a step in the conversion of 25-hydroxy- vitamin D3 to the biologically active 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 [Willnow et al., 1999].





Study: Carriers of apo E4 have higher vitamin D (25OHD) blood levels compared to population controls

411 news flash...New research from last month in FASEB supports an earlier speculaton that carriers of the ApoE4 allele require less vitamin D. Willnow's research and Gerdes' theory have a line of evidence for confirmation. To prevent vitamin D deficiency and subsequent health risks (female pelvic dysplasia, fatal childbirths, growth, maturation, steroidogenesis, rickets, testosterone/progesterone production, etc), an evolutionary adaptation to recycling of vitamin D at the kidney level that raises serum vitamin D in apo E4 carriers may have occurred. The researchers state ' The novel link suggests ε4 as a modulator of vitamin D status.'

(Sorry didn't have time for tracking this PDF but if anyone can toss over would be horribly AWESOME *BIG WINK*)

FASEB J. 2011 Jun 9.
APOE {varepsilon}4 is associated with higher vitamin D levels in targeted replacement mice and humans.
Rimbach et al

Abstract
The allele ε4 of apolipoprotein E (APOE), which is a key regulator of lipid metabolism, represents a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer's disease. Despite its adverse effects, the allele is common and shows a nonrandom global distribution that is thought to be the result of evolutionary adaptation. One hypothesis proposes that the APOE ε4 allele protects against vitamin D deficiency. Here we present, for the first time, experimental and epidemiological evidence that the APOE ε4 allele is indeed associated with higher serum vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels. In APOE4 targeted replacement mice, significantly higher 25(OH)D levels were found compared with those in APOE2 and APOE3 mice (70.9 vs. 41.8 and 27.8 nM, P<0.05). Furthermore, multivariate adjusted models show a positive association of the APOE ε4 allele with 25(OH)D levels in a small collective of human subjects (n=93; P=0.072) and a general population sample (n=699; P=0.003). The novel link suggests ε4 as a modulator of vitamin D status. Although this result agrees well with evolutionary aspects, it appears contradictory with regard to chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. Large prospective cohort studies are now needed to investigate the potential implications of this finding for chronic disease risks.




Vitamin D Dosing Revisited

For those supplementing vitamin D exogenously, care and caution for adverse effects should be monitored. Sunlight derived vitamin D can be shut off -- we have enzymes and systems that control blood/cellular levels, however for supplementation just as taking a birth control or exogenous hormone medication, what goes in, stays in. Previously I listed contraindications for vitamin d supplementation ((a) hypomagnesemia -- get mag up before supplementation because vitamin D will lower serum Mag; (b) sarcoidosis or other condition associated with elevated 25OHD or 1,25OHD3). Now I would add those with E4 should like monitor closely and avoid supratherapeutic levels which probably need to be addressed on an individual basis. With E4 there may be suggestions that intracellular 1,25OHD3 may be higher and this would not necessarily be reflected in serum levels (just like Mag levels are not, intracellular $$$$$ tests are required to accurately assess). Supratherapeutic needs to be individually defined...

So, what's an optimal, ancestral, nutrigenomically perfect serum vitamin D 25OHD and 1,25OHD3 level? I dunno. Who really knows?


Relevant Citations:

LU Gerdes Thesis HERE

The common polymorphism of apolipoprotein E: geographical aspects and new pathophysiological relations.
Gerdes LU.
Clin Chem Lab Med. 2003 May;41(5):628-31.

APOE {varepsilon}4 is associated with higher vitamin D levels in targeted replacement mice and humans.
Huebbe P, Nebel A, Siegert S, Moehring J, Boesch-Saadatmandi C, Most E, Pallauf J, Egert S, Müller MJ, Schreiber S, Nöthlings U, Rimbach G.
FASEB J. 2011 Jun 9.

Essential role of megalin in renal proximal tubule for vitamin homeostasis. Free PDF.
Christensen EI, Willnow TE.
J Am Soc Nephrol. 1999 Oct;10(10):2224-36.

Lipoprotein receptors: new roles for ancient proteins.
Willnow TE, Nykjaer A, Herz J.
Nat Cell Biol. 1999 Oct;1(6):E157-62.

Expression profiling confirms the role of endocytic receptor megalin in renal vitamin D3 metabolism.
Hilpert J, Wogensen L, Thykjaer T, Wellner M, Schlichting U, Orntoft TF, Bachmann S, Nykjaer A, Willnow TE.
Kidney Int. 2002 Nov;62(5):1672-81.

An endocytic pathway essential for renal uptake and activation of the steroid 25-(OH) vitamin D3.
Nykjaer A, Dragun D, Walther D, Vorum H, Jacobsen C, Herz J, Melsen F, Christensen EI, Willnow TE.
Cell. 1999 Feb 19;96(4):507-15.

The uptake of lipoprotein-borne phylloquinone (vitamin K1) by osteoblasts and osteoblast-like cells: role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans and apolipoprotein E. Free PDF.
Newman P, Bonello F, Wierzbicki AS, Lumb P, Savidge GF, Shearer MJ.
J Bone Miner Res. 2002 Mar;17(3):426-33.
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