(NSFW) B**bies, B**bies, B**bies... I see..chopped off b**bies

Sunny Tales

Sunlounger

If you know me (and this blog) you know I love racks and b**bies (incl mine).

So it is exxxtremely disheartening when I hear of individuals choosing to go through the agony of cortisol-spiking surgeries to remove their respective rack and b**bies. Now that Jolie' preventive bilateral mastectomay has hit the big news, I see chopped off b**bies and ovaries everywhere. [Cue: Sixth Sense movie music]

Sayonara b**bies

LOL. The horse and I will miss the real thang

Breasts and B**bies: Chock Full of Both Omega-3, MCT (medium chain triglycerides) and Taurine

Our breasts serve an evolutionary function as storage for all the goods things that need to be passed to the next generation, besides adipose storage and breastfeeding. Omega-3 fatty acids from seafood, grassfed game, herds, and free range poultry are selectively stored in breast, gluteal, abdominal and thigh fat. And the amount that gets stored in the breasts and other fatty tissues is governed in a dose-dependent fashion over time. The nutrients in the breast are important not only for lactation (year 1-2 for newborns) but also for gestation.  Our breasts become factories to feed the next generation all the things that nourish and grow the massive homo sapien brain and forward-gazing, stereoscopic, color vision, X-ray eyeballs, which doubles in physical size during the first 12 months of life. The contents of breast milk are super foods for newborns: MCTs (caprylic acid, lauric acid), omega-3 fatty acids (EPA + DHA), taurine, vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, iodine, colostrum, amino acids, galactose, IgM, immunoglobulins, protective enzymes, epidermal growth factor, etc. For certain nutrients, naturally, maternal supplementation also works when the mom cannot breastfeed (hormone imbalances, anatomical issues, neonatal twisted tongue, etc).

A baby is born with inherent 'leaky gut' (intestinal permeability) for the first few months in order for some of the larger protein molecules and mom's immunity to pass directly into their blood stream for immunoprotection. Since the baby has an underdeveloped and immature immune system, there is no point in vaccinations (full of toxic aluminum or mercury) on Day 1 of life (assinine).

Many factors in breastmilk subsequently raise of the IQ of newborns who breastfeed.  In one study, the breastmilk (not necessary connected with the close maternal-baby contact, milk in tube) was associated with a 8.3 point increase in IQ testing in preterm children at age 7.5-8 years of age compared with no breastmilk.

See prior animal pharm:  MCT Oil (coconut oil, breastmilk) kick the crapola out of olive oil

Credit: Celeb*tchy

higher? harder? pointier?

Good job Kristi Funk MD

On Nursing

"Its unique recipe of fatty acids boosts brain growth and results in babies with higher I.Q.'s than their formula-slurping counterparts. Nursing babies suffer from fewer infections, hospitalizations and cases of sudden infant death syndrome. For the mother, too, breast-feeding and its delicate plumbing of hormones afford protection against breast and ovarian cancers and stress. Despite exhaustion, the in-laws and dirty laundry, every time we nurse our babies, the love hormone oxytocin courses out of our pituitaries like a warm bath. Human milk is like ice cream, Valium and Ecstasy all wrapped up in two pretty packages."  Source:  NYT Toxic Breast Milk?

Credit: NYT Toxic Breast Milk?

Breastfeeding: Good way to detox pesticides, metals and PCBs (flame retardants)

Unfortunately our breasts store both the good and the bad... our fatty breast tissues are magnets and reservoirs for fat-soluble toxins and heavy metals from our produce (pesticides), commercial meat (growth hormones, pesticides), marine fish and seafood, pharmaceuticals (aluminum antacids, mercury/Al from vaccines, etc), dental (mercury and other metals from amalgam and titanium dental implants), Teflon cookware and coated clothing (PFOA), and environment (flame retardants, mercury/arsenic from coal burning plants which supply 40-50% of USA energy, aluminum from municipal water, blah blah blah).  The individuals who are least likely to have the biochemical mechanisms to chaperone and eliminate these modern industrial toxins, are the individuals most highly likely to develop inflammatory conditions including cancer, autoimmune diseases and Western chronic diseases.

Some of the identified genetic variants are MTHFR (Amy Myers MD), GSTM1 (Mark Hyman MD), COMT, ApoE4, CBS, GSTT, BRCA1/2, and several other emerging ones. A functional medicine doctor and dietician, Dr. Elizabeth Boham MD talks about how she developed breast cancer in her 30's despite 'doing all the right things' eating low fat, exercising regularly, etc HERE. She talks about how to identify and remove toxins in our food, lifestyles and environment.  A functional medicine and SNP case study: 'George'. To see more on SNPs and diverse associated human diseases, go into OMIN (online Mendelian inheritance in man), RegulomeDB.org/GWAS and PrometheASE.

Who has pesticides and PCBs in their toxome?  Apparently everyone -- adults and newborns before even their first breath of air according to CDC, NHANES and EWG studies. Even the President's Panel reported so in 2008.

In the '80s and '90s apparently Europe cracked down and starting banning dousing all home furnishings and clothing products with flame retardants (PCB and its cogener, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PCBEs). Not the case in the USA.  In California for several decades, PCBs were required on pajamas, pillows, mattresses, couches, etc and thus many other states (and China) have followed suit.  PCBs end up in the ocean and rivers and marine life especially large predators bioaccumulate PCBs, mercury, dioxins, and pesticides. Cats and other indoor pets (and children) inadvertently consume dust and lick their fur, subsequently becoming exposed to PCBs.  All of our cats unfortunately developed endocrine disorders and I can never be certain that it was not secondary to the PCBs in their seafood/tunafish soft food that we 'treated' them with (combined with BPA-lining of the catfood cans).  They were all healthy and fine until 3-9 months after introducing them to seafood canned catfood....

In 'A retrospective study of PBDEs and PCBs in human milk from the Faroe Islands' the authors tested and tracked flame retardants in the milk from women who live on the Faroe Islands. They concluded 'Although remote from pollution sources, the Faroe Islands show high concentrations of POPs in human milk, particularly PCBs, but also PBDEs. The PBDEs show increasing concentrations over time.'

From Dr. Pizzorno in Is Toxin Exposure Relevant?

We know that considering the effect of one chemical at a time is no longer suficient. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published data on the levels of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – a category of toxins which includes dioxins, phthalates, PDBEs, PCBs, etc. – and found that among a representative sample of the US population, some toxins were present in essentially every individual over the age of 12, including, for example, p,p’-DDE and hexachlorobenzene.5 An analysis of NHANES data found up to a 38-fold adjusted increase in risk for diabetes prevalence in those with the highest levels of 6 POPs,6 and increased risk has also been documented for cardiovascular disease,7 insulin resistance, impaired neurological development, learning and attention deicit disorders, endometriosis, and deficits in the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis8,9,10,11 (Figure 1 shows the increasing concentration of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in breast milk).12 While very little data for humans is available, current evidence suggests that PDBEs are likely to be developmental neurotoxins, and are likely to have synergistic effects with similar chemicals.13

In addition to exogenous toxins such as POPs and heavy metals, a number of endogenous substances also require efficient functioning of detoxification enzymes to prevent a build-up of harmful metabolites. For example, endotoxins from bowel flora have been associated with depression, chronic fatigue, inflammatory bowel disease, and atherosclerosis, effects partly influenced both by bacterial species as well as intestinal permeability.14,15,16,17,18 Also, catechol estrogens and estrogen quinones are estrogen derivatives associated with oxidative damage and reproductive tissue cancers, which accumulate due to alterations in enzymatic activity.19,20 Other examples are the build-up of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine - both metabolic by-products known to have vascular, renal, and neurological toxicity, consequences of genetic susceptibility and poor B vitamin status.21,22,23,24

What Can We Do?

We must do much.  The statistics for lifetime sporadic cancer risk is currently 1:3 and will exponentially increase to 1:2 by 2020 according to WHO statistics.  I believe it.  Our toxome is excessive and unfortunately no diet (even paleo or ancestral diets) frees us from the pollution and the body burden accumulated over generations (our mothers, their grandmothers and, particularly, this current one).  We can thank the World Wars which ushered in technology (nitrogen fertilizers, Agent Orange).  It is rather wicked and ironic that the best green for liver support and thus elimination of pesticides, metals and PCBs is dandelion greens (e.g. a weed) introduced to the Americas by the British.

Good luck as we shall all need it.

Credit: Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2006 Apr;44(3):249-61.

See other animal pharm:
BRCA 1/2 Myths and Measuring Oxidative DNA Damage, 8-OHdG
USA Cancer Management: 50 Shades of F%$*# UP

Other resources:
Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer
Dr. Cate, BRCA Testing: Are the Medical Options Sensible
Mercury: How to Get This Lethal Poison Out of Your Body
How to Rid Your Body of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals: A Three-Step Plan To Recover Your Health
Kaayla Daniel and Galen Knight (WAPF) -- Oral Chelation and Mercury/metal-free Living (How to Avoid Toxic Metals and Clear Them From The Body)
Soy Recovery: The Toxic Metal Component
The Little Known Soy Gluten Connection
WAPF -- Environmental Toxins (comprehensive list of Wise Tradition articles)
Toxic Ignorance and Right-To-Know Biomonitoring

Babies and Mapping the Pollution in People: EWG's HUMAN TOXOME PROJECT

I think this is cool (...naught really).

This is a (user-friendly) compilation of the data collected in individual and large studies by the Environmental Working Group's Human Toxome Project. You can click on the right side on the study or an individual to review the toxic metals, pesticides, solvents, PCBs, POPs, and other chemicals found and at what level (low, mod, high).

The data below is from the EWG/Commonweal Study #1.

In each of these 9 adult participants over 150 chemicals, pesticides, solvents and heavy toxic metals were found. Fifty chemicals and metals that have been shown to cause dysfunction of the immune system were detected.  I talked about these factors above at AHS2011 'Rainforest of Your Gut' because not only do they disrupt our immunity but also intestinal barriers and permeability.  Researchers estimate that the intestinal system contains 70-80% of the immune cells.  Once chronic intestinal permeability occurs, all hell breaks loose.  Signs can be acute or terribly subtle....Bloating, dyspepsia, heartburn, hormonal disruptions (men become fem/moobies and grrrrls masculinize), inflammation, insulin resistance, suboptimal adrenals/thyroid, low HDL/high LDL, heart disease, endothelial hardening, penises softening, mental vulnerabilities, autoimmunity, autism spectrum, skin disorders, sinus disorders, candida overgrowth, allergies, oxidative DNA damage, and 50 Shades of F-Cked (cancer).

How do all these multiple industrial neolethal toxic factors influence our health?  From a systems biology perspective, do multiple factors amplify the depth of damage as each organ system one-by-one fails to accomplish what it is designed to do?

People eat whole foods, filtered water, organic, sustainable, ancestral, paleo, et cetera, but is it enough?  What if an individual has a low exposure but genetic variants for particular detox/antioxidant pathways which keeps an industrial toxin or metal hanging around? ApoE4, COMT, MTHFR, MT, and GST are just a few. Granted most of us have decent flux and adaptive mechanisms to survive most assaults but what are the thresholds for coping for multiple exogenous assaults combined with unique endogenous frailities?

On the other hand, what if a person just gets an accumulated butt-load of low exposure from frequent or daily soaked, arsenic- or lead-laced brown rice or heart-healthy omega-3 mercury/flame retardant- and selenium rich wild seafood?  Sorry -- I don't buy that urban mythology.

When I used to go for miles and miles jogging in the neighborhood, on weekdays I watched unprotected city workers spraying pesticides and herbicides on grass edges and around the municipal parks. Where does all the herbicide water run-off go? Where do contaminated water sources originating from Big Agro GMO Monsanto crop fields end up?  How is it tracked? Why not?

67% of the 9 individuals had 'high levels' of mercury detected and 22% 'low levels'.  Mercury used to be in our mouths; my kids and I are amalgam-free for one year now. We rarely eat wild fish with our histories and above is why.

Fukushima radiation is another now (here and here).

Before a first breath of air, 10 babies via cord blood lab analysis (EWG study #4) were found to have 287 heavy metals, pesticides and chemicals. All 10 had mercury (60% moderate levels, 40% low). 100% had dioxin. 100% had PCBs. 100% had organochlorine pesticides.

Recently pesticides from Bt GMO crops were found in 80% of fetuses and 93% of adults (healthy pregnant) randomly tested in one Canadian study (Aris and Leblanc, Reproductive Toxicology, 2011). This herbicide is used as a topical spray as well genetically spliced into the DNA of GMO crops with promoters for high-copy amplification and expression of of a bacterial toxin bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Bt toxin is also known as Cry1Ab protein.  It is a gut specific delta-endotoxin which exerts toxicity through increasing larvae/insect intestinal permeability causing the death of crop pests like leaf- and needle-feeding caterpillars (lepidopteran insects --butterflies, moths), beetles (coleoptera--weevils, ladybugs, beetles), and the larvae (e.g. babies) of leaf-beetles. It has been designed to be toxic to mosquitoes (dipteran)now.  Fun, no?

Has lateral transfer of Bt DNA to our gut bacteria and microbial communities already occurred (or at least the unborn and adult Canadians in Aris and Leblanc's study)?  Are we transformed? Mutant gut-hybrids of GMO experiments gone awry?

Like advising pregnant moms to avoid fish and seafood to minimize exposure to bioaccumulation of mercury and other pollutants, the American Academy of Environment Medicine (AAEM) issued a GM Foods Position Paper on May 8, 2009 for everyone to avoid all GMO foods in their diets.  Why such adamant recommendations for exclusive GM-free diet prescriptions?

For physicians and healthcare practitioners, they encourage looking at the role of GM foods in health disorders and diseases in integrated medical evaluations.  Why are we fat?  Why does USA obesity trends track and follow herbicide use?  Why are hypothalamus and brain reward centers so SO BROKEN?  How is the global use of herbicides and Bt gut-perforating pesticides related to our health woes and epidemic cancer and diabesity/heart disease/strokes?

In 1998 two scientists fed mice for two weeks potatoes (a) soaked for 30min in a dilute suspension of harvested Bt toxin (from bacterial spores grown in the lab; 1 g/L concentration), (b) transgenic Bt potatoes, and (c) control potatoes. Mild structural changes in the microvilli of the ileum of the transgenic GMO Bt potatoes were seen in.However in the Bt delta-endotoxin soaked potato-fed mice, the ileum changes were quite substantially greater in scale -- '...basal lamina along the base of the enterocytes was damaged at several foci. Several disrupted microvilli appeared in association with variable-shaped cytoplasmic fragments.' The authors further report 'in the group of mice fed on the delta -endotoxin-treated potatoes, the Paneth cells of the crypts of Lieberku¨hn were highly activated and contained a large number of secretory granules. These cells are believed to have an important role in the activation of phagocytes and controlling the bacterial flora of the gut (Ariza et al., 1996; Fawcett, 1997). They contain elevated levels of lysozyme in their large eosinophilic secretory granules, an enzyme capable of digesting bacterial cells walls, and antibacterial peptides called cryptdins (Junqueira et al., 1998). Ouellette (1997) revealed that Paneth cell secretory products seem to contribute both to innate immunity of the crypt lumen and to defining the apical environment of neighboring cells....The antimicrobial polypeptides of the Paneth cell secretory products kill a wide range of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses and tumor cells (Aley et al., 1995).'  Lysozymes are 'cutters' -- they cleave and cut things, for instance, tumour/cancer cells and cell walls of pathogens that take a ride in our food.

Damage to the ileum and small intestines can lead to changes in microbial population and the disorder known as SIBO (small intestinal bowel overgrowth).  An expanding body of knowledge links SIBO with nearly every chronic systemic and skin disease seen in outpatient medicine (John Hopkins Turnbull, Mullin et al)

Bt toxin appears to induce self-digestion -- (increased Paneth cell and lysozymal activity) and damage from the inside out.  Lovely! And it is present in unborn children and adults.

References

Nutrient tasting and signaling mechanisms in the gut. II. The intestine as a sensory organ: neural, endocrine, and immune responses.
Furness JB, Kunze WA, Clerc N.
Am J Physiol. 1999 Nov;277(5 Pt 1):G922-8.

Adult Women’s Blood Mercury Concentrations Vary Regionally in the United States: Association with Patterns of Fish Consumption (NHANES 1999–2004)
Kathryn R. Mahaffey, Robert P. Clickner, Rebecca A. Jeffries
Environ Health Perspect. 2009 January; 117(1): 47–53.

Blood mercury reporting in NHANES: identifying Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, and multiracial groups.
Hightower JM, O'Hare A, Hernandez GT.
Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Feb;114(2):173-5.

Pesticides in Shanghai and Globally

Pesticides May Cause USA Insulin Resistance and Obesity Trends

Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada. (FREE PDF)
Aris A, Leblanc S.
Reprod Toxicol. 2011 May;31(4):528-33.

Fine structural changes in the ileum of mice fed on delta-endotoxin-treated potatoes and transgenic potatoes [GMO Bt toxin] Free PDF
Fares NH, El-Sayed AK.
Nat Toxins. 1998;6(6):219-33.

Principles of Integrative Gastroenterology, Systemic Signs of Underlying Digestive Dysfunction and Disease, Turnbull, Mullin, et al.

Assessing Cumulative Health Risks from Exposure to Environmental Mixtures—Three Fundamental Questions
Ken Sexton, Dale Hattis
Environ Health Perspect. 2007 May; 115(5): 825–832.

Combined toxic exposures and human health: biomarkers of exposure and effect.
Silins I, Högberg J.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2011 Mar;8(3):629-47.

Love, Carnivores, Big Brain Evolution, and Mating Systems (NSFW)

Conjure One
'Endless Dream' [click to listen]
Courtesy Youtube.com

"When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed. 
Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. 
Only those relationships matter."

~From Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Sex: The Birds and The Bees

Sometimes one has to talk about the euphemistic 'birds and the bee's to young adults in one's hormonally peaked household... but really upon contemplation of evolutionary sexual biology, do we want to talk about the mating systems of the b-i-r-d-s and the b-e-e-s (adjunct to plant s*x), unless one is into hardcore advocation of polyamorous systems of mating?

Dunbar et al has produced a fascinating comparison of 4 mammalian groups and birds, comparing the average residual brain volume (corrected for body size and phylogeny) in pair-bonding members and non-pair-bonding members (polygamous, polygynous, etc). Interestingly among primate species (like us) there is no significant difference between average residual brain volumes and respective mating systems. It appears quite vanilla and equally diversified. However for carnivores, the larger the brain volume residual, the higher the percentage of carnivores in pair-bonding mating systems. For non-pair bonding carnivores, the average brain residual was even slightly negative.



Bird-Brains and Bat-Brains

For bats, this differential is way more pronounced.  Smaller-brained bats breed in groups and rear offspring in commune-like settings (e.g. two dads and two moms per two kids).  I've previously discussed bat s*xxxx (NSFW).  What I find the most fascinating about bats is that these omnivorous mammals are so varied and diverse in the way they look and appear and like humans the more complex the social network, the smarter and the more pair-bonded they are.

Birds (yellow circle) display an even greater relationship between small-residual brain volumes and non-pair bonded mating systems. The biological truth is that most birds mate quite non-selectively every season, and, for many species, several times a season if conditions prevail.

What about bees?  Yes they generously help flowers have flower-sex, to inseminate across space and long distances....spreading and mingling pollen from stamen to stamen. Yet bees mate too but only between the chaste newly hatched queen and a squadron of male drones, bred only to inseminate her. Upon escaping the egg casing, a new virgin queen is reared then goes upon a nuptial flight to be mated with a dozen male drones (or even 100). The sperm is saved and the queen lays fertilized eggs for the next few years for the life of the hive and its entire future population. Diagram PDF (click).





Oxytocin

An earlier post discussed a seminal PNAS article which reviewed how ancestral divergence among proteins contributed to the rapid evolution of the primate and hominid brain. Oxytocin is one such protein, a nona-neuropeptide (9 amino acids) which is secreted in nearly every organ system in humans. Tremendous interspecies variation in receptor density and secretion patterns exist. It is quite dangerous to extrapolate animal data to human data. Humans are not voles. Or bees or birds (yellow circle).

Our human hominid oxytocin is different. It goes up with so many of our human deep emotional interactions,  cements the memories we have for positive connections and enables trusted communication in relationships. It helps us to mind-read. To tell the thoughts of our loved ones and others. It helps us to read visual and non-visual environmental cues. It produces perhaps both the hunter's trance and lover's glance....




Carnivores and Iron Deficiency Anemia (Driving Evolutionary Force)

Been reading a lot of Shlain lately, his brilliant and magnificent STP ('Sex Time Power').  He proposes that humans had vast evolutionary changes in our relationships when there was perhaps a bottleneck of female hominids some 150,000 years ago.  Something changed 150,000 years ago and perhaps it was the way that females and males related and hooked up with one another...

Going back to the birds and bees, many things may have changed the last 150,000 years. His theory was that if suddenly there were scarce and only a few female hominids but a relative overpopulation of male hominids (Hss, Hs. neanderthalenesis, H. heidelbergenesis, H. ergaster, H. erectus, etc), something drove a dramatic change in archaic human interconnectedness and relationships. He postulated that maternal mortality was high. Many females may have been suffering and dying from a coalescence of evolutionary events --  bipedalism, narrow hips, early ontogeny and neonatal prematurity, troubled tortuous births and a doubling of neonatal brains (during the first year of life). The demand for iron during maternal gestation, birth and lactation for the maternal hominid was never higher. And still is (except for those genetically adapted with hemachromatosis).

And how could she hunt with babies clinging or fecund bellies? Or leaving predator-triggering, blood-tainted tracks during the period of menstrual blood??

Shlain hypothesizes a lot and I think he is actually right on about the majority.....  from the evolutionary point of view, iron is not only a critical brain nutrient for neurons but it is also crucial for all mitochondrial (e.g. cytochrome structures) and oxygen-related metabolic and circulatory processes. Have you ever drowned? Been anemic? Suffocated? Had CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning?  Seen a subpar-IQ kid with an iron-deficient mom?  Because iron deficiency anemia still plagues humans to this day, I think his point has huge merit and requires consideration.

Iron.

Need it for life or will die... slowly or dumbly or both.



Origins of Human Pair-Bonding?

I can see from Shlain's point of view (a surgeon's) the importance of iron for blood, metabolism, brain growth and maturation, and IQ. Perhaps with other factors, human relationships required the binding transcendant force of a tight pair-bond that only carnivorous pairing could achieve?  When food resources were scarce and fecund females too fatigued to procure, defend, hunt or fight?

In China, a small sexual revolution is occurring.  Because of the last few decades of China's 'one-child birth policy', many families are faced with a crisis and burgeoning population of male offspring and insufficient brides.  Brides are not only scarce, some marry outside of the Chinese race.  As a result many Chinese local females are in a position to bargain for the best candidates.  The resources brought to the table by the male and their familes are I think higher than normal -- house, job, wealth, health, right province, etc.  Looks, romance, hearts-n-flowers?  I don't actually know but if you watch Chinese dating shows (I don't) apparently the check off list also includes talents like killer singing, wooing, and more vocal display.

Is this any different than Paleo or Pleistocene times?

Perhaps no.

The scavenger/hunter/gatherer/fisherperson of the past 10,000 - 2 million years learned to bring home the bacon (iron)... and provide shelter, warmth, extended family help, and other resources to trade.



Meat/Seafood = Outsourced Nutrition

Nutritional science is fascinating to me.  So many nutrients must be consumed by carnivores and omnivores because they are not produced or synthesized endogenously in any significant amount -- Vitamin B12, Taurine, Vitamin K2 (menaquinones), Retinol/Vitamin A, Vitamin C, etc.   Some require our gut microbiome participation to conjugate or produce these nutrients, but again, outsourcing of these nutrients to the hominid diet was far more nutritionally economical over the millenia as our guts shrunk from transforming from primate frugivores to carnivores and later omnivores.  During gestation, a brain is built from scratch.  In the first year of life, the brain DOUBLES in size. The vehicle which carries our DNA forward, the baby, needs nutrients.

Other nutrients and micronutrients that are 100% or profoundly outsourced:
--iron
--methylated B-vitamins, 5-MTHF, formyltetrahydrofolates, choline (all from yolks, meat/seafood, organ meats)
--long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (IQ-increasing)
--other minerals: zinc selenium iodine

Meat and seafood contains all of the above, particularly iron which is the most bioavailable and easily assimiliated form of iron in existence. Regarding folates, be careful of supplementation with folic acid, one of the synthesized vitamins that is not find in food in great abundance (less than 10%). Animal- and plant-sourced food has a broad spectrum of folates and reduced derivatives: folinic acid, 5-MTHF (5-methyltetrahydrofolate; Dr.Tim Gerstmar's post), and formyltetrahydrofolates (meat meat meat).

Synthetic folic acid supplementation and industrial food fortification are associated with higher incidences of many cancers.  More shades of uber f-cked upness....

All the above nutrients affect a newborn's brain growth and subsequent intelligence.

All the above nutrients are not found in great quantities in vegetable sources, if at all.




The Carnivore-Fisherman Genetic Codes: SNPs

As an ancient SNP, Apo E4 confers longevity to those who follow the native diet of their ancestors.  Perhaps humans were hunter-gatherer-fishermen for so long, that outsourced all fat-soluble nutrients and cholesterol to the diet rather than producing on our own.  This makes sense as these are all downregulated in both absorption from the intestines and for endogenous production.  The global gradient for the E4 allele is increasing northward in Euroasia. The distribution for agrarian-adapted allele, apo E2, is the opposite and radiates in higher frequencies toward the fertile crescent where the birth of grain-dependence occurred. Several other adaptations are I believe protective reactions to phytates and grains/lectins (which chelate and reduce iron bioavailability or cause intestinal permeability, respectively) and less animal-sourced foods to secure nutrients for the fetal and postnatal brain growth and maturation -- altered metabolism of folates (MTHFR) and hemachromatosis (HFE),  higher fluffier LDL and HDL and less chronic diseases in long-lived Ashkenazi-Jewish (I405V CETP) and increased and larger fluffier LDL and HDL in intelligent Ashkenazi-Jewish with exceptional longevity (I405V CETP).





Tripling of Brain Size: Australopithecus to Now (0.45 L to present 1.4 L cranial volume)

For most of our existence, I think we have been predators. However, we are unique, different from lions, tigers, hyenas and bears. We are the only line of successful carnivores that descended from primates.   The introduction of meat to the diet may have occured about ~2 million years ago. The cooking of meat and other foods may have occurred gradually since that time.  Each become more consistent and regular over time.  Shlain asserted that humans experienced an increase in the neocortex and tripling of the hominid brain over that period of time. He believed it was related to a combination of forces -- choosy and picky, bipedal, big brained females and a dire iron deficiency syndrome.  Language flourished. Like gorgeous song birds attracting mates, dancing bees or croaking bullfrogs, suddenly men and women were able to communicate their attraction outside of  pheromonal scents. Tasting kisses and tender touch blossomed. Love songs and lyrics exploded. Symphonies swayed heart and minds.  Operatic drama captured dreams and imagination.

Sexual dimorphism retreated to the neocortex (brain, the big phat brain). All overt signs of estrus disappeared.  Humans are the ONLY animal species on the planet that does not enter into estrus -- we are sexually receptive ALL THE TIME. (sorta, except during PMS 'pack my suitcase' for the guys) Males can beready to go at any hour, any minute, any second given appropriate cues (visual, verbal, scent, sex-text, etc). Testicular size moderated. Scents, hair, and apocrine glands downgraded. Harems extinguished. Hominid males lost the flaming red cues that signaled female hominid ovulation (without an app). Hooking up became subtle (or tribal orgies, e.g. clubbing). Human males and females were and are both pair bonded and polygamous (83%, Murdock, 1967).

Language became the main sexual dimorphism.  Shlain points to the evidence that iron started it.  Then as brain size and its subsequent accoutrements (language, art, culture) thrived, so did our thinking and metaphysical cognition.

I think on our march of evolution as beings, we have zigged and zagged -- starting as frugivores then emerging as carnivores and then reverting slightly back to herbivores (some ethnicities more than others). Our brains perhaps have followed the same analogous path. We started as primate groups, then had small tribal coalitions similar to social carnivores, then we have perhaps reverted back to large complex primate social networks. We no longer groom each other for hours and hours on end chewing the cud picking off fleas and varmin, but we gab and gossip.  We share stories and tell tales. We admonish our children and train them with truths.  We holler and heed our mentors' words. We solve problems and support in tears and laughter over coffee or sweating out.

The brain and our language serve dimorphic purposes as well maintenance of tight social/family connections and possibly hierarchy.




Foresight

Shlain posits that at a vital point in history, humans determined the relationship between death and its finality. Our thoughts transcended the present dimension and envisioned the future. Funeral ceremonies, burial rituals and grave artifacts may have developed around 50,000 years ago at the same time in human history when art, culture and language erupted ('Great Leap').  Securing consistent brain nutrient and micronutrients I believe heralded these adjustments.  Society brought on more regular trade. Trade of goods enabled complex social networks and enhanced stability.




Play/Foreplay

Only carnivores and certain omnivores engage in play... Why? Why do little boys play guns and war? Why take 10 years of piano or violin lessons?  Why compete in speech and debate, chess or tennis matches? Why enjoy the sparring with kickboxing gals in class or watching MMA fights?

Why?

'It takes 10 years to grow a tree, but 100 years to grow a human being' (ancient Chinese proverb; thanks W).

(Is it all foreplay? . . . m a y b e)



Transcendance: Brain-F-cking (Merging)

Rapid changes have occurred in our communication in just the last short years. Technology has provided tools that never existed. How is our neocortex is adapting? Do you interact differently? Are we more deeply connected? How potent is virtual oxytocin? Is merging of our cognitive beings transforming our brains?  [Personally I've been in deep DEEP awe of my iPhone 4G since I graduated from the archaic one (no camera, no nothing) in January.  Recently I dropped the beloved (phone) which required the LCD to be repaired. Realized in the few days it was broken how we are affected, dependent, and emotionally reliant on technology and being so-called plugged in.]

Shlain believed that a new human species is evolving. Similar insights have been put forth by other luminary thinkers like Gerald Hüther PhD and Bruce Lipton PhD.  Love, harmony, compassion, oxytocin, empathy, and our complex interconnectedness are leading adaptations and understanding that may be creating evolved beings that transcend the physical, hierarchical, material and other barriers.  'Increasing numbers of us live up to the potential that was encoded into each of our chromosomes at the moment of our conception. There can be little doubt that all these drastic alterations in our environment are collectively functioning as transformative agents fueling the human species' metamorphosis....' (Shlain STP, 2003)

[NSFW] As you are reading my thoughts and we connect, am I finger f-cking your brain?

What To Do After You've Lost 50 # ? Get Into My Genes...

What To Do After You've Lost 50 lbs:

1. Get rid of your larger-sized jeans -- donate 'em, burn 'em, give them away, t-h-r-o-w them away so you don't get any ideas
2. Buy new hot jeans, preferable anything that makes you look hotter
3. Get rid of your larger-sized undies b/c they will peak out of your sexy new(low rise) jeans.
4. Welcome the customer service you'll get (sad but true) -- the better you look the better service (even though you're the s-a-m-e cranky consumer).
5. The better the service, the bigger the spending. Get a larger wallet!

About 5yrs ago I started on a 'health' kick which started when I couldn't fit into my size 10-12 jeans. Everyone reaches their own personal 'rock bottom' at some point which starts the process of life-altering new change. My rock bottom occurred when my bottom couldn't fit. *sigh* Wish I could say it was for improving my 'fitness' or 'golf' or 'longevity' or 'primary coronary prevention'. Nope.

You wanna get into my genes?

After losing 50 lbs (low carb, working out, yoga, eliminating juice/cereal/rice) and achieving the ultimately best health ever, I would say my genes ROCK now. Can we alter our genes and genetics? (Clinton was once clobbered for saying he changed his 'genes' and after making adjustments to his diet and weight after his multiple-vessel CABG .... we wondered what (??!) was he was talking about) *heh*

It certainly is possible to optimize and out-maneuver genetic polymorphisms (and other DNA curses). With a semi-Paleo diet, inadvertently fasting intermittently (cheating with chocolate and coffee), exercise (both low and high intensity), the weight went from originally 158 to finally 108 lbs... (115 lbs now after growing 7 lbs of muscle/mammaries/hair ... they're real... and spectacular... J/K (!!)... miss my Seinfeld). My BMI is 19.4 (size 1). I started at 38% body fat (wow -- more than 1/3 of the initial weight) and now I'd estimate 19-22%. Was it hard? Let me tell you... it wasn't always easy. But it wasn't difficult once the process started. Like a rock rolling down a hill. At some point, natural laws of gravity kick in -- with big enough kicks(and other physics, such as smaller masses require shopping for smaller jeans). Psychologists say that change takes 2 weeks to occur and be reinforced.

Randomness in workouts helps me -- mixing up the intensity and varying the lengths. Boredom can't set in when the routine is constantly changing, setting new bars of achievement (instead of 2 miles, 4 miles), finding friends to join in the fun, or attending classes where you can share camaraderie (and accountability).

French culture have taught us yet another lesson (other than croissants, butter, wine, cheese and other good foods can be good for us). By consuming the right balance of foods and right portions for our specific genetics, we can extend health, longevity, and vitality to the maximum. Make the most of the interplay between personal genetics and diet. As certain genes can be turned on for optimization of health, many genes can be down-regulated and shut OFF to stop and control chronic diseases.

As Hippocrates once said "Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine thy food."

No pain-au-chocolat, no gain!

(Food was probably high-carb 50-80% of daily calories-- the context would not apply necessarily to TYP-ers and therefore dietary fat effects may not extrapolate out)Features of the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) are modulated by an interaction between the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta -87T>C polymorphism and dietary fat in French-Canadians. Robitaille J, et al. J Obes (Lond). 2007 Mar;31(3):411-7. (More on PPAR-delta later... what a fascinating receptor)

OBJECTIVE: We verified whether genetic variants in this gene are associated with the MS and whether dietary fatty acids interact with the -87TC polymorphism.

METHODS: By direct sequencing, we identified 15 variants in the PPAR-delta gene and analyses were pursued with the -87TC polymorphism for 340 subjects.

RESULTS: Metabolic variables were comparable among each genotype group. The -87TC polymorphism, fat intake and the interaction accounted, respectively for 2.2, 1.9 and 1.5% of the variance in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (P less than 0.05) (age, sex and energy intake were included into the model). The total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio was also modulated by a gene-diet interaction and by the -87TC polymorphism (P less than0.05). No gene-diet interaction effects were observed for other features of the MS. The age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of exhibiting three or more features of the MS when carrying the -87C allele was 0.62 (P=0.04) compared to -87T/T. However, in subjects consuming less than 34.4% of energy from fat (median of fat consumption), the OR in carriers of the -87C allele was of 0.42 (P=0.008).

CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the PPAR-delta -87TC polymorphism may be associated with a lower risk to exhibit the MS and this association is influenced by dietary fat intake.The metabolic syndrome (MS) is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPAR-delta), a transcription factor involved in lipid metabolism, is a candidate gene for the MS. PMID: 16953259


A certain genetic type (polymorphism) determines whether saturated fat increases apo B (and Metabolic Syndrome and thus small dense atherogenic LDL and plaque-progression) or protects against elevated apo B (et cetera). I wish I could get into my genes... but I would bet that my genes exhibit the apo B/MetSyn/atherogenic type... like the great majority of the global human population (insulin resistant with age, sedentary lifestyle, and excessive carb intake). The A94 type is impressive (A++) but unfortunately my genes probably wouldn't be so lucky. I wish I had A++ genes... but I more than make it up with A++ physical activity and food. Robitaille J, et al. Mol Genet Metab. 2004 Aug;82(4):296-303.

Plasma concentrations of apolipoprotein B are modulated by a gene--diet interaction effect between the LFABP T94A polymorphism and dietary fat intake in French-Canadian men.
Hyperapobetalipoproteinemia is a common feature of the metabolic syndrome and could result from the interaction between genetic and dietary factors. The objective of this study was to verify whether dietary fat intake interacts with the T94A polymorphism of the liver fatty acid-binding protein (LFABP) gene to modulate plasma apolipoprotein (apo) B levels. Dietary fat and saturated fat intakes were obtained by a dietitian-administered food frequency questionnaire and the LFABP T94A genotype was determined by a PCR-RFLP based method in 623 French-Canadian men recruited through the Chicoutimi Lipid Clinic (279 T94/T94, 285 T94/A94, and 59 A94/A94). The LFABP T94A polymorphism was not associated with plasma apo B levels when fat intake was not taken into consideration. However, in a model including the polymorphism, fat intake expressed as a percentage of total energy intake, the interaction term and covariates, the variance in apo B concentrations was partly explained by the LFABP T94A polymorphism (5.24%, p = 0.01) and by the LFABP T94A*fat interaction (6.25%, p = 0.005). Results were similar when saturated fat replaced fat intake in the model (4.49%, p = 0.02 for LFABP T94A and 6.43%, p = 0.004 for the interaction). Moreover, in men consuming more than 30% of energy from fat, the odds ratio for having plasma apo B levels above 1.04 g/L for A94 carriers was of 0.40 (p = 0.02) compared to T94/T94 homozygotes. Results were similar for carriers of the A94 allele consuming more than 10% of energy from saturated fat (OR: 0.32, p = 0.005).

In conclusion, T94/T94 exhibit higher apo B levels whereas carriers of the A94 allele seem to be protected against high apo B levels when consuming a high fat and saturated fat diet. These findings reinforce the importance to take into account gene-diet interactions in the prevention and management of the metabolic syndrome. PMID: 15308127