Sunshine To Prevent #Osteoporosis

The National Osteoporosis Society has today launched their Sunlight campaign designed to encourage us to get enough sun to top up our Vitamin D levels.

In their surveys, some common myths came out so I thought it might be worth sharing them.

Many people said they got enough Vitamin D from their food.

• Only about 10% of our vitamin D comes from food.

Others said they knew sunshine was vital to get Vitamin D but that they wear sunscreen.

• You can’t increase Vitamin D with sunscreen on so the advice is to get out in the sun with bare skin for a few minutes several times in the day to boost levels but avoid burning. 
• If your shadow is shorter than you, the sun is at the right angle to produce vitamin D. 
• If your skin starts to burn, your body will begin to deplete the vitamin D that it has produced so safe sun is always best.

I’m fine: I sit in my conservatory for hours, or by the window.

• No, you’re not. Your body cannot produce vitamin D thorough windows – you need to be outside.

We never get any sun in the UK anyway!

• Even on cloudy summer days, we can still produce vitamin D but it can take a little longer. 

Suffering From A Broken Heart? Try 5HTP

We’ve all been there: nursing a broken heart after a relationship split. We wouldn’t say that is classical depression, but a new study shows that the serotonin pick-up we get from 5HTP can really help at this time. This is not surprising since 5HTP has a good pedigree for helping depression generally.

What is 5HTP?

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is an amino acid that is the middle step between tryptophan and the important brain chemical serotonin. Considerable scientific evidence indicates that low serotonin levels are linked to a number of common conditions including depression, obesity, fibromyalgia and headaches. Commercially available 5-HTP is isolated from a seed from an African plant (Griffonia simplicifolia).

I tend to advise this one because it contains useful B vitamins and zinc to help nourish the nervous system too. Most if us, even by government standards, are zinc deficient. Check your fingernails for white spots for a start – a good clue.

5-HTP for Depression

There is excellent documentation that 5-HTP is an effective antidepressant agent. Several double-blind studies show that 5-HTP is equal to or better than standard antidepressant drugs. The study with the most significance was one that compared to fluvoxamine (Luvox®), a “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor” like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. In the study, subjects received either 5-HTP (100 mg) or fluvoxamine (50 mg) three times daily for 6 weeks. Among the results:

• The percentage decrease in overall depression scores was slightly better in the 5-HTP group (60.7% vs. 56.1%).
• More patients responded to 5-HTP than fluvoxamine.
• 5-HTP was quicker acting than the fluvoxamine.
• The real advantage of 5-HTP in this study was the low rate of side effect.
• The most frequent side effect with 5-HTP was mild nausea, but this only occurred in less than one out of ten subjects.
• In contrast, antidepressant drugs usually produce moderate to severe side effects in 20 to 65% of subjects.

Reference:

Emanuele E, Bertona M, Minoretti P, Geroldi D. An open-label trial of L-5-hydroxytryptophan in subjects with romantic stress. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2010;31(5):663-6.

The ‘Romantic Stress’ Trial

In a clinical trial conducted in Italy, the effect of 5-HTP was assessed in 15 non-depressed young subjects (11 females and 4 males, average age: 23 years) with high levels of “romantic stress.” The subjects had experienced a recent romantic break-up or reported recent romantic problems.

The participants were treated with a Griffonia simplicifolia extract providing 12.8 mg 5-HTP per tablet at a dosage of two tablets daily. The subjects were evaluated at baseline, at 3 weeks and at the end of the 6-week trial using a questionnaire. Researchers also measured the levels of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and platelet serotonin content in relation to the changes in romantic stress at baseline, at 3 weeks, and after the completion of the 6-week trial.

The results showed significant improvements in romantic stress scores from weeks 0 through 3, but no further significant improvement was evident from weeks 3 through 6. At 6 weeks, subjects had a significant increase from baseline in both BDNF and platelet serotonin values.

The researchers concluded “Our data suggest that direct modulation of the serotonergic system may have use for the treatment of psychological suffering associated with unreciprocated romantic love.” Or in other words, 5-HTP can help heal a broken heart.

Add in the fact that 5HTP is also known to help control fat gain and appetite, not only will you be feeling better but you’ll be looking much hotter and will get someone even better in no time!

Good luck.

Source: Dr Michael Murray, May 12

Homeopathy Worked For Me

I received a plea this morning to get behind a campaign to stop new laws limiting our access to homeopathic medicines. It’s important we don’t allow the powers that be to limit our ability to take care of ourselves, our way.

It struck me that this is in stark contrast to the way the Swiss are now treating homeopathy. A recent Swiss government report, conducted in the same way as the UK one a while ago, I believe, came to a staggeringly different conclusion:

not only does it work, but that it is far more cost-effective than conventional medicine. 

They conducted the review because they were adding alternative therapies to their ‘NHS’ budget, each therapy subject to a thorough investigation. So, whilst here in the UK our access is being limited, the Swiss government has accepted there is enough evidence it works, that enough people want it, and they shouldn’t have to pay for it. What a flippin’ difference. Perhaps we should all move to Switzerland!

Source WDDTY enews May 12

Here’s the campaign detail, all you need to do it like a Facebook page so nothing onerous, but will give a powerful message:

Your access to homeopathic medicines is under threat

Why?

The Medicines Act is being simplified, which is a good thing because much duplication is being removed. However, as a result there are some key elements which could adversely affect your access to homeopathic medicines if the proposals go into force.

What will happen to my access to homeopathic medicines?

If the current proposals by the MHRA are endorsed by government the following would occur:

• You would no longer be able to get homeopathic medicines by phone or online To get any unlicensed homeopathic medicine a face-to-face consultation would be required at a registered pharmacy. Unlicensed medicines number in the thousands and make up the majority of homeopathic prescriptions, while there are only 50 licenced homeopathic medicines. This will also mean you cannot legally buy unlicensed homeopathic medicines online or over the phone as you currently do.
• Homeopaths would not be able to dispense or prescribe medicines to you Homeopathic practitioners would not be able to dispense unlicensed homeopathic medicines to their patients. This arises because homeopaths are not recognised by this law as being supplementary prescribers and it will be illegal for homeopathic pharmacies to supply them with the essential (unlicensed) medicines required for their patients.
• You would have to get your homeopathic medicines personally at a handful of licenced homeopathic pharmacies in Britain Hundreds of thousands of people who currently have prescriptions filled for unlicensed homeopathic medicines will be unable to obtain their urgent medicines. The estimated 6 million users of homeopathy in Britain cannot be expected to be supplied medicines face-to-face by less than five licenced premises. 

The Act is due to be discussed late May/early June, so please help.

If homeopathy has worked for you and/or you want to stop bureaucrats from allowing you access to natural remedies, please like this Homeopathy Worked For Me page on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/HoWFMe

and sign this petition:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Your_Access_to_Homoeopathy_is_Under_Threat/?eNXFaab

Thanks. I note the campaign does involve two homeopathy suppliers who would, of course, stand to benefit, but I think the principle of limiting our choice to alternative medicine is good enough to support, whoever it comes from.

National Vegetarian Week Recipe: Berry Burst Breakfast Bars

I see it is National Vegetarian Week 2012. I also see the society has released some nice recipes. Trouble is, most of them are choc full of the usual wheat and dairy, which you know I don’t like to encourage you to eat!

I did notice this nice breakfast bar recipe though so here it is for you, complete with my notes to help you make it healthier, as always! You can see the original recipe post here.

Berry Burst Breakfast Bars

A tasty solution for those who are always on the move

• Serves 4 (8 small bars)

• Preparation time 5 minutes

• Cooking time 30 minutes (plus 30 minutes cooling time)

• Can be vegan*

Ingredients

50g butter (or vegan margarine*) Ed’s note: use Pure spread, no hydrogenates or trans fats.

3 tbsp sunflower seeds, roughly chopped

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped

3 tbsp sesame seeds, roughly chopped

1 ripe banana, mashed

100g rolled or jumbo oats

50g ground flaxseed

50g dried goji berries or cranberries

3 tbsp golden syrup Ed’s note: agave syrup, which has a lower GL score is much better, or even raw honey is better than this processed rubbish!

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C.
2. Melt the butter (or margarine*) in a small pan, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. 
3. Pack into a small, foil lined loaf tin (approx. 18cm x 10cm) and bake for 25-30 minutes, until crispy on top. Leave to cool for at least ten minutes before removing from the tin. Then wait a further 20 minutes before cutting into eight small bars. Ed’s note: avoid cooking on foil – all that aluminium! – use baking paper or a well-oiled tin instead.

© The Vegetarian Society 2012

Hope you enjoy those and have a nice veggie week. One way to join in would be to make sure you have two vegetarian days this week with no meat or fish. Doing this automatically increases your intake of vegetables so is a good rule for life.

Should Everyone Over 50 Be Given Statins?

Here we go again with the call for statins to be given to more and more people. Poppycock. Especially when you actually see the statistics of how well they work.

I have read a few reports this week on the subject. One of the best was from Dr Briffa. You can read his whole blog post here: Statins For Healthy People? Hang On A Minute… but, for now, here are a couple of salient quotes for you to hammer the point home:

For low risk people: when we look at risk of death from any vascular event (a heart attack or stroke), we find that statins did not reduce risk in individuals deemed to be at low risk (<10 per cent over 5 years). This, by the way, was even true for those who had known vascular disease.

How many ‘vascular events’ (ie, heart attack and stroke) do they prevent?: We’re told by the authors this meta-analysis that treating with statins prevented 11 major vascular events for every 1000 people treated for a period of 5 years. Put another way, 91 people would need to be treated for 5 years to prevent one major vascular event. Or in other words, only about 1 per cent of people treated with statins for 5 years will benefit (and about 99 per cent won’t).

How many deaths would be avoided? the actual reduction in risk of death was 0.2 per cent per year. What this means is that at this level of cholesterol reduction, 500 individuals would need to be treated with statins for a year for one person to have his/her life saved.

NutriLink also came out with some useful stats to put it all in perspective. Look at these, which are based on what is known as the NNT, the numbers needed to treat, an official measure of a drug’s effectiveness:

Statin Drugs given for 5 years for heart disease prevention (without known heart disease)

• 98% saw no benefit 
• 0% were helped by being saved from death 
• 1.6% were helped by preventing a heart attack 
• 0.4% were helped by preventing a stroke 
• 1.5% were harmed by developing diabetes* 
• 10% were harmed by muscle damage

In Other Words:

• None were helped (life saved) 
• 1 in 60 were helped (preventing heart attack) 
• 1 in 268 were helped (preventing stroke) 
• 1 in 67 were harmed (develop diabetes*) 
• 1 in 10 were harmed (muscle damage) 
http://tinyurl.com/7rwpzoh

Statins Given for 5 Years for Heart Disease Prevention (With Known Heart Disease) 
In Summary, for those who took the statin for 5 years:

• 96% saw no benefit 
• 1.2% were helped by being saved from death 
• 2.6% were helped by preventing a repeat heart attack 
• 0.8% were helped by preventing a stroke 
• 0.6% were harmed by developing diabetes*

In Other Words:

• 1 in 83 were helped (life saved) 
• 1 in 39 were helped (preventing non-fatal heart attack) 
• 1 in 125 were helped (preventing stroke) 
• 1 in 167 were harmed (develop diabetes*) 
http://tinyurl.com/7t4bl4a

Note finally Dr Briffa points out that in the ‘conflict of interests statement’ at the end of the study, some of the people involved were paid to attend meetings with Big Pharma so it doesn’t exactly sound unbiased to me.  So, no, I wouldn’t agree they should be given to everybody, much as the drugs manufacturers would like it. Think of the profit they’d make. Puts me in mind of another story this week about giving Ritalin to so many kids, including now 3 year olds. Sigh.

For more on this subject, read here, here and here.

Related articles

• Statins can benefit people with no history of heart disease, study finds (guardian.co.uk)

Can You Do FreeFrom More Cheaply?

Nice blog post with some top tips on cutting the cost of your freefrom wheat and dairy free diet items today from Ruth at What Allergy.

Check it out: Freefrom Foods Can Be Cheap and Cheerful

Thanks Ruth.

On Metformin? Take B12 and Folic Acid

I know quite a few of you who have been offered Metformin for diabetes and PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).

But, if you are on it, did you know that it is quite likely that you will become folic acid and B12 deficient if you are on the drug for more than a year?

Most people think that aside from possible gastrointestinal upset, there are no side effects from taking metformin, and thus you can take it for a very long time. Recent evidence is showing that the longer you take metformin, the more likely it is that you will develop a vitamin B12 deficiency.

The Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil found that one of every three diabetics taking metformin for at least one year had indications of a possible vitamin B12 deficiency.

Long-term use of metformin also causes a decrease in folic acid (a B vitamin), and an increase in homocysteine, which in an undesirable metabolic substance if there is too much of it. [Ed's note: it is one of the main indicators of cardiovascular risk]. Source: PCOS enews, May 12

You can read more about this in the links below: Nervo M et al, Vitamin B12 in metformin-treated diabetic patients: a cross-sectional study in Brazil, Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Mar;93(3):652-62

de Jager et al, Long term treatment with metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes and risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency: randomised placebo controlled trial, BMJ. 2010 May 20;340:c2181

So, two things occur.

The first is to make sure you look after your B12 and folate levels (incidentally, the homocysteine usually rises because of a deficiency of these two crucial B vitamins). A good multi with plenty of B12 and folate is a must. It’s probably easier to take a good multi and then add an extra B Complex.

Second, is there a good natural alternative to metformin?

Well, we do know that a healthy diet and lifestyle can change insulin patterns as much as metformin. But, of course, it is not as easy as taking a pill so many people prefer the drug, despite its side effects.

NAC a Natural Alternative to Metformin

NAC, N-acetyl-cysteine, an amino acid has been shown to be a good natural alternative. Erciyes University in Turkey has reported that NAC was equally effective as metformin for reducing the symptoms of PCOS. 

In this study, 100 women with PCOS were evaluated for six months. One group took 500 mg Metformin 3 times a day. The other group took 600 mg of NAC 3 times a day. And guess what? The researchers reported that there was almost no difference between NAC and metformin. Both groups of women had improvement in testosterone reduction, improvement of hirsutism, insulin normalization, and normalization of cycles. Source PCOS enews.

Note the normalisation of insulin there – just what diabetics as well as PCOS sufferers need, so NAC and changing your diet and lifestyle has to be worth a try before resorting to a drug that depletes you in such important nutrients.