What I’m Reading This Month: Link Between Alzheimer’s and Gut Microbiota, Environmental Toxins Impair Multigenerational Immune Systems, Microbiome and Metabolites Linked to Depression, Unhealthy Foods Diminish Positive Effects of Healthy Diet, Toxic Heavy Metals Found in Baby Food, and Chemicals in Plastics Damage Babies’ Brains
The sheer volume of health, wellness, and medical news and commentary available on the internet can be overwhelming. Every month, get a taste of what integrative medicine leader Dr. John Gannage finds interesting (and digestible) on the web.
Link Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Gut Microbiota Is Confirmed
“Our results are indisputable: certain bacterial products of the intestinal microbiota are correlated with the quantity of amyloid plaques in the brain.”
This discovery paves the way for potentially highly innovative protective strategies – through the administration of a bacterial cocktail, for example, or of pre-biotics to feed the ‘good’ bacteria in our intestine.
Environmental Toxins Impair Immune System Over Multiple Generations
“While other studies have shown that environmental exposure to pollutants can have effects on the reproductive, respiratory, and nervous system function across multiple generations, the new research shows for the first time that the immune system is impacted as well.
This multigenerational weakening of the immune system could help explain variations that are observed during seasonal and pandemic flu episodes. Annual flu vaccines provide some people more protection than others, and during pandemic flu outbreaks some people get severely ill, while others are able to fight off the infection.”
Distinct Microbiome and Metabolites Linked with Depression
“There’s a whole emerging field in nutritional psychiatry right now. Can we target the microbiome through diet, could we alleviate some of the effects of depression?”
Including Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Positive Effects of an Otherwise Healthy Diet
So much for cheat days, which I get asked about often…
“To benefit from diets such as the Mediterranean diet, or MIND diet, we would have to limit our consumption of processed foods and other unhealthy foods such as fried foods and sweets.”
New Report Finds Toxic Heavy Metals in Popular Baby Foods. FDA Failed to Warn Consumers of Risk.
Many of the products made by the country’s largest commercial baby food manufacturers contain significant levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, which can endanger infant neurological development.
Chemicals in Plastics Damage Babies’ Brains and Must Be Banned Immediately, Expert Group Says
“Called ‘everywhere chemicals’ because they are so common, phthalates are added to consumer products to make the plastic more flexible and harder to break.
Phthalates are found in hundreds of auto, home, food and personal care items: food packaging; detergents; vinyl flooring, clothing, furniture and shower curtains; automotive plastics; lubricating oils and adhesives; rain and stain-resistant products; and scores of products including shampoo, soap, hair spray and nail polish, in which they make fragrances last longer.
The report said the strongest associations have been found with hyperactivity, aggression, defiance, emotional reactivity, delinquent behaviors and other signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, after exposure to phthalates.”