A new study published by the National Academy of Sciences has identified testosterone as one of the reasons men have far fewer incidences of autoimmune disorders. Scientists from the department of microbiology and immunology at Northwestern University looked at mast cells, immune cells that produce histamines in response to allergic reactions. In female mice, mast cells produced pro-inflammatory signaling molecules called cytokines. When exposed to testosterone though, the cytokines sent the opposite message, signaling the immune system to relax. Science has given estrogen the edge when it comes to surviving famine and disease, but this study suggests that testosterone might have more to offer than we previously knew.

Related: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good

Chronic Inflammation and Autoimmune Conditions

Women are three to nine times more likely than men to develop an autoimmune disorder like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, fibromyalgia, and others. This study supports the possibility that out of balance hormones may be more important than we are currently considering. Without the protection of testosterone, a woman’s immune system produced signals calling for inflammation, the reaction to harmful substances. While inflammation is not inherently a bad thing, a constantly triggered immune system and chronic inflammation can lead to serious autoimmune disorders.

Related: How to Cure Lyme Disease and Virtually Any Other Bacterial Infection, Naturally

Consequences

Many women don’t develop an autoimmune disorder, and 20% of the diagnoses of those conditions are for men. It isn’t as simple as testosterone. But we mess with hormones far more than we understand them, and this study it clear that we still don’t fully understand our bodies holistically.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

For example, women develop autoimmune disorders much earlier in life than men. From a hormonal standpoint, this echoes some aspects of conventional hormone management. Women are prescribed regular birth control at an early age, while many men address hormone-centric issues like erectile dysfunction with pharmaceuticals later in life. Do we know what we are doing to ourselves?

Sources:

• Testosterone may protect men from autoimmune diseases – Ars Technica
• Male-specific IL-33 expression regulates sex-dimorphic EAE susceptibility – PNAS
• Women are More Likely to Survive Famine and Disease Epidemics Because They are ‘Hardier’, Study Finds – Independent

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is now a fact of life for up to a quarter of Americans, and a review of all available vitamin D and IBS research found that individuals with IBS were likely to have insufficient levels of vitamin D. This is not the first time that a vitamin d deficiency has been linked to a serious disease, despite the lack of conclusive studies. Research from the University of Sheffield also indicated that vitamin d supplementation could alleviate IBS symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. Dr. Bernard Corfe, one of its lead authors says, “The study provides an insight into the condition and, importantly, a new way to try to manage it…It is evident from the findings that all people with IBS should have their vitamin D levels tested and a large majority of them would benefit from supplements.”

Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D is necessary for absorbing calcium and maintaining bone strength, but the lack of it is also keenly felt. Vitamin d deficiencies have been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, and weight gain in addition to IBS. But vitamin d is a fat-soluble vitamin and at times is stored in the body for months. How do you know when your levels are low? Here are some signs of a deficiency to look out for:

• Muscle weakness and fatigue
• Red or white acne-like bumps on the cheeks, arms, thighs, and butt
• Respiratory problems
• Constant infections
• Depression
• Psoriasis

While these aren’t the only symptoms, they are some of the more subtle ones. If you catch the deficiency in time or know you have one, there are a few ways to fix that.

Get More Vitamin D

When looking to correct a vitamin deficiency, the best place to start is with whole foods. Most of the foods recommended to boost your vitamin d intake are animal-based, including egg yolks, cheese, beef liver, and fatty fish like salmon, tuna, or mackerel. There are a few vegan options, like shitake mushrooms.

There’s also the most obvious source of vitamin d – the sun. There are ways to increase your likelihood of vitamin d absorption from the sun (no sunscreen, for instance), but many locations don’t get enough light during winter months to make the sun a reliable source of vitamin d. That’s especially troubling, as low vitamin d makes people for susceptible to the flu.

This leaves supplementation as the best option for many people. One thing to be careful about? Large amounts of vitamin d for a long time can be toxic.

Simple Things

Medical professionals don’t know what causes IBS, and they don’t know how to treat it. Being aware of your vitamin intake through food, environment or supplementation can make a big difference Vitamin d deficiencies have been linked to major diseases and illnesses. In the face of an increasingly dangerous flu season, now is the time to increase your dose.

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• Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Sources:

• Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked to Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Sports Injuries – Dr. Mercola
• Vitamin D supplements could ease painful IBS symptoms– University of Sheffield
• Vitamin D – The #1 Vitamin You Need: From Treating Depression to Preventing Cancer – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• The Truth About Vitamin D: Why You Need Vitamin D – Web M.D.
• 10 Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms Many Doctors Miss – The Healthy Home Economist

Much has been made of the diseases that will be released once the world’s ice has melted, but scientists have now raised a new concern: mercury. Published in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists found that mercury levels in permafrost soil are twice that of all other soils. An Arctic Council report predicts that 20 percent of the surface permafrost will melt by 2040, and large amounts of mercury will be released. The permafrost studied was taken from Alaska, and study co-author and scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center Kevin Schaefer says,

As permafrost thaws in the future, some portion of this mercury will get released into the environment, with unknown impact to people and our food supplies…”

Mercury Buildup

This mercury is built up from before the last ice age, which will likely have effects we might not have thought of. Mercury exposure and poisoning can lead to mood swings, insomnia, headaches, pain, and tremors, while chronic mercury exposure can lead to the development of serious neurological issues. The neurotoxin has been phased out of objects like thermometers, light bulbs, dental amalgams, and most vaccines, but people are most commonly exposed to mercury through seafood.

Heavy Metals

The timeline for climate change leaves little wiggle room. Yet things like the release of the mercury in the permafrost aren’t necessarily being considered. This study estimates that this is the largest deposit of mercury in the world. Who knows where that will end up?

Some of our best:

• Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Sources:

• The Arctic is Full of Toxic Mercury and Climate Change is Going to Release it – Organic Consumer’s Association
• Permafrost Stores a Globally Significant Amount of Mercury – AGU Publications
• Melting permafrost in the Arctic is unlocking diseases and warping the landscape – Vox

Curcumin, the chemical that gives turmeric its vivid yellow hue, produced significant improvements in mood, memory, and attention for people aged 50 to 90, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Let’s face it – there’s a reason turmeric makes it onto every list of healthy foods ever. The director of geriatric psychiatry at UCLA’s Longevity Center and the study’s first author, Dr. Gary Small, says, “Exactly how curcumin exerts its effects is not certain, but it may be due to its ability to reduce brain inflammation, which has been linked to both Alzheimer’s disease and major depression…”

Related: Increase your IQ with the Right Foods, Herbs, Vitamins

Why Is Turmeric So Awesome?

Curcumin has a multitude of health benefits. The herb is a powerful anti-inflammatory, but it also detoxes the liver, reduces negative effects of iron overload, increases antioxidant capacity in the body, regenerates brain cells and improves cognitive function, lowers heart disease risk, reduces depression, and combats premature aging. Other studies have also found curcumin to be effective in treating cancer, targeting tumor cells while leaving normal cells alone.

Related: How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption – With Golden Milk Tea Recipe

Bioavailability Matters

Curcumin helps the liver, but that organ also keeps the body from absorbing too much of it. With turmeric, the method of delivery is more important than how much of it you take. Just taking a supplement is not as effective as it could be. Luckily, there are a few ways around that.

The easiest way to absorb more curcumin is to eat it with black pepper. An alkaloid in black pepper, piperine, keeps the body from dumping what it believes to be excess curcumin. A small amount of piperine can increase curcumin absorption by 2,000 percent or more. The combination is also ridiculously easy to find or make, especially in curry spice mixes. Piperine and Bioperine are also good things to look for in a curcumin supplement. Look for a product with them to give your body a better chance of absorbing beneficial nutrients.

Related: Turmeric and Diabetes

Also a smart play? Beneficial fats. Curcumin doesn’t dissolve properly without fat. That makes it less likely to be absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed throughout the body. Popular, healthy options include coconut oil, ghee, avocado, and olive oil (though not for cooking at high temperatures).

Worth It

Recommendations to consume curcumin are firmly rooted in science. New studies like this one are readily available and becoming more frequent. But for practical applications, there is nothing like taking a page from traditions.

Related: How To Use Turmeric To Kill Cancer

Turmeric and curry are staples of cuisine in India. It’s regularly consumed with pepper in spice mixes and ghee, a healthy fat that lowers the risk of heart disease. Perhaps it is no surprise that older people in India have lower levels of Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline.

Sources:

• Curcumin improves memory and mood, new study says – University of California
• How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption – With Golden Milk Tea Recipe – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• Curcumin and Cancer Cells: How Many Ways Can Curry Kill Tumor Cells Selectively? – NCBI

Trader Joe’s announced last week that it will change the receipt paper used to one without bisphenol A (BPA) and Bisphenol S (BPS), two well known endocrine disruptors. Both of these chemicals can be absorbed through the skin, and this decision from Trader Joe’s is in response to the publication of the results of a recent study from Michigan-based Ecology Center that found that 93% of all receipts tested contained BPA or BPS. While Trader Joe’s still sells canned goods with BPA or BPS linings, the company has committed to eliminating it from all store receipts, writing, “Some years back—when concerns related to the use of BPA were starting to build, we evaluated where and how it was being used within our operation and identified steps to take…As our understanding evolves, so too does our work. We are now pursuing receipt paper that is free of phenol chemicals (including BPA and BPS), which we will be rolling out to all stores as soon as possible.”

BPA and BPS are Bad News

BPA and BPS disrupt the endocrine system, leading to issues like diabetes, obesity and fertility problems. BPA, in particular, has been linked to an increased risk of neurological disorders in young children. In 2012, the FDA banned BPA in baby bottles, formula packaging, and children’s cups due to these issues. Other potential health issues from ingesting or absorbing BPA and BPS include breast cancer, brain disease, and heart disease.

How to Find and Avoid BPA and BPS

BPA and BPS are widely found in receipts, some reusable water bottles, luggage tags, and linings for plastic and metal cans. It’s easier to identify BPA-free items, as they are frequently labeled. BPS is less commonly labeled and is a frequent replace of BPA.

Many people suggest looking at the number of the recycling symbol to identify which plastics contain BPA. 4 and 5 seem to be generally regarded as safe for limited use, and there is a debate as to whether 1 or 2 are also safe. But that’s splitting hairs, as all plastics leach into their contents given enough time.

The best way to limit your exposure to BPA and BPS is to choose alternative materials – glass, ceramic, and cardboard. This can actually help you in other ways, as avoiding food in plastic packaging is better for you anyway. Wash your hands after handling any receipts, or ask the cashier to toss it for you.

Recommended Reading:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Sources:

• What Trader Joe’s Will Do About The Chemicals On Your Receipts – Forbes
• BPA – Sierra Club
• How BPA May Disrupt Brain Development – Time
• How can I tell what type of plastic something is made of, and if that plastic is safe? – Life Without Plastic

Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that supermarket chickens have a higher proportion of Campylobacter bacteria than they did ten years ago. Drug-resistant Campylobacter is a major cause of concern for health officials, with more than 300,000 infections a year in the U.S. causing symptoms like diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and temporary paralysis. The elevated levels of this pathogen in supermarket protein confirm what scientists and medical professionals have increasingly been saying – treating food animals for long periods with antibiotics intended for human use has caused a major health crisis.

Dangerous Practices

If we are unable to find an answer to antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the World Health Organization predicts that they will kill more people than cancer does by the year 2050. Even major pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer are beginning to recognize the severity of this issue, removing or adjusting sales incentives related to the sale of antibiotics. Yet British and European authorities still allow chickens to be treated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics, that have been restricted by the FDA for human use.

The Tipping Point

Pharmaceuticals have been slow to develop new antibiotics, and farmers continue to use medication intended for human use on their food animals. At some point, something will need to change. So what can you do right now?

The easiest and most obvious way to protect yourself is to avoid antibiotics, through what you consume and the medications you take. Conventionally raised meat and dairy are a key factor in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and should be avoided.  While antibiotics may be necessary in some cases, they are prescribed far too often in the modern medical system. Fortifying your immune system decreases the likelihood of catching a bug that would need antibiotic treatment.

Sources:

• Chickens From British Supermarket Show Record Levels of Antibiotic Superbugs – Collective Evolution
• Biggest Threats – CDC.gov
• Be Warned: FDA Issues New Stronger Warnings About Risks of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics – Collective Evolution
• Four companies move to decouple antibiotic sales volumes from sales agents’ bonuses – Access to Medicine Foundation

More people want to consume meat in a more humane or ethical way, and grass-fed beef has been a large part of that equation. The grass-fed beef market is on the verge of a crisis though, as the levels of protein in the grass for grazing have decreased by 20 percent over the last twenty-five years. Jonah Ventures of Boulder, CO analyzed 50,000 cow pies from Texas and found that the nutritional content of the grass is down, leading to smaller cattle. According to Joe Craine, the co-owner and a researcher at Jonah Ventures, “If we were still back at the forage quality that we would’ve had 25 years ago, no less 100 years ago, our animals would be gaining a lot more weight…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKhFDYLDWw

Two Likely Reasons

Researchers haven’t pinpointed the exact reason for the declining nutritional content of grass, but there are two likely suspects. Grass-fed, grain-finished cattle are moved from the prairie to a feedlot for the last 90 to 160 days of their lives. This move takes away cow pies, the best means of returning valuable nutrients back to the soil.

Another reason for the decline of nutritious? The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is causing plants to grow larger, more quickly with the same nutrient content. According to Irakli Loladze, a mathematician studying the effect of CO2 on pants for 15 years, “Every leaf and every grass blade on earth makes more and more sugars as CO2 levels keep rising…We are witnessing the greatest injection of carbohydrates into the biosphere in human history―[an] injection that dilutes other nutrients in our food supply.”

It All Begins With Food

There aren’t many people talking about what happens when our food is no longer able to sustain us. As many beef farmers are now finding out, that time is fast approaching. It doesn’t really matter why the grass is no longer as nutritious. The most important thing here is that it’s happening to the cows, and it will happen to us.

Recommended Reading:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Source:

• Soaring Popularity Of Grass-Fed Beef May Hit Roadblock: Less Nutritious Grass – NPR
• Grass-fed beef is threatened by nutritionally-deficient grass – TreeHugger
• Climate Change Causing Less Nutrition, More Sugar In Our food – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• A Look At The Grain-Finished Vs. Grass-Finished Beef Debate – Grill Beast