Alcohol guidelines in Australia have been updated for the first time since 2009, and it’s no longer considered safe to drink 2 standard alcoholic drinks a day. Telling adults how much alcohol to drink or not drink has the potential to blow up in your face, but the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, the Australian equivalent of the U.S.’s National Institutes of Health) has ruled that reducing alcohol intake from 2 to 1.4 drinks a day can decrease instances of alcohol-related harm and improve quality of life. Anne Kelso, the chief executive of the NHMRC, observes…

We’re providing advice about the health risks from drinking alcohol so that we can all make informed decisions in our daily lives – for ourselves and for our children,” she said.

It’s 10 years since our last review of the guidelines and we now know more about the effects of alcohol. We know that alcohol continues to have significant direct health consequences for many Australians.”

Too High

A standard drink in Australia is 10 grams of alcohol (roughly .35 ounces). A bottle of wine contains 7 standard drinks, and under the previously recommended Australian guidelines, one could drink safely drink two bottles of wine a week. A Danish study from 2008 suggested that people drinking that much wine were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who did not drink at all. The study also measured participants’ levels of physical activity, cautioning that the benefits of alcohol were best achieved with regular exercise.

Recommended: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut 

More recent research contradicts those findings, though. Britain lowered it’s recommended safe levels of alcohol in 2016 to the equivalent of seven glasses of wine a week. Two years later, a Cambridge University study found that more than five glasses of wine was dangerous. The 2018 study linked drinking 10 or more drinks a week to reduced life expectancy, a higher risk of stroke, heart failure, fatal aneurysms, and fatal hypertensive disease.

Can’t Come Down

No one disagrees with the toxicity of alcohol in large quantities. But as a species, we like alcohol. We like the way it makes us feel. There is a long, storied history between humans and alcohol. But we also have trouble knowing when we’ve had too much. Is the Australian government babying their public? Or is reducing the recommended daily amount of alcoholic drinks from 2 to 1.4 enough to combat the negative effects of alcohol?

Sources:

• Two Standard Alcoholic Drinks a Day No Longer Safe, Health Officials Say – The Guardian
• What is a Standard Drink – Alcohol and Drug Foundation
• Drinking more than five glasses of wine a week ‘could knock years off life – The Telegraph

In a recent report released by World Animal Protection (WAP) entitled U.S. Pork and the Superbug Crises, 80 percent of the samples tested from Walmart Stores in the Mid-Atlantic region contained bacteria resistant to at least one antibiotic. On the samples that tested positive for antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria, 37 percent exhibited resistance to at least three classes of antibiotics. More than a quarter of AR bacteria found on Walmart pork was resistant to Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials (HPCIA), the treatments the World Health Organization (WHO) has determined to be the most essential for human medicine. WAP concludes their report…

This retail pork testing revealed the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on pork products. The findings complement strong existing research on how excessive antibiotics use on farms is creating the conditions for superbugs to thrive, and the opportunities for transmission to the food chain.”

Sad Walmart

Researchers began with a total of 160 pork samples, 80 of them purchased from a number of different Mid-Atlantic Walmart locations and 80 from a competing national retailer. After dividing samples into 32 batches and testing them at a Texas Tech University Laboratory, they found Enterococcus in 27 batches, E. coli in 14 batches, Salmonella in six batches, and Listeria in four batches. 41 of those 51 bacteria were resistant to at least one class of a medically important antibiotic. 21 were multi-drug resistant (resistant to three or more classes), and three bacteria were resistant to six classes of antibiotics.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

Samples of Walmart pork were more likely to test positive for two or more bacteria in a batch than the other national retailer. All of the batches that had three or more bacteria were obtained from Walmart. All of the seven strains of bacteria displaying resistance to the WHO’s highest priority antimicrobials were found on Walmart pork samples. We reached out to Walmart in regards to this report. According to Blair Cromwell, a senior manager for Global Responsibility Communications at Walmart’s Corporate Affairs,

We don’t agree with their findings. To my knowledge, we really don’t have a record of them reaching out to us.

The company also released an official statement in regards to their Swine Assurance Program.

“Walmart and Sam’s Club are committed to providing our customers with access to safe, affordable, and sustainable food as well as promoting the humane treatment of animals.  We only accept fresh pork from animals raised under the standards of the National Pork Board’s (NPB’s) Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus Program.

Click to show full satement

We value our relationships with US pork producers who are dedicated to providing the highest in quality and safety through practices that promote animal well-being. Our priority is to advance humane treatment of farm animals in accordance with 5 Freedoms of Animal Welfare.

The goal of our Swine Assurance Program is to build more transparency and confidence in the fresh pork supply chain, and in the pork industry overall, through our tracking and audit program. We can report that by the end of 2018, based on supplier reports, 100% of our fresh pork suppliers have implemented video monitoring in a manner that is estimated to cover the volume supplied to Walmart U.S.

Additionally, as the world’s largest grocer, we are committed to playing a leading role in upholding food safety laws and regulations applicable to our global businesses, and to providing access to safe, high-quality foods. To reduce food-safety-related risk in our supply chain, we require all private-brand suppliers and select categories of national-brand suppliers to achieve certification to one of the Global Food Safety Initiative’s internationally recognized food safety standards, which often exceed applicable regulatory requirements.

Through regular independent, third-party food safety audits of our stores and clubs that prepare fresh food, we assess adherence to Walmart food safety standards, processes, conditions and expected behaviors. These risk-based audits help us receive independent assurances that our stores are operating in a safe and legal manner. In FY2019, we conducted more than 140,000 independent food safety audits at our stores and clubs globally.

Sad Hogs

Pigs destined for the American supermarket are not treated well. Sows spend their frequent pregnancies confined to small gestation crates, piglets often have their tails docked, ears notched, and teeth removed without anesthesia, and unsanitary living conditions leave factory-farmed pigs susceptible to a wide range of infections. These are among the reasons that factory-farmed pigs in the U.S. are given almost as many antibiotics as people (27.1 percent for pigs, 27.6 for people). The 75 million factory-farmed pigs consume the same amount of antibiotics as 375 million people.

Related: Stop Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

Sad Truths

This is not a new problem. Sulfonamides, the first effective antimicrobials, were introduced in 1937, and resistance to that treatment was reported before the end of that same decade. This problem has been happening since the beginning of antimicrobials. Yet here we are, repeating the same process over again.

Depending on your sources, 70 to more than 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are destined for food animals. The flagrant use of these drugs has been a huge factor in the development of AR bacteria and the resulting health crises the world faces. If something doesn’t change, these microbes will kill an additional 10 million people a year by 2050. We are perilously close to being out of time.

Sources:

• U.S. pork and the superbug crisis: how higher welfare farming is better for pigs and people – World Animal Protection
• Walmart pork contained bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, report says – Food Dive
• Factory Farmed Pigs – National Humane Education Society
• Report: US pigs consume nearly as many antibiotics as people do – CIDRAP
• Origins and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance – NCBI

A recent study done by an international research team led by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore finds that microorganisms in the gut may alter the aging process. With research like this, the goal is to eventually be leading to food-based treatment to slow it down. Over the last 20 years research has already shown the important role the microbial species are playing in our nutrition, physiology, metabolism, and behavior. The study was conducted using mice. The medical team transplanted gut microbes from 24-month-old mice to germ-free 6-week old mice. After just 8 weeks the young mice showed production of neurogenesis (Neurons in the brain) and increased intestinal growth.

Professor Brian Kennedy, director of the Centre for Healthy aging at the National University of Singapore, who provided an independent view, said, “It is intriguing that the microbiome of an aged animal can promote youthful phenotypes in a young recipient. This suggests that the microbiota with aging have been modified to compensate for the accumulating deficits of the host and leads to the question of whether the microbiome from a young animal would have greater or less effects on a young host. The findings move forward our understanding of the relationship between the microbiome and its host during aging and set the stage for the development of microbiome-related interventions to promote healthy longevity.”

Bacteria in the gut may alter aging process

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

The increased neurogenesis was caused by an enrichment of gut microbes that produce a specific short-chain fatty acid (Butyrate). Butyrate is produced through microbial fermentation of dietary fibers in the lower intestinal tract and stimulates the productivity of a pro-longevity hormone called FGF2, which contributes to regulating the body’s metabolism, While we age butyrate is decreased. It was found that microbes collected from old mice had the ability to support neural growth in younger mice. These results can lead to conducting research into rather or now Butyrate might be able to help repair and rebuild in case of stroke and spinal damage. 

A recent study has shown how the sun can help improve gut health. A study was conducted with 21 women who spent the winter in Canada, and as a result, were vitamin D insufficient. At the beginning of the study, researchers took stool samples and blood samples, in order to test the gut microbiome diversity, and Vitamin D levels, respectively. Research has already shown that UVB exposure can trigger gut microbiome changes in rodents. Prior to the start of the study twelve out of the 21 women were taking vitamin D supplements before the study, according to their samples, had higher levels of Vitamin D and more Gut diversity than those who did not take Vitamin D supplements regularly. At the end of the study, the results showed that short exposure to NB-UVB light did increase vitamin D and added diversity to the gut microbiome. 

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

“Prior to UVB exposure, these women had a less diverse and balanced gut microbiome than those taking regular vitamin D supplements. UVB exposure boosted the richness and evenness of their microbiome to levels indistinguishable from the supplemented group, whose microbiome was not significantly changed.”

Nearly 70% of Americans suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, and 80% of the body’s Vitamin D requirement is met through skin exposure to UVB light. Vitamin D is technically not a vitamin however it is crucial for important processes in the body. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble hormone your body makes when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D is known as the Sunshine Vitamin because the skin produces Vitamin D when exposed to certain wavelengths found in phototherapy modulating cell It is not found in many whole foods but is added to some processed food and is available in supplement form. Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because the skin produces vitamin D when exposed to certain wavelengths in phototherapy and is optimal for modulating cell growth, optimizing neuromuscular and immune functions and helping the gut absorb calcium. However, Chronic Vitamin D deficiency is associated with Bone diseases, and low levels of vitamin D, (but not necessarily chronically deficient) can cause Accelerating aging, high blood pressure, behavioral problems in adolescents, and elevated leptin levels. 

Related: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have released their second Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States report, and antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria are here to stay. According to the report, more than 2.8 million AR infections occur and 35,000 people die every year. Those numbers have increased from the first report in 2013, where conservative estimates tallied 2 million cases of AR infections and at least 23,000 deaths. Robert R. Redfield, M.D., Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasized the seriousness of the report’s findings…

Antibiotic resistance has been found in every U.S. state and in every country across the globe. There is no safe place from antibiotic resistance, but everyone can take action against it. Take action where you can, from handwashing to improving antibiotic use.”

Awareness is Key

Though the number of deaths from AR bacteria has risen since 2013, the overall percentage of deaths has gone down by eighteen percent. Yet AR bacteria were the cause of more than 85 percent of total deaths calculated in this report. The CDC listed 18 bacteria to monitor, with five designated as urgent threats: Candida Auris, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Clostridioides difficile.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

A Brand New Day

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are no longer the bad guy in a science fiction film. They are an everyday fact of life.

The Threat Report has strategies for stopping antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but that’s no longer possible. Past experience will show that no amount of scrubbing, regardless of who’s cleaning and what they’re using, will be able to completely eliminate bacteria. Much of the difficulties we are now dealing with come from institutional failures, where the medical and agricultural fields chose antibiotic shortcuts over building a microbially healthy world. That has created bacteria on a scale that we are no longer able to easily contain. The bubble is gone.

Related: How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials

Sources:

• The ‘post-antibiotic era’ is here: Drug-resistant superbugs sicken 2.8M and kill 35K each year – USA Today
• Antibiotic Resistant Threats in the United States 2019 – CDC
• More People in the United States Dying from Antibiotic-Resistant Infections than Previously Estimated – CDC

A new study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that copper hospital beds in the ICU housed 95 percent fewer bacteria than standard hospital beds. The copper beds also maintained their low levels of microbial activity for the patient’s entire stay in the hospital. Dr. Michael G. Schmidt is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston and one of the co-authors of the study.

The findings indicate that antimicrobial copper beds can assist infection control practitioners in their quest to keep healthcare surfaces hygienic between regular cleanings, thereby reducing the potential risk of transmitting bacteria associated with healthcare associated infections…”

American Society of Microbiology

Recommended: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut

Copper is anti-microbial, yet the idea to use the chemical to stop the spread of bacteria is even more timely considering the rise of antibiotic-resistant strains.

Stop the Spread of Bacteria

If the healthcare system changes nothing about the way it treats bacterial and microbial infections, 10 million people a year will die from antibiotic-resistant bacteria by the year 2050. As healthcare professionals prescribe increasing stronger antibiotics (including the “antibiotics of last resort”), bacteria are evolving to withstand those treatments. Some, like the multi-drug resistant Enterococcus faecium, have also developed an alcohol tolerance, rendering traditional hospital cleaning methods ineffective.

Copper can help with that. Copper ions are negatively charged. When those particles interact with microbes, the negative charge of the ions disrupt cell membranes and allow necessary nutrients to leak out, weakening and often destroying the microbe.

A Simple Solution

Copper has the potential to be a valuable tool in the current crises to treat infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Our current system won’t be able to continue as it is, and the more common-sense solutions we can find, the better. Copper’s antimicrobial properties are common knowledge, and we already have the materials. Eighty-six percent of the copper earmarked for consumer products ends up in pennies. How about we use some sense (terrible, I know), and put that resource towards something more meaningful?

Sources:

• Copper Hospital Beds Kill Bacteria, Save Lives – American Society for Microbiology
• Copper hospital beds kill bacteria, save lives, study finds – Atlanta Journal Constitution
• WHO Says the World Will Run Out of Antibiotics Able to Treat Bacteria Superbugs – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• Copper is great at killing superbugs – so why don’t hospitals use it? – The Conversation
• How Much Does it Really Cost (the Planet) to Make a Penny? – Smithsonian Magazine

Ten people were hospitalized on Wednesday in Bartlesville, Oklahoma after being given insulin instead of the flu shot. Out of the 10 people who were given insulin 8 were residents of Jacquelyn House, an assisted living environment for those with intellectual disabilities. The other 2 were employees of Jacquelyn House. The insulin was given by a pharmacist who was contracted by the business to come to the facility and administer flu vaccines. 

Recommended: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut 

The patients given the insulin were unresponsive, and many of them were not vocal or able to walk, making it difficult to communicate the symptoms they were experiencing. High levels of insulin can cause dizziness or result in passing out, and in severe cases can cause comas or death. The patients were later taken to Jane Phillips Hospital in Bartlesville where some remained hospitalized for an extended period of time due to the type of long-lasting insulin that was administered. 

Related: Influenza Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness of the Flu Shot