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. 

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“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 majority of toddlers and babies eat too much added sugar. A recent study shows that 98% of toddlers and two-thirds of babies are consuming added sugars every day. The American Heart Association recommends that children under the age of 2 not have access to any added sugars. The lead author of the study, Dr. Kirsten Herrick, states that added sugars have negative effects on health, causing cavities, asthma, obesity, elevated blood pressure, and altered lipid profiles. She also states:

 Whether these associations exist for even younger children hasn’t been studied,” she added. “The aim of this study was to focus on one aspect of diet — added sugars [and] consumption among US infants and toddlers — that could inform the dietary guidelines.” 

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Infants in the study of ages 6-11 months were commonly given added sugars from yogurt, baby snacks, and sweet baked goods. Children 12-23 months consumed fruit juice, candy, and sweet baked goods. Yogurt was the greatest source of sugar for infants, and fruit drinks supplied the highest level of added sugars for toddlers. Formula and breastmilk were not counted towards sugar intake.  There was no difference found between gender, family income, or level of household education, but there was a difference in consumption by race. The average infant consumed a teaspoon of added sugars, while toddlers on average consumed 6 teaspoons. Non-Hispanic Asian toddlers were shown to consume the least amount of added sugars with an average of 3.7 teaspoons a day while non-Hispanic black toddlers reported consuming the most added sugars with an average of 8.2 teaspoons a day. 

Overall, sugar consumption among toddlers and infants has dropped the last 5 years. This is a beneficial thing, as sugar consumption at such a young age plays a large role in developing taste buds and eating patterns throughout life. 

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

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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. 

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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

It’s easier to break something than it is to fix it…and the way we take care of ourselves is broken. It’s broken to the point that a new study published in Pediatrics, the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, states that more obese children and young adults should consider weight-loss surgery as a treatment. After doing a followup with patients up to twelve years after weight loss surgery, study authors found that patients’ Body Mass Index (BMI) decreased an average of 29 percent and instances of diabetes and high blood pressure significantly dropped.

Why Weight Loss Surgery?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, obesity affects 13.7 million children between the ages of 2 and 19 in the U.S. Data shows that almost one in five children in the United States is obese. Obesity is the number one chronic illness in U.S. children, and it can lead to serious health problems later in life like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and cancer.

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It’s impossible to attribute the obesity epidemic to one factor, though there are likely culprits. In the United States, portion sizes are out of control. Look no further than fast food, something that more than 1 in 3 Americans eats on a given day. A McDonald’s hamburger in 1955 topped out at 3.7 ounces. Today, a Quarter Pounder Deluxe is 9.2 ounces. Kids are being served more, so they’re eating more.

But at the same time, they’re also eating less. Nearly two-thirds of global calories come from four crops: wheat, corn, soy, and rice. In addition to the lack of diversity, most of those crops end up in highly processed foods. These are the foods that are widely available, from gas stations to grocery stores. Children eating a western diet are eating more highly processed, nutritionally deficient food than they have at any time in the past.

Weight Loss Surgery as an Option

Reducing obesity requires a multi-pronged strategy: get educated, stop eating unhealthy food, and start eating vegetables. But broccoli is not an inherently crave-able food. It’s especially unappealing to a palate used to an endless supply of processed cereals, nuggets, and gummy fruit snacks. Children are not known for their ability to choose long-term benefits over immediate gratification.

From that viewpoint, weight-loss surgery is a viable option for childhood obesity. The most commonly performed weight-loss surgeries performed on children and adolescents are gastric bypass surgery and adjustable gastric band surgery. These surgeries are generally successful, as most estimates find that 80 percent of patients experience an improved quality of life.

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

Widening the Gap

Bariatric surgery can make a difference in the lives of obese children, but it doesn’t address how the child got to that point in the first place. It also ignores the growing portion of the population that cannot afford to pay for a $20,000 surgery. It is likely that the majority of children who would benefit from this surgery are not going to be able to afford it or the maintenance that follows it, yet lower-income kids are more likely to be overweight or obese. According to the CDC, “the prevalence of obesity decreased with increasing level of education of the household head among children and adolescents aged 2-19 years.” The children that can afford weight-loss surgery are less likely to need it because their parents will likely be better informed, they will have better access to education and healthy food, and they will have healthcare coverage. Surgery is one way to lose weight, but it doesn’t address why losing weight was needed in the first place.

Sources:

• More Obese Children Should Get Weight-Loss Surgery, Doctors Say – Live Science
• More severely obese kids should get surgery, MD group says – AP
• Pediatric Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Evidence, Barriers, and Best Practices – Pediatrics
• Childhood Obesity Facts – CDC
• More than 1 in 3 adults eat fast food on a given day, CDC survey finds – USA Today
• Childhood and Adolescent Obesity – ASMBS

The researchers in the Mayo Clinic journal article studied 309 men and women between January 1, 2000, and October 21, 2014, with an average age of just over 46. All had been tested and newly diagnosed with celiac.

Several micronutrients were low in each patient, but a zinc deficiency eclipsed them all. In fact, 59.4% of the patients were found to be zinc deficient, and to varying but lesser degrees, deficiencies in the other nutrients, including copper.

Related: Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases

Zinc is the second most abundant trace mineral in our bodies. We don’t store it so we need to ingest zinc regularly. Zinc is needed for the proper function of more than 100 enzymes in your body. Zinc helps us digest food and synthesize proteins, vitamins, and other minerals.

Our study suggests that the presentation of celiac disease has changed from the classic weight loss, anemia and diarrhea, with increasing numbers of patients diagnosed with nonclassical symptoms. Micronutrient deficiencies remain common in adults, however, and should be assessed.” Assessment should include vitamin D, iron, folic acid, vitamin B12, zinc and copper.

Dr. Bledsoe, the study’s primary author

Zinc deficiency was observed most frequently at diagnosis, the study says, with 59.4% of patients having a deficiency. Other deficiencies included iron, vitamin D, copper, vitamin B12 and folate.

Related: Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Allergies, and Celiac Disease – It’s More Complicated Than You Think

Zinc is absorbed throughout the small intestine. Celiac disease damages the small intestinal. It is also very likely that zinc is needed for gluten digestion. If that’s true, a zinc deficiency would create a negative feedback loop with gluten digestion issues.

Vitamin D, copper, zinc, and iron are imperative for a healthy microbiome. And, gut bacteria play a key role in how we utilize copper, zinc, iron, and B vitamins. Smoking inhibits the uptake of minerals including the aforementioned while it reduces vitamin levels including vitamin D and B vitamins.

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People who smoke alter their gut microbiomes substantially. Studies show smoking causes many vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Tobacco users do not digest food as well, and an inability to properly digest gluten is more likely in someone who smokes.

In my experience, people who are dealing with autoimmune disease cannot digest gluten well. Autoimmune disease is synonymous with an impaired gut microbiome.

Additional Sources:

• Celiac Disease and Nutrient Deficiencies: How Are Your Zinc Levels? – Nourished Health
• Micronutrient deficiencies common at time of celiac disease diagnosis – Science Daily
• Powerful research tool uncovers link between gut microbiota and copper – UCalgary UToday
• Zinc Uptake by Lactic Acid Bacteria – Hindawi