Are Dan Buettner’s “Blue Zone” Longevity Hot Spots Legit?

Posted on October 21, 2024 | Comments Off on Are Dan Buettner’s “Blue Zone” Longevity Hot Spots Legit?
Photo courtesy of USAID SEA. Original public domain image from Flickr

Not according to this analysis. For more info on the Blue Zones, see my review of Buettner’s book.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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What’s Really Happening in Gaza?

Posted on October 14, 2024 | Comments Off on What’s Really Happening in Gaza?

Is this documentary the truth or propaganda? You decide. Just don’t ignore this issue, which could lead to WW3. Most of the mainstream media coverage in the U.S. slants it in Israel’s favor. This is the other side.

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Ultra-Processed Foods: Not So Bad After All?

Posted on October 14, 2024 | Comments Off on Ultra-Processed Foods: Not So Bad After All?
“Free cheesecake covered berries image“/ CC0 1.0

We’ve heard or suspected for years that whole foods are healthier for us than processed and ultra-processed foods. But is it true?

The British Medical Journal earlier this year published a study concluding that:

…a higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with slightly higher all cause mortality, driven by causes other than cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The associations varied across subgroups of ultra-processed foods, with meat/poultry/seafood based ready-to-eat products showing particularly strong associations with mortality.

You can read the study for yourself free online. Did Big Food (e.g., Archer Daniels Midland, Con-Agra, Monsanto) exert any pressure on the researchers. I dunno.

From the Intro:

Ultra-processed foods are ready-to-eat/heat industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods, including flavors, colors, texturizers, and other additives, with little if any intact whole food.1Ultra-processed foods, which are typically of low nutritional quality and high energy density, have been dominating the food supply of high income countries, and their consumption is markedly increasing in middle income countries.2 Ultra-processed food consumption accounts for 57% of daily energy intake among adults and 67% among youths in the US according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).34

Ultra-processed foods usually disproportionately contribute added sugars, sodium, saturated fats and trans fats, and refined carbohydrates to the diet together with low fiber.56 As well as having low nutritional quality, ultra-processed foods may contain harmful substances, such as additives and contaminants formed during the processing.

Neurologist Steven Novella wrote a brief post about this study over at Science-Based Medicine. You may also find the comment section there enlightening.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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International Sanctions: What’s their Effect on Average Russians?

Posted on October 2, 2024 | Comments Off on International Sanctions: What’s their Effect on Average Russians?

Not much. “Eli From Russia” will fill you in. Truth or “Russian propaganda”? You decide.

U.S. citizens can still visit Russia (at least until WW3 starts) but Eli warns that your Visa or Mastercard is worthless there, I guess due to sanctions. There are ways around that obstacle, including opening a Russian or Georgian bank account when you arrive. No Uber there, but a similar service is called Yandex Go.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden Explains Why She Doesn’t Fear Death

Posted on October 1, 2024 | Comments Off on Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden Explains Why She Doesn’t Fear Death

Julie has a YouTube channel about hospice nursing, death, and dying.

But if you want to live as long and healthy as possible, consider the Mediterranean diet!

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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That’s Just Great: Harmful Chemicals Contaminate Fruits and Vegetables

Posted on September 23, 2024 | Comments Off on That’s Just Great: Harmful Chemicals Contaminate Fruits and Vegetables
“Strawberry Food” by Suzy Hazelwood/ CC0 1.0

Fruits and veggies are good for us, right. We should eat more more of them, right?

UK’s Daily Mail published a worrisome article about pesticide residues (PFAS) on many fruits and veggies: strawberries, grapes, cherries, spinach, tomatoes, peaches/nectarines, etc. The tested foods were from UK supermarkets but I bet the numbers are just as bad or worse in the U.S. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These man-made and long-lasting chemicals are implicated in causation of cancer, immunity impairment, infertility, impaired kidney function, thyroid disease, and low birth weight.

Thrice in the last six months I’ve heard that compared to the European Union, U.S. regulators allow many more chemical contaminants in food. That sounds like a deep and circuitous rabbit hole that I’m not ready to explore. Please mention in the comments an authoritative book or website on the subject.

I’ve been trying to grow food here in the Sonoran Desert for the last three years. I’m about ready to give up. My primary pests have been mealy bugs, caterpillars, mice, pack rats, and squirrels.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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War Pigs Salivating as Middle East Heats Up

Posted on September 23, 2024 | Comments Off on War Pigs Salivating as Middle East Heats Up

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COVID-19: Metformin May Help Fight It

Posted on September 2, 2024 | Comments Off on COVID-19: Metformin May Help Fight It

If memory serves, when I started my medical career we only had three classes of drugs for treating diabetes: insulin, sulfonylureas, and metformin. We have so many options now, that I have lost track. From Everyday Health earlier this year:

Metformin, a decades-old generic drug for type 2 diabetes, may also help treat COVID-19, a new study suggests.

Scientists at the University of Minnesota randomly assigned more than 1,300 adults with COVID-19 to take metformin or a placebo pill. All of the participants took nasal swab tests for viral levels after 1, 5, and 10 days. 

artist's rendition of coronavirus
Artist’s rendition of Coronavirus

Lab tests showed that metformin significantly reduced the amount of COVID-19 virus circulating in the body and also decreased the odds that virus levels would rebound after an initial reduction during treatment, according to study results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Among the key research results:

  • On average, metformin reduced the amount of virus in the body almost 4 times more than the placebo pill.
  • People taking metformin were 28 percent more likely to have undetectable levels of the virus in their body at either day 5 or day 10 of the study.
  • Participants on metformin were 32 percent less likely to experience what’s known as rebound — when levels of the virus initially decrease but then become higher again. 

***

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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Anna Lee Explains How Koreans Stay Slim

Posted on August 28, 2024 | Comments Off on Anna Lee Explains How Koreans Stay Slim

…..South Koreans, specifically. Korea has one of the lowest overweight/obesity rates among OECD countries: 33.7%. Life expectancy at birth is 83.4 years, compared to 80.9 in the U.S., 82.2 in UK, 82 in Ireland, and 72.3 in Russia. Anna Lee in the video below postulates why the Korean numbers look so good. She makes a lot of sense. Female Kpop idols are under great pressure to be more slender than average.

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Posted in Overweight & Obesity

Covid-19: Moderna Vax Not as Safe as Pfizer

Posted on August 23, 2024 | Comments Off on Covid-19: Moderna Vax Not as Safe as Pfizer

…..according to a report by Steve Kirsch based on data from Czech Republic. I had my choice of either of the products. I chose Pfizer because it was about a third of the “dose” compared to Moderna. I was much more concerned about adverse effects than efficacy.

Official government record-level data obtained through a FOIA request from the Czech Republic shows that the Moderna COVID vaccine increased all-cause-mortality (ACM) as measured over a 12-month period from the time of vaccination for every age as compared to the Pfizer vaccine. 

If the COVID vaccines were safe, the overall ACM across different vaccine brands would be very similar.

This is not the case. They are radically different and the difference is highly statistically significant. 

For example, for ages 46-69 who got two shots of Moderna vs. two shots of Pfizer in 2021 in the Czech Republic, there is over a 50% higher risk of death measured over a 1 year time window since the time of the shot as shown in the chart above. 

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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