Advanced Mediterranean Diet

…according to an article at Business Insider:

“Go Mediterranean.

As if you needed more excuses to eat as if you live on the Mediterranean (olive oil, pasta, hummus, tomato, and cucumber salad — what’s not to love?), studies have shown that a so-called Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk of heart disease and provide some potential memory-related benefits. And a recent study also found a link between the eating plan and a lower risk of breast cancer in older women.

According to Sasson, there may be an overlooked element of the Mediterranean diet: It may not be so much about what the people who live around the Mediterranean Sea are eating, but rather about what they’re not eating, such as oversize portions and heavily processed food.”

Source: Science-backed diet tips and habits to lose weight – Business Insider

An incredible report from The Onion:

“In what doctors are calling a true medical miracle, local construction worker Kal Mathyssen awoke from a week-long coma early Wednesday with the ability to fully comprehend his health insurance plan, sources at Parker Adventist Hospital confirmed.

Mathyssen, who sustained a severe head injury after a fall at a nearby job site, reportedly stunned hospital staff and family members when he suddenly regained consciousness around 1 a.m. and began confidently filling out all the paperwork required by managed care company Aetna to receive the benefits guaranteed by his insurance policy.”

Source: Man Wakes From Coma With Ability To Understand Health Insurance Policy

“Cardiac event” typically means a heart attack, heart-related death, angina (chest pain related to the heart), or needing bypass surgery or angioplasty.

From Dr. Anthony Pearson:

“Since we know that Hillary Clinton recently had a calcium scan with a score of zero, we can estimate that Trump’s risk of having a heart attack or dying from a cardiac event is markedly  higher than Clinton’s.

Clinton, born October 26, 1947 is 68 years old and we can enter her calcium score into the MESA calcium calculator to see how she compares to other women her age. A  coronary calcium score of 6 is at the 50th percentile for this group.Interestingly, Trump’s score of 98 at age 67 years was exactly at the 50th percentile. In other words half of all white men age 67 years are below 98 and half are above 98, creeping into the moderately high risk  category.

So, based on his coronary calcium score from 2013, Donald Trump has a  moderate build up of atherosclerotic plaque in his coronary arteries and is at a seven-fold higher risk of a cardiac event compared to Hilary Clinton.”

Source: The Skeptical Cardiologist | Unbiased, evidence-based discussion of the effects of diet, drugs, and procedures on heart disease

Guess we better take a closer look at Trump’s VP pick.

Dr. Pearson calls Dr. Mehmet Oz a “celebrity medical charlatan,” so he’s not stupid.

Forbes has the details. A snippet:

“The alkaloids [in kratom] have been known for over a decade to possess some modest opioid [narcotic] actions, but their potential benefit for patients with chronic pain and substance dependence was overlooked in the notice of intent to place the botanical chemicals in the same class as heroin, LSD and mescaline.

Meanwhile today, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent a two-page letter to DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg calling for the agency to delay this scheduling order. The senators objected to the emergency, temporary scheduling order that could be enacted within 30 days without “a robust process of stakeholder input and discussion of medical, public safety and scientific considerations.”

In the intervening 30 days, kratom advocates and researchers have voiced concern that the botanical dietary supplement does indeed have legitimate medical uses, although not as an FDA-approved botanical drug. Most vocal on the scientific side have been researchers at Columbia University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The teams have independently and collaboratively published two papers on kratom-derived chemicals and their potentially beneficial constellation of complex actions on human opioid receptors.”

Source: DEA Delays Kratom Ban, More Senators Object To Process And ‘Unintended Consequences’

BTW, I’ve never taken kratom and don’t know anybody who has. I don’t have a dog in this particular fight, but I generally object to politicians and bureaucrats interfering with personal liberty when it’s not justified.

Have you heard about how our gut bacteria affect our health? Want to learn more?

Lucy, Ph.D., wrote a good summary article for those who are a little smarter than the average bear. You may find this particularly pertinent if you have irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, or a mood disorder. A snippet:

“The health benefits provided by the gut microbiota include preventing disease causing bacteria, breaking down toxic compounds, shaping the immune system, providing nutrients, the synthesis of vitamins, particularly vitamin B and K and the production of important metabolites. Metabolites are the intermediates or end products of metabolism. The metabolites produced by the microbes in the gut make up one third of all the metabolites found in the human blood and these compounds have some very important functions. Short-chain fatty acids are the main metabolic end products produced by the gut microbiota.”

Source: What does it mean to have a ‘healthy gut?’ | I can’t believe that’s healthy