Caustic Commentary, Fall 2016

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THEY ARE ALL SAFE
An interesting study on cod liver oil has come to our attention. In the double-blinded randomized controlled study, subjects were given capsules containing highly oxidized cod liver oil, cod liver oil with low oxidation, or sunflower oil. The results showed no significant differences in blood markers of oxidation products between the three groups, nor any significant difference between these markers at the beginning and the end of the study (Atherosclerosis Supplements 2011;12(1):13-184). These results confirm what we have been saying, that taking small amounts of any type of cod liver oil, even highly oxidized cod liver oil, is safe. One explanation for these results is the fact that cod liver oil provides highly protective vitamin A.

PREVENTING MALARIA
The UK’s Department for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend more than four billion dollars over five years from 2016 in an effort to end deaths caused by malaria. Current eradication efforts include toxic spraying for mosquitos and expensive medications that can have serious side effects. But what if an effective preventive measure for malaria has existed all along—before highly-educated scientists tried to solve the problem without considering native wisdom? In Djbouti, the natives brew a partially lacto-fermented, partially alcoholic beverage from palm sap. “It is very nutritious, even for children,” explains camel guide Houssain Mohamed Houssain. “You can put it in their sorghum cereal. It’s full of vitamins. That way, they don’t get malaria. The mosquitos bite them, but they don’t get the disease” (tinyurl.com/zsl9nhn). It’s likely that the beneficial bacteria and high levels of B vitamins and vitamin C in palm wine provide significant protection. Certainly, fat-soluble vitamins from foods like insects and camel liver also play a role. What an easy solution to the scourge of malaria! Just encourage native peoples to consume the traditional foods of their ancestors—but of course there is no money in that.

THE FITTEST SENIOR
Charles Eugster currently holds several UK sprinting records, coming close to a world record for the sixty-meter sprint in a recent race. He’s also a body builder, public speaker, writer, rower, wakeboarder, entrepreneur and a budding fashion designer, planning his own line in elderly couture. He is ninety-six years old. In an interview with vice.com, Mr. Eugster credits his vigor partly to his exercise regime, and partly to his diet. “I avoid sugar and eat lots of meat, especially fat. I’ve been on a fat trip lately. Fat! Piles of fat.” Eugster is perplexed by the idea of yogurt with zero fat. “Humans are so unbelievably stupid that we have begun to tinker with food. Our theories of nutrition have resulted in a pandemic of obesity. Can you imagine a hunter-gatherer enjoying a lowfat yogurt” (tinyurl.com/j4babdp)? Interestingly, articles about Eugster at today.com and the BBC News do not mention his high-fat diet.

THIRD WORLD DIET
The USDA dietary guidelines basically promote a Third World diet, with a lot of carbs and little meat, milk or eggs. The people in Zambia eat a Third World diet—more so with every passing year. Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations show a decrease in per capita consumption of animal foods and an increase in starchy roots, primarily cassava. According to an article published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, such a diet is “vitamin and mineral-deficient [and] leads to stunted growth and slowed brain development, shortened life expectancy, increased rates of infant mortality, vulnerability to disease and illness, and inability of mothers to nurse.” Reseachers in Zambia compared four different diets with the same number of calories. The first added eighteen ounces of whole cow milk each day to the baseline diet; the second added sixty grams of beef, thirty grams of chicken and five grams of beef liver; the third added both the milk and meat foods; and the fourth added locally available plant foods such as cassava, cornflour, wheat, sweet potato, sugar and vegetable oils. Not surprisingly, the best diet in terms of providing adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals was the diet that provided both milk and meat foods. The article is entitled, “The importance of animal source foods for nutrient sufficiency in the developing world: The Zambia scenario.” It goes without saying that animal source foods (including liver and whole milk) are needed for nutrient sufficiency in the developed world as well (tinyurl.com/zhrg7z4).

WILL CHEESE KILL YOU?
Cardiologists often tell their patients not to eat cheese, claiming that it will kill them because the saturated fat in cheese will raise their cholesterol levels. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (August 24 2016), subjects ate eighty grams of regular-fat cheese, eighty grams of reduced-fat cheese, or ninety grams of bread and jam. After twelve weeks, there was no significant difference in concentrations of LDL-cholesterol, glucose or triglycerides, and blood pressure and waist circumference remained the same. The wonderful thing about full-fat cheese is that it is one of our best sources of vitamin K₂ in the American diet, and K₂ (supported by A and D) is the main vitamin that protects us against heart disease. So when your cardiologist tells you that full-fat cheese will kill you, you can tell him, “I’m eating full-fat cheese so I can live to attend your funeral.”

DO STATINS CAUSE HEART DISEASE?
“Statins stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure: pharmacological mechanisms” is the title of a 2015 article published in Expert Reviews in Clinical Pharmacology [(2015 Mar;8(2)]. The authors Peter Langsjoen and several Japanese researchers argue that in contrast to the current belief that cholesterol reduction with cholesterol-lowering statin drugs decreases atherosclerosis, statins may cause coronary artery calcification and heart failure through several mechanisms. Statins deplete coenzyme Q₁₀ and ‘heme A’, and thereby inhibit ATP generation, needed for healthy heart function. Statins also inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K₂, the cofactor for matrix Gla-protein activation, which in turn protects arteries from calcification. To top it off, statins inhibit the biosynthesis of selenium-containing proteins, needed for a healthy cardiovascular system. Thus, say the authors, “the epidemic of heart failure and atherosclerosis that plagues the modern world may paradoxically be aggravated by the pervasive use of statin drugs. We propose that current statin treatment guidelines be critically reevaluated.”

OVERCOMING “VACCINE HESITANCY”
An article in the January 2016 issue of Vaccine provides advice to doctors and other health officials on how to deal with parents suffering from “vaccine hesitancy.” Doctors should listen to parents’ concerns respectfully, not be paternalistic or dismissive, and not introduce the “fear factor.” But they should not open the door to discussion either; rather, they should “start with a statement that assumes vaccination will occur.” Doctors should say, “Today we are going to give Jo her shots to keep her fit and healthy,” rather than ask “Do you have any questions about today’s vaccines?” They should “reinforce the norm of vaccines”—everybody’s doing it—and “set an appointment for the next shots right away.” Doctors should “use facts sparingly,” maintain their authority, minimize the pain of vaccines, and have simple responses for concerns—such as “There is more formaldehyde in a pear than in all the vaccines a child receives” (except that we do not inject pear juice into our children’s blood streams). The article tells physicians that concerns about ingredients may be “rooted in a ‘natural’ world view.” Vaccine deniers who believe in a conspiracy are likely to believe in other conspiracies and have feelings of “powerlessness, disillusionment and mistrust in authorities.” The article promises more to come “on understanding public trust in vaccination programs” (Vaccine 34(2016) 1989-1992).

DESTROYING HERD IMMUNITY
Herd immunity occurs when a disease goes through a herd of animals, after which they are all—including the very young—protected against further outbreaks of the disease. Vaccine manufacturers have latched onto this term to promote the premise that almost everyone needs to receive vaccines (not the disease itself) in order to achieve “herd immunity.” This is the theory—unfortunately the opposite is true. Take pertussis or whooping cough. According to a recent article in the journal Pediatrics and reported in the New York Times, the primary source of pertussis (whooping cough) infection in infants is older siblings who had received the DTaP vaccine (tinyurl.com/j94b92l)! That’s because when you are vaccinated against the whooping cough, you can carry the microbes in the throat for many days, infecting any unvaccinated infants you come in contact with. This is the opposite of herd immunity! The fact is that vaccines destroy natural immunity, and this is particularly true with pertussis. Far from creating immunity, pertussis vaccines have enabled the spread of the disease. The proof: growing rates of pertussis—including many very serious cases—in America, in spite of aggressive vaccination campaigns. How has the medical profession reacted to these findings? By promoting pertussis vaccination in pregnant women—a practice for which no safety studies exist whatsoever.

COLONEL SANDERS’ SECRET RECIPE?
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, a nephew has found a hand-written recipe in a 1940s scrapbook owned by the widow of the Colonel (tinyurl.com/zr6hnd3). The recipe calls for dried thyme, dried basil, dried oregano, celery salt, dried mustard, paprika, garlic salt, ground ginger, salt and pepper mixed with flour. The chicken pieces are soaked in buttermilk and then dredged in the flour-spice mixture. Now here’s the kicker: according to newspaper reports, the chicken pieces are to be cooked in canola oil! Canola oil did not exist in the 1940s. The chicken was most certainly cooked in lard—but that would not be a politically correct thing to print in a modern newspaper.

GLYPHOSATE VERSUS ZIKA
Scientists blame an outbreak of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil on the Zika virus, but researchers Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff relate the weed killer glyphosate (Roundup) to these and other defects. Their report notes that glyphosate can penetrate past the placenta, and its use correlates to an increase in birth defects such as microcephaly, anencephaly, cleft palates and other facial defects in regions of South America and Paraguay where Roundup is heavily used. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported on an excessive number of anencephaly births in Yakima, Washington, at four times the national average. This increase coincided with a large increase in the use of glyphosate to control waterway weeds. And more recently, microcephaly has arisen in Brazil following the heavy use of the herbicide (farmwars.info/?p=15001).

THE LUNCH BOX POLICE
It seems that the next target for the nanny state is your children’s lunch boxes! The “nutrition” standards for pre-K lunch require milk (this would be lowfat milk), two servings of fruit or vegetable, bread or grains, and a meat or meat alternative. When homemade lunches don’t meet the guidelines, the pre-K school gets low grades and pressure to make parents conform. Take the case of a Fayetteville, North Carolina, mother who sent her daughter to school with a homemade lunch of turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, apple juice and potato chips—not the best lunch in the world, but superior to the one she was given when a government inspector determined that the girl needed a vegetable—chicken nuggets, milk, a fruit (not necessarily fresh) and a vegetable to supplement her sack lunch (apparently potato chips don’t qualify as a vegetable). The girl ate the chicken nuggets instead of her lunch, but still declined to eat the vegetable. According to the mother, her daughter —like most four-year-olds—doesn’t like vegetables. “I can’t put vegetables in her lunchbox. I’m not a millionaire and I’m not going to put something in there that my daughter doesn’t eat.” The mother has “gone round and round” with the school, asking them not to make a fuss about the vegetables, but the school continues to give things like vegetable soup (filled with MSG) to her daughter, which she is concerned will lead to a cafeteria fee (tinyurl.com/h4t7s8e).

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