Glutathione: More Than An Antioxidant
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Glutathioneโs Benefits: The Usual And The Unique
Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant that does all the things we might reasonably expect an antioxidant to do, plus some beneficial quirks of its own.
We do make glutathione in our bodies, but we can also get it from our diet, and of course, we can also supplement it.
What foods is it in?
Itโs in a lot of foods, but some top examples include:
- turmeric
- avocado
- asparagus
- almonds
- cruciferous vegetables
- watermelon
- garlic
For a fuller list and discussion, see:
What does it do?
Letโs start with the obvious; as with most things that are antioxidant, it is also anti-inflammatory. Increasing or decreasing glutathione levels is associated with decreased or increased inflammation, respectively. For example:
It being anti-inflammatory also means it can be beneficial in calming autoimmune disorders:
Glutathione: a key player in autoimmunity
And to complete the triad of โthose three things that generally go togetherโ, yes, this means it also has anticancer potential, but watch out!
โAlthough in healthy cells [glutathione] is crucial for the removal and detoxification of carcinogens, elevated [glutathione] levels in tumor cells are associated with tumor progression and increased resistance to chemotherapeutic drugsโ
~ Dr. Miroslava Cuperlovic-Culf et al.
Read in full: Role of Glutathione in Cancer: From Mechanisms to Therapies
So in other words, when it comes to cancer risk management, glutathione is a great preventative, but the opposite of a cure.
What were those โbeneficial quirks of its ownโ?
They are mainly twofold, and the first is that it improves insulin sensitivity. There are many studies showing this, but hereโs a recent one from earlier this year:
The Role of Glutathione and Its Precursors in Type 2 Diabetes
The other main โbeneficial quirk of its ownโ is that it helps prevent and/or reverse non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, as in this study from last year:
Because of glutathioneโs presence in nuts, fruits, and vegetables, this makes it a great thing to work in tandem with a dietary approach to preventing/reversing NAFLD, by the way:
Anything else?
Itโs being investigated as a potential treatment for Parkinsonโs disease symptoms, but the science is young for this one, so there is no definitive recommendation yet in this case. If youโre interested in that, though, do check out the current state of the science at:
Potential use of glutathione as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease
Is it safe?
While there is no 100% blanket statement of safety that can ever be made about anything (even water can kill people, and oxygen ultimately kills everyone that something else doesnโt get first), glutathione has one of the safest general safety profiles possible, with the exception we noted earlier (if you have cancer, it is probably better to skip this one unless an oncologist or similar advises you otherwise).
As ever, do speak with your doctor/pharmacist to be sure in any case, though!
Want to try some?
We donโt sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon ๐
Enjoy!
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Eat Real Food and Love It โ by Kari McCloskey
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Half the battle of healthy eating is enjoying itโbecause once you do, itโs no longer a battle!
So thatโs what this book focuses on. The author, a Registered Nutritionist, does indeed dispense nutritional advice, as you might expect, but also bids us pay attention to what natureโs foods do for us, and notice what less healthy foods take from us. She goes through these category by category, quite comprehensively, before moving on to the more โactiveโ parts of the book.
Thereโs a lot about training our senses, and about taking a holistic approach to eating, as well as renewing not just our relationship with food, but also various other parts of our life that are inextricably linked to it (from sleep and exercise, to social considerations, and medical issues that healthier eating will help us to avoid or at least tame).
The style isโฆ Joyful. Much like this reviewer, the author loves food, and it shows. She also (again much like this reviewer) cares deeply about the impact food has on her, and (for a third time: like this reviewer!) wants to share that joy and care with the reader. The priority is readability and helpfulness; scientific references are still provided wherever appropriate, though.
Bottom line: if youโd like to improve your eating but it seems like a chore, this book can help turn it into an excitingly enjoyable journey instead.
Click here to check out Eat Real Food And Love It, and eat real food and love it!
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What is aflatoxin, the toxic chemical behind Colesโ peanut butterย recall?
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Coles is recalling two of its homebrand peanut butter products, over concerns they have been contaminated with aflatoxin, a toxic chemical linked to liver cancer.
The supermarket chain has issued the recall notice for Coles Smooth Peanut Butter 1kg and Coles Crunchy Peanut Butter 1kg, with the best before date of February 5 2027. They were sold in supermarkets and online nationally between May 1 and June 30 this year.
Aflatoxin can cause injury or illness if eaten, according to Australiaโs food safety authority.
But what is aflatoxin? How does it get into food? And what is the risk if you eat it?
Helen Camacaro/Getty What is aflatoxin? Where does it occur?
Aflatoxins are a toxic chemical (a mycotoxin) produced by fungi. The mould-like fungi that produce aflatoxins belong to a large group called Aspergillus.
These fungi are found in all environments, for example in soils, compost, building surfaces and on crops and other plants, and can cause infections or poisoning in humans and animals.
Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which produce aflatoxins, thrive mainly in agricultural crops but also in soils, rotting food and compost. The fungi emerge as spores and form networks of microscopic filaments that can grow on products such as grains and nuts.
As these fungi grow they release a range of chemicals, including aflatoxins, that can lead to contamination of produce before and after harvest, or after processing.
Aflatoxins are some of the most poisonous types of mycotoxin.
Different kinds of aflatoxins usually affect contaminated food (aflatoxins B1, B2, G1), crops (G2) and milk (M1).
Which foods are most risky?
Crops produced and stored in warm, humid or moist tropical locations are most at risk, as toxin-producing moulds thrive in these conditions.
High-risk foods include peanuts, corn and tree nuts (such as brazil, walnut and pistachio nuts). The toxin-producing fungi can also grow on wheat, rice, sorghum and spice crops such as turmeric, chilli, ginger and coriander.
If animals graze on contaminated crops, their milk and meat can also become contaminated.
Internationally, the Joint Food and Agriculture Administration and World Health Organization is responsible for setting guidelines and monitoring standards for mycotoxins via its expert committee on food additives.
In Australia, aflatoxin food contamination is not common. In the past decade, there have only been a handful of recalls.
Why are aflatoxins dangerous?
Aflatoxins can damage your liver and cause cancer.
Eating a lot of contaminated foods over a short period of time can lead to aflatoxicosis, acute poisoning that immediately damages the liver. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and convulsions, and may be life-threating.
Over a long period, smaller amounts of contaminated foods can lead to liver cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and immune system dysfunction.
There is no specific treatment for alfatoxins. Management after acute or long-term exposure focuses on addressing symptoms and monitoring liver health.
How can I stay safe?
There is not much individuals can do to control the presence of aflatoxin and other mycotoxins in foods, as contamination occurs during agriculture and processing.
You should store nuts and nut products in a way that stops mould growing. Use well-sealed containers kept in dry and cool conditions.
Freezing and cooking may kill the fungi, but the toxin can survive extreme temperatures.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to see the fungi with the naked eye. However you should avoid visibly mouldy foods and throw away nuts and grains that are shrivelled or discoloured.
What should I do if Iโve bought or eaten these products?
Coles has advised customers to return the products to stores and contact its hotline for more information (1800 061 562).
If youโre concerned you may have eaten contaminated peanut butter, speak to a health professional.
Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University and Charles Oliver Morton, Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology, Western Sydney University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Mythbusting The Mask Debate
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Mythbusting The Mask Debate
We asked you for your mask policy this respiratory virus season, and got the above-depicted, below-described, set of responses:
- A little under half of you said you will be masking when practical in indoor public places
- A little over a fifth of you said you will mask only if you have respiratory virus symptoms
- A little under a fifth of you said that you will not mask, because you donโt think it helps
- A much smaller minority of you (7%) said you will go with whatever people around you are doing
- An equally small minority of you said that you will not mask, because youโre not concerned about infections
So, what does the science say?
Wearing a mask reduces the transmission of respiratory viruses: True or False?
Trueโฆwith limitations. The limitations include:
- The type of mask
- A homemade polyester single-sheet is not the same as an N95 respirator, for instance
- How well it is fitted
- It needs to be a physical barrier, so a loose-fitting โgoing through the motionsโ fit wonโt help
- The condition of the mask
- And if applicable, the replaceable filter in the mask
- What exactly it has to stop
- What kind of virus, what kind of viral load, what kind of environment, is someone coughing/sneezing, etc
More details on these things can be found in the link at the end of todayโs main feature, as itโs more than we could fit here!
Note: Weโre talking about respiratory viruses in general in this main feature, but most extant up-to-date research is on COVID, so thatโs going to appear quite a lot. Remember though, even COVID is not one beast, but many different variants, each with their own properties.
Nevertheless, the scientific consensus is โit does help, but is not a magical amuletโ:
- 2021: Effectiveness of Face Masks in Reducing the Spread of COVID-19: A Model-Based Analysis
- 2022: Why Masks are Important during COVIDโ19 Pandemic
- 2023: The mitigating effect of masks on the spread of COVID-19
Wearing a mask is actually unhygienic: True or False?
False, assuming your mask is clean when you put it on.
This (the fear of breathing more of oneโs own germs in a cyclic fashion) was a point raised by some of those who expressed mask-unfavorable views in response to our poll.
There have been studies testing this, and they mostly say the same thing, โif itโs clean when you put it on, great, if not, then well yes, that can be a problemโ:
โA longer mask usage significantly increased the fungal colony numbers but not the bacterial colony numbers.
Although most identified microbes were non-pathogenic in humans; Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Cladosporium, we found several pathogenic microbes; Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Aspergillus, and Microsporum.
We also found no associations of mask-attached microbes with the transportation methods or gargling.
We propose that immunocompromised people should avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection.โ
Source: Bacterial and fungal isolation from face masks under the COVID-19 pandemic
Wearing a mask can mean we donโt get enough oxygen: True or False?
False, for any masks made-for-purpose (i.e., are by default โbreathableโ), under normal conditions:
- COVIDโ19 pandemic: do surgical masks impact respiratory nasal functions?
- Performance Comparison of Single and Double Masks: Filtration Efficiencies, Breathing Resistance and CO2 Content
However, wearing a mask while engaging in strenuous best-effort cardiovascular exercise, will reduce VOโmax. To be clear, you will still have more than enough oxygen to function; itโs not considered a health hazard. However, it will reduce peak athletic performance:
โฆso if you are worrying about whether the mask will impede you breathing, ask yourself: am I engaging in an activity that requires my peak athletic performance?
Also: donโt let it get soaked with water, becauseโฆ
Writerโs anecdote as an additional caveat: in the earliest days of the COVID pandemic, I had a simple cloth mask on, the one-piece polyester kind that we later learned quite useless. The fit wasnโt perfect either, but one day I was caught in heavy rain (I had left it on while going from one store to another while shopping), and suddenly, it fitted perfectly, as being soaked through caused it to cling beautifully to my face.
However, I was now effectively being waterboarded. I will say, it was not pleasant, but also I did not die. I did buy a new mask in the next store, though.
tl;dr = an exception to โno it wonโt impede your breathingโ is that a mask may indeed impede your breathing if it is made of cloth and literally soaked with water; that is how waterboarding works!
Want up-to-date information?
Most of the studies we cited today were from 2022 or 2023, but you can get up-to-date information and guidance from the World Health Organization, who really do not have any agenda besides actual world health, here:
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Masks | Frequently Asked Questions
At the time of writing this newsletter, the above information was last updated yesterday.
Take care!
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Power Plates โ by Gena Hamshaw
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Superfoods are all well and good, but there are only so many ways one can reasonably include watercress before it starts becoming a chore.
Happily, Gena Hamshaw is here with a hundred single-dish vegan meals, that are not only nutritionally balanced as the subtitle promises, but also, as the title suggests, are nutritional powerhouses too.
In the category of criticism, some ingredients are not so universally available as others. For example, depending on where you live, your local supermarket might not have freekeh, gochujang, or pomegranate molasses.
However, most of the recipes have ingredients that are easy enough to source in any medium-sized supermarket, and for the ones that arenโt, we do recommend ordering the ingredient online and trying something you might not otherwise have experiencedโthatโs an important thing in life, after all!
Bottom line: if youโd like plant-based meals that are packed full of nutrients and are delicious too, this is a top-tier recipe book.
Click here to check out Power Plates, and enjoy a wide variety of plant-based cuisine!
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Smart Hearing โ by Katherine Bouton
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The authorโs hearing loss began in her 30s, and now sheโs in her 70s with even less hearing, and/but much more experience. Having worked at the Hearing Loss Association of America for much of that time, she has a lot to share.
This book is a practical guide to adult-onset hearing loss, and aims to help the reader navigate not just the difficulties inherent to the condition, but also the complexities around it that are largely societal, administrative, financial, and so forth.
She advocates for early intervention where possible, and that most people in the early stages of hearing loss donโt realize whatโs happening. They will tend to just blame the noisy environment, or the speaker, for example. And beyond just hearing tests, she recommends specifics that you might not have heard of, such as the speech-in-noise test.
With regard to technology, she covers the various options,and also ways to pay for them (because Medicare wonโt)โwhich latter is specific to the US, so if youโre from somewhere else, then probably a) this advice wonโt help, but b) you probably wonโt need it, as most places have more comprehensive healthcare coverage.
The style is quite personal while remaining professional; she often uses her own story as an illustration, but covers experiences other than hers just as thoroughly, so that no major variant of hearing loss gets overlooked.
Bottom line: if you and/or a loved one arenโt hearing/understanding auditory things so well as you used to, this book can help guide you into a position of more practical empowerment, without the need for quite so much trial and error as you might otherwise find alone.
Click here to check out Smart Hearing, and live better with hearing loss!
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Glucomannan For Weight Loss, Gut Health, & More
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Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fiber found in the root of the konjac plant.
If youโve had konjac noodles, also called shirataki, thatโs what those are mostly made of, and itโs why they have next-to-no calories.
You may be wondering: if itโs water-soluble, how do the noodles not dissolve in water? And the answer is that the noodle-making process involves making a gel out of the fiber and water, which is then extruded into noodle shapes. In this gelatinous form, theyโre fairly stable (itโs one of the most viscous dietary fibers), but yes, if you were to boil them for a long time, they would indeed turn the entire liquid contents of the saucepan into gel.
How it works for weight loss
Because of its viscosity, adding even a small amount of powdered* glucomannan to a glass of water will turn the whole thing into gel in seconds. This means that if you take glucomannan capsules with a glass of water, then so far as your stomach is concerned, you just ate a cup of gel, and the water is now processed as food, staying longer in the stomach than it otherwise would, and promoting feelings of fullness.
*i.e. dry powder, not in a gelatinous form like the noodles
As for its efficacy in weight loss, see for example:
โGlucomannan was well-tolerated and resulted in significant weight loss in overweight and obese individualsโ
Read more: Glucomannan and obesity: a critical review
So, that covers the basic requirements, but may be wondering: does it have other benefits? And the answer is yes, it does:
โGlucomannan appears to beneficially affect total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, body weight, and fasting blood glucoseโ
To further corroborate that and comment on safetyโฆ
โResults showed a significant mean weight loss using glucomannan over an eight-week period. Serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly reduced in the glucomannan treated group. No adverse reactions to glucomannan were reported.โ
Read more: Effect of glucomannan on obese patients: a clinical study
As to whether other gel-making agents work the same way, the answer is no, they donโt seem to:
โGlucomannan induced body weight reduction in healthy overweight subjects, whereas the addition of guar gum and alginate did not seem to cause additional loss of weightโ
Read more: Experiences with three different fiber supplements in weight reduction
How it works for gut health
In the words of Dr. Yu Li et al.,
โKonjaku flour can achieve positive effects on treating obesity, which manifest on reducing BMI, fat mass, blood glucose, and blood lipid, improving hepatic function, and also regulating intestinal microfloral structure.
Therefore, changes in gut microbiota may explain in part the effects of konjaku flour.โ
Read in full: Effects of Konjaku Flour on the Gut Microbiota of Obese Patients
This has extra positive knock-on effects too:
Want to try some?
We donโt sell it, but here for your convenience are example products on Amazon:
Konjac noodles | Glucomannan capsules
Enjoy!
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