Morin: Your Mouth’s New Best Friend
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There is a problem with most oral hygiene options, and the problem is, as Dr. Fernanda Brighenti explains:
❝We have a constant flow of saliva. We produce, on average, 1 milliliter of saliva per minute.
Anything we put in our mouths is quickly removed by saliva, especially because it has a smell and taste, which stimulates salivary flow.❞
“Anything we put in our mouths” includes oral hygiene products.
So, what to do about that?
The oral hygiene helper that sticks around
Dr. Brighenti and her team were investigating morin, a flavonoid found in guava leaves, apple peel, fig peel, teas, and almonds, for its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
See also: Are You Getting The Right Kinds Of Flavonoids?
This is relevant, as gum disease is caused by bacterial biofilm buildup, and (inconveniently) current rinses to try to deduce that often have side effects (taste changes, tartar buildup, stains), and antibiotics are definitely not an option you want unless absolutely truly necessary.
See also: Antibiotics: Useful Even Less Often Than Previously Believed (And Still Just As Dangerous) ← includes, halfway down the article, the four ways that antibiotics can kill you!
What they discovered: dried morin powder can be added to oral hygiene products—and it works. Tests on multispecies bacterial biofilm showed strong antimicrobial action, and treated biofilms appeared less stained too.
See also: Make Your Saliva Better For Your Teeth
In the study, more things were tried too: encapsulation with sodium alginate and gellan gum improved solubility, stability, and adherence in the mouth despite saliva washout, but that’s certainly not something most of us can do at home unless we happen to live in a lab—is more something we can expect to see added to commercial products in the future.
What this means: per the researchers’ conclusions, morin provides a safe, natural, inexpensive alternative to antibiotics, and can reduce the side effects of existing treatments.
While this is great news for anyone who has teeth and would like to keep them*, it’s expected to be particularly useful for people with reduced motor skills (older adults, patients with special needs), and people who are sensitive to current oral hygiene products.
*That’s not the only reason, of course; the impact goes far beyond the teeth. Remember, for example, that periodontal disease is the sixth most common chronic condition worldwide; nearly half of the global population has oral disease, and none of us are immune (and it has big implications in turn for cardiovascular disease risk).
To read the paper in full, see: Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial evaluation of morin
Want to learn more?
We did a three-part series on oral hygiene:
- Toothpastes & Mouthwashes: Which Help And Which Harm?
- Flossing, Better (And Easier!)
- Less Common Oral Hygiene Options ← this writer is personally a big fan of the miswak stick! While she wouldn’t want to replace the other options entirely, it’s a great quick-and-easy on-the-go way to give one’s teeth a quick clean after a coffee or snack or such, without having to go to a bathroom and use a toothbrush and toothpaste etc.
Take care!
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A Supplement To Rival St. John’s Wort Against Depression
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Do You Feel The SAMe?
S-Adeonsyl-L-Methionone (SAMe) is a chemical found naturally in the body, and/but enjoyed widely as a supplement. The main reasons people take it are:
- Improve mood (antidepressant effect)
- Improve joints (reduce osteoarthritis symptoms)
- Improve liver (detoxifying effect)
Let’s see what the science says for each of those claims…
Does it improve mood?
It seems to perform comparably to St. John’s Wort (which is good; it performs comparably to Prozac).
Best of all, it does this with fewer contraindications (St. John’s Wort has so many contraindications).
Here’s how they stack up:
This looks very promising, though it’d be nice to see a larger body of research, to be sure.
Does it reduce osteoarthritis symptoms?
The good news: it performs comparably to ibuprofen, with fewer side effects!
The bad news: it also performs comparably to placebo!
Read into that what you will about ibuprofen’s usefulness vs OA symptoms.
Read all about it:
S-Adenosylmethionine for osteoarthritis of the knee or hip
If you were hoping for something for OA or similar symptoms, you might like our previous main features:
- Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis
- Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)
- The 7 Approaches To Pain Management
- (Science-Based) Alternative Pain Relief
Does it help against liver disease?
According to adverts for SAMe: absolutely!
According to science: we don’t know
The science for this is so weak that it’d be unworthy of mention if it weren’t for the fact that SAMe is so widely sold as good against hepatotoxicity.
To be clear: maybe it really is great! Science hasn’t yet disproved its usefulness either.
It is popularly assumed to be beneficial due to there being an association between lower levels of SAMe in the body (remember, it is also produced inside our bodies) and development of liver disease, especially cholestasis.
Here’s an example of what pretty much every study we found was like (inconclusive research based mostly on mice):
S-adenosylmethionine in liver health, injury, and cancer
For other options for liver health, consider:
Is it safe?
Safety trials have been done ranging from 3 months to 2 years, with no serious side effects coming to light. So, it appears quite safe.
That said, as with anything, there are contraindications, such as:
- if you have bipolar disorder, skip this unless directed by your health care provider, because it may worsen the symptoms of mania
- if you are on SSRIs or other serotonergic drugs, it may interact with those
- if you are immunocompromised, you might want to skip it can increase the risk of P. carinii growth in such cases
As always, do speak with your doctor/pharmacist for personalized advice.
Summary
SAMe’s evidence-based qualities seem to stack up as follows:
- Against depression: good
- Against osteoarthritis: weak
- Against liver disease: unknown
As for safety, it has been found quite safe for most people.
Where can I get it?
We don’t sell it, but here is an example product on Amazon, for your convenience
Enjoy!
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ADHD 2.0 – by Dr. Edward Hallowell & Dr. John Ratey
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A lot of ADHD literature is based on the assumption that the reader is a 30-something parent of a child with ADHD. This book, on the other hand, addresses all ages, and includes just as readily the likelihood that the person with ADHD is the reader, and/or the reader’s partner.
The authors cover such topics as:
- ADHD mythbusting, before moving on to…
- The problems of ADHD, and the benefits that those exact same traits can bring too
- How to leverage those traits to get fewer of the problems and more of the benefits
- The role of diet beyond the obvious, including supplementation
- The role of specific exercises (especially HIIT, and balance exercises) in benefiting the ADHD brain
- The role of medications—and arguments for and gainst such
The writing style is… Thematic, let’s say. The authors have ADHD and it shows. So, expect comprehensive deep-dives from whenever their hyperfocus mode kicked in, and expect no stones left unturned. That said, it is very readable, and well-indexed too, for ease of finding specific sub-topics.
Bottom line: if you are already very familiar with ADHD, you may not learn much, and might reasonably skip this one. However, if you’re new to the topic, this book is a great—and practical—primer.
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Mango vs Orange – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing mango to orange, we picked the mango.
Why?
In terms of macros, it’s close; mango has slightly more carbs, while orange has very slightly more fiber and protein. So, nominally a win for orange in the first round, but as we say, it’s very close, so you could also consider it a tie if you like.
In the category of vitamins, mango has considerably more of vitamins A, B3, B6, B9, E, and K, while orange has more of vitamins B1, B5, and C; a clear 6:3 win for mango.
Looking at minerals, mango has more copper, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc, while orange has more calcium; a 5:1 win for mango here.
Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for mango, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Fruit Is Healthy; Juice Isn’t (Here’s Why)
Enjoy!
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Real Superfoods – by Ocean Robbins & Nichole Dandrea-Russert
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Of the two authors, the former is a professional public speaker, and the latter is a professional dietician. As a result, we get a book that is polished and well-presented, while actually having a core of good solid science (backed up with plenty of references).
The book is divided into two parts; the first part has 9 chapters pertaining to 9 categories of superfood (with more details about top-tier examples of each, within), and the second part has 143 pages of recipes.
And yes, as usual, a couple of the recipes are “granola” and “smoothie”, but when are they not? Most of the recipes are worthwhile, though, with a lot of good dishes that should please most people.
Bottom line: this is half pop-science presentation of superfoods, and half cookbook featuring those ingredients. Definitely a good way to increase your consumption of superfoods, and get the most out of your diet.
Click here to check out Real Superfoods, and power up your health!
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Chickpeas vs Pinto Beans – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing chickpeas to pinto beans, we picked the pinto beans.
Why?
Both are great! And an argument could be made for either…
In terms of macros, pinto beans have slightly more fiber and slightly more protein, while chickpeas have slightly more carbs, and thus predictably higher net carbs. In the category of those proteins, they both have a comparable spread of amino acods, with pinto beans having very slightly more of each amino acid. All this adds up to a clear, but moderate, win for pinto beans.
When it comes to vitamins, technically chickpeas have more of vitamins A, B3, B5, C, K, and choline, but the margins are so small as to be almost meaningless. Meanwhile, pinto beans have more of vitamins B1, B6, and E, and/but the only one where the margin is enough to really care about is vitamin E (a little over 2x what chickpeas have). So, an argument could be made either way, but we’re going to call this category a tie.
The story with minerals is similar; chickpeas have more copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc, all with small margins, while pinto beans have more potassium and selenium, and/but also less sodium. We’d call this either a tie, or a very slight win for chickpeas.
Adding up the sections gives for a very modest win for pinto beans, but as we say, an argument could be made for either.
Certainly, enjoy both!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
- Chickpeas vs Black Beans – Which is Healthier?
- Kidney Beans vs Fava Beans – Which is Healthier?
- What Matters Most For Your Heart? Eat More (Of This) For Lower Blood Pressure
Take care!
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New Evidence: HRT Doesn’t Increase Cancer Risk Even If You Have The Genes For It
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…and other items from this week’s health news:
Good news for those with the unfortunate mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes
After the deeply-flawed, since-refuted, and popularly-misrepresented Women’s Health Initiative study that tanked the reputation of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), many people worry about the possibility of menopausal HRT (MHT) increasing the risk of cancer. And while some cancers in some people can be affected by estrogen levels, the latest research shows that not only does estrogen convey no additional risk to carriers of the cancer-risk-increasing mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but also, some formulations can even reduce the risk.
Dr. Joanne Kotsopoulos and her team set up 676 matched pairs of post-menopausal BRCA carriers—one MHT user, one non-user—matched by mutation type, birth year, and age at menopause, and looked at the effect of their use of estrogen alone, progesterone alone, combined estrogen–progesterone, tibolone, or old-fashioned conjugated equine estrogen with bazedoxifene, and found that over a mean 5.6-year follow-up, MHT users had 87 breast cancer cases versus 128 in non-users (remember, these had been matched 1:1, so this isn’t a case of “there were more non-users”, because there were 676 users and 676 non-users).
Most formulations showed no increase or decrease in risk; however, the use of estrogen-only MHT was associated with a 63% lower breast cancer risk compared with non-users!
Read in full: Menopausal hormone therapy shows no added breast cancer risk for BRCA carriers
Related: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer – by Dr. Jenn Simmons
NAD⁺ vs Long COVID & brain fog
Researchers looked at whether raising NAD⁺ with high-dose nicotinamide riboside (NR) could ease long COVID symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, and brain fog.
The short answer: among all participants who took NR for at least 10 weeks, researchers observed improvements from baseline in fatigue, sleep, depressive symptoms, and performance on an executive-function task.
Also, NR reliably increased circulating NAD⁺ levels in participants who took the supplement, which is important, as taking NAD⁺ directly often doesn’t increase the levels so well.
Read in full: NAD+ supplement shows early promise for long COVID fatigue and brain fog
Related: NAD⁺ vs Long COVID!
“Disabled” is other people… Right?
A recent survey of 3,881 Americans aged 50–95 (of whom, 1,353 from Michigan) found that many older Americans avoid the disability label even though far more report significant functional limits (there’s a medical word for those, and the word is “disability”).
Some notes about numbers:
- Disability incidence: about ⅓ of people aged 65–74 and more than 44% of those over 75 had difficulties with hearing, seeing, walking, climbing stairs, dressing, bathing, concentrating, remembering, working, or leaving the home
- ADA-related conditions: when asked about conditions such as speech or breathing difficulties that would qualify for accommodations under disability law, half of adults aged 65 to 74 and about ⅔ of older respondents reported disability-level needs
- The accommodations gap: fewer than 1 in 5 older adults had ever received a healthcare accommodation and only 1 in 4 had asked for one
And yet, studies show that people who do identify as disabled have higher self-esteem, less depression and anxiety, and stronger self-efficacy, and it has been noted that the disability community often works together to solve problems that others ignore:
Read in full: Many older Americans don’t see themselves as disabled, survey finds
Related: This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism – by Ashton Applewhite
Take care!
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