health

Sugar is a toxin

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In a previous post “Sugar: Hiding in Plain Sight” I shared a TEDed video that explains how sugar is everywhere. It is found where you never expect to find it but is hiding under other names.

In this post I attempt to summarize some key points from a talk (starting at 40:37) by Robert H. Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at University of California San Francisco titled “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”. I also add some extra points or links. You can watch the one hour and thirty minutes talk at the end of this post.

At 13:50 the professor explains to the audience that coke [and pepsi] contains salt, a lot of it but you cannot taste it because the sweet taste of sugar is hiding it. Why salt? It makes you thirsty! And this makes you “consume” more.

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Miroculus uses Data Science for Early Detection of Cancer

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Miroculus

Seafood Fraud in the US

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To all seafood and especially sushi lovers take care of what you’re eating. Oceana Study Reveals Seafood Fraud Nationwide and here’s a selection from their report on white tuna.

White Tuna

The majority of the tuna samples in this study were label[l]ed as “white tuna.” Of the 66 white tuna samples, 62 were mislabel[l]ed (94 percent). Eighty*four percent of the white tuna samples were actually escolar ( 52 of the 62) (Figure 10). The remaining white tuna mislabel[l]ing (16 percent) came from the substitution of one type of tuna for another or the use of a non-acceptable market name. A fish product referred to as “white tuna” is only acceptable as a market name when sold in a can. 30 Otherwise, “albacore tuna” or “tuna” is the acceptable market name for that same fish, Thunnus alalunga, when sold outside the can, fresh or frozen.

Swapping escolar for white tuna is not only illegal , but it can also cause serious health problems. Escolar, or oilfish (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum), is not actually a tuna species at all, but is instead a snake mackerel that contains a naturally occurring toxin, gempylotoxin. This toxin can cause mild to severe gastrointestinal problems even for some who eat only a few ounces of the fish. Because of the health problems associated with escolar, Italy and Japan have banned it, several other countries have issued health advisories for it 31 and the FDA advises against the sale of it in the U.S.

Sources

59% of the ‘Tuna’ Americans Eat Is Not Tuna, The Atlantic (original page)

Oceana Study Reveals Seafood Fraud Nationwide (PDF)

 

TEDMED – One more reason to get a good night’s sleep

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Research paper: Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain, DOI: 10.1126/science.1241224

Important points:

  • Brain has no lymphatic system to clean it
  • During sleep brain cells seem to shrink
  • Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) acts as a detoxing agent removing toxins built up while the brain is conscious.
  • CSF influx only happens during sleep. It is inhibited during wakefulness.

and we discovered that at the same time when the brain goes to sleep, the brain cells themselves seem to shrink, opening up spaces in between them, allowing [cerebrospinal fluid – CSF] fluid to rush through and allowing waste to be cleared out.

But our most surprising finding was that all of this, everything I just told you about, with all this fluid rushing through the brain, it’s only happening in the sleeping brain.

Sugar: Hiding in plain sight

Video

source: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/sugar-hiding-in-plain-sight-robert-lustig

Also check this nice gif animation.
Moreover, “John Yudkin: the man who tried to warn us about sugar” (read distraction-free in Readability) is an interesting article on the subject.