Honest Nutrition

The Arizona Statement on Reversing America’s Chronic Disease Epidemic and Restoring Health Freedom

2026-04-10T10:29:00.000-05:00

The “Arizona Statement on Reversing America’s Chronic Disease Epidemic and Restoring Health Freedom” was released yesterday. I attended the meetings where the parameters of the statement were discussed, and I signed the statement as a member of Alliance for Natural Health USA’s Corporate Leadership Circle.

It is intended as a road map for reform and policy changes to better support prevention, health maintenance, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, lifestyle and other lower-risk approaches.

https://anh-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/260409_ANH_The_Arizona_Statement.pdf

More on Cyanocobalamin Safety/Toxicity

2025-05-16T17:09:00.003-05:00

Cobalamin (vitamin B-12) is synthesized only by certain microbes (bacteria and archaeon), and five forms of vitamin B-12 have been found in foods, according to the British Journal of Nutrition: adenosylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin are the predominant forms, and other forms found include methylcobalamin, cyanocobalamin, and sulphitocobalamin. Most of these forms are considered synthetic substances, with additional compounds subsequently bonded to the already-synthesized cobalamin.

Methylcobalamin is produced commercially from cyanocobalamin, which is initially produced by fermentation and conversion processes. Adenosylcobalamin is directly produced by bacteria, while methylcobalamin requires an additional process of stripping off the cyanide group (CN, a carbon and a nitrogen atom with a triple bond) and adding a methyl group (CH3). Fermentations producing cyanocobalamin, methylcobalamin, and adenosylcobalamin do not utilize genetically engineered bacteria. The cyanocobalamin form is safe, stable, and bioavailable, and has been used for the vast majority of public health studies over the past century.

The amount of cyanide in cyanocobalamin is trivial, less than in an almond or apple; cyanide tends to be ubiquitous in the food supply in extremely tiny amounts. Cyanide is also produced by our own cellular processes (no great surprise since it's simply a single carbon and nitrogen molecule bonded together), but is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, converted into thiocyanate (a less toxic form), and excreted in the urine or converted to carbon dioxide and exhaled.

In fact, the Institute of Medicine has not set an Upper Limit for vitamin B-12 because “no adverse effects have been associated with excess vitamin B-12 intake from food and supplements in healthy individuals” (and both supplementation and food fortification primarily use cyanocobalamin). That same IOM report features this quote: “the amount of cyanide in cyanocobalamin is considered to be physiologically insignificant.” It would take about 2,500 doses of 1,000 microgram cyanocobalamin tabs to approach a dangerous amount of cyanide.

The adenosylcobalamin form is predominant in foods as well as in the human body, whereas methylcobalamin is typically in the body at only half the amount of the adenosyl form. Both are coenzyme forms with separate enzyme systems, and both are needed by the body. Cyanocobalamin feeds both pathways and is an inexpensive, stable, safe, and effective form of vitamin B-12 that does not require genetically engineered bacteria to produce.

Is citric acid made from black mold?

2025-02-07T15:30:00.002-06:00

Yes, but so what? That organism - Aspergillus niger - has been used to safely manufacture citric acid for about 100 years. It's also used to make most of the 'fungal enzymes' that are vegetarian-friendly. People consuming citric acid are not eating black mold; just as you're not eating bees when consuming honey.

People worried about the fermentation process have failed to distinguish between the mold and its purified byproducts that have a long history of safe use. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00253-002-1032-6

The fungus produces materials outside of its body that can be easily isolated and purified, so people are not inhaling or consuming mold when they use a material produced by fermentation. In fact, companies using citric acid perform their normal microbiological screening to assure that there are not concerning levels of mold in that material..

The mold itself would release spores that would be toxic to inhale if it were growing in your house. It may be mildly allergenic if you were eating the actual mold. But that's not what we are exposed to or are consuming when we eat citric acid, which is widely distributed in the processed food chain and has an important role in acidifying and preserving many foods and beverages. Look at your labels!

Isolated Aspergillus-derived products, including citric acid, have been sold for about a century and are considered safe. These also include common plant-derived enzymes such as protease, amylase, and lipase that are not pancreas-derived. https://fungalbiolbiotech.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40694-018-0054-5

"Microbial citric acid has high economic importance and widely used in beverage, food, detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger is a work horse and important cell factory in industry for the production of citric acid." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33044884/

"Aspergillus niger has a long tradition of safe use in the production of enzymes and organic acids (Soares de Castro et al., 2015)." https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/aspergillus-niger#:~:text=The%20Aspergillus%20produces%20different%20types,et%20al.%2C%202015).

Commercial production of vitamin C for fortification and dietary supplements

2024-05-06T14:46:00.002-05:00

In most mammals, vitamin C is made in the liver from blood sugar using a four-step enzymatic process. Humans and about 20 other mammalian species lack one of these enzymes, requiring us to both obtain vitamin C from our diet and to sustain internal levels of vitamin C using a variety of other food antioxidants.

But rather than extracting vitamin C from foods, the modern way to manufacture it is to start with dextrose, a sugar identical to blood glucose, and manipulate it into ascorbic acid, which is vitamin C; mimicking the biological production technique to some extent. The result is a nature-identical vitamin indistinguishable from the form in foods.

The primary method of biosynthesizing vitamin C starts with the conversion of glucose into sorbitol. Dextrose is converted to sorbitol by adding hydrogen to the molecule; that is typically done with a catalyst (defined as an easily recoverable material that facilitates a chemical reaction but is not used up in the reaction nor added to the molecule). The only added element is hydrogen, which is applied in a pressure tank.

Converting the sorbitol into sorbose and then into an intermediate known as 2-KLG is done using a two-step fermentation process

Then a final lactonization step (reacting 2-KLG with acid and/or dehydration is used to produce the lactone known as l-ascorbic acid/vitamin C; chemical form C₆H₈O₆).

When to take products with enteric coating

2024-04-26T11:16:00.000-05:00

The reason why we suggest taking enterically coated supplements on an empty stomach is to avoid the pill (capsule or tablet) being trapped in the stomach with food for an hour or more, which could allow the contents to release prematurely prior to reaching the small intestine.

In a study of 24 subjects, at baseline the median gastric pH was ∼1, increased to pH 4.5 with ingestion of the meal, and then returned to approximately pH 1 some 3–4 h after the start of the meal. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00956.2001#:~:text=test%20(nonparametric).-,RESULTS,the%20start%20of%20the%20meal

However, if someone has low stomach acid (aging, antacids, etc.) to start, the pH can increase even more and risk the capsule emptying directly into the stomach. That can cause either degradation of the contents or increased risk of burping up and tasting any oils in the product.

The esophagus and stomach are especially sensitive to essential oils, as evidenced by people adding drops to water and drinking that, later ending up with mucous lining degradation leading to stomach pain or heartburn, and occasionally emergency room visits.

Kosher for Passover means avoiding fermentation of grains

2024-04-24T15:17:00.005-05:00

There are different interpretations of the religious laws, but in general they do not allow wheat or other traditional grains, including grain alcohol, during Passover with one exception:

Wheat flour that is used to make matzos has been specially supervised from harvest through processing to ensure that it has not had an opportunity to start fermenting, so it is continually inspected to ensure that it is not in contact with moisture in order to inhibit fermentation. The water used to make matzos is left out overnight to cool, also in order to inhibit fermentation. Milling, mixing with water, kneading, and baking are done in separate areas to avoid cross-contamination.

Fermentation is believed to occur about 18 minutes after a grain is mixed with moisture, so after mixing the flour with water, kosher for Passover matzos are put in the oven within that time limit; the ovens are separate from the preparation areas so that the heat is not promoting fermentation of materials being mixed/prepared.

Grain-based fermentation products such as alcohol are also forbidden in kosher for Passover products, since the purpose is to avoid using aged or fermented materials to mimic the plight of fleeing slaves who didn't have time to let (sourdough) bread rise in their hurry to flee Egypt.

(While it is quite likely that the newly freed slaves would have grabbed already-baked bread, this specific kosher for Passover practice of removing all leavened bread and other forbidden items from a household during the holiday is evidently intended as a ritual to evoke sympathy for their hurried exodus during the Passover Seders practiced by their descendants.)

The traditional grains banned unless following the same rules as the matzo wheat include wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt; all of which were available in Egypt some 3,500 years ago.

Wine is allowed for Passover when the yeast is the product of the grapes themselves. But the wine must not include added non-kosher yeasts, other non-kosher additives (isinglass), or be produced/stored in a room containing grains or products made from grains. The work must also stop on the Sabbath, so observant Jews must be the winemakers.

2023-06-05T14:46:00.002-05:00

I'll be doing a live webinar on Men's Health this Thursday at 5 PM Pacific time (7 PM Central)...

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtceyrpjgoGtOf_1bY_JfM0BuSbJJazl_C#/registration

2023-03-14T10:27:00.002-05:00

Neil will be on the radio Sunday morning 3/19/2023. It's Al Forman's Sav-A-Lot Nutrition Hour at 11am ET, 10 Central on WWNN radio 1470 AM; 95.3 FM in South Florida. Go to https://trueoldiesfla.com/podcasts/sav-a-lot-nutrition Listen live there, too; click on the Listen Live button under the station 95.3 FM at the top right of that page.

Also Neil's previous interviews with Al are available to listen or download as a podcast: https://sav-a-lotnutritioncenters.com/?s=Levin&lang=en

Federal Dietary Supplement Registry bills

2022-06-06T16:30:00.001-05:00

Dietary Supplement Legislation Misguided & Inflationary

A bill sponsored by Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Braun (R-IN) - S.4090, the Dietary Supplement Listing Act - mandates a registry of all dietary supplements, citing safety concerns. Meanwhile, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee also added mandatory product registration for this non-drug category to must-pass prescription drug user fee legislation S.4348, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Landmark Advancements Act of 2022 (FDASLA).

These concerns are overblown; the proposed solution draconian. Why treat an overwhelmingly safe food category as inherently dangerous? Multivitamins, vitamin C, calcium, fish oil, and common nutrients are non-toxic, with few safety concerns.

Senator Durbin uses Adverse Event Reports (AERs) as justification. But Mr. Durbin knows AERs are defined as associative, not proof of a causal relationship. I manage a team handling dietary supplement AERs for a responsible manufacturer, which are promptly investigated and reported to the FDA. The few AERs we receive are typically caused by pre-existing conditions/known drug effects, not supplements. And many dietary supplement AERs received by FDA involve multivitamin choking issues, not toxicity.

There are potential interactions between certain ingredients and certain drugs. A published report of Mayo Clinic patient records identified only five such ingredients, noting only minor negative drug interactions. Statistics from the authoritative American Association of Poison Control Centers confirm zero deaths are associated with dietary supplements most years. Official AERs, not necessarily caused by supplements, showed only 166 hospitalizations and 22 deaths over an 11-year, 4-month period. By contrast, CDC estimates 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths from foodborne diseases each year; food allergies cause 15 million illnesses, 30,000 ER visits and 150–200 deaths. Taking a dietary supplement is statistically far safer than eating a meal.

If there is a safety issue, FDA already has the power to ban products, as it did with the herb ephedra. Facility registration is already mandated in existing Bioterrorism and Food Safety laws, but S.4090 inexplicably removes carefully designed antiterrorist protections. The National Institutes of Health already have a huge dietary supplement label database, which the FDA seeks to duplicate in a wasteful agency rivalry.

S.4090 imposes large fines - and jail terms - for not getting advance bureaucratic permission to market any supplement, even vitamin C. Companies must seek registration numbers and identify individuals to be severely penalized for infractions, with sales restricted by agency refusal or delay. Why does the FDA need absolute veto power over every vitamin; adding red tape and inflationary costs? The FDA already has statutory authority to inspect manufacturers, review labels and batch records, and confirm AERs are being properly handled/reported. Since the rationale is lack of enforcement of existing laws, how does piling on new regulations, fees, and harsh penalties solve that persistent agency problem? An analogy: would new laws lowering the speed limit and requiring drivers to keep mileage logs stop speeders, or is enforcement the real solution?

The dietary supplement industry welcomes reasonable consumer protections. We supported laws giving FDA authority over ingredients, label claims, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), facility inspections, food safety practices, facility registration, adverse event reporting, steroid bans, and allergen labeling. We’ve repeatedly lobbied Congress for higher FDA enforcement budgets to weed out bad actors, but oppose universal pre-market approval.

Why is a safe food category – dietary supplements – targeted for harsh regulation and higher costs, strangling innovation and consumer needs? If safety is the issue, why shouldn’t riskier food manufacturers (allergens and food poisoning) also need pre-market approval, their employees targeted for prosecution and fines? This is a punitive bill targeting an overwhelmingly safe product category for no justifiable reason.

Neil Edward Levin, CCN, DANLA

NOW Health Group

Bloomingdale, Illinois

North Macedonian medical conference presentation

2022-05-19T16:46:00.002-05:00

I'm giving a remote presentation tomorrow morning 5-20-2022 at the Macedonian Association of Internal Medicine conference https://internist2022.com/program/ I'm listed on page 7 of the program.

Methylfolate versus folic acid for MTHFR polymorphisms

2022-01-12T14:54:00.000-06:00

Methylfolate is a very expensive pharma-patented ingredient in a supplemental form that is not generally required by people. Even those with genetic polymorphisms can convert folic acid to methylfolate, though less efficiently due to their genetic differences, and still benefit from folic acid supplementation.

Since a main concern with MTHFR polymorphisms is the production of less active forms of the MTHFR enzyme due to genetically driven variations in its composition (such as the substitution of alanine with valine), the polymorphisms are most noted for increasing the need for folates (of any form, rather than a particular form). This is because higher quantities of these weaker MTHFR enzymes are needed to compensate for their lower activity levels and methylfolate is a cofactor in the enzyme production, so more dietary folic acid or folates are also needed.

The medical literature on folic acid has been misrepresented on the Internet to falsely imply that folic acid will not work in individuals with MTHFR polymorphisms. But even people with the most severe polymorphisms can still convert folic acid to methylfolate and eliminate signs of folate insufficiency, particularly high homocysteine levels, according to clinical trials. Here is one example where increasing folic acid intake for individuals with these polymorphisms resolved the problem of high homocysteine levels caused by their weaker MTHFR enzymes:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5601299

The folic acid was converted to methylfolate and utilized by these study subjects to make more of these enzymes, which is needed to resolve the health concerns over high homocysteine levels, despite the subjects having polymorphisms that cause weaker versions of the enzymes to be produced.

The CDC is even more direct, reporting, “You might have read or heard that folic acid is not safe if you have one or two copies of the MTHFR C677T variant. This is not true. Even if you have one or two copies of the MTHFR C677T variant, your body can safely and effectively process the different types of folate, including folic acid.”

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/mthfr-gene-and-folic-acid.htm

So the widespread myth that people with MTHFR polymorphisms cannot process folic acid has been disproven in authoritative research showing that they actually need to increase folic acid intake (or methylfolate intake) to produce enough of the weaker enzymes to resolve the health concerns, including elevated homocysteine levels and potential neural tube defects in their offspring.

Plant-based diets, pescatarian diets and COVID-19 severity

2021-11-22T11:52:00.002-06:00

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8219480/pdf/bmjnph-2021-000272.pdf

After adjusting for important confounders, participants who reported following ‘plant-based diets’ and ‘plant-based diets or pescatarian diets’ had 73% (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.81) and 59% (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.99) lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 severity, respectively, compared with participants who did not follow these diets.

Compared with participants who reported following ‘plant-based diets’, those who reported following ‘low carbohydrate, high protein diets’ had greater odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 (OR 3.86, 95% CI 1.13 to 13.24).

Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA

Macrobiotic Diet lecture presented in 1996

2021-09-16T16:39:00.003-05:00

Originally presented on 1/24/1996 In Chicago for Nutrition for Optimal Health Association, a non-profit educational charity. I recovered this from a floppy drive today. This was one of my early lectures. As the buyer for the leading Midwestern retailer of macrobiotic foods in the late 1980s, I was the person to whom the Kushi Institute referred people with questions or seeking dietary staples (like sea vegetables, soba pasta, condiments, etc.) in that era.

NOHA CLASS on The MACROBIOTIC DIET

JAN. 24, 1996

Presented by NEIL EDWARD LEVIN, CCN

Macrobiotics is the group of diets which reflect balance between natural forces to promote health and normal body-mind function. Using the unifying principle of yin and yang to describe the expansive or contractive properties of foods, one can correct the diet for any number of imbalances. Such a balanced diet is shown to reduce and reverse chronic diseases such as cancer and food allergies, while reducing social problems such as crime and violence.

Adhering to a macrobiotic diet is an environmental act. One chooses to eat foods appropriate for one's climate and past imbalances. Organically-grown wholesome foods are preferred. Locally grown foods eaten in season are preferred. Animal products are a rarity, including mostly seafood.

All traditional diets are macrobiotic with a small "m". The so-called Standard Macrobiotic Diet is a remnant of traditional Japanese diet. It is high in grains, vegetables from sea and land, some non-stimulant spices, and beans.

The new Food Pyramid of the Mediterranean Diet is fairly similar to the Standard Macrobiotic Diet. Both rely on grains as the main staple, vegetables as the main side dish, and beans, animal products and fruits used sparingly. Olive oil vs. sesame oil. Brown rice vs. wholegrains and pasta.

Yin foods are expansive, leafy, and watery. They tend to be high in sugars and potassium, low in calcium. They are fairly perishable. They tend to be eaten fresh (in season), dried, or pickled in sea salt. Salads and fruits are yin. Yin foods tend to be acidic.

Yang foods are contractive, compact, drier. They tend to be high in contractive minerals like calcium, low in expansive ones like magnesium. They have a longer shelf life than yin foods. They can travel farther and still be fresh and wholesome. Salt is very yang, but sea salt is more balanced, due to some yin minerals comprising up to 5% of the total weight. Gray sea salt has a lot of magnesium, and can possibly be too strong for some, leading to constricting effects like kidney stones. Many root vegetables and small grains and beans are yang. Yang foods tend to be alkaline.

Of course, foods are rarely all yin or yang. These are relative terms.

We can select foods for their properties to compensate for seasonal and daily changes. Breakfast should be somewhat yin, with more water used to cook breakfast grains. This will help us to expand our energy. Lunch should be similar. Supper should be larger, more yang, and cooked more, as befits the contractive energy of the day as it is condensing inward.

Grains, esp. brown rice, should be eaten daily, preferably at nearly every meal. White rice is never used, as it is far inferior to the wholegrain brown rice. Smaller grains are more yang than larger. Short or medium grain rices are preferred for daily use. Long grain and basmati for occasional warm weather use only. Rice is high in every B vitamin plus a host of other nutritional factors.

This emphasis on grains is based on history, biology and anatomy. The 20 molars in an adult mouth are named for the Latin word for "millstone". They are used to grind plant foods to a pulp. The eight incisors are for cutting, and the four canine teeth are for ripping. They are nothing like a cat or similar carnivore's teeth, which consist largely of large canine-type teeth. Our digestive tract is similar to plant-eaters rather than like predators, who eat a low fiber diet. These factors indicate the ideal ratio of 7 to 1 for plant to animal foods, or carbohydrates to protein. This is shown as 5 parts grains and other fibrous foods, 2 parts vegetables and 1 part beans or animal food. Meat is suited to cold climates, and is associated with many diseases such as cancer. Traditional cultures in temperate zones use meat sparingly. As a culture shuns their traditional diet for the modern, processed foods, the rate of degenerative diseases increases greatly.

Grains have always been the historical dietary staple. The word "meal" means ground grains as well as general eating. In China, people used rice, millet, and buckwheat. In India: rice and wheat. In the Mideast: wheat and barley. In lower Africa: sorghum. In the Americas: corn. And in Northern Europe: wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Grains provide steady fuel. Brown rice releases 2 kilocalories of glucose per minute into our bloodstream versus over 30 for a candy bar. This is due to the starches, or complex carbohydrates, in the grains. For athletes, the amount of glycogen reserves doubles using a starchy diet versus a high-protein one. Americans use an average of about 2,000 pounds of grain per year apiece for our animal-based diet. Plant food-based cultures get by very well on 400 pounds per person.

Food is nutrition: energy and components of our bodies. Food choices are the largest controllable variable to create healthy body cells. Eating one extreme will create a desire for the opposite, to create a rough balance. This balance of extremes is not very healthy. The classic example is of meat eaters craving alcohol, sweets, potatoes, and other very yin foods. This leads to an excess of fats, protein, carbohydrates, and water.

Poor diet often includes refined table salt, white sugar, animal protein, saturated fats, and poor-quality water. Mixing meat + dairy + sugar + cold drinks will lead to sticky deposits and kidney stones.

These principles often lead to natural remedies. Kidney stones represent excess yang energy. Warm ginger compresses over the painful area will expand the ducts and allow the stone to pass more easily. Hot green tea will help internally. For a fever, one can use a fresh green leaf to the forehead or a tofu plaster. These will more reliably ease a fever within minutes than ice, which is too cold and may trap the excess in the body as the fever tries to force it out.

Dietary diversity is also important. We must try to eat a variety of foods to enlarge our supply of nutrients. Other general factors apply:

Men can tolerate more meat than women. Women can tolerate more salads and sweets. Babies, small and compact are more yang than adults, which creates a need for soft, sweet, low salt yin foods to allow proper growth. However, if children eat lots of sugar, they will tend to be hyperactive, emotional, and cry easily. Mother's milk is very yin, the perfect small baby's food. Milk is made even more yin when it contains antibiotics and bovine growth hormone.

Meat is yang and leads to aggressive tendencies. It is appropriate for nomadic, isolated people. Grains lead to mental conditions of cooperation, community, support, and family life. Look at our Big Mac diet versus the Japanese rice-based diet, and consider the degree of community cooperation in each culture. Tomatoes and other nightshade plants are very yin, and contain nicotine-like substances which are addictive and depress the mind.

The Standard Macrobiotic Diet consists mostly of cooked foods. The food enzymes are largely provided by fermented foods such as miso, naturally brewed tamaris, tempeh, umeboshi plums, etc. The balance of foods and the amount of cooking depends on the coolness of the climate.

Like all substances, food has a vibrational energy. As in homeopathy, you can activate the energy in a food by cooking, dilute the foods by chewing with saliva to increase the power of the food, and thus liberate the nourishing, healing powers of our diet.

Yang energies activate the nerves, while yin dulls the sensations. Grains are high in serotonin enhancers, leading to calmness and thoughtful behavior. Animal foods activate acetylcholine, which leads to impulsive behavior linked to low blood sugar and low serotonin levels. Testosterone, being yang, is increased by animal foods. An explosive discharge of yang energy is likely to lead to violence. Refined sugar, in a Yale U. study, dramatically increases adrenaline levels. When children were given the amount of sugar in two cupcakes, their adrenaline levels increased tenfold; leading to rapid heartbeat, shallow/quick breathing, nervousness, and aggressive/hyperactive/erratic behavior. Excess sugar can deplete minerals, leaving white spots on nails, low zinc, manganese, magnesium, sodium, chromium, vanadium, and the like.

These same forces influence depression. Late in the day and in the year the air is contractive, yang. Depression is linked to hypoglycemia, produced by an imbalanced diet, esp. meat and animal foods. Yang accumulation in the pancreas inhibits secretion of glucagon, the yin hormone which increases blood glucose. The pancreas gets hard and tight. The more yang hormone insulin still secretes and reduces blood sugar, but the new imbalance lowers blood sugar to the point of craving. The yang, stimulating neurotransmitters are reduced, which can lead to depression. Short of its blood sugar for fuel, the higher brain functions decrease and alcohol and sugar cravings increase.

Schizophrenics usually have chronic low blood sugar, leading to cravings for refined sugar, alcohol, chocolate, and drugs. These yin substances expand the brain and nerve cells. These expanded cells are overly sensitive to yang stimuli, including dopamine. Chronic overstimulation makes one ignore external, more distant factors. In schizophrenics this leads to overload, loss of abstract thought, and the breakdown of the yang powers of concentration and thought coordination. A niacin deficiency is linked to some 10% of schizophrenic cases, and may be linked also to glucose tolerance factors.

High blood sugar is likewise linked to excess yin foods in the diet, so the pancreas releases more of the yang hormone insulin to rebalance. This also increases the stimulating, yang neurotransmitters to arouse motor activity.

Too many animal foods can lead to graying hair, baldness on the top of the head, being oversexed and short tempered, a tendency to brain hemorrhage, heart attacks, rheumatism, and arthritis. Cutting out the sugar in the diets of teen offenders reduced their violent episodes between 45 and 80%. Animal foods and excess dietary fats and calories are all linked to cancer. About 10-15% of our caloric intake should be healthy types of fats and oils, compared to 30-50% in our modern diet. Excess fat blocks the energy flow in the body. Plant foods tend to inhibit cancers. Soybean foods are specifically linked to low cancer rates. Miso eaters have much lower cancer rates than the control groups.

Some of the staple foods of the Standard Macrobiotic Diet include:

*Brown Rice for the main grain, also appearing in rice milk, rice cakes, mochi cakes, amazake drink, and pastas. Brown rice should be organic, be rinsed until the water is clear, and can be pre-soaked for higher digestibility. It is normally cooked with at least 2 parts water for about an hour. As the rice cooks, the water drops below the surface. Do not stir the rice after this point or it will get very sticky. Poke down into it with a wooden spoon occasionally to check the water level.

*Soy products, often fermented, including tofu, tempeh, miso, shoyu & tamari, and soy milks.

*Sea vegetables, mostly cooked in soups, stews and bean dishes. These foods are extremely rich in minerals. For example, kelp has 150x the iodine of any land plant; while dulse has 200x the iron of beet greens, the richest land source. Other types are wakame for soups, stews and beans; hijiki and arame for beans and soups; nori for sushi rolls.

*Soups and stews

*Beans, esp. small ones which are more yang and meat-like. Look for aduki, chickpeas, lentils, soy, peas, and kidney beans. Sea vegetables help us to digest the beans.

*Pickled foods to stimulate digestion, provide beneficial bacteria for the gut, and provide a source of lactic acid.

*Nuts and seeds can be used in moderation, best if from your climate/continent. This is the main oil source in the macrobiotic diet. Avoid tropical items.

*In season: fruits and land vegetables.

*Whole grain pastas. This is one of the few products using flour. Whole, unground grains are healthier than flours. Flours are stickier, more mucus-forming, more acidic, and harder to digest.

*Rolled and cracked cereals.

*Fish should be used at most 1-2 times a week.

*Sea salt and foods pickled with sea salt. For flavor and digestion. Do not overuse! Signs of overdose include: fluid retention, thirst after meals, overeating, craving for fruits, sweets, and alcohol, and emotional tension. Signs of too little salt include:

weak muscle tone, poor circulation, and mental spaciness.

*Condiments: sesame salt, horseradishes, mustards, rice and cider vinegars, Ume plums.

*Fresh water and green teas. Grain beverages.

*Fermented dairy products like yogurt, kefir, etc.

It is good to eat a variety within each of these food categories. Cooking methods include boiling, steaming, sautéing, frying, and pressure cooking. The heat intensity and cooking techniques affect the yin/yang energy in the food.

Organic foods are so important because the microorganisms in both the human gut and the soil aid digestion and assimilation of nutrients to either us or plants. Vitamin B-12 is made only by these types of bacteria. The traditional Japanese diet provides different, simpler intestinal microbes than average Americans (Western J of Med, 1974), and such simpler populations were associated with lower rates of bowel cancer (Cancer Research, 1975).

Illness is a symptom of imbalance. Look for the lesson of how your energies are affecting that manifestation. Sickness becomes inevitable if our foods and actions are out of harmony with nature.

If the skin is pale, you may be eating too much fruit. Bad skin indicates excess sugar. Gluten and grain allergies indicate an excess of dairy and sugar in the past. Diets high in meats, fats and sugar show increased rates of tooth decay and weakened bones.

Lotus root tea reduces mucus in the lungs.

Yang foods are salts, hard cheeses, eggs, and meat. Illnesses from excess yang foods include: duodenal ulcer, hepatitis, appendicitis, jaundice, gout, liver cancer, and headache in the back of the head.

Yin foods include most dairy, sweets, juices, alcohol, spices, coffee and tea.

Illnesses linked to excess yin include: colitis, hernia, diabetes, asthma, pleurisy, leukemia, meningitis, detached retina, varicose veins, gum disease, stomach ulcers, cystitis, frequent bloody noses, and headaches in the front of the head.

More balanced foods include grains, beans, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and seasonal fruits. When one eats at the extremes there are other associated illnesses including:

arteriosclerosis, gallstones, arthritis, breast cysts and cancer, lung cancer, cataracts, and pneumonia.

It is recommended to not eat for 3 hours before bedtime.

Cancer is yin, expansive. Avoid overeating and indigestion by chewing foods to liquid. Avoid all fruit, animal fats, and greasy foods.

In studies, macrobiotic-type diets are very healthful:

Lowering and stabilizing blood pressure (AmJ of Epidemology, 1974)

Lowering blood cholesterol and triglycerides (NEJ of Med, 1975)(Atherosclerosis, 1982)

Lowering cancer rate by 60% and death rate by 40% in Denmark during a blockade and shortage of animal and dairy foods (JAMA, 1920)

Sea vegetables removed most of the strontium 90 from contaminated subjects (McGill University, 1964)

Daily eaters of miso had 33% lower rates of stomach cancer (1981, Nat. Cancer Center of Japan)

Mice fed naturally fermented soy sauce had a 26% lower rate of stomach cancer and a 75% drop in tumors (1991, U. of Wisconsin)

Patients with pancreatic cancer. 24 on macrobiotic diet survived an average of 17.3 months vs. 6.0 months for matched controls. The one year survival rate was 54.2% vs. 10% for controls. (1984-85, Tulane U.)

Macrobiotic Diet is a healthful way of eating (AmerMedAssn Family Medical Guide, 1987)

A high fat diet is linked to higher breast, lung, and skin tumors in mice. (CancerResearch2)

A 41 country study linked high intake of refined sugar with high breast cancer rates (BritJ of Cancer, 1976)

Soy protein reduces serum cholesterol and triglycerides (JAMA, 1982)

People who regularly eat cheese have a 50% greater risk of breast cancer than those who don't. With milk it's an 80% increase (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1986)

A diet high in meat and animal products is linked to colon cancer (NCI, 1974 in CANCER) (JAMA, 1920) (Gut, 1969) (Journal of the NCI, 1975)

Macrobiotic eaters versus the Framington Heart Study participants: the macro eaters had average cholesterol readings of 126 mg./dl. compared to 184 for the normal diet. Harvard study in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1975)

Fermented soy sauce shows anti-tumor activity (Science News, 1991, U. of Wisc.)

21 Macrobiotic eaters added 250 grams of beef a day to their diets for 4 weeks. Within 2 weeks their serum cholesterol levels were up an average of 19%. Harvard study in JAMA, 1981)

Wakame and hijiki seaweeds, also shitake mushrooms lower serum cholesterol Atherosclerosis, 1972)

A high sucrose diet (20% of daily caloric intake) linked to liver cancer Huntington Research Centre, Huntington, England, 1978)

Diet should consist of Carbs (50-60% of caloric intake), with glucose, sucrose, and lactose restricted. People should eat natural foods with unrefined carbs. High levels of fats should be restricted. (Journal of the ADA, 1979)

Shitake mushrooms showed almost complete regression of tumors (Cancer Research, 1970)

Kombu given to mice with implanted sarcomas: 89-95% inhibited. Also good results with leukemia (Japan Journal of Experimental Med, 1974)

Leukemia in chickens was reversed by feeding them whole grains and salt (Tokyo Red Cross Blood Center, 1972)

USDA recommends partial replacement of animal foods with cereals and legumes, esp. soy. (Am J of Clin Nutr, 1983)

Tofu as a substitute for meats and dairy products is closer to the national dietary guidelines than beef, chicken, eggs, or cheese. It is also preferred by preschoolers in taste tests (Journal of the ADA, 1990)

Men with AIDS put on macrobiotic diet stabilized, did better than other patients. (Boston U. School of Med in Lancet, 1985)

Chewing thoroughly (saliva) inhibits HIV-1 infectivity (Journal of the American Dental Assn, 1988)

JAMA posted my comment yesterday on a study reviewing vitamin C and Zinc for Covid-19 patients

2021-09-15T10:36:00.001-05:00

JAMA edited my comment and changed the final sentence (adding ‘or some other dose’, which doesn’t make sense), but the gist is there.

Effect of High-Dose Zinc and Ascorbic Acid Supplementation vs Usual Care on Symptom Length and Reduction Among Ambulatory Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The COVID A to Z Randomized Clinical Trial | Complementary and Alternative Medicine | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network

My original submission:

It is unclear what dose of elemental zinc was used in this study from the text provided. Fifty mg of 'zinc gluconate' is described, but that is 50 mg of a compound that is only about 1/7 elemental zinc. PubChem lists the molecular weight of zinc gluconate at 455.7 and of elemental zinc at 65.4; so zinc gluconate contains about 14.35% elemental zinc (a maximum value since 'as is' measurements include impurities, including moisture). If 50 mg. of ‘zinc gluconate’ was used, as described in the text, it would represent only about 7 mg of actual zinc; not a "high dose" since it would be below the FDA's current (and recently lowered) Daily Value of 11 mg.

If 50 mg of elemental zinc from a much larger amount of zinc gluconate (typically 350- 400 mg) was used, it should have been described more precisely as that to avoid any confusion. The amount of zinc used was either a low dose erroneously described as a high dose or the authors mistakenly used the compound name (zinc gluconate) in place of the element's (zinc) when describing the 50 mg amount.

Either way, how the supplement was described in this paper leads inevitably to confusion. The amount of actual zinc should be clearly specified, but the authors did not do so; nor did they relate the amount of this mineral to its RDA, Daily Value, or Upper Limit as a relevant reference point. The implication from the description of a ‘high dose’ is that the amount of zinc was 50 mg, not the amount of zinc gluconate, and that the authors misstated the description of the supplement. But they just as plausibly mistook 50 mg of zinc gluconate for 50 mg of elemental zinc, and then inaccurately described both the supplement and the dosing.

How did this pass peer review without catching this internal conflict of description that would be obvious to chemists who work with mineral compounds and understand how to appropriately label them by either compound or element? And exactly which dose of elemental zinc was used; 50 mg or 7 mg?

2021-07-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

My half-hour presentation on Essential Oils will be aired on Wednesday, July 14th at 7pm Central time (6pm Mountain time)

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/choosing-essential-oils-understanding-labels-standards-tickets-161158512449

Is There L-Glutamine in Pea Protein?

2021-06-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

Reputable sources only list glutamic acid, a nonessential amino acid, in pea protein, which the body readily synthesizes and that readily converts into l-glutamine inside our bodies. Glutamine and glutamic acid typically comprise between 5% and 15% of dietary proteins, but we require so much of these two amino acids that most of our fairly large body stores are actually synthesized endogenously (internally).

Glutamine is used to make glucosamine and is required by the immune system, for wound healing, for acid-base balance, for brain function, and for gluconeogenesis. Both amino acids are conditionally essential during pregnancy, lactation, and growth phases.

Commercially produced MSG is related to, but not identical to, glutamine because it is a salt of glutamine; a glutamate, rather than an amino acid found in common proteins. Glutamate has been classified as an excitotoxin that can overexcite our nervous systems; but that is dependent on the brain lacking proper controls, such as can be provided by the essential nutrients magnesium and antioxidants.

This study indicates that pea protein contains glutamic acid, not l-glutamine:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6245118/

Protein content and amino acid composition of commercially available plant-based protein isolates (nih.gov)

Lecithin extraction

2021-05-14T11:28:00.000-05:00

All lecithin is chemically extracted from bulk oils. For organic lecithin (not available in all forms and grades and very expensive due to limited supply and manufacturing capacity) organic ethanol (alcohol) is the solvent.

All lecithin extraction processes currently employ solvents, such as hexane, to extract the oils. Hexane extraction is the most common method used in the industry to produce lecithin due to its high oil recovery and lower production cost; also, lecithin is actually defined as hexane-soluble components. These solvents are commonly recovered during the extraction step of edible oil processing through distillation and evaporation.

To remove the hexane from lecithin, the material is treated in a vacuum distillation process because hexane is volatile and vaporizes at a relatively low temperature. The hexane evaporated during the distillation is condensed and separated from water in a decanter. The recovered hexane is then reused in the extractor.

The European Union standard for hexane in bulk oils is a maximum residue limit (MRL) of 1 mg/kg by weight. One study published in the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Toxicology reported that the detected mean amount of hexane residue in product samples tested was 0.56 mg/kg; only 56% of the allowable amount. The EFSA Journal published a 2017 safety review concluding that there was no safety concern; even for infants and children using lecithin for special medical purposes.

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4742

https://openaccesspub.org/ject/article/622#ridm1841927052

Liquid Chlorophyll as Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin

2021-05-14T11:09:00.000-05:00

Chlorophyllin is a water-soluble analog of the green plant pigment chlorophyll. Liquid chlorophyll products containing chlorophyllin are a mixture of chlorophyll and copper. Chlorophyllin is produced by extracting natural chlorophyll from mulberry leaves (post silkworm feeding) or the traditional alfalfa source (which today is mostly genetically modified/GMO) and reacting the chlorophyll to copper. Today chlorophyllin is compliant with the USP monograph as Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin and is water-soluble; chlorophyll in plants is a fat-soluble substance. Solubilized chlorophyllin is dispersible and stable in water, unlike the original plant chlorophyll, making liquid chlorophyll products possible.

It is best to test each lot of chlorophyll for identity, microbial burden (including pathogens), and heavy metals to assure product safety. The sodium content of chlorophyllin is negligible; about 9.5 milligrams per 100 gram serving.

Chlorophyll as Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin can function as a free radical neutralizer and may help to support the body's detoxification processes. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7788866/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12628519/

Specifically, chlorophyllin ‘has potent antioxidant ability involving scavenging of various physiologically important ROS’ [reactive oxygen species]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11767414/

Chlorophyllin has been traditionally used as an internal deodorizer, both medically under FDA authorization (21CFR357.850) and as a dietary supplement, and it promotes cleansing and freshens breath. It has also been found to be a safe and effective detoxification agent suitable for use in individuals unavoidably exposed to dietary aflatoxins. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12628519/

Vaccine Mandate Musings

2021-05-07T15:10:00.001-05:00

Should vaccine passports, or vaccination itself, be mandatory? I can only share my opinions, which are conflicted. Here are my thoughts:

Because of federal medical privacy laws, vaccine passports would have to be issued only on request of the patient/person waiving such privacy, so disclosure is in one sense inherently controlled by the individual and would be voluntary. Additionally, the state and the CDC are routinely notified of your COVID-19 vaccination, so it is not hidden from them; governments already know if you’ve been vaccinated. Another argument is that apps can track your location, but of course location tracking can be disabled for any app or phone, and mandates can also limit tracking to when the app is opened. Many people post their vaccine status on social media and then inconsistently worry about privacy after sharing it with massive companies that have access to their personal data.

Private companies can already mandate vaccines, including medical and nursing home staff, or college campuses (which now offer remote classes), and require masks and distancing unless such private company requirements are banned by law. Some people may want to show these verifiable proofs and find them useful; for example to travel overseas without needing quarantines or invasive testing.

There are also issues of whether to restrict private companies from offering incentives for people to show vaccination proof to open cruises, concerts, airline or restaurant seating, etc. A government mandate prohibiting private businesses from doing things that are perceived as helping their sales recover faster and protect public health can also be perceived as anti-capitalist and anti-libertarian. The protection of public health often conflicts with normal civil rights in troubled times; both are mandates of governments. In this case, the government in prohibiting private businesses from using customer safety as a competitive selling point is different from a government mandating essential safety practices. This is actually the opposite of asserting a state mandate to protect public health; by legislating a government monopoly on whether/how to do that, rather than trusting the private sector, as most conservatives would normally prefer.

As businesspeople, if you felt safer during an epidemic or pandemic by requiring masking and distancing, would you want the state prohibiting you from doing what makes you feel safer or from doing what makes your customers feel safer? In Illinois, the state has said it won’t require a vaccine passport, but did not prohibit local governments or private businesses from doing so, and Chicago may require them short-term for concerts and full restaurant capacity so businesses can reopen faster while protecting public health and safety. Is a business offering incentives discriminating against ineligible customers, or is it a justifiable practice; similar to offering private events or other perks for preferred customers?

I know this is more nuanced than social media and news outlets present the issues to us, but there are both plusses and minuses to government mandates and vaccine passports/proof, and winners and losers.

It also doesn’t address the issue of some people who can’t get vaccinated: the young, people with autoimmune diseases or other medical conditions, those who have had serious reactions to previous vaccines; even pregnancy is an unknown safety factor. Vaccine mandates without reasonable exemptions are going to harm some people; maybe far fewer than might get seriously ill or die from the disease if everyone was unvaccinated, but they would needlessly sacrifice some people for the perceived greater good instead of fine-tuning to make vaccinations even safer. Vaccines aren’t perfect; why pretend that they are?

My problem with routine vaccinations is that there is no willingness or incentive to track a minority that may be harmed by vaccines in order to make them safer by identifying people or traits that are unsuitable for a particular vaccine. The ingredients are also a problem for some; including mercury and aluminum, preservatives, allergens, and other chemicals. Why is there no good study on the safety of the complete vaccination program of some 16 vaccines; some with additional boosters? Why are vaccine critics quickly attacked as anti-science, rather than honestly assessing their claims? Why are calls to fine-tune the vaccination program to make it even safer quickly shut down as anti-vaxxers? I appreciate the elimination of TB, smallpox, measles, etc. But why ignore a minority for whom some vaccines - or some ingredients - may be contraindicated to reduce the criticism?

Sorry, but I seem to have more questions than answers.

Aspergillus Niger Safety

2021-04-28T11:21:00.001-05:00

Fermentation is a process where a microorganism is utilized as a factory to produce certain nutrients or other biologically useful substances for humans. The culture, environment, and feed can encourage production of various products including enzymes and organic acids that are commonly used in foods and supplements. Some molds are benign; think of Saccharomyces boulardii (related to the yeasts in bread or beer) or blue cheese.

While Aspergillus niger is a black mold, it is not the black mold that contaminates homes. As with the enzymes produced by A. niger, inhalation of mold or enzymes is not healthy for the lungs, and precautions are taken during production. In addition, A. niger is considered GRAS (generally regarded as safe) by the FDA and has been used for a century to produce citric acid and enzymes. Enzymes produced by A. niger do not contain significant amounts of the culture after isolation and purification to USP monograph standards of purity. Just as milk does not contain a cow, enzymes produced by A. niger do not inherently contain black mold.

The U.S EPA has reported:

“Exposure to Aspergillus must be nearly universal but disease is rare. The physiological condition of the exposed individual thus appears to be of paramount importance. Patients exhibiting aspergillosis are generally immunocompromised, and thus susceptible to otherwise common and usually harmless microorganisms. Factors that may lead to immunosuppression include an underlying debilitating disease (e.g., chronic granulomatous diseases of childhood), chemotherapy, and the use of supraphysiological doses of adrenal corticosteroids (Bennett, 1980)…A. niger is not a significant human pathogen. Throughout years of use and widespread exposure to A. niger in the environment, there are only several reports of aspergillosis with A. niger, and in Nigeria, one report of a number of cases of otomycosis. There have been only several reports of allergic reactions, which are not uncommon for aspergilli in general, and not unique to A. niger. A. niger is capable of producing several mycotoxins. However, mycotoxin production appears to be controlled by the conditions of fermentation.”

EPA’s Final risk assessment for Aspergillus niger https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/fra006.pdf

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12172605/

Blood pH and diet

2021-04-26T13:09:00.004-05:00

Blood pH is relatively constant at around 7.4 because the body will strip calcium from bones, if necessary, to buffer it in the absence of alkaline-forming food components. That is not homeostasis. But blood pH does vary (typically within a range of 6.8 to 7.8, with potentially lethal effects beyond that range) and affects urine pH, which we can easily measure.

Dietary compounds formed in the body affect blood pH; not the contrasting pH levels in the digestive tract (acid in the stomach and neutral in the small intestine) or the apparent acidity of foods, but what happens after digestion. The minerals or weak acids (citrates, et al) in alkaline-forming foods are used to make alkaline compounds in the body, which won't happen efficiently with a processed food or a non-plant-derived diet. Scientists have measured this effect and doctors have utilized it in practice, so it's not theoretical or based on pH limited to areas of the digestive tract. https://www.drrusselljaffe.com/7-principles-eating-alkaline-way/

"An advanced understanding of acid–base physiology is as central to the practice of critical care medicine, as are an understanding of cardiac and pulmonary physiology. Intensivists spend much of their time managing problems related to fluids, electrolytes, and blood pH. Recent advances in the understanding of acid–base physiology have occurred as the result of the application of basic physical-chemical principles of aqueous solutions to blood plasma. This analysis has revealed three independent variables that regulate pH in blood plasma. These variables are carbon dioxide, relative electrolyte concentrations, and total weak acid concentrations. All changes in blood pH, in health and in disease, occur through changes in these three variables. Clinical implications for these findings are also discussed." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC137247/

2021-02-04T09:13:00.004-06:00

Mayo Clinic researchers: vitamin B12 deficiency can cause premature graying of hair (PGH), which could be reversed thru supplementation. Low vitamin & mineral levels have also been associated with PGH, reversed by supplements: B5, PABA, D, copper, (iron). PMID: 30607038

Fish Oils: Ethyl Ester versus Triglyceride forms

2020-07-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

Low strength natural fish oils are in triglyceride (TG) form, as are most natural oils. To purify the oils by removing impurities and less desirable fatty acids and to concentrate the EPA and DHA fatty acid components, molecular distillation is used. This process allows the oil to vaporize at low temperatures under pressure and is also known as vacuum distillation. The resulting vapor is collected and cooled, stratifying into distinct layers of fatty acids. This allows a purer esterified oil (called an ethyl ester form, or EE) with higher levels of EPA-DHA than crude fish oils and removal of triglycerides and cholesterol as well as other undesirable components.

Some companies like to add triglycerides back in; this dilutes the fish oil concentrate by about 20% and the process also introduces mono- and di-glycerides, which don’t exist in natural fish oils to a significant degree but are thought responsible for higher absorption levels of this reconverted triglyceride form (rTG) oil over natural triglyceride and ethyl ester forms. If no triglycerides are added back, the body’s own store of triglycerides will be used to bond to the fatty acids after absorption, potentially lowering serum triglycerides more than an rTG oil.

Absorption from our guts is always in the form of free fatty acids, so the oil’s original triglycerides are typically discarded during digestion and reattached later from body stores. This lowers the potential of the TG or rTG oils to lower triglycerides already in our bodies since they introduce additional triglycerides, which may be absorbed either into the body (adding more triglycerides into the liver) or into fiber or other materials that carry cholesterol out through the stool (potentially reducing the removal of cholesterol by competitive absorption).

The prescription fish oils are in the ethyl ester form, not triglyceride form, because of the higher purity and higher strength of EE fish oils over TG or rTG forms resulting in better study outcomes on cardiovascular health measures.

Krill oil is distinct because of its phospholipid matrix that greatly enhances omega-3 absorption more than the EE, TG, or rTG forms of fish oil.

Do bioflavonoids enhance Vitamin C absorption?

2020-06-09T12:34:00.000-05:00

Vitamin C absorption from the gut is governed by sodium content for active transport. For passive absorption throughout the length of the intestine the vitamin does not use a similar co-factor.

The bioflavonoids come into play after vitamin C has been absorbed and is in circulation. This vitamin has a relatively short half-life and depends on other antioxidants to act as electron donors to 'reduce' oxidized vitamin C (dehydroascorbate) back into the antioxidant form (ascorbate; ascorbic acid). Various antioxidants, including bioflavonoids and polyphenols in fruits, are typically used to provide that extra benefit. So the recycling and longevity of vitamin C after absorption depends greatly on the presence of other antioxidants; including not only rutin and bioflavonoids but also alpha lipoic acid, glutathione, and numerous other antioxidants.

So there is a benefit to using a base, often called vitamin C complex, in a vitamin C formula, but not so much in the initial absorption as in the vitamin's retention and recycling for re-use over time. The variety of antioxidant-related nutrients in the human diet is thought responsible for why humans can retain vitamin C between meals when we cannot manufacture our own from blood sugar at will, as most mammals can.

Aluminum in chlorella and other foods

2019-11-05T09:21:00.001-06:00

Aluminum is one of the most abundant elements on earth and is correspondingly present in both food and water supplies. It is not a toxic heavy metal and so it is not routinely tested in foods or other raw materials, but the reported levels in chlorella are still low compared to common produce and other food staples; and chlorella’s serving size is also much smaller, which minimizes any potential risk even more.

Aluminum in foods is not a cause for concern for toxicology experts because orally consumed aluminum is not considered to be very bioavailable from the gut, nor persistent in the body. Less than 1% is typically absorbed from our G.I. tracts, and virtually all of that has been shown to be excreted in the urine or feces. (Injectable sources, such as vaccine adjuvants, present a separate issue as absorption is not constrained by an effective gut barrier.)

Some companies tout lower levels of aluminum in their chlorella products as a marketing distinction, but admit that the levels being compared are far lower than in most common foods that are considered very healthy, i.e. cruciferous vegetables; despite the overwhelming safety data showing no real risk from consuming these foods that are normally considered to be good for us.

Here is a toxicology evaluation of dietary aluminum safety: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11259180