Televangelist Tries to Cash in on Covid

Televangelist Jim Bakker (yes, that Jim Bakker) is being sued by the State of Missouri, is under threat of an additional lawsuit by the State of New York and has a desist warning in place from the FDA over his promotion of an $80 "silver solution" cure for Covid-19.

Silver Solution "has been proven by the government that it has the ability to kill every pathogen it has ever been tested on, including SARS and HIV." Four 4-ounce bottles could be yours for just $80.

Unfortunately for Bakker, there is no such proof.  For the past two decades, the FDA's message has been clear: silver does not work to combat serious diseases. Over-the-counter drugs that contain colloidal silver ingredients "are not generally recognized as safe and effective," it says. According to the National Institutes for Health very little evidence backs up the health-related claims of silver. "Colloidal silver can be dangerous to your health," the NIH says.

But, hey, what is a little risk to your health compared to the benefit to this man of the cloth's bank account right?

To add insult to injury, the good media pastor received over $650,000 in Payroll Protection Program money. On April 28, the pastor received approval for an amount between $650,000 and $1.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds despite the fact that the program requires that applicants not be "engaged in any activity that is illegal under federal, state or local law". Selling a fake "treatment" for the COVID-19 disease violates state and federal law.

Perhaps the scariest part of this entire episode is that there are still people who listen to and follow this disgusting parasite.

 

 

Five Ways to Fight Chronic Inflammation

Cellular level inflammation underlies many health problems, both serious and merely annoying. Long term, chronic inflammation underlies cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, asthma, and a long list of autoimmune diseases. It also makes you more vulnerable to less threatening illnesses such as colds and flu.

Here are five lifestyle steps that you can take to combat chronic cellular inflammation. And none of them require a prescription.

1. You Are What You Eat

It should be no surprise that a healthy diet leads the list. Not only does a healthy diet reduce inflammation but a poor on exacerbates it. To make this as simple as possible, fresh, whole foods are good and refined, processed foods are bad. This is problematic because refined, highly processed foods also tend to be tasty, convenient and, cheaper than fresh foods. But there is no free ride. You pay now, or you pay later.

Don't make this complicated, it doesn't need to be. Start out by increasing the amount of fresh produce, seafood, nuts and whole grains that you eat each day. Even a dozen blueberries on your morning cereal or having salmon or tuna once or twice a week will make a difference.

At the same time, begin to reduce the refined white flour, sugar and trans fats you consume. The sugar, especially, promotes inflammation and it is hidden in every processed food you eat.

Preparation method also matters. Fast food and fried foods, even prepared fresh, incite inflammation. If you must fry your food, pay attention to the type of oil you use and be sure to fry at a high enough temperature.

2. Get Enough Sleep

You already know that you should be getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. But are you doing it? Even a few days of getting less sleep than you need increases inflammation in your body.

Decide what time you need to be up tomorrow morning. Subtract 8 hours. That is the time you need to get to bed. Yes. Weekends too.

3. Step On Out

Start walking. You don't have to set aside an hour for an "official" walking session (although there is nothing wrong with that at all). Take the stairs. Park far out in the lot. Use part of your lunch break to take a stroll. Bring your dog to the dog park. Get out of your chair and stroll around for 5 minutes every hour. Just build more steps into you day. 

If you can, spend some time outdoors. The sunshine and fresh air will revitalize you as well as an afternoon coffee. 

4. Have a Talk with Mr Stress

Stress in itself is neither a good thing or a bad thing. It is your reaction to stress that matters. It is also pretty much impossible to live a stress-free life. So you need to take charge of your relationship with stress.

Stress is your body’s reaction to pressure from a situation or event. It can be a physical, mental, or emotional reaction. Sometimes you feel stressed for a short period of time in reaction a a specific situation. Usually this nothing to worry about. This type of stress is short-lived, and your body’s way of helping you get through what could be a tough situation.

But if you let your stress continue on for too long, it can have damaging effects on your physical, mental, and emotional health. Chronic exposure to the hormones released when under stress, principally cortisol, is a primary driver of cellular inflammation.

Exercise is a very effective way to reduce stress (and better than punching your stressor in the nose). Take a breath. Take several. Confront the source of your stress. Focus on what is really important and let the other stuff go, even if just for a while. Learn to manage your time effectively (this includes learning to say "No" at times).

Try to remember what you were stressed out about last week or last month. If you can't, remind yourself of that when facing your current problems.

5. Reduce Your Chemical Load

Preservatives in our foods, chemical cleaners, contaminants in our water, soaps, shampoos and toothpaste, industrial pollutants, air pollution, plastic residues. The environmental sources of toxins are legion and many of them end up in our bodies. A good rule of thumb is, "When you are in a hole you want to get out of, first stop digging."

Switch to natural cleaners and household products, or make your own. Google makes it simple. Reduce your use of plastics as much as practical (this is a tough one, everything contains or comes wrapped in plastic but you can use refillable water bottles and buy foods in glass or cardboard containers that can be easily recycled). Buy organic fruits and vegetables (at least if you consume the rind or skin). Use the unscented versions of products such as dryer sheets, soaps and toiletries. Avoid using air fresheners.

 

And remember, even a few small changes matter. You do not need to change everything all at once. Just take a step. The second step is easier than the first.

Clinically Proven! (Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge)

 "Clinically proven!" shouts the add.

Sort of conjures up visions of scientists in lab coats pouring over carefully measured results, doesn't it? It is far more likely that the "proof" is a flawed study specifically pre-designed to show a desired result. 

"Whatever your product does, PCR is here to provide your brand with the appropriate efficacy testing to make your claims a fact by proving their legitimacy," says the web site of Princeton Consumer Research, a New Jersey based company that does product testing for its clients. Sounds objective and clinical to me! Why bother going to the expense and effort of an actual study when you can outsource the work to a company that will concoct a study that will "make your claims a fact"?

Here are some other tricks of the clinically proven trade.

Don't use a control group.

One of the cornerstones of clinical research is incorporating a control group into the study. Any real trial requires one group using the product being tested and another, essentially identical, group taking a placebo. "Clinical studies" that omit this step are basically worthless.

Measure Something Impressive that Doesn't Matter.

A test can be perfectly valid and accurate without proving what the study is intended to show. A long running television ad for Lipozene (Lose weight without changing your diet or lifestyle!) claims the product is "clinically proven" to "help you lose four times more weight". Uhm, four times more weight than what? And does the product do the job, or only "help" you to do it? The commercials do not say.

Ignore the Statistics.

One of the favorite ways to fudge your results is to ignore statistical significance. If the margin of error in a study is, say plus or minus 10% and the difference between the study and control groups is less than that, it proves nothing. But that often doesn't stop a company from claiming "clinically proven".

Publish in Poorly or Un-refereed Journals.

Not all publications are alike. JAMA is one thing. The Journal of Society for Development in New Net Environment in Bosnia Herzegovina is another. (Yes, its a real thing.) But companies will use either to claim "clinically proven".

 

Something may indeed be clinically proven. Or not. One thing that is well proven is that you can not rely on a company's marketing to learn the truth.

COVID-19: Where to Turn for Objective Information

In past national crises, I remember Americans coming together. Like a family that squabbles constantly, a threat from the outside made us close ranks. But the current pandemic seems to have only driven us farther apart. It is increasingly difficult to know where to turn for objective, reliable information. As social media spawns legions of new public health, infectious disease and epidemiology experts and broadcast media feeds their viewers what they want to hear, it is increasingly difficult to know where to turn for objective, reliable information.

Here are four web sites that I believe supply just that. They have no products to sell and no political ax to grind. If you know of any others, please post them to to comments. Its time for Americans to start pulling together again.

 

Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. 

coronavirus.jhu.edu

This site has daily updates on cases and deaths and map displays so you can see what that means in your locale. There is also a great explanation of the pros and cons of the various types of tests (there is more than just one) and advice for what to do if you think you may be infected.

Be aware that many fake news sites and scammers will claim to be from John Hopkins University (without the s) and should be ignored.

The New England Journal of Medicine

nejm.org/coronavirus

One of the most respected and credible medical journals in the world. This is the place to look for reliable information on the latest virus research and vaccine development information.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest

cspinet.org/covid-19-evidence-hub

A ruthlessly apolitical, science-based organization, this site is a compilation of links to other sites that track Covid-19 research.

The Federal Trade Commission

ftc.gov/coronavirus/scams-consumer-advice

Sadly, the pandemic is viewed by scammers as a golden opportunity. Scams are not only trying to steal your money with useless preventatives and cures, but also to sow doubt and stir political unrest.

Are Plant-based Burgers Better?

They are everywhere now. In supermarkets, restaurants and even some fast food burger places sell them. The meat industry is going crazy trying to discredit them. Plant-based burger substitutes now look and largely taste like their real meat competition. And unlike meat production they are not a huge contributor to carbon waste and global warming. But are they really better for you?

While most of the leading meatless burgers are truly meatless and offer as much - in some cases more - protein than beef, they are also a very highly processed food and carry many of the same problems and drawbacks of other processed foods.

They are made in a way that actually strips many of the naturally occurring nutrients and phytochemicals from the finished product. They are also disturbingly high in saturated fat and sodium. The fat is added mostly to produce a "marbled" appearance that mimics real meat, and a four ounce plant-burger may contain as much as 400mg of added sodium.

This means that making yourself a burger using 85% lean ground beef will give you no more saturated fat and only slightly less protein than a plant-based alternative. The beef does contain a good bit of cholesterol compared to none in the substitute. There is less sodium in the real beef.

Older meat alternatives such as Morningstar and Boca products are made primarily from beans and grains and are almost free of saturated fat and lower in sodium. While I favor them and find them to taste pretty good, you would not be in any danger of confusing them with real meat.

The bottom line is that the current lineup of plant-based burger substitutes are a mixed bag and you should not automatically assume that they are a healthier choice than lean beef or, better yet, bison. But there is no reason to entirely avoid them either. As is so often the case, moderation is a good policy.

Fast Food and Concentration

It is known that over a long period of time, the saturated fats, sugar and sodium in typical fast food meals have a detrimental effect on cognition and mental clarity and focus. But a recent study from Ohio State University and published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that even a single fast food meal can compromise concentration and focus by over 10%. The Ohio State University study compared how 51 women performed on a test of their attention after they ate either a meal high in saturated fat or the same meal made with sunflower oil, which is high in unsaturated fat. The meal was a breakfast offering, designed to mimic breakfast choices found at fast food restaurants.

The study did not explore the mechanism of action for the decline in concentration, but previous research has found that saturated fat triggers inflammation throughout the body, which may affect brain function.

The Four P's of Safe Supplements

While the FDA withholds approval of new drugs pending exhaustive (and expensive) clinical trials and safety tests, it allows manufacturers of supplements to "self-certify" their safety and it really doesn't care if they are effective. Instead it simply forbids sellers from claiming that a supplement "prevents or treats" any health condition or disease. This means that if you simply assume that supplements you buy are safe and effective, you may be very much mistaken.

Now this is not to claim that supplements should be avoided. I take them every day and I sell them to others. I have no doubt that when used as intended, as a supplement to a basically healthy diet, they can help improve and maintain our good health. But it does mean that the burden of due diligence is on you, the consumer, to know what you are getting.

So consider the Four P's (Precision, Potency, Purity and Performance) when deciding whether and which supplement products might be right for you.

 

Precision

Is what you are buying what is actually in the bottle? There are companies selling flat out bogus products but they are the exception and not the rule. A more serious concern is that the ingredients listed on the label are not actually contained in the product. This is disturbingly common. How common? Some studies have found that more than half of the supplement products analyzed contained more or less of ingredients than listed on the label or, in some cases, none of them at all.

As one especially egregious example, DimPlex weight loss supplements have been found to contain fish oil (not listed) and none of the green tea extract they claimed to contain.

Potency

Are the ingredients present in the correct amounts? Are the dosages on the label what you are getting in the product? In some cases, too little or too much of an ingredient causes no harm (other than your wasted money and false expectations). But in some cases too high a dose can cause heath problems.

Purity

It is not uncommon for supplement products to be contaminated with unsafe substances such as heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, mold, fungus or bacteria. This can be a particular problem when the supplements are manufactured in India, China or other foreign countries with few or no standards or enforcement. Unfortunately, country of origin is rarely indicated on product labels and there is no requirement for it to be.

Performance

This is more about absorption than whether or not a particular supplement does what it manufacturer claims it does. At the end of the day, it is the amount that actually is absorbed by your body that matters, not the amount in the product. Capsules and pills are held together by "binding agents" and some of these work (that is dissolve after being taken) much better than others. While pharmaceuticals are tested to determine how quickly and completely they dissolve, supplements are not.

There is no way to know how many or which specific supplement products fail one or more of these quality standards. The journal BMC Medicine recently published a study concluding that about 1/3 of supplements sold in the US and Canada contained fillers or other ingredients not listed on the label. So what is a consumer to do?

First, while you should not use price as a guide to quality, avoiding the very cheapest, low-end products is probably a good idea. This is not to say that the costliest ones are best but quality control costs money.

Try to deal with companies that have been in business for a long time. You will rarely stay in operation for 25 or 30 or more years if your products are of poor quality. If possible, choose companies that manufacture their own products rather than "job shopping" them out to others. Stick with North American or European companies that have higher manufacturing standards. In the US, the FDA has established Good Manufacturing Standards (GMP) and randomly audits companies for compliance.

Look for certification seals. The US Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplement Verification Program (USP), NSF American National Standard Certification Program and ConsumerLab Quality Certification are all rigorous standards that companies have to work hard to achieve and maintain.

Stay away from one ingredient miracle supplements. Nutrition is not that simple. Be suspicious when you see "proprietary blend" as a main ingredient. It could literally be anything.

As is sadly the case all too often, you can't take a supplement product at face value.

A Pandemic Sliver Lining

There is precious little good coming out of the Coronavirus pandemic so far. But one possible silver lining to all this physical isolation (I don't feel isolated socially) is that people are relearning a dying art - cooking at home. Most everyone is eating at home most all the time now. But a recent survey by market research firm Hunter International found that people are not only eating at home but 54% of them are doing all or most of their own cooking. And discovering that it is really not that difficult and that they can do it pretty well.

A January 2020 study published in Public Health Nutrition suggests that people who cook and eat at home have healthier diets and better health outcomes. (What a shock right?).

The Hunter survey also concluded that 57% of Americans say they are wasting less food during the pandemic and exploring the internet for recipes using ingredients they already had on hand so as to minimize trips to the grocery store.

It seems likely that when the pandemic is finally defeated that not everything will return to precisely the way it was before this began. If people cook and eat at home more and at restaurants less often after this is over, we may eventually count that as a wellness win for us all.

5 Tips for Reducing Your Food Waste

According to the USDA, America wastes between 30% and 40% of the food it produces every year. This includes not only the slimy lettuce in your crisper but pervades the entire food supply and amounts to some 133 billion pounds of food worth about $161 billion dollars (2010 data).

There is not much you can do about food waste on the farm, in transit, processing or retail stores. But here are 5 things you can do to minimize wasted food in your own kitchen.

1. Revive wilted greens and limp veggies by letting them soak in ice water for about 10 minutes right before using them.

2. Store leftovers in clear containers and store them toward the front of your fridge so that you see them every time you open the door. Seeing them often makes it much more likely that you will use them before they go bad.

3. Greens like spinach and kale that are on the verge of spoiling can be steamed or sauteed in a little olive oil or butter and will taste good as new.

4. You can freeze many things that you probably never thought you could, such as milk, bread, butter, cheese, beaten eggs, nuts and just about any sort of fruit. Store individual portions in plastic freezer bags or containers.

5. Shop smarter. Don't buy things you just end up throwing away. Plan your shopping and work from a list. You probably don't have to buy the maximum amount in order to get the promotional price.

Every bit of food you do not throw away is money in your pocket.

Cuckoo for Coconut Oil

Coconut oil enthusiasts claim that it lowers body weight, body fat percentage, blood sugar and cellular inflammation. Several meta-study analyses published in the journal Circulation this year found no evidence that consuming coconut oil did any of those things. What is did do is result in "significantly higher LDL-cholesterol than nontropical vegetable oils".

Ninety percent (90%) of the fat in coconut oil is saturated (vs about 40% in a lean beef tenderloin). In the 14 randomized controlled trials of coconut oil vs nontropical vegetable oils (canola, olive, soybean) coconut oil raised LDL (bad) cholesterol by about 11 points.

"This should inform choices about coconut oil consumption," the authors dryly concluded.

We may live in a post-fact world where opinion has the weight of science. But results and outcomes don't give a crap about opinion.

Food Marketers to the Rescue

I've been complaining for some time about the misleading labeling and marketing of our food. So when the industry steps up to protect us from confusing and misleading labeling, it would be wrong not to give them a pat on the back.

Why the sudden concern about the misleading food labels they specialize in? Because the "alternative meat" industry is on a roll.

Plant based meat substitutes now comprise an $800 million a year business. And meat producers are concerned that you will be confused by them and mistake them for real meat. This despite the fact that products such as Beyond Meat, Morningstar and Impossible Burger prominently feature words such as "vegetarian", "vegan", and "plant based" on their labeling already, the traditional meat industry is worried that you might mistake these products for animal meat.

Eager to protect you from accidentally buying "plant-based meat" substitutes under the impression that you were getting animal meat products, the industry is pushing bills in Congress to confine the word "meat" to foods derived from animals. And just in case that doesn't work, their trade groups are launching fear mongering campaigns in the media questioning the nutritional and health value of meat substitutes. (In fairness, plant-based meats are not necessarily health foods.)

I'm all in favor of efforts to protect consumers from the deceptive labeling that food companies routinely employ. But this effort is designed to protect meat producers from unwelcome competition. Are you really so stupid as to think your plant-based Beyond Meat burger is ground bison?

I didn't think so. But the marketing and lobbying arms of the meat industry apparently do.