Wednesday Sep 28, 2022

The Gary Null Show - 09.28.22

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Black gold? Rhizome extract said to have anti-ageing and anti-diabetic effects
Oryza Chemical (Thailand),
Black ginger extract could have important implications for healthy ageing and diabetes, as well as athletic performance.

Presented in Bangkok by Oryza Oil & Fat Chemical’s Masami Kawaziri, the herbaceous plant is also called black turmeric in Japan, and krachai dum in its country of origin, Thailand.

The plant’s extract has been used in Thailand for many years as a traditional medicine to boost energy and relieve gastrointestinal problems, and more recently, researchers in Asia have been looking into its benefits for seniors, diabetics and sportspersons.

Energising results
Its polymethoxyflavones are said to enhance energy production, thereby improving glucose, fat and lipid metabolism. This can either prevent metabolic syndrome, or aid in treating diabetes.

The boost in energy production also helps to enhance athletic performance and recovery.

Kawaziri shared the results of a 2016 study on the effects of black ginger extract intake on physical strength, skin condition, post-exercise fatigue, and general fatigue.

Subjects who had been given the extract reported an increase in strength, and being less fatigued overall and after exercise.

Brains and brawn
Kawaziri said this was important for the elderly as well, since the extract is believed to minimise muscle loss. He added that the extract could play a part in “preventing poor blood circulation” and lowering blood pressure.

Furthermore, he said the extract could help to enhance and maintain cognitive function, delaying or perhaps even preventing diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Higher levels of fluoride in pregnant woman linked to lower intelligence in their children
University of Toronto

Fluoride in the urine of pregnant women shows a correlation with lower measures of intelligence in their children, according to University of Toronto researchers who conducted the first study of its kind and size to examine fluoride exposure and multiple states of neurodevelopment.

“Our study shows that the growing fetal nervous system may be adversely affected by higher levels of fluoride exposure,” said Dr. Howard Hu, the study’s principal investigator and professor of environmental health, epidemiology and global health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “It also suggests that the prenatal nervous system may be more sensitive to fluoride compared to that of school-aged children.”

Tap water and dental products have been fluoridated in communities in Canada and the United States (as well as milk and table salt in some other countries) by varying amounts for more than 60 years to prevent cavities and improve bone health. In recent years, fierce debate over the safety of water fluoridation – particularly for children’s developing brains – has fuelled researchers to explore the issue and provide evidence to inform national drinking water standards.

There are some known side effects of fluoride. For example, dental defects like mild staining are common among those ingesting recommended levels of fluoride in the United States and Canada. Skeletal fluorosis – excessive accumulation of fluoride in the bones – is much less common and only observed at levels of fluoride in the water that are more than five to 10 times higher than those recommended.

“Relatively little is known, with confidence, about fluoride’s impact on neurodevelopment,” said Hu, whose research team included experts from U of T, National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, University of Michigan, McGill University, Indiana University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Harvard School of Public Health.

The study, “Prenatal Fluoride Exposure and Cognitive Outcomes in Children at 4 and 6-12 Years of Age in Mexico,” published today in Environmental Health Perspectives, analyzed data from 287 mother-child pairs in Mexico City that were part of the Early Life Exposures in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) project, which recruited pregnant women from 1994 to 2005 and has continued to follow the women and their children ever since.

The research team analyzed urine samples that had been taken from mothers during pregnancy and from their children between six and 12 years of age to reconstruct personal measures of fluoride exposure for both mother and child.

“This is significant because previous studies estimated exposures based on neighbourhood measurements of drinking water fluoride levels, which are indirect and much less precise measures of exposure. They also looked at children’s exposures instead of prenatal exposures or had much smaller sample sizes of subjects to study,” said Dr. Hu.

The researchers then analyzed how levels of fluoride in urine related to the children’s verbal, perceptual-performance, quantitative, memory, and motor abilities at age four and once more between the ages of six and 12. Analyses were adjusted for other factors known to impact neurodevelopment, such as gestational age at birth, birthweight, birth order, sex, maternal marital status, smoking history, age at delivery, IQ, education, socioeconomic status and lead exposure.

With regard to the study’s implications for populations in North America, researchers found that urinary fluoride levels in pregnant women were somewhat higher than, but within the general range of, urinary fluoride levels seen in non-pregnant general populations in Canada and the United States. However, in Dr. Hu’s opinion, the findings do not provide enough information to suggest there is no safe level of fluoride exposure.

“The potential risks associated with fluoride should be further studied, particularly among vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children, and more research on fluoride’s impact on the developing brain is clearly needed.”

Polyphenol blend may boost post-exercise recovery: RCT
University of Murcia (Spain), and the University of Montpellier (France)
Daily supplementation with a blend of extracts from mangosteen, elderberry, and pomegranate may delay muscle soreness and help manage post-exercise recovery, says a new study.

Consumption of Fytexia’s polyphenol-rich ingredient branded TensLess was associated with a 28% reduction in the perception of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), compared with a placebo group, according to results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study.

Biomarkers of muscle damage were also reduced, in correlation with the decreases in DOMS, reported scientists from Fytexia (France), Catholic University of Murcia (Spain), and the University of Montpellier (France) in the journal Phytotherapy Research .

“This prospective study highlights the beneficial, both acute and sub-chronic effects of the supplementation with TensLess, a polyphenol-rich extract-based food supplement, on adverse symptoms associated with DOMS, namely eccentric exercise-related markers of muscle impairment,” they wrote.

Study details
The researchers recruited 13 recreationally active athletes (men and women) to participate in their study. Participants were randomly assigned to consume placebo or 1.5 grams per day of TensLess, composed of polyphenol-rich extracts from mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.), pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), and black elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) combination for five days. All of the study participants performed an eccentric exercise protocol on day one of the study, and DOMS and biomarkers of muscle damage were monitored for four more days. This was then followed by a three-week “washout” period before they were crossed over to the other group for five more days.

The results showed that TensLess supplementation provided a significant 33% decrease in DOMS perception as early as the first 24 hours following physical exercise, compared to placebo. In addition to this acute benefit, a 28% reduction in DOMS perception was reported compared to the placebo group for the full duration of the study.

These effects were correlated with a lower levels of muscle damage-associated biomarkers, specifically creatine kinase, creatinine and myoglobin during the 4 days post-workout, added the researchers.

Taken together, these positive results clearly indicate that post-exercise supplementation with TensLess may preserve myocytes and reduce soreness following eccentric exercise-induced damages, and, accordingly, significantly shorten muscle recovery.

Study supports efficacy of hyaluronan for wrinkle reduction
Toho University Ohashi Medical Center (Japan)
Twelve weeks of supplementation with hyaluronan – also known as hyaluronic acid – may improve the “luster” of the skin and reduce wrinkles, says a new study from Japan.

Data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 60 adults indicated that 120 milligrams per day of Kewpie’s hyaluronan ingredients Hyabest (A) and Hyabest (S) LF-P also led to improvements in skin suppleness.

“This study showed that the oral ingestion of the [molecular weight] 2 k or 300 k [hyaluronic acid] for 12 weeks suppresses wrinkles and improves the skin’s luster and suppleness in people aged 59 years or less who were healthy Japanese men and women over 22 years old. From the above, [hyaluronic acid] consumption is expected to be used as a method to maintain healthy skin,” wrote researchers from Kewpie Corporation and the Toho University Ohashi Medical Center in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology .

Kewpie Corp funded the study.

HA and skin
The skin contains about 50% of the body’s hyaluronan (HA), a component present in every connective tissue. Degradation of HA and collagen is reported to be a cause of wrinkles, with many ingredient suppliers exploring the potential of supplementation to improve skin health from within.

Scientists from Kewpie authored a review i published in the Nutrition Journal, which concluded: “The reduction of HA in the skin by intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as aging and ultraviolet radiation, smoking and air pollutants induce dryness in the skin. However, daily HA supplements can moisturize the skin because the metabolites of HA increases the skin moisture content by having an effect on the skin cells. Thus, consuming HA affects skin cell and improves dry skin physiologically.

“This review shows that consuming HA moisturizes the skin and employing HA as a dietary supplement makes the skin healthy. We believe that countries worldwide will benefit from this review and consume HA to alleviate dry skin.”

The new double-blinded, placebo-controlled study adds to this body of evidence and investigated the effects of the ingredient on wrinkles.

The researchers recruited 60 Japanese men and women aged between 22 and 59 to participate in their study. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Placebo, or a HA formulation using one of two varieties, with a molecular weight of 2k or 300k (Hyabest (A) and Hyabest (S) LF-P, respectively). Both groups received a dosage of 120 mg per day.

Three-dimensional analysis of their skin indicated that the HA groups showed a better level of the whole sulcus (grooves in the skin) to volume ratio, wrinkle area ratio, and wrinkle volume ratio, compared to placebo and baseline values. However, only the 300 k (Hyabest (S) LF-P) group showed significantly diminished wrinkles compared with the placebo group.

Exercise can make cells healthier, promoting longer life, study finds
University of Virginia

Whether it’s running, walking, cycling, swimming or rowing, it’s been well-known since ancient times that doing some form of aerobic exercise is essential to good health and well-being. You can lose weight, sleep better, fight stress and high blood pressure, improve your mood, plus strengthen bones and muscles.

“Whether muscle is healthy or not really determines whether the entire body is healthy or not,” said Zhen Yan of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “And exercise capacity, mainly determined by muscle size and function, is the best predictor of mortality in the general population.”

Yan and colleagues have completed a study in mice that, for the first time, shows that just one bout of moderate-to-intense exercise acts as a “stress test” on mitochondria in muscles. They discovered that this “stress test” induced by aerobic exercise triggers a process called mitophagy, where the muscle disposes of the damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria, making the muscle healthier. Yan compares exercise-induced mitophagy to a state vehicle inspection that removes damaged cars from the streets.

“Aerobic exercise removes damaged mitochondria in skeletal muscle,” Yan said. “If you do it repeatedly, you keep removing the damaged ones. You have a better muscle with better mitochondrial quality. We clean up the clunkers, now the city, the cell, is full of healthy, functional cars.”

How Exercise Removes Mitochondria ‘Clunkers’

For this study, Yan and colleagues assessed the skeletal muscle of a mouse model where they had added a mitochondrial reporter gene called “pMitoTimer.” The mitochondria fluoresce green when they are healthy and turn red when damaged and broken down by the cell’s waste-disposal system, the lysosomes.

The mice ran on a small treadmill for 90 minutes and Yan’s team observed mitochondrial stress (signs of “state inspection”) and some mitophagy (towing of the clunkers) at six hours after exercise. Yan explained that exercise in these mice also stimulated a kinase called AMPK, which in turn switched on another kinase, Ulk1. These chemical reactions appear to be important in control of the removal of dysfunctional mitochondria.

“When its turned on, Ulk1 activates other components in the cell to execute the removal of dysfunctional mitochondria,” Yan said. “It’s analogous to a 911 call where a tow truck removes the clunkers. However, we still do not know how these activities are coordinated.”

LED lights safer, more effective in producing Vitamin D3 than sunlight
Boston University

Research published in Scientific Reports showsthat light from RayVio’s 293nm ultraviolet (UV) LED is more efficient than sunlight at producing vitamin D3 in skin samples. Tyler Kalajian and his research team, led by Dr. Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., and supported by Boston University School of Medicine and a Boston University Ignition Award, found that skin samples exposed to RayVio’s UV LED for just 0.52 minutes produced more than twice as much vitamin D3 as samples exposed to 32.5 minutes of sunlight.

“We tested ultraviolet LEDs from different sources and at different wavelengths. LED showed the most significantpotential for vitamin D3 production in the shortest amount of time,” said Dr. Holick, a Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics atBoston University School of Medicine, and endocrinologist at BostonMedical Center. “This study will lead to a new generation of technologythat can be labeled as photopharmacology in which the use of LEDswith targeted wavelengths can cause specific biologic effects in humanskin to help treat and prevent chronic illnesses.”

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with osteoporosis, rickets and other metabolic bone diseases and is more prevalent in northern and southern latitudes where sunlight is limited for a significant part of the year. This device for making vitamin D is ideally suited for patients with fat malabsorption syndromes including inflammatory bowel disease and gastric bypass surgery.

The research shows that LEDs could be used for treating patients that are vitamin D deficient. A vitamin D3 producing UV LED device could be used on skin areas that experience less exposure to sunlight such as upper legs and arms and abdomen and back thus minimizing risk for developing non-melanoma skin cancer. The UV LED device also emits a much narrower band of UVB light and thereby decreasing likelihood of skin damage that can occur when the skin is exposed to higher wavelengths of UV radiation.