Nutrition

Feature: Oral vitamin C may be able to cure many cancers! As this is a particular interest of mine, I have been in touch with many experts, and have both short and long summaries of these discussions. Here is why a new oral vitamin C may be able to treat cancer.  And here is where it can be ordered.
1. NAD+ (niacin, vitamin B3-related compound) decrease with age, and supplements can prolong both health span and life span, esp. neurodegenerative disease. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a coenzyme found in all living cells.  Here we review factors that regulate NAD+ and discuss how supplementation with NAD+ precursors may represent a new therapeutic opportunity for aging and its associated disorders, particularly neurodegenerative diseases.

2. Hyben Vital (I have emailed to see if it can be purchased) taken orally reduces wrinkles and symptoms of osteoarthritis.  Results suggest that intake of Hyben Vital improves aging-induced skin conditions and reduces symptoms of osteoarthritis. Hyben Vital is an herbal remedy made from a subtype of Rosa canina. 5 g daily for 3 months showed benefits.

3. How harmful is eating gluten?  Gluten may cause inflammation in everyone, not just those with Celiac’s   It may cause a number of adverse health effects, including gastrointestinal discomfort, skin rashes, and respiratory problems. Celiac disease (CD) is an immune- mediated systemic disorder elicited by gluten and related prolamines present in wheat, barley, and rye in genetically susceptible individuals . AJCN Jan 2013 1. “Gluten free” still contains 20mg gluten/kg. [If you have celiac disease] “The ingestion of contaminating gluten should be kept lower than 50 mg/d in the treatment of CD” Eliminating foods with known sensitivity as well as potential food antigens caused by foods such as wheat (gluten) and dairy (casein) decreases the chance for cross reactions with the thyroid gland (3,4,12). ALSO Current evidence in a review from 2005-15 does not support a benefit of gluten and casein free diets for treatment of autism.

4. Do nootropics (cognitive enhancers) work? SUMMARY: Niacin 200mg daily, SAMe 800mg daily, and phosphatidyl serine 100mg daily, and to reader’s question, intravenous vinopocetine, were all shown to reduce brain dysfunction. Nootropics, also called smart drugs, memory enhancers, neuro enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers—are drugs, supplements, nutraceuticals, and functional foods that improve one or more aspects of mental function. (1) Many of these candidate phytochemicals/extracts can be grouped by the chemical nature of their potentially active secondary metabolite constituents into alkaloids (caffeine, nicotine), terpenes (ginkgo, ginseng, valerian, Melissa officinalis, sage), and phenolic compounds (curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate,Hypericum perforatum, soy isoflavones). [Clin Nucl Med. 1999;24:29–34] (2) Medline  In elderly human volunteers (ages, 52 to 70 years), after 2 months of oral treatment with a combination of pentifylline (a vasodilator) and nicotinic acid (Niacin also known as vitamin B3)  (800 mg pentifylline, 200 mg nicotinic acid daily), there was a statistically significant improvement in cerebral blood flow.  (3) In an acute and subacute, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, subjects received in random order infusions of 800 mg SAMe and placebo for 7 d, with a washout period of 3 wk between the 2 treatment periods. EEG recordings were made 0, 1, 3, and 6 h after and ERP recordings were made 0 and 1 h after the drug infusions on days 1 and 7.  Tests showed significant acute and subacute encephalotropic effects of SAMe compared with placebo. EEG-ERP mapping identified SAMe as an antidepressant. LORETA targeted brain regions crucial in the therapeutic efficacy of antidepressants [AJCN 2002 vol. 76  1162S-1171S]. (4) Soybean lecithin transphosphatidylated phosphatidylserine (SB-tPS) was prepared from soybean lecithin and L-serine by a transphosphatidylation reaction, and its effect on age-related memory impairment was evaluated. It restores cognitive function in patients with senile dementia. NIH reference states no trials reported any clear clinical benefit of lecithin for Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinsonian dementia [J. Nutr. November 1, 2001 vol. 131 no. 11 2951-2956]. (5) Vinpocetine – With regard to the pattern of treatment-related hemodynamic changes, concomitant increases in total-Hb and deoxy-Hb were previously seen after vinpocetine (41)—a semisynthetic alkaloid treatment for stroke and vascular dementia that increases CBF (52) via many mechanisms (41). Effects of vinpocetine on the redistribution of cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism in chronic ischemic stroke patients were beneficial.

5. A verified website Erowid for those considering psychoactive substances for medical use! There is a wonderful article in the latest New Yorker, Nov 23, page 58-63, about a drug website, Erowid, documenting the complex relationship between humans and psychoactive substances.