Is the health industry exploiting your desire to live forever?

Hello my Health Nut,

I hope you have enjoyed the recent posts including plenty of science, I have enjoyed creating them. This post however will take a more philosophical look at our 21st century era and how the marketing schemes may be taking advantage of a natural, innate assumption, that we will live forever. Allow me to elaborate. 

Mankind has accomplished many things since the first monkey stood up. We have built, we have destroyed, we have shared, we have stolen, we have been given the ability to talk, express and interpret emotions to name but a few. Unfortunately immortality has not been given to us.....that has not stopped us from trying now has it? I recently read a book called 'Immortality: The Quest To Live Forever and How It Drives Civilisation' by Stephen Cave [1]. Besides being a highly  recommended read, this book contained interesting ideas, one of which i feel I feel is highly adaptable and applicable to the 21st century health industry. But before I can make this claim I must lay some context and to do that I have to use a lot of ideas used in Cave's book so consider sections ('Will to immortality'; 'Immortality paradox'; 'Engineering immortality') a Cave's work.

Will to immortality

Cave identifies four main narratives to achieving immortality: staying alive (live as long as possible through health and medicine), resurrection (resurrection of the same body after death), soul (spirit or independent component of you that supersedes your existence), and legacy (to live through your reputation or biological legacy). These methods can be noted as far back as the ancient Egyptians (medicine, mummification, the ka, and belief in living through reputation) and yet still remain in some form in today's world. Consequently, it must be considered that the drive to achieve immortality - will to immortality - is intrinsic and innate.

Although it sounds relatively mystical and even far-fetched in today's scientifically focused world nothing could be more biologically enhancing than a will to persist into the future. Of course this is not simply applicable to humans, mother nature will unapologetically remove the genes of the apathetic mouse who has no desire to project himself into the future, no hiding from the snake or the owl, simply existing (not for very long). Richard Dawkin's states 'we are survival machines, but ‘we’ does not mean just people. It embraces all animals, plants, bacteria, and viruses.' This will to immortality is the very reason we exist, our ancestors had the strongest will to project themselves into the future and survive. Therefore it is in us all.

Immortality paradox

The separating factor between humans and the virus, bacteria and mice is the capacity of our highly sophisticated brains to generate great awareness of ourselves, and time. As a result we are cursed with the all too horrifying knowledge that one day, like all living things, we will die. Fact. The paradoxical aspect of this statement comes when you try to imagine being dead, go ahead and give it ago (morbid I know)..... some of you may have imagined yourself dying, others a funeral and others a limbo of nothingness. But was it nothingness? I mean after all you are still seeing from a perspective, and so you are still present as an observer right? How can you not exist if you are still around seeing things? The truth of the matter is you can't imagine not existing. Cave and Freud present this problem in eloquent quotes I wouldn't dare take credit for:

'Imagining your own death, our powerful imaginative faculties malfunction: it is not possible for the one doing the imagining to actively imagine the absence of the one doing the imagining' Stephen Cave [1]

'It is indeed impossible to imagine our own death; and whenever we attempt to do so we can perceive that we are in fact still present as spectators’ Sigmund Freud  [2]

That what we can imagine we can accept, stick a folk in a toaster you get electrocuted is easy to imagine and therefore accept as a possibility. But you cannot imagine your own non-existence and therefore we have trouble accepting this possibility, we are subconsciously convinced of our own immortality, this thought has no time limit, and as a result we believe we are somehow apart of the very fabric of the universe, forever. 'All men think all men mortal, but themselves' Edward Young

Engineering immortality

As previously mentioned Cave posits four main immortality narratives, this post will focus on 'staying alive' as the relevance is clear and it is not the purpose of this post to question your beliefs (unless they concern health in anyway shape or form). 'Engineering immortality' is a method of striving to lengthen lives by identifying problems, breaking them down and solving the issues one by one. The possibility that these problems may kill us is what makes them so problematic. in the 21st century new heights have been achieved by dividing and sub-dividing problems to generate new forms of communication, accommodation, travel, medicine, and healthy habits. Breaking down the unmanageable problem of death into the utterly manageable smaller problems generating a to-do list including do cardio, eat healthy, engage in meditation or yoga. We are developing ever finer solutions to solve ever finer problems, Cave states the most comprehensive of the surviving ancient Egyptian papyruses recognises 700 afflictions and remedies, the WHO recognises over 12,000 diseases and counting.

Where you come in

This means the constant release of new activities, hobbies, chores and general habits to include in our lives. But we can't complain as healthy living has certainly extended our life-span, the overall average life-span of a male/female born in 2010) was ~90/88 years, whereas just 100 years ago being born in 1910 reduced your average predicted lifespan to ~56. Furthermore, our life expectancy is only predicted to increase (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Line graph showing cohort expectation of life in relation to year of birth with expected life expectancy for years up to 2050 [3].

But as our media has become more intricately interlaced in our personal lives distribution of the newest to-do activities has never been easier. And so, in the 21st Century we are perpetually bombarded with posts, blogs and friends online suggestions on how to live our lives. However this distribution is not the problem. The problem comes from our innate will to immortality taking over our rational thoughts and wanting to believe the latest fad/work-out programme or healthy diet will extend our lives. Although this may be true for some discoveries there is a point (I believe we are quickly approaching, if not already there) when we health nuts become all too gullible. When the the minority of health industry cease to produce and market products in our best interest. This is not to say all products and strategies nowadays are wrong, far from it. But what does need to change is the trust we associate with something in a pill, or displayed on a screen.

And so 21st Century health nut blog is forged, with the belief that the critical analysis of empirical evidence holds the truth. The next time you get a suggestion on twitter or facebook or one of your friends, listen to what they have to say, consider the source and find out for yourself if it is worth your time. And if you have no time to complete the research? Do not worry my health nut, simply get in contact with this series, we will find out for you soon enough.

Your very own health nut,

Chris 

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Main sources:

[1] Cave, S (2010) Immortality: the quest to live forever and how it drives civilization. London: UK. Biteback.

[2] Freud, S. (1915b). Zeitgemässes über Krieg und Tod. Imago, 4: 1-21; GW, 8, 324-355; Thoughts for the times on war and death. SE, 14: 273-300

[3] http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_253938.pdf

Soursop: Cancer killing fruit

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Hello welcome reader,

This post is based on soursop and the claimed cancer killing capacities that this fruit possesses. The context to this post is result of a social media post I recently saw shared by a friend, a post you have most likely seen yourself (figure 1).

Figure 1. Example of part of social media post on soursop.

This post states (not suggests) that soursop is a 'cancer killer 10,000 times stronger that chemo.' I have never heard of soursop until 2 weeks ago, and so all these questions began eating at my mind, what is soursop? How does it kill cancer? Is it more effective than chemo-therapy? Is this too good to be true? If it is true then why the hell have I not heard of it? I must admit, the fact that the very first sentence reads 'share this information first and read afterwards' is less than encouraging, I entered this research expecting to find a run of the mill hoax attempting to take advantage of people at their most vulnerable. I was to find studies confirming this post sooner than those refuting it...

What is soursop?

Soursop is known by many names, (wikipedia has a nice list, but they are irrelevant to this post) soursop and graviola are the most common. Soursop is the fruit of the Annona muricata, a tree member to the Annonaceae family. Ingredients within Soursop have been recognised as variously cytotoxic, pesticidal, antimalarial, antiparasitic, antimicrobial, and anti-tumoral [7]. The fruit can be seen in figure 2.

What is cancer?

There are more than 200 different types of cancer, each with individual treatments, symptoms and causes (for more statistics and facts on cancer visit cancer research UK [1]). Due to the increased attention towards early detection and  prevention of cancer a number of cancer type (stomach, colon, breast) cases have fallen dramatically over the last 18 years. However cancers such as pancreatic, ovary, and leukemia have remained [2]. In normal cell activity, millions and millions of cells in your body are produced, serve their function, die, and are replaced. Damage to cell DNA (through any number of causes) can result in mutation causing the cell to uncontrollably divide and not under go apoptosis (programmed cell death), creating a cancerous tumor. Due to this rapid cellular division greater energy (or ATP) is required, for example breast cancer cells can metabolize 17 times more glucose than a non-cancerous cell [3,4]. This is significant as it creates a distinguishing characterstic between cancerous and non-cancerous cell, the cancerous cell is dependent on more ATP. Some cancerous cells develop a resistance to common chemo-therapy agents (adriamycin, vincristine, and taxol) as well as multitude of other anti-cancerous agents (these cells resistant to multiple drugs are termed multi-drug resistant cells; or MDR cells). This resistance is attributed to additional intra-cellular 'pumps' that remove the anti-cancerous agents before they can accumulate to lethal doses [6].

How it Works

The active ingredients in soursop is a phytochemical called Annonaceous acetogenins  (ACG's). Chemically, ACG's are derivatives of long-chain fatty acids. Biologically, they express potent bioactivities through the depletion of ATP levels via inhibiting the complex 1 of mitochondria and        Figure 2: Soursop (Graviola)

inhibiting NADH oxidase of plasma membrane of tumor cells [5], it sounds complex, essentially ACG's starve the tumor cells of ATP, resulting in apoptosis. ACG's have been shown to thwart MDR cancerous cells at an equal or lower dose of that required for typical cancerous cells [2]. This could be a result of the additional ATP required for the 'pumps' clearing the MDR cells of anti-cancerous agents. Highlighting a correlation between the toxicity of ACG's and cells ATP requirement. The spectacular thing is that given the correct dosage ACG's have been observed to discriminate between cancerous and non-cancerous cells [2,5,6,7,8]. Meaning healthy cells are not effected. This is currently attributed to oxidase activity (inhibited by ACG's) being over-expressed in cancerous cell lining [7]. For example, a highly relevant study [8] isolated five compounds from within the soursop seed observing that one (cis-annonacin-10-one) was selectively toxic to colon cancerous cells in which the compound was 10,000 times more effective than adriamycin (chemo-therapy agent). And so the post (figure 1) does holds some truth, the exaggeration of this isolated compound having an effect on one type of cancer cell when compared to only one chemotherapy agent is however unwarranted and potentially dangerous particularly when further research unearths concerning facts about ACG's. But questions are raised , why are we not aware of this product? And who is conducting large scale human testing? 

Controversy

The post (figure 1) states that this product and knowledge is being withheld from us because 'some big corporation want to make back their money spent on years of research by trying to make a synthetic version of it for sale.' In argument to this it must be acknowledged that many of our drugs and health supplements are derivative of a natural source, nevertheless millions of pounds are made everyday. One post made an aggressive but relevant comment saying that pharmaceuticals refuse to cure cancer because they will lose a huge commodity. However, Soursop products are available for purchase, 120 Graviola vegicaps containing fruit and seed powder can be purchased  for £19.99 [9]. Furthermore, Tesco's sell Guanabana (soursop) juice, 1L for £1.49 [10]. And so soursop is not being kept from the market at all. Even so this area is currently lacking studies employing large human samples to confirm the cancer killing effects of the ACG's in soursop fruit. 

And I think I know why...

The Wolf in sheep's clothing 

Soursop contains neurodegenerative toxins. Alkaloids within soursop are toxic to mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons (literally meaning ‘mid-brain dopamine-related neurons’) and thus could contribute to neurodegenerative processes [11,14]. In addition to these alkaloids the Annonaceae family contain potent  mitochondrial complex 1 inhibitors extremely toxic to dopaminergic and other mesencephalic (mid-brain) neurons, I am of course referring to ACG's. Specifically annonacin (accounting for ~70% of all ACG's in soursop extract [12]). As previously mentioned these ACG's (and therefore) annonacin are fatty-acid derivatives, as a result of this lipophilic profile annonacin can pass through cell membranes spreading through the brain causing neuron death not limited to dopaminergic neurons [11]. The damage that this neuronal death can cause may have already been researched, it is a well studied phenomenon that Guadeloupe has extraordinarily inflated numbers of atypical Parkinson's disease. These atypical cases represent two-thirds of all Parkinsonism cases on this island, compared to the 5% reported in European countries [13]. A study included 265 Parkinsonism patients referred to a hospital in Guadeloupe identifying that 100 of these patients displayed unclassifiable Parkinsonism, this same study deduced that the regular consumption of Annonaceae fruits containing neurotoxins (alkaloids and ACG's) which induce dopaminergic neuron loss in animals could be a probable cause [15]. Further supporting evidence can be found in Lannuzel et al. [16] where 70% of Parkinson's disease patients displayed atypical forms of levodopa (main drug used to treat parkinsonism) unresponsive Parkinsonism. A comparison of the 30% (typical) to the 70% (atypical) revealed that the latter consumed significantly more fruit, infusions or decoction of leaves from plants of the annonaceae familiy, specifically Annona muricata (soursop). Figure 3 demonstrate the catastrophic effects annanocin can have on the striatum (part of the fore brain) in rats

Figure 3. Histological alterations visualized by Bodian silver impregnation in the striatum of annonacin-treated rats. Enlarged, dystrophic nuclie can be observed in the annonacin-treated but not in the control case [16].

In 2008 epidemiological data suggested a close association between atypical Parkinsonism and regular consumption of soursop, identifying annanocin as a probable etiological factor. Consistent with this view annanocin-treated rats (similar to that in [16] and figure 3) reproduced brain lesions representative of the human disease [13,17]. This certainly does spell concern for the soursop product such as Tesco's guanabana 1L and the Graviola vegicaps recommending consumption of 3-6 capsules per day [9,10]. To put this in perspective a study quantified the amount of annanocin within an average soursop (15mg) and a can of soursop nectar (36mg), clarifying the toxicity by stating the ingestion of one soursop a day for a year would by estimates accumulate the same relative volume of annanocin that caused brain lesions in rats [12]. What about one a week? Or one a month? Continuous low doses of annanocin have been shown to irreversibly commit neurons to death [11]. However this statement is derived from a non-human based study where annanocin treatment lasted 24-hours. Therefore further study is required before any kind of supported recommendation can be made. I shall close this section with the closing statements of a study [16]; the consumption of annonaceae in Guadeloupe and other tropical areas constitutes a serious public health problem, further investigation is therefore urgently needed.

Conclusions

It is clear that more testing needs to be completed before an absolute truth can be attained concerning soursop and its potential benefits. It also becomes clear why large scale human studies are non-existent, until the toxins can be dealt with scientists and pharmaceuticals alike will refrain administering a substance to subjects in studies that is so closely associated with atypical Parkinsonism. From a health perspective I will and recommend you stay well away, at least until the neurotixic agents are better understood or even manageable. Regarding the cancer killing capacity of this fruit, it is most definitely promising and future research may hold prospects of an ACG based cure/preventative but right now, it comes at too steep a price.  As a cancer cure? If the unspeakable diagnosis is in my fate I know what I would do. But that is irrelevant, with the evidence before you what do you think?

Your very own health nut,

Chris

Main sources:

[1] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/keyfacts/Allcancerscombined/?script=true

[2] McLaughlin, J.L. (2008) Paw Paw and Cancer: Annonaceous Acetogenins from Discovery to Commercial Products. Journal of Natural Products, 71(7): pp1311-1320. 

[3] Papa, V., Pezzino, V., Constantino, A., Belfiore, A., Giuffrida, D., Frittitta, L. Vannelli, G.B., Brand, R., Goldfine, I.D. & Vigneri, R. (1990) Elevated insulin receptor content in human breast cancer. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 86(5): pp1503-1510.

[4] Cullen, K.J., Yee, D., Sly, W.S., Perdue, J., Hampton, B., Lippman, M.F. & Rosen, N. (1990) Insulin-like growth factor receptor expression and function in human breast cancer. Cancer Research, 50(1): pp48-53.

[5] Alali, F.Q., Liu, X.X. & McLaughlin, J.L. (1999) Annonaceous acetogenins: recent progress. Journal of Natural Products, 62(3): pp504-540.

[6] Oberlies, N.H., Jones, J.L., Corbett, T.H., Fotopoulos, S.S. & McLaughlin, J.L. (1995) Tumor cell growth by several Annonaceous acetogenins in an in vitro diffusion assay. Cancer Letters, 96(1): pp55-62.

[7] Morre, D.J., Cabo, R.D., Farley, C., Oberlies, N.H. & McLaughlin, J.L. (1995) Mode of action of bullatacin, a potent antitumor acetogenin: inhibition of NADH oxidase activity of HELA and HL-60, but not liver, plasma membranes. Life Sciences, 56(5): pp343-348.

[8] Rieser, M.J., Gu, Z.M., Fang, X.P., Zeng, L., Wood, K.V. & McLaughlin, J.L. (1996) Five novel mono-tetrahydrofuran ring acetogenins from the seeds of Annona muricata. Journal of Natural Products, 59(2): pp100-108.

[9] https://www.thefinchleyclinic.com/shop/graviola-120-vegicaps-p-710.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwgYKfBRDvgJeylem9xDUSJACjeQ7A0d82kPuBeD4uC4fv30U0YvpcYHcxtRMQojXrtNQ68xoCNrbw_wcB&utm_campaign=google_merchant&utm_medium=product_search&utm_source=google_merchant&osCsid=d35ba03be3357a95e3cc7f4f1d9f232f

[10] http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=256735746

[11] Lannuzel, A., Michel, P.P., Hoglinger, G.U, Champy, P., Jousset, A., Medja, F., Lombes, A., Darios, F., Gleye, C., Laurens,  A., Hocquemiller, R., Hirsch, E.C. & Ruberg, M. (2003) The mitochondrial complex I inhibitor annonacin is toxic to mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons by impairment of energy metabolism. Neuroscience, 121(2): pp287-296.

[12] Champy, P., Melot, A., Guerineau Eng, V., Gleye, C., Fall, D., Hoglinger, G.U., Ruberg, M., Lannuzel, A., Laprevote, O., Laurens, A. & Hocquemiller, R. (2005) Quantification of Acetogenins in
Annona muricata Linked to Atypical Parkinsonism in Guadeloupe. Movement Disorders, 20(12): pp1629-1633.

[13] Lannuzel, A., Ruberg, M. & Michel, P.P. (2008) Atypical parkinsonism in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe: etiological role of the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor annonacin. Movement Disorders, 23(15): pp2122-2128.

[14] http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/graviola

[15] Caparrao-Lefebvre, D. & Lees, A.J. (2005) Atypical unclassifiable parkinsonism on Guadeloupe: an environmental toxic hypothesis. Movement Disorders, Suppl 12:S114-118.

[16] Lannuzel, A., Hoglinger, G.U., Champy, P., Michel, P.P., Hirsch, E.C. & Ruberg, M. (2006) Is atypical parkinsonism in the Caribbean caused by the consumption of Annonacae? Journal of Neural Transmission. Supplementum, Suppl (70): pp153-157.

[17] Champy, P., Hoglinger, G.U., Feger, J., Gleye, C., Hocquemiller, R., Laurens, A., Guerineau, V., Laprevote, O., Medja, F., Lombes, A., Michel, P.P., Lannuzel, A., Hirsch, E.C. & Ruberg, M. (2004) Annonacin, a lipophilic inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I, induces nigral and striatal neurodegeneration in rats: possible relevance for atypical parkinsonism in Guadeloupe. Journal of Neurochemistry, 88(1): pp63-69.

Cod Liver Oil: Is it as good as you really think?

Hello my welcome reader,

Originally, I set out to discuss the new craze of graviola (sour sop) juice and its 'cancer killer' ability. The science behind this claim and whether it is anything but desperation but that will have to wait for a later post as a friend of mine recommended I take cod liver oil capsules to ease the clicking in my ankles as well as gaining a plentiful list of benefits associated with the supplement (first table below). Anybody who knows me will know my ankles click ALOT, walking, going upstairs sometimes just standing and bam but I digress.  Nevertheless, this got me wondering, if it really was that good, what have I been doing with my life? And so I took the time to look into the high street products and the initial websites saying just how incredible cod liver oil (CLO) is. But before long I stumbled upon a web page or two suggesting all is not quite as good as it seems. Whatever is?

What is CLO? Where does it come from? Why do you care?

CLO is exactly what it sounds like, oil extracted (or pressed) from the liver of the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). For many years CLO has been made by storing cod livers in barrels filled with seawater and left to ferment for approximately a year. Nowadays, there are multiple methods including alkali refining, bleaching, winterization, and deoderization. these remove the precious vitamins and most high street products are sold with synthetic vitamins added however it is possible to restore natural vitamin volume with additional expense. The use of oily fish as medicine has been suggested as early as Hippocrates. The first documented use of CLO as a medicinal substance was recorded in 1789, by 1824 CLO was used to cure rickets and by the 1930's the benefits were firmly established and every kid on the block was taking the capsules as a daily supplement.

The benefits of CLO lie in the ingredients of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin D and A. As a result, in addition to the reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's (4 biggest killers around) CLO could offer the benefits listed below:

So why bother writing a post on this, case closed CLO is a miracle right?

The very dangerous needle in the otherwise healthy hay...

It must be said that there is very little in the way of quality control with regards to CLO and this in itself causes a problem, it means companies can add or take anything from the product. The aforementioned deoderization process leaves little vitamin A + D typically replaced by synthetic substitutes. This is disgusting as an idea that you may not know what you are eating...and yet in the 21st century this stimulates a response along the lines of  'That is bad....but is that not the same with everything we eat unless we make it ourselves?' (my mind wonders again, save it for another post). Furthermore, the toxins in the seas and therefore in the fish, and the fish's liver and in our CLO capsules is on the increase.

However, the main problem stand hand in hand with the benefits associated with the ingredients of vitamin D (vit D) and A (vit A). Vit D comes in five different forms D1-D5, this blog and most nutritional guidelines refer to D2+D3. Without getting too wordy hypovitaminosis D (vit D deficiency) is common in northern climates such as the UK, USA due to the lack of sun and westernised diet. Gordon et al., (2004) conducted a study in Boston observing 24.1% of 307 healthy US adolescents proved to be vit D deficient, of which 14.6% were severely deficient. 42% of the subjects were vit D insufficient. Vit A on the other hand is available in a vast list of veg, some fruit and eggs among other things. As a result, disparity exists with too much vit A and not enough vit D. This fact is made worse by the discovery of a synergistic relationship between vit A + D. Johansson & Melhus (2001) observed a decreased positive effect of vit D with the intake of vit A but the ratios were quite extreme (1:7500 micrograms of vit D:A) however, as little as 3000 international units of vit A has been shown to thwart the disease preventing effects of vit D. How much is 3000 international units? It does depend on the source of vit A but it can be not that much (as little as 900 micrograms), the table below shows the typical values of high street products:

The intelligent readers will have spotted that these products typically include greater volumes of vit A compared to vit D, as much as 800 micrograms. With a standard volume of 5 micrograms of vit D (a third of your RDA for male and female between 19-50 years old). Seven seas have begun to produce CLO capsules containing no vit A, this is a first and can only mean good things, assuming you achieve the correct amounts of vit A in your diet already. I must be clear that vit A is not the bad guy, he is just very common and easy to come by, vit D has a substantial effect on our health and is much rarer, as a consequence we must be careful not to attenuate any positive effects that may be offered by overshadowing with vit A. A meta-analysis of vit A toxicity identified CLO (with vit A) showed decreas in infections in third world countries and showed an increase in infections in developed countries, most likely a result of diet dichotomy. It must also be mentioned that to have too much vit D is speculated to decrease the many positive effects of vit A, but this is difficult to do (without supplements) and years could be spent talking about this product in much, much more detail however I feel you will leave with a little more consideration to the little things you put in your system.

To conclude...

CLO is not a straightforward miracle but does definitely hold potential to improve health. However with our westernized diets requiring less vit A, the poor quality control, toxins in the sea/fish alongside the damaging processes required to produce CLO it is understandable to question whether or not these supplements are anything but a very long game of Russian roulette. But do not be frightened! This is a brief overview for the general public, whether a 21st century health nut or not your well-being should be the number one concern and so use this as home base and look into it yourself.

Your very own health nut,

Chris

Sources:

Cannell, J.J., Vieth, R., Willett, W., Zasloff, M., Hathcock, J.N., White, J.H., Tanumihardjo, S.A., Larson-Meyer, D.E., Bischoff-Ferrari, H.A., Lamberg-Allardt, C.J., Lappe, J.M., Norman, A.W., Zitterman, A., Whiting, S.J., Grant, W.B., Hollis, B.W. & Giovannucci, E. (2008) Cod liver oil, vitamin A toxicity, frequent respiratory infections, and the vitamin D deficiency epidemic. The Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology, 117(11): pp864-870.

Gordon, C.M., DePeter, K.C., Feldman, H.A., Grace, E. & Emans, S.J. (2004) Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 158(6): pp531-537

Hypponen, E. & Power, C. (2007) Hypovitaminosis D in British adults at age 45 y: nationwide cohort study of dietary and lifestyle predictors. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85(3): pp860-868.

Ruth, A.G (1923) The history of cod liver oil as a remedy. The American Journal of Diseases of Children, 26(2): pp112-116.

http://www.westonaprice.org/blogs/cmasterjohn/new-evidence-of-synergy-between-vitamins-a-and-d-protection-against-autoimmune-diseases/

http://www.jabfm.org/content/18/5/445.1.full.pdf+html

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/16/warning-new-proof-confirms-if-you-take-this-supplement-vitamin-d-will-not-work-as-well.aspx

The 21st Century Health Nuts

What exactly does that mean? In and among all the millions of other bloggers exists this page, my page, and that my soon-to-be loyal reader is part of the problem...

So what is a health nut? Created through the increase in accessible information a health nut is typically (but not necessarily) relatively young and is obsessed with the prolonging of life through healthy habits, whether this include diet, exercise, mindfulness the health nut covers a wide range of people. Unfortunately, this revolution has taken place so unbelievably quickly that we health nuts are unguided and lost, a heard of unique sheep without a shepherd. Or to be more accurate hundreds of thousands of shepherd are shouting 'this way, this way!' are we any less lost?

The Shepherds are of course (in this metaphor) the masses and masses of information freely accessible through the internet. Access to information today is better than it has ever been, previously reserved for the elite, we (the new thinkers) are subject to vast amounts of information, some of it interesting, some not, some of it useful, some not, some it life change, some not and the list really does go on and on. 21st century health nuts (health nut's) are cursed by something that the world has never before experienced; abundance of information. So who the hell do we believe, follow, or trust? The answer has to be ourselves, especially when it comes to your health.

All this information access is far from bad, it is incredible! The progresses that have, are and are going to happen as a result of instant communication/publication/organization is beyond anything that could have been predicted a mere 100 years ago. However, we are left with a bit of a paradox. We must have more information to support our own healthy habits and yet, more information does not necessarily mean more truth. We are left with pages and pages of unsupported 'facts' telling us what to eat, what to do, when to do it and how much to do. As a result of this dramatic increase in information access we are being forced to evolve, our relatively archaic minds are being bombarded with information. It is time for the sheep to learn that the shepherd does not always have the sheeps best interest at heart.

This page will be dedicated to researching these potential truths/myths shoved on our screens daily. Does the most recent work out really cut your fat and produce muscle? is it healthy to eat pills containing 20+ fruit? and what about that cancer cure going about that is being pasted on social media and not the news, fact or the hopeful dreams of those in fear? happiness....can it be achieved through a how to book? And so I implore you to read this and decide for yourself whether or not this is worth your time. The research will be mine, the conclusions will be mine, the decision? Now that's all you my health nut.

Your very own health nut

Chris