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Linus Pauling Meeting Notes   Sept, 2011 About the Linus Pauling Institute

Here is a summary of my notes from the Linus Pauling Meeting, held 12-16 September 2011.  The Linus Pauling Institute is a great source for nutrition information, http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/.  Their meeting every two years provides updates on the latest exciting nutrition research, featuring invited speakers from around the world. This was especially thrilling as I got to speak with people like Balz Frei (on the right) , Director of LPI, Bruce Ames (on the left), who discovered the Ames Assay and developed Juvenon, Maret Traber who chaired the Antioxidant Panel establishing Daily Values for vitamins C and E, and Lester Packer, who directed the symposium that found SAMe the most effective antidepressant of all.

ZINC – Sepsis, massive immune response to an infection, causes over a million deaths annually. Even most ER doctors do not know that an immediate injection of lots of zinc will relieve sepsis almost immediately (Daren Koell, OSU)

VITAMIN E - Vitamin C crosses the blood brain barrier, but vitamin E gets there too thanks to the alpha-tocopherol transport protein. Tocotrienols are the antioxidant of the 21st century. Vitamin E is a COX inhibitor, just like aspirin, and helps reduce inflammation. But carageenan, used as a thickening agent in ice cream and other foods, induces inflammation and may be a carcinogen. 400 iu of vitamin E daily blocks specific metabolic events that cause cancer, atherosclerosis, and chronic liver disease.

DIABETES – This disease costs the US $500 billion, and the world $3 trillion annually. It is about 25% of US healthcare costs. If you are homozygous for the Hp2 haptoglobulin gene and have diabetes, it is very dangerous to your heart and kidneys. And 400iu vitamin E daily may reverse those effects.

VITAMIN B3, nicotinic acid – This is very useful to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Dose is 250mg/kg/day in divided doses, about 10g vitamin B3 twice a day for an adult. Also it is an anti-inflammatory for psoriasis and eczema.

VITAMIN D-There are 2,700 binding sites for the vitamin D receptor complex that control gene expression on your DNA. These effects decrease infection, tuberculosis, cancer, and autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s. Pregnant women especially need vitamin D. Most are deficient in it. Children of deficient mothers have wheezing, and are more likely to have asthma. Please watch the VITAMIN D VIDEO. Most adults require 2,000 IU daily, but some need even more. Vitamin D causes production of CAMP, an antimicrobial peptide that prevents infections.

INFLUENZA – Flu is the 4th leading cause of death in the elderly. Get your flu shot, which will be much more effective if you are taking at least 200iu of vitamin E regularly. Flu causes 30-90,000 deaths annually. Be sure to eat well when you have the flu – caloric restriction is hazardous whenever you are not healthy.

SELENIUM – Supplements increase adverse reactions, esp. for diabetics, unless you live in a region where there is none in the water and do not take a multivitamin. You get plenty from tuna and Brazil nuts. Selenium is especially high (1.0ppm) or low (0.08ppm) in people with asthma. Healthy level is 0.25ppm.

DIET AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

HOW TO COOK SAFELY – Every day 40% of US males eat fast food. They consume 3,800 Calories, twice what is desirable. Broiling and frying of burgers and fries produce acrylamide and polycyclic amines that cause cancer. Best food preparation is steaming, next is microwaving, worst is pan frying in oil, as PUFAs (veg oils) peroxidize readily, even though the hazardous aldehydes frying produces taste and smell good.

HOW TO EAT – A prudent diet like the Mediterranean (MED) or No Fours reduces your risk of heart disease 39%. A Western diet of red meat and French fries increases your risk 60%. To reduce risk of metabolic syndrome, a great goal is eating a handful of nuts and eating 50ml of olive oil daily. People following the MED consume more calories, but do not gain more weight, because PUFAs signal your body to secrete fat and lose weight, the opposite of saturated fats like butter eaten in the Western diet.

PROBIOTICS – There are a hundred billion bacteria in your body, 90% of the cells in your body. They have 100xmore genes than your DNA, and the metagenome project investigates all of them, most of which are symbiotic. Prebiotics are fiber, probiotics are bacteria and yeast, and synbiotics include both. A low carb diet reduces healthful Lactobacillus and increases hazardous Clostridia in your colon. Soy is fermented to equol, an anticarcinogen. Fiber is converted by colon bacteria to butyrate that causes apoptosis (suicide) of cancer cells. Polyphenols from berries, walnuts, and wine, and lignans from flaxseed ferment in the colon into anticarcinogens. But obesity and antibiotics modify the colonic microbiota causing hazard. Eating at least a teaspoon of yogurt daily is great for everyone.

PREGNANCY – 50% of C-sections are unnecessary. Infants born this way do not obtain Bifidobacteria infantis from the birth canal, a symbiotic bacteria essential to a healthy immune system and preventing obesity. Doctors can prescribe proper probiotics to prevent this if you are aware to demand it. Bovine milk and formula lack the oligosaccharides (oligos) of human breast milk. Sociable primates produce the most complex oligos, because living with others they need the greatest protection from bacterial disease. B. infantis gives great protection from infection, and is there from normal birth and breast milk.

TRAUMA – A trauma surgeon reports that glutamine, arginine (amino acids found in proteins), omega-3s (fish oil), and antioxidants are most important in the diet for trauma patients. Within 30 minutes of exposure to infectious bacteria, your microbiome secretes aggressive adhesin molecules to fight infection. People with Lactobacillus reuteri have half as many sick days. Gestational diabetes occurs in 36% of women, but only 13% of those who took an L. reuteri probiotic supplement. H. pylori (ulcer causing bacterium) infects 80% of the world and is a primary carcinogen, but L. reuteri displaces it. It displaces Clostridium difficile, which is often antibiotic resistant and is normally must be removed by a colectomy. Yet probiotics are GRAS, considered absolutely safe by the US FDA. At Oregon Health Sciences Univ. emergency room, everyone is given a teaspoon upon admission.

CALORIC RESTRICTION MIMETICS

Blocking late life inflammation may be essential to prolonged health. But the first three weeks of life caloric restriction and stress extend life substantially. Treatments with growth hormone shorten life. Curcumin and green tea also did not extend life.

Latest results about Resveratrol (Res)- Studies at National Institute of Aging (NIA) - Res did not extend life in NIH trials. It did block damage caused by a high fat diet. Conclusion is that Res extends healthspan (which is consistent with the NPR report on the Nature paper). Note the Nature paper tested Resveratrol on worms and fruit flies, and the NIA speaker explained that even gene regulation of mice (which are not helped by Res) and monkeys (which are helped by Res) differs substantially. Dosage tested was equivalent to 80mg twice a day in humans. There were no hazardous side effects observed. It activated many genetic pathways, including SIRT1, AMPK, mTOR that are related to disease resistance and healthy aging. Either caloric restriction or Res activate 740 genes identically. Res reduced arterial stiffness and heart disease, fat deposits, inflammation, calcification, oxidative stress. Study showed exercise, caloric restriction, and Res all cause SIRT1 activity. Presenter Julie Mattison of NIA takes Res regularly. Next Res presenter takes 30mg daily.

LOSS OF HOMEOSTASIS WITH AGING - Secondary result of aging is loss of regulatory control of bodily functions and genetic regulartion. Curcumin delays this and slows Alzheimer's. Also vitamin D, flavones (in vegetables), are good. Lithium is useful for Parkinson's. Iron and manganese contribute to developing Parkinson's. Drugs that bind or eliminate these minerals are therapeutic. Animals with high levels of Copper, Aluminum, Iron, Silicon, and Zinc have shorter lives.

VITAMIN C (AA) AND CANCER- Mark Levine discussion - Intravenous AA is used to treat cancer patients. Giving 50 or 75g each time, 3 times per week, up to 20 times, dramatically increases the effectiveness of other chemotherapies. He has tested in terminal pancreatic patients. Product used is PharmAscorbate, and 800,000 doses were sold in the US last year, giving 28g daily 20 times. His patients experienced NO side effects from AA. IV treatment results in 7 to 33mM AA in blood. High AA reduces metals, which convert oxygen to oxygen radicals that produce hydrogen peroxide (bleach) which kills cancer cells. The cancer cells do not have catalase, which is present in normal cells and protects them. Same effect is likely to be produced for intrabladder cancer by taking a high level of oral vitamin C supplements.

BRAIN AGING - Alzheimer's disease (AD) care costs US $200 billion now, will be a $trillion in 2050. Antioxidant, B vitamins, fatty acids, and the Mediterranean Diet all delay it. Transfats substantially accelerate AD. Your level of vitamins B,C,D, and E have 10% positive effect reducing risk. Omega-3s reduce risk 25%. Omega-6 intake increases risk 18%. Transfats hurt a lot. Omega-3 intake predicts rate of change of mental executive function and processing speed of your brain. AD patients did not show improvement, but omega-3 intake really slowed decline.

LIPOIC ACID - Taking supplements of Lipoic acid induces expression of Nrf2 gene, which is a transcription factor for 200 antioxidant-related genes.

LPI prize went to Connie Weaver, Calcium (Ca+2) expert on bone development at Purdue Univ "Bone Camp." At age 30, we start losing bone mass unless exercising. 50% of bone mass is made during adolescence, girls 9-17 esp. 12-14, boys 10-19 esp. 13-15. Daily Ca+2 requirment peaks at 1,300 mg daily, in divided doses. Requirement highest for Caucasions, Asians need just 1,000mg. Blacks make 42% more bone mass on the same diet. Ca+2 is BMI dependent. A 10% increase in peak bone mass delays osteoporosis 13 years and reduces fracture rate 50%, so get lots of exercise when young to increase peak bone mass. Yet fracture rate in teens has increased 64% in past decade. Most 18 year old girls do not get enough Ca+2. Soy cotelydon and NovaSoy are great for women's bones.

MY VITAMIN C POSTER PRESENTATION is poster 168b at this link.

So there's the highlights of the meeting of the Linus Pauling Institute for Sept, 2011. Remember to be conscious of what you put in your body - like high self-esteem for learning about optimal nutrition! Till next time  ********Doc Roc, Nutritional Investigator