Nutrition + Health (from a hacker's perspective)

Caveat: this information on this web page is based upon material gathered from a number of sources including the internet. Therefore, use this material cautiously at your own risk and only with the advice of a physician

*** This is a work in progress ***

Introduction

Overloading Man and Machine:

A wise biologist once said:

• If you put a 10 HP (horse power) load on a 8 HP electrical motor, the overloaded motor will burn out.
   
• However, if motors were biological and behaved like the human body, then placing a 10 HP load on an 8 HP motor would cause it to become (over time) a 10 HP motor.

Food as a Fuel

• Caloric measurement is performed in a device known as a calorimeter. This device burns test material (usually food) in an enclosed volume with a constant supply of oxygen while measuring the amount of heat released into a larger volume of water over the time of the complete burn. Although this is a good starting point, a calorimeter is nothing at all like the human body.
• In physics, one "calorie" (lower-case or small "c"; also known as a "gram calorie") of thermal energy is required to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius. This equates to 4.2 Joules.
• In nutrition, a "Calorie" (upper-case or capital "C") represents one kilocalorie which is one thousand times larger. This is the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. This equates to 4.2 kilojoules.
• Since there is already great confusion by the common use of an upper-case or lower-case starting letter, the calorie is not considered part of the System International which is why scientists use the term Joule. 
• Don't like metric measurements? An alternate unit is the BTU (British Thermal Unit) which is the amount of thermal energy necessary to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. While BTU is often used for industrial heating and cooling, I have never heard of it being used in human nutrition.
• Measuring the caloric content of food assumes that food is just fuel, rather than a mixture of fuel and raw material to enable self repair and growth.
  • Carbohydrate (sugar, starch, etc.)
    • these burn the easiest because they contain with their own built-in oxidizer (oxygen atoms)
    • dictionary definitions:
      • noun (1869): from carbo- "carbon" + hydrate, denoting a compound produced when certain substances combine with water.
      • noun (current): Any of a group of organic compounds that includes sugars, starches, celluloses, and gums and serves as a major energy source in the diet of animals. These compounds are produced by photosynthetic plants and contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, usually in the ratio 1:2:1.
  • Fat
    • these burn less easily than carbohydrates because an external oxidizer must be provided (usually by breathing). The human body can make use of certain essential dietary fats so it is not always a good idea to restrict dietary fat intake. It is a good idea reduce saturated and trans fats. (see below for details)
  • Protein
    • while it is true that human animals can burn protein as fuel, it makes much more sense to use this material for tissue growth and repair.
• All three food categories are capable of increasing serum (blood) glucose levels after digestion.
• Most people know that nerve tissue will die quickly without access to glucose or oxygen.
• Many people seem unaware of the fact that nerve tissue (brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves) can burn out (die) when exposed to high levels of serum glucose. To prevent this, the body has developed an elaborate monitoring and control mechanism involving the release of Insulin by the pancreas which signals fat cells to begin removing glucose from the blood. (there are also other mechanisms that involve the conversion of glucose to glycogon for storage in the muscles)
• All foods ingested do not have the same bioavailability or bioactivity.
  • Grasses
    • Unlike cattle, humans cannot digest grass. Grass does contain calories as measured in a calorimeter and yet almost none of those calories will be absorbed by the human body. (even cattle cannot directly digest grass; they employ bacteria in a special stomach compartment to perform the conversion)
  • Simple Carbohydrates
    • Simple carbohydrates, like refined sugar and starches, don't need to be digested and therefore race into the body causing a spike in blood glucose levels. This event is noticed by the pancreas (note: both the "current level" as well as the "rate of increase" are important) which releases the hormone Insulin in response. Insulin signals other body parts, like fat cells, to begin to "take up" the serum glucose.
      It should be pointed out that a large release of insulin usually causes an over reaction which can drive the blood glucose levels from a state of hyperglycemia (too high) to a state of hypoglycemia (too low). In healthy people this will trigger hunger pangs which will cause the whole ingestion-digestion-compensation cycle to repeat.
    • Starch is nature's stored form of sugar and comes in the form of bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta. A starch digesting enzyme called amylase can be found all through our digestive tracts starting with the saliva in our mouths. To experience this digestive process, place a small piece of white bread into your mouth and wait 10 to 30 seconds while the enzyme converts some of the starch into sugar. It will begin to taste sweet, and this one reason why some people refuse to give up white bread. This is another reason why eating slowly is more satisfying. The conversion from starch into sugar will continue inside your stomach but there are no taste buds down there to enjoy it.
    • Avoid refined sugar entirely
      • it has only been available to modern man in large quantities for the past few hundred years and humanity was not meant to consume it
      • many people don't know that jam is sweet because the high sugar content is toxic to most bacteria and mold. In this case sugar must only be thought of as a preservative.
    • Avoid white bread entirely
      • its popularity has fluctuated greatly over the past few hundred years but the most recent round occurred when people were convinced to purchase bread products rather than make it
        • retail bakers discovered that white bread has a much longer "shelf life" than whole grain bread. The problem here is that the bread now lasts longer because many nutrients have been removed. The retail bakers then tried to fix this problem by adding vitamins and minerals to "enrich" the flour.
        • many commercial bread manufacturers scammed us for many years by selling caramel colored white bread (simply labeled "brown bread") as if it was the healthy brown bread. If you eat bread you want course-ground whole-grains. (due to larger surface area, fine-ground particles are digested faster than course-ground; you always want to digest slowly in order to avoid spiking your serum glucose levels)
    • Limit white pasta + white rice
      • since fully cooked white pasta will quickly convert into sugar, try preparing it al dente (under cooked). Undercooked pasta will convert to sugar much more slowly.
      • serving pasta covered with a light coating of olive oil will slow the digestion rate which will produce the same amount of sugar but over a much longer time period.
      • replace pure white pasta with brown, green and red pasta (provided the coloring is natural and not artifical)
    • Avoid soft drinks entirely
      • most soft drinks contain between 4 and 10 teaspoons of sugar per serving.
    • Limit fruit drinks
      • In the wild, you would never be able to eat more than two apples or two oranges so why do people think it is good to serve large glasses of apple juice or orange juice? Just because something is natural doesn't mean it is good for you. 
  • Complex Carbohydrates
    • Complex carbohydrates, like whole wheat bread and under cooked pasta, require digestion. Blood glucose levels will rise more slowly and the pancreas will be able to react in a more precise and controlled fashion. The rule of thumb here is the more complex the carbohydrate, the slower the digestion, absorption, and pancreas reaction.
    • Despite the fact that blood glucose rates will rise much more slowly, they will still rise. Overeating will still cause a larger release of insulin with some of the negative side effects (like triggering fat storage).
  • Fats
    • Fats require just as much (if not more) digestion than complex carbohydrates and will never cause a rapid increase in blood glucose levels. But as previously mentioned, overeating will still cause a larger release of insulin with some of the negative side effects (like triggering fat storage).
    • In the early 1990s marketing bozos used pretzel logic to convince consumers that eating fat makes you fat. Before too long almost everything purchased in a super market contained a "low fat" label. However, fat gives food its taste, and low fat food tasted bad, so they compensated by adding carbohydrates. In most cases the "low fat" version of any food had the same number of calories as the "normal fat" version, but the "low fat" version could actually trigger more "fat storage".
      • labeling caveat:
        • low fat foods contain low fat but may be tweaked with high carbs
        • low carb foods will help you restrict fat creation and subsequent fat storage
  • Proteins
    • Proteins are the base material for all tissues as well as enzymes and hormones.
    • Although they can be burned, it is much more efficient to use them for other purposes.
    • Proteins are composed of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids of which humans can make only 12 which means that the other 8 must come from our diet.  (Rats, on the other hand, can make all 20). If any one of the essential 8 amino acids is missing, protein synthesis will stop.
• Errors in early dietary recommendations were based upon simple interpretations of the following facts:
  

  One gram of this:	Yields This Many Calories:
  carbohydrate	4
  fat	9
  protein	4

  
  So at first glance, it looks like eating fats will make cause you to take in more calories.
  
  However, eating simple carbohydrates...
  • will trigger the largest insulin release...
  • which tells fat cells and muscles to remove too much glucose from the bloodstream...
  • which will causes new hunger pangs...
  • which will cause you to to eat more food thus triggering a new vicious cycle
    
• Marketing
  • low-fat foods
    • In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some smaller food manufacturers believed calorie facts "as-is" then began to market "low-fat" snack food.
    • Big companies (who can, and do, employ nutritionists and scientists) should have known better but decided it was better to sell the pubic what the public wants.
    • It only took 10 years to see obesity as a problem.
    • It only took 20 years to see obesity in epidemic proportions
    • Reminder: Much Low-fat food (which has been tweaked with sugar to improve the taste) will make you fatter than food with a higher fat content. Always inspect the labels
• soft drinks
  • How many people remember the tiny 6.5 once (5 cent) soft-drink bottles sold from 1960s vending machines?.
  • Now every convenience store stacks 32-once torpedo bottles.
  • The movement to much larger bottles was also due to a marketing war between the soft-drink vendors (their cost between the contents of small and large bottles is negligable)
  • If you must consume soft-drinks then make sure it is either low-cal or zero-cal. Although artificial sweeteners come with some risk, being obese is also risky as well as undesirable.
• fruit drinks
  • How many people remember ordering orange juice in a restaurant then having it served in a 7 once "juice glass"? For some reason I don't understand, many young people today have never heard the phrase "juice glass".
  • What is worse is this: No one can eat more than two apples or two oranges due to the fiber content. And yet a children are often handed a glass containing the equivalent of many more than two pieces of fruit.

Food as a Building Material

• As stated earlier, all nutritional food falls into three (or four) major categories
  1. Carbohydrates
     • sugars, starches, etc.
     • only used as a fuel source
     • never used as a building block
  2. Fat (lipids)
     • can be used as a fuel
     • can be used as a component of building block material
       • cell walls are composed of a water tight material known as lipoproteins.
       • myelin is a fatty substance used as an electrical insulator to protect nerves. Loosing Myelin is similar to allowing wires to short out.
       • some are considered essential fatty acids and only come from our diet
     • dietary fat comes in four chemical categories (ranked in order of good to bad)
       1. monounsaturated
          • each molecule is one hydrogen atom away from being saturated
       2. polyunsaturated
          • each molecule is many hydrogen atoms away from being saturated
       3. saturated
          • each molecule is saturated (can't add any more hydrogen)
       4. transfat
          • in biology, the prefixes cis and trans signify chemical differences that can make a molecule twist to the right or to the left. In chemistry, these prefixes indicate which versions of the molecule are flexible verses rigid.
          • although trans fats exist in nature, they are usually produced during the manufacturing of processed foods and are associated with coronary disease.
            • these molecules are known to move from the digestive tract into the body where they clump up
            • some researchers believe these molecules get pass the blood-brain barrier and play some kind of role in Alzheimer's disease
            • these molecules have been known to block the cellular absorption of amino acids (components of protein)
          • In the 1950s people were convinced to switch from butter to margarine. Butter tended to be naturally hard or soft based upon temperature while margarine has been moved from a liquid phase to a solid phase by industrial hydrogenation.  This same process resulted in margarine containing much more trans fat.
  3. Protein
     • Although it can be burned, it is more efficient to use it for other purposes.
     • Proteins are the base material for all tissues as well as enzymes, neurotransmitters, and hormones.
     • Proteins are composed of amino acids (the amino acid order determines the function). Think of protein as a necklace and the amino acids as pearls.
     • There are 20 amino acids of which humans can make only 12 which means the other 8 essential amino acids must come from our diet.  (Rats, on the other hand, can make all 20 which is one reason they are so successful at survival). Whenever any of the essential 8 are missing, protein synthesis stops.
     • Eating too little protein...
       • can hinder certain kinds of chemical processing including digestion. (protein is the substrate for all hormones)
       • will have a degenerative effect on the endocrine system (including signaling via protein messages)
       • can result in certain kinds of nutrition-deficient nerve and brain disorders.
         • It is my personal belief that dietary protein is one component necessary for good mental health.
       • can result in a weakening of the immune system (B-cells, T-cells, CD4-cells, CD8-cells etc. are all built from protein)
     • Unlike fat, protein is not stored in a long term fashion for future use so our bodies will preferentially cannibalize internal protein structures as required (thus treating them like storage containers). These include:
       • breaking down immune system cells (ever wonder why you sometimes get a cold sore after a few days of too much exercise combined with too little nutrition?)
       • breaking down muscles in the extremities (arms and legs) to save muscles in the core (heart)
  4.  Vitamins, Minerals, etc.
     • Vitamins
       • When they were first discovered, scientists where looking for amino-acids and mislabeled these substances "vital amines" which was later shortened to vit-a-mins. In fact, these substances really fall under the category of coenzymes (except vitamin-D which is a steroid) and act as a catalyst in enzyme related chemistry.
       • Vitamins are classed as water soluble (all the B and C vitamins) or fat soluble (all the rest). Ingest too many water soluble vitamins and you'll urinate away the excess. Ingest too many fat soluble vitamins and their storage in your body may approach toxic concentrations.
       • Certain vitamins like vitamin-C are necessary for normal life. English sailors several hundred years ago endured gum disease and premature tooth loss until they were given a daily ration of limes to stop this disease. Ever since then they were known as "limeys".
       • Scientists have known for quite some time that human cancer rates increase in proportion to the distance from the equator. It was always believed that this was due to industrial pollution which tends to be greater in the north. Around 1980, some American doctors believed that this might have something to do with vitamin-D which is normally produced when human skin is exposure to sunlight (which is much lower in higher latitudes -OR- non-existent if you wear a sunscreen with SPF-8 or higher). Since that time there has been quite a bit of evidence that human cancer rates are much lower in in higher latitudes when a daily vitamin-D supplement is consumed. Supplementation is even more important today since fewer adults eat fish or drink milk (which is usually fortified with vitamin-D).
         • I'm am 53 years old (in 2005) and have been been consuming a single 1000 IU tablet of vitamin-D³ daily for the past 3 months. This stuff is really cheap ($7 per bottle of 100 tablets) but has completely changed my physical health for the better.
           • Previously I had chronic tooth aches with no tooth decay but X-rays by my dentist revealed nothing. After one month of vitamin-d supplementation the chronic pain has totally stopped.
           • I always suspected that some teeth were getting loose (I thought I could feel movement whenever I chewed my food). All my teeth now feel rock solid and this is not surprising since bone and tooth growth are not possible without Vitamin-D. BTW, I still have all 28 of my original adult teeth (wisdom teeth were extracted due to lack of space).
           • I was becoming intolerant to coffee. So much so that I could enjoy a cup in the morning but a cup in the middle of the afternoon would interrupt my sleep at night. I'm now back to 2 cups a day with no coffee related interruptions.
           • Even after I totally gave up coffee a few years back, I would wake once or twice per night to urinate. This has stopped and I always get 7-8 hours even though I'm drinking coffee again.
           • For the past 10 years I've been suffering from a mild form of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) which starts near Halloween and doesn't seem to go away until Christmas. My emotional state was a mixture of dread and depression but I am only able to endure it because logically I know it is related to the loss of sunlight. This year I still seem to be enduring a bout of SAD but the mental load seems 50% to 75% lower than in previous years. Since natural vitamin-D is associated with sunlight, and SAD is associated with a loss of sunlight, I wonder if I've stumbled onto something here.
           • http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/cancer/dn7521
           • http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051228/vitamind_cancer_051228/20051228?hub=TopStories
           • http://www.readersdigest.ca/mag/2004/10/Vitamin.html
           • Vitamin D found to influence more than 200 genes
             http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100823/vitamin-d-genes-100823/
         • In 2006 I increased my daily dose to 2000 IU and have continued this into 2013. Never ingest a Vitamin-D supplement without also consuming a calcium supplement.
         • Caveat: higher does of Vitamin-D may deplete your magnesium levels (which can cause constipation) as well as deplete Vitamin-K (which will reduce the clotting of blood). As with all nutrients, too much can be worse than too little.
       • It has long been known that some vitamins can have an anti-oxidizing effect in the body which will result in the reduction of "one of the risk factors" associated with certain kinds of cancer. That said, preventing cancer and eliminating cancer are two completely different things. No nutrient therapy has ever been known to cure cancer. If you suspect cancer then see a doctor immediately AND read all you can on the subject (but beware of anything that sounds like somebody's "get-rich-quick scheme" because snake-oil salesmen have always preyed on the gullible public and no one will be more desperate than someone who has just been told they have cancer.
     • Coenzyme Q10
       • Every cell in your body contains an energy-producing organelle called a mitochondria or mitochondrion. Some body organs never sleep which means their cells host more of them. Heart cells may have several while liver cells often contain many more. The problem with mitochondria is they get tired as they get age -AND- they require a better supply of Coenzyme Q10. There is not much you can do for a worn out mitochondria other than hoping your body will kill the host cell then cause a neighboring cell to replicate. But you can improve things by consuming an Coenzyme Q10 supplement.
       • Speaking of tired (lazy?) mitochondria, they host a chemical process known as the Krebs Cycle which involves Citric Acid.  Therefore, you should not attempt to get through life living on Vitamin-C supplements but no citric-acid containing fruit.
     • Dietary Minerals

Nutritional Summary

• undo the error of the early 1990s
  • decrease dietary carbohydrates (if at all possible, eliminate simple carbs like refined sugar).
    On a microscopic level, cell division (specifically, DNA duplication) is one of the most energy intensive operations in the world of biology. On a macroscopic level, the human brain requires more energy than any other organ. Reducing carbohydrates will adversely affect these two examples.
  • increase dietary fat (in this order: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, trans, saturated)
• undo the error of the early 1950s
  • switch from white bread back to whole grain bread.
    • This will have the additional benefit of increasing dietary fiber which will have a cleansing effect on the lower digestive tract.
  • switch from margarine back to butter (or cream cheese)
  • switch from butter to cream cheese
• eat more protein. Every system in your body will benefit from this.
• give up sugared soft drinks entirely. All meals should be consumed with either:
  • water
  • milk - preferred since it acts as a natural emulsifier allowing oil and water to mix in the stomach.
  • beer or wine (never more than 2 servings of alcohol per day)
• reduce or eliminate fruit juice. The sugar may be all natural but it is still too much, too soon.
  • It is much better to eat an orange than drink the equivalent amount of orange juice
  • It is much better to eat an apple than drink the equivalent amount or apple juice.
    • Apples are also an excellent source of dietary fiber which means you will be unable to eat many of them (everybody can eat one but very few can eat three). Now consider how much apple sugar you ingest when you drink apple juice (it's way more than you could eat directly from the source).
• Magic Ratios
  • some nutritionists have said that the best diet consists of:
    • 3 parts carbohydrate, 2 parts fat, 1 part protein
  • some sports medicine people have stated that the best diet consists of:
    • 2 parts carbohydrate, 2 parts fat, 2 parts protein
  • The diet that's correct for you is probably somewhere between these limits

You Need Physical Exercise!

• In the very early 1900's, approximately 90% of North Americas were involved in agriculture and food distribution. Much of this was manual labor associated with farming.
• One hundred years later this figure has dropped to 2% leaving the remaining 98% of our population mostly sedentary.
• This is the first 100 years of mankind's existence where a strenuous lifestyle is not required in order to live. We were not designed to operate in this environment. We all need physical exercise.
• Biology is "Demand Driven":
  •  SKELETON: While attempting to prevent osteoporosis, you could eat huge quantities of calcium but very little will be utilized by osteogenesis (bone growth processes) until a physical load is placed upon your skeleton. Whether we're talking about bones, muscle or brain, we must always remember the biological truism: "use-it or lose-it"
  • METABOLISM: If you've never exercised but then decide to go for a short jog or run, you will quickly loose your breath. As you repeat this on a daily basis, you will gradually increase your endurance to the point that you will no longer loose your breath. The reason for this change is that your body noticed you were out of breath and so compensated by manufacturing additional red blood cells which will enable more oxygen to be transported from the lungs to your muscles. This added oxygen will have the effect of raising your resting metabolism. When you stop exercising it only takes 14-21 days for the body to get rid of the (now unneeded) excess red blood cells. This will slow your resting metabolism which will cause you to gain fat and loose muscle. Scientists tell us the oxidative damage is caused by metabolic body processes with insufficient oxygen (partial burning). I have always wondered if extra red blood cells would reduce this since much more oxygen is available (complete burning).
  • EYE DISEASE: One type of macular degeneration is caused by an excessive growth of blood vessels in the eye. Normally, angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels) is caused by a lack of oxygen. Rather than growing new blood vessels, it might make more sense to get some daily exercise. In the short term, this will oxygenate more of the body while you are exercising. In the long term your body will increase the number of red blood cells which will allow more more oxygen to be delivered to various parts of the body whether you are exercising or at rest.
• Isaac Asimov
  • Died in 1992 at age 72 from complications related to AIDS.
  • He contracted this disease (AIDS) during a blood transfusion in 1984 after a triple bypass.
  • If he would have exercised moderately and monitored his diet, he would not have needed the bypass surgery or the blood transfusion which resulted in his infection. Had he lived 10 more years he probably would have published a few dozen more books.  (link: Asimov's 15 most popular sci-fi books). All mankind has been robbed of 10 years of his presence.
• My Father
  • Died in 1988 at the age of 63
  • Had a physically demanding job as a butcher appearing strong and vigorous while working
  • He smoked cigars all his adult life but only drank alcohol occasionally and never to excess
  • He retired at age 62 and seemed to lose his biceps in 3-4 months
  • After 10 months of retirement he died of a massive heart attack (the coronary artery splits into 3 branches; the lowest branch was totally occluded while the middle branch was only blocked to the 50% mark)
  • Although many people believe that it's the sudden stop that gets you in the end, the truth of the matter is that you can get away with a few of life's vices provided you have a physically demanding life. But you will live longer if you exercise daily and skip these same vices.
    Except for one thing: for some unknown reason people who drink no alcohol have a similar mortality rate as alcoholics. People in the middle who only drink 1-2 ounces of alcohol per day seem to live longer. Perhaps alcohol thins the blood; perhaps it is human social contact of a bar room. For more information try Googling for the phrase J-curve alcohol. Also check out the book "The Healthy Barmaid" by Doctor W. Gifford-Jones http://www.canadafreepress.com/medical/alcohol041295.htm
    p.s. pregnant women must never consume alcohol since the baby's underdeveloped body is incapable of filtering and removing the associated poisons.

Stress + Inflammation

Overview:

Biology can be best described as the merger of two related process: anabolic and catabolic. The anabolic process builds while the catabolic process destroys.

    Metabolic = Anabolic + Catabolic

A short time after we are born anabolism (building) is running high while catabolism (destroying) is running low. As we age anabolism starts to drop while catabolism starts to rise. Once catabolism rises above anabolism, natural death is not far behind.

Hormones:

The hormone symphony that controls our lives is nothing short of a miracle and yet some hormones have a much greater effect than others. Anabolic hormones like testosterone (which exists in both men and women by the way) help us grow and maintain muscle mass but catabolic hormones like cortisol make sure we won't keep that mass unless we exercise.

One of the more negative aspects of cortisol is that it is released during times of injury or stress. One of the more diabolical facts associated with aging is that the body's sensitivity to stress increases with age which only results in more production of cortisol. So although it is not a good idea to try to eliminate cortisol from the body, it is probably a good idea to control your stress so cortisol is not released too often or too long.

Exercise	lower stress
No Exercise	higher stress

 Your car might last much longer if you didn't use it but it is just the opposite for your body. It doesn't make sense but it is true.

Inflammation:

Inflammation is a related form of bodily self damage which can also be controlled by diet. Oils such as Omega 3 have all of the anti-inflammatory characteristics of aspirin with none of aspirin's side effects.

For example, Omega-3 has been known to reduce inflammation-based hemorrhoids (warning: other diseases, including bowel cancer, must been ruled out first; don't take a chance, talk to your doctor ASAP).  Larger amounts like 1.2 grams (1200 mg) per day have been known to eliminate inflammation-based hemorrhoids but please be aware of the fact there have been government warnings about exceeding 2 grams per day. In any case you must also ingest a calcium supplement with does over 400 mg per day. If you don't, the excess vitamin-D will just force your body to move calcium from point-A to point-B and you don't ever want to do this because point-A could be your hip or knee joints.

Additional Resources

• Read the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes
• Health and Exercise Links
• Guaranteed Human Life Extension - quantity as well as quality. This is not a joke or scam but it will cost you $6.⁰⁰ per month.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_paradox
  • many people in the west think this is due to wine and Resveratrol
  • many Europeans think this is due to life-style (fast-food in the west vs. the slow-food cultural movement in Europe)
  • it may even be due to higher levels of trans-fats in the west vs. low levels in Europe

Vaccines (why they are good for humanity)

Memory Systems

Biological

• DNA
  • long term memory of the genetic subroutines of our ancestors
• RNA
  • short term copies of DNA segments (messages) sent throughout a cell to accomplish some task
• Brain
  • short term memory including stuff like "what I ate for dinner yesterday" or "where did I park my car?"
  • long term data including everything from "how to catch a frog" to "the knowledge of math and science"
• Spinal Column
  • reflexes, like "how to retract from a hot object without thinking about it"
• Immune System
  • memory of all the diseases encountered by the host body

External/Technological

• Stone Inscriptions
  • carvings on the surfaces of ancient pyramids (Egypt, Mexico, Cambodia, to only name three of many)
• Wood Inscriptions
  • totem poles
• Books
  • human-written records (fictional and factual)
• Video
  • VHS tape, Laser-disc, DVD, Blu-ray
• Audio
  • wax cylinders, plastic discs, magnetic tape (open reel, 8-track cassette, compact cassette, CD-ROM)
• Computers
  • human records (everything including: books, audio, video, games, programs, accounting records, etc.) 
  • human initiated machine-collected data (everything from seismometers and storm monitors to space probes)

Going to School; Learning + Downloading

While it is possible for every human brain to redevelop everything (like math and science) from first principles, it is much more efficient to attend a school where the factual information is passed from instructor to student. This way, all students can avoid the failures and dead-end paths taken by others.

Likewise, an immune system can learn about diseases it has not (yet) encountered by only being exposed to the protein coats associated with viruses collected by scientists. The substance is known as a vaccine and the information download process is known as an inoculation. In most cases a vaccine is a collection of multiple viruses that have been sliced-and-diced by enzymes during the manufacturing process. The resulting protein segments of these viruses are then injected into the body where the immune system notices something foreign then begins manufacturing protein anti-bodies for an attack which never materializes but is remembered.

Caveat: some viral diseases are so dangerous that it is unlikely you will survive your first natural contact. Or if you do survive, you will never be fully returned to a pre-diseased state. One example is Polio (Poliomyelitis) which was rampant during my childhood in the 1950s but another example is hepatitis which is rampant in human society today. Benjamin Franklin said it best: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In the case of inoculations this might be rephrased: A nanogram of vaccine is worth a kilogram of cure.

"Egg Allergies" and "Herd Immunity"

A very simple explanation

During the creation of a vaccine, live viruses are evolutionarily adapted to non-human hosts by being transferred into three-to-four generations of chicken eggs. During the transfer, the virus becomes more bird-like which means it becomes virtually harmless (before slicing-and-dicing) to humans. It also means that people with allergies to egg protein will not be able to utilize a vaccine prepared in this way.

But it is not necessary for everyone in society to be inoculated (although those who are not are in greater danger than those who have). If a significant majority of the population is inoculated then herd immunity will prevent the disease in question from becoming an epidemic (thus protecting un-inoculated people in the herd)

Inoculations do not cause Autism

Facts:

• Males experience Autism at rates ~4 times greater than females and this magic ratio reminds me of other sex-linked diseases like Hemophilia.
• By law, 100% of the health records of the citizens of Denmark must be sent to the government which are then made available to researchers (personal data is not disclosed). These records contain information about who has, and who has not, received childhood inoculations. By analyzing this data it can be seen that autism rates are virtually identical for the inoculated group vs. the uninoculated group.
• To learn more:
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism
  • www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001526.htm
  • www.diseasesdatabase.com/ddb1142.htm

Comments:

The medical community published this information in 2001-2002 but internet-based conspiracy theorists and weirdoes have kept the Autism scare alive. I worry about parents who lose a child to a disease which could have been prevented with a vaccine. But in the end it is all up to choice: do you want to live in the modern scientific world or live like the Amish?

Miscellaneous Stuff (copied from elsewhere)

Tattoos etc.

Aspartame (a.k.a. NutraSweet)

• Personal Note: I personally experienced massive headaches and memory loss associated with the consumption of Aspartame (NutraSweet) in the form of Diet Coke during the mid 1980's. After seeing an episode of Nova which stated "almost 1/3 of North Americans experience unwanted side effects from the consumption of Aspartame", I stopped consuming Aspartame entirely. The head aches went away with in a few weeks and my memory slowly returned (to 95%, I think) within a few years.
   
• These links seem to think that consumers should proceed cautiously:
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy
  • www.howstuffworks.com/question536.htm the digestion of Aspartame produces "Methyl Alcohol" (a.k.a. Methanol or Wood Alcohol) which is then converted into Formaldehyde by enzymes in the liver. Formaldehyde can cause some damage to proteins until it is converted into Formic Acid which then interferes with mitochondria
  • Dr. Gabe Mirkin/nutrition/N238.html
    • Aspartame and saccharin continue to be blamed for a wide variety of ills, even though research has shown them to be safe if eaten in reasonable amounts (question: what is the definition of a safe amount? This may apply to maintaining your current weight but probably doesn't apply to correcting an over-weight situation
    • Aspartame breaks down into two chemicals, formaldehyde and phenylalanine.
      • Formaldehyde is a known cancer-causing agent.
      • Phenylalanine is an essential (to human nutrition) amino acid but will cause problems in humans diagnosed with PKU also known as Phenylketonuria
  • www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov    (you will need to search from here)
  • www.medscape.com    (you will need to search from here)
  • www.medbroadcast.com    (you will need to search from here)
     
• Post Script
  
  • The Aspartame molecule exists in two major forms, Alpha and Beta, with the Beta form causing more problems in humans
  • The Alpha form converts to the Beta form when exposed to acids over time, which can happen to any brand of soft drink sitting on the shelf for a while.
  • Since the speed of chemical reactions is faster with heat, soft drinks stored at room temperature may be more dangerous than those stored in a cooler or a chilled vending machine.
  • The Alpha form (in dry products like gum, Jell-O, vitamins, etc.) isn't known to convert to the Beta form. It was the dry form which was originally submitted to the government for safety testing and approval.

Additional Links

• www.nih.gov - National Institute of Health
  • www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov - National Center for Biotechnology Information
  • www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome (human genome project)
• Medscape is a neat online medical + drug resource. You need a user name and password to get in, but these are free if you go through the registration process. They have links to MedLine
• Nutrition (my 2 cents worth)

Important Alert

• Guaranteed Human Life Extension - quantity as well as quality. This is not a joke or scam but it will cost you $6.00 per month.

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Neil Rieck
Kitchener - Waterloo - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.