The Gary Null Show - 07.05.22

video:

1. 87% of Clinical Trial Data Hidden from Medical Journals; Fmr FDA Director: Not Our Job to Correct Faulty Drug Data in Articles – Roman Balmakov from Matter of Fact  (10:00)

2. Sotomayor Voices Strong Defense Of Clarence Thomas (4:17)
3. Lara Logan Rapid Fires Truth Bombs On Ukraine Propaganda & The Democrat Narratives Of The Day (2:57)
4. There was an unexpected 40% increase in ‘all cause deaths’ in 2021 (8:28)

5. New Rule: I Want My Lawyer! | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) ( 8:27)

 

Resveratrol may turn white fat into ‘healthier’ brown-like fat

Washington State University, June 26, 2022

Resveratrol, a polyphenol from grapes and red wine, may convert excess white fat into calorie-burning brown-like fat, suggests a new study from Washington State University.

According to data from lab mice, supplementing a high fat diet with resveratrol reduced weight gain by about 40% compared with control mice fed the high fat diet only. Professor Min Du and his co-workers demonstrated that mice fed a diet containing 0.1% resveratrol were able to change their excess white fat into the active, energy-burning ‘beige’ fat.

The researchers also showed that an enzyme called AMPK, which regulates the body’s energy metabolism, stimulates this transition of white fat into the brown-like fat.

 “We provide evidence that resveratrol induces the formation of brown-like adipocytes in mouse [white adipose tissue in the groin] by increasing the expression of genes specific to brown adipocytes and stimulating fatty acid oxidation, which appeared to be primarily mediated by AMPK-alpha1,” wrote the researchers in the International Journal of Obesity   “These data demonstrate, in addition to the inhibition of adipogenesis and stimulation of lipolysis, a novel browning role of resveratrol in white adipose tissue, which contributes to the beneficial effects of resveratrol in metabolism.

Higher serum antioxidant vitamins predict lower risk of respiratory illness and mortality

National Institutes of Health, July 1 2022. 

A pooled analysis published in Respiratory Research concluded that having lower serum levels of vitamins C and E was associated with a greater risk of suffering from wheeze or respiratory diseases, and that lower vitamin A, C and D were associated with an increased risk of dying from respiratory diseases.

Paivi M. Salo and colleagues analyzed data from 16,218 men and women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), and 17,838 adults who were continuous NHANES participants who had information available concerning at least one serum antioxidant vitamin level.  Forty-two percent of the participants reported using vitamin supplements. 

Lower vitamin C levels were associated with a greater risk of wheeze. Among smokers, lower levels of the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E were associated with increased wheeze and chronic bronchitis/emphysema. 

A higher risk of death from chronic lower respiratory disease was associated with lower levels of vitamin C. Among smokers with lower levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, chronic lower respiratory disease and influenza/pneumonia deaths were increased. Greater influenza and pneumonia mortality was also associated with lower vitamin A levels. In pooled analysis of NHANES III and continuous NHANEs participants, vitamin C deficiency doubled the risk of dying from influenza or pneumonia in comparison with sufficiency. 

Eat dark chocolate to beat the midday slump?

Northern Arizona University, July 1, 2022

Larry Stevens eats a piece of high-cacao content chocolate every afternoon, which is in part because he has developed a taste for the unsweetened dark chocolate. Research shows that eating a piece of high-cacao content chocolate every afternoon lowers blood pressure and his new study reveals that it improves attention, which is especially important when hitting that midday slump.

The study, published in the journal NeuroRegulation, examines the acute effects of chocolate on attentional characteristics of the brain and the first-ever study of chocolate consumption performed using electroencephalography, or EEG technology. EEG studies take images of the brain while it is performing a cognitive task and measure the brain activity.

Stevens and his colleagues in the Department of Psychological Sciences performed the EEG study with 122 participants between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. The researchers examined the EEG levels and blood pressure effects of consuming a 60 percent cacao confection compared with five control conditions.

The results for the participants who consumed the 60 percent cacao chocolate showed that the brain was more alert and attentive after consumption. Their blood pressure also increased for a short time.

The most interesting results came from one of the control conditions, a 60 percent cacao chocolate which included L-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea that acts as a relaxant. This combination hasn’t been introduced to the market yet, so you won’t find it on the candy aisle. But it is of interest to Hershey and the researchers.

“L-theanine is a really fascinating product that lowers blood pressure and produces what we call alpha waves in the brain that are very calm and peaceful,” Stevens said. “We thought that if chocolate acutely elevates blood pressure, and L-theanine lowers blood pressure, then maybe the L-theanine would counteract the short-term hypertensive effects of chocolate.”

For participants who consumed the high-cacao content chocolate with L-theanine, researchers recorded an immediate drop in blood pressure. “It’s remarkable. The potential here is for a heart healthy chocolate confection that contains a high level of cacao with L-theanine that is good for your heart, lowers blood pressure and helps you pay attention,” Stevens said.

Only seven percent of adults have good cardiometabolic health

Tufts University, July 1, 2022

Less than 7 percent of the U.S. adult population has good cardiometabolic health, a devastating health crisis requiring urgent action, according to research led by a team from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in a pioneering perspective on cardiometabolic health trends and disparities published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Researchers evaluated Americans across five components of health: levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, blood cholesterol, adiposity (overweight and obesity), and presence or absence of cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, etc.). They found that only 6.8 percent of U.S. adults had optimal levels of all five components as of 2017-2018. Among these five components, trends between 1999 and 2018 also worsened significantly for adiposity and blood glucose. In 1999, 1 out of 3 adults had optimal levels for adiposity (no overweight or obesity); that number decreased to 1 out of 4 by 2018. Likewise, while 3 out of 5 adults didn’t have diabetes or prediabetes in 1999, fewer than 4 out of 10 adults were free of these conditions in 2018.

The study looked at a nationally representative sample of about 55,000 people aged 20 years or older from the 10 most recent cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 

Generations Were Raised To Believe Processed Fruit Juice Was Health Food When It’s Actually Junk Food

Prevent Disease, June 30, 2022

There was a time when fruit juices were marketed as the ultimate health drink. A glass of sunshine packed with vitamins and energy. However, one of the great scams of the industrial food cartel is the so-called “fresh” juices sold in supermarkets. Many of these “fresh” juices can be stored for a year, so how fresh are they?

The idea goes back to the 1920s, when American nutritionist Elmer McCollum blamed a condition called acidosis, an excess of acid in the blood, on diets rich in bread and meat. His solution was lots of lettuce and — paradoxically — citrus fruits. At the time orange juice was not hugely popular, but juice got an even bigger boost thanks to World War II when the U.S. Government wanted a new way to get a product rich in vitamin C to troops overseas. It poured money into research. 

In 1947 — just in time for the post-war consumer boom — scientists invented a way to remove water from juice and freeze the concentrate into a palatable product. 

The blocks of this concentrate could be sold to the new fridge-owning U.S. consumers or stored by manufacturers for months at a time, and sales exploded. 

Turns out there’s a lot more to making juice than simply squeezing some citrus. As part of the mass-production process, big-name brands like Tropicana, Minute Maid, Simply Orange, and Florida’s Natural add artificial flavouring in order to make sure your juice tastes consistent from carton to carton–and to make sure it tastes like oranges.

Pasteurized, not-from-concentrate orange juice takes up a lot of storage space. In order to keep it from spoiling without adding chemical preservatives, the companies “deaerate” (or strip the oxygen out of) the juice. (Another surprise: During production, deaerated juice often sit in million-gallon tanks for as long as a year before it hits supermarket shelves.) The process strips the juice of flavour, which has to be added afterwards. 

Findings of a Consumer Reports investigation about arsenic and lead levels in apple juice and grape juice have prompted the organization to call for government standards to limit consumers’ exposure to these toxins.

Mediterranean diet plus olive oil or nuts associated with improved cognitive function

Institute of Biomedical Investigations (Spain), July 2, 2022

Supplementing the plant-based Mediterranean diet with antioxidant-rich extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts was associated with improved cognitive function in a study of older adults in Spain but the authors warn more investigation is needed, according to an article published by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Previous research suggests following a Mediterranean diet may relate to better cognitive function and a lower risk of dementia. However, the observational studies that have examined these associations have limitations, according to the study background.

Emilio Ros, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques and coauthors compared a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts with a low-fat control diet.

The randomized clinical trial included 447 cognitively healthy volunteers (223 were women; average age was nearly 67 years) who were at high cardiovascular risk and were enrolled in the Prevencion con Dieta Mediterranea nutrition intervention.

Of the participants, 155 individuals were assigned to supplement a Mediterranean diet with one liter of extra virgin olive oil per week; 147 were assigned to supplement a Mediterranean diet with 30 grams per day of a mix of walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds; and 145 individuals were assigned to follow a low-fat control diet.

The study found that individuals assigned to the low-fat control diet had a significant decrease from baseline in all composites of cognitive function. Compared with the control group, the memory composite improved significantly in the Mediterranean diet plus nuts, while the frontal and global cognition composites improved in the Mediterranean diet plus olive oil group. The authors note the changes for the two Mediterranean diet arms in each composite were more like each other than when comparing the individual Mediterranean diet groups with the low-fat diet control group.

“Our results suggest that in an older population a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts may counter-act age-related cognitive decline.