This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

was scouting thru wikimedia for images for a powerpoint i have to do next month. ran across this one in the 'health' section, on foods high in zinc. neat! might have a scout around for similar. for now, back to what i was doing

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

sad news just came across my fb feed in the form of the loss of a celebrity UFC fan i hadn't heard of by name, but i did think i recognized the photo. based on a mention of 'typecasting' i decided to look up the story of this person, who is reported to have died of heart attack, relatively young.

i wasn't really thinking in terms of the nutritional aspects of an apparently athletic life as i read, until i got to the last paragraph of the particular obit i had chosen to read. after covering detailed career info, the article closed with the actor's 2009 switch to vegetarianism, followed by transition to veganism in may 2012.

as an ex-vegan, this story highlights for me the important of testing your blood, to ensure dietary measures are keeping you on the straight and narrow. ESPECIALLY for the very active.

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Blood vitamins, mineral elements and inflammation markers as risk factors of vascular and non-vascular disease mortality in an elderly population
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/5/799.short
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/5/799.full.pdf


yay for full text! you can go in, check the raw data, and see that everyone's status for magnesium and zinc sucks (never mind anything else, including the b12 and beyond that, things like vit d3 that they didn't even bother to measure), alive or dead, so it's just a matter of time. even the top end of the ranges for the 'alive' category don't hit anywhere near optimal for those still alive. and they shouldn't have mentioned the elevated copper without referring to the elevated copper zinc ratio. i'm also noting with interest the slightly higher average alpha tocopherol in the 'alive' group and wondering about interactions and synergistic effects - recently learned that vit e was protective against zinc deficiency. don't think these nuances ought to be overlooked.

just my 2 cents. happy friday

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

just signed up with a local gym, whee! it's been a long time. lap swims available every weekday morning, lots of different classes available for flexibility, strength and cardio, PLUS master swim classes to help fine tune technique in the pool. gonna be uber fit for the slopes this winter might have to max out on my awesome new multivit/mins, to keep up!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

dammit. what with the fancy new multi, tried backing off on the full daily regimen again. i ignored the warning signs a few days ago (a couple of sneezes) and am now battling a virus. currently just a tendency to a raw throat and a certain tension in the chest. managing to keep it in check with megadosing, so far. when will i learn... >:(
hopefully pulling out the big guns will kick its butt, pronto. although i just ran out of vit C
grr!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

so, megadosing seems to be helping. i can feel that i'm fighting still, but i'm not really suffering. yesterday when i woke up my throat was raw, not today - just mildly scratchy. went hiking with a friend this morning. took it relatiely easy, and it was fine. i noticed i had a cold sore on the inside of my cheek and thought i'd revisit the issue. i know i used to get them often and am not used to having them any more. had a quick look for nutritional links to cold sores, and as usual zinc is implicated.

Effects of zinc treatment in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis (2003)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12790293
"The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of systemic zinc sulfate in the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The study was carried out on 40 patients with RAS. The first group consisted of 20 subjects with RAS who were administered zinc sulfate (220 mg) once per day for one month. In the second group, there were 20 subjects with RAS who were administered placebo (saccharose). Results showed that the levels of serum zinc before treatment were under the normal value in the 42.5% percent of the patients with RAS. Saliva ALP, serum zinc, serum albumin, and serum alkaline phosphates activity for group II were significantly lower than those for group I after treatment (p < 0.01). After 1 month of zinc therapy the aphthae reduced and did not reappear for 3 months. The empirical use of systemic zinc sulfate supplementation in the treatment of RAS is recommended."

earlier studies (way earlier) have conflicting results. i'm just going to keep megadosing for now actually, it even seems to feel better compared to this morning. hopefully it'll be all gone tomorrow, along with the virus

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

after a naughtily sparse day on the food front, just enjoyed an excellently diverse and nutritious dinner of cauliflower w homemade cheese sauce, boiled swiss chard w white vinegar and a pat of butter, one 'toulouse' local farm sausage with grainy mustard, and a big helping of tabbouleh made with quinoa, parsley and mint from the garden, locally homegrown tomato, cucumber, vidalia onion, lemon, vinegar, salt and a pinch of sugar.

i also made up some chickpea hummous, and some green lentil-onion-carrot soup. plus i hard boiled four eggs.

have a 7k hike to lead tomo, if they don't wimp out due to rain in the forecast. an egg, some leftover tabbouleh, plus a little hummous with celery sticks for dipping should be perfect trail munchables

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

omg they showed, and it POURED. i had a 'rain' jacket on. soaked to the skin. plus a minor first aid incident! but that's another story...

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

much nicer day today got 14 girl guides through their 'naturalist' badge to start things off. still rolling through a bunch of places to go and people to see for today, busy busy - whew! had to do a little extra nutritional battle with the virus early this morning. still feeling it a little, but not enough to slow me down

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

omg, somebody at my house needs to GET A LIFE!!! avoiding the house so that i don't provoke aNOTHER tantrum over how i butter corn, or cook rice. wtf.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

for the lactose intolerant, hopefully this is relevant to humans also....:

Influence of dietary zinc and copper on digestive enzyme activity and intestinal morphology in weaned pigs
http://www.animal-science.org/content/84/12/3310.full

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

took the opportunity to make veggie lasagne from scratch today for the sauce i food-processed an onion, a celery stick, two carrots, two cloves of roasted garlic and half a red pepper (also roasted), added chopped crimini mushroom and some pesto, and then poured in the tomato/basil juice for a good long simmer. for the greens layers i boiled both kale and chard for 3 min. pasta and cheese were the usual - fresh whole wheat pasta, ricotta for the main cheese layer, and a little parm and mozzarella on top. dinner time!

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

friend of mine just let me know she's decided to go to med school. yippee! i'm really looking forward to some vicarious adventures

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

it is time for my day off breakfast. instead, i am stalling. enjoying morning tea along with my latest guilty pleasure. capsicum-infused dark chocolate. OM NOM NOM! oh capsicum, what a tasty little nightshade you are! <3

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

on a varicella-zoster shingles track for a friend at the moment.. not sure if i've already posted this elsewhere, but if so, ooooops - here it is again!:

Effects of human alpha, beta and gamma interferons on varicella zoster virus in vitro
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7855636
The antiviral effects of interferon (IFN) on varicella zoster virus (VZV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) in vitro were examined. The values for the 50% inhibitory dose (ID50) of IFN-alpha, beta and gamma determined by plaque reduction assay, were 0.813, 0.650 and 13.750 IU/ml, respectively, against VZV and 18.00, 10.38 and 115.0 IU/ml, respectively, against HSV. Thus IFN-alpha and beta were more effective than IFN-gamma against both VZV and HSV and VZV was more sensitive than HSV to the IFNs. Five mutants of VZV which were resistant to acyclovir (ACV), phosphonoacetic acid (PAA) or bromodeoxyuridine (BUDR) were also sensitive to IFN beta, their average ID50 being 1.31 IU/ml. Analysis of virus-specific proteins by the immunofluorescent technique with various antisera showed that IFN had a significant effect before early protein synthesis.

Zinc Supplementation Reconstitutes the Production of Interferon-α by Leukocytes from Elderly Persons
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10 ... 997.17.469
The elderly are more prone to virus infections and neoplasias than are young adults. During a virus infection, interferon-α (IFN-α), proteins with antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory properties, are transiently expressed. We here report that peripheral white blood cells from 16 subjects with a mean age of 72 years yielded less IFN when stimulated with a virus in vitro than those from 16 young adults with a mean age of 28 years. Monocytes are the main source of this IFN. However, yields of another monocyte product, interleukin-6 (IL-6), were greater in cells from the older subjects than from the young adults, so there is no general defect in monocytes from the former. Immunodeficiency in the elderly has been reported to be associated with a deficiency of zinc. When cultures of white blood cells from the elderly were supplemented with 15 μM zinc (the physiologic concentration), they produced IFN in amounts comparable to those from the younger subjects.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com