Genesa Living

Am J Psychiatry 161:11, November 2004 2005

Article

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org

Malnutrition at Age 3 Years and Externalizing Behavior

Problems at Ages 8, 11, and 17 Years

Jianghong Liu, Ph.D.

Adrian Raine, D.Phil.

Peter H. Venables, Ph.D., D.Sc.

Sarnoff A. Mednick, Ph.D.,

Objective: Poor nutrition is thought to predispose to externalizing behavior problems, but to date there appear to have been no prospective longitudinal studies testing this hypothesis. This study assessed whether 1) poor nutrition at age 3 years predisposes to antisocial behavior at ages 8, 11, and 17 years, 2) such relationships are independent of psychosocial adversity, and 3) IQ mediates the relationship between nutrition and externalizing behavior problems.

Method: The participants were drawn from a birth cohort (N=1,795) in whom signs of malnutrition were assessed at age 3 years, cognitive measures were assessed at ages 3 and 11 years, and antisocial, aggressive, and hyperactive behavior was assessed at ages 8, 11, and 17 years.

Results: In relation to comparison subjects (N=1,206), the children with malnutrition signs at age 3 years (N=353) were more aggressive or hyperactive at age 8 years, had more externalizing problems at age 11, and had greater conduct disorder and excessive motor activity at age 17. The results were independent of psychosocial adversity and were not moderated by gender. There was a dose-response relationship between degree of malnutrition and degree of externalizing behavior at ages 8 and 17. Low IQ mediated the link between malnutrition and externalizing behavior at ages 8 and 11.

Conclusions: These results indicate that malnutrition predisposes to neurocognitive deficits, which in turn predispose to persistent externalizing behavior problems throughout childhood and adolescence.  The findings [...]

Study Reveals Pesticides from Foods in Children’s Bodies

Harmful pesticides found in everyday food products
By Andrew Schneider
Seattlepi, 1/30/2008 

Read full study here

Government promises to rid the nation’s food supply of brain-damaging pesticides aren’t doing the job, according to the results of a yearlong study that carefully monitored the diets of a group of local children.

The peer-reviewed study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety of conventional foods from area groceries contained biological markers of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II.

When the same children ate organic fruits, vegetables and juices, signs of pesticides were not found.

“The transformation is extremely rapid,” said Chensheng Lu, the principal author of the study published online in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

“Once you switch from conventional food to organic, the pesticides (malathion and chlorpyrifos) that we can measure in the urine disappears. The level returns immediately when you go back to the conventional diets,” said Lu, a professor at Emory University’s School of Public Health and a leading authority on pesticides and children.

Within eight to 36 hours of the children switching to organic food, the pesticides were no longer detected in the testing.
[...]

Organic Food

From CopperWiki

 “Organic” refers to the growing and processing of agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat, in a way designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution.

Why should I be aware of this?

Demand for organic food is growing for the last decade. There has been a 30 percent growth in the organic food market over the last 5-6 years because of strong public opinion that organic food is healthier than conventional food.

  [...]

Dan Erwine explores the role of micronutrients and dietary supplements in sustaining mental health. There will be a conference later this month in Truckee. On the program: Dr. Dan Smith, a chiropractor and nutritional counselor, and Dr. Kaplan, research psycologist at the University of Calgary.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kunr/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1647855/Nevada.Newsline/Dietary.SupplementsBonnie

L-Alanine

Used as body fuel by tissues of the brain, nervous system and muscle

Important in converting energy to stored energy in the body’s Kreb’s energy cycle

Glycogenic (energy storage source of glucose by the liver and muscles)

Important nitrogen quality for post-injury states

Builds up the immune system, producing immunoglobulins and antibodies

Metabolizes sugars and organic acids

L-Arginine

Indispensable for optimum growth

Stimulates the release of growth hormone

Important to muscle metabolism; acts as a vehicle for transport, storage and excretion of

nitrogen

Increases muscle mass while decreasing the amount of body fat

Plays an important role in post-injury problems such as weight changes, nitrogen balance and tissue healing

Increases collagen, the main supportive fibrous protein found in bone, cartilage and other connective tissues

Stimulates the Immune system

Combats physical and mental fatigue

Increases spermatogenesis

Used in the treatment of hepatic (liver) disorders

Transforms to L-Ornithine and urea

Promotes the detoxification of ammonia which is poisonous to living cell

[...]

A Wellness Paradigm Shift

Conventional medicine holds the belief that aging is associated with debilitating symptoms and progressive deterioration and decline that cannot be altered.  While the aging process is inevitable, we are entering a new era in mainstream medicine that focuses on prevention of disease and living with energy and vitality.

Our Preventative and Age Management Protocol is based on early detection, prevention, and reversal of the degenerative effects of aging.  The primary goal is living healthier for a longer period of time.  The principles are well documented in medical and scientific journals, and are based on sound and responsible health care.

[...]

Aging is inevitable. As we age nutritional needs may actually increase as appetite may decrease. [23] Amino acids have been found to be lower in both blood and muscle of aged humans. [63,77] Amino acid supplements have shown exciting potential to restore and maintain the health of aging men and women, improving muscle mass, protecting from heart damage, increasing muscle strength, improving insulin sensitivity and more. [1,5,10,12,27,30,40,43,55,57,60,61,66,68,71-74,78]

We are all concerned about the seemingly inevitable increases in heart disease, adult onset diabetes, sarcopenia (muscle wasting associated with aging), age related depression, and loss of memory. Research over the past few years has shown daily supplementation of essential amino acids improves muscle mass with or without exercise [3,29,58], as well as improving insulin resistance, [2,60,61,72-74] a common complication of aging and precursor to the development of type II adult onset diabetes. [...]

Volume 51, Number 12 · July 15, 2004

By Marcia Angell

1.

Every day Americans are subjected to a barrage of advertising by the pharmaceutical industry. Mixed in with the pitches for a particular drug—usually featuring beautiful people enjoying themselves in the great outdoors—is a more general message. Boiled down to its essentials, it is this: “Yes, prescription drugs are expensive, but that shows how valuable they are. Besides, our research and development costs are enormous, and we need to cover them somehow. As ‘research-based’ companies, we turn out a steady stream of innovative medicines that lengthen life, enhance its quality, and avert more expensive medical care. You are the beneficiaries of this ongoing achievement of the American free enterprise system, so be grateful, quit whining, and pay up.” More prosaically, what the industry is saying is that you get what you pay for.

Is any of this true? Well, the first part certainly is. [...]