Vitamin D and Depression

By Gerard Guillory, M.D.
The Care Group 

A study published in the November 2011 issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that low vitamin D levels are associated with depressive symptoms; these symptoms are especially likely in persons with a history of depression. The study included 12,594 participants between November 27, 2006 and October 4, 2010. Serum vitamin D levels were analyzed and patients were screened for depressive symptoms. The results of the study lead the Mayo Clinic to conclude that, "Higher vitamin D levels are associated with a significantly decreased risk of current depression", giving even more evidence that vitamin D is a beneficial supplement. Many experts feel that the higher incidence of depression in the winter months, so-called seasonal affective disorder or "SAD" occurs as the result of lower vitamin D levels as a result of less sun exposure.  If you are feeling a little blue around the holidays don't forget to take your vitamin D or take a vacation to a warm, sunny destination. Doctor's orders.

John Michael: The Problem with Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that was, until very recently, used in many household items. From baby bottles to canned foods, grocery receipts to dental sealants, they all contained amounts of BPA. (Some still do.) The chemical is an important ingredient in the creation of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, and has been used in this manner since the 1940s. In 1976, when the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed, BPA was “presumed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency with no evaluation of evidence” because of its long history of use.

But in the past few years, there has been a growing movement to ban BPA on the grounds that it is, among other things, a reproductive toxin. As knowledge of its possibly harmful nature has disseminated, a reaction has occurred, first in government, and then in the private sector, among the fabricators of BPA-containing goods.

What makes BPA problematic is that plastics and resins created from it are very unstable. When heated or cleaned with detergents, BPA molecules can break apart and leach into foods and drinks; BPA contamination has been observed in both canned foods and baby bottles. Even more unsettling, “The 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found detectable levels of BPA in 93% of 2517 urine samples from people six years and older.” Additionally, The Environmental Working Group found that nine out of ten newborns they studied tested positive for the presence of BPA in their umbilical cord blood.

BPA is a synthetic hormone, an artificial estrogen that can be metabolized by the human body. While it’s only recently that the US government has expressed awareness of the toxic nature of BPA, independent researchers have been sounding the alarm for years. The National Toxicology Program recently reported that, after investigation, it has “some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children under current human exposures to bisphenol A.” The Environmental Working Group is willing to go further, stating outright that “Trace BPA exposure has been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and trigger a wide variety of disorders, including chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer, cardiovascular system damage, adult-onset diabetes, early puberty, obesity and resistance to chemotherapy.” The discrepancy between the two positions is perhaps best explained by the BPA Timeline, found on the EWG website. (In it, the government’s lag in responding to BPA toxicity is suggested to be the effect of interference by corporations that produce BPA, in itself a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.)

Though the exact nature of the harm caused by BPA remains unknown, the US government, both at the state and national level, is taking measures to reduce our BPA exposure. Unfortunately, these measures are not currently enough to protect us entirely. To safeguard yourself from this toxic chemical, it’s recommended that you avoid microwaving plastic containers, stop buying or drastically reduce your use of canned foods, as well as avoiding plastics that have 3, 6, or 7 within their recycling symbols.

To learn more, check out the Environmental Working Group’s website, which is replete with information on Bisphenol A.

November 15-20: EcoCamp

The 1960’s meet the 21^st century. Take geodesic domes from the 60’s, a healthy dose of camaraderie, leave out the tie-dye and other accoutrements of that earlier decade and you have our first evening at EcoCamp. As the days unfolded, I developed a great respect and appreciation of this wonderful place. I hope the images do it justice. 

Heading toward EcoCamp in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile. A guanaco stands on a grassy knoll with Torres (Towers) in the distance. 

EcoCamp is composed of a series of domes. Guests stay at the standard domes (above) or in one the larger suite domes (after the blog jump). A group of core domes includes a dinning dome, a lounge, a café, kitchen and domes for the staff. 

John Michael heading out of the core domes. Visible are the dinning dome (left) and the lounge dome (right).

Click to read more ...

John Michael: Increasing Climate Change, Rising Food Prices

UN-sponsored climate talks are in their final days in Durban, South Africa. Among issues discussed there is how to address the “gigatonne gap.” Currently, the Earth is set to exceed 44 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions by 2020, which will cause global temperatures to rise by at least 2 degrees centigrade. Though it doesn’t seem like much, an Earth two degrees warmer will suffer from more heat waves and droughts, along with more rainfall and flooding; and, as a changing climate alters the environment, the extinction of plant and animal species will follow. "We are going to get 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) warming,’ [admitted an expert interviewed by the CSM]. ‘I think the big question is whether we are going to get ultimately 5 or 6 degrees C (9 to 10.8 degrees F), which would be an unmitigated catastrophe."

But the world is already facing the effects of climate change. During my stay in Taganga, a resort town on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, scuba divers were describing the whole-scale bleaching of coral reefs that only a year before had been major tourist attractions. Farmers outside of Otavalo, an Ecuadorian city in the Andes, often complained to me this summer of shifting weather patterns that were ruining crops before they could be harvested. 

The effects of climate change on agriculture have become a worldwide concern, appearing frequently in the media. “Price spikes have been driven by extreme weather events such as last year's drought, heat wave and fires in Russia which sent world grain prices soaring by up to 85 per cent, and this year's monsoon floods in South East Asia which pushed up the price of rice by between 19 per cent and 30 per cent in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.” 

While the surge in food prices is often attributed to various factors, like expanding cultivation of bio-fuels, or the manipulation of market prices, always included in the list is the extreme weather caused by climate change. The effects can seem small, like the local extinction of mussel beds, brought on by warming waters, which expose them to starfish, their natural predators. Others can seem heart-breakingly out of our control, like the droughts that motivated African farmers to protest in Durban last week. "We are getting a lot of difficulty and suffering with water,’ said 75-year-old Betty Nagodi, from an arid region of northern South Africa. ‘Now we don't know when it will rain. And then when it does, the hail knocks down all the tomatoes, butternut and other things,’ she said, fanning herself under the shade of a towering acacia.”

Nowadays, most experts see a warming world as inevitable. And as weather patterns change, so will environments, leading to volatility in food markets worldwide. So, barring any great technological breakthroughs, food insecurity could become a common feature of life in the future. (Incidentally, already 14.5% of the US population deals with food insecurity; to find out how you can help stop this, check out Feeding America.)

 What can we do to offset this trend? Well, the first step appears to be the easiest: stop wasting food. According to some figures, as Americans we waste 40% of the food we harvest. I like to think that our wastefulness stems in large part from ignorance: we’re accustomed to food just appearing in a grocery store, and so we purchase it without thinking of how it’s produced. A Huffington Post blog has a great graphic by Resource Media that displays information on how typical Thanksgiving foods “battled the elements in 2011.” (From the graphic: “This year is going to be a total loss… All that effort, all that money, the labor to weed it, fertilize it, irrigate it, and then to get nothing from it, that’s what kills you.”)

An interesting glance at what the future might look like is found on FAO’s Washington blog. Window farming, which employs hydroponics to turn your standard urban apartment window into a vegetable garden, is being pitched as the wave of the future in a TED video posted there. Additionally, urban farms appear to be on the rise. You can watch a video about them here in an earlier Paleoterran post.

John Michael

Q: Why do we sometimes stray from the original diet?

You know, it seems to be all about effort. Maybe, organization and effort. If we don't take the time to plan, shop, and prepare our meals, modern dopamine surging foods call us to drop our eyelids, fall in line, and accept the clogging of our arteries and shrinking of our brain without resistance.

Dr. John 

SUNDAY PALEO / December 4, 2011

Pulling the mooring line. Puerto Natales, Chile.ANTHROPOLOGY

Archaeologists land world's oldest fish hook: First deep-sea fish supper dated to 42,000 years ago.
“The team also found more than 38,000 fish bones at the site, dating the oldest back to 42,000 years ago. Some were from inshore species, but almost half were from 'pelagic species' — fish that dwell in the open ocean, providing the oldest known evidence of humans fishing far from shore.” - Nature

MODERN DISEASES

Fish in diet may ward off Alzheimer's
“In the study, people who ate baked or broiled fish at least once a week had larger volumes of gray matter in areas of the brain known to be involved in memory and learning. Moreover, people with larger volumes in these areas reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease five-fold over a five year period.” - MyHealthNewsDaily

Apple juice's other health risk: It'll make you fat
"‘If it wasn't healthy in the first place, adding vitamins doesn't make it into a health food,’ and if it causes weight gain, it's not a healthy choice, said Karen Ansel, a registered dietitian in New York and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.” - TODAY HEALTH

That Tasty Taste: The rise of Obesity in America - Why it’s ACTUALLY happening
“While, on the surface, obesity seems to be the result of a potent amalgamation of cultural, personal, and other environmental stressors that dominate the American lifestyle and society, the Obesity Epidemic, at the most fundamental level of human biology and psychology, is caused by food addiction.” - @CTheFlow

NUTRITION

Why Eating Animals Makes Everything Easier  
"Bottom line: if you’re overweight, you’re not utilizing the energy stored on your body. Switching over to the Fat Paradigm and a fat-based diet will unlock that stored body fat and allow you to use what you’ve already got (plus carbohydrates, when and if you eat them). But if you remain entrenched in the Carb Paradigm, your body never gets the message to start accessing body fat for energy." - Mark's Daily Apple

7 easy ways to boost your immune system 
Leave out the beans and soy and you have pretty good Paleo advice. - TODAY HEALTH

The Best Dark Chocolate: Our Taste Test Results 
“Though dark chocolate is officially defined as having at least 35 percent cocoa solids, we tested a range between 50 and 85 percent in our quest for chocolatey perfection. We tested only solid dark chocolate bars -- that means no nuts, no fillings, and no added flavors.” - Kitchen Daily

RECIPES

Holiday Brussels Sprouts and Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes
“I have several holiday recipes on the blog that you can find here, here, and here; but what’s wrong with a couple more!” - Everyday Paleo

Slow Cooked Cinnamon Curry Steak
For this recipe we decided to play with some interesting flavors to (hopefully) create a tasty dish. The end result was pretty great. Cinnamon is surprisingly delicious when paired with steak, and the warm sweet flavor goes well with curry. - Primal Palate

URBAN FARMING

Urban farming growing in popularity
“Welcome to the new era of urban farming. Residents within the limits of many U.S. cities are learning that some neighbors want to make more full use of their property. And that has put some pressure on municipalities to revisit local laws that regulate the occupancy and management of animals and crops.” - Main Today Real Estate

Penn State Launches Urban Farming High Tunnel Project with Community Partners in Philadelphia
“‘If the trucks stop bringing food into any major metropolitan area in the United States, for whatever reason, in a short period of time there will not be any food available,’ he said. ‘We want to give people in Philadelphia an appreciation for the value of food, its nutrition and what goes into growing it. They need to realize it doesn’t just grow on the shelves of grocery stores.’” - Seedstock

SLEEP

Dreaming Takes the Sting out of Painful Memories, Research Shows
"The dream stage of sleep, based on its unique neurochemical composition, provides us with a form of overnight therapy, a soothing balm that removes the sharp edges from the prior day's emotional experiences." - ScienceDaily

 FROM THE ARCHIVE

Becoming Paleo, Part 1: The Yale Food Addiction Scale 
"Society’s strong motivation to lose weight combined with the tremendous amount of energy and resources spent on the “obesity epidemic” suggests that the problem of obesity is not driven by a lack of motivation or effort." 

John Michael: Eating Organic on Paleo

What’s the attraction to Paleo? Personal health. Where do we draw the line when creating our Paleo diets? If it’s just at eliminating grains, dairy, and processed foods, then we’ve taken a big step towards emulating an ancestral diet - but we’re not there yet. Before the 20^th Century’s Green Revolution, when synthetic fertilizers and pesticide-use became widespread, concern of industrial chemicals tainting fresh produce was, for the most part, non-existent. Nowadays, whether it’s contamination from the pesticides used to keep fruits and vegetables healthy, or from other chemicals employed during cultivation - or even environmental pollution from non-agricultural sources - that concern is ever-present. These contaminants can adversely affect human health: prenatal pesticide exposure alone has been connected to lower IQs in children.

In their 2008-2009 Annual Report, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk,” the President’s Cancer Panel advises citizens to lower their pesticide exposure. “Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing,” the panel writes, “to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and washing conventionally grown produce to remove residues.” While this is an explicit warning to consumers, suggesting pesticides are quite harmful to human health, some believe that the term “foods grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers” implicitly refers to organic foods.

What’s so great about organics? From the USDA Consumer Brochure: Organic Food Standards and Labels: The Facts, “Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.” It’s probably the closest we’re going to get to the food our Paleolithic ancestors enjoyed. (You can tell if what you’re buying is organic by the seal it bears. It’s important to remember that, in general, if the food doesn’t have the seal, then it’s not organic.)

While organic foods are not pesticide-free, they are free of synthetic pesticide residues. Instead of synthetic chemicals, organic farmers protect their crops through a variety of strategies, like Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a precise approach to the control of crop-harming insects. In IPM, actions are taken against pests only when necessary, and only after carefully researching the pests in question. Pesticides, if used, are only employed as a last resort.

Additionally, organic agriculture has less of an impact on the environment, thus reducing the amount of environmental pollutants contaminating our food supply. According to the USDA National Organic Standards Board, “Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.” Which is important, since our food, being a product of the environment in which it’s grown, shares the condition of that environment. Simply put, a healthy environment generates healthy food, which leads to healthy people.

John Michael

November 14 & 15: Puerto Natales

A quiet, catch-up morning on Navimag is filled with reading and writing. At 1:30 pm, the boat’s terminal port, Puerto Natales, comes into view. After a brief view of the sun, the weather has turned and through the intercom we are informed the wind is blowing at 40 knots and the authorities have denied permission to dock. We wait. Twenty minutes later it is sunny again and we disembark. 

A short cab ride takes us to the Alcazar Hostal. Simple, yet neat, the hostal has a small restaurant next door. The afternoon is spent sending e-mail, taking the laundry to the lavanderia, and refurbishing supplies. We purchase canned sardines and tuna, olives, cherries, and 70% chocolate at a local market.

The next morning we walk to the town center, shop for fruit, and hang out at the hostel until we are picked up by the EcoCamp shuttle at 2 pm. Lunch is provided at the Aldea Restaurant (my son and I have salad, hake with vegetables, and bowl of fruit) where we meet a couple from Holland, a couple from Switzerland, and a lady from Tasmania - her husband had arrived at EcoCamp several days previously, but, due to an airline strike in Argentina, she had been delayed in Buenos Aires. 

On the way to the Torres del Paine (Towers of Blue) National Park, we stop at Milodon cave (Cueva del Milodon), popularized by Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia. The large cave, named for the extinct giant sloth discovered there, was occupied by Paleo-Americans 12,000 years ago. From there we travel into the Park, and by late afternoon, reach EcoCamp. 

Dr. John

November 13: Puerto Eden and the Pio Once Glacier

Breakfast is announced at 8 am over the intercom. This also serves as a wakeup call. This morning we sail through a narrow channel - navigation along this stretch is recommended only during daytime - and anchor at the only intermediate stop on the traverse: Puerto Eden.

An ancient village, populated around 6 thousand years ago, Puerto Eden provides a fascinating one-hour walk on planked pathways around the village periphery and through rolling hills and coastal environment. (Wear rain pants; the region is moist and rain frequent.)

In late afternoon, Navimag, usually traveling at 13 knots, slows and gently turns. In light rain and a chilling wind blowing from straight ahead, a crowd gathers at the bow. On first view, the glacier seems enormous. And yet, it is just a tip of a massive packed snow lake on the move. Cameras click everywhere, some held high with outstretched arms. The glacier is blue, grey, craggy, and old. Nature shows its presence. "I move, cover, and clear away even mountains." Beware.

The ship completes its slow turn and stops perpendicular to the Pope Pius XI Glacier wall.  Three crewmembers, suited against the elements, are lowered into icy water in a motorized dinghy. My son asks a crew member, "Where are they going?," who responds, "To get the paper." On return from the glacier's edge, it becomes clear the goal was ice. Several chunks supplement the ship's supply.

Dr. John

John Michael: Pesticides in Foods

When you’re on Paleo, you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. They make you feel great. They’re delicious. And there’s a wide variety from which to choose. At the end of each meal, you feel good, satisfied with your food, and with the knowledge that you’re eating healthy. But for myself, there’s always been a nagging thought: What about pesticide? 

I’d heard that pesticides were present in fruits and vegetables; the message that these residues were bad would pop up now and then on the radio, the nighttime news, and even once or twice at school. Additionally, I’d never really believed that washing my produce would eliminate the pesticides on it; I mean, fruits and vegetables are living things, with semi-permeable skins - of course they’re going to contain the chemicals they’d been sprayed with throughout their growth. 

So I decided to look into things. Here’s what I learned: According to WebMD, with regards to pesticides, “A rule of thumb is to avoid exposures that are a thousand times less than levels known to be toxic,” and, depressingly, “A 2009 study led by EPA researcher Devon Payne-Sturges found that about 40% of U.S. children have levels of one type of pesticide well above this 1,000-fold margin of exposure.” The Environmental Working Group, a toxic chemical watchdog, adds that “U.S. and international government agencies alike have linked pesticides to nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system disruption and IQ deficits among children.” An MSNBC article warns of the connection of pesticide exposure to the development of ADHD in children. There is even speculation that those who work with pesticides are more prone to developing dementia.

Then there are the worries that pesticides, having entered the food chain, will begin to show up elsewhere: ScienceDaily reports that farmed fish are being fed vegetable matter, causing the accumulation pesticides within them; additionally, Reuters reports that the active ingredient in Roundup, Monsanto’s popular herbicide, is present in significant levels in America’s air and water.

The news is disheartening, but not hopeless. There are guidelines we can follow to reduce the presence of pesticides in our foods. Washing produce with water can remove pesticides on the surface of fruits and vegetables. Peeling, if possible, can further reduce pesticide content, as well as cooking. By varying the produce we eat, we can reduce exposure to pesticide types. (Different chemicals are used on different fruits and veggies.) The Environmental Working Group publishes a list of the cleanest and dirtiest produce, allowing you to diminish your exposure by selecting cleaner vegetables and fruits. And, finally, you can reduce your pesticide intake by eating organic.

John Michael

John Michael: Getting Back on Paleo

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Recently I spent a few weeks staying at a friend’s house in Catriel, a small town in northern Patagonia. We had worked together a few years before, teaching English in her institute to the children of the oil workers who lived there. My stay in Catriel was wonderful: I saw old students, who had all grown up, and yet still remembered the classes we had had together; I ran into old friends, who all had new stories to tell me about their lives; and, far away from the hectic streets of Buenos Aires, I felt like I could relax for the first time in months. The only downside to my stay was I stopped eating Paleo.

In the house I was staying in, family meals were mandatory, and since I was generally teaching in the institute, I almost never cooked. Which meant that I ended up eating what everyone else was eating. While the food was delicious, and the company was enjoyable, I quickly began to notice the effects of going off Paleo. As the bread, spaghetti, and fried foods went down my throat, gradually my waistline began to swell. I found myself with less energy during the day, and had difficulty falling to sleep at night. I even discovered that my allergies had increased, though I’m not sure how much that was due to my diet.

Although I only spent three weeks at my friend’s house, it took me almost a month to get back on Paleo. The first obstacle were the bad habits I had acquired in Catriel: because the grains and dairy products I was eating didn’t seem to satisfy my hunger, I had taken to eating snacks, like cookies and drinkable yogurt, several times per day. They became soothing, an indulgence I allowed myself when I didn’t want to deal with life’s difficulties.

It wasn’t until I met up with my dad, who had travelled to Chile for vacation, that I realized how bad my eating habits had become. With his encouragement, and even just his company, I was able to gradually get back on the Paleo diet. This time, I paid attention to the subtle shifts that occurred in my perception of food. Before, the sight of cookies would make me salivate; a whiff of pastries as I passed a bakery would cause me to slow my pace. Now, under the influence of my father’s company, I began to notice the blandness of non-Paleo foods, how they were often just a mix of flour, sugar, milk and fat that quickly turned into a sweet mash in my mouth. And I became attuned to the delicate flavors of natural foods, which suddenly displayed their variety to me: each carrot, apple, plum, or date was unique in taste and texture; a veritable cornucopia of culinary experiences expanded in my imagination as I left behind the suddenly drab monotony of industrial foods.

In retrospect, I see it was my father’s presence that allowed me to get back on track with Paleo. What’s the moral of this story? While it’s important to make the right decisions for yourself with regards to diet and exercise, these decisions are often made easier by having the support of like-minded individuals. Thanks, Dad!

By John Michael

November 12 - Channels, Fjords & the Pacific

By Dr. John

This is the 13th entry of our recent trip to Chile. A list of all the previous trip posts is below.

Breakfast the next day was a greater challenge: yogurt, porridge, and coffee or juice. I regret eating the porridge - the first time I have eaten rice in over a year - and sense some sluggishness minutes later. (Be prepared, you can't bring everything you eat, but it's good to have some back-up.) Fortunately, two pears finish the breakfast just fine.

The Navimag boat takes us along a channel heading south from Puerto Montt as it makes its way to Puerto Natales. After traveling along multiple islands and fjords, at 4 pm we enter Bahia Anna Pink, a bay opening into the Pacific, and sail a 12-hour segment along the Pacific coast and through the Golfo de Penas (Gulf of Punishment).

During one of his charlas (briefings) the ship's guide shares his thoughts about the ocean pass: "If the weather is good, the boat will move. If the weather is bad, the boat will move." The implication is clear. We enter the Pacific in mild to moderate weather: overcast misty sky and a grey rolling swells covered with wind blown chop. There are fewer people in the dinning room that evening.

Previous trip entries in chronological order:

• Travel - Chile / Patagonia, November 2011
• November 10: Arrival in Santiago, Chile
• Book fair in converted rail station, Santiago
• Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• John Michael at Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• Churrasco al Plato con Huevos
• Internet caffe, bus terminal Puerto Montt
• Boarding a Navimag Ferry
• November 11: On Navimag
• View along the port
• View of Puerto Montt & 32 person lifeboat
• John Michael: Voyage by Sea