ANTIBIOTICS

"Farm animals get 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States." -- WIRED

WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUNG PEOPLE's health, I want to touch on the connection between antibiotics and eating animals meat. If you're a parent, you're probably aware that over the last decade (2006 to 2016) or so doctors have become very concerned about the dangers posed by overexposure to antibiotics.

  Back in the day, antibiotics were like aspirin -- doctors would prescribe them for almost anything.
Your child has an ear infection? Give him/her an antibiotic.
Your kid has a sinus infection? Let's try an antibiotic.

  Today, those attitudes have changed dramatically. We know the more antibiotics someone takes, the more resistance they'll build up to them, so that when you really need antibiotics to kick in, they might not work.

  There is growing fear that antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" will be one of the biggest crises humanity faces going forward. One new study even says superbugs could kill three hundred million (300 000 000) people by 2050 unless we slow down our intake of antibiotics and learn to use them more wisely. MRSA, which is an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, already kills ninety thousand (90,000) Americans every year, more than we lost to AIDS. [Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- because it's resistant to some commonly used antibiotics. The symptoms of MRSA depend on where you're infected.]

  Yet even as doctors become more selective with how they prescribe antibiotics, as a society we're not doing enough to address the biggest antibiotic consumers out there. And it is not kids with sore throats or adults with sinus infections.

It's factory farm animals.

The animals meat we humans eat are themselves consuming close to thirty million (30,000,000) pounds of antibiotics every year.

That takes place for a couple of reasons:
The first is that many factory farmers feed their animals proactively to keep them "healthy", so-called. A farmer with thirty thousand (30,000) chickens can't check each bird to see if it is getting sick. Using carpet-bombing method; Instead he just feeds all those birds antibiotics every day figuring that the sick ones will get the antibiotics they need.

Factory farmers also like antibiotics because they make animals gain weight faster. the more the animals weigh when they're slaughtered , the  more the factory farms get paid. Plus, Americans do not like lean meat. we like our meat fatty, or "marbled," as it is called in the meat industry. Giving animals antibiotics helps ensure they'll get nice and fat before they're killed.

Tellingly, there is no system that forces farmers to be selective with how they use antibiotics. if you or I needed antibiotics, we'd have to go to a doctor and get a prescription. The doctor would instruct us how much to take per dose and for how long. Not so for the chickens factories farm owners.

  but if you owned a big chicken farm and you wanted to give your birds thirty thousand (30,000) pounds of antibiotics, there would be no need to go to a veterinarian for a prescription. The FDA recently suggested farmers do so, but ultimately that decision is "voluntary." You could go to a feed store and buy however much antibiotics for chickens you want. it is insane that drugs we regulate so closely in human consumption are essentially unregulated when it come to the animals we eat.

  Antibiotics are not the only drugs you are unwittingly eating either. Did you know that chickens are fed Prozac? That is right, a study of commercial chicken meat by John Hopkins University found that many of the birds had been given Prozac, in addition to painkillers, antibiotics, and allergy medication. Why Prozac? because without an antidepressant, they might die from stress. Over crowing chicken farms are normal. That is how terrible the conditions they live in are.


It's crazy that so many people now still go out of their way to make sure they doesn't abuse antibiotics or needlessly take drugs like Prozac, but then unwittingly ingest those very same drug Prozac every day,  each time via the meat they eat. It might not be pleasant to think about, but you have to accept that every time your kid has a piece of steak or bite of chicken, they are likely consuming antibiotics, unintentionally.

  The danger is that, over time, antibiotics won't be as effective on you or your child as they might be on someone who doesn't eat animal meat.

Your strep throat might take longer to go away. An infection might take longer time to heal. When you really need antibiotics to work, like when a superbug develops, a resistance could lead to death.

  That might sound dramatic, but remember: You're not just what you eat. You're what you eat eats too. The chicken you're eating ate antibiotics and drugs too. and as long as you're eating the meat from animals that are fed antibiotics every day, you're going to be increasing the chances that you've built up a resistance to those drugs. Drugs that could very well one day mean the difference between bad sickness and good health. Or life and death.

WE MUST STAY HUMBLE . WHY?

No matter how big your house is, how recent your car is, or how big your bank account is, our graves will always be the same size.

STAY HUMBLE.

thank you for being humble in life

 

Infusions for Detoxification.

Whether you're looking for the perfect drink to sip throughout your cleanse or simply seeking a daily  drink that offers detoxification benefits, these infused water recipes are perfect for your wants and needs. Subtle enough to be sipped throughout the day, these blends of fruits-infused, vegetables-infused, and herb-infused waters help flush your cells, organs, and systems of the toxins and impurities r-that can wreak havoc on your body. With less toxicity, the body and brain are able to function as designed, leading to better health and an improved quality of live. 

Recipe #1. The Healthy Master Cleanse.

The Master Cleanse is used for detoxification. Safe, easy, and delicious, yet slightly spicy! this delightful spin on a proven cleanse can make your daily water serving do double duty as hydrating helpings that also work to detoxify your brain and body.

Ingredients│ Yields 1 liter infused water.

1 liter water
1 large lemon, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, prepared in a spice bag
1 organic green tea bag.

1. Prepare a pitcher or water infuser product with 1 liter water.

2. Place the lemon slices, spice bag, and green tea bag inside the pitcher or water infuser's canister.

3. Allow mixture to steep in the refrigerator or a cool, dark place for 4-8 hours. For best flavor and health benefits, consume within 24-48 hours.


The Key Ingredients
THE INGREDIENTS IN THIS  RECIPE are detoxification stars. The vitamin C-rich lemon is a powerful purifier for the blood and organs, and helps purge the body of impurities while supporting the liver and kidneys. The red pepper flakes lend a metabolism-boosting kick that helps the body pump blood and remove toxins and impurities at a faster rate. The green tea helps provide the body with potent phytochemicals and polyphenols such as catechins that act as powerful antioxidants, helping support the immune system as the detoxification process progresses. 
*Note 1: Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants. They are commonly found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and grains.
Note 2 : Polyphenols are micronutrients that we get through certain plant-based foods. They're packed with antioxidants and potential health benefits. Polyphenols are abundant micronutrients in our diet, and evidence for their role in the prevention of degenerative diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular ...Polyphenols are secondary metabolites of plants and are generally involved in defense against ultraviolet radiation or aggression by pathogens.
But why are plant-based foods so powerful? Why do I repeat over and over to my heart patients to get seven to 10 servings a day of brightly colored fruits and vegetables? For example, just this week the news channels reported a story that blueberries improve both blood pressure and the healthy flexibility of arteries, making them act younger.

The secret that blueberries and other selected whole foods possess is that they are rich sources of polyphenols. Let's get to know these powerful chemicals a bit more.

Time to pay attention for a one-minute food chemistry lesson. Polyphenols are a group of plant-based chemicals that have at least one phenol group (don't ask me why we don't call some monophenols — I don't know). One broad type of polyphenols are phenolic acids including red fruits, black radishes, onions, coffees, cereals and spices.

The second broad group are the flavonoids, including isoflavones found in soy, anthocyanidins found in berries and wine, flavones found in herbs, flavonols found in broccoli, tomato and tea, flavanones found in citrus fruits and juices, and flavan-3-ols found in cocoa, tea and wine.

Finally, some famous ones don't fit into any class, including resveratrol and stilbenes from wine and nuts, curcumin in spices, and lignans in flaxseeds.

Polyphenols improve your health in six ways:

Lower cholesterol
Lower blood pressure
Improve artery (endothelial) function
Prevent platelet clumping
Improve arterial flexibility

Improved life span

Clint Ober, the Father of Earthing

Clint Ober is a true pioneer in the field of grounding, or what he termed "Earthing." A former cable television network expert, he lost his health and nearly his life after an infection from a root canal compromised 80 percent of his liver. The infection spread throughout his entire body and he was given just months to live. However, after experimental surgery his liver grew back to its original size. 

During the healing process, he experienced a paradigm shift. In his book Earthing (click here to look inside the book) : The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?. 


he wrote, "A stark realization came over me that I did not really own my home and the mountain of possession I had. Rather, they owned me." He sold his possessions and business, bought an RV*, ( A recreational vehicle (RV) is, in North America, the usual term for a motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home. ), and spent four(4) years driving around the country in search of his purpose in life. In meditation, he thought, " I want to do something different. Whatever time I have left I want to dedicate it to something worthwhile and with purpose."







  One day he sat on the bay in Key largo, Florida, and asked for guidance. When he returned to the RV, he hear these words: " Become an opposite charge." Years later, thinking about static electricity ( which caused "snow" and white lines on TV) he wondered if being insulated from the ground in footwear would have an effect on people' health. He realized that electronic and electrical equipment had to be grounded and thought perhaps humans do too. 

  And thus began his quest. First he developed a grounding pad that could connect someone with the earth when indoors ( he simply calls it an " extension cord" for the earth). He performed a humble study showing that of the people who used the grounding pad,  


Grounding Pad ⇧

85 percent went to sleep more quickly, 
93 percent reported sleeping better throughout the night, 
82 percent experienced a significant  reduction in muscle stiffness. 74 percent experienced elimination or reduction of chronic back and joint pain, 
100 percent reported feeling more rested when they woke up, and 
78 percent reported improved general health. This was just the beginning of a long career in research on the effects of grounding.

  Clint Ober's research is a major reason we now have science starting to catch up with what we intuitively know: that getting grounded is good for us. 

  When you touch the ground, barefoot or barehand, something special, almost magical happens. Or perhaps we should say that something electrical happens. Because when you touch the ground, you're connected electrically with the earth.



  Look at it this way: the earth is a giant negatively charged electrical battery. That's why our electronic equipment is grounded and why electrical plugs have a third, grounding prong.





  Anything disconnected from the earth tends to hold a positive charge (which is why there are electrical storms or why your hair stands on end, particularly in the winter). How many times have you shuffled across the carpet and then zapped someone? Shocking!

  That static charge is harmful. For example, computer chip makers avoid static electricity because it can fry a circuit board. Anyone who works around gunpowder or fills up at gas stations knows the danger of stray sparks causing an explosion.
  Those charges build up in our human bodies. The earth was always there to take the hit, so to speak. But along the way, we became disconnected from Mother Earth. Not grounded directly. Our ancestors walked barefoot or in leather-soled sandals. Leather soaked with sweat is a good conductor. They slept on the earth, tilled the earth with bare-hands, and, in a very real sense, were one with the earth.
  Not so today. Because we're insulated from the ground, that static electricity charge builds up ー with no place to go.
  When you slip off your shoes at the end of a day work, walk barefoot through the grass, or squish your toes on a sandy beach, you're not just draining tension away, you are off-loading the excess positive charge clinging onto and in your body. You're plugging back into the earth, getting grounded, and getting your  dose of vitamin G. we call it vitamin G for "Ground," but maybe we should call it vitamin G for "Good."

  Here's some more good stuff. When it comes to injuries and disease, the number one word you'll hear doctors use is inflammation. It's linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and plenty more of our modern ills.
  And where does this inflammation come from? One major source of inflammation is free radicals, those pesky little electrically charged buggers we're all trying to get rid of by taking antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E.
  Think of free radicals as electrically imbalanced or electrically unstable charged particles in your human body. They are a by-product of metabolism and are also produced by your immune system (specifically by white blood cells) to go hunting for problems.



Trouble is, when they don't find something unhealthy to latch onto and clean up, or a way to be drained (grounded) from the body, they build up, creating inflammation and latching onto healthy tissue, causing damage. 

  Studies reported in the book Earthing: The Most Importance Health Discovery Ever? and in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine show that going barefoot reduces your excess charge, and voilà ― bye-bye free radicals, hello reduced inflammation, blood pressure, cortisol levels, stress, pain, and muscle tension. 






 Why Walking Barefoot Might Be an Essential Element of Good Health 

Story at-a-glance

• Walking barefoot outside or using conductive systems that transfer the Earth's electrons from the ground into your body, known as Earthing or grounding, is emerging as an essential element to good health
• Going barefoot allows you to “ground” with the Earth and absorb free electrons directly through the soles of your feet; this type of grounding has one of the most potent antioxidant effects we know of and may also reduce inflammation throughout your body
• Research shows grounding may play a profoundly beneficial role in sleep disturbances, stress relief, pain relief, heart rhythm, immune response and much more
• If you can’t walk outside barefoot due to weather or during air travel, a grounding pad can be used to harness the benefits of the Earth’s electrons even if you’re indoors

By Dr. Mercola

When's the last time you kicked off your shoes and reveled in the feeling of the Earth under your feet?

Been awhile?

It may sound hard to believe, but engaging in this simple pleasure could give your health a much-needed boost.

Often it is the case that engaging in activities that feel good on an intrinsic level really are good for your health -- like the feeling of the afternoon sun warming your bare skin.

Walking barefoot outside, with the soles of your feet free to mesh with the surface of the Earth – an activity known as Earthing, or grounding -- is another such case.

I have been personally intrigued with grounding for nearly seven years and have been seeking to ground myself most of the time.

This is a fascinating leading-edge concept, and I would strongly encourage you to carefully read the featured article for more details.

You are an Electrical Being, and the Earth's Surface is Electrically Conductive

You are an electrical being -- your body regularly produces positive charges, which can oxidize and harm you if it is excessive..

The Earth's surface is electrically conductive; it maintains a negative charge with its free electron supply continually replenished by the global atmospheric electrical circuit.

As such, as reported in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health:

"It is an established, though not widely appreciated fact, that the Earth's surface possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons. 

… Mounting evidence suggests that the Earth's negative potential can create a stable internal bioelectrical environment for the normal functioning of all body systems. Moreover, oscillations of the intensity of the Earth's potential may be important for setting the biological clocks regulating diurnal body rhythms, such as cortisol secretion."

There is growing research showing that this connection to the Earth's surface plays a vital role in preventing disease and offers a host of benefits from improved sleep to pain relief. The problem, of course, is that while humans have historically spent much of their days with their bare skin next to the Earth (both while walking and sleeping, including on animal skins, which still allow electrons to enter the body), today this vital connection has been lost.

Researchers continue:

"Throughout history, humans mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins. They slept on the ground or on skins. Through direct contact or through perspiration-moistened animal skins used as footwear or sleeping mats, the ground's abundant free electrons were able to enter the body, which is electrically conductive. Through this mechanism, every part of the body could equilibrate with the electrical potential of the Earth, thereby stabilizing the electrical environment of all organs, tissues, and cells.

Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from the primordial flow of Earth's electrons. For example, since the 1960s, we have increasingly worn insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes, instead of the traditional leather fashioned from hides… Obviously, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past."

What Happens When You Absorb Free Electrons from the Earth?

The scientific theory behind the health benefits seen from this simple practice is that since the Earth has a greater negative charge than your body, you end up absorbing electrons from it. This is, in my understanding, one of the most potent antioxidants we know of and may have an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect on your body. As written in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine:1

"It is well established, though not widely known, that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons as a consequence of a global atmospheric electron circuit. Wearing shoes with insulating soles and/or sleeping in beds that are isolated from the electrical ground plane of the earth have disconnected most people from the earth's electrical rhythms and free electrons.

… A previous study demonstrated that connecting the human body to the earth during sleep (earthing) normalizes the daily cortisol rhythm and improves sleep. A variety of other benefits were reported, including reductions in pain and inflammation.  Subsequent studies have confirmed these earlier findings and documented virtually immediate physiologic and clinical effects of grounding or earthing the body."

To put it simply, it's thought that the influx of free electrons from the Earth's surface will help to neutralize free radicals and reduce both acute and chronic inflammation, which is at the root of many health conditions and accelerated aging.

A Review of Earthing Research Shows Significant Benefits

In a new article published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health2, researchers reviewed the Earthing research, revealing an impressive impact on a variety of health conditions. Most of the studies involved indoor testing methods that simulated being barefoot outdoors. This was found to offer improvements in the following conditions:

Sleep disturbances, including sleep apnea	Chronic muscle and joint pain, and other types of pain	Asthmatic and respiratory conditions	Rheumatoid arthritis
PMS	Hypertension	Energy levels	Stress
Immune system activity and response	Heart rate variability	Primary indicators of osteoporosis	Fasting glucose levels among people with diabetes

Another invaluable benefit is this: when your body is grounded, researchers write, "its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth's electrical potential through a transfer of electrons from the Earth to the body." This, in turn, offers an "umbrella" of protection against the electromagnetic fields that are now ubiquitous in our environment. The paper continues:

"The study confirms the 'umbrella' effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body's potential is the same as the Earth's electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth's gigantic electric system. The Earth's potential thus becomes the "working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body."

Most of the scientists working in this area now believe that the beneficial effects are mediated through reduction in inflammation and a thinning of the blood. In fact the blood thinning effect is so profound that if you are taking blood thinners it is recommended to immediately consult with your doctor, as most likely your blood thinner will need to be lowered.

Two Ways to Make Sure You Stay Grounded

The effects of grounding appear to be so profound that researchers suggest health practitioners prescribe outdoor "barefoot sessions" as the weather permits. This is as simple as it sounds – you kick off your shoes and socks and walk barefoot on the grass, the dirt, the sand or whatever "Earth" is available to you. Studies suggest that benefits such as pain relief and stress reduction may occur in just 30-80 minutes of barefoot time a day.

This can obviously be a challenge during the winter, or if you live in an urban area without easy access to parks or other barefoot-friendly surfaces, so the other option is to use a grounding or Earthing pad, which allows you to get the benefits of the Earth's electrons even if you're indoors, especially when you're sleeping. I've been using one for several months now, especially when I travel by plane, as air travel is a suspected cause of weakening bio-electric currents.

So, like access to regular sun exposure, walking barefoot outside is a grossly neglected foundational practice that you can easily correct. In the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, researchers concluded:

"Emerging evidence shows that contact with the Earth—whether being outside barefoot or indoors connected to grounded conductive systems—may be a simple, natural, and yet profoundly effective environmental strategy against chronic stress, ANS [autonomic nervous system] dysfunction, inflammation, pain, poor sleep, disturbed HRV [heart rate variability], hypercoagulable blood, and many common health disorders, including cardiovascular disease.

The research done to date supports the concept that grounding or earthing the human body may be an essential element in the health equation along with sunshine, clean air and water, nutritious food, and physical activity."

AGEs You Know?

Do You Know Your AGE?

How and Why to
Prevent AGE Damage
Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) may be a
fact of life, but fighting them may extend your life.
By Will Block

f we may be so bold, which would you rather have and hold—GOLD or MOLD? OK, it’s a trick question (please don’t scold), because if truth be told, you wouldn’t want either—they’d leave you cold if you knew they were both about . . . old.

Old people, you see, are the victims of AGE—Advanced Glycation Endproducts, of which GOLD and MOLD are two prominent examples. The acronyms stand for glyoxallysine dimer and methylglyoxallysine dimer, respectively, but don’t worry—there won’t be a quiz on that. It would be wise, however, for you to become better informed about AGE (or AGEs, as they’re often called), because these chemical compounds are a key factor in the aging process.

As you will see, AGEs are formed inside your body through normal metabolism and aging, and outside your body during the preparation of some foods you eat. They’re implicated in the development or exacerbation of numerous degenerative diseases associated with aging, notably type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, cataracts, retinal dysfunction, kidney failure, nerve damage, arthritis, and cancer.

Supplements Can Slow AGEing

It’s impossible, alas, to avoid AGEs altogether—their formation begins during early embryonic development and continues steadily for the rest of our lives. The body’s mechanisms for removing unwanted substances cannot keep up, because the AGEs are resistant to this process. Therefore, even if every other factor in the aging process could be magically eliminated, it would still be impossible to avoid aging. The good news, however, is that the “AGEing” process can be slowed down—and so, therefore, can the aging process. There are two ways to do this. Ideally, we should do both.

One way to slow AGEing involves the use of certain supplements that have been shown—in laboratory experiments, animal studies, or human clinical trials—to inhibit the formation of AGEs. Notable in this regard are: benfotiamine, a fat-soluble form of thiamine (vitamin B1); the amino acid histidine; the dipeptidecarnosine, which consists of linked histidine and beta-alanine; alpha-lipoic acid, a saturated fatty acid renowned for its potent and versatile antioxidant actions; and rutin, a flavonoid found in many plants, notably buckwheat, black tea, and apple skins.*

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*Some of the evidence for these compounds was discussed in “Reducing Glycation Reactions for Better Health and Longer Life” in the February 2008 issue.

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No! Nooo!

The other way to slow AGEing is to (are you sitting down?) avoid, as much as possible, browning the foods that you cook. Just as the colors red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple are usually signs of exceptional healthfulness in fruits and vegetables (these colors come mostly from flavonoids), the color brown should be considered a “red flag” warning ofunhealthfulness in the crusts of bakery products and in meats or vegetables that have been baked, roasted, broiled, grilled, fried, sautéed, etc. It’s better for your health to steam, boil, or stew the meats and veggies.1

I can hear you now: “No! Nooo!” I know, I knooow. Forgoing the most delicious preparation methods seems almost insane—like giving up sweets.† But it does have its rewards: better health and longer life.

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†For some good news on the sweets front, see the article on page 11 of this issue. That article and this one share an emphasis on the importance of glycemic control for maintaining good health.

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A Prediction Ignored, Then Verified

Louis Camille Maillard (1878–1936)

To understand AGEs (about which there is much confusion in the popular literature), we need to go back a century, to prewar Paris. In 1912, a young French physician and chemist named Louis Camille Maillard (Mah·YAHR) began investigating the chemical reactions between nutrient sugars (such as glucose and fructose) and amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.

When Maillard heated aqueous solutions of sugars and amino acids for a few hours, they turned a yellow-brown color, the result of a series of reactions that yielded a witches’ brew of products. Significantly, the same phenomenon occurred, albeit much more slowly, when he simply allowed the solutions to sit for a few weeks under physiological conditions (37ºC, pH 7.4).

Maillard had discovered a series of complex and important chemical reactions that now bear his name:Maillard reactions. He predicted that they would occur in the human body, especially in diabetic patients because of their chronically high glucose (blood sugar) levels. This prophetic insight went unnoticed for half a century, however, and he did not live to see it realized.

In 1971, scientists investigating the blood of diabetic patients discovered that some of the hemoglobin wasglycated. Glycation—the first step in the Maillard reactions—is the chemical attachment of a sugar molecule (either free or bound in a polysaccharide, such as starch) to an amino acid (either free or bound in a protein, such as hemoglobin). As the ensuing reactions advance through numerous complex stages, they can lead to a great variety of endproducts, most of which are harmful to us. These are the “advanced glycation endproducts” we now call AGEs.

AGEs Make Diabetes a Kind of Accelerated Aging

The sugar of greatest importance to us is glucose, because it’s the principal product of carbohydrate digestion, and it’s our principal fuel for energy metabolism. Glucose is among the least reactive of the nutrient sugars in the Maillard reactions. This may have led, through natural selection, to its being the evolutionarily favored sugar in mammalian species.2,3

The glycation reactivity of fructose (fruit sugar), on the other hand, is about ten times higher than that of glucose. Fructose is found in honey and many fruits, and it’s also one-half of the sucrose (table sugar) molecule, the other half being glucose. The exceptional propensity of fructose to produce AGEs is another reason why we (diabetics especially) should minimize our intake of sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup.

Because diabetics tend to have higher glucose levels than nondiabetics, they also have higher AGE levels at any given age, compared with nondiabetic individuals. And because AGEs form earlier in life and more rapidly in these patients, diabetes can be thought of as an accelerated form of aging. Much evidence suggests that AGEs are involved in almost all the complications of diabetes, which arise from damage to blood vessels throughout the body.4

AGEs—A Haphazard Process

Unlike most biologically important reactions, which are catalyzed by enzymes, glycation is not catalyzed. It’s a nonenzymatic version of a common and necessary biochemical process calledglycosylation, which is tightly controlled as to the time, place, and extent of its occurrence. The lack of enzymatic control over the glycation process means that this reaction can occur haphazardly—anytime, anywhere, to an extent limited only by the availability of the reactants—and it does, with generally harmful results that tend to accumulate over time.

Now you get the picture: there’s nothing to restrain glucose from reacting with amino acids and proteins, which are everywhere in the body. Since we can’t live without glucose, we can’t avoid AGEs—but we can slow down their formation. Another bit of good news is that not all glucose will react similarly with all proteins (of which there are about 25,000 different kinds in humans)—the extent of the reaction depends on a myriad of factors that can vary greatly throughout the body. But, as we saw above, the list of “hot spots” is large, and the long-term consequences are horrendous.

Most AGEs Are Incredibly Yummy

So much for the AGEs that form in our bodies as a result of normal metabolism. What about the ones we ingest with our food? Isn’t it adding insult to injury to eat the very kinds of compounds we’re trying to minimize the formation of in our bodies? Of course it is, but if you’re the kind of person who likes food, you probably love dietary AGEs (which should be called DAGEs), because they happen to be among the tastiest compounds known. (This is another of Ma Nature’s cruel jokes at our expense.)

It’s no accident that many AGEs are found in commercial food flavorings designed to make all kinds of foods taste even better, as though they’d been browned. (The Maillard reactions are, in fact, the basis of the flavoring industry.) Nor is it an accident that the bits of browned stuff left over in the frying or roasting pan, which celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse calls “yum-yums,” are yummy because of the Maillard browning, which is the principal source of DAGEs.

Oh, What a Tangled Web Maillard Wove

Over 1000 DAGEs are currently known, and there are probably many more. They’re the products of Maillard reactions occurring under dry conditions at temperatures above about 120ºC (248ºF). The tangled web of chemical reactions is so complex that many chemists have spent their whole lives trying to unravel it. The caramelization (browning) of sugar, by the way, may appear to be a Maillard-type process, but it’s not—the chemistry is entirely different.

In books on the chemistry of cooking, the Maillard reactions are portrayed in a good light because of the gustatory wonders they produce. Chefs love them, naturally, and they’re not about to commit professional suicide by shunning them just because some scientists recommend it. In any case, the books claim that the Maillard reactions occur only with high, dry heat, not at the lower temperatures involved in cooking with water, where the maximum is 100ºC (212ºF). That may be true in the kitchen, where time scales are usually very short, but in real life, as Maillard himself showed, the process does occur—very slowly—even under cool, wet conditions.

You Are So Cool (and Wet)

Not to get too personal, but your body, compared with an oven or barbeque, is rather cool and wet, and the Maillard reactions will proceed, slowly but surely, for all the days of your life. You could, however, resist this slow tide by taking antiglycating supplements every day.

And given a choice between eating browned foods that are high in Maillard products, or water-cooked foods that have virtually none . . . well, that too is a choice that only you can make. (Let’s hope the federal health police don’t someday try to make it for you.)

AGEs Large and Small There are hundreds of known, naturally occurring AGEs produced by the Maillard reactions in our bodies. Some of these are very large molecules produced by the chemical cross-linking—induced by sugars—of proteins that were never intended to be linked. This produces a kind of cellular “gunk,” which in principle is not unlike the crud that builds up in your car’s engine over time. In both cases, performance is impaired, and the system can be brought to a premature halt if suitable measures are not taken. One example of the slow damage due to cross-linking is the gradual stiffening of the protein collagen, which is the principal component of our connective tissue and cartilage. The resulting loss of tissue elasticity can occur in the heart, blood vessels, skin, eyes, kidneys, joints, etc., with results that older people know all too well. Many other AGEs are relatively small degradation products of the Maillard reactions, and some of these contain a reactive chemical group called the carbonyl group, R2C=O. [The carbonyl is the C=O part; the two Rs can be almost anything but hydrogen atoms, as, e.g., in acetone, (CH3)2C=O, which contains two methyl groups.] Carbonyl compounds are common in organic chemistry, and many of them instigate harmful chemical reactions in living organisms. In fact, the glycation reaction that begins the Maillard process involves a carbonyl group on the sugar molecule reacting with the amino group of an amino acid. The spectrum of damage caused by carbonyl compounds is calledcarbonyl stress. It’s analogous to the oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species, including free radicals. AGEs of a sort can also be formed, by the way, by the reactions of sugars or other reactive carbonyl compounds with two other important types of biological molecules: lipids (fats) and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). These AGEs too are deleterious to our health.

References

1. Harding A. How food is prepared important to health: study. Reuters Health, May 7, 2007.
2. Ahmed N. Advanced glycation endproducts—role in pathology of diabetic complications. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2005;67:3-21.
3. Ulrich P, Cerami A. Protein glycation, diabetes, and aging. Recent Prog Horm Res 2001;56:1-21.
4. Peppa M, Uribarri J, Vlassara H. Glucose, advanced glycation end products, and diabetes complications: what is new and what works. Clin Diabetes 2003;21(4):186-7.

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Will Block is the publisher and editorial director of Life Enhancement magazine.