|
|
|
Adult Onset Diabetes and 'Quacks'
Adult onset diabetes, like the common ulcer of a few years ago, makes a lot of work and provides a lot of money for the medical system. There was a cure for the biological disease of stomach ulcers but the doctors were telling us it was...
Bird Flu: Human Infection
Bird flu is a disease caused by a specific type of avian (bird)
influenza virus, the so-called H5N1 virus. This virus was first
discovered in birds in China in 1997, and since then has
infected 125 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand,...
Health & Blowing Off Steam
Letting Out Steam
We all can't be happy all the time. If you are having trouble
with your job or personal relationship or even just having a bad
day, then it is important to let out steam. Many people live
extremely hectic and stressful...
Herbs as medicines.
Herbs or medicinal plants have a long history in treating disease. In traditional Chinese medicine, for example, the written history of herbal medicine goes back over 2000 years and herbalists in the West have used “weeds” equally long to treat...
Understanding New Psoriasis Treatments Like Enbrel
The majority of the biologic therapies involve changing the
amount of Tumor Necrosis Factor - Alpha (TNF-Alpha). TNF-alpha
is involved in regulating abnormal responses like inflammation,
increased blood vessel formaton (angiogenesis), and...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fat Magnets, Chitosan, and Soap
I recently chanced upon a web ad for chitosan, claimed to be
a "Fat Magnet", which would let one eat fatty foods and lose
weight. Looked like another magic pill. So I turned to my handy
Google.Com search engine for information.
Chitosan is processed from chitin, mostly obtained from
crushed shellfish shells, crab shells, and similar. Chitosan
is a polymer with structure similar to cellulose. It has
applications in industry, such as to hold catalysts.
The national governments of both Britain and the USA have
taken legal actions against makers and sellers of chitosan
as a diet supplement, because claims that fat absorption can
be blocked by ingesting chitosan have been tested and proven
false. Yet many internet sites are still selling this snake-
oil medicine. I wonder why that is. Don't the good guys win
and make the bad guys go away?
One of the diet sales sites told me that chitosan is an
extract of crushed shellfish shells, and can ionically
attract "negatively charged fat like a magnet". For
starters, the mechanism of magnets does not involve ions or
charge attraction.
An example does come to mind in which ions interact with
fats, namely the making and use of soaps.
Again, let's turn to the handy Google.Com search engine.
Soap was discovered at least four thousand years ago, and
many times in many places since then. Soap was not always
used to clean, sometimes the soft form being used to treat
open wounds, or as a hair dressing, for two examples. One
way for soap to form is for fat drippings from a cooking
fire to combine with water and the alkali existing in wood
ashes. This alkali is hydroxide of sodium and potassium.
One legend says that rain water falling on fire altars
used for animal sacrifice to gods caused soap to form and
flow into streams that were then discovered to be good for
cleaning clothes.
A molecule of soap consists of a molecule of fatty acid
(carbon and hydrogen atoms) chemically combined with an atom
of sodium or potassium, with some other atoms, such as
oxygen, tied in. The chemical process involves the exchange
of electrons among the parts, said parts being identifiable
as positive and negative ions. Soft fats tend to make softer
soaps than solid fats. Potassium makes softer soaps than
sodium.
Soap helps in cleaning because it helps fat to emulsify (or
soponify or saponify) in water, that is the fat molecules
become distributed
in water containing soap. The alkali end
of the soap molecule loves water, and the fat end is
attracted to fat. If the fats to be removed start out in
solid form, the water can be heated.
Many recipes can be found through Google search for making
soap. Some include boric acid, sodium carbonate, aromatic
oils, added heat, and so forth, along with water, fat, and
alkali. Be warned that sodium and potassium hydroxide are
caustics which can attack skin, aluminum pans, et cetera.
Lye, or sodium hydroxide, is well known as a drain cleaner,
and can cause burns, even death, if used carelessly. Simply
pouring lye and liquid fat together can make a smelly, hot
mess, not yet a usable soap.
Does the ability of soap to emulsify fats make it a dietary
supplement to reduce fat absorption? I don't think so. Even
if it did work, I can't see myself eating enough soap to
deal with fatty food consumption. Soap solution would
probably act as a very powerful laxative, because it can be
used for enemas.
Thus, I conclude that "Fat Magnets" are just another magic
trick that does not work. I add them to the following list.
"Fat Burners": Anyone who has read my books or articles on
health knows that the body's "FBs" are "FIBs". Therefore,
magic pills, foods, food combinations to "turn up your fat
burners" are like any other magic, just tricks.
"Fat Blocker" / "Starch Blocker": I have yet to read of any
dietary supplement for blocking absorption of starches or
fats which (1) works, and (2) does so without severe health
risks.
As described in my "Easy Health Diet", the best way for
reducing fat in the body is to not eat much fat (or other
concentrated calories). Prevention is far more powerful than
cure. There are plenty of foods low in fat, sugar, and
alcohol, to fill up on.
AN OBSERVATION: crushed shellfish shells ARE a good source
for calcium, but not the most readily absorbed form. Farmers
feed it to chickens to provide calcium while also providing
grit for the birds' food grinding process in the gizzard.
Egg layers need a lot of calcium for the shells.
** Diet with FACTS, not MYTHS. **
About the Author
Dr. Donald A. Miller is author of "Easy Health Diet" http://easyhealthdiet.com/diet.htm, "Easy Exercise All Ages" http://easyhealthdiet.com/eeaa.htm, and numerous free articles on health http://easyhealthdiet.com/articles/.
Seven of ten deaths are caused by preventable diseases.
|
|
|
|
|
| National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health |
| Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com |
| Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns. |
| www.medicinenet.com |
|
| Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine |
| Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications. |
| medlineplus.gov |
|
| Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Journal Home - Nature Medicine |
| Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ... |
| www.nature.com |
|
| The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ... |
| The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ... |
| content.nejm.org |
|
| eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base |
| eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ... |
| www.emedicine.com |
|
| Open Directory - Health: Medicine |
| the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| the www virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages |
|
|
| Medicine - home |
| Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice. |
| www.md-journal.com |
|
| Institute of Medicine |
| The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health. |
| www.iom.edu |
|
| ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News |
| Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily. |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
|
| Google Directory - Health > Medicine |
| Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ... |
| www.google.com |
|
| the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages |
|
|
| PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal |
| PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ... |
| medicine.plosjournals.org |
|
| Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal |
| Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com. |
| www.priory.com |
|
| Entrez PubMed |
| PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ... |
| www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Stanford University School of Medicine |
| Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine. |
| med.stanford.edu |
|
| Medicine OnLine |
| Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ... |
| www.meds.com |
|
|