A Few References:
Impact of maternal atopy and probiotic supplementation during pregnancy on infant sensitization: a double-blind placebo-controlled study
A. Huurre1, K. Laitinen1,2, S. Rautava1, M. Korkeamäki3, E. Isolauri1
Clinical & Experimental Allergy
Volume 38, Issue 8, pages 1342–1348, August 2008

   
Impact of maternal supplementation with probiotics during pregnancy on atopic eczema in childhood – a meta-analysis
Doege K, Grajecki D, et al.
British Journal of Nutrition, 2011 July 26
Address: Department of Gynecology, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany).

The findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, may help further understand why green tea and its extracts have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease in previous studies.

To investigate, researchers pooled data from 14 previous trials and combined them into a single meta-analysis. In each of those studies, researchers randomly divided participants into two groups: one that drank green tea or took a green tea extract for periods ranging from three weeks to three months, and one that got an inactive preparation.

Researchers found that green tea consumption – both from drinking green tea and taking a green tea supplement could lower both total and LDL cholesterol levels.

On average, study participants who received green tea ended up with total cholesterol levels that were 7.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) lower than in the comparison group.

Their LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol dropped 2.2 mg/dL, a decrease of slightly less than two percent.

There was no difference in HDL, or “good,” cholesterol between the two groups.

The cholesterol-lowering effects of green tea may be due to chemicals known as catechins, which decrease the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, according to the researchers.

While it is believed that there are other substantial mechanisms at play for green tea’s prevention of heart disease, it would appear that lipid reduction is a contributing factor as well.

This is great news! Heart disease is the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in Canada and the more tools we have for prevention and treatment, the better.

Green tea intake lowers fasting serum total and LDL cholesterol in adults: a meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2011.

Antioxidant and antiatherogenic effects of pomegranate
Stacy L. Haber, Jamie K. Joy, and Roxanne Largent
Am J Health Syst Pharm July 15, 2011 68:1302-1305; doi:10.2146/ajhp100610

“It’s better for you because it’s genetically modified.” Call me a skeptic but somehow I just don’t think so…

Given these results, it would seem very prudent to re-evaluate whether treating osteoporosis with bisphosphonates such as Didronel, Actonel, and Fosamax is providing the individual with any clinical (read: personal) benefit. That said, I’m not suggesting substantial osteoporosis be left unchecked and un-treated. Quite the contrary, we just need to be sure that the treatments provided are effective, safe and evidence-based.

Link

While this research is still preliminary, what this means is that probiotic supplementation, and consumption of probiotic foods such as yogurt, saurkraut, miso, kefir, tempeh and others likely provides significant benefits to our mental health as well as our physical health.

R. D. Heijtz, S. Wang, F. Anuar, Y. Qian, B. Bjorkholm, A. Samuelsson, M. L. Hibberd, H. Forssberg, S. Pettersson. Normal gut microbiota modulates brain development and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011

The typical migraine headache is unilateral blinding pain (affecting one half of the head) and pulsating in nature, lasting from 4 to 72 hours; symptoms include nausea and vomiting, photophobia (increased sensitivity to light), phonophobia (increased sensitivity to sound), and is often severely aggravated by routine activity. Approximately one-third of people who suffer from migraine headaches perceive an aura; unusual visual, olfactory, or other sensory experiences that are a sign that the migraine will soon occur. If you or someone you know suffers from migraine, you understand just how debilitating this condition can be. Although there is no clear consensus on the mechanisms and causative factors of migraines, much information has been gather over the past few decades, which I will share with you in this article.

While medications such as the triptans, and analgesics such as acetominophen can sometimes be useful for relief of migraine, preventing these headaches from occurring presents a major challenge. I wanted to share my knowledge and bring to light some interesting research and references to help people learn more about how to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine.

Many factors may act as migraine triggers, including stress, odors, temperature, and hormonal changes, but the single trigger over which you have the greatest ability to control is the food that you eat.

Over the past few decades, a numerous amount of research has reported a link between migraine and the food we eat. These effects are attributed to allergy and immune system dysfunction, as well as a chemical effect of food on the brain and vascular system.

Migraine diets have been developed, but are of limited value for most people. They’re mostly based on an old idea that certain foods, such as cheeses, chocolate, nuts etc, contain chemicals (such as tyramine) that produce changes in cranial blood flow, which trigger the onset of migraine. However, this theory has never been conclusive and at least two convincing studies have shown that tyramine was incapable of causing migraines, even when administered alone and in higher dosages(1, 2).

Food allergies or hypersensitivities, however, have received much attention and research with respect to migraine headaches. Italian researchers found that people with food-induced migraine develop protein complexes in their blood in which food antigens (proteins) clump together with immune system antibodies (3). These antigen-antibody immune complexes circulate in the blood and trigger an intricate cascade of immune responses (4, 5). The culmination of this is that local blood flow in the brain is altered and a subsequent vascular spasm and migraine occurs.

The significant of understanding that food allergy provokes migraine is the recognition that each individual’s ‘migraine diet’ is unique to their own immune systems reactivity to foods.

Many researchers have shown that taking the allergy medication sodium cromoglycate (Chromolyn etc), prior to meals can block the induction of food-induced migraine (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) and appears to work by preventing the formation of the antigen-antibody immune complexes. The antibodies involved in the induction of migraines do not appear to be the conventional IgE antibodies that are normally associated with things like hay fever and anaphylactic reactions. In a recent double-blind, placebo controlled study it was demonstrated that dietary changes based on the presence of a different type of antibody, IgG, is an effective strategy for reducing the frequency of migraine attacks (12).  In this study, patients with frequent migraine headaches had their blood screened for IgG sensitivity to 266 foods. Each individual was given a diet based on their specific IgG allergy in such a way that both the tester and the patient were unaware of the results of their tests. When people consumed a diet that eliminated their high sensitivity foods, the frequency of migraines was significantly reduced. Unfortunately however, the severity of their migraines was not reduced significantly.

IgG allergy testing is available from many different labs in North America. It is not a perfect test but it can certainly help migraine sufferers and their physicians creat an indivualized program to reduce migraine frequency.

In addition to diet there a several nutritional supplements that have been shown to decrease the frequency and intensity of migraines in controlled trials. The following are the few that have the most research to support their use, and that I have seen in clinical practice to work best:

Magnesium citrate: 300mg per day

Coenzyme Q10: 300-400mg per day

Alpha-lipoic acid: 600 mg per day

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): 400 mg per day

References:

1. Forsyth WI, Redmond A. “Two controlled trials of tyramine in children with migraine.” Dev Med Child Neurol 1974; 16: 794-799

2. Moffatt A. M., Swash M, Scott D. F. “Effect of tyramine in migraine; a double-blind study.” J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatr 1972; 35: 496-499.

3. Marteletti P, Sutherland J, Anastasi E et al. Evidence for immune-mediated mechanism in food-induced migraine from a study of activated T-cells, IgG4 subclass, anti-IgG antibodies and circulating immune complexes.” Headache 1989; 29: 664-670

4. Marteletti P. T cells expressing IL-2 receptor in migraine. Acta Neurol (Napoli) 1991; 13: 448-456

5. Marteletti P, Stirparo G, Rinaldi C et al. “Disruption of the immunopeptidergic network in dietary migraine.” Headache 1993; 33: 524-527

6. Marteletti P, Bussone G, Centoze V et al. “Prophylaxis of food-induced migraine with cromolyn sodium: efficacy of short- and long-term use.” Cephalalgia 1989 (suppl 10): 441-442

7. Mansfield L.E., Vaughan T.R., Waller S.F. et al. “Food allergy and adult migraine: double blind and mediator conformation of an allergic etiology.” Ann Allergy 1985; 55: 126-129

8. Monro J,BrostoffJ,Carini C. et al. “Food allergy in migraine.” Lancet 1980; 2: 1-4

9. Monro J, Carini C, Brostoff J. “Migraine is a food allergic disease.”Lancet 1984; 2: 719-721

10. Paganelli R, Levinsky R.J., Brostoff J. et al. Immune complexes containing food proteins in normal and atopic subjects after oral challenge and effect of sodium cromoglycate on antigen absorption. Lancet 1979; 1: 1270-1272

11. Doering P. “Drug therapy of food allergies.” In: Perkins J. E. (ed) Food Allergies and Adverse Food Reactions. Aspen Publishers, Gaithersburg, Maryland. 1990. pp 69-79

12. Alpay K, Ertas M, Orhan EK, et al. “Diet restriction in migraine, based on IgG against foods: a clinical double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial.” Cephalalgia. 2010;30:829-37.