Dogs Can Smell Gluten

USA Today spotlights a hardworking gluten-detection service dog.

I don't suppose my dog could do that... it would be useful. But my problem with hidden wheat is in restaurant food, and I can't imagine taking my dog into restaurants.

Obviously gluten has a distinct odor that dogs can detect. Why can't someone develop an instrument that detects it? Of course, if this were practical, the customs service would have instruments to detect all kinds of contraband. Dogs are awesome!

Are You Consuming Too Much Fluoride?

You probably saw the news: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a lowered limit on the amount of fluoride in drinking water because excessive fluoride is causing spots on the teeth of many children. Did you also see the story about fluoride in tea?

A study presented at the 2010 International Association of Dental Research Conference in Spain reported that people who drink too much tea risk their bone health. You can safely drink two to four cups of tea a day, but keep in mind that fluoride can also me found in water and toothpaste so it adds up.

Read the article here.

A Clue about Healing

This may offer a clue as to how placebos (and even regular meds) work:

Fake Pills Can Work Even if Patients Know It.

Personally I can see that the ritual is part of the cure. If a person spends time doing something that is intended to heal, it can be helpful. They are sending a positive message to the mind: "I am working on getting better. I want this illness to leave me."

Herbs and Pregnancy

Herbal medicine is an ancient tradition. Some herbs are pretty strong and we should be cautious with them. Pregnant women should be especially careful.

• Toxic doses of nutmeg are known to induce abortion in pregnant women (note the word toxic... do not try this at home).
• Saffron promotes production of gastric juices. Large doses cause contractions in the smooth muscle of the uterus and may induce abortion. Poisoning is a significant danger when this herb is used to induce abortion.
• Many herbs including parsley are used to cause abortion and have been for centuries. Some are dangerous. See Herbal Contraception and Implantation Inhibitors
• From Medline: Extracts of rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis L., have been used in folk medicine as a diuretic, an emenagogue, an antispasmodic and its aqueous extract does not present toxicity to man, presenting, however, abortive effects. In order to evaluate if this plant induces abortion and/or interferes with the normal development of the concepts, doses of 26 mg were administered to pregnant rats... This result suggests that rosemary extract may present an anti-implantation effect without interfering with the normal development of the concept after implantation.

Women who fear an unintended pregnancy should not take a herbal concoction to avoid implantation without expert advice. Some of the traditional herbs for this purpose are very dangerous. Also, some non-herb supplements are also suspected of having this effect, especially vitamin C in large doses. Read Sister Zeus on this - even this everyday vitamin can have side effects.

Royally Bad Coffee

We signed up for a cruise. I was a little concerned about finding allergy-safe food but with assurances from Royal Caribbean personnel and a choice of three restaurants on board, I felt that I could find adequate food. (However, I did bring a bag filled with snacks just to be sure. )

Since I recently started on a heartburn medication, I was looking forward to being able to drinking decaf coffee with meals. At the first dinner, I had a rude awakening.

My cup of decaf had a scorched, acrid smell. I asked the waiter if any other kind was available. "No madam," he informed me, "All the coffee on the ship is Shattle's Best." That's how he pronounced it, but I knew what he meant.

I asked if another restaurant would have a different brand. I don't care for Seattle coffee, and the so-called "Best" is actually the city's worst, at least in the decaffeinated version. Even if I could get past the odor, the taste is not pleasant and I'll always associate it with the severe chest pain I suffered after drinking it at Burger King.

But no, the entire ship serve's Seattle's Best exclusively. And not only do they not provide coffee makers in the staterooms, they don't allow passengers to bring their own. I imagine I could have got away with bringing in a French press but I did not pack one.

So there I was at the dinner table, horrified with the prospect of spending nine long days on a ship without decent coffee. And when my dinner arrived, it was mediocre. I ate part of it, trying not to look unhappy in front of the strangers we were seated with. But before dessert was served, I made an excuse and left. I made it back to our room before letting the tears of frustration flow.

Lactose Intolerant? It's Normal.

Wow, 60% of adults can't digest milk! If your ancestry is not northern European, the odds are that you can't handle lactose.

"Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of Native Americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of African and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans."

Read the article.

In a word: GERD

I got the results from a recent endoscopy: I have GERD. That's Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. The usual symptom is heartburn, which I get once in a while but not so often that I expected it to show up on the examination. And I thought I was controlling it through diet, but apparently not that successfully.

It turns out that there other symptoms of GERD. Ones that I often had were chest pain and coughing.

The gastroenterologist gave me samples of Nexium. It seems to be working and I have had decaf coffee several times in restaurants without getting chest pain, and I even had a meatloaf lunch that usually causes heartburn without experiencing it. So I'm happy that the medication is effective.

A nurse told me that it can actually cure the condition so I won't be on the pills forever. This is great news, but for now I'm thrilled to be able to eat out without getting sick.

See: NIH page on GERD

Our Tap Water is Not Bad but ...

I had a lab test samples of our tap water just in case it was contributing to unresolved health issues. The results finally came back and in some ways they were good.

Our water is clean. No significant contaminants or e. coli bacteria were found.

The negative finding is that the water has a pH of 6.34 which is somewhat acid. It is quite low in minerals such as calcium which normally bring the pH up to a normal level which is between 6.5 and 8.5. (Low pH is acid, high pH is alkaline.)

Perhaps this is a temporary situation brought on my acid rainfall. I'll have to repeat the pH test to see.

Low pH in water can cause corrosion in pipes. Healthwise, the corresponding lack of minerals in the water might contribute to osteoporosis so I need get plenty of minerals by eating enough vegetables.

Related articles on the web:

• Is alkaline water better?
• Water corrosivity and plumbing