Dear Steve,

DID YOU KNOW that it's not enough that ticks can cause Lyme disease, but can also cause an allergy that is becoming more prominent in the US?

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is also known as the red meat allergy or the tick bite meat allergy. People can get AGS after being bitten by a lone star tick, making them very sensitive to a sugar found in red meat and dairy products.

The CDC says most healthcare providers have no idea what AGS is. Similar to other allergic reactions, symptoms include hives, nausea, heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea, shortness of breath, a drop in blood pressure, and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or eyelids. Symptoms usually show up 2 to 6 hours after eating food containing alpha-gal.

There is a diagnostic test for AGS. If you have been bitten by a lone star tick, you have periodic allergic symptoms, and you tested negatively for the 9 true food allergens, you may consider getting an AGS test.

Pet Wellness

Our dietary supplement line for dogs and cats, ThorneVet, has an impeccable reputation among veterinarians. Carolyn Martinelli "Coach Care" can answer your questions about ThorneVet pet supplements at nutroconpet@gmail.com. Please leave detailed contact information as well as the name, age, sex, breed, and/or health issue(s) and med(s) of your pet so Carolyn can respond accordingly. To order from our wellness shop, please visit here (for prices, enter the Guest Area password: discount2018).

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• Paid Member Content
• WC Feature: Sleep Update
• Food Focus: Dietary Nitrate: Jekyll and Hyde
• Mythbuster: Why Chocolate Is So Irresistible
• Green Lifestyle: Outdoor Play
• FoodQ: Vitamin K
• Wild Card: Psychostimulants
• eInspire: Charles Kettering
• Action Plan of the Month: School-Age Child, Optimized

• Free Member Content
• Did You Know?
• Vagus Nerve Dysfunction
• August 20% OFF Sale Items
• Pure Genomics
• Watch: Intestinal Balance
• Loyalty Program
• Well Connect Member Benefits

Junk Food and Deep Sleep

In a study published in Obesity, some healthy participants consumed an unhealthy diet and some consumed a healthy diet in randomized order. Participants' deep sleep had deteriorated in the unhealthy diet group compared with the healthy diet group.

Changing Clocks By Season

A new study in Neurology has found the transition from daylight saving time to standard time, when one hour is gained overnight, is associated with an increase in sleep disorders such as difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep, but there was no such association when an hour is lost in the change from standard time to daylight saving time. The study also found a small difference in the amount of sleep people get depending on the season.

Sleep Supplements

Authors of a study in Nutrients recommend health practitioners with expertise in dispensing sleep supplements to individualize them. Sleep disturbances are multifactorial and not one-size-fits-all.

Sleep Schedule

Maintaining a regular healthy sleep schedule may help guard against premature death. In a diverse group of older adults, those with regular and optimal sleep had about a 40% lower risk of dying of any cause during follow-up than peers who with irregular and insufficient sleep. The findings were presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Cannabidiol

According to a study in Journal of the American Nutrition Association, a 15 mg. dose of cannabidiol before bed for 4 weeks led to clinical improvement in sleep quality and rivaled that of a 5 mg. dose of melatonin.

Daily Napping

Daytime napping may help to preserve brain health by slowing the rate at which our brains shrink as we age, suggests a new study in Sleep Health. Analyzed data from people aged 40 to 69 showed a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume, a marker of good brain health linked to a lower risk of dementia and other diseases.

Female Hormones and Sleep

According to a study in Journal of the Endocrine Society, female reproductive hormones are implicated in women's sleep disturbances across different stages of reproductive aging. Most importantly, progesterone has a sleep-promoting effect. If there are no contraindications and the benefits outweigh the risks, sleep disturbances during the menopausal transition can successfully be treated with natural estrogen and progesterone therapy. In younger women, sleep is affected by the phase of menstrual cycle. However, the associations between reproductive hormones and sleep disturbances in cycling women are less clear than in perimenopausal women.

Steve: According to a study in Mitochondrion, pain and safety signaling are mostly transmitted via the vagus nerve. The fact that the vagus nerve is the largest nerve in the body and that a large part of its function is dedicated to sensing and responding to pain have led to it being called the “great wandering protector” or in cases of vagal dysfunction, the "great pain producer". This is why, recently, so much emphasis has been placed on regulating vagal nerve function in pain disorders (see the image above).

If you suspect that your vagus nerve is sluggish, here are a list of treatments that can be health professional-led or performed on your own.

Non-Invasive Nerve Stimulation Techniques

• Acupressure

• Mobile Application (listening app called Sensate)

• Cold Water Therapy - researchers reporting in Current Psychology note cold exposure triggers this type of beneficial stress by activating the vagus nerve. You can do this by drinking a cold glass of water, putting cold packs on your cheeks, and ending your shower with a blast of cold water.

• Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Electrotherapy Stimulation

• Humming - research in Cureus found humming for 15 minutes enhanced measurements of vagus nerve function significantly in just one day.

• *nVNS (non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation Device) - I have found nVNS to be the most effective for acute or chronic disease. The device I like the most is GammaCore.

• Yoga

Invasive Nerve Stimulation Techniques

• Acupuncture

• Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation - a study in Journal of Affective Disorders found this technique to be effective for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Research has shown that certain dietary nitrates could potentially be linked to causing cancer. Research has also revealed that other dietary nitrates have cardiovascular health benefits.

So, how can one dietary compound have such contrasting potential risks and benefits?

Nitrate-rich vegetables contain high levels of vitamin C and/or polyphenols that may inhibit formation of harmful N-nitrosamines associated with cancer. Whereas nitrate chemicals added to processed meats have been shown to produce harmful N-nitrosamines. Hence, it is about natural phytochemicals or synthetic chemicals.

According to a study in Trends in Food Science & Technology, some food manufacturers are now adding vegetable nitrates to processed meats instead of chemicals, thus reducing its carcinogenicity.

Scientists in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have decoded the physical process that takes place in the mouth when a piece of chocolate is eaten, as it changes from a solid into a smooth emulsion, is what many people find totally irresistible.

During the moments it is in the mouth, the chocolate sensation arises from the way the chocolate is lubricated, either from ingredients in the chocolate itself or from saliva or a combination of the two.

Fat plays a key function almost immediately when a piece of chocolate is in contact with the tongue. After that, solid cocoa particles are released and they become important in terms of the tactile sensation, so fat deeper inside the chocolate plays a rather limited role and could be reduced without having an impact on the feel or sensation of chocolate.

Watching a screen more than an hour a day as a toddler is directly linked with poorer communication and daily living skills at age 4, but outdoor play may lessen some of the effects, new research in JAMA Pediatrics suggests.

After screen time (more than 1 hour a day on a device or watching television) and lower scores at age 2 years was associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 4, the researchers investigated whether outdoor play (at least 30 minutes a day) introduced at a 2 years made a difference. They considered 6 or 7 days per week frequent outdoor play.

The outdoor play intervention mitigated 18% of the association between high screen time and lower daily living scores.

Vitamin K is generally known for its importance in blood clotting and bone health. A study in Nature suggests vitamin K1 and K2 act as antioxidants that efficiently inhibit ferroptotic cell death.

Ferroptosis is a natural form of cell death in which cellular iron plays an important role and which is characterized by the oxidative destruction of cellular membranes.

In another study, individuals with subpar levels of vitamin K in their bloodstream were more prone to conditions such as asthma, wheezing, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study from ERJ Open Research.

Leafy greens are rich in vitamin K and my "go-to" for vitamin K.

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Amazon 23.70 (100 gummy)

Nutritional Concepts 15.85

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How to Get Started

1. Order a genetic kit directly from 23andMe.com or Ancestry.com and send back your saliva specimen.
2. When your results are ready, request that we set up a Pure Genomics account for you. We just need your full name, email address, and date of birth.
3. You will receive an email invitation from Pure Genomics with a link to set up your account and instructions for how to upload 23andMe or Ancestry data.
4. You will receive a confirmation from Pure Genomics when your report is ready and we can then set up an appointment to go over your results.

Psychostimulants interacting with the dopamine transporter are found in the therapy of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as ADHD (adderall) or depression (lexapro), as well as on the illicit drug market (cocaine).

In order to better understand their exact mode of action and undesirable effects, a research team publishing in the journal PNAS examined why different substances in this group of substances have different effects.

According to their results, the answer lies in the respective binding time of the substances to the dopamine transporter. Dopamine controls emotional, mental, but also motor reactions in the brain. Neuropsychiatric problems result if either too much or too little dopamine is available.

A wonderful way to assess your risk for too much or too little dopamine is our Pure Genomics wellness screening, which includes 4 dopamine genes.

"I am not interested in the past. I am interested in the future, for that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life."

-Charles Kettering

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Nutritional Concepts Inc.

1535 Lake Cook Road, Suite 204

Northbrook, IL 60062

Phone 847-498-3422

Text 847-497-0902