alternativista

Did everyone do a New Years resolution or something?

I think this is probably the best TV cooking show I've seen for simple but tasty quality food from cuisines around the world. I really like the rustic elegance of his food.  And he makes a main course, veggies and or salad, desert and often a drink in 30 minutes.  Like Rachel Ray except her food is often junk.

It's mostly about real, whole nutrient dense foods with the occasional bit of bread/pastry or noodles. And deserts that might involve grains, or might not. Just ignore those or save for once in a while splurges depending on your individual issues.

It's currently airing on BBC America.
http://www.jamieoliv...0-minute-meals/

I've added that link as a reference to the Food and Recipe thread.

These things have been found to be different in acne prone skin.

This is specifically about what's going on in our skin, not about the various other factors going on elsewhere in our bodies that worsen the acne condition. For the most part, other people have those things happening too, they just don't get the symptom of acne. These are the differences between us and all your friends that can eat all the junk they want and make whatever other unhealthy lifestyle choices and even have other hormonal or other health problems, yet still have clear skin while you get acne.

-A tendency towards follicular hyperkeratosis or abnormal follicular keratosis (affected by many things such as high glycemic diet, IGF1 in diary, etc http://www.acne.org/...dpost&p=2581754)

-A deficiency in linoleic acid (applies to skin prone to all kinds of problems and all mammals) Linoleic acid is an important part of normal sebum and all of it's many functions in mammalian skin. Affects most of the other things on this list.
Acne Prone Skin/sebum Deficient In Linoleic Acid, Possible Topical Solution: http://www.acne.org/...pical-solution/ which contains links to studies and papers that show that at least 3 genes/enzyme mutations are involved in the linoleic acid deficiency found in mammalian skin prone to skin irritations.

-Fewer llamelar granulars that contain the desquammation enzymes and lipids (the things that make cells exfoliate normally without clogging pores. Affected by linoleic acid)

-More permeable around sebaceous glands and follicles (affected by linoleic acid deficiency)

-There are more estrogen/androgen receptors in skin of the acne prone, especially in males. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pt=AbstractPlus And http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/6448587

-Higher levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are found in the sebaceous glands. This in turn is converted by 5-alpha reductase into DHT
(possibly due to the deficiency in linoleic acid in sebum which inhibits the conversion)

-More of the enzymes that convert androgens and estrogens - (promoted by/in dairy, high GI diets, inhibited by linoleic acid)

-Deficient in retinoids, possible due to mutations in CYP26AI gene that causes it to be metabolized too fast to be used. These have a huge impact on hyperkeratinization and exfoliation, which would be why they are prescribed for acne treatments.  http://www.acne.org/...n/#entry3229786   (may be boosted with beta carotene consumption)
 
-A subspecies of P. Acnes bacteria that may be more problematic that the species inhabiting normal skin.  http://www.acne.org/...-2#entry3257204


More info:
http://www.acne.org/...rmation/
/>http://www.acne.org/...pical-solution/
http://www.acne.org/...dpost&p=2637530

Linoleic acid is a vital component in normal sebum that does what it is supposed to: Protect the skin. Skin/sebum in people (and animals) prone to acne and other skin problems have been found to be deficient in linoleic Acid. Sebum deficient in linoleic acid is hard and sticky and clogs pores. It looks greasy and has fewer protective and anti-inflammatory properties.

Key points:

• Acne and other problem prone skin (in people and animals) are lacking in linoleic acid.
  Linoleic acid is a component in the ceramides that make skin strong and impermeable and thus less easily ruptured and less sensitive to irritations.
• This can be changed with topical application.
• Grape seed and Safflower oil are over 70% linoleic acid.
• Linoleic Acid inhibits the enzymes that convert Testosterone to DHT. Both types. So it can help with hirsutism, hairloss and acne.
• Linoleic Acid is anti-inflammatory and protects the skin from UV damage.
• Linoleic Acid inhibits melatonin and thus fades hyperpigmentation.
• Linoleic acid is anti-microbial as in anti P. Acnes
• linoleic acid deficiency causes an increase in interluekin -1a which is a factor inflammatory response.
• tretinoin alters the lipid profile affecting the linoleic acid composition.
• Linoleic Acid improves the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) situation that regulates sebum production and hyperkeritinization/differenciation (and is what accutane affects)
• Increase formation of LLamerlar bodies that produce the enzymes involved in normal exfoliation.
• Thyroid hormone affects lipid profile. One way that perhaps both hypo and hyperthyroid conditions affect acne.
• We don't necessarily have a dietary or systemic deficiency in linoleic acid. Just in the sebum and thus a topical application is the best course of action. This tendency is genetic.

 

Examples of skin problems affected by a deficiency in linoleic acid include acne, eczema, psoriasis, keratosis pilares, hypersensitivity to allergens, and dry itchy sensitive skin of all types--aka dermatitis. 

 

What to do about it post
: http://www.acne.org/...20#entry3303681

It also might repel pests like the mites responsible for many skin irritations. And hopefully mosquitos, fleas and ticks for your pets sake.

Excerpt from a good paper:

Healing fats of the skin: the structural and immunologic roles of the omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.
Linoleic acid (18:2omega6) and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3omega3) represent the parent fats of the two main classes of polyunsaturated fatty acids: the omega-6 (n-6) and the omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, respectively. Linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid both give rise to other long-chain fatty acid derivatives, including gamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid (omega-6 fatty acids) and docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid (omega-3 fatty acids). These fatty acids are showing promise as safe adjunctive treatments for many skin disorders, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne vulgaris, systemic lupus erythematosus, nonmelanoma skin cancer, and melanoma. Their roles are diverse and include maintenance of the stratum corneum permeability barrier, maturation and differentiation of the stratum corneum, formation and secretion of lamellar bodies, inhibition of proinflammatory eicosanoids, elevation of the sunburn threshold, inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines[/b] (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma, and interleukin-12), inhibition of lipoxygenase, promotion of wound healing, and promotion of apoptosis in malignant cells, including melanoma. They fulfill these functions independently and through the modulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated and Toll-like receptors. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

-----------------

Note: These oils are not stable and should be stored in the refrigerator. Get a small, preferably dark colored bottle to keep a small amount at a time in your medicine cabinet.

------------------------
So, my dog is prone to itchy skin and is extremely sensitive to flea bites. Which attracts more fleas. They like dry, irritated, easily permeated skin. Most healthy animals aren't that bothered by fleas and some don't get fleas. My brother had an indoor/outdoor cat that didn't. And I have a friend with a dog and cat that don't get fleas which is amazing in this climate. So, there's probably something different about these animals. Just like there's something different about we acne prone people.

I've been looking in to what I could do to improve his skin and have found information on some dogs having a deficient skin barrier because their skin is lacking a ceramide. That lead to me finding info on them lacking linoleic acid, just like acne prone skin.

And I discovered there is a topical 'spot on' treatment called Allerderm Spot on Lipid Complex For damaged epidermal barriers that involves putting a blend of lipids in a spot on the dog, usually the neck, where he won't lick it off just like with the spot on flea treatments.

That means you must be able to change your lipid profile with topically applied lipids!!!!
And you might not necessarily need to apply it directly to your acne prone skin if you don't want to. The way allerderm is not applied to the itchy skin but to some spot where the dog won't lick it off.

Since dogs can't have grapes, I'm trying safflower oil instead of my preferred grapeseed for now. The rest of you should try grapeseed.

Here's some of the info and a study on dogs and Allerderm:

 

 

Dogs with allergic skin disease are missing a protein in their protective skin barrier that means water escapes from the skin making it very dry. Ceramide in a deficient skin barrier is lacking a protein called sphingosine. The sphingosine deficient ceramide is like aged, crumbling mortar between the skin cells in the dogs' skin. The skin barrier is permeable or "leaky".

Checklist for Managing the Chronic Canine AD
Allerderm Spot On:
Tretter,S ,Mueller, RS. The influence of topical unsaturated fatty acids and essential oils on normal and atopic dogs- a pilot study. Vet Derm 2010, 21 311-328
Seven dogs with atopic dermatitis and five normal dogs were treated with a spot-on containing essential oils and unsaturated fatty acids once weekly for 8 weeks. In all dogs, transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was measured before and after treatment. In atopic dogs, lesions and pruritus were assessed before and after treatment. The mean CADESI and pruritus scores and TEWL in atopic [u]dogs decreased.
http://www.avsg.net/...MuseDVMACVD.pdf

More info on Allerderms informaton sheet. Explains some of the ways a linoleic deficiency causes many skin conditions. (but i've found more, including acne) : http://www.virbacvet...OCT09.sflb.ashx


Dosage for Dogs and cats
6 pipettes of 2 mL each (0.068 oz) for small dogs and cats ≤ 20 lb 6 pipettes of 4 mL each (0.135 oz) for medium and large dogs ≥ 20 lb

I've been trying to find the ingredients in the spot on treatment for dogs and cats. So far, all I've found is that it contains ceramides, free fatty acids, and cholesterol without specifying which. I'm pretty sure it includes some omega 3 in addition to the linoleic acid. I've found info on capsules to be taken orally. They have a couple of formulas:

Allerderm EFA-Caps Guaranteed Analysis (per capsule): Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) 80 mg, Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) 50 mg, Linoleic Acid (LA) 30 mg, Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) 18 mg, Vitamin A 800 IU, Vitamin D 25 IU, Vitamin E 11 IU
Allerderm EFA-Caps Ingredients: Fish oil, borage seed oil and sunflower seed oil (sources of fatty acids), glycerin, purified water, d-alpha tocopherol (source of vitamin E), vitamin A palmitate
Allerderm EFA-Z Plus Guaranteed Analysis (per mL): Linoleic Acid 510 mg, Vitamin A 136 IU, Vitamin E 1.9 IU, Zinc 2.1 mg, Pyridoxine HCI 0.10 mg, Biotin 2.0 µg, Inositol 0.38 mg
Allerderm EFA-Z Plus Ingredients: Sunflower seed oil, fish oil and borage seed oil (sources of fatty acids), zinc sulfate, natural and artificial flavoring, alpha tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), silica, propylparaben, inositol, pyridoxine HCl, vitamin A palmitate, methylparaben, biotin

A pretty good paper: Atopy, pyoderma and the skin: Barrier function and beyond....... About dogs and cats, but there's lots of reference to human skin problems and research and products for humans. http://www.avsg.net/...MuseDVMACVD.pdf There's quite a few citations at the bottom that I haven't looked at yet.

Companion to the 'Examples of how bad the average diet is today' thread.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Did you all see the segment on 60 Minutes last night about how added sugar is toxic?  

They said very little that would be news to any of us.  Obesity, Diabetes, heart disease, etc. One thing that might be new to most, since it's out of the range most of us are concerned about, is it's role in cancer.  Tumors are covered in insulin receptors and so take in much of the sugar that should be going to the rest of your cells.  And tumors use the sugar to grow.

And when Sanjey Gupta commented that few doctors know about this, the doctor being interviewed said 'no they don't know, this is new.'  

But the thing is, it isn't that new.  And it isn't secret.  We knew.  Why don't they?