Vitamin D and COVID-19: The Evidence So Far

Vitamin D & COVID-19: The Evidence So Far | American Council on Science and Health – By Angela Dowden — May 4, 2020

…the vitamin D/COVID-19 research bandwagon is certainly moving apace. These are snippets from three different three papers released in the last month alone.

…vitamin D could be something of an exception as it’s not so easy to get from food and is widely deficient across populations, including in the US.

This and the fact that as warmer months arrive we’re still largely locked down and unable to take full advantage of vitamin D from the sun makes it worthy of study in relation to COVID-19.   

Processed Foods Highly Correlated with Obesity

Processed Foods Highly Correlated with Obesity Epidemic in the U.S. – Jan 2020 – Source Newsroom: George Washington University

This rings absolutely true to me, but… “correlation is *not* causation.” Still…

As food consumed in the U.S. becomes more and more processed, obesity may become more prevalent.

Through reviewing overall trends in food, George Washington University (GW) researcher Leigh A. Frame, PhD, MHS, concluded that detailed recommendations to improve diet quality and overall nutrition are needed for consumers, who are prioritizing food that is cheaper and more convenient, but also highly processed. 

“Many of the food trends we reviewed are tied directly to a fast-paced U.S. lifestyle that contributes to the obesity epidemic we are now facing.”  

The Landscape of Chronic Pain

The Landscape of Chronic Pain: Broader Perspectives – free full-text /PMC6572619/ – by Mark I. Johnson – May 2019

Here is a recent lengthy review of what’s known about chronic pain: the various aspects of various types of pain under various circumstances.

This article shows the folly of making any numerical one-dimensional measurement of chronic pain, which can arise from a variety of causes, vary greatly over time and location, and make such intrusive incursions into our inner lives.

This special issue on matters related to chronic pain aims to draw on research and scholarly discourse from an eclectic mix of areas and perspectives.  

Some Alcohol Consumption Associated with Reduced Pain

Moderate Alcohol Consumption Is Associated with Reduced Pain and Fibromyalgia Symptoms in Chronic Pain Patients | Pain Medicine | Oxford Academic – Dec 2018

Just in time for the weekend, yet another study showing that casual moderate drinking seems to be indicative of a lifestyle that reduces pain and its impact on quality of life.

I suspect it’s not the alcohol itself, but rather a more relaxed approach to life that causes the association (not cause) with less pain.

Objective

Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with improved health outcomes including reduced risk of heart disease; however, less is known regarding alcohol’s effects on chronic pain.

Daily Coffee May Help When You Hurt

Why That Daily Coffee May Help When You Hurt – Sep-2018 – Written by: Matt Windsor

This artilcle makes it sound like caffeine is an instant solution to our pain:

“it blocks receptors for the neurotransmitter adenosine, which interferes with pain-signaling”

Coffee has been known to slightly diminish pain and slightly enhance the effects of opioids merely through its stimulating properties, but it’s far from being a “pain reliever”, so this simplistic explanation doesn’t tell the whole story. 

Healthy gut, healthy heart?

Healthy gut, healthy heart? – Harvard Health – June 2018

If you ask most medical experts about the hottest trends in health research, chances are they’ll mention the microbiome. The term refers to the trillions of microbes living inside our bodies, known as the human microbiota.

The vast majority of these bacteria, viruses, and fungi dwell deep within our intestines.

These microbes

• help with digestion,
• make certain nutrients, and
• release substances that have wide-ranging health effects. 

Human gut study questions probiotic health benefits

Human gut study questions probiotic health benefits — ScienceDaily – Sept 2018

Probiotics are found in everything from chocolate and pickles to hand lotion and baby formula, and millions of people buy probiotic supplements to boost digestive health. But new research suggests they might not be as effective as we think.

Through a series of experiments looking inside the human gut, researchers show that many people’s digestive tracts prevent standard probiotics from successfully colonizing them.

Furthermore, taking probiotics to counterbalance antibiotics could delay the return of normal gut bacteria and gut gene expression to their naïve state.  

What’s really behind gluten sensitivity?

What’s really behind ‘gluten sensitivity’? | Science | AAAS – By Kelly Servick – May. 23, 2018

This article explains the phenomena I’ve noticed: even people who do not have celiac disease often feel better when they stop eating gluten.

The patients weren’t crazy—Knut Lundin was sure of that. But their ailment was a mystery. They were convinced gluten was making them sick. Yet they didn’t have celiac disease, an autoimmune reaction to that often-villainized tangle of proteins in wheat, barley, and rye. And they tested negative for a wheat allergy. They occupied a medical no man’s land.

About a decade ago, gastroenterologists like Lundin, based at the University of Oslo, came across more and more of those enigmatic cases. “I worked with celiac disease and gluten for so many years,” he says, “and then came this wave.”  

Baking soda to combat autoimmune disease

Drinking baking soda could be an inexpensive, safe way to combat autoimmune disease: A daily dose of baking soda may help reduce the destructive inflammation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scientists say. — ScienceDaily – April 2018

A daily dose of baking soda may help reduce the destructive inflammation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scientists say.

They have some of the first evidence of how the cheap, over-the-counter antacid can encourage our spleen to promote instead an anti-inflammatory environment that could be therapeutic in the face of inflammatory disease, Medical College of Georgia scientists report in the Journal of Immunology.  

Applications and Safety of Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)

Methylsulfonylmethane: Applications and Safety of a Novel Dietary Supplement –  free full-text PMC5372953

Description and History of MSM

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is a naturally occurring organosulfur compound. Prior to being used as a clinical application, MSM primarily served as a high-temperature, polar, aprotic, commercial solvent, as did its parent compound, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

Throughout the mid-1950s to 1970s, DMSO was extensively studied for its unique biological properties including its membrane penetrability with and without the co-transport of other agents,

• its antioxidant capabilities,
• its anti-inflammatory effects,
• its anticholinesterase activity, and
• its ability to induce histamine release from mast cells