If yogurt contains titanium dioxide, should we care? As a whitening agent, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is added to more than 900 common foods. Considered mostly safe (if highly unregulated), “…the vast majority of an oral dose of TiO2 is eliminated unchanged in the feces,” according to a panel tasked by the European Food Safety Authority […]
Microbiome Environment
Synbiotics Improve Biomarkers in Prediabetes
Type 2 diabetes doesn’t start overnight. Over time measured in months or years, blood sugars creep higher as resistance to insulin swells. Gut microbes may be involved in this scenario—for better or worse– as insulin resistance progresses to full-blown Type 2 diabetes. Animal studies already support such interplay and clinical studies with humans are coming […]
In Fighting Obesity, Ginger Impacts Microbiota
Sushi generally comes with a healthy portion of pickled ginger. Technically known as Zingiber officinale Roscoe, the name and the condiment can be a mouthful. Still it is worthwhile putting more of this spice into your diet. Ginger has been shown to exert beneficial effects against obesity and related disorders. Exactly how the gut microbiota is […]
Alcohol Use Disorder and the Microbiome
Alcohol—legal and ubiquitous—enlivens parties and brightens mood. It also destroys millions of lives every year, making it one of society’s biggest public health problems. Harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and injuries. More than 3 million people died from alcohol- related conditions in 2016. Furthermore, alcohol abuse creates […]
Probiotics Tested in Eye Fatigue from Screens
Bleary-eyed coders and sleepy gamers are a common sight these days. The digital age has been an eye opener: laptops, phones and tablets stress our visual senses to levels never seen in history. Eye fatigue, pain, blurred vision, dry eyes—all results of our love affair with screens. While the act of staring continuously with reduced blink […]
The Microbiome and Multiple Sclerosis: Where Are We?
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a killer. But this chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system severely damages the communication between nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord– leading to pain and debilitation. In essence, a protective sheath called myelin is attacked by the body’s own immune system, triggering an inflammatory […]