Human foie gras

18. September 2010 William Davis (10)
If you want to make foie gras, you feed ducks and geese copious quantities of grains, such as corn and wheat.

The carbohydrate-rich diet causes fat deposition in the liver via processes such as de novo lipogenesis, the conversion of carbohydrates to triglycerides. Ducks and geese are particularly good at this, since they store plentiful fats in the liver to draw from during sustained periods of not eating during annual migration.

Modern humans are trying awfully hard to create their own version of foie gras-yielding livers. While nobody is shoving a tube down our gullets, the modern lifestyle of grotesque carbohydrate overconsumption, like soft drinks, chips, pretzels, crackers, and--yes--"healthy whole grains" causes fat accumulation in the human liver.

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatosis, two forms of liver disease that result from excess fat deposition. The situation gets so bad in some people that it progresses to cirrhosis, i.e., a hard, poorly-functioning liver that paints a very ugly health picture. The end-result is identical to that experienced by longstanding alcoholics.



While Hannibal Lecter might celebrate the proliferation of human fatty livers with a glass of claret, fatty liver disease is an entirely preventable condition. All it requires is not eating the foods that create it in the first place.
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Comments (10) -

  • Anonymous

    9/17/2010 6:32:37 PM |

    What a great analogy.  Many thanks.

  • Anna

    9/17/2010 6:39:49 PM |

    Don't forget the fruit juices that everyone thinks are so healthy to drink in frequent and large quantities - let's not be fooled by 100% fruit juice labels, either (legal for juice processors to claim because the added sugars are concentrated fruit sugars instead of other sugars like cane or corn sugars) or otherwise.  

    Even though I no longer drink fruit juice, I'm veyr much enjoying reading the book, Squeezed, What You Don't Know About Orange Juice.  A bit dry at times because of all the narrative involving the 1960s-era FDA hearings on the of the exploding pre-squeezed OJ industry, it's still a great tale because of its parallels with other foods that are widely considered to be minimally processed (like dairy), yet are anything but.  There's a reason why orange and dairy processing plants look like refineries...

  • Anonymous

    9/17/2010 8:11:39 PM |

    Hannibal prefer Chianti with liver.

  • Bling

    9/17/2010 8:57:58 PM |

    Dr Davis, Glad to see you obviously read my comment on your previous post about "Foie Gras". Yes, I always thought it was uncanny that the medical profession never saw the similarities between Foie Gras and NAFL. Smile
    Meanwhile, I'm still here after a year on low carb, giving low carb a bad name because I am still so big. I'm off to find an NHS doctor to prescribe me Metformin since I think it's a good idea. I think I may have to fake diabetes though, since technically I am prediabetic. Wish me luck.
    Peace out.

  • john

    9/17/2010 9:20:42 PM |

    Hi Dr. Davis,

    I ate many carbs (including lots of sugar) in my younger years yet have always had good body composition...  

    Is fatty liver without obesity common?

  • Anonymous

    9/17/2010 10:41:17 PM |

    Did you blog on the unexpected benefits of gluten-free? I.e. no more IBS, no more heartburn, etc. In recent days, I have visited many blogs and I cannot find it. I have a hand written note that I found it on your site. Thanks

  • Anonymous

    9/17/2010 10:44:05 PM |

    I found the unexpected effects of a gluten free diet in September through a Google search. thanks.

  • Anonymous

    9/18/2010 3:00:10 AM |

    Clarification please, I'm a new reader: This avoiding "healthy grains" that is being advocated, is it the avoidance of wheat only?  Are oats, brown rice ok?
    Sarah

  • praguestepchild

    9/18/2010 11:30:14 AM |

    I eat a lot of paté and foie gras. I consider it to be an ideal food, except that one can actually OD on all the vitamins. It seems expensive but it's filling, a few tablespoons make a light meal.

    Ironic that a great way to avoid a fatty liver is to eat fatty liver.

  • homertobias

    9/18/2010 4:38:36 PM |

    Oh Dr. D

    You should let your sense of humor out more often!  It is delightful!
    Thanks for making me laugh this morning.

    Of course I love Silence of the Lambs and Anthony Hopkins in particular. And yes, it was eat his liver with fava beans and a glass of good chianti.

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Don't forget the pumpkin in the wheat-free pumpkin bread

Comments (3) -

  • Lori Miller

    12/25/2010 4:57:28 PM |

    If you have a small pumpkin, you can use that instead of the canned goop. Stab the pumpkin a few times and roast it for about an hour at 350, or until it's spongy. Scoop out the seeds (save them for roasting) and mash the flesh.

  • Anonymous

    12/25/2010 9:27:08 PM |

    Love this, thank you! We need these recipes so much!
    Penny

  • kellgy

    12/26/2010 3:18:52 AM |

    I think I will make this treat with a small pumpkin (thanks Lori) and I will use my trusty pressure cooker to shorten the cook time and maybe add a little vanilla like Richard A. suggested.
    I typically avoided the wheat biscuits and breads today along with the 90% sweets-laden party spread. The only non-sugar items on the table were a salad and veggie plate.  (I think I was the only one who noticed the huge disparity.)
    I suppose this bread can also be concocted with yams or acorn squash as an alternative to pumpkin if desired. I am going to have to experiment with the different flavors.

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Osteoporosis and coronary calcium

Osteoporosis and coronary calcium

4. March 2008 William Davis (9)
Several studies over the years have demonstrated a curious paradox:

People with more osteoporosis (thin bones) tend to be more likely to have coronary disease (heart attacks). They also tend to have higher heart scan scores (more coronary calcification as an index of atherosclerotic plaque).

People with more coronary disease and higher heart scan scores tend to have more osteoporosis.


In other words, regardless of which way you tackle the question--osteoporosis first or heart disease first--it leads to the same conclusion: Both conditions are somehow related.

I realize I harp an awful lot on this whole vitamin D issue. But, even after correcting the vitamin D blood levels of many hundreds of people, I remain enthusiastic as ever about the untapped potential of this fascinating factor.

So I couldn't resist showing this amazing comparison of how the long-term effect can be quite graphic.

The first scan is from a 46-year old man and shows normal coronary arteries without calcium and normal density of the vertebra (a common and reliable place to measure bone density).

























The second image is from a 79-year old man with both severe coronary calcification (and therefore severe coronary disease) and severe osteoporosis.
























It makes you wonder if the disordered metabolism of calcium through vitamin D deficiency allows transport of calcium away from bone and into coronaries. This has, however, been shown to not be the case. Instead, they are separate processes, each under local control, but sharing a common pathophysiology (causative factors).

An intriguing question: Would the 79-year old still look like the 46-year old had he begun increasing his vitamin D intake at, say, age 30?
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Comments (9) -

  • Anne

    3/4/2008 10:50:00 AM |

    Dear Dr Davis,

    Just this weekend I found this article on the web from a research scientist about vascular calcification and "osteoblast phenotype": http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/studentships/nonfunded/yalexander2

    I contacted her and she told me that "resorption of bone in the skeleton co-exists with the deposition of bone in the vasculature" and sent me a diagram explaining it. She also told me that the medication I take for osteoporosis, Strontium Ranelate, which stimulates formation of osteoblasts and prevents resorption by osteoclasts, would help with vascular calcification.

    That photo of the man's osteoporosis is scary. Here's a link to one of the scans in the CT angiogram I had and now I can see the degeneration in my spine :-( And even in my sternum :-( I have been diagnosed with osteoporosis and I'm only 54 :-(

    http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee253/clermont_photo/ln019.jpg

    I have no calcification in my coronary arteries but there is some on my bicuspid aortic valve...I don't think you can't see it because of all that contrast media.

    Anne

  • Anonymous

    3/4/2008 1:29:00 PM |

    Perhaps it is Vitamin K (particularly K2) that is playing the role of 'traffic cop' for calcium, directing it TO bone while diverting it FROM arteries.

  • Olga

    3/4/2008 4:50:00 PM |

    Hi Dr. Davis:

    This comment is about an unrelated subject.  A well intentioned friend who is worried about my low carb life style sent me this article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) website:

    http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/03/03/heartdisease-study.html

    The article states that "Low-fat beats low-carb in diets to reduce heart disease" as if it were a done deal.
    I was wondering what is the relevance of reduced blood flow in the arms with respect to heart disease, and if this is the only parameter they measured, as they don't supply a link to the research article.  I find it hard to believe it holds as much weight as the huge drop in triglycerides and reduction of small dense LDL particles associated with low carb vs. high carb diets.  Just curious if you had seen this article.  

    Olga

  • mike V

    3/6/2008 4:05:00 AM |

    Re: Earlier post on Vitamin K


    See: "Vitamin K - Keeping Calcium in Your Bones and Out of Your Blood Vessels"

    http://blogs.webmd.com/integrative-medicine-wellness/2007/11/vitamin-k-keeping-calcium-in-your-bones.html
      
    From: WebMD
    MikeV

  • Stephan

    3/6/2008 8:53:00 PM |

    Hi Olga,

      I just reviewed this article on my blog.  It clearly shows LC is healthier than LF, but their interpretation of the data is WAY off base.  And interestingly, I have access to the full-length article so I saw some of the other things they measured.  Even though vascular reactivity went down in LC, vascular diameter went up.  So maybe it was just dilating less because it was already more dilated than in the LF group.

    Whole Health Source blog

  • Stan

    3/8/2008 2:54:00 AM |

    I noticed on various webmd and other fora that quite a number of long term vegetarians in their 50-ties and 60-ties seem to report osteoporosis (and coronary disease).  Q for Dr. Davis:

    - did you look at the dietary  connection among your patients, between being long term vegetarian and having higher or lower chance of osteoporosis than non-vegetarians?
    ,
    Stan (Heretic)

  • mike V

    3/10/2008 2:43:00 PM |

    stan
    It doesn't exactly answer your question, but did you read Dr D's post:

    "Should you become a vegetarian?"
    (Saturday, February 24, 2007")
    mikeV

  • buy jeans

    11/3/2010 2:39:23 PM |

    I realize I harp an awful lot on this whole vitamin D issue. But, even after correcting the vitamin D blood levels of many hundreds of people, I remain enthusiastic as ever about the untapped potential of this fascinating factor.

  • sinus surgery Los Angeles

    12/21/2010 3:27:01 PM |

    It is often said that the intake of milk ensures inflow of calcium into the body.But I have noticed that even those consuming milk in heavy doses do suffer from this problem...could you explain as to what could be the other reasons to it?

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Aspirin, Lipitor, and a low-fat diet

Aspirin, Lipitor, and a low-fat diet

17. April 2009 William Davis (0)
Despite all the hoopla heart disease receives in the media, I continue to marvel at how many people I meet who still think that aspirin, Lipitor, and a low-fat diet constitute an effective heart attack prevention program.

It doesn't. No more than washing your hands prevents all human infections. It helps, but it is a sad substitute for a real prevention program.

Of course, aspirin, Lipitor, and a low-fat diet is the same recipe followed by the unfortunate Tim Russert and his doctors. You know how that turned out. Mr. Russert's experience is far from unique.

What is so magical about aspirin, Lipitor and a low-fat diet?

There is a simple rationale behind this approach. Aspirin doesn't reduce atherosclerotic plaque growth, but it inhibits the propagation of a blood clot on top of a coronary plaque that has "ruptured," thereby reducing likelihood of heart attack (which occurs when the clot fills the artery). So aspirin only provides benefit if and when a plaque ruptures.

Lipitor and other statin drugs reduce LDL cholesterol, promote a modest relaxation of constricted plaque-filled arteries (normalization of endothelial dysfunction), and exerts other effects, such as inflammation suppression.

A low-fat diet is intended to reduce saturated fat that triggers LDL cholesterol formation and to encourage intake of whole grains that reduce cardiovascular events and LDL cholesterol.

If that is the extent of your heart disease prevention program, you will have a heart attack, bypass surgery, or stent--period. It may not be tomorrow or next Friday, or even next month. Aspirin, Lipitor, and a low-fat diet may delay your heart attack or procedure for a few years, but it will not stop it.

Some flaws in the aspirin, Lipitor, low-fat program:

--Aspirin can only exert so much blood clot-blocking effect. It can be overwhelmed by many other factors, such as increased blood viscosity, increased fibrinogen (a blood clotting protein that also triggers plaque), and plaque inflammation.
--Lipitor reduces LDL, but does not discriminate between the relatively harmless large LDL and the truly plaque-triggering small LDL--it reduces all LDL, but small LDL can still persist, even at extravagant levels since neither aspirin nor Lipitor specifically reduces small LDL, while a low-fat diet increases small LDL.
--Low-fat diet--A diet reduced in fat and loaded with plenty of "healthy whole grains" will trigger increased small LDL (an enormous effect), c-reactive protein, high blood sugar, resistance to insulin, high blood pressure, and an expanding abdomen ("wheat belly").


Aspirin, Lipitor and a low-fat diet do not address:

--Vitamin D deficiency
--Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency and the eicosanoid path to inflammation
--High triglycerides
--Small LDL particles
--Distortions of HDL "architecture"
--Lipoprotein(a)--the worst coronary risk factor nobody's heard of
--Thyroid status

In other words, the simple-minded, though hugely financially successful, conventional model of heart disease prevention is woefully inadequate.

Don't fall for it.

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Diabetes: Better than hedge funds

Diabetes: Better than hedge funds

7. March 2011 William Davis (23)
Diabetes is where the action is.

While, for virtually all of history, type 2 diabetes was an uncommon condition of adults, the disease has spread so much to all levels of American society that even kids are now developing the adult form. Researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention predict that, by 2050, one in three adults will be diabetic.

The diabetes market is booming, handily surpassing growth of the oil industry, the housing market, even technology. It makes Bernie Madoff’s billions look like small potatoes. In health, few markets are growing as fast as diabetes—-not osteoporosis, not heart disease, not cancer.

Americans are getting fat from carbohydrate consumption, becoming diabetic along with it. While kids hanging around the convenience store gulp down 26 teaspoons of sugar in 32-ounce sodas and 56-grams-of-sugar in 16-ounce frozen ices, health-minded adults are more likely eating two slices of 6-teaspoons sugar-equivalent “healthy whole grain” bread, wondering why last year’s jeans are too tight.

The U.S. is not the only nation affected. Globally, 2.8% of the world’s population are diabetic, a number expected to double over the next 20 years.

Pharmaceutical companies boast double-digit growth for diabetes drugs, growth rates that keep profit-hungry investors happy. Merck’s Januvia, for instance, introduced in 2006, recently catalogued 30% growth in sales, with annual sales approaching $1 billion. Recently FDA-approved Victoza, requiring once-a-day injection, is expected to reap $4 billion in sales per year for manufacturer Novo Nordisk. Such numbers can only warm a drug company CEO’s heart.

Most diabetics don’t just take one medication, but several. A typical regimen for an adult diabetic after a couple of years of treatment and following the dietary advice of the American Diabetes Association includes metformin, Januvia, and Actos, a triple-drug treatment that costs around $420 per month. Two forms of insulin (slow- and fast-acting), along with two or three oral medications, is not at all uncommon.

“Collateral” revenues from the other health conditions that develop from a diet rich in “healthy whole grains,” such as drugs for hypertension, drugs to slow the progression of kidney disease in diabetes, drugs for “high cholesterol,” and drugs for high triglycerides, and you have a pharmaceutical drug bonanza. You, too, would throw all-expenses-paid, fly-the-entire-sales-force-to-the-Caribbean sales meetings.

The global diabetes market has already topped $25 billion and is growing at double-digit rates. Forget the Internet, gold stocks, or solar energy—-diabetes is where the money is. This fact has not been lost on the very market-savvy pharmaceutical industry. As with any successful business, they have devoted substantial resources to develop and grow this booming business.
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Comments (23) -

  • Kurt

    3/7/2011 5:19:04 PM |

    Since I changed my diet to lower my cholesterol, my fasting blood sugar went from 98 to 82.

  • praguestepchild

    3/7/2011 5:51:32 PM |

    I'm not sure the pharmaceutical industry is any more market-savvy than any other industry, less I would say. They spend quite a bit of their time and money influencing politicians and doctors in an extremely distorted feedback loop of regulation, regulatory capture, and lots of sleazy baksheesh.

    I'd prefer to invest my money in a company that really is market-savvy in an unfettered market. Like Apple.

  • Patty

    3/7/2011 6:10:53 PM |

    I'm floored.  I had no idea that diabetics took so much medicine and spend so much money on it.

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    3/7/2011 7:54:30 PM |

    285 million diabetics worldwide is a lot. There are also 100 strains of entero-virus ( a sub-group of picorna-viruses).

    Type 1 diabetic children show 60%with entero-virus in their pancreas beta cells. Type 1 is usually said to be an auto-immune destruction of beta cells.

    Type 2 diabetic adults show 40% entero-virus infection in beta cells; whereas, the general non-diabetic rate is 13% infected.

    4 genetic variants of the gene IFIA-1 enzyme inducing an immune response were identified. It affects how the immune reaction to picona-virus RNA inside a cell cytoplasm plays out; some get over-reaction of interferon Beta.

    Another genetic factor recently discussed involves the human inability to make the sialic acid NeuSGc. Gene CMAH enzymes aren't able to produce this sialic acid on the outside of our cells; it limits human, as opposed to other mammals, control of blood sugar.

    Some individual genetics have both less number of pancreatic beta cell and diminished size of the islets. They don't put out enough insulin to meet the demand.

    Maybe we'll see a vaccination program for specific non-polio entero-virus; it's worthwhile, even if not relevant to all diabetes. If I could patent reversal of fatty liver to overcome genetic pancreatic insufficiency riches would be mine.

  • Henry Lahore

    3/8/2011 1:47:18 AM |

    Vitamin D appears to both prevent and treat diabetes.
    http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=339

  • Paul

    3/8/2011 3:54:25 AM |

    You know when an industry is growing by leaps and bounds by the amount of TV ad space they buy... it's startling how many commercials there are right now targeting the diabetic consumer.

    The one advertisement that I find most disturbing though is the one for Onglyza.  The ad says, "you exercise and eat right but your blood sugar may still be high, so you need extra help."

    This specific medication is designed to prevent after meal blood sugar spikes.  But, right there in the middle of the ad it shows a man (with a large wheat belly) eating a sandwich with what looks like two slices of "healthy whole wheat" bread.  This explains a lot (to me) when it comes to what kind of message this company is trying to send.

    It's a kin to producing an advertisement for Nicorette gum while showing young, attractive teens enjoying themselves smoking cigarettes.

  • Dr. William Davis

    3/8/2011 4:05:51 AM |

    Hi, Prague--

    Please don't mistake my tongue-in-cheek comments for investment advice.

    In fact, outsized profits or no, I wouldn't think of investing in what I feel is an industry governed by greed and the pursuit of perverse profits.

    Hi, Paul--

    Yes. It seems to say, "It's not your fault. We can help. Go ahead and enjoy your sub sandwich."

    50 years from now, they will look back and laugh at our dietary disasters, wondering why we never got it right.

  • Daniel A. Clinton, RN, BSN

    3/8/2011 4:09:47 AM |

    I suspect Vitamin D's role in protecting against diabetes is multifactorial. I suspect that viruses that may infect the Vitamin D deficient bounce off those with optimal Vitamin D. I suspect Vitamin D also plays a direct role in the beta cells of the pancreas. I don't know how restorative Vitamin D is, but I strongly believe Vitamin D has huge preventative effects, which is part of why we have such absurd Vitamin D recommendations.

  • Anonymous

    3/8/2011 6:24:18 AM |

    brilliant viewpoint doctor. lots of love.. Smile)

  • Anonymous

    3/8/2011 6:35:51 AM |

    The whole diabetic thing is astonishing to me. It's an epidemic and will cost us gazillions in health care money, and the pain and misery is going to be horrible. I have been a RN for 35 years and otherwise intelligent people just look at you blankly when you suggest changing their diet or even just walking. They say, "oh, my doctor is happy with my A1C of 7" or "he added another medication and now things are fine." Their lights are on but no one is home!!!

  • Anonymous

    3/8/2011 8:43:57 AM |

    I found an interesting page regarding Vitamin D and diabetes (among other things):

    http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=339

    The conclusions from the available research are as follows:

    - It appears that > 2000IU VitD3 will prevent diabetes
    - It appears that > 4000IE VitD3 will treat (but not cure) diabetes
    - It appears that calcium and magnesium and needed both for prevention and treatment.

    Pretty interesting summary.

  • Kris @ Health Blog

    3/8/2011 8:50:51 AM |

    Those are really terrible news, I wonder if all those profits have something to do with how slow governments seem to be in waking up to the fact of how easily those diseases are preventable.

    It's incredible that all of this is so easily fixed with a simple change in lifestyle, yet nothing seems to happen.

    -Kris

  • Anonymous

    3/8/2011 8:59:44 AM |

    From an article on the Physorg.com website with the title: Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have discovered, after a two-year investigation, that diets high in carbohydrates are a probable mechanism for the skyrocketing rates of Type 2 diabetes

    "The work by Kaushik Desai and Lily Wu, professors in the U of S College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology, focused on methylglyoacal (MG), which is produced naturally as the body metabolizes glucose consumed in carbohydrates.

    They found that high levels of MG produce all the features of Type 2 diabetes, including damage to insulin producing cells in the pancreas, insulin resistance and impairment of body tissue to use glucose properly. Their finding are set to be published in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes in March."

    And I thought the ADA wouldn't allow such findings to be published because they go against the ADA's "dietary" advice.

  • praguestepchild

    3/8/2011 12:16:08 PM |

    Dr Davis wrote: "Please don't mistake my tongue-in-cheek comments for investment advice.

    In fact, outsized profits or no, I wouldn't think of investing in what I feel is an industry governed by greed and the pursuit of perverse profits."

    I understood the irony. But the perverse profits are, IMO, a result of regulatory capture, and many other market distorting incentives like the unequivocal government acceptance of the diet-heart hypothesis.

    As far as greed goes, if you don't like "greed" perhaps you shouldn't invest in anything but simply donate it all to charity ;)

  • Stargazey

    3/8/2011 1:34:00 PM |

    This discussion is all very idealistic, but don't forget the fact that our government is totally and completely in the pockets of Big Food.

    Think of all the political contributions made by ConAgra, General Mills and Cargill. If the government started preaching against sugar, wheat and industrial oils, there would be hell to pay. It's much easier for our politicians to nurture an antidiabetes pharmaceutical industry than it is for them to go up against the massive clout of Big Food.

  • JEAN

    3/8/2011 4:08:40 PM |

    That's why, Stargazey, voting with your pocketbook is the only way, and blogs like this. Every time I come here, and to other similar sites, there's usually one poster who's so thankful they've found this information. And Paleo-Primal diets are now on the evening news, five years ago, that life style was considered to be fringe, nutters only accepted.
    So, one person at a time, but you've got to start somewhere.

  • Margaret

    3/8/2011 11:08:54 PM |

    I don't go for all these conspiracy theories.  I think it is just terribly difficult to get people to change their foodways and get exercise.

  • fatfree

    3/9/2011 4:18:04 AM |

    And fingerstick tests are also part of industry. Hm...

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    3/9/2011 5:55:49 PM |

    http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/03/03/1019007108.full.pdf.+html.

    In utero epigenetics (& age) influence diabetes....
    ? Are you what your mother ate as well as what you eat ?

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    3/9/2011 5:59:27 PM |

    Link got chopped; so, after second ".../03/" put this:

    1019007108.full.pdf.+html.

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    3/10/2011 3:09:32 AM |

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/71/5/13445/T1.expansion.html

    Control may very well be via Doc's method. Diabetes progression may be individual.

    Epigenetic vulnerabilites chart
    includes glucose/insulin, insulin resistance, glycolysis in exercise, etc. Free full article link chart from is at right.

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    3/10/2011 3:11:45 AM |

    Again chopped link; end reads "... T1.expansion.html"

  • body lift

    3/22/2011 11:33:21 AM |

    Really nice post. Thanks for share it.

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