Diet Friendly Fast Food

I have been asked through BlogHer to help showcase the far-reaching power of social media to help people in need.
Procter & Gamble, the makers of TIDE laundry detergent are selling "vintage" T-Shirts to help families devastated by disaster.

This is what P&G says on their Loads of Hope website:

Tide Loads of Hope helps in the aftermath of a natural disaster by providing clean clothes and a sense of comfort to families in need. Partnering with Feeding America, we travel to disaster affected neighborhoods with the Tide Loads of Hope truck or vans, our free mobile laundry service.

Tide Loads of Hope truck:

32 high-effiency washers and dryers stationed on the truck
Can do 300 wash and dry cycles a day -equal to one years worth of laundry for a single family
Will wash about 9,000 loads of laundry over a four-week period
Leveraged during massive disasters where electricity is unavailable in the region
Tide Loads of Hope vans:

In partnership with a local laundromat, the Tide Loads of Hope vans provide free laundry service at the same load rate as the trucks
Leveraged during disasters where neighboring communities still have a source of electricity

To date, Tide Loads of Hope has washed more than 35,000 loads of laundry for over 20,000 families. Most importantly, the Tide Loads of Hope program means were equipped to take action whenever and wherever there is a need in our country.

Tide Loads of Hope Vintage Tees:

Tide Loads of Hope can also be supported through the purchase of a Tide Vintage Tee. All profits go to support families affected by disaster.

Where it all started:

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for clean clothing became critical, and Tide found a way to help. So in November 2005, the Tide Loads of Hope truck headed to Camp Hope in the Metairie, LA area and cleaned over 10,000 loads of laundry. The spirit of this first venture informs and inspires everything Tide Loads of Hope program does.

How can you help?

P&G has asked us to help get the word out about their efforts to raise money via T-Shirt sales to support families that are affected by disaster in this one-of-a-kind program. The shirts are vintage-looking and support a great cause.

Shirts can be purchased through this link:
http://tidetshirts.pgvillage.com/c-9-show-all.aspx?_vsc=tide4

Please use this link (this helps distinguish the source, as we are having a good-natured contest between several social media companies - but of course, the goal is to get the word out about this great charity!)

So, heres what Im asking: If you are so inclined, please post a short blurb on your blog (regular blog is fine!) and/or tweet about the program, and share the T-shirt link with your readers. If you DO post about it, or tweet about it, will you drop by this form and leave me the links? (You can also share on Facebook or wherever floats your boat, too. BlogTalkRadio hosts? Podcasters?) We want to show P&G the power of social media!

thank you for your time, effort, and help.
xoxo steph

And!
A meatball soup is on the way. AND! you can totally use Coke instead of soda in brown sugar chicken. But.
it perhaps maybe will keep your kids up at night?
hmmph.

What are omega-3 long chain?

They are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid to 20 carbons) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid to 22 carbons). These are the active forms of omega-3 in the body. They play a great many processes and have a beneficial effect on inflammation, platelet aggregation, triglycerides circulating in the blood, the brain, retina, etc. They are therefore of paramount importance ... but modern western diets supply shortly.




Omega-3 EPA and DHA plant Versus

Found in some plants (eg walnuts and walnut oil, canola, flaxseed) of alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid containing 18 carbons. It is the leading authority of the omega-3 series. It is tempting to believe that eating these plants, our need for omega-3 would be covered and the organization may work best ... but it is not. In fact, the active form in the body are EPA and DHA. Certainly, the liver can synthesize them from the plant precursor (alpha-linolenic acid, C18: 3 ω3) but with an extremely low yield of the order of a few percent. We rely on direct input into EPA and DHA for the proper functioning of the body.

Where do we find naturally EPA and DHA?

They are found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, anchovies, smoked trout, but also in the cod liver in small amounts in seaweed, in offal and the eggs (especially from hens fed flaxseed).

So: eat fish every day?

It would be a good idea if the seas and lakes are not polluted. Unfortunately we find many environmental pollutants in fish products, such as dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals. ANSES has also issued new recommendations for fish consumption  She currently recommends fish 2 times per week 1 time with oily fish. The recommended dietary intake of EPA and DHA are currently 250mg per day, each, on average.

Taking dietary supplements of EPA and DHA?

Dietary supplements containing fish oil can also be a major source of pollutants, since the pollutants are lipophilic (they set in bold). It is therefore important to choose its products. There are quality labels and safety assessment.

Label EPAX

It ensures decontamination of dioxins, heavy metals and PCBs by a low temperature treatment (omega-3 are sensitive to heat) for 12 weeks. It is then absolutely necessary to choose a product with the label EPAX, not to expose themselves again to these pollutants.

Silver Label Quality

Omega-3s are particularly sensitive to oxidation (rancidity). Quality Silver label ensures product stability against oxidation (presence of plant extracts antioxidants). A product without this label could be rancid, so toxic (aggressive peroxides).

Note: EPAX Quality and Silver are not registered but quality labels (and safety). A manufacturer buys food supplements in fish oils for making capsules. It can therefore choose between different grades of oils. Some use small fish oils (eg anchovies, sardines), which ensures a lesser amount of methyl mercury, but not necessarily in other pollutants! For example sardine is less contaminated by mercury, but contains more dioxin than tuna (which contains more mercury it). [3] We must therefore require EPAX label. There are labels EPAX and Silver Quality in laboratory products Nutrixéal, LPEV and pileje, for example.

EPA or DHA?

EPA is generally used instead to cardiovascular sphere. It is the precursor of prostaglandin E3 (PGE3), anti-inflammatory molecule. It can be used for any inflammatory problem by adjusting production PGE3.

EPA is also omega-3 choice for emotional balance. A dose of 1000 mg / day is almost as effective as Prozac (antidepressant). Moreover, the EPA potentiates the effects of this type of antidepressant (inhibitor of the reuptake of serotonin).

DHA, meanwhile, is generally used for cognitive sphere (brain: memory, attention disorders, etc.) and the retina (the importance of DHA to the macula in the treatment of AMD). However it can also be used in cases of inflammation because DHA is the precursor protectins and resolvins (molecules involved in the resolution of inflammation).

Ethyl esters, phospholipids or triglycerides?

These are the three forms of omega-3 long chain marketed as dietary supplements. They are not equal. One study compared these three forms and was used to assess the bioavailability of each [4], verifying the presence of EPA and DHA in the membrane of cells (red in particular). The omega-3 form of phospholipids have better bioavailability than as triglycerides; ethyl-ester form arriving last.

Where to find omega-3 in the form of phospholipids?

Supplements of EPA and DHA are mostly based on fish oil. Here we find the form "triglyceride". This is due to the form of storage lipids in nature (in plants and animals). Those based on phospholipids may be of different origins:

- Based on egg yolks (DHA2 Dplantes)

- From fish heads (Ergyphosphoryl Nutergia)

- On Krill Oil or Euphausia superba end of zooplankton (Phosphokrill Nutrixéal, Oemine krill)

- To fish eggs (eg DHA Omegartic caviar Nutrixéal)

Krill Oil (NKO quality) and DHA caviar have the advantage of naturally contain astaxanthin, a carotenoid with powerful antioxidant action.

Supplements based phospholipies are generally more expensive than those based on triglycerides but may be more effective.

Is Rosacea Caused by Amyloid LL-37, as Alzheimer’s Is Caused by Anti-microbial Abeta?
A recent article in PLoS One (Thanks Daniel!) suggests that the amyloid beta (Abeta) proteins that aggregate to form fibrous plaques in the brain tissue of Alzheimer victims, function as typical defensive anti-microbial peptides (AMPs), similar to the LL-37 cathelicidin implicated in facial tissue in rosacea.  The structural and functional similarities of Abeta and LL-37 suggest to me that Alzheimer’s and rosacea may also be similar in initiation and treatment.  Let’s compare amyloids and AMPs.

[The figure shows a model protein (from ref.) used to examine stain binding to amyloids.  The stains appear to bind to aromatic amino acids spaced evenly between adjacent proteins, but adjacent basic amino acids (blue) are spaced the same way and provide sites for heparin binding.]

Amyloids:

• Amyloid proteins/peptides align into stacks and fibers
• Stacked beta sheets bind amyloid stains: Congo Red, Thioflavin-T
• Fibers form on anionic polymers: heparin, DNA
• Short amyloid stacks are toxic to cells
• Proteases produce multiple sizes of amyloid peptides

Anti-microbial Peptides:

• AMPS typically contain heparin-binding domains -- basic peptides/ plus charge
• Some AMPs, e.g. LL-37, form fibers on DNA, heparin (stain with amyloid stains)
• Toxic to cell membranes
• Kallikrein stimulated by gut flora migrates to face and clips LL-37 to a smaller peptide that binds to host DNA and stimulates the TLR receptor to produce inflammation
• Stomach pepsin hydrolyzes dietary proteins into anti-microbial peptides (heparin is secreted by mast cells onto to the intestinal surface to protect from any amyloid-like effects)
• Defensins, cathelicidins and other AMPs are under transcriptional control of vitamin D receptor

Abeta Is Anti-microbial Like LL-37

Amyloid beta is the well-known source of the fibrous plaques forming brain lesions in Alzheimer’s disease.  The normal function of Abeta has not been firmly established.  The recent article shows data to support Abeta as an anti-microbial peptide comparable to LL-37 against several pathogenic bacteria and yeast.  Knock-out mice deprived of a gene corresponding to Abeta are susceptible to bacterial infections.  The anti-microbial activity present in extracts from Alzheimer’s disease brains was inactivated by anti-Abeta antibodies.

Implications of Abeta as an AMP Like LL-37

The similarities between AMPs and amyloid peptides suggest some implications for both Alzheimer’s disease and rosacea.  Vitamin D is a hormone that binds to a cytoplasmic receptor and the vitD/receptor complex then acts as a transcription factor that controls the expression of defensins in the intestines, LL-37 in facial skin and perhaps Abeta in brains.

Amyloids form fibers on a scaffolding of heparan sulfate (HS).  There is usually an excess of HS on the surface of cells and the HS is rapidly recycled back into cells.  During inflammation, mast cells release heparin, short fragments of HS, that should also inhibit amyloid fiber formation on HS.   Chronic inflammation, however, reduces HS production and may set the stage for amyloid fiber formation.  HS metabolism of the brain may be vitally important to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, especially since the increasing chronic inflammation of aging people should deplete brain HS.

LL-37 forms complexes with DNA from damaged host cells in rosacea skin.  The LL-37/DNA complexes trigger TLRs and inflammation.  LL-37 may normally bind to cell surface HS and chronic inflammation of the skin may cause the shift to pathogenic autoinflammation.  Topical application or perhaps low dose IV heparin may be effective in disrupting the autoinflammation due to LL-37.  Part of the toxicity of LL-37 in the skin may be due to amyloid like structures that could form with inadequate HS and overabundant LL-37 production.  Vitamin D metabolism should also be very important, since LL-37 synthesis is controlled by vitamin D.  This is consistent with the benefits that some rosaceans observe with high doses of vitamin D3 supplements.

references:
Soscia SJ, Kirby JE, Washicosky KJ, Tucker SM, Ingelsson M, Hyman B, Burton MA, Goldstein LE, Duong S, Tanzi RE, Moir RD.  The Alzheimers disease-associated amyloid beta-protein is an antimicrobial peptide.  PLoS One. 2010 Mar 3;5(3):e9505.

Abedini A, Tracz SM, Cho JH, Raleigh DP.  Characterization of the heparin binding site in the N-terminus of human pro-islet amyloid polypeptide: implications for amyloid formation.  Biochemistry. 2006 Aug 1;45(30):9228-37.

Biancalana M, Makabe K, Koide A, Koide S. Molecular mechanism of thioflavin-T binding to the surface of beta-rich peptide self-assemblies.  J Mol Biol. 2009 Jan 30;385(4):1052-63. Epub 2008 Nov 14.

A Year of drool-worthy recipes from Slow Cooker from Scratch, and many are South Beach Diet Friendly!

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This Lemony Shrimp Salad with Avocado, Heart of Palm, and Feta was a definite winner!

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