Chickens beware. Your meat, and that of other animals, may soon be in higher demand. The problem is that tofu, a soy product often used to replace meat, has once again been tied to negative health consequences - in this case, memory loss and dementia.

Researchers at Loughborough University in England recently published two studies — in the journal Dementias and in Geriatric Cognitive Disorders - which found that eating high levels of some soy products may raise the risk of memory loss.

The research team, led by Professor Ef Hogervorst, tracked soy intake and subsequent memory function in 719 elderly Indonesians living in urban and rural regions of the island of Java. They found high tofu consumption - at least once a day - was associated with worse memory, particularly among subjects over 68 years of age.

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It’s not unusual for people, especially those with Th1 disease, to find that soy doesn’t always work well in their diet.

But the reason why soy appears to cause problems in many people with Th1 disease remained largely speculative until several month ago, when biomedical researcher Trevor Marshall used molecular modeling software to observe the way that the primary soy isoflavone (or antioxidant), called Genistein, interacts with the Vitamin D Receptor.

Marshall’s model of 1,25-D and Genistein as they dock into the VDR.

His models revealed that Genistein is a partial agonist (activator) of the VDR, and that the substance forms hydrogen bonds with several of the same residues as the vitamin D metabolite 1,25-D (which also activates the VDR).

But, Marshall warned, there’s a catch. Genistein doesn’t have the “tail” of Vitamin D or Benicar, meaning that it cannot transcribe certain genes “which need co-activators requiring helix 12 to be stabilized.”

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For decades, researchers working with L-form bacteria have warned that while standard antibiotic therapy successfully kills classical bacterial forms, it leaves bacteria that transform into the L-form unscathed. In fact, when the beta-lactam antibiotics are administered to patients with acute infection, they actually foster the growth of L-form bacteria, meaning that patients treated with these antibiotics can certainly plan on dealing with numerous symptoms of chronic disease in the years to come.

Because L-form bacteria grow so slowly, few researchers have made the connection between acute infection and chronic symptoms that rear their heads decades down the road. However, several research teams have finally taken note of the fact that food poisoning victims, who at one point suffered from a severe acute infection, are much more likely to develop chronic symptoms later in life.

“It’s a dirty little secret of food poisoning,” says Lauren Neergaard of Yahoo News. “E. coli and certain other foodborne illnesses can sometimes trigger serious health problems months or years after patients survived that initial bout. Scientists only now are unraveling a legacy that has largely gone unnoticed.”

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A decade ago, after researchers linked folic acid with a reduced rate of a birth defect called spinal bifidia, the FDA mandated that the substance be added to wheat flour and other grain products. Since that time, 42 other countries have implemented some form of mandatory folic acid fortification based on the same premise.

However recent research has revealed that over the past decade, rates of colorectal cancer in the United States have risen for inexplicable reasons, even as regular colonoscopy check-ups have become more common. In Canada, where folic acid supplementation was introduced a bit later, the same trend has been observed.

Two recent commentaries appearing in Nutrition Reviews address these findings and provide an overview of the existing evidence on folic acid fortification and the associated policy issues.

Dr. Solomons, author of one of the commentaries, “Food Fortification with Folic Acid: Has the Other Shoe Dropped?” advises that a careful reconsideration of the fortification program is needed stating, “One size of dietary folic acid exposure does not fit all. It can be beneficial to some and detrimental to others at the same time.”

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“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Regardless of whether apples have proven to ward off disease, this statement reflects a long-held understanding of the fact that the foods and supplements we consume can impact our health. Recent research, which has demonstrated that a vast array of chronic diseases are bacterial in origin, now allows us to better understand the actions of the substances we ingest. By analyzing research that reveals how bacteria use and obtain vital nutrients, we can adapt our diets to ensure that we do not provide the pathogens we harbor with extra amounts of substances that foster their growth, including iron, folic acid, and carbohydrates. Furthermore, molecular modeling research now allows us to understand how various foods, including vitamin D, chlorogenic acid, carnosic acid, and soy, can alter the activity of the immune system. Together, this research reveals that eating large quantities of certain foods that make us feel good is not necessarily beneficial, and that a number of supplements may do more harm than good.

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