Mold Toxins in Cereals, Herbs, Spices, and Wine

Mold Toxins in Cereals, Herbs, Spices, and Wine

Most crops are contaminated with fungal mycotoxins, but some foods are worse than others. Oats can be thought of as “uniquely nutritious.” One route by which they improve human health is by providing prebiotics that “increase the growth of beneficial gut microbiota.”...
The Effects of Fasting on Cancer

The Effects of Fasting on Cancer

Ever since the days of Hippocrates, 2,400 years ago, fasting has been offered as a treatment for acute and chronic diseases, based on the observation that when people get sick they frequently lose their appetite. Along with fever, decreased food consumption is one of...
Fungal Toxins for Breakfast?

Fungal Toxins for Breakfast?

One of the few food contaminants found at higher levels in those eating plant-based diets are mycotoxins, fungal toxins in moldy food ingredients, such as oats. In France, exposure to dietary contaminants was compared between vegetarians and meat-eaters, and the...
Heavy Metal, Headbanging, and Our Health

Heavy Metal, Headbanging, and Our Health

How might we moderate the rare but very real risk of headbanging? If you search for heavy metal in the National Library of Medicine database, most of what you find is on heavy metal contamination in fish, which “makes it difficult to establish clearly the role of fish...
Prostate Cancer and Mushrooms

Prostate Cancer and Mushrooms

What can reishi mushrooms, shiitake mushroom extracts, and whole, powdered white mushrooms do for cancer patients? “A regular intake of mushrooms can make us healthier, fitter, and happier, and help us live longer,” but what is the evidence for all that? “Mushrooms...
Cancer Survival and Medicinal Mushrooms

Cancer Survival and Medicinal Mushrooms

Did the five randomized controlled trials of reishi mushrooms in cancer patients show benefits in terms of tumor response rate, survival time, or quality of life? Can mushrooms be medicinal? Mushroom-based products make up a sizable chunk of the $50 billion supplement...