Monday, September 29, 2014

The Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Microbes developed interactive signalling systems over billions of years.  Scientists do not have a complete grasp on how antibiotics are produced or what they do in the natural world. There are several theories that involve gene transfer, evolutionary selection, and competition. At first it was believed that microbes produced antibiotics when competing microbes encroached on their territory, but this explanation was proved wrong when microbes began producing antibiotics in a laboratory setting with no other microbes present.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Arctic Tiger Nut Crop Experiment

Lots of talk this year about tiger nuts.  Surely you've heard of them by now.  These are not nuts, but the root tubers of a type of sedge grass that helped man become man.  Our earliest ancestors ate them, the ancient Egyptians raised them, they are still enjoyed all over the world today.

UPDATE July 2015!

Pics of some tiger nuts I am growing this summer.  I planted them by the handful in a heap of sand. They seem to love this method, and it gives me some ideas.  Here's a picture, the tiger nuts are the grassy mound in the center, surrounded by corn and wildcucumbers, lol:




Tiger nuts can be purchased from several places, my favorite place to buy them is from the Chief Nut himself at Tigernuts USA. He will personally call you to recommend you soak them before eating and answer any questions you may have...seriously.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Winds of War


Though the discovery of antibiotics went largely unnoticed, World War II changed everything. By 1945 Fleming’s penicillin was in full production as were many of the antibiotics pioneered by Waksman.  In fact, a large supply of penicillin was a prerequisite for the D-Day invasions of Normandy. At a time of great national pride the production of antibiotics was delegated to the War Department. A memo was sent to the manufacturers of antibiotics in 1943[16]:

"You are urged to impress upon every worker in your plant that penicillin produced today will be saving the life of someone in a few days or curing the disease of someone now incapacitated. Put up slogans in your plant! Place notices in pay envelopes! Create an enthusiasm for the job down to the lowest worker in your plant."

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Tatertot Brand Potato Starch...New & Improved!

Moved to potatohack.com

12 Benefits of Potato Juice

1. Potato Juice is a wonderful anti-inflammatory agent work well for arthritis and all the other forms of inflammatory disease aches and pains, especially joint pain and back pain. And Potato Juice will increase circulation to every area of the body.
2. Potato Juice is very alkaline and works to alkalize the body in order to prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and even cancer.
3. Potato Juice is great for eczema and even acne helping to clear up your skin in no time.
4. Potato Juice can help you lose weight, take one cup of Potato Juice in the morning before breakfast… and in the evening 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. Potato Juice doesn’t taste that great… so make sure to mix it with other juices like carrot juice and add some honey so it tastes great!
5. Potato Juice works wonders for gout… flushing out the uric acid from your body.
6. Potato Juice lowers cholesterol too… and in general improves your over all state of health and well being.
7. Potato Juice also works well as a inexpensive detoxing agent too. Want to flush out your liver and gallbladder then give Potato Juice a try. And Potato Juice has been used in Japan and other places in the world to treat hepatitis with good success.
8. There are studies showing that Potato Juice works well for treating pancreatitis and kidney disease… including high protein values on clinical lab tests. And there’s some evidence that Potato Juice also works well for diabetes and high blood pressure.
9. Potato Juice will prevent the formation of calcium stones in the urinary tract.
10. Potato Juice has also been use for the treatment of tumors and cancer, in fact red and purple potatoes contain high amounts of anthocyanins that stops the growth of cancer cells. And yellow and orange fleshed potatoes contain lots of zeaxanthin which is important for good vision.
11. Potato Juice being alkaline is great for soothing the GI tract, curing indigestion, and helping with excess acid… and for healing a irritable gut and also healing gastric ulcers. A true miracle food for the GI tract.
12. Potato Juice is full of Vitamins A, C, B’s, and phosphorus, calcium, iron, potassium, zeaxanthin, fiber, and protein!

I know there are more health benefits than that, though.  Anybody have any good papers on raw potato juice?

Later!
Tim

Monday, September 15, 2014

Antibiotic Pioneers

In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was fiddling around with a strange mold he found growing on a Petri dish. This mold was known as Penicillium notatum and after an accidental exposure of the Penicillium to a Petri dish containing Staphylococcus (an infectious microbe), Fleming discovered that the exposure resulted in destruction of the Staphylococcus. This was an amazing discovery and he soon learned he now had the power of life and death over a wide range of Gram-positive bacteria that had been stymieing doctors for centuries!  Fleming toyed with the moldy medicine for well over a decade with little success in making a commercially viable, purified form of his invention: penicillin.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

50 Shades of Gross

Haha, had to share this.  I know it's bad form to just cut and paste what others have written, so I will try to paraphrase from here as best I can. 

The author of this short piece, Katherine Dahlhausen, has dug up 50 "germ-phobic" tactics people use to avoid getting nasty microbes on them.  I'll admit, I still do a few of these.  I think that the underlying point here, though, is that we shouldn't have to be so 'anal' about avoiding germs.  In fact, avoiding all of these stray microbes has probably led us to the shape we are in.  Here's her list...how many do you do?  


Monday, September 8, 2014

Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance

The antibiotic era is not confined to modern day. Tetracycline, an antibiotic first isolated from Actinobacteria in the dirt, is a cheap antibiotic that has been used to treat pneumonia, acne, and other infections.  It was first discovered in the 1940’s and by the 1950’s, tetracycline-resistant bacteria had quickly emerged.[7] Ironically, tetracycline has been isolated from the bones of ancient skeletons from Sudan dating back to the year 350 AD and late Roman period skeletons from ancient Egypt. The tetracycline in these instances is presumed to have been introduced by the diet or through the use of botanical herbs or healing soils used as medicine, but no trace of tetracycline resistance has been found in these areas after thousands of years of consumption[8].

Friday, September 5, 2014

RS2 vs RS3 Put to the (Gut) Test! Part 2

I love all of the gut tests available to us now!  The two that have gotten the most attention are American Gut and uBiome.  Neither require a doctor's orders and are relatively cheap ($99 and $89 respectively).  uBiome gets you a report in about 6 weeks, while AmGut takes 6 months.

I think both tests are far from perfect, as Mr. Heisenbug recently discussed:






Later,
Tim
 
Edit to add my full AmGut Taxa Report from 2013:

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Relative Abundance (%)
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales Bacteroidaceae Bacteroides
46.52
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Ruminococcaceae ---
13.06
Bacteria Actinobacteria Actinobacteria Bifidobacteriales Bifidobacteriaceae Bifidobacterium
11.32
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae ---
5.27
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Ruminococcaceae Faecalibacterium
4.81
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales --- ---
2.21
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales Rikenellaceae ---
2.10
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Clostridiaceae ---
1.69
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales [Paraprevotellaceae] Paraprevotella
1.25
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Burkholderiales Alcaligenaceae Sutterella
0.96
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales Porphyromonadaceae Parabacteroides
0.91
Bacteria Tenericutes Mollicutes RF39 --- ---
0.90
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Veillonellaceae Phascolarctobacterium
0.79
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Lachnobacterium
0.78
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Coprococcus
0.76
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Blautia
0.76
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales [Barnesiellaceae] ---
0.64
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Ruminococcaceae Oscillospira
0.53
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Ruminococcaceae Ruminococcus
0.50
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Lachnospira
0.48
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Roseburia
0.41
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales [Paraprevotellaceae] ---
0.38
Bacteria Proteobacteria Deltaproteobacteria Desulfovibrionales Desulfovibrionaceae Desulfovibrio
0.37
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae [Ruminococcus]
0.27
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales [Odoribacteraceae] Butyricimonas
0.24
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Dorea
0.23
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales Prevotellaceae Prevotella
0.21
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales --- ---
0.13
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales [Odoribacteraceae] Odoribacter
0.12
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Streptococcaceae Streptococcus
0.12
Bacteria Firmicutes Erysipelotrichi Erysipelotrichales Erysipelotrichaceae [Eubacterium]
0.10
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Christensenellaceae ---
0.10
Bacteria Actinobacteria Coriobacteriia Coriobacteriales Coriobacteriaceae Collinsella
0.09
Bacteria Verrucomicrobia Verrucomicrobiae Verrucomicrobiales Verrucomicrobiaceae Akkermansia
0.07
Bacteria Firmicutes Erysipelotrichi Erysipelotrichales Erysipelotrichaceae ---
0.07
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae Anaerostipes
0.07
Bacteria Lentisphaerae [Lentisphaeria] Victivallales Victivallaceae ---
0.06
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Lactobacillaceae Lactobacillus
0.05
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Clostridiaceae Clostridium
0.05
Archaea Euryarchaeota Methanobacteria Methanobacteriales Methanobacteriaceae Methanobrevibacter
0.05
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales [Mogibacteriaceae] ---
0.04
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Veillonellaceae Dialister
0.04
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Peptococcaceae Peptococcus
0.03
Bacteria Proteobacteria Deltaproteobacteria Desulfovibrionales Desulfovibrionaceae Bilophila
0.03
Bacteria Proteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Enterobacteriales Enterobacteriaceae ---
0.02
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Clostridiaceae SMB53
0.02
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Burkholderiales Oxalobacteraceae Oxalobacter
0.02
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales [Tissierellaceae] Finegoldia
0.02
Bacteria Actinobacteria Coriobacteriia Coriobacteriales Coriobacteriaceae ---
0.02
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Neisseriales Neisseriaceae Neisseria
0.02
Bacteria Actinobacteria Actinobacteria Actinomycetales Corynebacteriaceae Corynebacterium
0.02
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Lactobacillaceae ---
0.02
Bacteria Cyanobacteria Chloroplast Streptophyta --- ---
0.02
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Dehalobacteriaceae Dehalobacterium
0.01
Bacteria Actinobacteria Coriobacteriia Coriobacteriales Coriobacteriaceae Slackia
0.01
Bacteria Actinobacteria Actinobacteria Actinomycetales Micrococcaceae Rothia
0.01
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Neisseriales Neisseriaceae ---
0.01
Bacteria Firmicutes Erysipelotrichi Erysipelotrichales Erysipelotrichaceae Holdemania
0.01
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Turicibacterales Turicibacteraceae Turicibacter
0.01
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Leuconostocaceae Leuconostoc
0.01
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Burkholderiales Oxalobacteraceae ---
0.01
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia SHA-98 --- ---
0.01
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Carnobacteriaceae Granulicatella
0.01
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales Porphyromonadaceae Porphyromonas
0.01
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Burkholderiales Comamonadaceae Limnobacter
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Ruminococcaceae Anaerotruncus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Peptococcaceae ---
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Streptococcaceae Lactococcus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales --- ---
0.00
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Flavobacteriia Flavobacteriales [Weeksellaceae] Chryseobacterium
0.00
Bacteria Actinobacteria Coriobacteriia Coriobacteriales Coriobacteriaceae Adlercreutzia
0.00
Bacteria Actinobacteria Actinobacteria Actinomycetales Propionibacteriaceae Propionibacterium
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Pseudomonadales Pseudomonadaceae Pseudomonas
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Pasteurellales Pasteurellaceae Haemophilus
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Enterobacteriales Enterobacteriaceae Morganella
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Enterobacteriales Enterobacteriaceae Enterobacter
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Deltaproteobacteria Desulfovibrionales Desulfovibrionaceae ---
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Rhodocyclales Rhodocyclaceae Thauera
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Burkholderiales Oxalobacteraceae Janthinobacterium
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Betaproteobacteria Burkholderiales --- ---
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Alphaproteobacteria Sphingomonadales Sphingomonadaceae Sphingobium
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Alphaproteobacteria Rhizobiales Brucellaceae Ochrobactrum
0.00
Bacteria Proteobacteria Alphaproteobacteria Caulobacterales Caulobacteraceae Brevundimonas
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Erysipelotrichi Erysipelotrichales Erysipelotrichaceae cc_115
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Erysipelotrichi Erysipelotrichales Erysipelotrichaceae Coprobacillus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales [Tissierellaceae] Peptoniphilus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales [Tissierellaceae] Parvimonas
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales [Tissierellaceae] Anaerococcus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Veillonellaceae Veillonella
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Clostridiaceae Caloramator
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia Clostridiales Clostridiaceae 02d06
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Clostridia --- --- ---
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Enterococcaceae Enterococcus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Carnobacteriaceae ---
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Lactobacillales Aerococcaceae Aerococcus
0.00
Bacteria Firmicutes Bacilli Bacillales Staphylococcaceae Staphylococcus
0.00
Bacteria Bacteroidetes Bacteroidia Bacteroidales [Paraprevotellaceae] [Prevotella]
0.00
Bacteria Actinobacteria Actinobacteria Bifidobacteriales Bifidobacteriaceae ---
0.00
Bacteria Actinobacteria Actinobacteria Actinomycetales Actinomycetaceae Actinomyces
0.00


RS2 vs RS3 Put to the (Gut) Test! Part 1

I have a bit of exciting news for those of you who are 'gut bug nerds' like me.  I just got back my uBiome results for a sample taken after 6 weeks of 'real food only.'  No potato starch or inulin, no probiotics, no supplements of any kind...just food.

But first, some background I thought you might like.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Beet Kvass


Summertime at my house means beet kvass.

Got probiotics?


Kvass is the forerunner to a host of water fermented probiotic drinks such as water kefir and kombucha.  Kvass was traditionally made with rye bread (sometimes flavored with berries, raisins, or birch sap) in Russia and is still popular in places with a Russian influence.  Somewhere along the line, some poor sucker who couldn't afford bread made kvass with a beet.