Schistosoma and other parasites can be mild or severe

A single dose of albendazole has little or no effect against other important parasites. Of particular concern are two common parasitic infections: Strongyloides stercoralis (nematodes) and Schistosoma spp. (trematodes). 

Strongyloides is particularly in those from Southeast Asia.  Schistosoma may come from the Caribbean, South or Central America, Egypt as well as China.  Prevalence was under-recognized since mostly stool testing was used, a poor technique for detection of these organisms.  Both strongyloidiasis and schistosomiasis are chronic and are linked with much morbidity and mortality.  

Unlike other trematodes, schistosomes are not hermaphroditic, but form separate sexes. Adult worms have elongate tubular bodies, each male has a gynecophoral canal (schisto-soma = split body) in which a female worm resides.  These blood flukes have five different developmental stages: eggs, miracidia, sporocysts, cercariae and adult worms.

Adult schistosomes are half an inch long and live in blood vessels, laying thousands of eggs, causing hives anywhere; many eggs become lodged in the lymphatics, liver or bladder wall, causing portal hypertension, liver failure and bladder cancer (which may be misleadingly interpreted as low back pain).

Fluke eggs penetrate into the intestines or bladder to be voided.  Many eggs may also become trapped, triggering immune response.  Schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) is unusual in helminth diseases.  Much of the pathogenesis is due to the eggs (rather than larvae or adults); and most damage comes from immune responses (delayed-type hypersensitivity and/or granulomatous). 

Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms that can live inside people for decades.  Stem cells allow the fluke to keep regenerating its body parts. 

After hatching in feces contaminated water, the parasites come through the skin on a tiny burrowing snail cercaria.  During invasion of human skin by schistosome larvae, a multicellular organism breaches the epidermis, basement membrane and dermal barriers.  Proteins plentiful in psoriatic or UV and heat-stressed (melanin and keratin) skin are not abundant in invaded skin.

Few doctors in the US are trained to suspect common symptoms as parasitic infections. Doctors also need lab tests (which are often negative due to a variety of parasite survival ruses) and exposure histories to find these clever parasites. 

To boot, few doctors are trained to look for parasites. Infectious disease specialists are best qualified to diagnose and treat these conditions (although the specialty more readily labels AIDS as cause). 

Complicating the issue, testing for parasites is of limited usefulness.  While more than 3,000 parasites can inhabit humans, we only have tests for 40.  Though most parasites make their home in the nutrient dense small intestines, they can migrate anywhere in the body. 

Tests for parasites usually depend on examination of several stool samples.  The irregular life cycles of these pests mean that on any given day, no sign of them may be evident in feces.  A thorough examination requires multiple tests over different time periods.

Parasites aren't limited to travelers and exotic-food fans: About 1 out of 3 Americans is infected with an intestinal parasite at any given time.  Some argue that parasites are normal and typically 'farm' our biofilm like our own mobile and phagocytic white blood cells.  

Mucus is a sticky visco-elastic material which coats all mucosal surfaces.  Mucus has many ways of protecting mucosa from chemical and physical injury, lubrication of the mucosal surface to facilitate passage, keeping potential pathogens in their planktonic state and removal of parasites by binding and entrapment.  Mucus also facilitates absorption and assimilation. 

Mostly, the immune system helps to keep harmful parasites in check or clear them, so they cause few symptoms.  Sometimes, digestive complaints are a sign of parasites.

Besides overgrowth of yeast, there are 3 types of animals that typically feast on us and our biofilm (often together). Protozoa - one-celled organisms that live and multiply anywhere.  Protozoa infect the body via mosquitoes and flies, and are found in soil and water. Helminths - parasitic flatworms, flukes, tapeworms, thorny-headed worms, roundworms and pinworms with several confusingly changing forms.  Helminths live in the GI tract and are generally self-limiting or some can travel anywhere and cause almost anything including slow death (that masquerades as aging). Ectoparasites - bedbugs, ticks, fleas, lice and mites (let alone, mosquitoes and flies or bees and wasps). Head lice can be transmitted through casual contact while pubic lice (crabs) can be acquired via sexual contact. Anyone living with people who have lice should be examined for lice and treated.  If you happen to sleep on the same bed as the person with lice, you should be treated for lice.   Clothing, bedding and towels used 2 days before should be washed in hot water and dried in an electric dryer on hot. A vacuum can clean furniture, car seats, and carpets.  Things that can’t be washed or vacuumed can be sealed in a plastic bag for two weeks.  Head lice can’t survive outside the body for more than 48 hours so any items used more than 2 days before treatment is not likely to still have lice.   Ectoparasites carry infections that they pass to humans: borriela, bartonella, babesia, erlichia, mycoplasma and more along with their viruses.   Borrieia is the spirochete linked with Lyme disease although it is now thought that chronic lyme is a collection of infections.  Lyme disease is also called multiple infection syndrome. Recovering requires improving immunity by both enhancing detoxification as well as treating pathogens.   Lyme disease is a controversial tick-borne illness that is probably four times more common than AIDS in the US.  Although antibiotic monotherapy has been successful in treating early Lyme disease, the use of combination antibiotic therapy modeled on HIV treatment appears to be more effective for patients with persistent symptoms. The Lyme disease a person acquires from mites can develop into Morgellons disease. Morgellons is a skin manifestation of Lyme when the disease is fully systemic.  Lyme disease has become an epidemic (300,000-1,000,000), with mostly women and children diagnosed annually in the US.  Increased virulence is likely related to the dramatic rise in electromagnetic fields and microwave radiation. The IGeneX Lab in Palo Alto uses two different antigens for its blood test.  Commercial labs and hospitals use one antigen and often under-diagnose Lyme disease.  Better not to test rather than get a false negative, which leads down the wrong path.  With other co-infections, the detection rate drops way down. Fry Labs in Arizona provides excellent direct microscopy.  Bartonella typically does not live in the blood. It lives in the nervous system. So if you find it in the blood in small amounts it generally means that there is a high amount in other tissues. There are many parasitic infections. Their effect can be mild or life threatening.  Malaria is the most prevalent parasitic disease, killing more than 1 million annually, followed by schistosomiasis; while trichomoniasis, a sexually-transmitted vaginal infection, is the most common US parasitic infection.

Toxocara is a dog or cat roundworm that also infects humans.  Typically these worms live in the gut.  Their eggs are released in poop that infects the soil. The tiny larvae within the egg live a long time in the soil. They are regular in city parks, sandboxes and areas of dirt.  The southeastern US has the most. Humans are exposed to toxocara from dirt.   Eggs can get on hands or under nails.  If we put those hands in mouth, eat before washing or get fingers too close to our faces, we can accidentally introduce the eggs into our body.  Children are particularly at risk. Toxocara typically causes hives and/or swollen lymph nodes (just like lymphoma) and can cause fever, flu symptoms, swollen liver, wheezing, cough and shortness of breath. Sometimes causing seizures or behavioral changes corresponding to the travels of its small larvae (visceral larva migrans).  Subtle versions of toxocara are very difficult to diagnose.  Covert toxocaraiasis may just cause abdominal pain, poor appetite, isolated wheezing or coughing.  The worm can travel into the nerves or eye. The retina can become very inflamed and the center part of the eye can get cloudy (ocular toxocara).    Berberine has a history of use for eye infections.  Berberine has been more effective than sulfacetamide in eliminating chlamydia trachomatis from the eye and preventing relapse. To diagnose a toxocara infection, your doctor starts with basic blood counts. When the larva travels through the body (or you express allergic response), eosinophils increase.  This is a major clue that disseminated parasites are at the root of heightened immunity.  Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell that attack parasites. Specific antibody tests for toxocara might then pinpoint this worm as the cause of the infection. There are antibiotics that kill toxocara (mebendazole and albendazole). Treatment usually lasts 1-3 weeks. If there is nerve or eye involvement, doctors use steroids first to calm the inflammation. One may need surgery to clean the center part of the eye. Sometimes people need multiple rounds of both antibiotics and steroids to treat relapses. To prevent a toxocara infection, wash your hands after working in the yard or playing in the dirt. Treat pets on a regular schedule for roundworms.  Pregnant dogs are also be treated so their litters do not get infected. And scoop your pet’s poop! Babesia is microscopic and infects RBCs, like malaria.  These parasites grow and multiply inside RBCs, increasing in number until the cell explodes.  The same ticks that carry Lyme disease can also carry Babesia.  Most are in the northeast.  Babesia is also a co-infection of Lyme disease.  Parasites are so pervasive that one is encouraged to do a thorough parasite cleanse every few years and then a periodic update now and then.  One might try guzzling a few anti-parasitic herbs at the full moon, every month and only doing a serious cleanse every 3-5 years. Ticks attach to mammals in order to suck little bits of blood.  Very young ticks (nymphs) carry the biggest potential for infection.  Ticks need to stay attached for about 24 hours in order to transfer their infection from their saliva into us. The longer they stay attached, the bigger the chance for infection. After Babesia infection, one feels achy, with muscle pains, fatigue, headache and fever. It can be mistaken for the flu. With more significant infections, one can become anemic and even jaundiced as RBCs are destroyed.  People over the age of 60 tend to be sicker.  If you had your spleen removed, remind your doctor. Babesia diagnosis is from a blood smear.  Cells are microscopically examined for tiny rings of parasite.  Clumps of four Babesias form a chunky cross inside the RBC.  This “tetrad” is diagnostic.  Finding these tiny organisms is like finding a 'needle in a haystack.'  Only 1% (or less) of cells show parasites.  Sometimes amplifying tiny bits of parasite DNA finds the culprit. Antibodies against Babsesia suggest infection. DNA and antibody tests need to be sent to special labs. Many with light cases don't get apparently sick.  Anyone who gets sick (even with just flu-like symptoms) is likely infested. Two different antibiotics are needed to kill the parasite: atovoquone and azithromycin. Both pills are taken for a week. For the critically ill, stronger antibiotics like quinine and clindamycin are favored. To avoid babesia, avoid ticks!  Ticks like to live in tall grasses, near woodpiles and at the edge of forests. Wear light-colored clothes because the tick shows up well. Tuck your socks over your pant legs, which prevents ticks from latching to your ankles as you walk.  Mosquito repellant is also effective against ticks.  Shower after being outdoors and look for ticks on yourself, children and pets.  Look behind the ears and on the neck, scalp, legs and groin.  Like parasites, Lyme disease is officially "easy" to treat, so even if diagnosed, neither proper treatment nor monitoring is available. "Lyme disease does not exist" in Australia, and it requires only a few weeks of antibiotics in the U.S.  Obamacare will not change this.  The government may even criminalize comprehensive treatment. Babesia, one of the co-infections of Lyme disease, is similar to malaria.  Lyme disease is another 'autoimmune disease' reacting to an unseen pathogenic biofilm. There isn't a cure per se, but one can go into remission using both herbs and antibiotics. Cercaria come from bird schistosomes, parasites that live in their blood. The parasite is eventually released in poop and infects the water.  Small snails pick up the parasite, where it matures into the tiny cercarial form.  These are dumped back into the water, where they look for another bird (or pale human) to continue their life cycles. Humans can be the host when the tiny larvae stick into our skin.  Humans are different enough from birds that these parasites usually don't live long or are biopsied in a swollen lymph node. The parasites usually die quickly as our body’s defenses attack. Inflammation that our body generates causes the rash, not the parasite itself.  Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) is a digenean trematode infection and is the most scary human helminthiasis. The numbers infected are lower than many nematodes (about 200 million).  In terms of active disease, annual deaths are about one million directly due to parasitic infection.  (Practically all who die in the US are diagnosed with something else.) Parasites are commonly found in still fresh water.  Wading in shallow water can expose legs to these tiny parasites, especially if warm.   After infection, the skin will burn, and then intensely itch.  Small bumps that look like pimples or blisters appear. If you scratch, bacteria can infect these hives.   Every time you are exposed, the rash and itching gets worse.  There are no tests to diagnose cercarial dermatitis. If anybody asks, having a history of a recent exposure is typically enough to imply the diagnosis. Usually the rash goes away on its own within two weeks.   The cecaria can take years to evolve into blood flukes that confuse immunity while they search for a sexual partner and air (in lungs and sinuses) so that they can lay eggs (which then excite immune response). Topical cortisone can help calm the inflammation, and Benadryl helps with the itching. If the rash lasts longer than two weeks, you either got it infected or you have been re-exposed to the parasite. In order to prevent getting sick, beware shallow water. Wash off the water as soon as you get out and towel dry. If you develop a rash, avoid contact because repeated exposure will just make the rash worse.

While parasites can cause many symptoms, here are general warning signs:

1. Changes in the look or frequency of bowel movements, especially loose stools or constipation punctuated with diarrhea.
2. Chronic exhaustion not resolved by restful sleep.
3. Unexplained weight loss (even though deserved).
4. Itching around the anus, especially if there is no rash.
5. Cramping and abdominal pain.
6. Loss of coordination or balance (a neurological response to systemic parasites).

To be even more specific, here are the signs and symptoms of four common parasitic infections:

Infection with the microscopic parasite Trichinella leads to trichinosis.  Folks get it by eating raw or undercooked meat from infected animals. 

Initial signs of trichinosis are diarrhea and abdominal cramping.  As the infection progresses over a week, symptoms may become more severe and include high fever, muscle pain, swelling of the eyelids or face, weakness, headache, light sensitivity and inflamed eye.

Hookworm infects 576-740 million worldwide and was once a common infection in the southeast U.S.  Infections have dropped because of improved living conditions. Hookworms are a type of helminth that you can get by walking barefoot on contaminated soil. 

Most with hookworm infections have no symptoms, but because its larvae can penetrate skin, an early sign of infection could be itchy rash (hives).  Digestive complaints may follow, with nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain that is worse after eating and increased flatulence. If infection persists, anemia and nutrient deficiencies may result.

Dientamoeba fragilis is a smaller parasite that lives in the large intestine.  It is likely related to orally contacting infected feces (another reason to wash hands before eating).  Acutely, diarrhea and stomach pain are common, with diarrhea being predominant, lasting 1-2 weeks.  Stools tend to be greenish brown and watery or sticky.  When chronic, abdominal pain  dominates, but there may be loss of appetite, weight, nausea, vomiting, bloating or gas.

The eggs produced by roundworms living in soil are transmitted to humans by swallowing. The eggs hatch into worms in the intestines, that result in pain and vomiting.  They can also travel via the blood to the lungs to cause wheezing and coughing.  The eggs can be transmitted via feces found in fields, streets and back yards.

Pinworms are small, thin, white round worms that commonly infect children but are so contagious that they may affect adults.  The worm's eggs may be carried to hands, toys, bedding, clothing and toilet seats and are ingested to cause infection. 

After an incubation of at least 1-2 months, the main symptom of pinworms is anal itching, which tends to be especially bad at night.  Scotch tape on the anus can make these nematode worms more visible.  Disturbed sleep (night grinding of teeth or nightmares) and/or abdominal pain may also result.

Most with protozoal giardiasis have only minor GI symptoms but are really ill with muscle pain, muscle weakness, flu-like feelings, sweats and enlarged lymph nodes.  In fact, 61% of fatigued patients with giardiasis had been diagnosed elsewhere as suffering from chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction. 

Many are given the 'descriptive' diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome by experts.  GI problems usually have more than one cause.  Toxicity with lack of beneficial bacteria invites intestinal parasites which creates food intolerance and imbalanced immunity.  These conditions are not mutually exclusive. 

Innate, inflammation-based immunity is the first line of defense against micro-organisms. Inflammation relies on a number of cellular and molecular effectors that can strike invading pathogens quickly after the encounter between immune cells and the intruder, but in a non-specific way. 

Because of this non-specificity, inflammation can generate big costs for the host, via the linked oxygen-based damage.  Many parasites (including the agents of malaria, Chagas' disease and schistosomiasis) are more susceptible to ROS than their hosts.

Malarial infection induces the generation of hydroxyl radical (OH·), which induces oxidative stress and apoptosis. There is a oxidative stress induced-mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis in hepatic dysfunction in malaria.

Glabridin induces oxidative stress mediated apoptosis like cell death of malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.  Glabridin is a polyphenolic flavonoid, a main part of the roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorish).

Intra-macrophage amoebic parasite Leishmania (cutaneous leishmaniasis gets to 1,500,000 annually) inhibits oxidative burst-mediated macrophage apoptosis to protect its niche for survival and replication. 

Artemisia annua has been used by Chinese herbalists for two thousand years to treat many illnesses, from skin diseases to malaria.

Artemisia L. (Astraceae) is large and widely distributed. These are perennial, biennial and annual herbs. Artemisias contain monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids, coumarins, sterols and polyacetylenes.  Different artemisias include cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activity.

Echinacea is also an asteracae. Echinacea is helpful in any acute infection, including the urinary tract and intestinal tract. It is used in acute and chronic hepatitis C infections and is also effective against bacteria, viruses, parasites and protozoa.

The eclectic medical movement lasted until the early 1900’s (before antibiotics) used mostly angustifolia. The alkyamides are the most active, not the polysaccharides as was previously thought.  The Eclectics found Echinacea to be very helpful in treating cholera, bacterial meningitis, dysentery and gangrene. 

Echinacea root tincture is a powerful ally to the white blood cells, enormously helping in their efforts.  Echinacea can clear infections that even triple antibiotic therapies leave untouched, including bacterial pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections, strep throat, mastitis and blood poisoning. 

A dose of Echinacea root tincture is 1 drop for every 2 pounds of body weight.  It can be taken as frequently as every hour or two in the acute phase of an infection, and the time between doses can be increased slowly until they are eight hours apart.  A large dose of Echinacea root tincture can produce spectacular results. But to use so much, you need a lot. It is expensive, running $8-10 per ounce. Large bottles bring the price down.  However, one can make it for $1-2 dollars per ounce.

Our immune system is under chronic siege. There are many factors confusing the immune system including civilization, bacteria, yeasts, viruses and parasites.

Biofilms are invisible and often contain stealth pathogens.  Some live and feast in our red blood cells and some even live in our immune cells, using various subversive tricks to survive. 

These biofilms stimulate auto-immune responses, secretly causing many diseases: Crohn’s disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ulcerative Colitis, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Myasthenia Gravis and there are hundreds more authoritative descriptive diagnoses (each with fund-raising groups). 

In auto-immune diseases the innate immunity is compromised stimulating an overactive acquired immunity called auto-immune disease. Echinacea supports the innate immunity of the body therefore preventing autoimmunity. 

Stimulating innate immunity also prevents cancers, slows aging and prevents respiratory infections.  It can take up to two weeks for the deeper anti-inflammatory aspects of Echinacea to work. Echinacea stimulates bone marrow to increase natural killer (NK) cell function and number.

Artemisinin has a sesquiterpene lactone with an unusual peroxide bridge, and it is thought that when the peroxide comes into contact with high iron concentrations (common in parasites and cancerous cells), the molecule becomes unstable and releases ROS.

Artemisinin is also effective against schistosomes (blood flukes), the second-biggest parasitic infection, after malaria.  Artemisinin (and its derivatives) are all potent anthelmintics.  Artemisinins also are active against many trematodes, pneumocystis carnii (a cause of pneumonia in AIDS), toxoplasma gondii (parasite), cytomegalovirus, herpes virus and hepatitis C and B.

Heme (Fe2+ protoporphyrin IX) is essential and causes the potent antimalarial action of artemisinin, although the source and nature of the heme remain controversial. 

Dosing is at about 7 mg/kg a day of body weight for the artemisinin from Holley and about 4 mg/kg a day for the artesunate from Hepalin/Wellcare. 

Initial and continuation dosing:

7 days on (artemisinin plus artesunate)
7 days off (no usage)
7 days on
21 days off
3 days on
27 days off (about a month)
3 days on
27 days off (about a month)
(Continue the "3 days on, 27 days off" as maintenance).

Because of its short half-life, divide doses and take artesmisin the last thing before bed and early in the morning. Take both artemisinin and artesunate at least four times a day. 

Take both artemisinin and artesunate with something that has fat (whole milk, eggs, oils, peanut butter, butter, cheese or meat).  One could also drink a few ounces of water.  Butyrate (a short-chain fatty acid) is made when bacteria ferment carbohydrates undigestible by our enzymes and it potentiates artemesinin.

Artemesinin works by super-oxidizing "active" iron.  Supplemental antioxidants within 4-12 hours of artemisinin or artesunate may interfere. This includes vitamins C, D, E and A.  It also includes multivitamins and powerful food antioxidants like blueberries. 

Taking artemisinin with iron or foods that have been artificially supplemented with ferrous (many cereals and most organic/inorganic flour) may interfere.  Iron in food is typically well-chelated and does not react to artesmisinin.

Iron accumulates in cancerous cells due to transferrin receptors that help in cell division.  Normal cells have these receptors too, but cancerous cells have more, and can be targeted by the iron-artemisinin combination, like a 1-2 punch.  When paired with iron, sweet wormwood can eradicate almost all cancer.

Artemisinin disruption of E2F1 transcription factor expression mediates the cell cycle arrest of human breast cancer cells.  Drugs that work by enhancing oxygen radical effects like doxorubicin can enhance artemisinin.

For malaria, there is no resistance nor toxicity at 3 grams (about 50mg/kg) administered over a 3-5 days. Artemisinin is especially useful in the treatment of drug resistant malaria.

Besides iron-rich parasites, artemisinins also are selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells (which sequester iron for rapid growth and also make less SOD.  Host hormesis is also induced by intermittent ROS created by hyperbaric oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, ozone and IVC (potentiated by coenzyme Q10 and lipoid acid).  

Artemisinin also tells cancer, defective and virally infected cells to commit apoptosis.  Whether artemisinin actually kills HPV-infected cells is open to doubt.  Papillomas may still recur, though the overall virulence of the virus seems greatly reduced.

Using artemisinin to treat malaria is not approved in the U.S. due to its 21% recrudescent rate.  This is likely due to not taking the compound for a long period.  Many stop it as soon as symptoms subside. 

Inflammation either activates or resolves.  There are benefits and costs of inflammation. Resolution of inflammation maintains homeostasis against oxidative stress and prevents the toxic effect of chronic inflammation. 

Host immune regulation is a way for pathogens to subvert defenses.  Quantifying inflammatory costs requires assessing (i) short-term negative effects, (ii) delayed inflammation-driven diseases, and (iii) parasitic strategies to subvert inflammation.

Our immune system's main weapon is oxidative nitrogen species, mysteriously regulated by a gas (NO) created by three enzymes.  

Aggressive cancer cells act as parasites that actually use oxidative stress to extract nutrients.  Pathogenic biofilm thrives on inciting inflammation.  In parasitic nematodes, antioxidant enzymes are important defenses against oxidative stress.

Oxygen toxicity is universal.  Redox enzymes are very nonspecific, transferring electrons when they contact any good acceptor. This is a problem for aerobic organisms, since molecular oxygen is small enough to penetrate all but the most shielded active sites of redox enzymes. 

Adventitious electron transfers to oxygen create the ROS, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide.  ROS can oxidize biomolecules with which oxygen itself reacts poorly. 

We have little understanding of how ROS are formed inside cells and the ways they damage specific target molecules or tell cells to perform levels of apoptosis. 

Artemesinin inhibits nitric oxide synthesis and is effective in brain malaria. There are few problems with side effects and it is generally safe for children.

The vulnerability of cells to oxidation lies at the root of obligate anaerobiosis, spontaneous mutagenesis, and the use of oxidative stress as a biological weapon.

Parasites are normal

Parasites can be subtle, and you needn't travel to the jungle to become infested (gardening, eating restaurant food, playing with pets or children or any kind of travel markedly increases risk).  Simply being damp and going to the park or hiking can be enough.   There are thousands of parasites that quietly invade us and our pets. 

We associate parasites with Third World countries and poor sanitation, but these animals that have microscopic stages are a problem everywhere, even in the West.  Where sanitation is a priority, people wrongly assume that there is no problem and don't worry about an enemy too small to see.  However, parasites are everywhere, waiting to latch onto an unsuspecting host.

When traveling, the water may not be fully sanitized, avoid 'the potato chip dip' and bring bottled water.  Another way is to boil drinking water for 1 minute.   Drink pasteurized beverages.  Wash raw fruit and vegetables before eating and cook meat until safe (145-165 degrees).  Do a herbal parasite cleanse anyway the next two full moons upon returning.

Parasitism is a popular lifestyle.  Most animal species are parasitic.  Humans specifically carry more than 100 different parasites.  Parasites are integral, basic part of the ecosystem, (the more intact, the more parasites). It is commonly thought that parasites mean a system is out of balance. 

These tiny animals are so subversive that testing is chancy and and tends to be misleading with many false-negatives and/or common partial findings and results that are often ambiguous (with words like putative).

Candida and parasites "hang" together and friendly bacteria (promoted by fiber, probiotics and fermented foods) have a varied arsenal against both.  Candida thrives on sugar and parasites are attracted to heavy metals and prey on any immune weakness.  Chronic immune-inciting biofilm triggers the metabolic switch from fitness to flabbiness and storing fat as well as toxins.  

Why are so many biofilms dominated by yeast and why do those with cancer often have candida overgrowth; or why do those with immune response to resident candida often develop cancer? Do we treat candida or cancer? Answers probably lie in lifestyle, dietary and/or emotional patterns. 

Most of us have 3-6 different types of parasites or worms, and identifying some and getting rid of them does not guarantee wellness.  As Sidney Baker, MD, said, "When you are sitting on two tacks, removing one does not eliminate most symptoms."

Becoming infested does not mean you are unclean.  Parasites are very clever and can hide in apparently clean water.  And deserved weight in this time of plenty can be an unknowing and uplifting benefit of infestation.  Many like the lack of appetite induced by anemia (which is often caused by parasites) and are not motivated to find the cause of reduced energy.

Parasites secretly sap some of our energy, cause infections to spread, coughing, psoriasis, heart problems, constipation, diarrhea, poor coordination or balance, muscle weakness, floaters in the eyes, odd food cravings, excessive appetite, allergies and cancers as well as irritability and/or depression.  Upon doing a parasite program, most are happier and enjoy others more.

Abdominal girth gives greater risk, while fat stored on bottoms, thighs, hips or upper arms means less.  Having lower stomach fat reduces cardiovascular risk.  Fatter thighs are linked with less metabolic syndrome, a metabolic switch that includes diabetes, elevated blood pressure, altered blood fats with high triglycerides and cancer.  

Usually, when body fat increases, so does muscle mass and strength.  Intermittent stress of dietary change including vegan and high fat, not eating, sunshine. exercise, fruit, alcohol. coffee, tea, chocolate or vanilla fuels fitness while chronic stress triggers a metabolic switch to making and storing fat.  Obesity (flabbiness and unfitness) is a big risk, more than smoking or alcoholism.  

Many people believe that parasites only happen to someone else and that they do not have them. Infection only means exposure while immunity was lowered by (often in service to some ideal) not getting enough sleep, too much stress (vacation) and/or toxicity (sugar, invisible microwaves, microbes and/or poisons, alcohol and/or other recreational drugs).  

Poor sleep, restlessness and anxiety often result from parasites. Diarrhea alternating with constipation is classic for intestinal parasites.  Hives, coughing, wheezing, floaters and/or loss of balance and coordination are signs of systemic parasites.   Parasites are not all bad, once inside, many secrete a sugar-based anti-inflammatory and the host becomes less allergic.

Descriptive medical diagnoses (and doctors are trained to look for symptoms to relieve, not for the underlying or parasitic cause).  Descriptive diagnosis provided by a sought out expert can be very misleading. 

Many are treated for intestinal problems like candida or a leaky gut and only temporarily get better, the underlying problem is often a parasite infestation Invited by biofilm changes and weakened host immunity due to deficiency or excess (toxicity).

Most authorities are not trained to suspect parasites.  It is only when parasites are visually seen that American doctors will diagnose them, and that requires an especially terrible case.  

There are many symptoms of parasite infestation which people experience daily, believing that these issues are normal.  Sickness is often regular in our lifestyle.  The damage that parasites can cause is literally limitless, because many of them can travel anywhere. 

Parasites obtain sustenance by robbing the body of nutrients. Parasites attracted and allowed by a weakened immunity caused by an unbalanced biofilm due sugar or excess toxicity is officially reported to be just another "incurable disease" and an "autoimmune disorder."  

Besides diarrhea and/or constipation, parasites can  incite: ectopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, hives, infected hives, itchy hives, herpetiform dermatitis, ichthyosis (fish-scale skin), wet and/or dry psoriasis, eczema, psoriatic arthritis, 

Even diagnoses which seem unrelated like periodontal disease, tooth decay or cervical erosions, cavitations, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, inguinal hernia, low back pain, poor coordination, urogenital problems, hypertension, normal aging, acquired monocular vision, low testosterone, ataxia, cerebellar syndrome, surgeon's back, spinal stenosis, hyper-reflexia, nerve auto-immune destruction, carcinoid syndrome, cancer, non-Hodkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Tapeworms and roundworms attach themselves to the small intestine, causing internal bleeding and loss of nutrients or travel anywhere as blood flukes.  This infestation is usually described as irritable bowel or metastasized cancer.

Worm infestation may create no symptoms or one may slowly become allergic or anemic.  Protozoa can cause acute or chronic diarrhea or can cause symptoms that are not ordinarily associated with parasitic infection like constipation, fatigue, dizziness, joint pain or hives.

Millions will die from water and mosquito-born malaria, 3.3 billion (half the world) live in areas at risk.  Malaria kills more than all wars put together.  Some people have had malaria more than 40 times, so unlike certain kinds of infection, no immunity is acquired.  Perhaps a billion are infected with helminths that spend some of their cycles living in soil, 200 million with Schistosoma varieties and 100 million with Strongyloides.  These parasites are common. 

Although often sub-clinical and not diagnosed, these infections can cause significant illness, even death.  Parasites are a very complex and broad category of organisms.  Helminthic infections are frequently soil-transmitted (Ascaris, Trichuris, hookworm), Strongyloides and Schistosoma. 

During the full moon, parasites mate and lay eggs (usually in the intestines).  When anti-parasitic herbs and essential oils are ingested along with plentiful fiber and that is repeated 12 times for a year, the body is likely cleared of parasites. Systemic parasite medications get into the blood and are stronger than non systemic Mebendazole and Pyrantel Pamoate.  

Systemic parasites travel in blood and lymph.  When there are parasites in the brain (eyes), then killing them could cause  problems.  When these little animals are killed, their dead bodies release the pathogens they were carrying and the dead parasite itself becomes food (for pathogens living in you).  Die off can be a big problem with systemic parasite medications.

Since the start of presumptive albendazole (1999) in those new to the US, prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths detected after arrival has dramatically decreased.  Without steroids first, praziquantel or ivermectin risks further damage linked with immune-stimulating dying parasites.

Fats make membranes

Limiting autoimmune damage

Specific and broad-spectrum antibiotics can kill identified and unidentified parasites (which often make anti-inflammatory messengers) and they frequently leave immune-inciting dead bodies, parasitic biofilm and eggs behind.  

Ordinary sugar is easily procured now (especially excessive fructose) and results in metabolic pampering, spurring painful inflammatory addictive behavior creating lack of fitness, flabby muscles and storage of toxins.  Although satiating, dietary fat has become feared.  

The mechanical idea of counting calories causes dietary fats to be wrongly shunned (fat has far more calories than protein or carbohydrates).  Chronic stress (like heavy metals and/or parasitic biofilm) is structurally apoptotic and switches metabolism so that fats are made and stored.  Confusingly, intermittent similar stress instead triggers beneficial hormetic change that results in increased adaptability and fitness.  

One of Weston Price’s biggest contributions to nutrition science was fat-soluble activators, which serve as potent catalysts for mineral absorption. Without them, minerals cannot by used by your body, no matter how plentiful they may be in your diet. 

He identified three primary fat-soluble activators: vitamins A and D, and one he called “Activator X.”  Activator X was in fatty parts of animals (especially the organ meats) that fed on young green growing plants or microorganisms, as well as in oily fish and shellfish. This powerful nutrient is now thought to be vitamin K2.

Vitamin D is required for mineral metabolism, healthy bones, optimal nervous system function, muscle tone, reproductive health, insulin production, and protection from depression and every type of illness. Vitamin D’s benefits keeps growing. However, it’s important to realize that these nutrients are dependent on the animal having been raised and fed in a natural manner.

“The vital roles of these fat-soluble vitamins and the high levels found in the diets of healthy traditional peoples confirm the importance of pasture-feeding livestock. If animals are not consuming green grass, vitamins A and K will be largely missing from their fat, organ meats, butterfat and egg yolks; if they are not raised in sunlight, vitamin D will be largely missing.”

Not eating, spicy diet with fruits and vegetables and a pulsed satiating high fat diet (especially saturated fats) induces hormesis and produces a more efficient metabolism resulting in peaceful fitness; while sugars made of 5-sided rings make biofilm that is less virulent as well as promote less immune arousal and inflammation. 

Cell division is set off by light.  There is a conserved coupling between circadian clock and cell cycle.  Our immune system won't make new cells (that confine immune response and keep it silent) without some protein and adequate first light.  Instead the switch is made without enough early protein (gradually each day) to inflammatory chemistry distressing every cell.

Our number one ally is a symbiotic biofilm (and its favorite home and food is fiber (which is indigestible by us).  The digestive biofilm uses fermentation to produce gas (and one can smell a desired sulfur surfeit) while nutrifying, messaging and protecting with short-chain fatty acids.

On the other hand, our most difficult foe is a pathogenic biofilm that has become systemic (and parasites are a frequent cause).  Host antioxidant systems (which protect us from inflammation) rarely become exhausted unless one's helpful biofilm has made the switch to harmful.  

The primary weapon of our immune system is oxidation via ROS or RNS and this response is frequently surreptitiously excessively stimulated by sugars and heavy metals that at the same time also attract parasitic biofilm, which also endlessly stimulates inflammation as its favorite food.  

Our cells relatively high ability to enzymatically quench (by making acids) produced highly alkaline free radicals allows our whole-body survival.  Too much membrane "fluidity" makes the entire cell irritable and likely to trigger inflammatory damage and extremely too much mimics the chaos of a damaged cell.

Uncontrolled inflammation underlies many conditions.  Fatty acids act in many ways on different levels; they bind to cell surface and intracellular receptors that control inflammatory cell signaling and gene expression. 

The key issue in the digestion and absorption of fats is solubility: lipids are hydrophobic, and thus are poorly soluble in the aqueous environment of the digestive tract.  

The digestive enzyme, lipase, is water soluble and only works at the surface of fat globules.  Digestion is greatly aided by emulsification, the breaking up of fat globules into much smaller emulsion droplets. 

Bile salts and phospholipids are amphipathic molecules in bile.  Motility in the small intestine breaks fat globules apart into small droplets that are coated with bile salts and phospholipids, keeping larger droplets from re-forming.

The emulsion droplets are where digestion occurs.  Emulsification greatly increases the surface area where water-soluble lipase can work to digest TAG. Another factor that helps is colipase, an amphipathic protein that binds and anchors lipase at the droplet surface. 

After digestion, monoglycerides and fatty acids associate with bile salts and phopholipids to form micelles. Micelles are about 200 times smaller than emulsion droplets (4-7nm versus 1µm for emulsion droplets). 

Micelles are necessary to transport the poorly soluble monoglycerides and fatty acids to the surface of the enterocyte where they can be absorbed.  Micelles also contain fat soluble vitamins and cholesterol.  Micelles are small enough to fall between microvilli.

Micelles are constantly breaking down and re-forming, feeding a pool of monoglycerides and fatty acids in solution.  Only freely dissolved monoglycerides and fatty acids can be absorbed, not the micelles. 

Because of their nonpolar nature, monoglycerides and fatty acids can just diffuse across the plasma membrane of the enterocyte.  Some absorption may be facilitated by specific transport proteins. 

Once inside the enterocyte, monoglycerides and fatty acids are re-synthesized into triiaglycerols (TAGs), commonly called triglycerides.  The TAGs are packaged, along with cholesterol and fat soluble vitamins, into chylomicrons. Chylomicrons are lipoproteins, special particles that transport lipids in the circulation, where triglycerides help bidirectional communication. 

Chylomicrons are released by enterocyte exocytosis.  These particles are too large for capillaries. Instead they enter lacteals, lymphatics that are at the center of each villus. Chylomicrons then flow into the circulation via lymphatic vessels, which drain into the general circulation at the large veins in the chest.

Chylomicrons deliver absorbed TAG to cells.  TAG in chylomicrons and other lipoproteins is hydrolyzed by lipoprotein lipase (LPL), an enzyme on capillary endothelial cells. Monoglycerides and fatty acids released from digestion of TAG then diffuse into cells.  LPL is on endothelial cells in the heart, muscle and fat.  LPL is a homodimer, with dual functions of triglyceride hydrolase and ligand/bridging factor for lipoprotein uptake. 

Excess caloric consumption not only results from undisciplined eating, intestinal bacteria contribute to changes in appetite and metabolism.  Lacking TLR5, the wrong type of bacteria overgrow.  When overgrown bacteria were transferred to normal mice, they developed metabolic syndrome (food cravings and obesity).

In sharp contrast to the stomach and most of the small intestine, colonic contents teem with bacteria, mostly strict anaerobes.  Between these two extremes is a transitional zone, usually in the ileum, with moderate numbers of both aerobes and anaerobes.  The number and type of bacteria in the GI tract vary, partly due to pH and/or proteins and lipids that escape digestion and absorption.

Cell membranes are mostly made up of fatty acids held together by phospholipids. Phospholipids align fatty acids into bi-layers (instead of just being fat blobs) and give the cell its elasticity, fluidity and electrical potentials, enabling compounds to move in and out.  Membranes retain the electrical charges of calcium, magnesium and potassium ions. 

Cholesterol is consumed by beneficial lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria in the human gut.  Organic acid urine testing is non-invasive and diagnoses many metabolic individualities.

Changes in fatty acids modifies membrane fluidity, lipid raft formation and signaling leading to different gene expression and changes lipid and peptide mediators.  Inflammatory cells have more n-6s, arachidonic acids (AAs) in their phospholipids.

The types of fatty acids in cell membranes determine how they manage inflammation. Too many vegetable oils and not enough saturated fats make sensitive membranes. 

Essential fatty acids like DHA and GLA help cell membranes function better.  Cell membranes in good condition also produce hyaluronic acid to help maintain structure.

The cell membrane is very sophisticated and is a constantly changing fluid mosaic.  Hundreds of thousands of saturated fat 'rafts' prop up and position various glycoprotein receptors to punctuate this very changeable and intricate bilayer of phospholipids, and some even display antennae.  

This changeable, intelligent, communicative and complicated outer membrane is connected by structural cytoplasmic membranes (that can also remember, manufacture and transport) to organelles, that are surrounded by membrane and membrane also surround the nuclear membrane with its pores. 

Serotonin signals satisfaction and is triggered by insulin.  Insulin increases the tryptophan ratio over the other amino acids. Insulin rises almost immediately, the pancreas releases stored insulin. Insulin then produces energy and moves glucose from blood to cells. 

Insulin organizes fuel for storage or oxidation.  Insulin has big effects on carbohydrates and lipids, and large influences on proteins and minerals.  Insulin increases cell permeability to monosaccharides, amino acids and fatty acids while it accelerates glycolysis, the pentose phosphate cycle and glycogen synthesis. 

Involved in ketone-body metabolism are the anabolic hormones (insulin and growth hormone) as well as the mostly catabolic ones (glucagon, cortisol and catecholamines) .  

Ketoacidosis (ketone breath) does not always mean diabetes. It also results from a ketogenic diet (which stabilizes membranes and induces hormesis if done intermittently), processing a lot of alcohol and/or starvation (without diabetes, glucose is usually normal or low).

These hormones mostly regulate ketone-bodies at three sites: fat tissue, and its fatty acid supply to the liver; re-esterification and fatty acid oxidation in the liver; and the rate of use in the periphery.  Ketone bodies promote insulin secretion from isolated rat pancreatic islets with 5 mM-glucose, but are ineffective in its absence.

In someone without diabetes, a rise in blood amino acids (from protein metabolism) stimulates secretion of both glucagon and insulin, so blood sugar remains stable. But in those with diabetes, glucagon without insulin (or with impaired insulin response) can cause blood sugar to rise precipitously several hours after a meal high in protein.

Insulin stimulates protein synthesis--the uptake of amino acids into muscle cells (which allows more tryptophan to be a precursor to serotonin)--making proteins less available for conversion into glucose.  Glucagon stimulates the uptake of amino acids into the cells for gluconeogenesis.

Insulin lowers blood sugar, while glucagon raises it.  In the non-diabetic, these two opposing hormones ensure that the amino acids are used for protein synthesis (because of the extra insulin) but the blood sugar doesn't drop dangerously low, even if the meal is low in carbohydrate. 

As a result, blood glucose remains reasonably stable during protein metabolism.  The insulin and glucagon balance each other on blood glucose, while insulin promotes protein synthesis.

The body can use wide amounts of carbohydrates, fats and protein to make energy.  Serotonin can also stimulate insulin release.  Serotonin has a big influence on appetite, sleep, mood and learning capability.

The serotonin transporter (SERT) is a protein in the membrane that enables serotonin to be transported into the cell and it is in blood (with 60,000 miles of endothelium).  Serotonin is a measure of emotional satiety.  A blood test can predict the activity of this major satisfaction or depression network. 

Ghrelin is called the "hunger hormone" because it makes one ravenous.  Ghrelin acts on "pleasure centers," driving the desire for another cheesecake because you remember how good the first one tasted and made you feel.  Ghrelin levels are very complex.  Expectations result in big declines in ghrelin even without an indulgent meal.

Genetic polymorphisms moderate emotional behavior and changes in satisfaction and are consistent with the short allele of the SERT polymorphism being a susceptibility factor that amplifies sensitivity to both negative and positive emotional influences. 

All three high fatty acid diets influenced serotonin receptor binding, however the biggest effects occurred compared with low fat, 

i) 5-HT(2A) receptor binding was increased in the caudate putamen, but reduced in the mammillary nucleus in high saturated fat and high omega-6 diet groups; 

ii) 5-HT(2C) receptor binding was reduced in the mamillary nucleus of saturated fat group and reduced in prefrontal cortex of the omega-6 and omega-3 groups; 

iii) 5-HTT binding was reduced in the hippocampus in the omega-6 group. Overall, the omega-6s exert the most influence on serotonin receptor and transporter binding. 

After consumption of a carbohydrate-rich meal, insulin is secreted. Insulin lowers most amino acids (building blocks), except for tryptophan (a precursor to serotonin). 

Amino acids compete for transportation across the blood-brain barrier, and when there is more tryptophan, it enters the brain at a higher rate, boosting serotonin. Tryptophan is also present in many protein-rich foods, which surprisingly reduce serotonin production.

The membrane actively fine-tunes itself as conditions change.  The number and location of carbon-carbon double bonds in the phospholipid tails of the lipid bilayers, are somehow modified in real-time. 

A topologically closed membrane surrounds all cells. This membrane is not a simple semi-permeable lipid bilayer enclosing cell innards.  Even in the simplest cells, the membrane is a biological device of a staggering complexity that senses and carries many messages, mediating energy-dependent (and tightly regulated) import and export. 

Each membrane is made up of millions of phospholipids. Each phospholipid has one head and two tails. One tail is straight, and the other is wavy. Cholesterol is wedged in between in between these two tails. Another part of the membrane is the glycolipid. Glycolipids are tiny sugar molecules that protect, insulate, and exchange nutrients within the cell membrane. 

The number one part of every membrane is the phospholipid. This molecule has a head and two tails.  The phospholipid head has two hydrocarbon tails.  The head and tails of the phospholipid act like a magnet. The head has a positive charge, and tail has a negative charge. These magnet-like electric charges attract and repel, which allows nutrients to go into the cell, and waste to exit out of the cell’s membrane. The straight tail of the phospholipid is a straight chain fatty acid (a saturated fat). The crooked tail is an unsaturated fat, because of a cis double bond.   The saturated (straight) tail is rigid and solid, and seldom moves. However, the crooked tail (unsaturated) tail vibrates, it moves particles in and out of the membrane.  Most importantly, it takes a balance of both saturated, and unsaturated fats to compose, and properly maintain, the structure of phospholipids, which are the main part of cell membranes.  All membranes need cholesterol, though the amount varies with the type.  Cholesterol gives the membrane structure. Basically, the cholesterol is in between the tails of the phospholipid, and it has the same orientation as the phospholipids.  Glycoplipids are also part of cell membranes. Glycoplipids are simple sugars added to ceramides  Ceremides are a fatty acid bonded to the amino alcohol sphingosine  Synthesis of glycolipids occurs with the help of enzymes that sequentially add sugars. When the lipids need to be broken down, enzymes in the lysosome of the cell help to remove the sugar subunits.  Glycolipids protect, insulate, and help in the exchange of nutrients within the cell membrane and its “outside world.”  Glycoplipids help modulate immunity.  Glycoplipids include mannose, oligosaccarides, and arabinogalactan. In microorganisms, certain glycolipids even help survival by "tricking" our immune system into thinking they are not foreign. This helps them to evade immune surveillance. On the other hand, some viruses, bacteria (eg., cholera) also use glycolipids on their cell surface. The immune system uses these as binding sites to destroy and clear pathogens. Glycerols are part of the phospholipid structure of cell membranes, a building block. Akylglycerols have a unique bond between the two glycerols (ether bond - an oxygen bond instead of a common hydrogen bond).  The ether bond repels water, causing much attraction to fatty structures like cell membranes.  Alkylglycerols are rapidly taken up by cell membranes and are metabolized to help produce phospholipids.  Alkylglycerol promotes white blood cell production. Alkylglycerols are in bone marrow, liver and spleen as well as breast milk, and are a membrane nutrient.  As a supplement they come from shark liver oil.  An alkylglycerol is an alcohol sugar compound, two glycerols linked by an oxygen.  The alcohol part is a solvent, making glycerol fat soluble.  Most is in bone marrow (0.2%) and spleen (.05%).  Alkylglycerols are in breast milk (0.1%).  The liver makes them and membranes accumulate small amounts.  Bone marrow is the birthplace of immune cells, red blood cells and platelets.  Alkylglycerols from shark liver oil boost all three (and immunoglobulins). Traditional uses of alkylglycerols centered on wound healing, respiratory tract ailments, digestive problems, swelling in the lymphatic system (like swollen lymph nodes) and it was used for frailty (general rejuvenation).  The alkyl glycerol ether rac-1-O-dodecylglycerol inhibits the growth of two genera of yeasts, Candida and Cryptococcus. Alkylglycerols are a unique fatty nutrient with many functions.  They were first understood in a context of immune support and are moving into a broader context of basic cell nourishment.  They easily become part of cell membranes and participate in cell signaling and have diverse functions.  Alkylglycerols increase [Ca2+]i influx in human Jurkat T-cells, possibly by modulating the permeability of calcium channels. Anti-oxidants stabilize fats.  They prevent fats from going rancid, which is very dangerous.

Bacteria put in an inhospitable environment, change.  Given only incompatible food, by sensing the structure, micro-organisms adapt their digestion to accommodate to what is available.  

Some genes engineer the design of other genes.  Differences in us don't come just from differences in our genes, but also how genes are regulated.  The nucleus can genetically choose a pathway to adapt to the environment from membrane sensed conditions. 

All living cells use a similar irreducibly complex suite of DNA and RNA, enzymes and organelles to act.  DNA benefits from protection provided by the cell membrane.

Cells regulate genetic activity by controlling when and how a gene binds to its promoter.  Cells have many regulatory ways, from managing which proteins enter the nucleus to changing their structure (to control or destroy proteins).

Epigenetic methylation marks on the DNA of plants can alter the phenotype in heritable ways that remain stable up to at least eight generations.  Epigenetic methylation of steroid receptor genes in developing humans occurs with a perceived stressful childhood.  

Different paradigms resulting from different perspectves call this observed biologic change: development, adaptation, hormesis, genetics, epigenetics, evolution and/or intelligent design (creation).

The cell membrane functions like a brain, a kind of nervous system.  A cell surface can see, hear, feel and interpret messages.  The cell membrane has a form of intelligence and the ability to make decisions about how it and the entire cell will function.

Intelligence is relative, fractal and emergent.  Intelligent ecologies contain intelligent populations, which are made up of intelligent cooperative organisms, which contain intelligent cooperative prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, which contain intelligent cooperative compartments, and those are contained by intelligent membranes.

Bringing consciousness into the body awakens.  Every cell responds and rejoices. The body loves attention.  When we meditate, rewarding chemicals are secreted which awaken inherent health potency.  Inducing parasympathetic dominance allows hormetic response.  Cells (atoms, photons or people) change behavior when observed.

Each of our approximately 75 trillion cells has infinite wisdom reflected in its outer membrane.  Together the goal is the well-being of the entire system (which also supports a symbiotic intelligent ecosystem) and both exist within a larger beneficent intelligent ecosystem. 

Cells communicate and move together as a community as they are in motion, pulsing in a rhythmical expansion and contraction arising from emptiness, spaciousness. This emptiness is full of potential.

Cells receive much information from chemicals that find receptors.  Once a message binds, other substances are created that travel.  DNA genes lying inside the nucleus are given directions by RNA to synthesize proteins.  These proteins then control and regulate the cells to coordinate with the rest of the body.

The cells are controlled by their interaction with the internal physical environment, which is also affected by one's basic attitude and especially emotions (only partly genetic).

Eicosanoids made from AA spur on inflammation.  Oral EPA and DHA increases the EPA and DHA in the membranes of cells, along with a decrease in inflammation and AA. 

EPA makes eicosanoids that are often less potent than those from AA.  EPA gives rise to E-series resolvins and DHA makes D-series resolvins and protectins.  Resolvins and protectins are anti-inflammatory.  Inflammatory cells exposed to different types of fatty acids have their function altered. 

The fatty acyl composition of phospholipids determines fluidity and function of membrane proteins.  In response to changes in cellular lipid metabolism, nuclear receptors dynamically modulate membrane composition.  

Ligand activation of liver X receptors (LXRs) drives the incorporation of polyunsaturated fatty acids into phospholipids via inducing the remodeling enzyme Lpcat3. Promotion of Lpcat3 activity ameliorates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induced by saturated free fatty acids by hepatic lipid accumulation. 

Lpcat3 lack in liver exacerbates ER stress and inflammation.  Lpcat3 modulates inflammation both by regulating inflammatory kinase activation via changes in membrane composition and by affecting substrates for inflammatory mediators. This preserves membrane homeostasis during lipid stress. LXR effects metabolism through Lpcat3.

NSAIDs act as anti-inflammatories.  NSAID pro-apoptotic effect partly relies on inhibiting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling via less cell membrane fluidity.  NSAIDs induce a change in ratios of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in cell phospholipids and significantly increase cholesterol in the membrane.  

The membrane becomes composed of low electric potential phospholipids whose lateral diffusion is prohibited and the membrane stays mostly in relative gel phase.  Less fluidity blocks EGFR kinase activity and its targets, the p44-42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and AKT cascades (inhibition induces apoptosis in cancer cell lines).

Necrosis releases enzymes stored by lysosomes, which can digest cell components or the entire cell.  The release of intracellular content after membrane damage causes inflammation.

In contrast with apoptosis, cleanup of necrotic cell debris is generally more difficult, as the disorderly death does not send cell signals which tell nearby phagocytes to engulf.  Lack of signaling makes it harder to locate and recycle cells which die of necrosis (than if cell organelles undergo the membrane packaging of apoptosis).

Breath holding with mental calmness (especially swimming distances under water) epigenetically boosts one's buffering REDOX capacity.  Having adequate protein and balanced selenium, zinc and iodine boosts both immune efficiency and glutathione and other protectants. 

High fat membrane-stabilizing flavorful ideas

Pulsed ketogenic diets show promise for cancer, nerve degeneration and epilepsy.  These are high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diets (mostly greens),  A ketogenic diet forces the body to burn fats rather than glucose.  If there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, fat is converted into fatty acids and ketone bodies.  A metabolic switch allows us to burn ketone bodies rather than glucose.

Until recently, most people worked hard physically.  One had to be strong to survive and was usually very tanned.  Diet was simple and sparse, so a peasant was muscular, lean and tan. Today we call that look healthy, but historically it mean't lower class.

People near the top of society stayed indoors more, so their skin was very pale.  They did a lot of social eating and were well-fed; and they didn't have to labor, so they were not muscular and what they ate went to fat.  A woman who had radiantly healthy pink skin and a nice handful of fat was a turn-on (filled membranes made her happier and sexually easier).  

Generally, young women (before commencing to breed) are fat or plump.  A body fat percentage minimum of 20% is recommended for women who want to conceive.

Young skin has plump, water-filled cells.  A cell’s ability to hold water decreases with age. A healthy cell has an effective membrane, which keeps water and nutrients in, and encourage waste products out.  Fatty acids keep cells healthy and its membranes functioning.  Not getting enough essential fats or proteins results in unstable membranes that cannot keep their buoyant shape, which shows as saggy, aged skin. 

Fats assist absorption of antioxidants and fat-soluble nutrients, and strengthen cell membranes, and ultimately the skin (for a dewier, more supple face).

Olives (and their oil) are packed with powerful phytonutrients, which are often in smaller amounts in other fruits and vegetables.  Few foods offer so many hormesis-inducing antioxidants and anti-inflammatories (some unique to olives themselves).  Olives are too bitter to be eaten right off the tree and are cured to reduce their astringency.

Avocados (a famous natural aphrodisiac) supply 4 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbohydrates and 31 grams of fat.  They contain mostly fat, good stabilizing fat.

Coconut oil is a saturated fat that stabilizes membranes.  All fats have fatty acids. There are two ways of classifying fatty acids.  The first is based on saturation [saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats]. 

Another classification is based on length of the carbon chain of each fatty acid [short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) and long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs)].  Coconut oil is mostly MCFAs as well as some SCFAs. 

MCFAs are absorbed more efficiently, and are broken down and used mostly for energy and thus seldom end up as body fat.  MCFAs help protect against atherosclerosis. The best dietary sources are coconut and palm kernel oils.  Chocolate is also a MCFA source.

When coconut oil is added to a balanced diet, it promotes cholesterol conversion into pregnenolone.  One can replace common inflammatory vegetable oils with satisfying coconut oil. 

In traditional medicine around the world, coconut is used to treat many problems from skin infections and burns to asthma, bronchitis, fever and flu.  Coconut oil has healing properties possibly beyond that of any other dietary oil, and is used extensively by Asian and Pacific populations. 

Besides killing many bacteria and viruses, it kills fungi and yeasts that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete’s foot, thrush, diaper rash and other infections.  Coconut oil expels or kills tapeworms, lice, giardia and other parasites.

No-bake bites:
Preparation time, less than 15 minutes:

• 1 cup cashews;
• 1 cup almonds (crispy almonds or soaked/sprouted almonds best);
• 3 cups dates, re-hydrated (pour some hot water on them and let them sit an hour);
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil;
• 4-6 drops lemon oil (or zest of 1 organic lemon and juice from half);
• about a cup of shredded coconut.

• Anti-inflammatory and sinfully tasty.  Preparation Time: 1 minute
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk;
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder;
• 2 tablespoons coconut cream;
• 1 teaspoon raw honey;
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Butter is wrongly demonized because it has a lot of saturated fat (not how the animal is treated or fed, or whether the milk was heated or not).  Most dairy fat is saturated,  Most other animal fat (like chicken fat or lard) is mono- and polyunsaturated.  Butter, being almost pure dairy fat, is very high (63%) in saturated fat.  Ghee is butter with its protein removed.  

Butter is made by churning cream to separate the  butterfat and buttermilk.  Butter is made more quickly 'American style' from fresh sterilized cream or more slowly 'European style' with fermented (pre-digested) cream.  

Whipped cream is made by whisking (mixing air) into cream with more than 30% fat.  Nitrous oxide is also used to make whipped cream. Whipped cream (one cup cream blended per tablespoon of xylitol) tastes delightful, is immune boosting and anti-inflammatory.  Flavors like lemon or cinnamon potentiate the benefits.

All mammalian mothers are programmed to put bacteria in their milk and these microorganisms build beneficial biofilm and aid digestion unless killed by Pasteurization.  The heat of Pasteurization also alters milk proteins making them less digestible (and more allergenic).  The natural health community has long been touting the benefits of raw milk.

Sour cream (12-16% or more milk fat) has been cultured with bacteria that make lactic acid (0.5%+), which sours and thickens it.  Sour cream is traditionally mixed with ground spinach or beets.  Sour cream can fill blintzes (and polyphenols in blueberries induce hormesis).

Creme Fraiche (28% milk fat) is slightly soured with bacteria, but not as sour or as thick as sour cream.  Crepe Suzette classically carry citrus polyphenols and creme Fraiche.

Clotted cream slowly heats whole milk to make a very high-fat (55%) product. 

Alpha S1-caseins differ between species.  Most European herds produce less inciteful caseins than most American herds.  A difference in caseins partly explains allergies. Perhaps one reacts to sheep's milk, but cannot do goat's milk but can drink breast milk safely.  Milk allergy is a reaction to a protein that is harmless to someone non-allergic. 

Invisible lectins (glycoproteins) from eggs, meat and/or milk in animals fed grains plus other dietary lectins not reduced by traditional fermentaton (in preparation) move through us as well.  Lectins confuse membrane hormone receptors, metabolically making us allergenic and flabby. 

Lactose intolerance is a non-allergic food sensitivity, and discloses lack of lactase (from us and/or our biofilm), needed to digest the major sugar in milk.  Some degree of lactose intolerance is normal for most adults.  Lactose intolerance usually occurs after much more intake than the little bit of milk protein that triggers allergies. 

Invisible lectins are also present in the milk and meat (or eggs) of animals fed grains (instead of grass, seeds and insects).  Whether or not the animal got sun determines how much vitamin D is in milk, cream or butter (or eggs and ice cream).

The ingrained saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease connection is a link, but not a cause.  Substituting sugar for fat (based on the false calorie hypothesis) enhances profit for industry while it destroys individual health.  Saturated fats can actually modulate mood and improve blood lipids (while they make more stable and less reactive) membranes.

High-fat dairy from grass-fed and sun-drenched cows is among the best sources of vitamins D and K2.  Other good sources include egg yolks, goose liver and natto (a fermented soy-based dish).  

Chopped liver (cow, calf, chicken or goose) traditionally uses caramelized onions, hard boiled eggs, salt, schmaltz and gribenes in the mix.  Schmaltz, (Yiddish for rendered chicken fat) is the oil for chopped liver.  Gribenes are the crispy skin cracklings created during schmaltz collecting.  Gribenes give chopped liver extra flavor and texture. 

Fish eggs (roe) have many benefits.  One teaspoon of fish eggs provides 17,000 IU  vitamin D.  Vitamin D improves mood and fights infection, prevents cancers, heart and artery problems and autoimmune disease.  

Fish eggs also contain zinc, K2 and vitamin A as well as omega-3 fatty acids (1-2 grams/day EPA solves depression).  Fish eggs boost metabolism and reduce inflammation.  Roe also help fight as well as repair hepatitis or cirrhosis. 

Although salted, caviar is a rich source of vitamins A and D, as well as omega-3s.   Caviar is a famous hangover remedy and is a rich source of acetylcholine.  Fat lines the stomach and both slows absorption, and increases tolerance to alcohol. 

Arginine in caviar helps increase NO and blood flow, thus improving mood, relieving inflammation and quickening memory.  Increasing NO also aids engorgement.

Cold water fish (like smoked whitefish and/or lox and cream cheese potentiated with chives) and cod liver oil or krill oil are very immune boosting, symptom relieving and anti-inflammatory.

The origin of salami is unknown.  A fermented sausage was made in the Mediterranean region more than 2,000 years ago and became the preferred way of preserving meat. 

The word salami comes from the Italian "salare" (to salt).  Roman soldiers were often paid with salt, hence the word "salary."  The salt was often used to make salami. Salami was usually made from pork left-overs but other meats (including beef) are also preserved in this way.  Salami is fermented, and contains beneficial lactic acid bacteria. 

In fermentation meats are cured with salt and stored in 20~45°C for up to a few months. The big thing behind fermentation is microorganisms (starter culture). Alive lactic acid–making bacteria are used to make salami. Lactic acid made by those bacteria contributes to salami’s special flavor.

In past, fermented sausage was made by natural fungi at home. Although the flavor was sweet to people’s taste, they could not make the sausages with the same quality because of fungi’s changeable features and different environment.

To have stable sausages, certain bacteria were selected: lactobacilli and Micrococacease. Their main role is to produce acid components during fermentation, which gives salami its unique flavor.  Those bacteria (like most) are beneficial. 

Lactic acid can cause pH in meats to drop to 4.5-5.5. This mild acidity makes new meat products which have gel-like texture. Low pH causes big muscle proteins to form smaller ones by coagulating them. Digested short proteins produce chewing features associated with salami’s attractive texture.

Salami’s aroma comes from its ingredients’ change caused by starter cultures. Meats contain three nutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat).  While protein change is responsible for texture, the remaining two are related to flavor.  

Fermentation takes place in the absence of oxygen, and in the presence of beneficial microorganisms (yeasts, molds and bacteria) which get their energy via fermentation. During fermentation, microorganisms break down sugars and starches into alcohols and acids (lactic and acetic).  Your food has been transformed into a more nutritious version of itself, and can be stored for much longer without spoiling.

There are three types: lactic acid fermentation, ethyl alcohol fermentation and acetic acid fermentation.

During fermentation, foods experience digestion.  Many compounds like acetic, propionic and butyric acids are made from fermenting carbohydrates. Also, fatty acids in meats can meet oxygen to form different chemical products, which boost aroma.

To encourage fermentation, certain conditions boost these beneficial microscopic critters. Their environment needs to be:

• Protected from spoiling organisms.  Good bacteria are boosted by creating an uncomfortable environment for the bad ones. Create a salty environment (using brine), add a starter culture, eliminate oxygen and/or increase acidity (add vinegar).
• Fermentation occurs at about room temperature, and cool is best for storage.
• Needed are sugars and starches or fiber.

Fermenting also takes time—days, weeks and even months.  Much fermented food requires brine (salt and water) and a starter culture, like whey. 

The flavors and smells of fermentation are compelling, literally alive.  We like foods with sour, umami and complex tastes/flavors/aromas.  Fermentation, which increases microbes, produces all three. 

Umami is one of our five basic tastes; the other four are sweet, sour, salty and bitter.  Umami is savory and is most often associated with meats (or their sauces) and salami, cured ham, seafood including anchovies and dried bonito as well as tomatoes, mushrooms and some cheeses.

Umami is used in many forms worldwide. In Asia, umami is mostly found in beans and grain, fermented seafood (fish sauce, which is part of all curries), shiitake mushrooms, kombu and dried seafood. In the West, we also ferment (cure) meat and dairy.  

The simplified chemical version of umami is monosodium glutamate (MSG).  MSG is excitatory (and when used to excess, MSG becomes toxic) so the inherent balance with calming and restorative GABA is lost. 

One reason that umami creates its own flavor is because MSG and ribonucleotides combine.  This synergy in taste leads to pairings like bonito and kombu seaweed in dashi.  Although MSG is a cheap way to enhance flavor, it lacks sophisticated RNA overtones.

Besides rounding out the taste and aroma of dishes like dashi where it predominates, umami also elevates other flavors, especially sweet and salty.  When paired with salt, saltiness seems elevated so one uses up to 40% less salt.

Umami elevates fatty flavors.  Just a little bit of dashi added to clam chowder or other soups infuses a slightly smoky flavor reminiscent of bacon without actually using it.

One can use umami to decrease sodium in fish or meat dishes; using dashi or veal stock are excellent ways.  A famous umami combination is sun dried tomatoes, dried shiitake mushrooms and parmesan cheese.  If a recipe calls for fermented, or dried ingredients, use those instead of the fresh to get the ultimate umami profile.

Cured meats in general (not only bacon, but also ham, salami, prosciutto and sausage) have been a traditional way of preserving.  Many of these products contain organ meats, less-desirable cuts and various scraps.  This is beneficial, it reduces waste, and these parts are often the most nutritious.  If a tasty sausage helps one eat more liver, so much the better.

The mix is then seasoned with spices and sugar, and treated with a preservative like curing salt (sodium nitrite).  Salt helps prevent growth of dangerous bacteria, pulls moisture out of the meat (making it more flavorful), and helps “cook” it via fermentation.  This takes weeks or months.  Sugar also aids fermentation and feeds probiotics.

Two main ways to cure are: dry curing, which produces stronger flavor and was more popular before refrigeration; traditional wet curing takes longer, and creates milder flavor since it lets water soak into the meat.  After curing, some meats (famously bacon) are then smoked to add even more flavor. 

Salami (four slices, about 3.5 oz) provides 20-28 fat grams (10-12 saturated).  Salami supplies more than 18 grams pre-digested protein, as well as vitamins and minerals.  Processed deli meats contain lots of sodium to help preserve (and enhance taste).  A salami serving has 1,000-1,600 mg sodium.  Green leaves are high in magnesium and potassium to balance.  

Isothiocyanates (in mustard) enhance detoxification of potentially toxic nitrogen derivatives.  These cyanates block use of iodine, especially the large amounts in fresh juices.  Such foods include cabbage, mustard, turnips, peanuts, soybeans, millet, pine nuts, cassava, broccoli and kale.  These foods supply many nutrients, and are not to be avoided.  Cooking usually deactivates problematic compounds.  

In traditionally cured meats, nitrates and nitrites form nitric oxide during fermentation, to give cured meat its darker pink color relative to uncured meat (if the bacon is nitrite-free, it will be darker on the outside, and pink or red inside).  Botulism is a serious danger from cured meat, and nitrites effectively prevent it.

Pepperoni is a variety of salami. Salami is a dried fermented sausage which can be made of pork, beef, veal, horse, donkey, poultry or game parts.  Different spices, smoking and vegetables give different salami their particular taste.  Pepperoni limits its ingredients to beef, pork and poultry and is generally spicy.

Our ancestors got about 11,000 mg of potassium a day, and about 700 mg of sodium.  In today's diet, daily potassium intake is about 2,500 mg, along with 4,000 mg of sodium.

Both ions have one positive charge, smaller potassium competes with larger sodium and protects from oxidative damage (a fibrosis trigger outside the cell).  Although dietary ratio influences balance some, the Na+-K+ pump keeps potassium intracellularly and moves sodium extracellularly, creating bioelectricity.  

Electrical potential is created in different ways.  A Donnan equilibrium accounts for much membrane potential without any active transport.  Potential is generated by the diffusion of ions drifting down their concentration gradients. The asymmetric distribution of ions is caused by charged, nondiffusible ions, e.g., proteins inside the cell. 

Other than channels and pumps, membranes do not pass ions well.  For resting potential, potassium (K+) channels dominate.  For action potential, sodium (Na+) channels open (activate) then close (inactivate).

The Na+-K+ pump controls and sets the intrinsic activity of cerebellar neurons.  The pump is more than a homeostatic "housekeeping" molecule that determines ionic gradients; but is an important central energy sensor.  

Fermented products have a high salt content.  The high salt content of cured meats can even be a virtue because sometimes it’s hard to get enough salt when processed junk food is eliminated. The best way to regulate salt intake is to eat it to your taste, so if salty cured meat is what you’re craving, enjoy it without guilt.

All meats,chicken and fish (salmon, cod, flounder and sardines) are good sources of potassium.  Milk and yogurt, as well as nuts also have a lot.  Besides bananas and oranges, good sources include Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, cantaloupe, potatoes (especially their skins, which make a tasty mineral-balancing marriage with caviar), spinach, collards, watermelon and sweet potatoes. 

Contraction of any muscle (the basic switch for most cellular endeavors) depends on a 100- to 10,000-times-higher-than-resting intracellular Ca++.,  As soon as the Ca++ is put back again by a carrier enzyme in the plasma membrane, and an energy-catalzed Ca++ pump in the membraneous sarcoplasmic reticulum, the cell relaxes.

This carrier enzyme (Na+-Ca++ translocator) uses the Na gradient generated by the Na+-K+ pump to remove Ca++ from the intracellular space, slowing down the Na+-K+
pump results in a permanently elevated Ca++ level in the muscle, which may be the mechanism of the long-term negative effect of cardiac glycosides like digoxin.

A recipe for egg cream from the 1800s: The yolks of three eggs, and a spoonful of new milk or cream, plus two drops of cinnamon oil.  This made a very tasty nourishing mixture. The oil of cinnamon is cordial and tonic, and the egg yolks and cream are effective for lung complaints.  Today, egg cream is a sugary drink concocted with fizzy bubbles, milk and chocolate syrup.

How to freeze egg yolks:

Place one egg yolk in each ice cube cavity of a clean ice cube tray. Add a pinch of salt to each yolk (if you will use them in savory recipes) or a pinch of sugar (if you will use them in sweet). Freeze overnight until solid, then transfer to an airtight freezer bag. To use, thaw in refrigerator and then mix well.  They keep frozen for up to three months. 

Leftover egg yolks can be safely refrigerated for 3-4 days. 

Quiche is an extraordinary dish. It can be made ahead.  It can be served hot or cold, and can make any meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner or late-night supper. A quiche might have 2 cups milk, 1 cup cream to 6 eggs and can be garnished inside with anything that goes well with eggs. Traditional garnishes include spinach and mushrooms.

Egg nog is made of milk, cream and eggs.  It can be mixed with almost any alcohol.  Brandy, Madeira or sherry have traditionally been used.  Recipes with sucrose could substitute xylitol, weakening pathogenic virulence and balancing host immune response. 

Madeira Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Madeira
• 1/2 cup beef stock 
• 2 tablespoons black truffle butter or use black truffle oil mixed with butter.
• In a small saucepan, heat the madeira and beef stock until reduced by half. Whisk in truffle butter and season with salt to taste. Keep warm. 
• Avgolemono (egg-lemon) is many Mediterranean sauces and soups made with egg and lemon juice mixed with broth, heated until they thicken.

Zabaglione with Fresh Berries: Yields: 6-8 servings Prep time: 15 min Cook time: 20 min Ingredients: 5 egg yolks; 1/3 cup granulated sugar (xylitol); 1/3 cup dry or sweet Marsala* wine; 1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream), whipped until stiff; 5 1/4 cups fresh berries.  * Marsala is traditionally used, but you can also substitute sherry, Madeira, Grand Marnier, sparkling or dessert wine.  This can be combined with a bourbon, rum, or Calvados, or other brandy, or a favorite liqueur like praline or Frangelico.  Citrus juice and zest, vanilla, or ground ginger or other spices may also be added. Boiled custard is a variation of zabaglione and is made in many flavors. "Stirred egg custard" comes together quickly with common ingredients. No baking needed!  To make it more drinkable (and more immune stabilizing), omit carbohydrate starch.  Using starch will make a more solid custard. Mayonnaise is a thick, creamy, French sauce often used as a condiment. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolks and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices.  In making classic Hollandaise sauce, butter is clarified (heated until water, milk solids and fat have separated, and drained to give pure fat).  Whole butter is about 15% water and thins the sauce as you whisk it into the thickening eggs and lemon juice, while clarified butter is all fat, and thus thickens.  The trick is to heat the egg yolks enough for thickness, but not so much that proteins coagulate and the sauce separates.  Bernaise sauce is made of a reduction of butter, vinegar and wine mixed with shallots and tarragon, and is thickened with egg yolks.  It is served with meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. For tasty rich salad dressings, whisk together vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolk, salt and pepper. While whisking, slowly add olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Toss the greens with enough dressing to moisten.   In Caesar salad dressing, yolks provide richness, while anchovies (they can empower a green goddess as well) add a briny blast as well as umamis. Green Goddess dressing: 2 cups 2-3 tablespoons egg yolk 1 and ½ tablespoons dijon 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup rice bran, grape seed, olive or coconut oil 2/3 cup sour cream 1 cup scallion, chopped 1/3 cup tarragon, chopped 1/2 cup parsley 1 clove garlic. in a food processor, add egg yolk, dijon, garlic and lemon juice.  With the machine running, drizzle in oil until mixture thickens. add sour cream, parsley, scallions and tarragon and allow to process until well combined. Crème fraîche is a bacterially soured cream with 30-45% butterfat and a pH of about 4.5.  "Crème fraîche" is French, but many similar soured creams exist.  It is used both hot and cold and often finishes hot savory sauces.  With a fat content greater than 30%, curdling is no problem.  Crème fraîche is part of many desserts.  Crème caramel, flan, or caramel custard is a custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to creme brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top. Two main bases exist for ice cream (an emulsion of air, water and fat).  French style is made with egg yolks, which make it soft, rich, smooth, creamy and custardy.  American style has no eggs, and relies on cream fat for softness (and more sugar for sweetness), but is not as rich and smooth, and also tends to freeze harder.

Eating dark chocolate with a high cocoa content (70-80% cocoa flavanols) increases endothelium-dependent vasodilatation (elastic ability of the artery to expand and contract). Additionally, chocolate consumption decreased leukocytes (white blood cells), a marker of systemic inflammation and also reduced leukocyte adhesion.