Darkoshi

Starting in the last 4 years or so, the requirements for food nutrition labels in the U.S. have changed:
4 Major Changes Are Coming To Food Nutrition Labels (May 2016)
Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label: What Parents Need to Know (April 2020)

The Nutrition Facts Label: Its History, Purpose and Updates (March 2020)

There are four vitamins and minerals that are required to be listed on every updated Nutrition Facts label: vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. While calcium and iron were also required before the latest update, vitamin D and potassium are new to the list, replacing vitamins A and C. The swap was made because Americans get enough vitamin A and C in their diet but fall short on vitamin D and potassium.

So Vitamin A and C are usually no longer listed, which I did not realize. But what about all the other vitamins and minerals? I seem to recall that labels used to list many other vitamins and minerals too, didn't they? Now they hardly ever do.

There have been multiple times over the last few years where I've looked at the nutrition label on some product that I'd expect to be healthy, such as vegetables or fruit, and have thought to myself, "According to this it has basically no vitamins or minerals at all, so it must not be that healthy after all. Fruit and vegetables are overrated."

I wonder if other people have had that reaction too.


Update, 2021/01/23: I didn't think to mention it before, but it was a false expectation of mine which caused that reaction. I expected that if a product had a measurable amount of certain vitamins or minerals, that those amounts would normally be listed on the label. I thought they would only be omitted when they weren't present at more than trace levels.

I have this problem where I often spend too much time on certain activities, or researching certain subjects. More time than I had wanted, intended or planned for. Often, I hadn't planned to do the activity at all.

When this happens, I feel driven to continue the activity until completion, or until some point at which I am satisfied enough to stop. Usually, a part of me remembers that I had other plans, and am using up too much of my spare time for no good reason, and wants me to stop. But that's usually a small voice in the background of my mind, and not enough to actually make me stop.

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Like this evening... I have a few boxes of old stale peanut butter crackers which I should either eat up or discard. They don't taste that great, so I haven't been eating them much. But I hate to waste "good" food. So I wonder, is it bad from a health standpoint, to eat stale peanut butter? If it is, that would be enough to convince me to throw them away.

I did a web search, and came across an old book from 1918 that says:
"When stale, peanut butter develops a decomposition substance known as acrolein, which is dangerous to children as well as adults".

I found no other sources which mention the same thing, so I don't suggest you take that statement as truth. I'm still not sure whether stale peanut butter is bad for you.

However, I was looking through the rest of the first book, and it is fascinating in a historical sense. I've spent way too much time reading through it.

The Science of Eating: How to Insure Stamina, Endurance, Vigor, Strength and Health in Infancy, Youth and Age - by Alfred W. McCann

100 years ago, there was the same concern as nowadays, about lack of nutrition in processed foods due to vitamins, minerals, and fiber having being stripped out. There was concern over high levels of glucose, sugar, and chemical additives. There was concern about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis being caused by the substandard nutrition provided by those foods.

100 years ago was before processed foods started being fortified with vitamins and minerals.

It's interesting how the drafts for World War I and II played into this. Apparently, people in high places were concerned when large percentages of draftees were rejected due to being unfit. It's not necessarily that they were concerned about the health of people, but that they wanted to have an adequate supply of healthy men for the military.

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The rye bread I've been eating lately lists "wheat flour" and "rye flour" as ingredients. I wondered if "wheat flour" means whole wheat flour or white flour. It means the latter; I should have realized that, since the label actually says "enriched wheat flour". But the rye flour is just listed as "rye flour".

The Hoax of "Enriched Wheat Flour"

A “wheat flour” or “enriched wheat flour” ingredient is technically no different than white flour. Manufacturers take whole-grain wheat, strip out 11 vitamins and minerals, then add synthetic chemicals that represent only four vitamins and one mineral.

Here’s the nutritional math: Whole-grain wheat – 11 nutrients + 5 nutrients = “Enriched”

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4 hours later. Heck, I'm just going to throw those crackers away and be done with it.

(Video) Things you may not know about Dysthymia : In the DSM 5, dysthymic disorder is now called persistent depressive disorder. Mentions some supplements (other than the commonly mentioned ones) which may help: DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone), SAM-e (S-Adenosyl methionine), Inositol. One of the comments also mentions 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan).

(Video) Depression is a disease of civilization: Stephen Ilardi at TEDxEmory : Mentions treating depression with exercise, sunlight, adequate sleep, friendships, and omega-3 fatty acids. Specifically, EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid). Recommends 1000 to 2000 mg of EPA (or combined?) per day. Mentions it can also help with other inflammatory conditions like tendonitis and dry eye.

(So increasing my omega-3 consumption might be good for both my mental state and my eye problem.)

How too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3 is making us sick : about how the amount of omega-6 you consume influences how much omega-3 you have to consume for it to be effective. Recommends reducing omega-6 intake. (His other articles indicate that consuming too much of both can be bad too.)

DHA/EPA, Omega 3's and Vegans

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My eye doctor prescribed me antibiotic eye drops (Azasite) and pills (doxycycline), not for the antibiotic properties, but rather to help reduce the inflammation / swelling in my eyelid. It somewhat bothers me that he prescribes antibiotics in this way. It seems like there ought to be non-antibiotic anti-inflammatory agents that should work as well. But apparently this is a common treatment.

Hordeolum and Chalazion -
The role of meibomian disease and contemporary management :
"Oral treatments including doxycycline and tetracycline are additional leading offlabel treatments for blepharitis. The presumed mechanism of action is an anti-inflammatory effect on matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) activity within both the gland and meibum itself.
...
Recently, topical azithromycin (Azasite; Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) has emerged as an alternative topical off-label treatment for blepharitis due to the agent’s proposed anti-inflammatory (MMP-9) and anti-infective effects."

I had a blood test done to check my iron, glucose, cholesterol, thyroid, and vitamin D levels. All my results came back within optimal or normal ranges, except for the vitamin D.

My vitamin D level is 22.7 ng/mL, which is in the borderline low range:

Deficiency: less than 20
Borderline: 20-29
Suffiency: 30-80
Potentially toxic: greater than 150

In 2010, I took extra vitamin D for a while, after reading that it could help with mood and depression, and/or with back pain. But from what I've read today, if my level was low back then too, the amount I took probably wasn't enough to make much difference.

I've also discovered that one of the multi-vitamins I've been taking isn't vegan, in the strict sense. The vitamin D3 that it contains, cholecalciferol, is generally* made from lanolin obtained from sheep's wool. Those vitamins are labelled as vegetarian, and the label also says no milk, eggs, shellfish, or fish, so I had incorrectly assumed they must be vegan.

*Vitashine is a vegan source of vitamin D3, made from lichen. Not to (not) mention sunshine itself, which is another vegan source.

Vitamin D2, ergocalciferol, is generally made from vegan sources.

Recommendations for Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency (chart)

How to Treat Vitamin D Deficiency:
...The first step in treating vitamin D deficiency is to obtain a baseline 25(OH)D blood level and then decide on the target replacement level and how quickly that target must be reached (Table 1). Each 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily in addition to what the patient is currently ingesting will raise the level of 25(OH)D by 10 ng/mL after a few weeks. Note that more may be required for individuals who are obese, because vitamin D is sequestered in adipose tissue.

Diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency:
... It is important to understand that neither the regular consumption of recommended amounts of vitamin D (e.g., 400 IU of vitamin D in a multivitamin) nor the regular consumption of vitamin D fortified foods (e.g., 100 IU/8-oz glass of milk) effectively prevents vitamin D deficiency. Furthermore, 2000 IU/day for 1 year failed to achieve a 32 ng/ml target 25(OH)D concentration in 40% of 104 African-American women studied. Even the administration of 4000 IU/day for > 6 months to middle-age Canadian endocrinology out-patients, resulted in average 25(OH)D levels of 44 ng/ml and produced no side effects other than an improved mood. Heaney estimated that ∼ 3000 IU/day of vitamin D is required to assure that 97% of Americans obtain levels > 35 ng/ml.

Weekly And Biweekly Vitamin D2 Prevents Vitamin D Deficiency:
...41 patients who were vitamin D deficient received eight weeks of 50,000 IU of vitamin D2 weekly prior to starting maintenance therapy. For those patients, the mean pre-treatment 25-hydroxyvitamin D status (25(OH)D) level was 19 ng/ml, which increased to 37 ng/ml after eight weeks of weekly therapy. These patients were then treated with 50,000 IU of vitamin D2 every other week and had a mean final 25(OH)D level of 47 ng/ml.