Personally prefer the FitBit,Withings scale, LoseIt app, and reducing starch/sugar, but these are funny... C.
Crazy Weight-Loss Schemes Through The Ages
Crazy Weight-Loss Schemes Through The Ages | Popular Science
'via Blog this'
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Crazy Weight-Loss Schemes Through The Ages, courtesy of Popular Science
Crazy Weight-Loss Schemes Through The Ages | Popular Science
'via Blog this'
Monday, November 19, 2012
Life extension, Biotech innovation, Cool stuff from John Mauldin: One (Biotech) Ring to Rule Them All
John Mauldin writes a pretty cool newsletter, this one is especially interesting...
One (Biotech) Ring to Rule Them All
John Mauldin | Nov 17, 2012
One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and
In the Brightness bind them
(with apologies to JRRT)
The world appears fixated on the fiscal cliff. And indeed, I have been shooting a video here in NYC all day with my friends (the usual brilliant suspects, et al.) on how the world looks after the election. And to say that my close-up interview/conversation with the chiefs of staff of Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Rob Portman (David Krone and Rob Lehman, respectively) had more than a few blockbuster moments is an understatement.
Everything is in editing as we speak. You get the good parts without the other five hours of total time we shot. (Which is why you don’t want it truly live. You just don’t have the time or patience. I do value your time!). But the entire tape of the DC session will be available. Want to know what the true insiders think, raw and unfiltered? The guys who have been talking for weeks before the election about what to do now? You can watch the whole thing when it goes live next Tuesday. Click on this link to make sure you get the signup instructions sent directly to you.
Now, for today’s Outside the Box I want to get way outside the box and look to the future and what is most important about it: our lives and our health. I assigned my good amigo Pat Cox of Breakthrough Technology Alert the task of picking the three most transformational happenings in the biotechnology world today. Out of a candidate list that included scores of topics, it was tough for him to narrow it down to just three. If I had let him, he would have given me his top 20. There is just so much happening. But he did winnow the field and sent me the following piece, written in his own compelling style. I have already read it twice and will file this one away to read yet again. Pat is my “go-to-guy” on new tech (and not just biotech, but that is where the edge is lately).
I don’t do this often, but if you like what you read and would like to follow Pat as I do, you cansubscribe to his service here. I have not seen the link but assume it is a risk-free trial. His service is not cheap, but I really rely on it to keep me surfing along the edge of the future. It is a great antidote to the depressing news about governments and deficits and taxes.
The three technologies/companies that Pat writes about are controversial. Traditional metrics would ignore them. No earnings, having to constantly raise cash, etc. In other words, start-up biotech companies. These stocks are not for the faint of heart. They are not stocks you should buy if you check your portfolio once a day or even once a month! And you should not buy them based on this very short analysis. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! If you are looking for a 10% move, then just don’t. Biotech stocks are not for stock jockeys.
Indeed, after this article was written, important news broke (today!) about two of these companies. BioTime CEO Dr. Michael West yesterday signed a letter of intent to acquire Geron's massive portfolio of stem-cell-related patents. Because Geron was the pioneer in stem-cell development, hundreds of the basic technologies in the field were invented and patented by the company. No one knows the value of Geron’s patent portfolio better than Mike, because he founded Geron and was the creater of most of the patents!
If the current leader in this area, BioTime, consummates this deal to bring most of the critical stem-cell IP into one organization, it would be a huge leap for regenerative medicine. This kind of consolidation is typical in maturing biotechnologies, because former competitors find they can move forward together faster than they can separately. This move by BioTime brings us closer to One Ring to Rule Them All in the stem-cell world, but instead of the darkness of Mordor it portends a very bright future for mankind, as Mike is driven like no other man I know to bring the benefits of stem-cell technology to a medical provider very near you. His obsession is your future life-saving/enhancing medicine.
BioTime has for some years been the target of constant short attacks, some of which I frankly consider unethical and even bordering on fraud. The culprits short the stock and then write load up the usual stock websites with half-truths, outright lies, and very bad “research,” trying to convince current owners to sell and others to short, covering their own shorts on the movement they create. Sadly, it works. This is the opposite of pump and dump, but if you play that game you lose. Note that NONE of the critics understand biotech, have any serious credentials, or are regulated. They operate mostly in a very shadowy world. Just look at the long list of serious people who are involved with BioTime. Then ask who the hell their critics are and who is advising them. And realize they are covering their shorts when you sell.
Note that biotech stocks are particularly vulnerable to this sort of scam. They are almost all burning through mountains of cash in the pursuit of some dream. Many of them do indeed crash and burn before they get to a safe landing. It is a world fraught with danger; but as with gold stocks, if you find the mother lode you can be in for a very pleasant experience. Do NOT invest in biotechs without doing a lot of homework. That being said, I think it is one of the most exciting spaces of the future. We are just at the beginning of a biotech revolution that will astound and amaze. Enough said.
Star Scientific has also been targeted by these forces of darkness. Most recently, the bad guys have claimed that the company is out of money and in financial trouble. CEO Jonnie Williams and a few of his friends exposed that lie yesterday by injecting $20 million of their own money into the company, exercising warrants, and covering expenses for probably more than a year. Is Star losing lots of money each month? Clearly, but Williams and friends put in almost two years of “burn rate.” There are VERY deep pockets who are true believers. You may or may not like the technology, and you can argue the business model, but don’t doubt this company’s ability to raise cash or the passion of its management. You can debate the value of the company but not its cash reserves or commitment. Click here to learn more.
It is time to hit the send button. I am a little tired, but it’s a good exhausted. I spent the day with Jim Bianco, Mohamed El-Erian, Barry Habib, Barry Ritholtz, Gary Shilling and Rich Yamarone. We analyzed the future in a fast-paced, energetic, and intense (though friendly) manner. It was an adrenaline rush – and you get to share it. I am off to my room to slow down for the evening before I fly back in the morning. Then I’m home for ten days, where I hope to get into the gym almost every day. I miss my gym more than my own bed, actually. Have a great week, and sign up for the Post-Election Summit – then give me your feedback.
I see family and turkey and prime, mushrooms and cakes and pies in my future. On Wednesday, I forget about economics and become a world famous (to my family and friends) chef. I will immodestly state that I make a wicked prime, and no one has ever had my mushrooms without saying they are the best. They are not an item in your heart-friendly diet, but they are worth every artery-clogging calorie. Have a great week and enjoy your family and friends. I know I will.
Your not so humble about his cooking analyst,
John Mauldin, Editor
Outside the Box
JohnMauldin@2000wave.com
First, there have been so many important developments in recent months, it's painful to narrow the field to only three. Moreover, the three that I finally settled on are such radical departures from the past, most people have trouble accepting such unfamiliar concepts. I also readily admit that it's not easy to duplicate my research because most of it comes through direct contact with the relevant scientists. To the extent that their technologies are being written about, it is only in specialized scientific journals that are, for most people, inscrutably recondite.
Typically, when I introduce people about these technologies, the normal response involves the word “unbelievable.” The word no longer means something that can't be believed. Rather, it's morphed into an expression of astonishment. Nevertheless, I understand that all radically new scientific discoveries meet with skepticism. So I normally spend a lot of time and space explaining why a technology can and should be believed.
This forum, however, requires stark and daunting brevity. My challenge, therefore, is to summarize “unbelievable” biotechnologies in only a few pages that I've written enough about to fill a book. It's impossible, however, to give you enough information in a “column” format to truly explain the science behind these discoveries. My goal, therefore, is modest; that these brief introductions may at least pique your interest and get you thinking about the consequences of dramatic biotech discoveries.
To that end, I'm giving you paper-thin overviews of three breakthroughs that nobody, to my knowledge, predicted. One is the world's first oral nanomedicine. Another is a new nutritional supplement that probably saved my life. It is also rewriting everything we thought we knew about normal aging and disease. I'll start, however, with the most important development yet in stem cell medicine. I'm not talking, by the way, about the obsolete technology that won the Nobel prize in physiology and medicine this year.
To emphasize how advanced stem cell medicine really is, let me show you a video, slightly looped, of my fully rejuvenated heart cells beating in a flask in Northern California. I'll have more on those cells in a bit.
Until very recently, very little was known about this one of about 50,000 human genes. Two organizations, however, made independent discoveries that, combined, led to a breakthrough critical to the development of stem cell therapies. The two organizations are BioTime, Inc (NYSE: BTX) of Alameda, California, and the Philadelphia-based cancer and vaccine research group, the Wistar Institute.
The BioTime side of the story came out of exhaustive genetic analysis and comparison of the proteins expressed by active genes in hundreds of cell lines, both cancerous and normal. Many genes never previously associated with cancers were discovered, which has led to a radically new diagnostic technology. Like PSAs and other single cancer diagnostics, the test will require only a drop of blood and a biochip – but it will allow extremely precise diagnosis of most if not all major cancers.
This inexpensive pan-cancer diagnostic will, I believe, enable inexpensive and early detection of many cancers that currently develop into life-threatening malignancies. This, in turn, will significantly reduce cancer mortality rates and costs. Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, ex-FDA chief and former head of the National Cancer Institute, joined the BioTime team as a result of this diagnostic technology which is moving rapidly through the European regulatory process for medical devices. It is one of three BioTime technologies on track for clinical testing next year.
I don't consider the diagnostic device the most important outcome of BioTime's gene analysis research program, however. That, I believe, was the discovery of the SP100 gene's role and applicability to regenerative medicine.
The clue that led to this breakthrough was the fact that the protein expressed by the SP100 gene was absent or deactivated in all cancers. To borrow a metaphor from Arthur Conan Doyle, SP100 was the dog that didn't bark. The clear implication was that cancers block SP100 gene activity so they can reprogram healthy cells.
This led BioTime CEO Michael West to work done at the Wistar Institute. Wistar, incidentally, is where the biological clock of aging, telomeres, was discovered by Dr. Leonard Hayflick. Telomeres are the disposable caps on the ends of our chromosomes. One telomere is used during each cell replication when the double helices of our DNA split apart to copy themselves and then rejoin. When our cells run out of telomeres, they stop replicating. Before then, however, shortened telomere caps cause age-related conditions.
In certain cells, this shortening doesn't happen. Telomeres are continually replaced as they are used so these cells don't age. The two most important are embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, but cancers also exploit this mechanism. In these cells, telomeres are constantly replenished by the gene which expresses telomerase. When ES or iPS cells begin the transition to a specific adult cell type, the telomerase gene turn off. Then, they begin to use up their telomeres and age.
Critically, this process can also be reversed. Old cells, like mine, can be made young again by reactivating the telomerase gene. BioTime, though, is developing the processes to reprogram ES and iPS cells to become different adult cell types. Patents on hundreds of cell types have already been filed for. The video above demonstrates just one of those cell types.
BioTime took skin cells, fibroblasts, from inside my left tricep, leaving a slight scar. These skin cells were converted to iPS cells identical to the embryonic cells that I came from. I donated my cells to BioTime, incidentally, for research purposes. Then, just to make a point, they were programmed to become heart muscle cells, which you can see in the video linked above.
Heart muscle cells were chosen because they spontaneously self-assemble into little beating clumps for instructional purposes. You don't have to be a cellular biologist to recognize them for what they are. Keep in mind that the cells in that video are completely rejuvenated. They have the same full count of telomeres that my heart cells had when I was an infant.
Also, because they are my own cells with my own DNA, I could receive them via transfusion without triggering an immune response. In fact, I would happily do so if the authorities allowed.
Several recent studies have shown that young stem cells with DNA matching the recipient have widespread rejuvenating effects. This is probably due to the youthful growth and signaling factors these stem cells release.
The iPS technology obviously opens up vast potential to treat medical conditions by restoring cells to youthful health. These conditions range from joint problems and blindness to heart disease and diabetes. Eventually, it will be possible to rejuvenate and extend the life span of every cell in your body. BioTime's subsidiary, Recyte Therapeutics, is now working on the production of patient-specific stem cells to cure our number one killer; age-related cardiovascular disease.
As you read this, your endothelial precursors stem cells are constantly repairing your cardiovascular system. Their ability to do so, however, diminishes as those cells age. With a transfusion of a patient's own rejuvenated endothelial precursors, the recipient would have a rejuvenated cardiovascular system within months.
Though BioTime doesn't have regulatory approval yet, the company has been able to perform this procedure on a limited basis for some time. The process of creating rejuvenated iPS cells for individuals, however, is slow and therefore expensive. Cells resist reprogramming because most of the DNA in adult cells is purposely folded up and protected from activation.
It is possible using the virus-vector technology, which was honored with a Nobel prize this year, to create iPS cells. Viruses can penetrate and reprogram the folded portion of genome, but it's an extremely slow and inefficient process. This is where the Wistar Institute's research comes into the picture.
Looking for causes of cancer, Wistar Institute researchers turned off specific genes, including SP100. The SP100 experiment didn't yield cancer but it produced cells that resembled embryonic stem cells. BioTime CEO Michael West understood the true significance of the Wistar experiment and extensive collaboration followed. I consider the result the most important breakthrough in stem cell medicine yet.
In essence, the SP100 gene produces the protein signals that keep our DNA folded in adult form. As you know, every cell in our bodies contains the entire genome, but only some are activated. We don't want, for example, tendon genes accidentally activated in our eyes. SP100 gene activity keeps our cells locked in one state. Normally, the SP100 signals are turned off in adult cells only when the cell needs access to the entire genome – during replication.
Controlling SP100 gene expression gives stem cell scientists administrator privileges to the genome. It will enable fast, cheap automated large-scale production of iPS cells from adult cells. It means that you will be able to donate some skin cells, as I did, and they can be robotically turned into the equivalent of the embryonic cells that you came from. Then, they can be turned into the healthy youthful version of whatever type cell you need, without immune rejection issues. The implications are staggering.
Before telling you about a nutraceutical more powerful and useful than many blockbuster drugs, I'd like to update you on the nanomedicine front.
Most people following nanotech progress have looked to physicists for the tools to build nano-sized structures and machines. Largely unnoticed, however, biochemists have taken an alternate route, exploiting the atomic-scale tools provided by nature. The scientists at Nanoviricides have used these tools to produce precisely-shaped submicroscopic polymer nanovesicles. To these constructs they attach biological ligands.
As background information, ligands are extraordinarily sophisticated molecules essential for life. They can bind with other biological molecules, using electrostatic attraction and other forces. When they do, they produce signals that are used for a vast array of biological functions.
You don't really need to understand ligands in depth but you do need to know that invading viruses use specific ligands to identify their target cells. Different viruses recognize different ligands but all viruses, once they've found their target ligands, enter the cells they are attached to. Once inside, viruses hack cells' DNA to make more of themselves.
NanoViricides scientists, led by Dr. Anil Diwan, have identified the ligands that attract specific viruses. They attach huge numbers of these ligands to their synthesized polymer virus traps.
A picture may be more helpful than words. In this artist's representation of a nanoviricide, the spherical structure is the polymer nanovesicle and the green and pink objects on its surface are ligands.
When viruses detect their target ligands attached to the polymer nanovesicles, they act as if the nanovesicle is a cell. Viruses force their way into the polymer structure and attempt to hack the nanoviricide as they would a living cell. With no genome to exploit, they are disassembled harmlessly.
These nanoviricides are as notable for what they do not do as what they do. They do not modify cell biology, as do traditional drugs, to fight viruses. Nanoviricides are far more simple. They work outside the cells in the blood stream, the virus's transport system. Because their mechanism of action is more mechanical than biochemical, they are not metabolized by the liver.
This explains just-released data regarding their astonishing lack of toxicity (to mammalian cells). Instead, they are toxic only to virus, which they disassemble wherever they meet them. In a real sense, the molecular forces and shapes utilized by nanoviricides qualify them as true and nanotech machines.
Recent studies using both animals and human cell cultures demonstrated how amazingly efficient this technology is. Tests in humanized animals showed that NanoViricides broad-spectrum influenza drug, FluCide, is orders of magnitude better at killing influenza viruses, including the really dangerous ones, than the current best flu drug.
All that I've just told has been known for some time. Here's what's new and exciting.
Recently, however, NanoViricides demonstrated that they can design, using certain polymer shapes and ligands, a drug that passes safely through the stomach lining into the blood stream. It may not be evident today, but this is a discovery that will be recorded in future medical history books.
Oral nanoviricides will allow low-cost preventative dosing for influenza, but the implications are much greater. I believe the company is on track to solving the oral delivery problem for other virus-borne diseases. Soon, I'm convinced, we will see oral nanomedicines that cure or completely prevent symptoms of AIDs, herpes, hepatitus, smallpox, dengue and other diseases.
Now, lets talk about a nutraceutical that is forcing wide-scale re-examination of normal aging processes.
A big part of my skepticism came from the fact that this is a “natural” product, a nutraceutical. I've seen so much junk science come out of the healthfood store subculture, my prejudices against anything with a nutraceutical label ran very deep.
Having accepted the possibility that a natural substance might actually outperform drugs, I was led to the work of respected Prof. Claudio Franceschi who founded the Laboratory of Immunology the University of Bologna, Italy. Franceschi developed a theory of accelerating aging that he termed “inflammaging.” His work is widely available on the Web but I'm going to give you my very abbreviated take on his work.
Until mid-20th Century in the Western world, the most hazard time in a person's life was birth and the following months. Economic progress and medical advances have changed that but we all come from lineages that have one thing in common. Our ancestors' immune systems were fully activated from their very first moments to fight injury and infection. If it were not so, they would not have survived to pass on their genes to you.
What worked for much younger populations in earlier times, however, is a major problem today. Your immune system is on constant high alert, ready at a moment's notice to mount an “inflammatory response” to infections or injuries common only a century ago. The highly tuned immune system you inherited from your ancestors is not equipped for less hazardous times. I think of our immune systems as guards suffering from sleep deprivation and a caffeine overdose with with their fingers on hair-triggers.
Our immune systems are designed to over-react because, in the past, a false alarm was far less dangerous than a weak or delayed response. We see evidence of this in young people who have allergies. It's not the pollen or the peanuts that make people sick, it's their own overreacting immune systems. As we age, the immune system misfires more and more often and the resulting cellular damage provokes even more inflammation. It's a vicious accelerating circle that contributes to all diseases.
In other words, you may have a genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis or diabetes but it is your own immune system that triggers these conditions. Many researchers studying this phenomenon have focused on NF-κB, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, as the root cause of the problem.
NF-kappa, as it is often abbreviated, is the alarm system of our immune system. NF-kappa is a transcription factor capable of activating your DNA to mount an immune defense. They exist outside of the nucleus in virtually every cell in your body but, if they detect something indicating injury or infection, they migrate into the nucleus and initiate an immune response.
As we age, NF-kappa calls in more and more false alarms until we are in a state of chronic low-level inflammation. Eventually, this chronic inflammation tends to localize at some point of vulnerability until we have a health-threatening disease that ends our lives prematurely.
For this reason, the quest for a substance that would calm down NF kappa activation without suppressing legitimate immune system function has been called the “holy grail” of modern medicine. To make a long story short, that holy grail has been found in members of the solanaceous plant family such as eggplant, peppers and tobacco.
In fact, this alkyloid was discovered while searching for an effective smoking cessation aid. Researchers have long known that there's more in tobacco that leads smokers to smoke than nicotine. This was obvious due to fact that smoking has a powerful and pleasurable calming effects, via MAO inhibition, that nicotine does not provide. Moreover, despite the clear dangers of smoking, the tobacco plant has known medicinal values.
Jonnie Williams, the CEO of a company dedicated to lessening the harm of tobacco, Star Scientific (STSI), discovered that extra ingredient. After spending years and millions of dollars to find a safe food form of the substance, he proved safety with two years of Harvard University toxicity studies. Then, he put smoking cessation mints containing his anatabine citrate on the market.
Almost immediately, people began posting reports online of improvements in a variety of inflammation-related conditions. Intrigued, Williams took his substance to several important research organizations, including The Roskamp Institute and the Johns Hopkins Medical School.
Personally, since I began using the supplement two years ago, I've seen remarkable improvements in health. Due to a bad car accident while in college, I was far into the inflammaging death spiral. Tibial periostitis (shin splints) kept me even from walking distances. Severe cervical arthritis had left my right arm mostly unusable, making most upper-body exercises nearly impossible. Within months, both conditions were significantly improved. After two years, I have no symptoms. As a result, I was able to begin running and lifting weights again.
Additionally, my seasonal allergies, while still occasionally evident, no longer take me down. The same is true for my family and many of my friends. My optometrist was surprised to find that sight in my right eye, lost through trauma-induced glaucoma, had improved. I've dropped more weight than I care to admit and my numbers are all better.
Many others, including golfer Fred Couples, have also found life-changing relief from serious inflammatory conditions. Jonnie Williams wife's thyroiditis, on the verge of surgery, reversed and no longer bothers her.
I could go on and on, but anecdotal stories such as these are not valid scientific evidence, though I've heard scores of even more remarkable accounts from the research scientists themselves who have given the supplement to friends and family. Even the dramatically successful results that have come from humanized animal studies are not proof that this natural compound, found in the over-the-counter nutraceutical Anatabloc, will work similarly in humans. The conditions we've seen improved in animals include, by the way, Alzheimer's, thyroiditis and multiple sclerosis.
Unbelievable, right? I understand. So I'm not telling you to trust me or take the product.
Rather, I'm telling you to watch for final data from three major studies underway now. The Roskamp Institute, a leading brain disease research center, is doing the Alzheimer's trials. Roskamp, directed by two of the scientists who discovered the amyloid connection to AD, Drs. Michael Mullan and Fiona Crawford, has also overseen an interventional study in Flint Michigan.Dr. Paul Ladenson, with colleagues from Johns Hopkins is following up an animal study ofthyroiditis with a human study.
Preliminary results from the Flint study have been released, revealing that the active ingredient in Anatabloc, at much lower doses than I take, reduced C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels in 61% of diabetic patients. CRPs are associated with the onset and severity of diabetes and other diseases. These patients, in fact, all had other diseases and extremely high CRPs so results are far more significant than they may appear.
The Hopkins thyroid study results should be completed in December but we already know that the human studies are providing statistically significant results. If they are similar to the animal studies, which provided the first ever improvements in thyroid disease, we will be able to reach extremely important scientifically validated conclusion.
In fact, positive results from all three ongoing studies would confirm the thesis that anatabine citrate does not treat specific diseases directly. Rather, it dramatically reduces the NF-kappa induced inflammation that effects all diseases. If this is true, and I'm personally convinced that it is, it means that we will be able to delay or prevent most of the conditions that prematurely shorten life.
I won't tell you how much longer I think we'll live, because you wouldn't believe. I will say, however, that the impacts, both positive and negative, on programs such as Social Security and health care as well as the medical, housing insurance and other industries will be “unbelievable.”
Incidentally, scientific validation for this unregulated nutraceutical comes at the perfect time. The public is losing faith in old-school pharmaceuticals while regulatory hurdles increase the cost of new drugs. Anatabloc is the first and most “unbelievable” nutraceutical yet but I see other scientifically valid natural products coming.
One nutraceutical I'm very excited about is nicotinomide riboside or Vitamin NR, a superior form of niacin developed by Cornell and Duke Universities and licensed by ChromaDex (CDXC.OB). NR has profound implications for mitochondrial function, cholesterol, fat loss and nerve health. It appears to me that it would work synergistically with anatabine citrate, Anatabloc. Hopefully, we will have data within the year.
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and
In the Brightness bind them
(with apologies to JRRT)
The world appears fixated on the fiscal cliff. And indeed, I have been shooting a video here in NYC all day with my friends (the usual brilliant suspects, et al.) on how the world looks after the election. And to say that my close-up interview/conversation with the chiefs of staff of Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Rob Portman (David Krone and Rob Lehman, respectively) had more than a few blockbuster moments is an understatement.
Everything is in editing as we speak. You get the good parts without the other five hours of total time we shot. (Which is why you don’t want it truly live. You just don’t have the time or patience. I do value your time!). But the entire tape of the DC session will be available. Want to know what the true insiders think, raw and unfiltered? The guys who have been talking for weeks before the election about what to do now? You can watch the whole thing when it goes live next Tuesday. Click on this link to make sure you get the signup instructions sent directly to you.
Now, for today’s Outside the Box I want to get way outside the box and look to the future and what is most important about it: our lives and our health. I assigned my good amigo Pat Cox of Breakthrough Technology Alert the task of picking the three most transformational happenings in the biotechnology world today. Out of a candidate list that included scores of topics, it was tough for him to narrow it down to just three. If I had let him, he would have given me his top 20. There is just so much happening. But he did winnow the field and sent me the following piece, written in his own compelling style. I have already read it twice and will file this one away to read yet again. Pat is my “go-to-guy” on new tech (and not just biotech, but that is where the edge is lately).
I don’t do this often, but if you like what you read and would like to follow Pat as I do, you cansubscribe to his service here. I have not seen the link but assume it is a risk-free trial. His service is not cheap, but I really rely on it to keep me surfing along the edge of the future. It is a great antidote to the depressing news about governments and deficits and taxes.
The three technologies/companies that Pat writes about are controversial. Traditional metrics would ignore them. No earnings, having to constantly raise cash, etc. In other words, start-up biotech companies. These stocks are not for the faint of heart. They are not stocks you should buy if you check your portfolio once a day or even once a month! And you should not buy them based on this very short analysis. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! If you are looking for a 10% move, then just don’t. Biotech stocks are not for stock jockeys.
Indeed, after this article was written, important news broke (today!) about two of these companies. BioTime CEO Dr. Michael West yesterday signed a letter of intent to acquire Geron's massive portfolio of stem-cell-related patents. Because Geron was the pioneer in stem-cell development, hundreds of the basic technologies in the field were invented and patented by the company. No one knows the value of Geron’s patent portfolio better than Mike, because he founded Geron and was the creater of most of the patents!
If the current leader in this area, BioTime, consummates this deal to bring most of the critical stem-cell IP into one organization, it would be a huge leap for regenerative medicine. This kind of consolidation is typical in maturing biotechnologies, because former competitors find they can move forward together faster than they can separately. This move by BioTime brings us closer to One Ring to Rule Them All in the stem-cell world, but instead of the darkness of Mordor it portends a very bright future for mankind, as Mike is driven like no other man I know to bring the benefits of stem-cell technology to a medical provider very near you. His obsession is your future life-saving/enhancing medicine.
BioTime has for some years been the target of constant short attacks, some of which I frankly consider unethical and even bordering on fraud. The culprits short the stock and then write load up the usual stock websites with half-truths, outright lies, and very bad “research,” trying to convince current owners to sell and others to short, covering their own shorts on the movement they create. Sadly, it works. This is the opposite of pump and dump, but if you play that game you lose. Note that NONE of the critics understand biotech, have any serious credentials, or are regulated. They operate mostly in a very shadowy world. Just look at the long list of serious people who are involved with BioTime. Then ask who the hell their critics are and who is advising them. And realize they are covering their shorts when you sell.
Note that biotech stocks are particularly vulnerable to this sort of scam. They are almost all burning through mountains of cash in the pursuit of some dream. Many of them do indeed crash and burn before they get to a safe landing. It is a world fraught with danger; but as with gold stocks, if you find the mother lode you can be in for a very pleasant experience. Do NOT invest in biotechs without doing a lot of homework. That being said, I think it is one of the most exciting spaces of the future. We are just at the beginning of a biotech revolution that will astound and amaze. Enough said.
Star Scientific has also been targeted by these forces of darkness. Most recently, the bad guys have claimed that the company is out of money and in financial trouble. CEO Jonnie Williams and a few of his friends exposed that lie yesterday by injecting $20 million of their own money into the company, exercising warrants, and covering expenses for probably more than a year. Is Star losing lots of money each month? Clearly, but Williams and friends put in almost two years of “burn rate.” There are VERY deep pockets who are true believers. You may or may not like the technology, and you can argue the business model, but don’t doubt this company’s ability to raise cash or the passion of its management. You can debate the value of the company but not its cash reserves or commitment. Click here to learn more.
It is time to hit the send button. I am a little tired, but it’s a good exhausted. I spent the day with Jim Bianco, Mohamed El-Erian, Barry Habib, Barry Ritholtz, Gary Shilling and Rich Yamarone. We analyzed the future in a fast-paced, energetic, and intense (though friendly) manner. It was an adrenaline rush – and you get to share it. I am off to my room to slow down for the evening before I fly back in the morning. Then I’m home for ten days, where I hope to get into the gym almost every day. I miss my gym more than my own bed, actually. Have a great week, and sign up for the Post-Election Summit – then give me your feedback.
I see family and turkey and prime, mushrooms and cakes and pies in my future. On Wednesday, I forget about economics and become a world famous (to my family and friends) chef. I will immodestly state that I make a wicked prime, and no one has ever had my mushrooms without saying they are the best. They are not an item in your heart-friendly diet, but they are worth every artery-clogging calorie. Have a great week and enjoy your family and friends. I know I will.
Your not so humble about his cooking analyst,
John Mauldin, Editor
Outside the Box
JohnMauldin@2000wave.com
Three “Unbelievable” Biotech Discoveries
Our esteemed host gave me a seemingly simple assignment: “Write about three recent breakthroughs in biotechnology.” While simple in concept, the task is challenging in practice.First, there have been so many important developments in recent months, it's painful to narrow the field to only three. Moreover, the three that I finally settled on are such radical departures from the past, most people have trouble accepting such unfamiliar concepts. I also readily admit that it's not easy to duplicate my research because most of it comes through direct contact with the relevant scientists. To the extent that their technologies are being written about, it is only in specialized scientific journals that are, for most people, inscrutably recondite.
Typically, when I introduce people about these technologies, the normal response involves the word “unbelievable.” The word no longer means something that can't be believed. Rather, it's morphed into an expression of astonishment. Nevertheless, I understand that all radically new scientific discoveries meet with skepticism. So I normally spend a lot of time and space explaining why a technology can and should be believed.
This forum, however, requires stark and daunting brevity. My challenge, therefore, is to summarize “unbelievable” biotechnologies in only a few pages that I've written enough about to fill a book. It's impossible, however, to give you enough information in a “column” format to truly explain the science behind these discoveries. My goal, therefore, is modest; that these brief introductions may at least pique your interest and get you thinking about the consequences of dramatic biotech discoveries.
To that end, I'm giving you paper-thin overviews of three breakthroughs that nobody, to my knowledge, predicted. One is the world's first oral nanomedicine. Another is a new nutritional supplement that probably saved my life. It is also rewriting everything we thought we knew about normal aging and disease. I'll start, however, with the most important development yet in stem cell medicine. I'm not talking, by the way, about the obsolete technology that won the Nobel prize in physiology and medicine this year.
To emphasize how advanced stem cell medicine really is, let me show you a video, slightly looped, of my fully rejuvenated heart cells beating in a flask in Northern California. I'll have more on those cells in a bit.
The SP100 (100% Super Power) Gene Discovery
Okay, the “SP” doesn't actually stand for super power. That's just the mnemonic I use to remember the name of the SP100 gene. In fact, SP is probably an acronym for the rather boring “soluble protein.” The “100” is less mysterious because the protein expressed by the gene has a mass of 100 kilodaltons. Nevertheless, I think it's fair to say that the SP100 gene gives stem cell scientists “super power” over the entirety of your DNA.Until very recently, very little was known about this one of about 50,000 human genes. Two organizations, however, made independent discoveries that, combined, led to a breakthrough critical to the development of stem cell therapies. The two organizations are BioTime, Inc (NYSE: BTX) of Alameda, California, and the Philadelphia-based cancer and vaccine research group, the Wistar Institute.
The BioTime side of the story came out of exhaustive genetic analysis and comparison of the proteins expressed by active genes in hundreds of cell lines, both cancerous and normal. Many genes never previously associated with cancers were discovered, which has led to a radically new diagnostic technology. Like PSAs and other single cancer diagnostics, the test will require only a drop of blood and a biochip – but it will allow extremely precise diagnosis of most if not all major cancers.
This inexpensive pan-cancer diagnostic will, I believe, enable inexpensive and early detection of many cancers that currently develop into life-threatening malignancies. This, in turn, will significantly reduce cancer mortality rates and costs. Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, ex-FDA chief and former head of the National Cancer Institute, joined the BioTime team as a result of this diagnostic technology which is moving rapidly through the European regulatory process for medical devices. It is one of three BioTime technologies on track for clinical testing next year.
I don't consider the diagnostic device the most important outcome of BioTime's gene analysis research program, however. That, I believe, was the discovery of the SP100 gene's role and applicability to regenerative medicine.
The clue that led to this breakthrough was the fact that the protein expressed by the SP100 gene was absent or deactivated in all cancers. To borrow a metaphor from Arthur Conan Doyle, SP100 was the dog that didn't bark. The clear implication was that cancers block SP100 gene activity so they can reprogram healthy cells.
This led BioTime CEO Michael West to work done at the Wistar Institute. Wistar, incidentally, is where the biological clock of aging, telomeres, was discovered by Dr. Leonard Hayflick. Telomeres are the disposable caps on the ends of our chromosomes. One telomere is used during each cell replication when the double helices of our DNA split apart to copy themselves and then rejoin. When our cells run out of telomeres, they stop replicating. Before then, however, shortened telomere caps cause age-related conditions.
In certain cells, this shortening doesn't happen. Telomeres are continually replaced as they are used so these cells don't age. The two most important are embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, but cancers also exploit this mechanism. In these cells, telomeres are constantly replenished by the gene which expresses telomerase. When ES or iPS cells begin the transition to a specific adult cell type, the telomerase gene turn off. Then, they begin to use up their telomeres and age.
Critically, this process can also be reversed. Old cells, like mine, can be made young again by reactivating the telomerase gene. BioTime, though, is developing the processes to reprogram ES and iPS cells to become different adult cell types. Patents on hundreds of cell types have already been filed for. The video above demonstrates just one of those cell types.
BioTime took skin cells, fibroblasts, from inside my left tricep, leaving a slight scar. These skin cells were converted to iPS cells identical to the embryonic cells that I came from. I donated my cells to BioTime, incidentally, for research purposes. Then, just to make a point, they were programmed to become heart muscle cells, which you can see in the video linked above.
Heart muscle cells were chosen because they spontaneously self-assemble into little beating clumps for instructional purposes. You don't have to be a cellular biologist to recognize them for what they are. Keep in mind that the cells in that video are completely rejuvenated. They have the same full count of telomeres that my heart cells had when I was an infant.
Also, because they are my own cells with my own DNA, I could receive them via transfusion without triggering an immune response. In fact, I would happily do so if the authorities allowed.
Several recent studies have shown that young stem cells with DNA matching the recipient have widespread rejuvenating effects. This is probably due to the youthful growth and signaling factors these stem cells release.
The iPS technology obviously opens up vast potential to treat medical conditions by restoring cells to youthful health. These conditions range from joint problems and blindness to heart disease and diabetes. Eventually, it will be possible to rejuvenate and extend the life span of every cell in your body. BioTime's subsidiary, Recyte Therapeutics, is now working on the production of patient-specific stem cells to cure our number one killer; age-related cardiovascular disease.
As you read this, your endothelial precursors stem cells are constantly repairing your cardiovascular system. Their ability to do so, however, diminishes as those cells age. With a transfusion of a patient's own rejuvenated endothelial precursors, the recipient would have a rejuvenated cardiovascular system within months.
Though BioTime doesn't have regulatory approval yet, the company has been able to perform this procedure on a limited basis for some time. The process of creating rejuvenated iPS cells for individuals, however, is slow and therefore expensive. Cells resist reprogramming because most of the DNA in adult cells is purposely folded up and protected from activation.
It is possible using the virus-vector technology, which was honored with a Nobel prize this year, to create iPS cells. Viruses can penetrate and reprogram the folded portion of genome, but it's an extremely slow and inefficient process. This is where the Wistar Institute's research comes into the picture.
Looking for causes of cancer, Wistar Institute researchers turned off specific genes, including SP100. The SP100 experiment didn't yield cancer but it produced cells that resembled embryonic stem cells. BioTime CEO Michael West understood the true significance of the Wistar experiment and extensive collaboration followed. I consider the result the most important breakthrough in stem cell medicine yet.
In essence, the SP100 gene produces the protein signals that keep our DNA folded in adult form. As you know, every cell in our bodies contains the entire genome, but only some are activated. We don't want, for example, tendon genes accidentally activated in our eyes. SP100 gene activity keeps our cells locked in one state. Normally, the SP100 signals are turned off in adult cells only when the cell needs access to the entire genome – during replication.
Administrator Privileges to the Genome
What this means is blocking SP100 gene activity in adult cells opens up the part of the genome that is normally locked down. This allows much more efficient genetic engineering. For those of you who understand computer operating system, I like to think of the SP100 gene as a security system or anti-virus program that prevents unwanted changes in the cell's DNA or operating system. Normally, your computer OS is protected from alteration. When you want to upgrade your OS, you need “administrator privilege” to make those changes.Controlling SP100 gene expression gives stem cell scientists administrator privileges to the genome. It will enable fast, cheap automated large-scale production of iPS cells from adult cells. It means that you will be able to donate some skin cells, as I did, and they can be robotically turned into the equivalent of the embryonic cells that you came from. Then, they can be turned into the healthy youthful version of whatever type cell you need, without immune rejection issues. The implications are staggering.
Before telling you about a nutraceutical more powerful and useful than many blockbuster drugs, I'd like to update you on the nanomedicine front.
The First Oral Nanomedicine and Cure for Influenzas
I've written here before about the convergence of nanotech and biotech at NanoViricides Inc. This company's technology platform is the marriage of submicroscopic polymer structures, or nanovesicles, with even smaller biological signaling molecules called ligands.Most people following nanotech progress have looked to physicists for the tools to build nano-sized structures and machines. Largely unnoticed, however, biochemists have taken an alternate route, exploiting the atomic-scale tools provided by nature. The scientists at Nanoviricides have used these tools to produce precisely-shaped submicroscopic polymer nanovesicles. To these constructs they attach biological ligands.
As background information, ligands are extraordinarily sophisticated molecules essential for life. They can bind with other biological molecules, using electrostatic attraction and other forces. When they do, they produce signals that are used for a vast array of biological functions.
You don't really need to understand ligands in depth but you do need to know that invading viruses use specific ligands to identify their target cells. Different viruses recognize different ligands but all viruses, once they've found their target ligands, enter the cells they are attached to. Once inside, viruses hack cells' DNA to make more of themselves.
NanoViricides scientists, led by Dr. Anil Diwan, have identified the ligands that attract specific viruses. They attach huge numbers of these ligands to their synthesized polymer virus traps.
A picture may be more helpful than words. In this artist's representation of a nanoviricide, the spherical structure is the polymer nanovesicle and the green and pink objects on its surface are ligands.
When viruses detect their target ligands attached to the polymer nanovesicles, they act as if the nanovesicle is a cell. Viruses force their way into the polymer structure and attempt to hack the nanoviricide as they would a living cell. With no genome to exploit, they are disassembled harmlessly.
These nanoviricides are as notable for what they do not do as what they do. They do not modify cell biology, as do traditional drugs, to fight viruses. Nanoviricides are far more simple. They work outside the cells in the blood stream, the virus's transport system. Because their mechanism of action is more mechanical than biochemical, they are not metabolized by the liver.
This explains just-released data regarding their astonishing lack of toxicity (to mammalian cells). Instead, they are toxic only to virus, which they disassemble wherever they meet them. In a real sense, the molecular forces and shapes utilized by nanoviricides qualify them as true and nanotech machines.
Recent studies using both animals and human cell cultures demonstrated how amazingly efficient this technology is. Tests in humanized animals showed that NanoViricides broad-spectrum influenza drug, FluCide, is orders of magnitude better at killing influenza viruses, including the really dangerous ones, than the current best flu drug.
All that I've just told has been known for some time. Here's what's new and exciting.
The Oral Breakthrough
Because nanoviricides are relatively large compared to small molecule protein drugs, I assumed they could only be delivered via injection. Injectable drugs, however, are problematic. They must be administered by medical professionals, raising costs significantly and slowing treatment. Especially in a flu pandemic, this could make a life-and-death difference for millions of people. Additionally, oral drugs for a previously unseen mutation could be designed, manufactured and distributed much faster than an injectable.Recently, however, NanoViricides demonstrated that they can design, using certain polymer shapes and ligands, a drug that passes safely through the stomach lining into the blood stream. It may not be evident today, but this is a discovery that will be recorded in future medical history books.
Oral nanoviricides will allow low-cost preventative dosing for influenza, but the implications are much greater. I believe the company is on track to solving the oral delivery problem for other virus-borne diseases. Soon, I'm convinced, we will see oral nanomedicines that cure or completely prevent symptoms of AIDs, herpes, hepatitus, smallpox, dengue and other diseases.
Now, lets talk about a nutraceutical that is forcing wide-scale re-examination of normal aging processes.
Treating Autoimmune Disorders with a Natural Supplement
Let me begin by saying that I don't blame you if are skeptical about what I'm going to tell you now. It took me six months to come to grips with the reality and the magnitude of this discovery, despite plenty of solid research from world-class scientists. Finally, I did two things. I talked to scientists at the Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Roskamp Institute, and I began taking the supplement and giving it to friends and family.A big part of my skepticism came from the fact that this is a “natural” product, a nutraceutical. I've seen so much junk science come out of the healthfood store subculture, my prejudices against anything with a nutraceutical label ran very deep.
Having accepted the possibility that a natural substance might actually outperform drugs, I was led to the work of respected Prof. Claudio Franceschi who founded the Laboratory of Immunology the University of Bologna, Italy. Franceschi developed a theory of accelerating aging that he termed “inflammaging.” His work is widely available on the Web but I'm going to give you my very abbreviated take on his work.
Until mid-20th Century in the Western world, the most hazard time in a person's life was birth and the following months. Economic progress and medical advances have changed that but we all come from lineages that have one thing in common. Our ancestors' immune systems were fully activated from their very first moments to fight injury and infection. If it were not so, they would not have survived to pass on their genes to you.
What worked for much younger populations in earlier times, however, is a major problem today. Your immune system is on constant high alert, ready at a moment's notice to mount an “inflammatory response” to infections or injuries common only a century ago. The highly tuned immune system you inherited from your ancestors is not equipped for less hazardous times. I think of our immune systems as guards suffering from sleep deprivation and a caffeine overdose with with their fingers on hair-triggers.
Our immune systems are designed to over-react because, in the past, a false alarm was far less dangerous than a weak or delayed response. We see evidence of this in young people who have allergies. It's not the pollen or the peanuts that make people sick, it's their own overreacting immune systems. As we age, the immune system misfires more and more often and the resulting cellular damage provokes even more inflammation. It's a vicious accelerating circle that contributes to all diseases.
Inflammaging
In the paper “Inflamm-aging: An Evolutionary Perspective on Immunosenescence,” Franceschi and his team point out “... that the persistence of inflammatory stimuli over time represents the biologic background (first hit) favoring the susceptibility to age-related diseases/disabilities. A second hit (absence of robust gene variants and/or presence of frail gene variants) is likely necessary to develop overt organ-specific age-related diseases having an inflammatory pathogenesis, such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes.”In other words, you may have a genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis or diabetes but it is your own immune system that triggers these conditions. Many researchers studying this phenomenon have focused on NF-κB, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, as the root cause of the problem.
NF-kappa, as it is often abbreviated, is the alarm system of our immune system. NF-kappa is a transcription factor capable of activating your DNA to mount an immune defense. They exist outside of the nucleus in virtually every cell in your body but, if they detect something indicating injury or infection, they migrate into the nucleus and initiate an immune response.
As we age, NF-kappa calls in more and more false alarms until we are in a state of chronic low-level inflammation. Eventually, this chronic inflammation tends to localize at some point of vulnerability until we have a health-threatening disease that ends our lives prematurely.
For this reason, the quest for a substance that would calm down NF kappa activation without suppressing legitimate immune system function has been called the “holy grail” of modern medicine. To make a long story short, that holy grail has been found in members of the solanaceous plant family such as eggplant, peppers and tobacco.
In fact, this alkyloid was discovered while searching for an effective smoking cessation aid. Researchers have long known that there's more in tobacco that leads smokers to smoke than nicotine. This was obvious due to fact that smoking has a powerful and pleasurable calming effects, via MAO inhibition, that nicotine does not provide. Moreover, despite the clear dangers of smoking, the tobacco plant has known medicinal values.
Jonnie Williams, the CEO of a company dedicated to lessening the harm of tobacco, Star Scientific (STSI), discovered that extra ingredient. After spending years and millions of dollars to find a safe food form of the substance, he proved safety with two years of Harvard University toxicity studies. Then, he put smoking cessation mints containing his anatabine citrate on the market.
Almost immediately, people began posting reports online of improvements in a variety of inflammation-related conditions. Intrigued, Williams took his substance to several important research organizations, including The Roskamp Institute and the Johns Hopkins Medical School.
Personally, since I began using the supplement two years ago, I've seen remarkable improvements in health. Due to a bad car accident while in college, I was far into the inflammaging death spiral. Tibial periostitis (shin splints) kept me even from walking distances. Severe cervical arthritis had left my right arm mostly unusable, making most upper-body exercises nearly impossible. Within months, both conditions were significantly improved. After two years, I have no symptoms. As a result, I was able to begin running and lifting weights again.
Additionally, my seasonal allergies, while still occasionally evident, no longer take me down. The same is true for my family and many of my friends. My optometrist was surprised to find that sight in my right eye, lost through trauma-induced glaucoma, had improved. I've dropped more weight than I care to admit and my numbers are all better.
Many others, including golfer Fred Couples, have also found life-changing relief from serious inflammatory conditions. Jonnie Williams wife's thyroiditis, on the verge of surgery, reversed and no longer bothers her.
I could go on and on, but anecdotal stories such as these are not valid scientific evidence, though I've heard scores of even more remarkable accounts from the research scientists themselves who have given the supplement to friends and family. Even the dramatically successful results that have come from humanized animal studies are not proof that this natural compound, found in the over-the-counter nutraceutical Anatabloc, will work similarly in humans. The conditions we've seen improved in animals include, by the way, Alzheimer's, thyroiditis and multiple sclerosis.
Unbelievable, right? I understand. So I'm not telling you to trust me or take the product.
Rather, I'm telling you to watch for final data from three major studies underway now. The Roskamp Institute, a leading brain disease research center, is doing the Alzheimer's trials. Roskamp, directed by two of the scientists who discovered the amyloid connection to AD, Drs. Michael Mullan and Fiona Crawford, has also overseen an interventional study in Flint Michigan.Dr. Paul Ladenson, with colleagues from Johns Hopkins is following up an animal study ofthyroiditis with a human study.
Preliminary results from the Flint study have been released, revealing that the active ingredient in Anatabloc, at much lower doses than I take, reduced C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels in 61% of diabetic patients. CRPs are associated with the onset and severity of diabetes and other diseases. These patients, in fact, all had other diseases and extremely high CRPs so results are far more significant than they may appear.
The Hopkins thyroid study results should be completed in December but we already know that the human studies are providing statistically significant results. If they are similar to the animal studies, which provided the first ever improvements in thyroid disease, we will be able to reach extremely important scientifically validated conclusion.
In fact, positive results from all three ongoing studies would confirm the thesis that anatabine citrate does not treat specific diseases directly. Rather, it dramatically reduces the NF-kappa induced inflammation that effects all diseases. If this is true, and I'm personally convinced that it is, it means that we will be able to delay or prevent most of the conditions that prematurely shorten life.
I won't tell you how much longer I think we'll live, because you wouldn't believe. I will say, however, that the impacts, both positive and negative, on programs such as Social Security and health care as well as the medical, housing insurance and other industries will be “unbelievable.”
Incidentally, scientific validation for this unregulated nutraceutical comes at the perfect time. The public is losing faith in old-school pharmaceuticals while regulatory hurdles increase the cost of new drugs. Anatabloc is the first and most “unbelievable” nutraceutical yet but I see other scientifically valid natural products coming.
One nutraceutical I'm very excited about is nicotinomide riboside or Vitamin NR, a superior form of niacin developed by Cornell and Duke Universities and licensed by ChromaDex (CDXC.OB). NR has profound implications for mitochondrial function, cholesterol, fat loss and nerve health. It appears to me that it would work synergistically with anatabine citrate, Anatabloc. Hopefully, we will have data within the year.
Like Outside the Box? Then we think you'll love John's premium product, Over My Shoulder. Each week John Mauldin sends his Over My Shoulder subscribers the most interesting items that he personally cherry picks from the dozens of books, reports, and articles he reads each week as part of his research.
Share Your Thoughts on This Article
One (Biotech) Ring to Rule Them All
'via Blog this'
Friday, September 28, 2012
MotionX-GPS Track: Hogback hike,easy way,and back
Connie O'Dell uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone and is sharing with you the following track:
| Name: | Hogback hike,easy way,and back | |
| Date: | Sep 28, 2012 6:04 pm | |
| Map: (valid until Mar 27, 2013) | View on Map | |
| Distance: | 2.40 miles | |
| Elapsed Time: | 1:01:45 | |
| Avg Speed: | 2.3 mph | |
| Max Speed: | 7.6 mph | |
| Avg Pace: | 25' 42" per mile | |
| Min Altitude: | 5,718 ft | |
| Max Altitude: | 6,506 ft | |
| Start Time: | 2012-09-29T00:04:54Z | |
| Start Location: | ||
| Latitude: | 39º 58' 12" N | |
| Longitude: | 105º 16' 20" W | |
| End Location: | ||
| Latitude: | 39º 58' 17" N | |
| Longitude: | 105º 15' 55" W | |
MotionX-GPS Commonly Asked Questions
- What is MotionX-GPS?
MotionX-GPS is the essential GPS application for outdoor enthusiasts. It puts an easy-to-use, state-of-the-art handheld GPS on your iPhone. - Can I use MotionX-GPS?
Sure! MotionX-GPS can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. - How can I display tracks in Google Earth?
Follow the directions on the Google Earth web site to download and install the Google Earth program. Save the attached "Hogback hikeeasy wayand back.kmz" file to your computer. Launch Google Earth, select File, Open, and open the saved "Hogback hikeeasy wayand back.kmz" file. - This email was forwarded to me. Where are the attachments?
Some e-mail programs do not include the original attachments by default when forwarding an e-mail. In this case, the sender must reattach the original files for them to be included.
Please contact MotionX customer support with any comments or questions.
All the best,
The MotionX Team
US and Foreign Patents Granted and Pending. Fullpower® is a registered trademark of Fullpower Technologies, Inc. MotionX™ is a trademark of Fullpower Technologies, Inc. © Copyright 2003 - 2012 Fullpower Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
ver: ; ref-id:
Saturday, September 22, 2012
40 Unexpected Ways to Add Veggies to a Meal | Greatist
40 Unexpected Ways to Add Veggies to a Meal | Greatist
'via Blog this'
Even for those of us who like eating veggies, it can be a challenge to fit in all those recommended servings every day. When a craving for creamy mac and cheese calls, it’s hard to ignore the grumbling tummy and go for a bowl full of veggies instead. We’re here to tell you it’s easy to have the best of both worlds! Here are our 40 favorite (sneaky) ways to fit veggies into any meal:
Breakfast
1. Frittata it. We love starting the weekend with an egg-heavy brunch. Mix eggs with veggies for a healthy and hearty breakfast. Bonus points if you make enough to munch on all week!
2. Add finely minced broccoli to scrambled eggs. This veggie addition doesn’t change the texture of eggs and fits in at least a whole serving of veggies.
3. Steam and puree or finely grate cauliflower to mix with scrambled eggs. Try it with chicken or tuna salad for an entrée.
4. Bake ‘em. Breakfast sweets can be packed with veggies, too. Try making some travel-friendly bran muffins packed with zucchini and carrots in addition to the classic raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon.
5. Veg out on savory oatmeal. Yeah, the classic might be brown sugar with fruit, but oatmeal (or steel-cut oats) can be savory, too. Cook plain oats with water and add your choice of steamed or sautéed veggies. Top with an egg for extra protein and season with salt, pepper, or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
6. Make pudding a healthy breakfast. Only if it’s avocado-based!
7. Try pumpkin or butternut squash pancakes or waffles. When the skillet is heating next Saturday morning, throw some pumpkin or squash puree into any pancake or waffle mix to fit in an extra serving of veggies (and get a fun orange tinge, too).
Smoothies
8. Add greens to breakfast smoothies. A handful of spinach or kale blends well with any fruit smoothie. Try the classic “Green Monster” by blending 1 cup milk of choice, 1 frozen banana, 2 handfuls spinach, and 1 tablespoon almond butter.
9. Grab an avocado smoothie. Like the green smoothie, this avocado-based treat is perfect for breakfast or a nutritious midday snack. Packed with healthy fats, vitamin E, and vitamin B6, avocados are definitely one superfood we’d love to learn to liquefy.
10. Slurp a carrot smoothie. Carrot juice is pretty easy to find, but without an expensive juicer at home, it’s hard to make on demand. Luckily, grated carrots are easy-peasy to fit into any fruity smoothie. Bonus points: Because we’re using all parts of the veggie, none of the fiber is lost from the juicing process.
Pasta and Grains
11. Green up pasta dishes. When spaghetti and meatballs is on the menu, add a load of extra veggies to the dish itself instead of opting for a boring ’ol side salad.
12. Substitute veggie strips like zucchini, squash, asparagus, or spaghetti squash and skip the pasta altogether. Add veggies to the sauce too for bonus points.
13. Remember herbs are leafy greens too! Add fresh herbs to any rice, pasta, or grain dish. Or whip up a quick homemade herb pesto to add to scrambled eggs or use as a sandwich spread.
Photo by Kate Morin
14. Fancy up macaroni and cheese.It’s a childhood favorite, but grown ups crave it too — don’t lie! When guilt sets in for wanting to demolish the whole box, throw in a load of fresh veggies to justify the choice. Spinach, tomatoes, peas, and broccoli make awesome additions. Extra credit for skipping the boxed mixes and making it all from scratch.
15. Mix the potatoes. Sweet and regular mashed potatoes are perennial favorites. To add some extra nutritional value, mix the two types of potatoes 1-to-1 in a mash.
16. Sneak them in casseroles.Anytime that casserole dish comes out of the cupboard, get out the grater, too. Finely shredded zucchini or summer squash can be added to virtually any casserole without changing taste or texture!
Sandwiches
17. Sub greens for sandwich wraps or breakfast burritos. For tougher greens like collards, kale, or chard, blanch the greens and pat dry before wrapping.
18. Try veggie grilled cheese. Cheese sandwiched between two slices of bread doesn’t have too much green value. Every time the cheesy craving strikes, throw in a few layers of veggies, too. Spinach or arugula, tomato, and avocado make awesome additions.
19. Make vegetarian quesadillas. Instead of opting for the classic chicken-and-cheese, throw in a variety of veggies and cut down the cheese by half for a healthier version. Some favorite fillings are corn, peppers, onions, and greens.
20. Bite a better burger by adding carrot puree to ground beef recipes. From hamburgers to meatloaf, a few steamed and pureed carrots (or a mix of carrot and sweet potato) go a long way.
Sauces and Condiments
21. Pick a pumpkin marinara sauce. Tomato sauce is a great vehicle for any extra pureed veggies. The easiest? Throw in a can of pumpkin puree!
22. Load up. Basic tomato sauce is great — definitely counts as one veggie! But the more veggies added, the better. Try adding pureed carrots or winter squash, peppers, onions, or greens.
23. Health up the Hollandaise. Nothing’s better than a Sunday-morning plate of Eggs Benedict, but the classic Hollandaise sauce can be less than healthy. Try subbing this avocado Hollandaiseto fit in some extra green.
24. Mix butternut squash puree and grated cheese to use as a spread in grilled cheese, quesadillas, or pizzas.
25. Spice up salad dressing. Say bye-bye to classic oil and vinegar and hello to veggie-based dressings. Some ideas include butternut squash, tomato, beet, or zucchini.
Snacks
26. Bake an egg in an avocado. It’s the perfect healthy vehicle for some seriously awesome protein!
27. Turn it into a fry. Slice zucchini, avocado, carrot, or green beans, lightly bread and bake until crispy.
28. Cook up kale chips. Lightly coated in oil and sprinkled with salt, crispy kale chips are a great (and much healthier) stand-in for potato chips.
Pizza
29. Serve a colorful pie. Yes, a cheesy, meaty pizza pie is hard to pass up, but a really great pizza is a great vehicle for a big pile of veggies. Practically anything works, from greens and tomato to roasted squash or root vegetables.
30. Prepare a pizza salad. If pizza’s on the dinner table, throw a salad on top for a fun meal to eat, and an easy two-in-one dinner. A favorite? Arugula salad with tomatoes and Parmesan on top of a mixed veggie pizza.
31. Splurge on spinach. Tomato sauce is a great way to get a serving of veggies. Even better? Spread a layer of spinach puree on the pizza dough BEFORE spreading the sauce for another dose of veg (and some extra greens).
Soups and Stews
32. Add veggie puree to chicken soup. Making classic chicken soup? Add a can of pureed tomatoes, squash, or potato. It will make for a thicker soup and will sneak in some extra veggies.
33. Add carrot, sweet potato, or butternut squash puree to any chili or stew recipe.
Baked Goods and Desserts
34. Bake veggies into bread. Another sweet veggie-packed delight, zucchini bread can be a great way to get in a serving of veggies while fulfilling that sweet tooth.
35. Disguise greens in chocolate! These spinach brownies use pureed spinach leaves in the wet mixture to get in that extra dose of greens in the dessert course, too! (They’re vegan, too.)
36. Choose chocolate cake with carrot and squash. Chocolate cake base is perfect to disguise the veggies packed in the batter. Make avocado frosting for even more veggie bonus points!
37. Pair chocolate and beets. The cocoa covers the earthy beet flavor well and the sweetness of the beets pair well with the sugary cake.
38. Stick to the sweet stuff. Lets just admit it, chocolate is basically the best way to hide veggiesin pretty much anything. Case in point: sweet potato brownies.
39. Add carrot or sweet potato puree to chocolate chip cookies.
40. Pack avocados in chocolate pudding. Yes, we can even sneak some extra nutrients intochocolate pudding. Plus, avocados’ silky texture gives this pudding another plus.
'via Blog this'
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Getting Fat and Doing Something About It | Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
Getting Fat and Doing Something About It
I like to think of myself as a healthy person. I’m not overweight, I stay in shape, I like the gym, and I eat right. Or, at least, I like to think I do all of these things.
The truth is, long-term travel can be quite an unhealthy activity. Long days, longer nights, little sleep, very little exercise, a fair bit of alcohol, and unhealthy food.
It’s not to say that if you are a long-term traveler, you are going to be unhealthy. No. I know some people who do a daily run, push-ups, and eat nothing but healthy meals every day. But it’s a lot of work to keep it up on the road, because there are a lot more distractions to get in the way. Long nights at the pub make doing your morning run tougher. Doing push-ups in a huge dorm is a bit socially awkward. And when you travel on a budget, eating a super healthy meals all the time can be taxing on your budget.
Then throw in some laziness, and you have a recipe for some heavy duty wear and tear on your body.
Which is why I think I’m getting fat.
I’m not at the point where I need to buy two seats on airplane but I can definitely tell I’m gaining weight. And not the good muscle weight but the bad, trans-fat, french fried fueled kind.
Back home, I am a gym junkie. I work out about five times a week, I eat healthy, and I cook most of my own meals. I love staying in shape and feeling good.
But on the road? Forget about it. I eat lots of fatty hamburgers, French fries, pasta, and drink too many sodas. The last time I did push-ups? Ummm, I can’t remember. I can’t remember the last time I got a good night’s sleep either, which is thanks to a combination of dorm rooms, uncomfortable beds, and an overactive mind. I drink too often (it is always someone’s first or last night at a hostel). I need more salad in my life. I should also eat more fruits and vegetables.
And so, being inspired by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness and his book on staying in shape while traveling, I’m going to be healthier from now on.
I’ve always prided myself on healthy living, but on the road, I seem to check my views at the airport and only once in a while give them faint lip service. But after looking at my growing stomach, I’m going to start being healthy. Not tomorrow, but today.
I am going to do a number of things to stay healthy:
If you have a bag, you have a gym. As my friend put it, if you have a bag, you have a work out. You can use the weight of your bag like a barbell. You can lift it to do a bicep curl, lift it over your head for a shoulder workout, bench press it, do dead lifts – it’s a perfect, all-purpose weight.
Push-ups. I am going to do push-ups every other day in order to keep my upper body strong and my stamina up. They are a quick and easy way to stay in shape. I did some today. I won’t embarrass myself by telling you how few I could do.
Daily juice. Traveling can be a bit taxing on the body. It can wear you down. Since I don’t have vitamins with me, I am going to up my juice intake to make sure I am getting a good daily dose of the nutrients my body needs.
Moderate drinking. I’m cutting back on how often I drink. I’m old. My body doesn’t recover like it did when I was 20, and I don’t like sleeping through most of my days. It’s hard to be that guy who says “I’m staying in” when all your friends are going out and they want you to join, but I’m going to have to be that guy more often. (Added bonus: I’ll save a ton of money too!)
Sleep. I’m going to try to restore my sleep pattern. 8 hours a night, no staying up til dawn so often, and trying to get to sleep at a normal time. I had a great sleep a few nights ago, and I felt like a new person because of it. I want that feeling more.
Eat healthy. Enough burgers, fries, and pizza. Time to eat more salads, more lean meats, more rice, more vegetables – overall, just more healthy food. It’s easy when you travel to get the quick, cheap meal in order save money. However, while that is a great way to keep costs down, it is also a great way to keep your waistline up, as cheap food isn’t usually healthy food. This is the biggest change I’m going to make.
Alone time. I think I need more quiet alone time to recharge my batteries. Travel can be a very stimulating experience and there are always people to meet and places to go. But sometimes, you just need to decompress and have some relaxing alone time. I don’t really do enough of that. I probably haven’t had some me time since I was in Norway. Next week, I’m heading to Sofia and going to stay with a friend for a week and just recuperate.
I always tell people when it comes to traveling that the more excuses you make, the less likely it will be that you actually go. Yet, here I am, making excuses about trying to stay healthy.
So, today I am going to stop making excuses. Enough is enough. Time to start being healthy again. I like that lifestyle so much more than the one I have now.
Getting Fat and Doing Something About It | Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
'via Blog this'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)