recently released a study, which found that Splenda is, well, not so splendid for the gut microbiota. The study found that in mice, the artificial sweetener Splenda negatively impacts the intestinal microbiota. And promotes Crohn’s-type disease in genetically susceptible hosts. The findings of this study suggest that consuming Splenda may be a serious risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Over a six-week period, Splenda was found to worsen gut inflammation in mice with Crohn’s-like disease. But had no substantive effect on those without the condition. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease of the digestive tract. Which often causes abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss, and fatigue. About 10-15% of humans who suffer from Crohn’s disease report that sweeteners make their symptoms worse.

My colleagues and I found that the numbers of Proteobacteria, a large phylum group of microbes, increased in the intestines of mice drinking water with Splenda. The artificial sweetener was found to stimulate the intestinal overgrowth of E. Coli (a member of the Proteobacteria group) and increased bacterial penetration into the gut wall. This was only found in mice with Crohn's disease.

Doctors noted that the problems began with a raised, itchy rash and mild diarrhea. The red, wavy skin lesions originated in his perianal region, then began to migrate under his skin, reaching all over his trunk and limbs. Doctors outlined individual red squiggles on his skin with pen and noted that 24 hours later, the squiggles had moved.

The shifting rash—and the identification of Strongyloides stercoralis larvae in a stool exam—clenched the diagnosis. Doctors prescribed the man the anti-parasitic ivermectin, and the rash and diarrhea improved.

Taylor Lake
5 hours ago
"Lastly, that this judge actually ruled to allow this nonsense to continue is nuts, and given that he did, who knows how he’ll actually rule on the matter."
There's a saying, "Who Dares, Wins." I've heard it's the motto of the British SAS, but I don't know that for sure. What I do know is that the American Left has taken it to heart.

When politics is an alternate expression of war, anything goes. Throw anything and everything at your enemy, and see what sticks. The object is to win, not to win "pretty." Have no shame. Show no embarrassment.

"It worked, didn't it?"

• Harry Reid

Lawfare is just another weapon in political warfare. The Left knows this, and practices it. Conservatives still think that it's dirty pool, but then too many conservatives have been slow to understand that they are at war. Too slow. It has cost them a stolen election, and now we are witnessing assorted attempts to criminalize their participation in the political process and haul them before courts and "commissions." It's not about what's true, or even real. Just use every weapon at your disposal and see which ones work.

"I reject your facts."

• Nancy Pelosi

“When you have a disease like this, everyone says they have the cure — your mom clips something out of Reader’s Digest to send to you,” he said. Still, when his physician, Dr. Qingping Yao at Stony Brook University, asked if he wanted to join the beta trial of an intriguing new probiotic pill, he figured it couldn’t hurt. “‘Everything is worth a try,'” he added, of his thought process at the time.

Within weeks of starting it, he said he could increase the time he spent working out by 10%. Now, a year into his regimen, Gallagher’s workouts are 40% longer and significantly more intense. He is also down 7 pounds, even though his weight has rarely fluctuated in the past. “I’m a believer,” he said.

What he’s come to believe in, specifically, isn’t just any old gut health vitamin. Gallagher was part of a trial for a pill, which is being marketed under the name Nella, that contains bacteria harvested from the poop of high-performing athletes. //

Over the last decade or so, it’s become increasingly accepted that the microbiome — the bacteria in your gut — directly impacts our overall health, both mental and physical. Per the American Psychological Association, 95% of the body’s serotonin is produced by gut bacteria, and 70% of our immune system is found in the intestines, too. The idea behind Fitbiomics is to hijack an average Joe’s GI system and bio-hack it with bacteria until it resembles that of a pro-athlete. //

In the meantime, Gallagher and others are enjoying results they attribute to Nella. Nick Vendikos, a 52-year-old fundraiser from Brooklyn, had long struggled with chronic pain as the result of an accident, along with IBS and difficulty maintaining an ideal weight.

He decided to try Nella and has been surprised by how much better he feels.

“I’m a skeptic, but my stomach started feeling better. All my issues have gone away, and I lost about 20 pounds,” he said. “I don’t know if it is or it isn’t Nella, but something’s working.”

until President Carter, many people could legitimately dismiss campaign promises, but President Carter actually made a book of his various promises and worked to try to keep them.

Much to the detriment of nuclear energy development in the United States, two of his kept promises were to halt used fuel recycling in the US and to avoid creation of a “plutonium economy” by stopping the breeder reactor program.

Unlike Dr. Rossin, I am a suspicious guy who believes that many important decisions in the politics can best be understood by following the money. The obvious beneficiaries of a policy to avoid a “plutonium economy” are those entities who already have control over “the hydrocarbon economy”.

Up to $6 billion total, with plants already scheduled to shut down the top priority. //

On Tuesday, the US Department of Energy announced it was releasing guidance that would help nuclear plant operators apply for a slice of $6 billion available under its new Civil Nuclear Credit Program. The money will be coming out of the funds allocated through the infrastructure law that was the centerpiece of President Joe Biden's legislative accomplishments.

The money intends to keep plants operational that would otherwise close due to economic issues. Priority in the first round of funding will go to plants where their operators have already announced closure plans. Next year, the remaining funds will be available to any plant operator, regardless of plans to close it. //

When the money runs out, however, the plants will be facing even stronger headwinds from wind and solar energy, which are likely to see their prices decline even further in the intervening years.