Particulate matter and your health

As the Dutch government decided to move away from natural fossilized energy sources, we are moving towards solar and wind energy.
Because solar and wind energy cannot provide all energy and a decision to also move away from natural gas, biomass plants seemed to be the perfect solution.

Biomass is plant or animal material used for energy production (electricity or heat). It can be purposely grown energy crops, wood or forest residues, waste from food crops (wheat straw), horticulture (yard waste), food processing (corn cobs), animal farming (manure, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus), or human waste from sewage plants.

Burning plant-derived biomass releases CO2, but it has still been classified as a renewable energy source in the EU and UN legal frameworks because photosynthesis cycles the CO2 back into new crops. In some cases, this recycling of CO2 from plants to atmosphere and back into plants can even be CO2 negative, as a relatively large portion of the CO2 is moved to the soil during each cycle.

However, over the past few months it has become clear how a lot of biomass comes from trees, that were previously pristine forests in the USA or the Baltics.
While in the best case, the use of biomass could even be CO2 negative, burning biomass will result in excessive CO2 output locally as well as of particulate matter.
This is why almost overnight, due to negative public opinion, politicians changed their mind. Too late though, there are already few hundred biomass plants that are being constructed due to substantial subsidies that were handed out, so we can expect a substantial worsening of air quality in the upcoming decade(s) because of the increased amount of particulate matter.

How to prevent getting sick from the flu

You can prevent germs from making you ill in two ways: prevent entry into the body by careful hygiene, and if they do get in, make sure your body’s natural immune system is able to fight these germs, so they self-destruct before overwhelming the system.

Most flu germs are spread in two ways:

• touching such as hand-to-hand contact
• droplet spread when germs ride along on tiny water droplets that are sneezed or coughed into the air

Try these flu prevention tips to avoid person-to-person spread:

• avoid shaking hands, but bow or give a head nod
• avoid nose-picking as the nose is a breeding ground for germs
• sneeze into a disposable handkerchief and if you don't have one available, sneeze inside your elbow
• shun coughers and sneezers as much as possible.
• avoid crowded rooms

Doctor Pauling, why was he so famous? Vitamin C and its role as an anti-aging anti-oxidant

One of the most famous forerunners of high dose vitamin C treatment for disease prevention was Dr. Linus Pauling, a biochemist and peace activist, and a two-time Nobel Laureate.
A large, decade-long study found that men who took 800 mg of vitamin C per day had less heart disease and lived up to six years longer than those following the conventional guideline of 60 mg/day
Vitamin C, when administered intravenously at high doses, has been shown to be selectively cytotoxic against cancer cells.

Vitamin C is one of the most well-established traditional antioxidants we know of, and its potent health benefits have been clearly demonstrated over time, especially for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

While most animals have the ability to produce vitamin C internally, three species cannot. Guinea pigs, primates, and humans must obtain their vitamin C from their diet.

Vitamin C has numerous functions in the human body, including acting as an essential cofactor in enzymatic reactions.

In this way, it plays a role in your body's production of collagen, carnitine and catecholamines.

Vitamin C is also used by your body for wound healing, repairing, and maintaining the health of your bones and teeth, and plays a role in helping your body absorb iron.

A powerful antioxidant, vitamin C also helps prevent damage caused by free radicals. Over time, free radical damage may accelerate aging and contribute to the development of heart disease and other health conditions.

It's through this antioxidant effect that it's thought vitamin C may play a role in protecting heart health.

Fluoride, should you avoid it?

A year ago, the Dutch Supreme Court of Justice ruled taxation of fluroided tooth paste should be lowered from the higher tariff meant for luxury gooods such as beauty items to the low tariff that is used for medication and nutritional supplements and meds as fluorided tooth paste can be considered as medicine.
This resulted in quite a big price gap between fluorided tooth paste and non-fluorided tooth paste.
However, since the effectiveness of fluoride has been up to debate it was felt to be an unjust difference by quite a few people who even say fluoride is poisonous. Is fluoride really poisonous? We thought you'd be just as curious about the answer as we are.

When is drinking alcohol bad for your health?

In the past decade we were told indulging in one or two glasses of alcohol (just one for women) a day is healthy. This was even one of the many recommendations in the national (Dutch) health guidelines. In the past year though, a drastic change occurred: the recommendation changed into zero to perhaps to a most one glass of alcohol a day! So, what gives?