The Toxic Puzzle

 Individuals are always shocked when diagnosed with ALS or Alzheimer's. This video called Toxic Puzzle is by Bo Landin and narrated by Harrison Ford. It addresses the fact that these two diseases often appear in clusters and are often associated with common drinking water. The video follows the work of a consortium of 50 scientists searching for a hidden killer underlying the toxic puzzle involved with these diseases. The conclusion I drew from the video is that the quality of drinking water may be a major contributor to diseases involved with degeneration of brain and nerves.

I first became aware of this problem reading an article in Scientific American in 1994 written by Wayne Carmichael. He was warning about the ingestion of algae products as supplements because of the likelihood of potentially harmful contaminants contributing to liver cancer and nerve damage. Dr. Furst was very concerned about this issue in supplements and he was one of the world's foremost toxicologists. Unfortunately the original article by Carmichael is no longer readily available but I have provided a link to some of his more recent work.

Reference article:

Recent article on the toxins of cyanobacteria by Wayne Carmichael.

Carotenoids for Algae

Algae for Carotenoids

Many supplements use a pink micro-algae called Dunaliella salina as a source of carotenoids. These organisms live in highly saline conditions and grow in intense light which causes them to produce high levels of beta-carotene. This algae is not a normal part of the human food chain. GNLD Carotenoid Complex derives carotenoids from foods you would find in your grocery store.

There are many different carotenoids and each has a specificity of action. The carotenoid profile of foods is altogether different than the profile found in algae. There is also a competitive inhibition of absorption of one carotenoid by others. This means that use of high quantities of carotenoids from outside the food chain may impair absorption of some carotenoids robbing the body of the beneficial effects which may be unique to carotenoids found only in foods.