Integrative Wellness and Movement

04/08/2025

https://youtu.be/Xt7ZeYrg-pE

What do feet, fascia, and forensics have in common? For Dr. Emily Splichal, they’re all part of a powerful journey that redefined modern movement and human h...

07/07/2025

https://youtu.be/yFY2gPnXL54

As women, we’re often told what to expect during menopause - but what’s rarely discussed is how it affects our feet.⁠⁠Declining estrogen levels impact our co...

06/07/2025

Nerve flossing, gliding, and tensioning. Great video that explains what those are.

nerve flossing is a really great exercise to help with reducing neural tension in the legs and lower back, tho...

03/07/2025

https://youtu.be/TX2ZT2lcO8U

To watch Part 2 of this video: https://peak.fan/mpdzd3whJoin the discussion at Peak Prosperity: https://peak.fan/2p96k48dHave you been unable to easily recal...

11/06/2025

19/05/2025

Made "with" vs. Made "of". Let's use chicken as an example. Would you rather have "made with chicken" or "made of chicken"? Made "with" 100% chicken means...yes whatever amount of chicken that's in there is 100% chicken, but there's a whole lot of other stuff in there as well. Made "of" 100% chicken means that it is 100% chicken. That was a great little discussion I heard at about 13 min 56 sec into the video (link below)

Want More In-Depth Information For Colby Mac and The Mac's?? Subscribe To His Week...

28/04/2025

Flesh-eating screwworm (fly larvae) infested livestock from Mexico.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/cattle/ticks/screwworm

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/usda-threatens-halt-mexican-animal-imports-over-flesh-eating-fly-crisis

The USDA threatened to halt imports of Mexican cattle and bison if Mexico fails to act against a flesh-eating screwworm fly spreading north toward U.S. herds.

13/04/2025

https://www.cnogacare.co/cog-hybrid-glucometer

(CoG) is a personalized hybrid non-invasive and invasive glucometer that allows you to monitor your glucose levels frequently without constant pricking

13/04/2025

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41378-022-00355-5

This article reports a highly integrated watch for noninvasive continual blood glucose monitoring. The watch employs a Nafion-coated flexible electrochemical sensor patch fixed on the watchband to obtain interstitial fluid (ISF) transdermally at the wrist. This reverse iontophoresis-based extraction...

13/04/2025

https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/non-invasive-diabetes-technology -developing-it

Learn all about new continuous glucose monitors (CGM) that won’t poke the skin.

13/04/2025

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10331674/

In recent years, the incidence of diabetes mellitus has grown exponentially worldwide. It is well-established that blood glucose monitoring is crucial to evaluate pancreatic islet function and determine the optimal medication regimen. However, most ...

23/02/2025

Artificial sweetener triggers insulin spike leading to blood vessel inflammation in mice.

From diet soda to zero-sugar ice cream, artificial sweeteners have been touted as a guilt-free way to indulge our sweet tooth. However, new research published in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism shows that aspartame — one of the most common sugar substitutes — may impact vascular health.

The team of cardiovascular health experts and clinicians found that aspartame triggers increased insulin levels in animals, which in turn contributes to atherosclerosis — buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries — which can lead to higher levels of inflammation and an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke over time.

The research was inspired by a can of diet soda during a project meeting. “One of my students was sipping on this sugar-free drink, and I said, ‘Why don't you look into that?’” recalls senior author Prof Yihai Cao, who studies chronic diseases related to blood vessel disorders at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

“Artificial sweeteners have penetrated almost all kinds of food, so we have to know the long-term health impact.”

Previous research has linked consumption of sugar substitutes to increased chronic disorders like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, the mechanisms involved were previously unexplored.

Methods

For this study, the researchers fed mice daily doses of food containing 0.15% aspartame for 12 weeks — an amount that corresponds to consuming about three cans of diet soda each day for humans. Compared to mice without a sweetener-infused diet, aspartame-fed mice developed larger and more fatty plaques in their arteries and exhibited higher levels of inflammation, both of which are hallmarks of compromised cardiovascular health.

When the team analyzed the mice’s blood, they found a surge in insulin levels after aspartame entered their system. The team noted that this wasn’t a surprising result, given that our mouths, intestines and other tissues are lined with sweetness-detecting receptors that help guide insulin release. But aspartame — 200 times sweeter than sugar — seemed to trick the receptors into releasing more insulin.

The researchers then demonstrated that the mice’s elevated insulin levels fueled the growth of fatty plaques in the mice’s arteries, suggesting that insulin may be the key link between aspartame and cardiovascular health.

New discovery: how insulin leads to arterial plaque buildup

Next, researchers investigated how exactly elevated insulin levels lead to arterial plaque buildup and identified an immune signal called CX3CL1 that is especially active under insulin stimulation.

“Because blood flow through the artery is strong and robust, most chemicals would be quickly washed away as the heart pumps,” says Prof Cao. “Surprisingly, not CX3CL1. It stays glued to the surface of the inner lining of blood vessels. There, it acts like a bait, catching immune cells as they pass by.”

Many of these trapped immune cells are known to stoke blood vessel inflammation. However, when researchers eliminated CX3CL1 receptors from one of the immune cells in aspartame-fed mice, the harmful plaque buildup did not occur. These results point to CX3CL1’s role in aspartame’s effects on the arteries, says Prof Cao.

What's next?

Looking ahead, Cao and his team plan to verify their findings in humans. Cao also foresees CX3CL1 as a potential target for chronic conditions beyond cardiovascular disease, given that blood vessel inflammation is involved in stroke, arthritis and diabetes.

“Artificial sweeteners have penetrated almost all kinds of food, so we have to know the long-term health impact,” says Cao.