A Dose of Health

As a result of one of my reader’s comments, I did a little research on Vitamin K. He suggested checking out vitamin K because I had shared my experience about my brain calcification scare. Thanks Stew for the heads up.

Apparently vitamin K helps the blood to clot normally, and helps to prevent heart disease. It also appears to help prevent calcification of the arteries. Does it help with brain calcification? I don’t know. I would think that since it prevents calcification in the arteries, it would help with the brain also.

According to the Health Encyclopedia, on the subject of Vitamin K “it has been hypothesized…it’s possible mechanisms include inhibiting brain calcification…”

Vitamin K also helps to prevent osteoporosis. Apparently it seems to be a facilitator in keeping the calcium in places where it’s supposed to be (the bones) and not deposited in places where it shouldn’t be (the arteries).

As if that wasn’t enough, Vitamin K also helps fight tooth decay. According to a study performed in the 1940’s by Dr. Leonard S. Fosdick , chewing Vitamin K coated gum for 10 minutes after every meal yielded a 60 to 90% decrease in new cavities over a period of 18 months. Vitamin K appeared to be more effective than fluorinated drinking water. Imagine that?

Where to get Vitamin K

Green leafy vegetables have an abundance of Vitamin K. Things like kale, spinach, collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens, broccoli and so on and so on. Go into your garden or your neighbor’s garden (with permission, of course) and start chomping away.

From what I’ve read, there are no ill effects of eating too much of the stuff. There might be ill effects if you choose to get your vitamin K through synthetic supplements. So, do yourself a favor and get it naturally.

Daily Recommended Dose of Vitamin K

I’ve read anywhere from 1-10 mg per day. To save yourself the headache of having to calculate how much to eat, just get your daily serving of greens each day. You’ll have your required amount of Vitamin K. According to The World’s Healthiest Foods, 1 cup of boiled kale gives you 1327.6% of the daily value.

Does Vitamin K Prevent Brain Calcification?

I can’t say that it does for sure, but it sure can’t hurt to get your daily required dose of vitamin K.

Back in the old days, aluminum foil was used to wrap just about everything.  Kids went to school with their lunch box fully packed with sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil.  Pickles were wrapped in aluminum foil and so were the homemade snacks.  Just about everything we carried in our lunchbox was wrapped in aluminum foil (balled up aluminum foil was a great source of entertainment).

In addition to stuffing our lunch boxes with aluminum foil and later throwing the aluminum foil balls around the lunchroom, my parents also used the product more traditionally in cooking.  After the hot roast came out of the oven, covering it with aluminum foil was a perfectly acceptable way to keep it protected.

When the roast was cool enough to touch, it went into the fridge.  I never remember seeing small black holes in the aluminum foil or traces of dissolved aluminum foil on the meat (ahh, the good old days).

New and Improved Aluminum Foil

I don’t know if I was living in my childhood fantasy, but I never remember my mother complaining about the aluminum foil dissolving.  Now a days I find that I cannot use aluminum foil to cover foods.  It appears to melt when it spend too much time in contact with
food.

My first response was to purchase a thicker, heavier grade of aluminum foil.  That didn’t work, because it dissolved onto the food too.  Seeing that my first line of action didn’t work, I decided to see if other folks on the internet had the same problem.  Imagine my surprise when I found that aluminum foil dissolves when it comes into contact with acidic foods.

Check out these links:

• Acidic Foods in Contact with Aluminum Foil: A Cause of Parkinson’s/Alzheimer’s Disease?
• Ask A Scientist

Although my research indicates that eating food with dissolved aluminum foil on it is perfectly safe, I’d rather not.  I’ve spent time cutting off the ‘melted’ portions of aluminum foil from my food.  I now wait until the food is cool enough and use plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Aluminum

There appears to be a correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and aluminum  toxicity in the brain.  Although, these sites do not point to aluminum foil as the cause of the toxicity, they do mention items like antiperspirants containing aluminum, aluminum utensils and self-rising flour which contains aluminum, just to name a few (Here’s another site: Alzheimer’s and Aluminum, Is there a connection?) .

My Conclusion

There may not be a connection between aluminum foil and Alzheimer’s disease.  Additonally, according to my limited research, it may be ‘perfectly safe’ to eat food with melted aluminum foil; however, in my book, I’m not doing it.  I already had a calcified brain scare.  No sense in eating aluminum to create some other unwanted health condition.

I had convinced myself that no matter what the results from the brain calcification tests show, I was going to live a healthy and thankful life.  I had gotten used to the thought of making jokes about the rocks in my head.  I would blame every forgotten event, misplaced item and the occasional emotional rant on the ever growing calcium deposits in my brain (a little research makes one dangerous).

Nobody’s Home

Imaging my surprise when the doctor’s office called and said “There’s nothing there.”  What?? Nothing there?  Well then she rephrased it and said “Everything is normal.”

Woah, you mean I kept,as Rachel Maddow would say, “talking myself down”  over nothing?  Oh well, it could have been a lot worse.

Moral of the Story

Now a days, patients have more access to information, via the internet, regarding potential health concerns.  It’s a double-edged sword.  After spending a day or two researching brain calcification, I became a bit more informed and a whole lot more confused.

Fortunately, my calcification of the brain was just a scare, but it has caused me to make a few dietary and daily habit changes.  It is my choice to pay a little closer attention to what I eat, drink and be a little more thankful for what I have.

Each day is a gift and I want to make the best of it.