From the CR Soc. Archives: Substances which absorb energy from food
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 09:38:40 -0600
From: Stephen Mehalek
Message-Id: <199504041538.AA12152@teal.csn.org>
To: bmdelane@midway.uchicago.edu
Subject: Re: CR Society mailing list
[....]
****
While not scientific in nature, I can say that after practicing for the greater
part of about 6 years that it really works. You feel like you are in suspended
animation when your on target and at a calorie deficit during the day.
I think the biggest problem with CR is that it depends on will power to
work. This can be tough, and I'm sure that every single person in subscribing
to this news group has had will power failures. I look at it as a
case of my genes having 4 million years of experience controlling
what we like to eat, how much, and when. So it's genes 4 million vs
my logical reasoning for the benefits of CR.
Given this, I have expended a considerable amount of time looking
through Medline for substances that would aid in appetite control.
Unforetunately, it's a very sharp double edged sword. While you might
get the benifits of caloric reduction, you certainly run very high
risks just because insufficient time has elasped to discern the risks of
drug interdiction in appetatite. Currently I haven't come across anything
I would risk using.
I found things that might lessen the impact of those things that you eat. Dr.
Walford detailed Questran as a fat uptake inhibitor that seems to be
reasonably safe for occassional use. I posted an article a while back to
sci.life-extension on research that pointed to the fact that activated
charcoal also seems to be as effective if not more effective than Questran
at inhibiting fat uptake.
Stephen Mehalek
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 11:23:36 -0600
From: Stephen Mehalek
Message-Id: <199504191723.AA20855@teal.csn.org>
To: crsociety@chunks.csn.net
Subject: Repost of Charcoal vs Questran from Sci.life-extension
For those of you who are practicing Caloric Restriction (CR) or are trying
to improve there dietary intake profile, Dr Walford's references to
Questran and it's ability to bind with dietary fats was very
tantalizing in his book the "120 Year Diet". Apparently Questran, a
brand name for Cholestyramine, has the ability to lower your
cholesterol levels by binding with bile acids that are necessary for
normal fat uptake. For the CR practioner this implies that we might
be able to take a substance that would allow us to eat a typical
high fat meal on occasion (like eating out with friends), and not
suffer the same deliterious effects of the meal by taking Questran
as opposed to our friends who take nothing with it. Dr Walford did
specifically site Questran for such occasions.
Unfortunately, Questran is not an over the counter substance, and
needs a doctors prescription. I have been researching other
substances that might have similiar properties to Questran but might
be available over the counter! One of these is Super Activated
Charcoal (SAC) and Activate Charcoal (AC). What follows are several
articles that I obtained from Medline on testing SAC and ACs ability to
lower cholesterol as compared to Questran:
TI: Sorbent therapy of the porphyrias. IV. Adsorption of
porphyrins by sorbents in vitro.
AU: Tishler-PV; Winston-SH
SO: Methods-Find-Exp-Clin-Pharmacol. 1985 Sep; 7(9): 485-91
ISSN: 0379-0355
PY: 1985
LA: ENGLISH
CP: SPAIN
AB: The adsorption capacities (Qm's) of the ion exchange resin
cholestyramine and 8 activated charcoals for uroporphyrin,
protoporphyrin and coproporphyrin, porphyrins that accumulate
within tissues or vasculature in certain porphyrias, have been
determined. Qm's (mg porphyrin/gm dry sorbent) were derived from
Langmuir isotherms, which were constructed from experiments that
assessed the amount of porphyrin adsorbed after the addition of
varying amounts of porphyrin in solution to a constant amount of
sorbent. These experiments were carried out at pH 8.2 in 0.5%
desoxycholate, to simulate conditions of the small intestine. For
uroporphyrin I, the Qm for Amoco Supersorb PX-21 highly activated
charcoal was greater than that for cholestyramine (mean +/- SD of
26.5 +/- 12.7 vs. 17.0 +/- 2.6; t'32 = 2.46, P less than 0.025)
and highly significantly greater than those of the other charcoals.
For protoporphyrin IX, cholestyramine and Amoco Supersorb PX-21
charcoal had the highest Qm's (32.4 +/- 8.6 and 30.9 +/- 9.2), but
these were not significantly greater than the Qm's of 5 other
charcoals. Little difference was found among sorbents in the rate
of adsorption of either porphyrin. For coproporphyrin III, the
Qm's of cholestyramine and Amoco Supersorb PX-21 charcoal were not
significantly different (39.2 +/- 13.7 vs. 35.1 +/- 4.0) but they
were greater than that of Norit USP XX (20.0). Virtually no
desorption of porphyrin from either cholestyramine or Amoco
Supersorb PX-21 charcoal was detected. Both cholestyramine and
Amoco Supersorb PX-21 charcoal appear to be highly avid sorbents
for porphyrins of varied states of carboxylation.(ABSTRACT
TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
MESH: Adsorption-; Human-; In-Vitro; Liver-Diseases-etiology;
Liver-Diseases-therapy; Porphyria-complications; Porphyrins-;
Support,-U.S.-Gov't,-Non-P.H.S.
MESH: *Charcoal-therapeutic-use; *Cholestyramine-therapeutic-use;
*Porphyria-therapy; *Skin-Diseases-therapy
RN: 11041-12-6; 16291-96-6
NM: Cholestyramine; Charcoal
AN: 86090956
UD: 8604
TI TITLE: Sorbent therapy of the porphyrias. V. Adsorption of the
porphyrin precursors delta-aminolevulinic acid and porphobilinogen
by sorbents in vitro.
AU AUTHOR(S): Winston-SH; Tishler-PV SO
SOURCE (BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION): Methods-Find-Exp-Clin-Pharmacol.
1986 Apr; 8(4): 233-7
PY PUBLICATION YEAR: 1986 LA LANGUAGE OF
ARTICLE: ENGLISH CP COUNTRY OF PUBLICATION: SPAIN
AB ABSTRACT: The
acute attacks of the acute hepatic porphyrias may be precipitated by
the excessive intracellular accumulation of the porphyrin precursors
delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) or porphobilinogen (PBG). Sorbents
that bind porphyrin precursors in the gastrointestinal tract may
interrupt their enterohepatic circulation, thus reducing the body
burden of these materials and minimizing the frequency or severity
of acute attacks. We have determined the adsorption capacities
(Qm's) of several activated charcoals and the ion exchange resin
cholestyramine for ALA and PBG. Qm's (mg ALA or PBG adsorbed/gm dry
sorbent) were determined from Langmuir isotherms, which were derived
from studies of the amount of porphyrin precursor adsorbed after the
addition of a constant amount of ALA or PBG to varying amounts of
sorbent. These experiments were carried out pH 8.2 in 0.1%
desoxycholate, to simulate conditions of the small intestine.
Extremely high Qm's were obtained for all charcoals and both
porphyrin precursors; those for cholestyramine were one or several
orders of magnitude lower. For ALA, the Qm of Gulf Bio-Systems
Super Char charcoal (110 +/- 35 [SD]) was not significantly greater
than that of Med-Corp Acta-Char charcoal (95 +/- 20), but it did
exceed those of all other charcoals by a statistically significant
amount. For PBG, the Qm of Super Char (68 +/- 14) was marginally
greater than that of Mallinckrodt USP charcoal (42 +/- 21, t8 =
2.18, p approximately equal to 0.06), but it was significantly
greater than that of Acta-Char charcoal (27 +/- 12). All sorbents
adsorbed ALA or PBG at comparable rates, and the complex of sorbent
and porphyrin precursor appeared to be undissociable.(ABSTRACT
TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS: Adsorption-;
Kinetics-; Support,-U.S.-Gov't,-Non-P.H.S.
MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT
HEADINGS: *Aminolevulinic-Acid; *Charcoal-; *Cholestyramine-;
*Levulinic-Acids; *Porphobilinogen-
RN CAS REGISTRY NUMBER OR EC
NUMBER: 106-60-5; 11041-12-6; 16291-96-6; 487-90-1
NM NAME OF SUBSTANCE: Aminolevulinic-Acid; Cholestyramine; Charcoal;
Porphobilinogen ISSN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER: 0379-0355
AN MEDLINE ACCESSION NUMBER: 86255821 UD UPDATE CODE: 8610
TI TITLE: Correlative studies of the hypocholesterolemic effect of a
highly activated charcoal.
AU AUTHOR(S): Tishler-PV; Winston-SH; Bell-SM
AD ADDRESS OF AUTHOR: Brockton/West Roxbury Veterans
Administration Medical Center, MA.
SO SOURCE (BIBLIOGRAPHIC
CITATION): Methods-Find-Exp-Clin-Pharmacol. 1987 Dec; 9(12):
799-806
PY PUBLICATION YEAR: 1987
LA LANGUAGE OF ARTICLE: ENGLISH CP
COUNTRY OF PUBLICATION: SPAIN
AB ABSTRACT: We have carried out in
vitro and animal studies to determine the cholesterol lowering
efficacy of activated charcoals vs. cholestyramine. In the in
vitro studies, we determined the adsorption capacity (Qm) of
cholestyramine and activated charcoals for cholesterol in glacial
acetic acid. Mean (+/- SD) Qm's (mg cholesterol adsorbed/gm dry
sorbent) decreased in the order Super Char highly activated charcoal
(277 +/- 121), Norit USP XX charcoal (33 +/- 10), Acta-Char charcoal
(26 +/- 4), Mallinckrodt USP charcoal (26 +/- 10), Norit A charcoal
(22 +/- 4) and cholestyramine (0). For the bile salt sodium
desoxycholate in ammonia: sodium bicarbonate, pH 8.2, the Qm with
cholestyramine was 4641 +/- 2669 and with Super Char was 2814 +/-
667 (p = 0.11). We then contrasted the effect of cholestyramine
(1%, added to the diet) and Super Char (1% or 2%) on plasma
cholesterol concentrations in rabbits made hypercholesterolemic with
a diet containing casein. The percent reductions were 61 in one
rabbit fed chole styramine, 61 and 67 in two rabbits fed 1% Super
Char, and 90 in one rabbit fed 2% Super Char. In WHHL homozygous
rabbits, reductions in plasma cholesterol from pre-treatment and
post-treatment levels, respectively, averaged 52% and 38% with 2%
cholestyramine (2 animals), 70% and 43% with 2% Super Char (2
animals), and 70% and 63% with 4% Super Char (3 animals). The
effectiveness of cholestyramine in animals that lack functional
cellular receptors for low density lipoprotein was unexpected.
Super Char charcoal appears to be an effective hypocholesterolemic
agent, warranting study in man.
MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS:
Animal-; Cholestyramine-therapeutic-use; Comparative-Study;
Deoxycholic-Acid-pharmacology; In-Vitro; Rabbits-;
Support,-U.S.-Gov't,-Non-P.H.S.
MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS:
*Anticholesteremic-Agents-therapeutic-use;
*Charcoal-therapeutic-use; *Hypercholesterolemia-drug-therapy
RN CAS REGISTRY NUMBER OR EC NUMBER: 11041-12-6; 16291-96-6; 83-44-3
NM NAME OF SUBSTANCE: Cholestyramine; Charcoal; Deoxycholic-Acid
ISSN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER: 0379-0355
AN MEDLINE ACCESSION NUMBER: 88156426
UD UPDATE CODE: 8806
TI TITLE: Superactivated charcoal versus cholestyramine for
cholesterol lowering: a randomized cross-over trial.
AU AUTHOR(S): Park-GD; Spector-R; Kitt-TM
AD ADDRESS OF AUTHOR: Department of
Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa
City.
SO SOURCE (BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION): J-Clin-Pharmacol. 1988
May; 28(5): 416-9
ISSN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER:
0091-2700
PY PUBLICATION YEAR: 1988
LA LANGUAGE OF ARTICLE: ENGLISH
CP COUNTRY OF PUBLICATION: UNITED-STATES
AB ABSTRACT: To evaluate
the relative abilities of superactivated charcoal (20 g twice daily)
and cholestyramine (8 g twice daily) to lower plasma cholesterol
concentrations acutely, six hypercholesterolemic patients were
studied using a randomized cross-over design. After a 1-week
dietary control period, each subject received 3 weeks of each
treatment regimen on separate occasions. Superactivated charcoal
and cholestyramine reduced total plasma cholesterol by 21.8 +/- 3.8%
and 16.2 +/- 2.4%, respectively. Side effects were mild and similar
for both treatments. At the dosage regimens studied, superactivated
charcoal and cholestyramine have comparable ability to lower plasma
cholesterol concentrations. MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS: Adult-;
Charcoal-adverse-effects; Cholestyramine-adverse-effects;
Clinical-Trials; Diet-; Female-; Human-; Male-; Middle-Age;
Random-Allocation; Support,-Non-U.S.-Gov't;
Support,-U.S.-Gov't,-P.H.S.; Time-Factors; Triglycerides-blood MESH
MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS: *Anticholesteremic-Agents;
*Charcoal-pharmacology; *Cholesterol-blood;
*Cholestyramine-pharmacology
PT PUBLICATION TYPE: CLINICAL-TRIAL CN
CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBERS: RR59 RN CAS REGISTRY NUMBER OR EC NUMBER:
11041-12-6; 16291-96-6; 57-88-5
NM NAME OF SUBSTANCE: Cholestyramine; Charcoal; Cholesterol
AN MEDLINE ACCESSION NUMBER:88273727
UD UPDATE CODE: 8810
TI TITLE: Activated charcoal in the treatment of
hypercholesterolaemia: dose-response relationships and comparison
with cholestyramine.
AU AUTHOR(S): Neuvonen-PJ; Kuusisto-P;
Vapaatalo-H; Manninen-V
AD ADDRESS OF AUTHOR: Department of Clinical
Pharmacology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
SO SOURCE (BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION): Eur-J-Clin-Pharmacol. 1989; 37(3): 225-30
ISSN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER: 0031-6970
PY PUBLICATION YEAR: 1989
LA LANGUAGE OF ARTICLE: ENGLISH CP COUNTRY OF
PUBLICATION: GERMANY-WEST
AB ABSTRACT: The dose-response
relationship of activated charcoal in reducing serum cholesterol was
determined and the effects of charcoal and cholestyramine were
compared in patients with hypercholesterolaemia. In a cross-over
study 7 patients ingested charcoal 4, 8, 16 or 32 g/day, and finally
bran, each phase lasting for 3 weeks. Serum total and
LDL-cholesterol were decreased (maximum 29% and 41%, respectively)
and the ratio of HDL/LDL-cholesterol was increased (maximum 121%) by
charcoal in a dose dependent manner. Ten further patients with
severe hypercholesterolaemia ingested daily for 3 weeks, in random
order, activated charcoal 16 g, cholestyramine 16 g, activated
charcoal 8 g + cholestyramine 8 g, or bran. The concentrations of
total and LDL-cholesterol were reduced by charcoal (23% and 29%,
respectively), cholestyramine (31% and 39%) and their combination
(30% and 38%). The ratio of HDL/LDL-cholesterol was increased from
0.13 to 0.23 by charcoal, to 0.29 by cholestyramine, and to 0.25 by
their combi nation. Serum triglycerides were increased by
cholestyramine but not by charcoal. Other parameters, including the
serum concentrations of vitamin A, E and 25(OH)D3 remained
unaffected. The changes in lipids only partly subsided during the
3-week bran phase. In general, the acceptability by the patients
and the efficacy of activated charcoal, cholestyramine and their
combination were about equal, but there were individual preferences
for particular treatments.
MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS: Adult-;
Cholesterol-blood; Comparative-Study;
Dose-Response-Relationship,-Drug; Drug-Therapy,-Combination;
Female-; Human-; Hypercholesterolemia,-Familial-blood;
Lipoproteins,-HDL-Cholesterol-blood;
Lipoproteins,-LDL-Cholesterol-blood; Male-; Middle-Age;
Support,-Non-U.S.-Gov't; Triglycerides-blood
MESH MEDICAL SUBJECT
HEADINGS: *Charcoal-therapeutic-use;
*Cholestyramine-therapeutic-use;
*Hypercholesterolemia,-Familial-drug-therapy
RN CAS REGISTRY NUMBER OR EC NUMBER: 11041-12-6; 16291-96-6; 57-88-5
NM NAME OF SUBSTANCE: Cholestyramine; Charcoal; Cholesterol
AN MEDLINE ACCESSION NUMBER:
It appears that from the above citations SAC or AC is just as
effective as Questran in lowering cholesterol, and binding with
Fats.
One question that I have not answered is; What's the difference
between Activated Charcoal (AC) and Super Activated Charcoal (SAC)?
And if SAC is better as the name implies, where do you get it.
Also, I have not had access to Medline in the Last 8 months, so
someone needs to search the literature on this subject to bring it
up to date.
I shall conclude this on an interesting note:
I found a citation on Medline a few years ago from a group of
Russian researches that claimed that the addition of Charcoal (I
think it was activated) to the diet of rats extended lifespan.
Unfortunately, until I purchase another Macintosh computer this
reference will remain on my backup sets, and I will be unable to
post it to the group. If someone is interested, and would look
through the Medline references and post it to the group, it would be
appreciated. Since it is related to the subject of AC ingestion and
it's longterm effects.
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 12:45:12 -0600
From: Stephen Mehalek
Message-Id: <199504181845.AA21390@teal.csn.org>
To: crsociety@chunks.csn.net
Subject: Uptake inhibitors
As most of you aware, there would be major benefits to finding
appetite suppressant drugs that are safe in the long term. Another
approach exists, however, that could also yield considerable
benefits. As detailed below:
>I found things that might lessen the impact of those things that you eat. Dr.
>Walford detailed Questran as a fat uptake inhibitor that seems to be
>reasonably safe for occassional use. I posted an article a while back to
>sci.life-extension on research that pointed to the fact that activated
>charcoal also seems to be as effective if not more effective than Questran
>at inhibiting fat uptake.
substances already exist that can alter your bodies ability to
absorb fats. Cholestyramine has been in use for years, and has an
excellent safety profile for the occasional user.
Fat is only one issue we also have to deal with Carbohydrates and
Proteins. I have found at least one substance in the literature that
appears to be effective in inhibiting sugar uptake possibly even more
complex Carbohydrates. It's not clear to me, and I haven't review
my citations on this in a while, if it inhibits general Carbohydrate
uptake as well. It's called "Acarbose", and I don't think that's
it's chemical name. My notes indicate, that I haven't performed any
Medline searches on it. Towards the end of the summer I should have
access to Medline again, and plan to do a complete search on this
item. I also plan to do a more complete search for similiar
substances.
If I recall correctly (this is very speculative), the driving force
behind research on Acarbose was for use with diabetics.
I also found one other substance that a vitamin company had
advertised as being a sugar uptake blocker called "Gymnema
Sylvestre". I performed a Medline search for 1990, 1991, and 1992
without finding anything to indicate that this substance might block
sugar uptake. From what I can tell, the mode of action for this
substance is to change insulin function.
I more enthusiatic about substances that inhibit uptake than those
that suppress. If you look at Cholestyramine research, it appears that
even though you ingest it, it basically passes through your intestinal
tract without getting absorbed by your body (It's mode of action is
to binding with your bile acids). If Acarbose worked in a similiar
fashion, it would be perfect to mitigate some aspects of damaging
meals. If it's not absorbed by your body, and simply binds with
the sugars you ingest, this would be a safe effective method of
enhancing CR.
For those of you who may not have read my posting to sci.life-extension
regarding Questran vs Activated Charcoal, I can repost the full text
to the crsociety for any you who might be interested. E-mail me or
post to the group.
Stephen Mehalek
