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Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

news.exeter.ac.uk

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Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#81

Post by hungmung »

declan_roberts wrote: post #65
papercrane wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lead pipes theory is mostly just pop-science. Romans were likely getting more lead exposure from using lead cooking vessels and utensils.

Not to mention the fact that their pipes immediately become mineralized, and very little lead leeches in cold water. Headline science has a way of sticking around for a long time.

Also...Roman plumbing was constant-flow. Lead in water is mostly an issue when it gets to rest in the pipes for a while, then when somebody turns the tap on they get water that's had time to absorb the lead. Since Roman plumbing had no taps though and was just running constantly, the amount of time the water was exposed to the lead was pretty minimal.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#82

Post by hinkley »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #79
hinkley wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Violence in the US declined as children born around and after leaded gas was banned reached the average age of first offense. It’s quite a line.

You're going to have to explain your point to me, or perhaps you misunderstood my own. My point is that while it may have been unclear to the Romans as to the cause of changes in behavior they did notice a change and did complain about it a lot. I accept the premise that lead poisoning leads to lower intelligence.

What we know now is that lead’s effects are more pronounced as developmental issues. A little lead exposure as a child can lead to a violent temper. So once children were not born into a low grade cloud of lead contamination, they were set up for fewer mood disturbances as teenagers and young adults. Feeling like violence is your best avenue for conflict resolution leads to crime. So the change wasn’t over night, it was over 20 years.

I expect that whatever effect was going on in Rome if there was one, which seems to be up for debate, counted on pregnant women exposed to lead via alcohol and acidic foods, neither of which young children would normally encounter. Meanwhile lead dust from exhaust got -everywhere-, and paint a lot of places.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#83

Post by leke »

giantg2 wrote: post #27
hotpotat wrote: post #12

If you have trouble in bed, ask yourself if you use Listerine. It kills your mouth’s microbiome and lowers your Nitric Oxide production [0]. [0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31709856/

And get sun exposure since your body will synthesize it.

Does sun exposure increase nitric oxide?

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#84

Post by cjbgkagh »

hinkley wrote: post #82
cjbgkagh wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're going to have to explain your point to me, or perhaps you misunderstood my own. My point is that while it may have been unclear to the Romans as to the cause of changes in behavior they did notice a change and did complain about it a lot. I accept the premise that lead poisoning leads to lower intelligence.

What we know now is that lead’s effects are more pronounced as developmental issues. A little lead exposure as a child can lead to a violent temper. So once children were not born into a low grade cloud of lead contamination, they were set up for fewer mood disturbances as teenagers and young adults. Feeling like violence is your best avenue for conflict resolution leads to crime. So the change wasn’t over night, it…

I still think you are agreeing with the implied and later stated accepted premise that there is a correlation and it’s not always obvious, I’m still unsure as to what it is you are trying to add.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#86

Post by adrianN »

pstorm wrote: post #46
dinfinity wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to add: Stretching or some other kind of flexibility improving activities. Muscles moving for half an hour a day doesn't (necessarily) do anything for that (may even make it worse if you're doing heavy stuff). The effects on quality of life of a bit of flexibility are huge . Back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, "RSI", and so many other ails are often just pretty much permanently cramped muscles negatively af…

Being flexible is important, but the latest research shows that heavy lifting improves flexibility about as much as a dedicated stretching program: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9935664/

For the movements that you happen to make with the barbell.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#87

Post by buovjaga »

papercrane wrote: post #8
bognition wrote: post #3

Back in school I was often told the lead pipes in Roman aqueducts likely played a key role in the fall of Roman. We know lead is a poison with negative long term effects on cognition. The aqueducts were also responsible for Romes ability to proliferate and grow. Lead was both a blessing and a curse. I wonder what future generations will say about our highly enriched and processed diets. Calories have never been cheap…

The lead pipes theory is mostly just pop-science. Romans were likely getting more lead exposure from using lead cooking vessels and utensils.

Joseph R. McConnell et al. (January 6, 2025). Pan-European atmospheric lead pollution, enhanced blood lead levels, and cognitive decline from Roman-era mining and smelting. https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2419630121

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#88

Post by throawaywpg »

bognition wrote: post #3

Back in school I was often told the lead pipes in Roman aqueducts likely played a key role in the fall of Roman. We know lead is a poison with negative long term effects on cognition. The aqueducts were also responsible for Romes ability to proliferate and grow. Lead was both a blessing and a curse. I wonder what future generations will say about our highly enriched and processed diets. Calories have never been cheap…

Apparently it wasn't the pipes, which wouldn't have leached enough to make a difference. It was the fact that the Romans used lead acetate as a sweetener in their food and drinks!

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#89

Post by throawaywpg »

declan_roberts wrote: post #65
papercrane wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lead pipes theory is mostly just pop-science. Romans were likely getting more lead exposure from using lead cooking vessels and utensils.

Not to mention the fact that their pipes immediately become mineralized, and very little lead leeches in cold water. Headline science has a way of sticking around for a long time.

spelling pedant: "leaches," not "leeches"

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#90

Post by throawaywpg »

edwardbernays wrote: post #15
papercrane wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lead pipes theory is mostly just pop-science. Romans were likely getting more lead exposure from using lead cooking vessels and utensils.

So is the idea that widespread lead exposure led to the decline of the Roman empire largely pop science? Are you saying that's not accurate, or that the source of the lead exposure is miscounted?

"Decadence" likely had nothing to do with the Roman Empire's fall. That theory is based essentially on propaganda, designed to absolve them of blame.

The lead pipes had too much calcification, and not much lead would have leached out. But the Romans did use lead acetate as a sweetener, so they were adding lead directly to many (most?) of their meals.

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