Week 8--Chemistry of Household Products

What's under the kitchen sink?

Well, considering I just moved and don't really have my own kitchen, I dare not look under the sink in the house I'm currently subletting.

What I do currently have/use

Comet, which interestingly does not list the ingredients, but I found this on their website:

Other information 
The surfactants in Comet® are biodegradable
Contains No Phosphate



White Vinegar

Bleach

Another staple I had in Texas

Boric Acid as a roach pesticide, which is 100% boric acid

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"Mediterranean Diet" article

Key Points:

• While a low-fat diet can lower cholesterol, a whole diet approach has a greater reduction in cardiovascular deaths and heart attacks

• Low fat diets didn't reduce coronary heart disease and heart attacks

• Adopting a whole food diet is better for reducing cardiovascular risk and has other health benefits 

• Attention should be given to what is consumed as well as to what is excluded, i.e. consuming a variety of cardio protective foods vs. focusing on low fat foods

Here are a couple of links to check out, which extend the debate about what good and bad fats actually are and why people get fat . . .

Weston A. Price is a great organization, supporting whole food nutrition with a wealth of knowledge, and they help protect farmers selling raw milk. Here's one article about fats:

http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/good-fats-bad-fats-separating-fact-from-fiction

Author of "Why We Get Fat" and "Good Calories, Bad Calories," Gary Taubes' books are worth checking out:

http://garytaubes.com/works/books/why-we-get-fat/

Week 7--Electrochemistry and Alchemy

Semiconductor: Silicon

In Group XIV of the periodic table
Symbol: Si, Atomic Number: 14

Has 4 valence electrons in its outermost shell which gives it the ability to gain or lose electrons equally at the same time, readily either donating or sharing its four outer electrons, allowing for many forms of chemical bonding.

As a semiconductor, it has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass, and is fundamental to modern electronics.

Over 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the 2nd most abundant element in the Earth's crust after oxygen.

It is used commercially in clays, cements, mortars and stucco, ceramics, soda-glass, and in semiconductor electronics.  With its wide use in most computers, modern technology is quite dependent on silicon.

Alchemy--science, magic, art...

It seems that alchemy is a combination of all three.  As a precursor to the modern science of chemistry, alchemy and chemistry both referred to the same discipline of synthesizing and transmuting matter.  During the 18th century, alchemy became more associated with transforming base metals into gold and with finding the golden elixir of longevity and immortality. With the advent of the occultists in the 19th century and Carl Jung in the 20th century, alchemy became more defined in spiritual and esoteric terms.  Originally seen as a combination of art and science, over time alchemy has become separated from the more materialistic based science of chemistry and is currently associated more with esoteric metaphysical and spiritual practices.

Chinese medicine can be viewed through the lens of alchemy with its blend of chemistry and science and its practice as an art. It is based on technical knowledge of point energetics and point location in addition to Western science knowledge of organ systems and the chemistry of herbs.  The beauty of this medicine, however, connects with each practitioner's refinement of it as his and her own art form.

While several practitioners can come up with the same diagnosis and effective treatment, no two treatments will be the same.  The practitioner's being and inherent qi is transmuted through the acupuncture needles and in each doctor's prescription and combination of herbs.  Also, the actual combination of herbs is its own alchemical formula with certain herbs enhancing the medicine's efficacy or offsetting possible side effects.

Science and art blend in the practice of this ancient medicine, keeping it relevant in modern day practice. It continually evolves, as do the conditions it aims to treat. As for magic, that depends on the eye of the beholder. Magic to some is just part of the natural world to others that can't necessarily be seen with the human eye and assessed through the brain. The placebo effect has been scientifically documented as a real phenomenon.  Magic or the influence of a shift in energy affecting neural pathways and cellular metabolism?  I don't know, but results matter and mystery has an alluring appeal, which continues to foster my curiosity and search for knowledge.

Week 6--Molecular Weight

Alkali Earth Metal: Radium

Symbol Ra, Atomic number 88
highly radioactive and chemically reactive
mined from Uranium


Commercial uses:

Radium was formerly used in self-luminous paints for watches, nuclear panels, aircraft switches, clocks, and instrument dials. Due to its instability, it's luminescent and has a faint blue glow.

Radium was once an additive in products such as toothpaste, hair creams, and even food items due to its supposed curative powers. Such products soon fell out of vogue and were prohibited by authorities in many countries after it was discovered they could have serious adverse health effects.

In the mid-1920s, a lawsuit was filed against the United States Radium Corporation by five dying "Radium Girl" dial painters who had painted radium-based luminous paint on the dials of watches and clocks. The dial painters routinely licked their brushes to give them a fine point, thereby ingesting radium. Their exposure to radium caused serious health effects which included sores, anemia, and bone cancer. This is because radium is treated as calcium by the body, and deposited in the bones, where radioactivity degrades marrow and can mutate bone cells.

Medical uses:

The isotope 223Ra (under the trade name Xofigo) was approved by the FDA in 2013 for use in medicine as a cancer treatment of bone metastasis.

Avogadro's Hypothesis/Hypotheses

A hypothesis is an explanation of a phenomenon, one that still can be rigorously tested as opposed to a scientific theory, which has undergone extensive testing and is generally accepted as an accurate description of the observation.

Avogadro hypothesized that two volumes of gas of the same volume at the same temperature and pressure have the same amount of molecules. I'm not sure how I would test this, but I understand how an equal volume of, say, hydrogen and nitrogen have the same number of molecules when they are at the same temperature and pressure.

I also see that it took 50 years for Avogadro's Hypothesis to be accepted as it was refuted for years by Dalton's theory.  Even though Avogadro's work holds up with a more thorough understanding of molecules and bonding principles, it still took time to be tested and become the standard of thought.

Molecular Medicine

"The molecular medicine perspective emphasizes cellular and molecular phenomena and interventions rather than the previous conceptual and observational focus on patients and their organs."

With advances in medicine and biochemistry, molecular medicine allows for treatments of diseases on a micro level, ideally, with the benefits of doing less harm to the individual and being able to specifically target disease or malfunctioning cells. Another benefit is the compliance with easier administration of treatments as with inhalers for pulmonary diseases. The downside could be controlling people without their consent, or even children by their parents without understanding the long term effects of treatments. 

Another major side effect is bypassing treating the individual as a whole, as does Chinese medicine. If one misses treating the underlying causes, whether they be physical and/or emotional, the disease can reoccur.  Also,   strengthening underlying constitutional weaknesses is key to long term health and cures as well.

Week 5--The Chemistry of Color and Nutrition

Inert Gas of the Week: Argon

Argon has an atomic number of 18 and is one of the noble gases. It's the third most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere, about 24x more common than the next most common atmospheric gas, CO2, and 500x more common than the next common noble gas, Neon.

As an inert gas, it is very stable and resistant to bonding with other elements.  It was the first noble gas molecule detected in outer space.

Argon is produced industrially by the fractional distillation of liquid air and is mostly used as an inert shielding gas in welding. Other industrial uses include argon in incandescent and fluorescent lighting, as a preservative in aerosol cans, as a fire extinguisher as well as its use in medicine for cryosurgery. In the poultry industry, it's used to asphyxiate birds as a means of slaughter and for mass culling after disease outbreaks. (that one surprised me!) As it is cheap to produce and abundant, about 700,000 tons of Argon are produced each year.

Colors of Food in my kitchen

The most abundant is green: kale, arugula, broccoli. Yellow/orange would include eggs, squash, sweet potato and spices like turmeric. Some bananas and persimmon, maca powder. Brown/red would be quinoa, sesame and garlic mochi, brown rice, various spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon, himalayan sea salt, also beets, a pear, miso, and last but not least, chocolate and red wine.  Blue/purple is more abundant for me in the summer with blueberries, but sometimes my kale has the dark purple leaves. Nori and dulse in there, too. Butter, coconut milk, sauerkraut, kimchi and salsa round things out. I would say I have a variety of colors, I'm just missing bone broth and slow cooked meals with meat in the crock pot as I currently live in a vegetarian home.

Discussion thoughts

I totally relate with Medicine as Food and believe the need for most of modern medicine would vanish if we all had whole food based diets with better environmental conditions for living and growing food. I consistently educate my clients about the connection between diet and health and help them become healthier within the boundaries of their current lifestyles. Nutrition is one of the major pillars in Chinese medicine and eating for health and with the seasons is fundamental for great health and longevity.

As for TCM and Living Color, I find it interesting to notice what colors people wear, which helps me assess their moods, and overtime, their personality types with color to help keep them in balance.  I also associate Feng Shui with color and appreciate arranging living and work environments to enhance more Qi flow, ease, beauty and productivity.

Week 4--Green Chemistry

Catalyst of the week: Paladium

Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. 

It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas. 

Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). These have similar chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them.

Over half of the supply of palladium and platinum goes into catalytic converters, which convert up to 90% of harmful gases from auto exhaust (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide) into less-harmful substances (nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor). 

Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment and jewelry. Palladium plays a key role in the technology used for fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat, and water.

Discussion: How Close Are we to a Green Economy?

It seems that we are still far off from a fully Green Economy.  However, the private sector and businesses are investing in green technologies such as wind and solar power and energy efficient transportation.  Discussions are becoming global with groups such as the Green Economy Coalition with its goal to transition the world to a "new green economy."  It includes a diverse set of organizations including NGOs, research institutes and UN organizations, businesses and trade unions in current discussions about furthering environmental sustainability and social equity. Government involvement also has to improve. Enforcing legislation for sustainable business practices and improving taxation structures that aim at harmful practices like pollution and waste are also ways to further Green Economy.