Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe real concern with PFAS is that they\u2019re water-soluble,\u201d she says. \u201cMany of the toxic chemicals in our environment, the man-made ones, tend to dissolve in water. People are largely being exposed through contaminated drinking water, through contaminated food, and then, in part, from products within one\u2019s home.\u201d<\/p>\n
A separate study found elevated PFAS levels in people who were exposed to them in their drinking water and in some foods, including seafood, eggs, and brown rice. But Schlezinger discovered that fiber supplements taken with a meal are like a PFAS magnet, attracting the forever chemicals and bringing them along as they exit your body.<\/p>\n
An expert in molecular toxicology, Schlezinger has long studied the role of environmental toxins in disease development and adverse health effects. But her latest breakthrough on reducing PFAS levels in human bodies started when she was looking for natural ways to lower her cholesterol\u2014it was, she says, a \u201clife meets science moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schlezinger wanted to reduce her cholesterol, but didn\u2019t want to take a drug, so she started researching dietary interventions and found that gel-forming dietary fibers might help. One such fiber is cholestyramine, which, when taken with food, binds to bile acid and leaves the body with it after digestion. The body then has to replace the bile acid lost, and draws cholesterol from the blood to do so, reducing cholesterol levels.<\/p>\n
Schlezinger realized that PFAS, like bile acids, are surfactants, with a neutral end and a charged end, which is what makes the acids stick to the fibers. She wondered if gel-forming fibers could help us expel PFAS just as they do with bile acids.<\/p>\n
\u201cPFAS really easily enter the body, but the problem comes in that we can\u2019t break them down, and we can\u2019t get them out of the body,\u201d Schlezinger says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething I tell my toxicology students all the time is a key principle in toxicology: the longer something stays in the body, the more likely it is to cause toxicity. So, because PFAS can\u2019t leave the body easily, they build up in concentration.\u201d<\/p>\n
With her colleague at University of Massachusetts Lowell, Dhimiter Bello, Schlezinger planned a couple of pilot studies, including in humans. Using samples from a clinical trial of an oat beta-glucan supplement\u2014a gel-forming fiber\u2014Schlezinger and Bello found a statistically significant effect on PFAS levels.<\/p>\n
They then took their hypothesis\u2014that taking a gel-forming fiber with a meal would decrease levels of PFAS in the body, as well as reducing cholesterol\u2014to the Department of Defense, which funded further studies through its Toxic Exposures Research Program. The program\u2019s goal is to \u201cprevent, minimize, and mitigate the impact of military-related toxic exposures and improve the health and quality of life of those affected\u201d; exposure to a military base is reportedly a risk factor for high PFAS. Schlezinger has also been working with Chelsea Simone, an Army veteran and nurse practitioner who advises Schlezinger\u2019s team on veterans\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n
Now, Schlezinger is continuing her work, testing seven different diets to determine the optimal gel-forming fiber to use to decrease PFAS levels.<\/p>\n
There are also limitations to the original pilot study that she\u2019d like to tackle. Before the trial with cholestyramine, the only way to get PFAS out of your body was bloodletting, or phlebotomy. People who menstruate tend to have lower PFAS body burdens, so Schlezinger says it made sense to do the trial only on people with particularly high levels of PFAS: men. She also notes that while they found a statistically significant effect, she and Bello couldn\u2019t control for continued exposure to PFAS, and subjects only took the supplement for four weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to figure out if we\u2019re right: Is the hypothesis correct when we are testing it in a very controlled scenario?\u201d Schlezinger says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, we\u2019ve chosen two fibers to work with to begin with, but there are other gel-forming fibers, and perhaps combinations of gel-forming fibers that might work best. So we want to maximize how well this approach works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the Trump administration announced rollbacks on limits for PFAS in drinking water in March, they have been a hot topic. Schlezinger thinks the rollbacks are a mistake, but says the process is ongoing, so nothing has changed yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not good news by any way, shape, or form,\u201d Schlezinger says. \u201cBut PFAS are not threatening people any more than they are right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, as far as her research is concerned, Schlezinger wants to be clear: eating a high-fiber diet is not necessarily what she\u2019s recommending. A dietary supplement, she says, is more accessible, and people are much more likely to take it than they are to change their whole diet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is exciting about this potential intervention is its accessibility,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s feasible. I bought every single supplement, every single fiber that I\u2019m testing, on Amazon.\u201d (One of the best-known gel-forming fibers is psyllium, the key ingredient in Metamucil.)<\/p>\n
Even then, the pilot study is just the start: \u201cI don\u2019t want to imply that you\u2019re going to take a fiber supplement for a few months and the PFAS are going to be gone,\u201d Schlezinger says.<\/p>\n
Of course, she adds, people should speak to a doctor before increasing their fiber intake significantly\u2014but it\u2019s doable. For over two years, Schlezinger, and, begrudgingly, her husband (his review of the taste: \u201cgross\u201d), have been taking a scoop of oat beta-glucan, the original gel-forming fiber she tested, mixing it in pomegranate juice and drinking it with meals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s done amazing things for my cholesterol,\u201d Schlezinger says. \u201cI don\u2019t have to take any drugs. I\u2019m back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Boston University<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share this Article You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. A new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[64,63,9930,2298,137,532,18120],"class_list":{"0":"post-50080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dietary-supplements","11":"tag-fiber","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-nutrition","14":"tag-pfas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}