From time to time I hear from people who are concerned and confused about fructose and sugar in general.  Fructose, as the name implies, is the same sugar that comes from fruit. A typical pear contains roughly 15-20 grams of fructose. Should we rule out fruit?  Of course not. The key as with any ingredient is dose.  All sugar in overdose, just like any other element, can become toxic.  For example, excess Glucose leads to diabetes and fructose in overdose can lead to liver damage.  But fructose offers great benefits when used in moderation.  First and foremost it is twice as sweet as glucose and 4 times sweeter than sucrose so a small amount goes a long way in achieving palatability. 

Read more: Sugar-Fructose.....IT'S ALL ABOUT DOSE

April 20^th (aka 4/20) is a special date in San Francisco history that has grown to a national holiday for millions throughout the US. Today here in San Francisco Golden Gate Park will be taken over by marijuana revelers and for the many tourists that will unknowingly be in the park at the same time will probably be surprised to see and smell the giant plumes of pot clouds that will surely engulf the area.

Read more: Marijuana - 4/20

In 1968 as my dad began testing his patients hair for heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, fluoride, etc., it became clear that people were toxic. In the years since, lead was removed from gasoline, mercury was removed from paint and the Safe Water Drinking Act was passed all in hopes of minimizing our exposure to poisons.

Sadly, even with these laws and our awareness of the dangers of poison we still see widespread risk of toxicity. Most recent examples include the events in Flint, Michigan (http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/11/health/toxic-tap-water-flint-michigan/), where thousands of residents were exposed to horribly unsafe levels of lead in their drinking water, and in Porter Ranch, CA where the largest natural gas leak has leached thousands of kilograms per hour in benzine containing methane. (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/porter-ranch-gas-leak-catastrophe-not-seen-the-bp-oil-spill)

Read more: Food, Air & Water Increasingly Toxic…The Nutrient Solution

Betaine prevents heart attack and damage after injection of toxic drug, isoprenaline.
African Journal of Biochemistry Research, Vol.1 (6), pp. 117-123, November 2007
Protective effect of betaine on changes in the levels of protein, glycoproteins and amino acids in isoprenaline-induced myocardial infarction in rats
B. Ganesan, R. Rajesh, R. Anandan, and N. Dhandapani

Abstract edited by Dr. Kunin for clarity:

In this research rats were injected with isoprenaline (similar to adrenalin), so as to cause myocardial infarction, identical to heart attacks in humans. The experiment included a second group of rats that were pre-treated with betaine. The outcome showed a dramatic protective effect of betaine, evidenced by survival and significant changes in the levels of protein, glyco-protein and amino acids in the betaine treated animals after the injection of isoprenaline.

Pre-treatment with betaine (by mouth) significantly prevented the isoprenaline-induced rise in the levels of troponin-T and creatine phosphokinase (CPK), signs of heart muscle damage. It also lowered amino acid signs, specifically, taurine, aspartate, glutamate, arginine, hydroxy-proline and homocysteine, which appear in the blood after heart attacks. Reduced damage was also evidenced by reduced glycoprotein components (e.g. hexose and hexosamine) and there was also a decrease in lipid peroxidation. In fact, the heart damage was so limited that tissue peroxides remained at normal levels, comparable to the uninjected control animals.

Read more: Betaine prevents heart attack and damage after injection of toxic drug, isoprenaline