The Aesthetics Advisor

To improve water that is contaminated or unpleasant to drink, water filters (such as those in refrigerators, water filter pitchers, and under the sink filters) rely on proper design, components, and assembly to perform effectively. Counterfeit water filters have been sold online and may not provide the benefits of genuine water filters. In May 2023,  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)  discovered and seized 3,940 counterfeit water filters bearing unauthorized National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certification logos, a third-party certification that indicates that a product meets certain filtration standards. When tested, the counterfeit filters failed to remove lead and other chemicals from the water. According to  partial test results published  by an industry group (the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) in 2018, many counterfeit refrigerator water filters purchased through popular websites failed to adequately remove lead and live cysts from household water, and some

Thousands of studies have been done on the health effects of vitamin D, and research shows it is involved in the biology of all cells and tissues in your body, including your immune cells. Your cells actually need the active form of vitamin D to gain access to the genetic blueprints stored inside. This is one of the reasons why vitamin D has the ability to impact such a wide variety of health problems — from fetal development to cancer. Unfortunately, despite being easy and inexpensive to address, vitamin D deficiency is epidemic around the world. It's been estimated that as many as 90% of pregnant mothers and newborns in the sunny Mediterranean region are even deficient in vitamin D,1 thanks to chronic sun avoidance. A simple mathematical error may also deter many Americans and Canadians from optimizing their vitamin D. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends a mere 600 IUs of vitamin D per day for adults. As pointed out in a 2014 paper, 2  the IOM underestimates

A recent study I coauthored in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found a damaged intestinal barrier, or leaky gut, can lead to 30-fold increased odds of developing autoimmunity. Leaky gut allows undigested food, microorganisms, toxins, and other pathogens in the gut to escape into the bloodstream. This can trigger systemic inflammation and promote autoimmunity. The intestinal walls consist of epithelial cells, which absorb nutrients from food while preventing harmful compounds from passing into the bloodstream. Connecting the epithelial cells are occludin tight junction molecules, which prevent potential pathogens from passing into the bloodstream. Occludin is regulated by zonulin, a protein that tells occludin when to open or close the junctions. Occludin and Zonulin When gut damage occurs (I’ll discuss factors that cause damage later in this article), occludin and zonulin get caught up in this tissue damage. The immune system produces antibodies against them to remove