People are People (Still)

Today is National Coming Out Day. Someone you know and love—a friend or family member—may tell you, "I'm gay" or "I'm lesbian." How will you respond? Hopefully with a huge hug and a simple, "I love you."

Unfortunately, many who share this news don't receive this kind of reception. They don't feel they have a safe place to go. Last year for National Coming Out Day I wrote a post titled, "People are People." At the close of that post I asked:

So, is one blog post by one guy who calls himself an ally going to change the world? No, perhaps not. Do I need to do more to stand up for equal rights? Certainly. At the very least I wanted to use today as an opportunity to state where I stand.

To answer the first question about changing the world with one post, I certainly won't claim I did that. I didn't even manage to generate more than a grand total of one comment. But I did receive several email messages from people I know (from various corners of the country) thanking me for the post. I won't say who sent them, but I can say this: They were grateful to see the message posted, to know they had an ally, a safe place.

As for the second question, "Do I need to do more to stand up for equal rights?" I answered, "Certainly." And perhaps that was the biggest impact of writing the post. As I stated, I don't think that I've acted (and I certainly hope that I haven't) in a way that would make someone question my support of equal rights for all. And as I reflect again on my past life, I still stand by that assertion.

However, "doing no harm" is not the same as "doing good." I think over the past few years I've moved from quiet ally, to ally, and in the past year to advocate. And maybe writing that post last year was the catalyst to help move further along the continuum from just "doing no harm" to "doing good."

The day after I posted that blog, I attended a community film forum screening of "Born Again," at the Nickelodeon with a follow-up discussion with the filmmaker, Markie Hancock, who was raised in an evangelical home and came out as lesbian as she was studying at Princeton Theological Seminary. Later last year I attended a talk sponsored by the University of South Carolina Safe Zone featuring Harriet Hancock (no relation to the filmmaker) who spoke about her advocacy for the gay and lesbian community in Columbia since her son came out to her in 1980. Her story is an absolute inspiration and the community center for GLBT community center in Columbia is named for her and rightly so. I spoke at two events with Christine Johnson, executive director of SC Equality, including one for Openings SC, a support network for GLBT and allies.

And this spring I attended the Safe Zone Ally Training. I mentioned this to a friend, also a straight ally, who joked with me, "Oh, you need to go training to learn to be nice to gays?" Well, of course, he's right in a way. And while the training did not provide me with any transformative insights (which is to my friend's point, that I was already an ally, but I did learn something from it and it was very well done), it was more about showing and confirming my support. My "Ally" symbol hangs next to my office door. My office is tucked away in a corner of the third floor of Wardlaw College, but this post can be displayed anywhere.

Please understand I am not posting this to brag about my activities or anything of the sort. There are certainly many (many, many) others who do more (much, much more) than I do. I simply share it as a means to show my own journey of educating myself and where I stand as a result of that educational process.

I'll close with the same type of question with which I began: What will you do? Everyone is at a different point in his or her journey. If you are straight and don't feel you understand much about what it means to be gay, maybe all you can do at this point is commit to listen and learn without judgment. Maybe you want to read something or watch a film that helps you understand more. Maybe that's all you can do for now. Personally, I think that's great. Start where you are.

Last year I posted a video of Depeche Mode's "People are People." It's still worth a listen.

Topical vs. Oral Antioxidants for Sun Protection – Which Is Better?

Eating the right foods can protect your skin from the sun. (Photo by Extra Medium)

While studies on antioxidants are generally pretty disappointing when it comes to life extension, they do have some use as anti-aging treatments for the skin.

While all or most antioxidants appear to protect from the harmful effects of the sun, some antioxidants are more effective than others. Carotenoids are a case in point. One example is lycopene, which is found in tomatoes. For example, one study showed that people who ate tomato paste daily had 33% more protection against sunburn compared to the control group.

Among carotenoids, lutein seems to give the best bang for the buck. In addition to photo-protection, lutein increases skin hydration and lipid levels while reducing lipid peroxidation.

But is it better to use antioxidants topically or orally? Some folks swear by their skin creams, while others maintain that eating the right foods is the best way to improve the skin. In the lutein study, the combination of taking a lutein supplement and using a lutein cream gave the best results. Not all that surprising – by using topical and oral treatments you're covering both grounds and playing it safe, after all.

However, a recent paper got me thinking whether "attacking the problem from all angles" is really the best way to go at it. The study looked at carotenoid levels in the skin after using carotenoids topically and systemically (link). 129 healthy women, aged between 21 and 72 years, were divided into seven different groups and given topical creams, oral supplements, both, or a placebo.

The first cream contained a basic mixture of antioxidants from sources such as vitamin E, vitamin C and green tea. The second cream contained the same antioxidant mix complemented by beta-carotene and lycopene. Similarly, the first supplement contained antioxidants from sources like green tea, green coffee, and pongamia pinnata seeds, while the second also contained carotenoids.

The placebo treatments did not increase carotenoid concentration in the skin, while the carotenoid cream increased it by 30% in the forehead and 35% in the cheek. That's not bad – until you look at the results in those subjects who used the tablets instead. Taking the antioxidant supplement containing carotenoids resulted in an 80% increase in the forehead and 70% in the cheek after just four weeks.

The interesting part is the group who used both the cream and the supplements. After four weeks, the results were similar to the group using only the supplement, with the supplement-only group actually scoring better in some areas. After eight weeks the group using both treatments saw the best results.

However, whereas the effect from using the cream lasted for only 10 days after stopping treatment, the results from taking the supplement were sustained for up to 5 weeks. The authors also point out that "surprisingly, the combined application of both tablets and creams containing carotenoids did not reach the satisfying result obtained with the application of tablets only".

The result is indeed unexpected, since using the antioxidant + carotenoid cream along with the antioxidant + carotenoid supplement did in fact yield the largest carotenoid concentration. However, using the antioxidant + no carotenoids cream together with the antioxidant + carotenoid supplement gave worse results than skipping the cream altogether. That is, using the cream somehow negated some of the benefits of the supplement.

According to the authors, it's possible that systemically applied antioxidants are absorbed and transported onto the skin surface with sweat and sebum and that applying a cream won't increase the concentration any further. This is because the strateum corneum, the outermost layer of the epidermis, acts as a reservoir for topically applied substances.

Hence, when you apply a skin cream, it penetrates into this layer and saturates the reservoir, which makes it impossible for systemically absorbed antioxidants to penetrate into the same layer through sweat and sebum. The authors state that compared to taking only an oral supplement, taking a supplement and applying a cream results in a lower carotenoid concentration.

To avoid this problem, the authors suggest that the formulation of the topical cream should be such that it does not saturate the reservoir and prevent the oral antioxidants from being transported into the skin. In effect, they advise against using lipid-rich formulations.

Many people seem to have seen good results in photo-protection from using oral supplements only. While combining it with topical creams may potentially give the optimal result, this study suggests that finding the right kind of product is important.

For more information on skin care, see these posts:

Tretinoin Results After a Year – Experiment Update
BioSil, JarroSil & Beer – Silicon Experiment Conclusion
Topical Vitamin C for Skin: Re-examining the Case
How to Get Natural Sun Protection by Eating the Right Foods

Kudzu Is an Anti-Androgen and Hair Growth Promoter

Kudzu will grow over anything in its path. (Photo by jjjj56cp)

In traditional Chinese Medicine, kudzu – a quick-growing vine native to China and Japan – is commonly used to treat alcoholism and hangover. This may be due to its potential to increase blood levels of alcohol when taken with an alcoholic beverage. Indeed, at least one study found that giving kudzu to heavy drinkers resulted in lower alcohol consumption (link).

The name kudzu encompasses at least five different species of the plant genus Pueraria. While all of them have very similar properties and are can be used for their medicinal purposes, the most often mentioned species are Pueraria lobata and Pueraria thomsonii. The various species contain a significant amount of isoflavones, which may at least partly be behind their use as a treatment for alcoholism.

Isoflavones, however, also have other uses. Because of their slight estrogenic effect, isoflavones from sources such as soy have been studied as a cure for hair loss. The idea is that isoflavones can inhibit 5-alpha-reductase, which converts testosterone into DHT. Since DHT binds to androgen receptors more potently than testosterone, DHT is a major cause of hair loss in genetically predisposed individuals.

Although the root part of the plant is often used, a recent study showed that the flowers of Pueraria thomsonii were much more effective in inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase than the roots of Pueraria lobata (~51% vs. ~7%). The flowers were powdered and made into a 50% ethanol extract, which was then applied onto the backs of mice after a testosterone treatment (link).

Applying the flower extract improved hair growth in a dose-dependent manner. The mice that got the largest dose (5 mg/day) after testosterone had a hair growth score similar to the control mice that were not treated with testosterone. In other words, the kudzu treatment reversed almost all of the hair loss effects of testosterone.

The authors also applied the extract on C3H/He mice without the testosterone to see whether it would promote hair growth independently of an anti-androgenic effect. The higher dose was almost as effective as minoxidil in promoting hair growth. Although the mechanism was not clear, the authors note that the flowers have been shown to have an angiogenetic effect.

Like soy, kudzu contains significant amounts of the isoflavone daidzein, daidzin and genistein. However, kudzu also contains an isoflavone called puerarin, which is not found in soy. Furthermore, Pueraria thomsonii flowers contain both soyasapones (one of the main components of soy beans) and kaikasaponins (not found in soy), making it rather unique.

I've seen a couple of soaps and shampoos that list kudzu as an ingredient, but I doubt that the amounts are large enough to truly make a difference. If you want to try kudzu topically, you might have better luck buying an extract in powder form and making your own topical. Another possibility is simply taking it orally. There is, after all, evidence that dietary isoflavones promote hair growth.

For more information on hair growth, see these posts:

Biotin Goes Back on the Menu
Soy Isoflavones and Chili Pepper for Hair Growth – Experiment Update
Topical Retinoids Increase Hair Growth in Most People
Zinc Pyrithione Reduces Shedding and Moderately Promotes Hair Growth

No Impact Man

What effect do you have on the environment? Not "you" in some general sense, but you. Yeah, you. I'm talking to you.



That's what Colin Beavan asked himself some years ago. He was thinking of his next book project and thought he'd write something about how the rest of the world should get its act together and start being nicer to Mother Earth. And then one hot August day he came home and was hit in the face by a blast of cold air when he opened his apartment door, which had blowing all day without a living soul to need or enjoy it.



And just like that cold blast, it hit him. He was the problem. Not everyone else. OK, everyone else sucks too. But, he realized that his next book would be about him learning to be nicer to Mother Earth instead of lecturing everyone else on what they should do.



The result was a year-long quest to have "no impact" on the planet. A tall order for someone who lives in Manhattan. But he tackled it, slowly taking away modern conveniences that would leave a carbon footprint right down to eventually turning off the electricity in his apartment. He did this while married (and, yes, amazing he stayed married through this project) with a small child. He blogged about it as he went, assembled a documentary (well worth streaming on Netflix) about the experience, and then eventually published a book, "No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries he Makes about Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process."



This book was the selection of this year's "First-Year Reading Experience" at the University of South Carolina. Each summer new students receive a copy of a book at orientation and are asked to read it before arriving on campus in August. Then all new freshmen, I mean first-year students, meet at the Carolina Coliseum (about 5,000 strong this year) to hear a keynote speaker and then head off to discuss the book in small groups with a discussion leader.



I was asked to review the book last fall and give my assessment of how it would work for this annual program. This is what I wrote to the selection committee:

I think this book has tremendous opportunity for programming. I think the (fun) challenge will be to look beyond the obvious programming choices. Clearly, lots can be done around issues of the environment, climate change, sustainability, and so on. But lots of other things popped out at me.



What is the process of writing? I think this book is an excellent example of "learning by writing." The book reads almost like a diary -- a very engaging (and obviously edited) diary, but in the way he pulls us through the process of deciding to do the project, doing the project, and then discussing the impact of the process he is showing us his thought process. We see this as a process, not just a product. Indeed, he started it as a blog and then translated it into a book -- an example of how the new media interplay with traditional media.



Also, it is instructive to how we (whoever that "we" is -- popular writers, faculty, students) decide what to write about. Do we write about what we know or about what we are ignorant of? In his case, it was a bit of both. He writes clearly and humorously about the stuff he knows -- his family, NYC, the publishing business, etc. -- and reveals himself as a learner in other aspects, e.g., how much he thought he knew and what his blind spots were about the environment.



Then there's the issue of self-discovery. The book reminded me of some similar projects. One example is The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs' attempt to live the Bible literally for a year, adopting new biblical teachings as he went through the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. If you're well versed in the Bible, which Jacobs wasn't, you know how ridiculous this is from the outset, even for a believer. (Another book by Jacobs, The Know-It-All, would be a good book to consider for a future year. It's a similar "learn as you go" kind of project.) There is also Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, where he experiments with an all-McDonald's diet for a month.



There are certainly other similar books and movies, but my point here is that these are all examples of a person taking the process of self-discovery to an almost absurd extreme. But in these extremes we can see some great kernels for discussion. No student at USC is likely to undertake a similarly Quixotic journey into learning about the environment, the Bible, or the effects of fast-food, but we can ask ourselves what is it that we are willing to do to discovery who we are? What we value? What we believe? What are we willing to change in our lives to make life better for ourselves and others? What are we willing to do once we discover our "values"?



I loved his honesty about this process. Because it was such an extreme case he wrestles with the inordinately mundane quotidian decisions we all make without a second thought such as what to use to blow our nose. He readily acknowledges his shortcomings in living up to his impossible standards.



I think these kinds of questions and issues are key parts of the book. Environmentalism is clearly the motif that drives the narrative, but in a way it's almost a MacGuffin.



I think first-year students will be able to read it and relate to it and it's the kind of book that can easily be recalled off the dorm room shelf for talking points at late night bull sessions.

Knowing that there would be a focus all year on sustainability at USC this year (indeed starting right at this morning's program with composting trash cans for apple cores and banana peels and with the FYRE staff handing out reusable to all participants as they left the Coliseum), I focused the aspects of book related to self-discovery through writing with my group of students. We reflected on Beavan's keynote address and the process he went through and what it meant to him as a learner and how he followed a passion despite doubts about how it would pay off. As in the past four years I've served as a facilitator with this program, I saw the whole range of freshmen attitudes, from "I'm too cool to be here" (and "I'm already a damn fined recycler anyway") to "I'm totally gonna apply what I learned here today."



The final question we asked was the question Beaven poses at the end of the book," So, what are you going to do?"



Well, as for me, when I got home tonight I realized the lawn was overdue for a haircut. Instead of revving up the gas mower, I pulled out the classic push mower and cut the grass old school.

Commencement!

I love commencement. It's the day of graduating from stage of life to another, commencing a new life or a new stage of life. I've commenced a few times myself—from Nashua High School, from the University of Utah (twice, in fact), and from Penn State. But I've been to many more commencement exercises than just those.

Since becoming a faculty member at the University of South Carolina, I've found commencement to be one of my favorite events, and not just because I get to put on my cool robes. I attend the doctoral hooding ceremony at least once a year and usually more (the University holds them at the end of spring, summer, and fall semesters) and always attend the hooding ceremony for our master's students.

It takes on more meaning when one of my own doctoral students graduates, like Thashundray Robertson did today. Shun defended her dissertation earlier this summer titled, "Access to to Success: Truman, Obama, and the Evolution of Presidential Agendas for Community Colleges." It's wonderful to meet the student's family and friends who have been in the wings cheering them on and hear the words for the first time of, "Congratulations, Dr. Robertson!" And it's wonderful, of course, to hear your advisee say "Thank you" for your help in guiding their research.

However, it's really me that should thank the student. As my friend Marybeth Gasman pointed out in a recent post, the faculty mentor gets as much out of the relationship as the mentee. I know this is true for me. I learn a great deal—let's be blunt here, I learn a helluva lot—from my students.

And I think that's why I love going to commencement. It's a reminder of what being a part of the academy is all about: exploration, discovery, collaboration, celebration. It reminds me of all the support I got to get where I am. And it reminds me that we all need new commencements in our life; times to move on from one era of our life to another, to improve and even reinvent ourselves. It energizes me and gets me reset for the next semester to explore, discover, collaborate, and celebrate again...