Author: Jenny

I am a public health nutrition counselor with fifteen years experience in the field of prenatal and early child health and lactation education (breast feeding support). Autoimmune disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and genetic defects that can cause nutrient deficiencies are also research interests.
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Good news, homes for the chronically homeless saves money; a link

America may not have refugees fleeing war but we do have chronically homeless individuals living without regular shelter for averages of 10 to 18 years. The community costs may be indirect but emergency room visit care and police bookings, incarcerations, and mental health services within a prison setting add up to large sums of money. Housing First programs in several areas have successfully established chronically homeless individuals in apartments for less money than the average cost of emergency services.

A county in Florida followed the estimated costs accrued by 37 homeless people over a ten year time span. The 37 people were arrested 1,250 times over the ten years resulting in 61,9896 total days of incarceration. The costs included $130,000 for police bookings, $4,951,680 for jail costs and $1,336,225 for mental health care in jail for a total of $6,417,905 dollars – for 37 people.

A Welfare recipient might receive $3000 per year which would be $1,110,000 for 37 people for ten years. Subsidized housing and food benefits add additional costs.

Research during the first nine years of a ten year plan to end homelessness in Utah suggests that costs accrued by treating homeless individuals average $20,000 per year there while the Housing First program only costs $10,000 to $12,000 per person.

Homeless shelters in New York City cost an average of $3,444 dollars per month to provide temporary shelter for a single mother and her children according to the letter that one mother who has to stay in a shelter receives from the Welfare program each month. She states that she would find an apartment for herself and her children if she had $900 per month to spend.

Housing First programs take a different approach to helping the homeless – providing homes before expecting recipients to be drug free and have stable mental health symptoms. The more common approach has been to provide services within the temporary shelters until individuals prove they have reached a stable level of self care. The problem with that method is that for many chronically homeless, a stable level of self care can not be reached while in an unstable, stressful homeless situation. And for some people expecting a complete remission from their mental health symptoms may be impossible.

Personal Opinion: we don’t expect other chronically ill people to just stop acting sick. Illness is not an act and taking pills can’t always provide an end to all symptoms let alone provide a cure.

Read more: “Room for Improvement: The Shockingly Simple, Surprisingly Cost-Effective Way to End Homelessness,” by Scott Carrier, Feb. 17, 2015, March/April 2015 issue, [Mother Jones.com] 

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Closed big box stores could be re-purposed as community health and recreation centers

Empty store buildings the size of warehouses are becoming more common in the U.S. and in other countries. Often a large chain store location is closed and left empty instead of being refurbished. The chains open newer larger buildings within the same community and move out of the old building. The empty buildings can become a tax liability for the community by reduced tax revenue as the chain store may have placed restrictions on who the property may be rented or sold to in a way of reducing risk of competitive chains moving into the location. [Read more: Big-Box Blight: The Spread of Dark Stores]

The empty buildings can become a risk of vandalism as they stand empty for years. The warehouse size buildings are difficult to sell because of their large size often with larger parking lots. Some communities eventually raise funds to have the buildings removed so the property can be sold as an empty lot.

With community support such a large size building might be useful for indoor recreation and health centers. Space for children to play safely can be difficult to find especially for people with limited income. Educational activities as well as just for fun physical games could help the children and the caregivers. Such a center would be unlikely to add tax revenue but it might promote increased revenue through indirect means such as reduced health care costs, reduced vandalism and crime, and increased employee health and productivity.

Open play areas for children can be difficult to find for parents living in crowded conditions. Gymnasiums at schools are not very available for open play because of scheduled sporting events. Private gyms are designed for adult use and typically have a fee that is prohibitive for lower income adults or for many people who have car loans, house loans and credit card bills. An empty big box store would not have the same height of ceiling found in sporting arenas so a community health and recreation center would be unlikely to compete for the consumers who are already using the adult oriented centers. Some indoor malls promote their open areas for walking for health purposes. An empty big box store could be re-purposed to make room for walkers to be able to jog or play more active games like tag or possibly sports using a soft Nerf football or a soft disc Frisbee.

A community center would likely need financial support from a variety of community businesses and volunteer or government agencies in order to succeed over the long term. With the high cost of childcare many parents don’t have additional money for regular recreational classes or memberships. Child oriented activity centers tend to focus on special events like birthday parties for income or may have an indoor putt putt golf course for generating more revenue.

A community health center might encourage attendance at educational events by providing vouchers for recreational events to those attending the health oriented session.

A large open building might also be suitable for craft fairs or rummage sales or other special events. A building with an overly large parking lot might be re-purposed by building some open air areas for outdoor craft and produce markets.

Depending on the climate a large open building might be useful for a community or privately owned hydroponic garden business.

Re-purposing empty buildings can require communities to void clauses in a retailer’s lease that limit the owner’s ability to rent the property to other retailers – which is the easiest way to re-use warehouse size empty storefronts. The other way is to limit their existence in the first place by limiting how much land is zoned for large stores and placing limits on the size of stores that are allowed within smaller communities. Requiring new construction to be multi-story, mixed use buildings can make the property more versatile for a range of tenants over the years. Economic review committees can help prevent empty warehouse sized buildings from becoming a problem for community by examining whether there is a need for more retail space before approval is given for new construction – maybe the community already has an empty big box store that is waiting for a new tenant.

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Elevated levels of BPA found in children with autism

Recently published research has found that children with autism had elevated levels of the plastic bisphenol A (BPA) compared to the children in the control group. [1] BPA is a contaminant in the food supply from its use in the plastic lining of cans and in other food packages such as plastic drink bottles. It may also be found on the slick surface coating of some types of register receipts.

This is a significant step compared to “we don’t know what causes it or how to stop it,” because BPA is something that could be avoided by prenatal women and people with autism. It is also good news because it may also be possible to reduce the risks of exposure to BPA by increasing intake of the plant phytoestrogen, soy genistein, or methyl donors such as vitamin B12 and folate and choline. [2]

/Disclosure: This information is provided for educational purposes and is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./

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Methyl Donors and BPA

Methyl donors are chemicals that can donate a methyl group which is made up of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms. Methyl groups on DNA signal the genes to remain unactivated, to stay in an off position. Removing the methyl groups can signal the gene to become active. A gene that has few methyl groups atttached may be more easily activated than normally.

This excerpt includes methyl donors and at least one methyl remove-er (BPA).

“Nutritional components that may influence the methylation of epigenetically susceptible loci include folic acid, vitamin B6 and 12, selenium, choline and betaine, methionine, soy genistein, bisphenol A, tocopherols, diallyl disulfide in garlic, and tea polyphenols [28]” [1]                                               *tocopherols are the vitamin E group.

Bisphenol A is not a natural component of food as I understand nutrition but BPA may be part of the plastic lining of cans and other food packages such as plastic drink bottles. It is also found on the slick coating of some types of register receipts. BPA may cause hypomethylation of DNA, fewer methyl groups on the DNA may cause activation of genes.

Bisphenyl A can act similarly to the hormone estrogen. Soy genistein is a phytoestrogen that may help block harmful effects of the estrogen mimetics. Other methyl donors that may help block the effects of BPA are the B vitamins folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 and choline and betaine.

Avoiding the supplement forms and eating more food sources of Folate and methyl B12 may be more beneficial for people with defects in the methylation cycle.(MTHFR is one example). Taking the unmethylated supplement forms may interfere with the smaller quantities of bioactive folate and B12 that might be found in natural sources.

Adequate B vitamins prenatally may also help protect against DNA changes in the infant.

Folate or Folic Acid:

Folate is the form of the vitamin found in food and it is more bioactive than Folic acid. Folic acid is the form that is commonly available as a supplement and in fortified foods however it requires adequate supplies of vitamin B12 to be available in order to be converted into a more usable form. A genetic difference may exist in some individuals that prevent the body from being able to convert the inactive Folic acid form into Folate, the methylated bioactive form of the vitamin.

Food Sources of Folate, the bioactive natural form, include: most beans and peanuts, black eyed peas, green peas, grains, asparagus, most dark green vegetables, orange juice, citrus fruits. Fortified cereal and rice are good sources of folic acid, the supplemental form.

Vitamin B12:

Food Sources of Vitamin B12 include: shellfish, fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese, dairy products, Nutritional or Brewer’s yeast. Vegetarians who don’t eat dairy, eggs, fish or other meat products may need a supplement or nutritional yeast, a vegan food source of vitamin B12.

Injections of B12 may be needed for better absorption of the nutrient for some individuals with stomach problems. Adequate stomach acid and a cofactor are required for normal absorption of vitamin B12. A genetic difference may be a problem for some people causing them to need the methylated active form of B12 rather than being able to benefit from the more commonly available unmethylated supplement.

Vitamin B6:

Food Sources of Vitamin B6 include: fortified cereal, barley, buckwheat, avocados, baked potato with the skin, beef, poultry, salmon, bananas, green leafy vegetables, beans, nuts, sunflower seeds.

Choline and Betaine:

Choline is also a water soluble essential nutrient that is frequently grouped with the rest of the B vitamins. Choline is found throughout the body but is particularly important within the brain. Choline as a high dose supplement may cause mood symptoms in people at risk for unstable moods. It is a precursor for the brain neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Betaine is a metabolite of choline. Spinach and beets are rich in betaine. Good sources of choline include egg yolks, soy beans, beef, poultry, seafood, green leafy vegetables and cauliflower.

/Disclosure: This information is provided for educational purposes and is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./

  1. Kyung E. Rhee, et al., Early Determinants of Obesity: Genetic, Epigenetic, and In Utero Influences, International Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 2012
  2. J. Higdon & V. Drake,  An Evidence-based Approach to Vitamins and Minerals:  Health Benefits and Intake Recommendations, 2nd Ed., (Thieme, Stuttgart / New York, 2012)
  3. “Choline” on whfoods.com: [whfoods.com]
  4. “Betaine,” (Feb. 11, 2012) PubMed Health: [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/]  *link not working, part of the information is available here: [med.nyu.edu]
  5. Rebecca J. Schmidt, et. al. , “Prenatal vitamins, one-carbon metabolism gene variants, and risk for autism,” Epidemiology. 2011 Jul; 22(4): 476–485. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
  6. “MTHFR C677T Mutation: Basic Protocol,” by Dr Lynch on February 24, 2012