Hypothesis: Oxycarbonylcholine related to weight loss? Or at least O-C=O?

My last post about rubidium kept me pondering and studying my food intake records and the research I have read, and I think that I am wrong about rubidium being pivotal in fighting obesity. Rubidium is a unique element, and the scientists and nutritionists researching obesity would have observed an effect from the presence of rubidium by now if it were significant.

What might instead have escaped their notice? Perhaps a less common isomer of a common molecule. As I learned more about ethylene (C2H4, which I tangentially noted in my last post appears important to fighting obesity), I realized that its structure and size could allow it to be a stabilizing companion to an otherwise unstable small molecule. One paper I looked at reported that heating banana pseudostem mixed with chromium (Cr(III)) could result in the creation of O-C=O (actually the resonant O-C=O <=> O=C-O, called COO in the paper text) (See Table 2 of https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4250?fbclid=IwAR1sd7RhNJjCX7wJPMv01FhXAuVuOrHomQrmnyV1ODLuXGRyjjAMImQpc3Y). 

COO (i.e., O-C=O) is a relatively unstable, polar structural isomer of CO2 (carbon dioxide). Carbon dioxide is a nonpolar molecule that is often released as a gas by biochemical processes and so common as to be unremarkable most of the time. COO could thus easily be overlooked by most nutrition and medical researchers or mistaken for CO2. Further, many people in the world routinely use microwave ovens now, which appliances twist around polar molecules and so would help destroy COO.

If ethylene can help stabilize COO, COO would be able to react with other molecules, including choline. I think it might be forming an oxycarbonylcholine molecule (it should look like acetylcholine but without a final CH3) that can interact with the human body's cholinergic system in yet-to-be-revealed ways. There are many indications that the cholinergic system is involved in resistance to obesity (e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12678839/).

So here's a summary of my current working hypothesis:

1) Heat up silicon-containing moist biocellulose with Cr(VI) to a temperature of around 500-600 Celsius (via broiling in an oven, toasting in a toaster, frying in a real wok, etc.) to form O-C=O. The Cr(VI) is apparently obtained by putting Cr(III) in sunlight (for the UV-A light) for a while, although Cr(VI) is probably on some kitchen utensils, too.

2) Stabilize the O-C=O in solution with C2H4 (ethylene). Ethylene can come from many sources, but we don't get as much of it in our produce nowadays as we used to. It can also be produced by Mucor hiemalis (or a relative thereof) when it is exposed to oxygen (that introduces the possibility that roux-en-y gastric bypass is so effective because of the way it allows a much higher level of oxygen to reach the distal small intestine). Depending on their form, chlorine compounds and ions (as well as possibly other halides) can react with C2H4 to prevent it from being a stable companion to O-C=O.

3) Make an ester of O-C=O and choline to obtain oxycarbonylcholine. (I think potassium might interfere with this esterification but the potassium can be diverted by being "tied up" with lactic acid, especially in the presence of sodium. I'm still looking into this issue.)

I'm going to try different food preparation methods to test this hypothesis while I read up more about the cholinergic system. In the meantime, I invite others with more resources to start looking for a connection between O-C=O and leanness. It's hard to find what we're not looking for.

Hypothesis: Rubidium connection to weight loss?

I've been tracking my food and food preparation methods and comparing those to when I seem to have an easier time dropping pounds. Based on my notes so far, here is my newest hypothesis about fighting obesity.

Rubidium. It needs to be used to modulate Na/K-ATPase signaling. 

"Obesity is a multifaceted pathophysiological condition that has been associated with lipid accumulation, adipocyte dysfunction, impaired mitochondrial biogenesis and an altered metabolic profile. Redox imbalance and excessive release of inflammatory mediators have been intricately linked in obesity-associated phenotypes. Hence, understanding the mechanisms of redox signaling pathways and molecular targets exacerbating oxidative stress is crucial in improving health outcomes. The activation of Na/K-ATPase/Src signaling, and its downstream pathways, by reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been recently implicated in obesity and subsequent nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which causes further production of ROS creating an oxidant amplification loop." ("Mechanistic Insight of Na/K-ATPase Signaling and HO-1 into Models of Obesity and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitism" Pratt et. al. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/1/87) 

Rubidium is apparently pretty reactive--more so than all the alkali metals save lithium, which incidentally is high in two things that seem to correlate with weight gain in me: milk and legumes (except peanuts)--so inserting it into the correct molecule is important. 

I think that desired molecule is Rb(CH2CH3)4, i.e., 4 ethyl groups bonded to the same rubidium atom, which looks a bit like a wavy 4-pointed star. Making it seems to be done using chloroethane as an intermediate. It can be made with ethylene (C2H4) or ethanol as a starting point and with chlorine ions and silicon as catalysts [7/21/2021 update: I think tin/lead/palladium/platinum are likely better catalysts than silicon, due to their historical and mostly vanished appearance in dishes (especially tin) and similarity in possible oxidation states. If I am correct about that, then titanium/manganese/chromium should also be possible catalysts, since they can be in the same oxidation states as tin.]. 

See the Esperanto-language wikipedia page on chloroethane for a summary of ways to form and utilize/destroy chloroethane: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloroetano. Here are excerpts from that page as downloaded July 10, 2021.

Unfortunately, we now have much less rubidium in our diet, due to using lots of potassium to fertilize our fields. This abstract from a paper about rubidium explains:

"According to some specialists, rubidium belongs to ultra trace elements essential for plants and animals. On the basis of the literature data and our own investigations, the rubidium contents in soil, plants and animal tissues were analyzed and the factors affecting their contents, and absorption in the trophic chain soil-plants-animals were evaluated. In the soil, the contents of rubidium are inversely correlated with the soil pH, i.e. the highest amount of rubidium can be found in the sour soil. Also, the rubidium intake by plants increases with the lower soil pH. The absorption of rubidium by plants is inhibited by a high potassium level in the soil extract. The rubidium level in plants decreases with age. Depending on the species of plants investigated in Poland, they can be arranged in accordance to the decreasing rubidium level: red clover, greenness growth, wheat and rye. The indispensability of low concentrations of rubidium was demonstrated in animals (a few mg/kg) as well as the toxicity of this element (> 1,000 mg/kg). The passage of rubidium concentrations naturally occurring from plants to animal tissues is difficult to prove. Animal brain and rib accumulate small amounts of this element, irrespective of its natural contents in plants." ("Rubidium in the trophic chain soil–plants–animals" Kosla et al. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235424761_Rubidium_in_the_trophic_chainsoil-plants-animals)

Since the "mad cow" worries of the 1990s, humans have been eating much less in the way of animal brains. 

I invite others to test this hypothesis while I continue to gather data. Red clover and fish brains have been notable in helping me lose fat in the past. 

Higher obesity rates do correlate with 1) low ethanol intake (ethanol can be easily used to make chloroethane), 2) modern cooking fuels/tools that reduce the production and persistence of ethylene (ethylene can be easily used to make chloroethane), 3) modern potassium-heavy fertilization of fields, 4) avoidance of mammal brain consumption in wake of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy scare of the mid-1990s, 5) pH increases in rain and surface groundwater due to efforts to prevent "acid rain" (the higher pH reduces Rb uptake by plants)), 6) disappearance of tin from cookware, and 7) the use of a wide variety of water filters/aerators that can remove/produce chlorine ions from water. I think this hypothesis has merit and should be investigated by people with more resources than I.