Kill the microbe or improve the immune system? What is the best way to prevent illness?
This question which first came up in France in the mid 1800s is still worth asking today, because one's view of how to obtain optimal health and wellbeing depends upon which side of this debate one agrees with. Germ Theory was put forward most famously by French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, and states that certain sicknesses are caused by the invasion of micro-organisms that cannot be seen without a microscope. As such, treatment or prevention involves figuring out which microbe (bacteria, virus, fungus, parasite) has invaded the body and then killing it to prevent or stop the disease. This is the theory upon which western medicine is based. You get sick, you go to the doctor and get an antibiotic/antiviral/antifungal to get better. Much of our food, like milk, juices, canned food and even nuts like almonds are pasteurized in order to eliminate the bacteria to avoid sickness. Many people use anti-bacterial soaps and hand sanitizers in order to prevent the spread of infection. These actions are all about killing the germ, and are in support of Germ Theory.
Claude Bernard, a contemporary of Pasteur, is known for his idea called "Mileu Interior" or "Internal Environment", and is credited with the concept of "homeostasis". In other words, to be healthy, the body wants to maintain a constant internal environment, and will do what it can to correct any deviations back to physiological norms. So for example, if blood sugar is too high, the body will lower it. If blood sugar is too low, the body will raise it.
Then Antoine Bechamp, another French scientist, furthered Bernard's homeostasis theory by suggesting that if the body is not able to maintain physiological norms or "homeostasis", the body will be more susceptible to illness. Continuing the blood-sugar example, if too much starch and sugar is consumed on a regular basis, some individuals develop insulin insensitivity, and eventually type 2 diabetes. The body can no longer cope with the constant influx of sugar, and the metabolic system is thrown off. Or, if the body is deficient in a particular nutrient, certain metabolic pathways may be compromised. The body is no longer in homeostasis, so the internal environment or "biological terrain" now makes that individual is more susceptible to getting sick from an invasion of a virus or bacteria.
We have all experienced times when a group of us are in the presence of someone who is sick. Germ Theory would stipulate that once in contact with that germ, everyone would get sick. However more frequently, only some people get sick and others do not. Why is that? The “Internal Environment” Theory, would suggest that who gets sick depends not on the germ, but on how healthy the host is. What a microbe can do in the body depends upon the internal environment of the host. One cannot start a fire if the wood is soaking wet, nor can a germ spark a sickness if the immune system is healthy and strong.
Germ Theory requires one to depend on the medical system to be healthy which is expensive, as doctors are needed to diagnose which bacteria or virus is causing the problem, and drugs are needed to kill the microbe in question. And would killing all microbes make us the picture of health? Absolutely not. For example, we have “good bacteria” in our gut that is needed for good immune function and to help us digest our food. So antibiotics kill the good along with the bad, leaving us more vulnerable to bad microbes in the future. Also these drugs may have side effects that throw the body's system further out of homeostasis, potentially requiring another drug to treat another symptom. This is the quick-fix solution, but is it the right fix long term?
"Internal Environment" Theory is less expensive, takes more time, and requires individuals to do what is necessary through diet and lifestyle changes to improve their internal environment so the immune system can effectively deal with microbe invaders. "Internal Environment" Theory is the paradigm under which most alternative health practitioners as well as functional medicine doctors work, where the germ is seen as a symptom of an internal environment problem that must be corrected for optimal health to be achieved. So Biological Terrain Theory believes in preventing illness by doing what is necessary to restore homeostasis.
So, what side of the debate do you fall on? If you believe in the "Internal Environment" Theory, here are some things you can do to improve your health and immune system.
• Optimize Vitamin D levels - especially helpful to fight the flu. If possible, go outside without sunscreen but don't get burnt. Food sources include fermented high vitamin cod liver oil (read the label!), lard (pork fat), pickled Atlantic herring, eastern oysters, catfish, sardines, mackerel, sturgeon roe, shrimp, egg yolk (fresh), butter, liver
• Reduce sugar and flour intake
• Eat lots of veggies of all colors, some of them raw, each day.
• Eat fermented foods daily like yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi to populate the gut with "good" bacteria. Make sure the food has not been pasteurized after it was fermented, or all the good bacteria will be dead.
• If you can't integrate fermented foods into your diet daily, take a good quality probiotic daily.
• After antibiotics, take probiotics. Good gut bacteria are critical to a healthy immune system.
• Get adequate sleep and dark time
• Exercise enough to make you feel good
• Do what you can to reduce stress levels
• Avoid toxins as much as possible by choosing organic foods, natural skin products, non-toxic cleaners etc.
• Avoid anti-bacterial soaps and cleaners.
• Get a cat or a dog. (Unless you are allergic.)
• Spend time in nature. Plant a garden and get your hands dirty.
• Allow your body to fight non-dangerous sicknesses without the use of anti-virals or antibiotics. Our immune systems get stronger if they are exposed to viruses and bacteria, as they build up immunity to what they are exposed to. A germ-free environment leads to a poor immune system as it has no experience fighting anything off. Also the less germ exposure, the more allergies develop.
Obviously there is a place for antibiotics and anti-virals, as they can be life-saving at times. However, they should be used with care in my opinion, and not given for every little bug.
With respect to the current H1N1 panic, some final thoughts. This flu appears to be milder and less deadly than the seasonal flu. Australia and New Zealand, whose flu season just ended, had fewer deaths from the flu this year than other years (with no vaccine available), and they are attributing that to the fact that more people were infected with H1N1 than seasonal flu. Remember that if you recover from H1N1 flu you will be immune for life, unlike the temporary immunity you would get from a vaccine.
In the 1918 flu epidemic, over 96% of the people that died had a bacterial co-infection, not only the flu. Of the people that died in the States this year of H1N1, 30% of them also had a bacterial co-infection. If you get sick with the flu, you should start to feel better in three or four days. If you don't, or you start to feel better, then suddenly make a turn for the worse, that is when you need to see your doctor ASAP, as you may also have a bacterial infection. This is when antibiotics may be needed, as flu combined with a bacterial infection seems to be the more deadly scenario, particularly for the young and the old, and those with underlying health conditions.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Swine Flu—Supplement, Don’t Vaccinate
I have had several patients ask me what my thoughts were so I thought I would pass them along. I am opposed to the swine flu vaccine, and am convinced that getting a vaccination against swine flu is not in your best interest. Read the facts, and decide for yourself. Feel free to email me back if you have further questions.
About the swine flu
Dr. Russell Blaylock, author, lecturer, retired neurosurgeon, and nutritional researcher, did a detailed analysis of the material from the CDC (Center for Disease Control), printed on September 5, 2009:
1. Flu hospitalizations are the same or lower for all flu illness this year, as compared to other years.
2. The number of flu deaths this year has not changed from yearly averages.
3. There is no evidence of viral mutation anywhere in the world.
4. Flu illness remains susceptible to antiviral drugs, so swine flu is not resistant to Tamiflu or other flu antivirals.
5. 43,771 cases were reported in the United States (however, poor reporting could place real estimates as high as one million). Of the reported cases, 5,011 people have been hospitalized; 302 deaths have resulted, which is 0.6% of 43,771 or 0.03% of one million.
6. Because the chronically ill and immune suppressed tend to get infected early, most deaths will occur early in the season (so even as illness numbers are rising, deaths will decrease as the season progresses).
7. People do not die from flu itself. The only reason people die from flu is that they have a contributing immune- suppressing chronic illness. Some illnesses that fit into that category are diabetes, dietary deficiencies, chronic pulmonary disease, heart disease, cancer, and direct immune dysfunction.
8. A review of the 1918 flu pandemic found that most deaths were related to complications of bacterial pneumonia, before the widespread use of antibiotics and when there were no IV fluids and no respirators yet in use.
9. The number of children’s deaths this year are less than the previous two years by this time of year.
Some Things Don’t Make Sense
If you are not into conspiracy theories, then jump to the next topic about the importance of being healthy as a protection from all diseases, including swine flu. But for those who are open to looking at some mighty odd information, check out the following:
These are some good questions brought to the forefront in a class action law suit from journalist Jane Burgermeister, filed on July 30, 2009 (you can find more information in Burgermeister’s letter to Dr. Chan, head of WHO):
1. Why are we at pandemic level 6 (the highest level) when the swine flu is so mild?
2. Why is a motion for legislation mandating forced vaccination being filed in the United States?
3. Genetically, swine and bird flu viruses don’t mix. So how could a genome sequence of a swine flu and bird flu and human flu come together, unless it was man-made?
4. Why would a vaccine that is rushed through the “fast-track” for clearance (fewer safety steps) be mandated in the United States?
5. Why isn’t the swine flu vaccine classified as a bioweapon?
6. Why don’t we know more about this from the media?
Being Healthy as a Protection
In the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), June 19th, 2002 edition, a scientific review of vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults was printed. This well documented treatise, with 152 references, documented the benefits of nine vitamins and their positive effects on coronary heart disease, cancer, neural tube defects and osteoporosis. The treatise also documents the value of the vitamins in disease prevention.
Vitamins and minerals have also been shown to improve the immune system. Many times, as a therapeutic measure, the dosage for these substances far exceeds the recommended amounts for daily use. Below are some examples:
1. In children with a vitamin A deficiency and low T cell counts (T cells are critical in the killing of infectious agents), a single large dose of vitamin A of 100,000 IU restored the T cell counts to normal
2. Enhanced T cell-mediated immune function takes place at vitamin E intakes of at least 200 IU per day
3. Treatment of iron deficiency anemia showed improvement in T cell activity, IgG and IgM levels (antibody levels), white cell bactericidal (bacteria killing) activity
4. Twelve healthy individuals received a single dose of vitamin C (60 mg / kg or 4800 mg in a 180 pound man) and had a significant enhancement of natural killer cell activity for more than 24 hours
5. Selenium at 2 mg / kg reversed the age related immune cell decline seen in elderly mice
6. Effects of vitamin C on a wide variety of viruses showed all were inactivated as the vitamin C was oxidized. Some of the commonly known viruses tested included hepatitis, measles, mumps, viral orchitis, herpes zoster, encephalitis, and others
7. 11,000 patients over a 14 year period were given vitamin C doses to cause bowel tolerance (a clinical term meaning enough dosage to cause diarrhea). The more severe the illness, the greater the number of grams needed to achieve bowel tolerance to destroy the virus. Up to 150 grams per day were needed in influenza.
8. 818 volunteers were followed through one winter. The volunteers had been administered either vitamin C, 250 mg 4 times per day (which was increased to 1000 mg four times per day if participants were ill), compared to a equally matched placebo group. The following was noted: no illness in 100 days-26 % in the vitamin C group, 18% in the placebo group; days confined to house-21% lower in vitamin C group; days missed at work-30% less in the vitamin C group. All these values reached significance with p ‹ 0.05 or less.
9. Vitamin D was given to inmates in one prison ward but was not given to other inmates in the Atascadero prison in California in 2005. A severe flu outbreak hit the prison, but the inmates in the ward receiving vitamin D did not have a single inmate infected, even though they mingled with the other inmates.
10. Many immune system diseases are improved with vitamin D administration, including some cancers, diabetes type I, Grave’s disease (autoimmune), Lupus Erythematosus, and Multiple Sclerosis.
How Sugar Affects Our Immune System
The substances we take into our mouth also affect our immune system. For example, the following is a list of specific immune deficits caused by the ingestion of sugar:
1. Sugar interferes with the body’s phagocytes’ (the cells that eat up bacteria or viruses, like PacMan) ability for at least 5 hours after ingestion.
2. High glucose levels in the blood stream bind to proteins, thus damaging the immune system.
3. Sugar causes inflammation, which triggers an immune system response. This may distract the immune system from more important duties, like killing viruses or bacteria or cancer cells.
About the swine flu vaccine:
Continuing with Dr. Blaylock’s analysis:
1. Of the 5 tests that have been scheduled for vaccine safety, no one in the test group has been or will be injected with the adjuvant (the immune booster that makes the vaccine more effective); the adjuvant will be added later for mass vaccination. Injecting without the adjuvant makes the “testing” for safety suspect.
2. No data is available on safety for these vaccinations in children.
3. The vaccine has been “fast-tracked” (which means that, in the interest of speed, many of the usual safety precautions will not be required).
4. Sixty virologists were asked what they were doing personally about the swine flu. Of the interviewed virologists, thirty said nothing, twenty were stocking Tamiflu, and none mentioned taking the swine flu vaccine.
5. No information will be available on the safety profile of mixing the three viruses into a single vaccine, or the safety profile if the three viruses are given sequentially in three vaccinations.
6. Vaccine contamination is widespread, including containing pestivirus, mycoplasma, viral fragments, DNA fragments and bacterial components, all of which can cause chronic systemic disorders, cancer, neurologic disease and slow brain degeneration.
Other known facts:
1. The pharmaceutical companies making and distributing the vaccine are protected from law suits relative to the vaccine, regardless of the outcome, once the vaccine is widely administered.
Recommendations from Dr. Taylor:
1. Do not get the swine flu vaccine
2. Eat ‘real’ food and avoid processed food, especially refined sugar, which affects the immune system
3. Take a potent whole food supplement like Catalyn or LIVE by Nuriche (www.mynuriche.com/drtaylor) and a high vitamin Cod Liver oil (yes it does come in capsules). Cod Liver oil not only has the omega 3’s that are important for immune function, but also good levels of vitamin A and D which are also important for immune function. Most Cod Liver oils have the vitamin A and D processed out and either have very low levels or synthetic Vitamins A and D are added back in which are not as effective.
4. If you get an infectious illness (whether swine flu, regular flu, colds, sinusitis or something else):
• increase your whole food vitamin C intake to at least 6 tab orally each day
• take anti-virals from MediHerb like, Echinacea, Andrographis, Astragalus
• consider taking Calcium Lactate powder 1-2 tsps. in water daily. Ionizable calcium in the blood helps to direct white blood cells to kill off bacteria, and viruses.
I subscribe to Bernarr Macfadden’s philosophy. This pioneer in health made an astute comment back in 1928—one that serves us well to follow today: “The reader should now be fully persuaded to accept the statement of our assurance that most disease is preventable. There is no physician of any school who will not agree to the proposition that if the body be healthy it has the power to resist the aggressions of any kind of disease. Even though one accepts the germ theory to its fullest extent, we have shown that disease germs cannot grow and thrive in a healthy organism. No matter what contagion is, or how it works, it has no power over a healthy body.” (Macfadden’s Encyclopedia of Physical Culture, p. 66.)
Notes
[i] Bhaskaram P, et al. Effects of subclinical vitamin A deficiency and administration of vitamin A as a single large dose on immune function in children. Nutr Res 1989;9:1017-1025.
[ii] Meydani SN, et al. Vitamin E supplementation and in vivo immune response in healthy elderly subjects. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1997;277:1380-1386.
[iii] Zanni G, et al. An evaluation of the effect of iron treatment on some immune parameters in sideropenic patients. Curr Ther Res 1989;45:48-52.
[iv] Vojdani A, et al. In vivo effect of ascorbic acid on enhancement of human natural killer cell activity. Nutr Red 1993;13:753-764.
[v] Roy M, et al. Supplementation with selenium restores age-related decline in immune cell function. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1995;209:369-375.
[vi] Murata A. Virucidal activity of vitamin C for prevention and treatment of viral diseases. In Proc First Int Congr IAMS, Takezi Hasegawa (ed.), Science Council of Japan, 1975
[vii] Cathcart RF. Vitamin C: the nontoxic, nonrated-limited, antioxidant fee radical scavenger. Med Hypotheses 1985;18:61-77.
[viii] Anderson TW, et al. Vitamin C and the common cold: a double-blind trial. Can Med Assoc J 1972;107:503.
[ix] http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php
[x] Literature review
[xi] W. Ringsdorf, et al. Sucrose neutrophilic phagocytosis and resistance to disease. Dental Survey 52, No. 12, 1976, pp. 46-48.
[xii] R. Pamplona, et al. Mechanisms of glycation in atherogenesis. Medical Hypotheses 40, 1990, pp. 174-181.
About the swine flu
Dr. Russell Blaylock, author, lecturer, retired neurosurgeon, and nutritional researcher, did a detailed analysis of the material from the CDC (Center for Disease Control), printed on September 5, 2009:
1. Flu hospitalizations are the same or lower for all flu illness this year, as compared to other years.
2. The number of flu deaths this year has not changed from yearly averages.
3. There is no evidence of viral mutation anywhere in the world.
4. Flu illness remains susceptible to antiviral drugs, so swine flu is not resistant to Tamiflu or other flu antivirals.
5. 43,771 cases were reported in the United States (however, poor reporting could place real estimates as high as one million). Of the reported cases, 5,011 people have been hospitalized; 302 deaths have resulted, which is 0.6% of 43,771 or 0.03% of one million.
6. Because the chronically ill and immune suppressed tend to get infected early, most deaths will occur early in the season (so even as illness numbers are rising, deaths will decrease as the season progresses).
7. People do not die from flu itself. The only reason people die from flu is that they have a contributing immune- suppressing chronic illness. Some illnesses that fit into that category are diabetes, dietary deficiencies, chronic pulmonary disease, heart disease, cancer, and direct immune dysfunction.
8. A review of the 1918 flu pandemic found that most deaths were related to complications of bacterial pneumonia, before the widespread use of antibiotics and when there were no IV fluids and no respirators yet in use.
9. The number of children’s deaths this year are less than the previous two years by this time of year.
Some Things Don’t Make Sense
If you are not into conspiracy theories, then jump to the next topic about the importance of being healthy as a protection from all diseases, including swine flu. But for those who are open to looking at some mighty odd information, check out the following:
These are some good questions brought to the forefront in a class action law suit from journalist Jane Burgermeister, filed on July 30, 2009 (you can find more information in Burgermeister’s letter to Dr. Chan, head of WHO):
1. Why are we at pandemic level 6 (the highest level) when the swine flu is so mild?
2. Why is a motion for legislation mandating forced vaccination being filed in the United States?
3. Genetically, swine and bird flu viruses don’t mix. So how could a genome sequence of a swine flu and bird flu and human flu come together, unless it was man-made?
4. Why would a vaccine that is rushed through the “fast-track” for clearance (fewer safety steps) be mandated in the United States?
5. Why isn’t the swine flu vaccine classified as a bioweapon?
6. Why don’t we know more about this from the media?
Being Healthy as a Protection
In the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), June 19th, 2002 edition, a scientific review of vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults was printed. This well documented treatise, with 152 references, documented the benefits of nine vitamins and their positive effects on coronary heart disease, cancer, neural tube defects and osteoporosis. The treatise also documents the value of the vitamins in disease prevention.
Vitamins and minerals have also been shown to improve the immune system. Many times, as a therapeutic measure, the dosage for these substances far exceeds the recommended amounts for daily use. Below are some examples:
1. In children with a vitamin A deficiency and low T cell counts (T cells are critical in the killing of infectious agents), a single large dose of vitamin A of 100,000 IU restored the T cell counts to normal
2. Enhanced T cell-mediated immune function takes place at vitamin E intakes of at least 200 IU per day
3. Treatment of iron deficiency anemia showed improvement in T cell activity, IgG and IgM levels (antibody levels), white cell bactericidal (bacteria killing) activity
4. Twelve healthy individuals received a single dose of vitamin C (60 mg / kg or 4800 mg in a 180 pound man) and had a significant enhancement of natural killer cell activity for more than 24 hours
5. Selenium at 2 mg / kg reversed the age related immune cell decline seen in elderly mice
6. Effects of vitamin C on a wide variety of viruses showed all were inactivated as the vitamin C was oxidized. Some of the commonly known viruses tested included hepatitis, measles, mumps, viral orchitis, herpes zoster, encephalitis, and others
7. 11,000 patients over a 14 year period were given vitamin C doses to cause bowel tolerance (a clinical term meaning enough dosage to cause diarrhea). The more severe the illness, the greater the number of grams needed to achieve bowel tolerance to destroy the virus. Up to 150 grams per day were needed in influenza.
8. 818 volunteers were followed through one winter. The volunteers had been administered either vitamin C, 250 mg 4 times per day (which was increased to 1000 mg four times per day if participants were ill), compared to a equally matched placebo group. The following was noted: no illness in 100 days-26 % in the vitamin C group, 18% in the placebo group; days confined to house-21% lower in vitamin C group; days missed at work-30% less in the vitamin C group. All these values reached significance with p ‹ 0.05 or less.
9. Vitamin D was given to inmates in one prison ward but was not given to other inmates in the Atascadero prison in California in 2005. A severe flu outbreak hit the prison, but the inmates in the ward receiving vitamin D did not have a single inmate infected, even though they mingled with the other inmates.
10. Many immune system diseases are improved with vitamin D administration, including some cancers, diabetes type I, Grave’s disease (autoimmune), Lupus Erythematosus, and Multiple Sclerosis.
How Sugar Affects Our Immune System
The substances we take into our mouth also affect our immune system. For example, the following is a list of specific immune deficits caused by the ingestion of sugar:
1. Sugar interferes with the body’s phagocytes’ (the cells that eat up bacteria or viruses, like PacMan) ability for at least 5 hours after ingestion.
2. High glucose levels in the blood stream bind to proteins, thus damaging the immune system.
3. Sugar causes inflammation, which triggers an immune system response. This may distract the immune system from more important duties, like killing viruses or bacteria or cancer cells.
About the swine flu vaccine:
Continuing with Dr. Blaylock’s analysis:
1. Of the 5 tests that have been scheduled for vaccine safety, no one in the test group has been or will be injected with the adjuvant (the immune booster that makes the vaccine more effective); the adjuvant will be added later for mass vaccination. Injecting without the adjuvant makes the “testing” for safety suspect.
2. No data is available on safety for these vaccinations in children.
3. The vaccine has been “fast-tracked” (which means that, in the interest of speed, many of the usual safety precautions will not be required).
4. Sixty virologists were asked what they were doing personally about the swine flu. Of the interviewed virologists, thirty said nothing, twenty were stocking Tamiflu, and none mentioned taking the swine flu vaccine.
5. No information will be available on the safety profile of mixing the three viruses into a single vaccine, or the safety profile if the three viruses are given sequentially in three vaccinations.
6. Vaccine contamination is widespread, including containing pestivirus, mycoplasma, viral fragments, DNA fragments and bacterial components, all of which can cause chronic systemic disorders, cancer, neurologic disease and slow brain degeneration.
Other known facts:
1. The pharmaceutical companies making and distributing the vaccine are protected from law suits relative to the vaccine, regardless of the outcome, once the vaccine is widely administered.
Recommendations from Dr. Taylor:
1. Do not get the swine flu vaccine
2. Eat ‘real’ food and avoid processed food, especially refined sugar, which affects the immune system
3. Take a potent whole food supplement like Catalyn or LIVE by Nuriche (www.mynuriche.com/drtaylor) and a high vitamin Cod Liver oil (yes it does come in capsules). Cod Liver oil not only has the omega 3’s that are important for immune function, but also good levels of vitamin A and D which are also important for immune function. Most Cod Liver oils have the vitamin A and D processed out and either have very low levels or synthetic Vitamins A and D are added back in which are not as effective.
4. If you get an infectious illness (whether swine flu, regular flu, colds, sinusitis or something else):
• increase your whole food vitamin C intake to at least 6 tab orally each day
• take anti-virals from MediHerb like, Echinacea, Andrographis, Astragalus
• consider taking Calcium Lactate powder 1-2 tsps. in water daily. Ionizable calcium in the blood helps to direct white blood cells to kill off bacteria, and viruses.
I subscribe to Bernarr Macfadden’s philosophy. This pioneer in health made an astute comment back in 1928—one that serves us well to follow today: “The reader should now be fully persuaded to accept the statement of our assurance that most disease is preventable. There is no physician of any school who will not agree to the proposition that if the body be healthy it has the power to resist the aggressions of any kind of disease. Even though one accepts the germ theory to its fullest extent, we have shown that disease germs cannot grow and thrive in a healthy organism. No matter what contagion is, or how it works, it has no power over a healthy body.” (Macfadden’s Encyclopedia of Physical Culture, p. 66.)
Notes
[i] Bhaskaram P, et al. Effects of subclinical vitamin A deficiency and administration of vitamin A as a single large dose on immune function in children. Nutr Res 1989;9:1017-1025.
[ii] Meydani SN, et al. Vitamin E supplementation and in vivo immune response in healthy elderly subjects. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1997;277:1380-1386.
[iii] Zanni G, et al. An evaluation of the effect of iron treatment on some immune parameters in sideropenic patients. Curr Ther Res 1989;45:48-52.
[iv] Vojdani A, et al. In vivo effect of ascorbic acid on enhancement of human natural killer cell activity. Nutr Red 1993;13:753-764.
[v] Roy M, et al. Supplementation with selenium restores age-related decline in immune cell function. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1995;209:369-375.
[vi] Murata A. Virucidal activity of vitamin C for prevention and treatment of viral diseases. In Proc First Int Congr IAMS, Takezi Hasegawa (ed.), Science Council of Japan, 1975
[vii] Cathcart RF. Vitamin C: the nontoxic, nonrated-limited, antioxidant fee radical scavenger. Med Hypotheses 1985;18:61-77.
[viii] Anderson TW, et al. Vitamin C and the common cold: a double-blind trial. Can Med Assoc J 1972;107:503.
[ix] http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php
[x] Literature review
[xi] W. Ringsdorf, et al. Sucrose neutrophilic phagocytosis and resistance to disease. Dental Survey 52, No. 12, 1976, pp. 46-48.
[xii] R. Pamplona, et al. Mechanisms of glycation in atherogenesis. Medical Hypotheses 40, 1990, pp. 174-181.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Whole Food Supplements vs. Nutri-chemical Supplements
(i.e. natural or synthetic vitamins)
It could be argued that never in history has so much money been spent on the advertising and purchasing of any merchandise, with so little knowledge of the product itself. On the part of either the seller or the buyer, as has been spent on vitamin and mineral supplements.
Billions are being spent annually, and most of the purchasers, wholesalers, retailers or direct to the consumer salespeople do not know the difference between a synthetic a crystalline and a truly natural vitamin, or the difference between a chelated organic and inorganic mineral.
Neither seller nor buyer know little of how supplements are made, their characteristics, their attributes, their sources, their uses, their advantage and disadvantages and how to tell one from another by reading a label.
So let’s take a closer look at what we spend so much money on in good faith that the product we buy must be good for us, right? After all it says, “natural”, so what could be wrong with a vitamin or a mineral?
What’s the Difference Between Natural and Synthetic Supplements?
In short, it’s the difference between something that’s living and something that’s dead. That is a Big Difference. There are three categories that you can buy vitamins/minerals and it’s Really Important that you understand the difference.
1. Natural Supplements (or crystalline supplements)
Crystalline means that a Natural Food has been treated with various chemicals, solvents, heat and distillations to reduce it down to one specific “pure” crystalline vitamin. In this process all the synergists, which are termed “impurities” are destroyed. There is no longer anything natural in the action of crystalline “vitamins” – they should more accurately be termed drugs.
2. Synthetic Supplements
Synthetic means that a chemist attempts to reconstruct the exact structure of the crystalline molecule by chemically combining molecules from other sources. These sources are not living foods, but dead chemicals. For example, the Vitamin B1 is made from a coal tar derivative and d-alpha tocopherol (so called Vitamin E) is a by product of materials used by the Eastman Kodak company to make film. However, it is not legally necessary to give the source from which the synthetic “vitamin” is derived. Synthetic “vitamins” should more accurately be called drugs.
3. Organic Whole Food Supplements
On vitamin labels the word “natural” has no specific definition other than that the substance exists somewhere on the planet. The key words to look for are “Whole Food Vitamins”. This means vitamins as they are found in food, untampered with in any way that would change their molecular structure, their biological or biochemical combination or their actions.
Vitamins in their natural state always exist as living complexes with specific synergist co-factors, enzymes, phytonutrients and organic mineral activators and never as isolated single factors.
A vitamin needs all of its synergists to function and furthermore, there are literally hundreds of such synergists, most of which have not yet been studied but are nevertheless very important.
There is only two sources in the Western hemisphere that makes pure, organically grown, whole foods supplements and that is Standard Process and Nuriche. (More about Nuriche in a future post). We’ve had patients come in saying that they are taking supplements made from whole foods, but it is actually a nutri-chemical made from a whole food source and it’s tricky to be able to tell the difference. One way to tell the difference is reading the label where the amounts of the vitamins are listed. For example, Vitamin E will commonly read 400 or 800 IUs. It’s not possible to get this level from a whole food, even if it is concentrated as in Standard Process’s whole food formula of Vitamin E.
We’ve also seen labels that have nutri-chemicals listed as well as additional nutrients like wheat grass or Spirulina and this would be a whole food, but not the nutri-chemicals.
Advertising is amazingly deceiving and it takes a shrewd consumer to educate oneself to what is actually contained in the packaging and marketing of foods and nutritional supplements.
It could be argued that never in history has so much money been spent on the advertising and purchasing of any merchandise, with so little knowledge of the product itself. On the part of either the seller or the buyer, as has been spent on vitamin and mineral supplements.
Billions are being spent annually, and most of the purchasers, wholesalers, retailers or direct to the consumer salespeople do not know the difference between a synthetic a crystalline and a truly natural vitamin, or the difference between a chelated organic and inorganic mineral.
Neither seller nor buyer know little of how supplements are made, their characteristics, their attributes, their sources, their uses, their advantage and disadvantages and how to tell one from another by reading a label.
So let’s take a closer look at what we spend so much money on in good faith that the product we buy must be good for us, right? After all it says, “natural”, so what could be wrong with a vitamin or a mineral?
What’s the Difference Between Natural and Synthetic Supplements?
In short, it’s the difference between something that’s living and something that’s dead. That is a Big Difference. There are three categories that you can buy vitamins/minerals and it’s Really Important that you understand the difference.
1. Natural Supplements (or crystalline supplements)
Crystalline means that a Natural Food has been treated with various chemicals, solvents, heat and distillations to reduce it down to one specific “pure” crystalline vitamin. In this process all the synergists, which are termed “impurities” are destroyed. There is no longer anything natural in the action of crystalline “vitamins” – they should more accurately be termed drugs.
2. Synthetic Supplements
Synthetic means that a chemist attempts to reconstruct the exact structure of the crystalline molecule by chemically combining molecules from other sources. These sources are not living foods, but dead chemicals. For example, the Vitamin B1 is made from a coal tar derivative and d-alpha tocopherol (so called Vitamin E) is a by product of materials used by the Eastman Kodak company to make film. However, it is not legally necessary to give the source from which the synthetic “vitamin” is derived. Synthetic “vitamins” should more accurately be called drugs.
3. Organic Whole Food Supplements
On vitamin labels the word “natural” has no specific definition other than that the substance exists somewhere on the planet. The key words to look for are “Whole Food Vitamins”. This means vitamins as they are found in food, untampered with in any way that would change their molecular structure, their biological or biochemical combination or their actions.
Vitamins in their natural state always exist as living complexes with specific synergist co-factors, enzymes, phytonutrients and organic mineral activators and never as isolated single factors.
A vitamin needs all of its synergists to function and furthermore, there are literally hundreds of such synergists, most of which have not yet been studied but are nevertheless very important.
There is only two sources in the Western hemisphere that makes pure, organically grown, whole foods supplements and that is Standard Process and Nuriche. (More about Nuriche in a future post). We’ve had patients come in saying that they are taking supplements made from whole foods, but it is actually a nutri-chemical made from a whole food source and it’s tricky to be able to tell the difference. One way to tell the difference is reading the label where the amounts of the vitamins are listed. For example, Vitamin E will commonly read 400 or 800 IUs. It’s not possible to get this level from a whole food, even if it is concentrated as in Standard Process’s whole food formula of Vitamin E.
We’ve also seen labels that have nutri-chemicals listed as well as additional nutrients like wheat grass or Spirulina and this would be a whole food, but not the nutri-chemicals.
Advertising is amazingly deceiving and it takes a shrewd consumer to educate oneself to what is actually contained in the packaging and marketing of foods and nutritional supplements.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
FLU AND COD LIVER OIL
In February 2008, a federal advisory panel advised that all children (except for some under 6 months old) should be vaccinated for the flu. That means that 30 million more kids will be shot up—and according to medical experts preferably twice each year! These recommendations set the stage for the largest expansion of flu vaccination in U.S. history. And since the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) routinely adopts the recommendations of the panel, this abomination is probably going to happen.
The experts say that flu shots will slow flu infection among children. There is no science to show this. They suggest that if kids don't get the flu as much, the illness will be prevented from spreading to adults and the elderly. There is no science to show this. They say that 36,000 people die from the flu each year. There is only pseudo-science to show this since many in this count actually die from pneumonia. Other public health experts put the number of annual flu deaths at less than 2,000.
The experts are afraid that the public is losing faith in the flu vaccine. This loss of faith has been growing, and this year's (2007/2008) vaccine failure only added to the number of those abandoning flu shots. There is real science to show this, and it is the truth.
Flu vaccines are big business—especially if you can gain 30 million more patients! When it comes to you, your kids, and your grandkids, would you shoot up (twice for kids) if you knew that the flu vaccine contained:
● thimerosal (a mercury chemical added as preservative). Mercury is the most toxic brain poison on earth.
● formaldehyde (used to kill viruses).
● ethylene glycol (commonly known as antifreeze; it is used as a disinfectant in the vaccine).
● aluminum (used to promote the antibody response).
What To Do
I would never, ever give my child a flu vaccination. And unless you, your child, or grandchild has a specific medical reason, rethink flu shots. Instead use common sense and natural phytonutrients that offer you an opportunity to strengthen your own immunity to colds and flu. Take a teaspoon to tablespoon of Blue Ice TM Fermented High Vitamin Cod Liver Oil daily to get real anti-flu vitamins A and D. Give your kids a half teaspoon, and toddlers a quarter teaspoon.
Take Immuplex (3 daily) to help build a strong immune response. And for kids, you can accomplish the same thing with Congaplex (3 daily). If they can't swallow pills, give them 4 to 6 in the chewable form. And at the first sign of a cold or flu, take 2 Congaplex every hour for the first 48 hours (children can take 1 every hour). This often helps stop a cold dead, or at least diminish its severity. Immuplex and Congaplex are produced by Standard Process.
Eat lots of nutrient-dense whole foods, drink plenty of pure water, get some exercise, and simply avoid or diminish colds and flu naturally. Enough with the flu vaccine already! The scam to stick 30 million more kids is ridiculous.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
BUTTER AVOIDANCE WREAKS HAVOC ON AMERICA
The greatest cause of death in America is heart and blood vessel disease. The greatest cause of pain and disability is the nation's crumbling skeletons, associated with osteoporosis, arthritis, and joint disease. The single vitamin that is the most anti plaque, as well as the most bone-building and bone-healing, is vitamin K2. The main source of K2 is butter oil that is, butter from cows that eat newly sprouted and growing green grass.
So just how much damage has the food industry and medical profession done by condemning butter and promoting cancer-causing, heart-stopping, inflammation-inducing margarines and "heart-healthy" fake foods and oils? All you need do is look at the legions of people with heart and blood vessel disease, arthritis, and osteoporosis.
This misguided recommendation from most physicians to avoid butter and instead consume these plastic-like liquids and semi-solids has been going on now for more than 25 years. It has taken a huge toll on the nation's health, even as it has propped up the processed food industry. And the medical profession has benefited as well with billions of dollars going to doctors, drug companies, and surgeons for band-aid surgeries and for hundreds of prescription drugs to treat the symptoms of crumbling skeletons and nutritionally deficient hearts and blood vessel systems.
It is hard to believe that 20 years ago I wrote about the dangers of margarines and processed vegetable oils. Of course, I am a quack, so no one paid attention. Once again, we are reaping what we have sown by not listening to the facts and by continuing to follow misguided advice from our medical leaders.
Vitamin K2 and Activator X
If you want to get healthy and avoid heart disease, or even reverse heart and blood vessel disease, you need to consume vitamin K2 and Activator X (also known as the Wulzen Factor). If you want to prevent osteoporosis and/or rebuild your joints and skeleton, you need to consume K2 and Activator X. And you need to avoid margarines and the other ridiculous non-foods hawked day in and day out by food processors and their accomplices doctors.
The best source of vitamin K2 (unless you like fish eggs) is egg yolks and butter oil (that is, butter made from fresh milk derived from cows that eat newly sprouted green grasses). With K2 you can fight blood vessel plaque and keep your joints healthy, strong, and flexible. Organic, raw butter contains some K2 and Activator X. However, by far, the best source is X-FactorTM Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil capsules. I recommend from 2 to 12 capsules for people who suffer from heart, blood vessel, bone, and joint problems.
Activator X is a mineral activator. In other words, it aids your body's absorption of minerals needed by your heart, blood vessels, and skeleton. Margarines and processed foods and oils do just the opposite that is, they hinder your body's mineral absorption. And when butter oil capsules are consumed with the proper heart or skeletal nutritional protocol, magic can happen even with serious cases.
In some cases where there is severe blood vessel and/or joint problems, 12 capsules daily are needed for up to a year. As discussed, this type of butter works best with the other supplements needed for the heart, blood vessels, and/or joints, along with a tablespoon of Blue Ice" High Vitamin Cod Liver Oil daily. This type of oil contains plenty of the real vitamins A and D. So don't be fooled by most doctors' advice. When it comes to most degenerative diseases, what you eat and do not eat makes all the difference. Do not consume these poisonous liquid "plastics" while you avoid the very nutrient-dense foods that you need.
Butter oil capsules are real butter. And when you taste them, you will be very surprised. They do not taste like the butter you are used to. Butter oil is scarce and difficult to get into a supplement form. Our supplier has farms in Nebraska where the right butter is produced, but it is often not enough. So large organic farms in Argentina are used. This requires regular scrutiny to make sure that the cows are indeed eating rapidly growing green grasses, and that the butter contains adequate amounts of vitamin K2 and Activator X.
Many nutritional experts consider vitamin K2 and Activator X the same nutrient. The truth is that no one really knows. Just as there are hundreds of variations of vitamin D (not just D2 and D3), these two critical nutrients may be identical or just a slight variation of one another. It makes no difference because when you eat the correct foods you are assured of getting both. That is why nutrient-dense foods, whole-food concentrates, and supplements made from whole foods (including raw bone and even some glands) are the way to go.
When you consume these foods and supplements, you are getting the entire nutritional, biochemical, and phytochemical tapestry of nutrients—such as all the variations of vitamin D, K2 and Activator X, B4 and all the other B vitamins, and on and on. These whole nutritional complexes are rocket fuel for your body. And they include the major nutrients as well as the minor, little known, and even unknown nutritional factors that enhance the digestion, assimilation, and use of the nutrition.
These minor factors include vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, mineral activators (such as Activator X), enzymes, coenzymes (such as CoQ10), plant sterols, and more. This is the way to rebuild your blood vessels, heart, bones, and joints. Not with margarine!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
ALZHEIMER'S AND CHOLESTEROL
". . . those people on extremely low fat diets are starving themselves for some of the most needed and powerful anti-disease nutrients on earth."
Grandma used to say I should eat my scrambled eggs fried in a little butter. She said the same thing about flounder filets. She said these were brain foods. Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about, but I did enjoy these foods.
One of the reasons these are considered brain foods is that they encourage proper cholesterol levels in the blood. Cholesterol is a brain fuel, playing an essential part in the makeup of brain and nervous system tissue. In fact, the arachidonic acid found in butter and eggs is absolutely vital for the makeup of cell membranes. Cell membranes are the building blocks of good health, especially mental health.
Besides encouraging proper brain function via cholesterol production, foods like butter and eggs that contain natural fats are also rich in arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is essential for the production of prostaglandins, which are hormone-like chemicals that are produced in every single cell of your body. These play a major role in how your glands, organs, and your entire body function.1
Without adequate amounts of the fat found in these foods, prostaglandin and cholesterol production would be impaired. You would then be prone to poor mental health and Alzheimer's. When your body is properly producing prostaglandins and cholesterol from fats (including saturated fats like butter and eggs), you are better able to maintain good mental health.
Ironically, the most powerful block to proper prostaglandin production comes from the very foods that are touted by the food industry and the medical profession as "healthy." These are trans fatty acids found in margarine, shortening, and hydrogenated fats. 2 Avoid these at all costs. On the other hand, do consume good sources of natural fat, especially if you are prone to mental health problems.
While we're at it, for you new moms: I recommend that pregnant women eat eggs and a little raw butter. (Try to obtain organically produced butter and eggs.) The fat and cholesterol from egg yolks and butter are essential for your developing baby's mental health. Following birth, start your baby eating these foods after six months of age. (For instance, serve baby a scrambled egg cooked over low heat in just a little butter.) This will help ensure proper development of the brain, which will impact on speech, coordination, and freedom from learning disabilities.
Alzheimer's
The message here is simple. Do not fall for the low-fat craze! The Japanese put an extremely high value on eggs and fish as brain foods. As a population, the Japanese are not prone to high cholesterol, blood fat problems, or heart disease. Keep in mind that the enzyme functions that maintain proper cholesterol and prostaglandin activity in the body generally become less efficient as you age. This means more good fats are in order for your diet.
If you doubt this, here's evidence of how egg consumption alone makes a big difference in mental function in older age. A University of California at Berkeley study compared two groups of men in their 80s. One group suffered from dementia or Alzheimer's, the other did not. Their diets were almost identical except for one factor—the men who were free from dementia consumed at least one egg daily, the others did not.3
By the way, unless vegans are very careful about their diet, they also have problems with getting enough of the type of fat necessary for good mental health. The majority of vegans are probably deficient in the most important fatty acid nutrients needed as the source for proper brain and nervous system function.4
Notes
1. Horobin. David F, "The regulation of prostaglandin biosynthesis by manipulation of essential fatty acid metabolism," Reviews in Pure and Applied Pharmacological Studies, Vol. 4, pp. 339-383, 1983.
2. "Margarine, the `un-health' food." Health Alert. Vol. 5, No. 11. "The low-fat craze," Health Alert, Vol. 12, No. 4.
3. "Let's get technical...about prostaglandins," Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Health Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3.
4. Sanders, TBA. et al. "Studies of vegans: The fatty acid composition of plasma choline phosphoglycerides, erythrocytes, adipose tissue and breast milk, and some indicators of susceptibility to ischemic heart disease in vegans and omnivore controls." The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 31, pp. 805-813.
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