Friday, January 23, 2015

How Amazing Is Garlic?  Let Me Count the Ways
Garlic Versus the Developed World's #1 and #2 Killers
The research on Greenmedinfo.com shows garlic has value in 167 health conditions or disease symptoms, but the greatest density of research indicates garlic's role in preventing and/or treating Cardiovascular Disease and Cancers, the two primary causes of death within high-income countries.[27]   

This is an interesting finding. The drug industry has been fantasizing about a so-called 'polypill' for quite some time, an idea involving mixing various patented medicines together for a condition like heart disease (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol, blood thinner), but to no avail. Patented chemicals have far too many side effects, so when you mix them together, you only compound their multitudinous chemical toxicities. Natural substances, on the other hand, and especially those which play a role in culinary traditions as "spices," appear to have the opposite karma. Namely, they have far more 'side benefits' than 'side effects.'

Garlic's cardioprotective effects include:
1.   Retards progression of arterial plaque[28] [29] [30]
2.   Beneficially decreases white adipose tissue, increases white adipose tissue around heart muscle.[31]
3.   Protects against clotting[32] [33]
4.   Positively modulates blood lipids[34],[35],[36]
5.   Vasodilator[37]
6.   Reduces blood pressure[38]
7.   Antioxidant[39]
8.   Endothelial Dysfunction[40] [41]
9.   Vascular Inflammation[42]

Here is a quick review of the cancers that garlic has been found to kill:
1.   Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia[43]
2.   Acute Myeloid Leukemia[44]
3.   Basal Cell Carcinoma[45]
4.   Breast Cancer[46],[47]
5.   Cervical Cancer[48]
6.   Colon Cancer[49]
7.   Endometrial Cancer[50] [51]
8.   Gastric Cancer[52] [53]
9.   Leukemia: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)[54]
10.     Liver Cancer[55] [56] [57]  [58]
11.     Lymphoma[59] [60]
12.     Melanoma[61
13.     Osteosarcoma[62]
14.     Pancreatic Cancer[63]

Garlic, like so many other complex foods, contains a wide range of phytocompounds that articulate at least 150 distinct physiological responses in the mammalian body (see our 157 pharmacological actions list on the Garlic Research page).

How can this be so?

One explanation is that all foods contain not only physical building blocks, e.g. carbs, proteins, lipids, and are not only a source of energy (caloric content), but contain gene and epigene regulatory information. There are 'packets' of energy and information contained within the conformational state of the biomolecules found within these plant tissues. Our co-evolution with the plant kingdom for the past half a billion years has resulted in the very genetic/molecular fabric of our body depending on certain key compounds from plants in our diet, delivered in natural form, not irradiated, overly-cooked, petrochemically-farmed. Garlic's ability to fit like a key, into many different types of locks (an impossible feat for monochemical 'magic bullets'), reflects an likely infinitely complex intelligence in the relationship between plant and animal species. Which speaks to how important foods are not simply as 'medicine,' but that from which our bodily health grows organically, and without which disease is a natural consequence.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Mississippi Wants Eisenhower-Era Doctor to Quit


I like this story because it's about a guy who is committed to his original principles as a physician. Dr. Carroll Frazier Landrum, 88, attends professionally and intelligently to people who need his services.  Most of his clients are people he's been treating for years if not decades, many on medicare who prefer him as their doctor.  

The state of Mississippi is claiming that Dr. Landrum is incompetent because he works out of his car.  Landrum points out the meaning of that charge:  

At a recent hearing, Landrum said, he was labeled “incompetent” by the board. He said the charge is a catchall, one designed to avoid citing a specific occupational violation, and he maintains he’s done nothing wrong. He said he doesn’t recruit patients and only responds to those who have nowhere else to turn.

Correct.  It is a catchall.  But hopefully the charge will be difficult to stick given the love and support coming forward by all of his patients in his defense.  Here is one example:

Responding to the WLBT story, Margie Williams Divinity, a former registered nurse who said she has worked alongside Landrum in the past, wrote:
I beg the state board of medicine to allow Dr Landrum to continue practicing medicine. He is one of the smartest physicians still practicing. His knowledge base is vast. His diagnosis are always on point and he refers patients and always follow up with his patients. He cares about people, about treating them. He doesn’t care about all of the billing insurances and Medicare and all of the politics associated with medicine. He just wants to help people. He is still very sharp mentally at 88 probably because he did not let all of this political monopoly on healthcare stress him out by not continuing to partake. He is 88 y/o. Let him do what he enjoys and at the same time continue to serve his community…
And you have to love his background:
He grew up on a rural farm picking cotton during the Great Depression. After high school, he said, he was drafted into the Navy, where he worked as a sonar operator on a destroyer in the South Pacific. A stint in the Air Force during the Korean War followed, and then medical school at Tulane University came next. By the mid-1950s, he’d launched a private practice that has lasted for decades.

“After all these years, I still want to be like the small-town doctor who cared for us growing up — Dr. Coursey,” Landrum said. “He was good and always happy. There was never a time when he treated anyone like they were not someone.”

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Saturated Fats, Good; Trans-Fats, Bad














Ketogenic diet means eating lots of good fats and eliminating hydrogenated fats, sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, and high-glycemic carbs.
"Saturated Fat from Coconuts Is...Super Healthy"

Chris Wark writes . . .
In recent years coconut oil has made a comeback, as scientific research has proven that saturated fat from coconuts is in fact super healthy.
Saturated fats from plant sources like coconuts, olives, avocados, and some nuts are good for our cells, bones, blood, cardiovascular system, liver, immune system, and brain.
Coconut oil has even been shown to prevent colon and breast cancer in laboratory tests. 
It also assists in weight loss, which is why islanders who consume a lot of coconut in their diet are rarely overweight.
And coconut oil also great for your skin and hair.
Coconut oil has been shown to prevent and/or reverse Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Mary Newport M.D. has a site called coconut ketones.com. It’s a great resource for more information about this.
Cooking with coconut oil is amazing.  It smells soooo good and adds delicious new flavor to everything from scrambled eggs to stir fry.  Cook with it once and you’ll be hooked.
Somedays I just eat a spoonful of coconut oil or coconut butter for a quick fix.
We’re so crazy about coconut oil, we buy Giant Tubs of the stuff!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Disease and Health Begin in the Gut


The "Forgotten Organ": Gut flora and its role in immune function

Katy Haldiman, RN, Primal Docs
Thu, 17 Oct 2013 09:20 CEST


Although the main functions of the digestive system were once believed to include little beyond the breakdown of food into usable energy for the body and elimination of waste, the digestive tract is also home to 100 trillion microorganisms, known as the gut flora. The majority of these microorganisms are bacteria, with a small percentage consisting of fungi and protozoa. The functions of the gut flora are complex enough to resemble those of an organ, leading some researchers to refer to the gut flora as a "forgotten organ". Indeed, the gut flora plays a number of roles so vital to the human body that if the gut were to be sterilized, long-term survival would be unlikely.

Types of Gut Flora

There are three main categories of microorganisms found in the gut:

1.) Essential Flora: This is the "friendly" bacteria that is found in the gut. In the healthy individual, essential flora dominates and controls other types of less desirable microorganisms. When functioning normally, this type of flora is responsible for conducting numerous roles that keep the body healthy.

2.) Opportunistic Flora: This group of microbes is found in the gut in limited numbers that are strictly controlled by the essential flora in the healthy individual. This type of flora is capable of causing disease if the essential flora becomes compromised and is unable to control the growth and numbers of opportunistic flora.

3.) Transitional Flora: These are various microorganisms that are introduced into the body through eating and drinking. When the essential flora is healthy and functioning normally, this type of flora will pass through the digestive track without causing harm. However, if the essential flora is damaged, this group of microbes can cause disease.

Roles of the Essential Gut Flora

Beyond controlling the population of opportunistic and transitional flora, essential gut flora plays an active role in the normal digestion and absorption of food by producing enzymes that aid in the process of breaking down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. It also aids in the transportation of minerals, vitamins, water, and other nutrients through the gut wall into the bloodstream for use by the body. Certain types of essential flora are capable of manufacturing nutrients such as vitamins K2, B1, B2, B3 B6, B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and various amino acids. In addition to producing these nutrients to be used directly by the body, the essential flora provides nourishment to the cells of the intestinal wall that have primary responsibility for digesting and absorbing food. When the essential gut flora are compromised and not functioning normally, it is common for the individual to become malnourished and have multiple nutrient deficiencies and food intolerances.

Gut Flora and Immune Function

In the last decade or so, the importance of the gut flora to immune function, overall health, and disease has become an emerging area of focus. Although there is still much to be learned about the role of gut flora in immune function, it is becoming increasingly clear that disease (and health) really does begin in the gut! Studies have shown that the gut flora has a profound influence on the development and maturation of the immune system after birth (Bouskra et al., 2008; Macpherson & Harris, 2004). In addition, it has been estimated that approximately 80 -85% of the immune system is located in the gut.

In the healthy individual, the essential gut flora forms a bacterial layer that covers the entire digestive track. This bacterial layer acts as a physical barrier to protect against transitional flora , viruses, parasites, toxins, and undigested food particles. The gut flora produces acids that lower the pH of the gut wall and make it undesirable for microbes that cause disease. The essential flora also has the ability to neutralize many toxins and inactivate carcinogens (substances known to cause cancer). It also plays a direct role in suppressing the processes by which cancer cells are known to develop and grow.

The essential flora has a direct effect on important immune functions because it is responsible for stimulating the tissues of the lymph system that are located in the gut wall to produce lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that fights infections. The lymphocytes then produce immunoglobulins, which are antibodies formed in response to contact with foreign substances (viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc). The immunoglobulins destroy and inactivate invading substances that enter the body through food and drink. The essential flora also has a direct impact on the function and/or production of other many other cells of the immune system. When the essential flora is damaged, immune function is affected not only in the gut, but systemically as well (throughout the entire body). Specific to autoimmune disease, essential gut flora plays an important role in the development of regulatory T cells, a critical component of the immune system. The types, number, and balance of regulatory T cells are directly influenced by the essential gut flora. The dysfunction of the regulation of different types of regulatory T cells (an imbalance in certain kinds of T cells) is responsible for the development of autoimmune disease.

A broader explanation of how the gut flora influences immune function is by understanding the balance between the two arms of the adaptive immune response, known as Th1 and Th2 immunity. In general, the role of Th1 immunity is to fight infections in the skin, mucous membranes, and cells. When the essential flora is damaged, the production and function of Th1 cells becomes impaired, allowing more invaders into the body. The body responds by overcompensating with a Th2 response. The overactive Th2 response then predisposes the individual to allergic-type reactions, chronic inflammation, and autoimmunity. Healthy essential gut flora is the key to keeping these arms of the adaptive immune system in balance, thus preventing disease.

References

Bouskra D. et al. (2008). Lymphoid tissue genesis induced by commensals through NOD1 regulates intestinal homeostasis. Nature 456(7221), 507 - 510.

Campbell-McBride, N. (2010). Gut and psychology syndrome. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Medinform.

Kosiewicz, M.M., Zirnheld, A.L., & Alard, P. (2011). Gut microbiota, immunity, and disease: A complex relationship. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2(180).

Macpherson, A.J. & Harris, N.L. (2004). Interactions between commensal intestinal bacteria and the immune system. Nature Reviews: Immunology, 4(6), 478 - 485.

Wu, H. & Wu, E. (2012). The role of gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity. Gut Microbes, 3(1), 4 - 13.