ACNE It's in the food, its in the GUT.

By Dr. Mercola Nearly 85 percent of people have acne at some point in their lives, making acne the most common skin disorder in the US.1 While acne typically begins during puberty, it's not restricted to adolescents and may impact any age group – even into your 50s and beyond. While not physically dangerous, acne can take a considerable psychological toll. Some sufferers become so self-conscious and embarrassed that their professional and personal lives suffer, leading to increasing feelings of alienation, depression, and social withdrawal. Many mistakenly believe acne is mostly an aesthetic problem, but it is actually a sign of deeper imbalance in your system, often in your gut. Most physicians miss this connection entirely, instead prescribing acne drugs and other topical treatments. Americans spend more than $2.2 billion every year on acne treatments, including prescription and over-the-counter products,2 but many will turn out to be useless if you ignore the foundational cause of most acne – improper diet. Desperate to Clear Your Skin? Stop Eating Gluten and Grains Full-blown celiac disease, which is an extreme form of gluten sensitivity causing both the adaptive and innate immune system to attack your small intestine, affects an estimated 1.8 percent of people in Western cultures. But non-celiac gluten sensitivity may actually affect as many as 30 to 40 percent of the population, and according to Dr. Alessio Fasano at Massachusetts General Hospital, virtually all of us are affected to some degree.3 This is because we all create a substance called zonulin in the intestine in response to gluten. Glutinous proteins, found in wheat, barley, and rye, known as prolamines can make your gut more permeable, which allows partially digested proteins to get into your bloodstream that would otherwise have been excluded, any of which can sensitize your immune system and promote inflammation, which can contribute to worsening acne. Once gluten sensitizes your gut, it then becomes more permeable and all manner of gut bacterial components and previously excluded dietary proteins—including casein and other dairy proteins—have direct access to your bloodstream, thereby further challenging your immune system. If you have acne, you should try eliminating gluten and other lectin-containing foods, although I actually recommend that everyone following my beginner nutrition plan eliminate all gluten from their diets. Among the most important to avoid are those grains that contain the sticky, hard to digest prolamine proteins, such as wheat, barley, rye, and yes, even oats, rice, and corn. However, I don't recommend you stop there… Avoid All Grains (and Sugar) If You Have Acne While glutinous grains should certainly be eliminated if you struggle with acne, I recommend you avoid all manner of refined carbohydrates as well. Acne is much less of a problem in non-Westernized societies, where refined carbohydrates and sugar are consumed in much lower amounts.4 Diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates are one of the primary causes of acne. When you eat grain carbohydrates and sugar/fructose, it causes a surge of insulin and insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1 in your body. This can lead to an excess of male hormones, like testosterone, which cause your pores to secrete sebum, a greasy substance that attracts acne-promoting bacteria. Additionally, IGF-1 causes skin cells known as keratinocytes to multiply, a process that is also associated with acne. Additionally, these very same foods -- refined carbs, such as fructose, sugar, and grains -- will also increase inflammation in your body, which may trigger acne, and at the same time they will also wreak havoc on the makeup of your intestinal bacteria, as mentioned above. In fact, in 2007 a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritionfound that young men (ages 15 to 25) with acne problems who were placed on low-glycemic diets for 12 weeks showed significant improvements in acne and insulin sensitivity.5 Research published last year also found that a high-glycemic diet and frequent dairy consumption are linked to acne.6 Indulge in Vegetables, Limit Processed Foods to Control Acne Flare-Ups Any meal or snack high in refined carbohydrates (i.e. grains and sugars) will generate a rapid rise in blood glucose. To adjust for this rapid rise, your pancreas secretes the hormone insulin into your bloodstream. High blood sugar levels cause repeated surges in insulin and this causes your cells to become "insulin-resistant," which leads to the production of even higher levels of insulin, and, eventually insulin resistance, another key factor linked to acne. Prolonged excessive insulin secretion can also eventually burn out your pancreatic beta cells which produce it, leading to "double diabetes," a mixture of type 2 and type 1. This is why, if you struggle with acne, you want to avoid all foods that contribute to insulin resistance (namely sugar and grains), not just the gluten-containing grains. The best way to know if you are insulin/leptin resistant is to measure your fasting insulin level. If it is below 3, you are not likely resistant. However, if you are overweight, have high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, or abnormal cholesterol levels, it is likely that you have some element of insulin/leptin resistance and you would likely benefit from restricting your intake of sugars and grains until the conditions resolve. You'll be happy to know that simply eliminating grains, sugars (particularly fructose), cereals, potatoes, corn, rice, pasta, processed foods, etc., radically improves acne for most people. Fruit contains a fair amount of fructose, so it should be consumed in limited quantities if you are predisposed to acne. Or, at least focus on the low-sugar, high-nutrient-dense fruits like berries. And fruit juices should be strictly avoided since the sugar is very concentrated in them, without the buffering effect of fiber, pectin, and other food cofactors present in whole, raw, organic fruit. Fresh vegetable juices are great, though, especially green juices, as are most vegetables, which are slow to break down into simple sugars, with minimal insulin impact. Why Optimizing Your Gut Health May Help with Acne When you clean up your diet as described above, your gut health will naturally improve. You can further support it by consumingfermented foods regularly, to encourage the growth of beneficial microorganisms, which will benefit your skin health in multiple ways. For starters, signals from your gut microorganisms are sent throughout your body and interact with organisms in your skin and gut mucosa. Researchers are looking into how these interactions can help with skin conditions like dryness, improve collagen, or stabilize the microflora on your skin to help with irritations. As noted by researchers in Gut Pathogens:7 "The lines of communication, as mediated by gut microbes, may be direct and indirect -- ultimately influencing the degree of acne by a systemic effect on inflammation, oxidative stress, glycemic control, tissue lipid levels, pathogenic bacteria, as well as levels of neuropeptides and mood-regulating neurotransmitters. …there appears to be more than enough supportive evidence to suggest that gut microbes, and the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract itself, are contributing factors in the acne process." Another interesting connection is via your emotional health, as stress may, too, cause acne via your gut-brain connection. Research by dermatologists John Stokes and Donald Pillsbury conducted more than 70 years posited that your emotions could alter the microflora in your intestines, which could therefore contribute to systemic inflammation that could exacerbate acne and other skin conditions. In 2011, researchers validated this connection, noting:8 "Experimental studies show that psychological stress stagnates normal small intestinal transit time, encourages overgrowth of bacteria, and compromises the intestinal barrier. SIBO [small intestinal bacterial over growth] is strongly associated with depression and anxiety, while eradication of SIBO improves emotional symptoms. Although the frequency of SIBO in acne vulgaris has not yet been investigated, a recent report indicates that SIBO is 10 times more prevalent in those with acne rosacea vs. healthy controls. Correction of SIBO leads to marked clinical improvement in patients with rosacea." Controlling Acne Takes a Whole-Body Approach Your skin is your body's largest organ, and an organ of elimination (e.g. sweating), which is why problems on its surface are often a sign of underlying issues. Your complexion is a reflection of your overall health, which is why topical (or worse, systemic) acne drugs will not heal the problem (and may result in serious side effects). Treating acne takes a whole-body approach that will nourish and heal your skin from the inside out, so don't forget to incorporate these essential factors into your acne-busting plan: • Avoid starchy carbs, sugars/fructose, and grains: This is probably the single most important step you can take to improve your skin health. If you eliminate all sugars, fructose, and grains for a few weeks there is a major likelihood you will notice rapid improvement in your complexion. Replace these foods with healthy fats, like avocados, olives, olive oil, coconut oil, and butter. Be sure to check out my nutrition plan for a simple guide on how to eat right for healthy skin and overall health. • Water: Drink plenty of fresh, pure water every day. Hydrating your body facilitates cell growth and regeneration, elimination of wastes, and sloughing away dead skin cells. Hydration will also improve your skin tone. Every day, drink enough water so that your urine is a pale yellow color. If your urine is bright yellow, you probably need to drink more water (unless you take B vitamins, which themselves turn urine bright yellow). • Exercise: Getting plenty of high-intensity exercise helps your body flush out toxins, including those in your skin's pores. Plus, exercise is vitally important to all other aspects of your heath. If you happen to have access to an infrared sauna, this can be helpful too, because the more you sweat, the more you flush unwanted debris and contaminants out of your pores. • Sleep: Did you know that a good night's sleep can decrease your stress and lead to clearer skin? Your body's main time for healing and rebuilding is at night while you sleep, and this applies to your skin. • Proper balance of bacteria: You can reestablish your bacterial balance by incorporating naturally fermented/cultured foods and raw foods (which contain living beneficial bacteria) into your diet and/or taking a high-quality probiotic supplement. This is especially important if you have been on antibiotics, because these drugs indiscriminately kill off the beneficial bacteria in your gut, without which you cannot have a strong immune system. • Vitamin D: This important nutrient is crucial for maintaining a healthy immune response, and most people are deficient in it. Without adequate vitamin D, your body cannot fight infection, in your skin or elsewhere. Exposing large areas of your skin to appropriate amounts of sunshine is the best way to optimize your vitamin D levels, or alternatively use a safe tanning bed. • Animal-based omega-3 fats: Omega-3 fats help to normalize skin lipids and prevent dehydration in the cells. This keeps skin cells strong and full of moisture, which can help to decrease the appearance of fine lines. Fatty acid deficiency can manifest in a variety of ways, but skin problems such as eczema, thick patches of skin, and cracked heels are common. Plus, omega-3 fats may have an anti-inflammatory effect that can help to calm irritated skin, giving you a clear, smooth complexion. • Address your stress: My favorite tool is the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. EFT involves tapping your body's energy meridians with the tips of your fingers to clear emotional blocks, thus restoring balance to your mind and body. EFT is a powerful de-stressing technique that is easy for adults and children to learn. You can also add in other proven stress-busters, such as yoga and meditation. • All-natural acne fighter: Rubbing just a drop of oregano oil on a breakout can speed up the healing and prevent unsightly scarring without resorting to harsh commercial acne medication (remember to wash your hands thoroughly afterward).

Leaky GUT Syndrome the Epidemic Hidden in the Digestive System

Leaky Gut Syndrome: A Modern Epidemic with an Ancient Solution?
Pain Begins and Stops Here!

Douglas A. Wyatt

Center for Nutritional Research

One hundred million Americans suffer from chronic pain[1], which equates to approximately half of the adult population. These are frightening statistics, but what’s even more frightening is that the majority of these same people are suffering from chronic diseases caused by Leaky Gut Syndrome. Taking pain medication, whether over-the-counter NSAIDs or prescription drugs, has unwittingly condemned them to an existence with leaky gut and all of its ramifications. Compounding the problem is the prolific and unnecessary use of antibiotics, which led to the creation of “superbugs,” antibiotic-resistant pathogens populating the gastrointestinal tracts of the naïve.  This deadly combination of pain medications and antibiotic abuse has created a public health crisis, the likes of which physicians are certainly ill-prepared to treat and definitely unable to diagnose responsibly.

That’s the bad news about Leaky Gut Syndrome. The good news is that we do have a solution, one that has been around long before penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928 and before Felix Hoffmann first synthesized aspirin for Bayer in 1897. In fact, we have neither scientist nor medical doctor nor herbalist, but Mother Nature to thank for this amazing gift. This magical, first food of life for humans and all mammals is colostrum, and it’s been around since the beginning of mammalian life on this planet.

I discovered bovine colostrum for my ailing wife more than two and a half decades ago. My wife suffered with no functional immune system after having her thymus gland irradiated as a child. This was common practice in the 1950’s, and it demonstrated to me just how important the human immune system is to our healthy existence and just how little physicians really understand about it. Thanks to a colleague who was a naturopathic physician, bovine colostrum turned my wife’s life around completely. No longer faced with the absolute certainty of her death, I have vigorously pursued research to reintroduce this biologic neutraceutical back into human use ever since.

Hippocrates said that all disease begins in the gut. Modern medicine is beginning to understand and accept the concept of immune and gastrointestinal health being interdependent, yet the majority of practitioners are still in the dark about colostrum. A million years of evolution has taught us the importance of passive immunity; it’s the reason all mammals, with the exception of humans, can exist at all. This astute conclusion is something my mentor, medical anthropologist Dr. Robert Heinerman taught me. Rather than looking at colostrum as just a substance with a lot of wonderful chemicals in it. Dr. Heinerman gave me a way to view colostrum through the eyes of a sociologist and an anthropologist with all the history of mankind and the origins of the very first mammals.[2]

What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?


The term Leaky Gut Syndrome, or leaky gut identifies an increasingly pervasive health disorder in which the lining of the small intestine is more permeable than it should be and becomes subject to inflammation by various irritants. The abnormally large spaces allow entry of toxic material into the bloodstream that would, in healthier circumstances, be repelled and eliminated. The gut becomes “leaky” in the sense that bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and their toxins, undigested foods such as proteins, nerve and connective tissue, fat and waste normally not absorbed into the bloodstream in the healthy state, pass through a damaged, hyper-permeable, porous or leaky gut. When these foreign substances enter the bloodstream, the immune system goes into reaction mode and begins creating antibodies against its own tissues. Chronic over-stimulation of the immune system leads to chronic inflammation and disease.

All newborn mammals have holes in the stomach and small intestines, by design, so that colostrum can freely enter the bloodstream. Every antibody produced against every pathogen the mother has encountered in her lifetime, and her own mother’s lifetime, is transferred to her offspring. Humans receive some passive immunity in the womb, yet the transfer continues with early and extended breastfeeding. Colostrum also contains the epithelial and epidermal growth factors that close the holes within two days after birth, such that the infant no longer has a leaky gut. Without a doubt, this underscores the importance of breastfeeding, and for me, it was the foundation of my hypothesis that if colostrum can heal leaky gut in a two-day old infant, surely it can do the same for an eighty year old.

To further test my hypothesis, I instituted animal trials with pigs. In a double blind study, we proved that bovine colostrum not only prevented GI damage caused by excess stomach acids, but it healed existing damage. [3] Additionally, the colostrum-fed pigs had a twenty percent increase in the surface area of the small intestine as measured by villi height. This correlated to an improvement in the nutritional absorption of beneficial and critical nutrition. Not only did the pigs growth faster and healthier, they had more lean muscle mass, less fat and there was no need for farmers to use antibiotics. This study was a model for ulcers in humans, and the remarkable results led to the undertaking of human trials. My goal was to pioneer colostrum back into human consumption, and so I needed to introduce colostrum into the research arena with the top GI specialists taking the lead. My call was answered, and Dr. Raymond Playford at the Imperial College School of Medicine in London led his team, first with animal models of NSAID-induced gut damage, and later with humans.[4]^{, [5], [6]} They found that taking colostrum reduced the acute NSAID-induced increase in small intestinal permeability. This research began in the late 1990’s, and interest was high due to increasing use of NSAIDs among arthritis and chronic pain sufferers. Over the next two decades, our research evolved into other areas related to intestinal permeability, most notably utilizing the Proline-rich Polypeptides (PRPs) derived from bovine colostrum to eliminate HIV-associated diarrhea caused by opportunistic infections for which antibiotics had no effect.[7] PRPs are the most powerful modulators of immune response and regulate the cytokine response that causes inflammation in the body. [8]

The Scourge of Pain Medications and Antibiotics


We know that prescription pain medications, not just the OTC variety cause bleeding and holes in the stomach and in the intestinal lining. We know that the risk of death in people taking NSAIDs for more than two months is 1 in 1,200.[9] We also know that abdominal pain is the most common GI symptom that prompts a clinic visit,[10] and in an effort to relieve that pain, physicians prescribe steroids which further exacerbate the destruction of GI tissue. We know that a hundred million people are taking pain medications for extended periods, whether they obtain them through legal or illegal means. That’s half of all adults in the United States, and so I’m confident we can say that a minimum of one-hundred million people have Leaky Gut Syndrome. There’s no consumer warning label on OTC pain relievers that say, extended use causes Leaky Gut Syndrome. Medical schools aren’t teaching physicians about the GI dangers of chronic use of pain medications, so when doctors write a prescription for pain meds, they’re unaware that they’re writing a prescription for Leaky Gut Syndrome. Sadly, it’s a case of a little knowledge being a lot dangerous.

Pain medication is the most utilized drug category in the United States and also the most abused, followed closely by GI drugs. It’s not surprising at all, since the two are interconnected in a vicious cycle of Leaky Gut Syndrome. The first creates the problem, and the second masks and exacerbates the problem. So, what really needs to be done to stop this epidemic is for physicians and medical practitioners to offset the effects of the flawed rational and flawed treatment of the past. The Hippocratic Oath first says, “Do no harm.” How can prescribing drugs that create more harm to the gastrointestinal tract possibly provide no harm?

We also know that nearly eighty percent of all pathogens enter the body through or attached to mucosal surfaces, the largest of which is the gastrointestinal tract. We know that people are bringing infections into hospitals, and others with compromised immune systems are taking them home. We know that many patients are discharged from the hospital sicker than when they entered and often dying later. Approximately 125,000 Americans die annually from hospital-acquired, gut-based infections, of which Clostridium dificile (C. diff.) and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) are the most prevalent and most difficult to treat. I’ve calculated the 125,000 figure based on toxicologist John T. James’ estimate that 440,000 people die annually from hospital infections and medical mistakes,[11] and by taking the couple of states that actually report hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), and extrapolating across the United States. Interestingly, Consumer Reports has been a champion of requiring states and the federal government to make reporting of HAIs a requirement.[12] We’re slowly moving in that direction, but reporting is not readily available to consumers.

Consumers and some physicians are ignorant to the damage that antibiotics cause in the gastrointestinal tract. Prescribing antibiotics for gut-based pathogens creates more problems than it solves; it destroys both good and bad bacteria and leaves the strong and drug-resistant bacteria behind to colonize and exacerbate Leaky Gut Syndrome. The bacterial toxins seep through the permeable gut lining and get into the bloodstream, so what was once a gut infection, now becomes a systemic infection, often with deadly consequences. Leaky gut can also create chronic diarrhea which reduces a patient’s ability to fight infections and depletes the body of essential nutrients and fluids. Similar to what we observe in HIV/AIDS patients, chronic diarrhea leads to a wasting process because the body’s immune system is essentially over-run and unable to do its normal job.

Further complicating the problem is the pervasive use of antibiotics in livestock production, for which there is no justifiable use in healthy animals. The antibiotics enter the food in the animal products we eat and enter water supply from farm run-off and fertilizers applied to crops.[13] Human consumption becomes unintentional and unavoidable. Additionally, with prescription and OTC analgesics being some of the most frequently used drugs, these along with antibiotics, anti-depressants, anti-hypertensives, and others end up in downstream water feeding our local municipalities.[14] Infectious disease experts from the U.S. and around the world agree, “We’ve reached the end of antibiotics, period.” (Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, MD, Associate Director at CDC).[15]

The Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome and the Development of Autoimmune Diseases


Even if everyone was breastfed as infants, poor lifestyle choices can increase intestinal permeability later in life. Extended use of pain medications and repeated courses of antibiotics are the major self-inflicted insults that cause Leaky Gut Syndrome. Other triggers of Leaky Gut Syndrome include parasites, corticosteroids; birth control pills; GMO’s; pesticide-contaminated foods; molds, yeast, and bacteria; an excessive intake of refined sugars, caffeine, alcohol, or food additives; surgery; and a decrease in blood supply to the bowel. Although the damage may not be obvious at first and take many years to develop, the major health consequences outside of GI pathogens are autoimmune diseases. Doctors and patients have been slow to make the connection. As the incidence of Leaky Gut Syndrome increased, the incidence of autoimmune diseases skyrocketed, and patients with Leaky Gut Syndrome frequently have multiple autoimmune diseases. Five to eight percent of Americans has one of eighty autoimmune diseases recognized by the National Institutes of Health.[16] Yet, Leaky Gut Syndrome as a diagnosis remains overlooked. The current standard of care paradigm is to treat the symptoms of disease, not the cause of disease, but reversing this paradigm and healing Leaky Gut Syndrome would prevent, reverse, or delay disease.

Leaky Gut Syndrome is directly associated with many autoimmune diseases including allergies, Alopecia areata, Alzheimer’s disease,[17] autism,[18] Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,[19] Crohn’s disease,[20] depression,[21] diabetes,[22] fibromyalgia, food allergies and sensitivities,[23] heart disease, HIV/AIDS,[24] Irritable Bowel Syndrome,[25] inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, polymyalgia rheumatic, Reynaud’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis,[26] scleroderma, Sjogren’s syndrome, ulcerative colitis,[27] and vasculitis. The connection between Leaky Gut Syndrome and these autoimmune conditions is the antibodies created by the body in response to the toxic substances and undigested fats and proteins that leak into the bloodstream and attach themselves to various tissues throughout the body, create an allergic response, trigger the destruction of tissues and organs, and create inflammation. As toxicity increases, auto antibodies are created and the destruction and inflammation becomes chronic. There is a tipping point at which the body cannot recover from chronic inflammation, and pathological diagnosis follows. The specific type of autoimmune disease that develops depends on the predominant location of the inflammation. When inflammation occurs in a joint, rheumatoid arthritis can develop; in the brain, chronic fatigue syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis) may be the result; in the blood vessels, vasculitis may be the resulting condition; within the gums, periodontal disease can result; or in the lungs, asthma may be triggered. If the antibodies attack the lining of the gut itself, the result may be Irritable Bowel Syndrome, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease. If the bacteria that causes gingivitis enters the bloodstream and attacks the arterial walls, causing inflammation and cholesterol deposition, heart disease and stroke may ensue.

As a secondary consequence, inflammation in the gut damages the body’s ability to produce IgA, and without IgA, pathogens can escape into the bloodstream and infect any part of the body. This leads to an increase in infections, an over-stimulated immune system, and an abundance of pathogens infecting the liver, thereby creating detoxification failure. Eventually, patients suffer from loss of concentration, impaired mental abilities, decreased energy, skin infections and irritations[28], such as hives or acne, as the skin organ attempts to detoxify that which the liver is failing to provide.

Colostrum to the Rescue


The “superbugs” created by decades of antibiotic misuse and our over-reliance and addictions to pain medications need not be our undoing.[29]^{, [30]} Mother Nature’s gift of colostrum is just waiting to be re-discovered. Colostrum was designed to prevent infections originating in the bowel, to close the leaky gut, and to prevent opportunistic infections from taking over and causing or exacerbating Leaky Gut Syndrome. For individuals who already have an autoimmune disease, colostrum is absolutely essential to the healing process. Unless a permeable gut is healed, the body cannot begin to repair the damage caused by inflammation. As healing begins, the amount of toxins dumped into the bloodstream will decline; nutritional uptake will improve; the cells will have better access to the fuel they need to for repair and to replication; organ function will improve; and energy levels will rise.

And unlike the so-called wonder drugs of the pharmaceutical industry, absolutely no harm comes from colostrum.[31] It has no known side effects and has no known interactions with drugs. Colostrum has been proven in both animal and human trials to prevent and heal Leaky Gut Syndrome, and it’s the only substance conclusively proven to provide this kind of result. Food elimination and herbal products can’t do the job because they don’t contain the antibodies, immunoglobulins, and growth factors necessary to heal the gut lining and provide the nutrition and hormones for cell repair, growth and differentiation. According to the Book of Sirach, colostrum is ranked alongside wheat, honey, salt, water, fire and iron as being some of the ancient “necessities of life.”[32] In modern society, bovine colostrum is the “necessity of life” for healing every chronic disease.

Bovine colostrum is effective against a wide range of pathogens, including bacteria[33], viruses,[34] and protozoan parasites,[35] that cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses.[36] Even in the worst case of AIDS, colostrum could eliminate chronic diarrhea so that nutritional uptake was restored and patients could reverse their wasting disease and regain a significant measure of health. If this is any indicator of how well colostrum could work for the occasional tummy bug someone got at the local eatery to the C. diff they picked up in the hospital, then we have cause to celebrate. And with the CDC reporting that two million Americans become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria annually,[37] then practitioners must advocate strongly for colostrum use.

Colostrum’s antimicrobial and antiviral activity is due to its antibodies, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, lysozyme, and other immune factors which bind to pathogens and destroy their cell membranes or compete for binding sites on the intestinal wall.[38]^{, [39]} Initially, many researchers believed that in order for colostrum to be effective against specific diarrhea pathogens, the cows needed to be immunized with those specific pathogens a minimum 24 hours prior to colostrum collection. This was termed hyperimmune colostrum. Later, it was discovered that non-hyperimmune colostrum was equally effective in preventing diarrhea.[40] More good news, and the reason is that cows acquire their immunity from pathogens in the grasses they eat and from the infected people they come in contact with, in addition to all the passive immunity they received from their maternal lineage. This broad spectrum defense is what makes colostrum so beneficial for human use.

High Efficacy Colostrum Supplements Yield Health Benefits


In order for colostrum to be effective, it must contain high levels the active components, and it must be able to reach the cells with no compromise in bioactivity. A phospholipid coating, such as Liposomal Delivery,[41] protects the colostrum from digestion and ensures it can deliver the nutrients, growth factors, and anti-pathogenic action of colostrum to the cells. Raw fresh colostrum has a liposomal surrounding of the active, sensitive molecules and so, we know that this is critical for processed supplements. Only one processing plant in the world has been designed to process colostrum in a way that maintains integrity of the active components and verifies bioactivity and the presence of antibodies prior to distribution to consumers. If a colostrum supplement can’t heal Leaky Gut Syndrome, it’s no better than powdered milk.

I’ve been working with physicians for over two decades in leaky gut and gastrointestinal health with phenomenal results. I’ve had some very significant reports from patients and physicians testifying to remission and restoration of damaged tissue in multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, scleroderma, and Alzheimer’s disease. We believe this to be the result of the healing of Leaky Gut Syndrome and the ability of colostrum’s growth factors to help repair damaged tissue and organs. I recommend physicians put their chronically ill patients -- anyone with allergies, food sensitivities, autoimmune diseases, immune problems, cancer, heart disease, etc. on colostrum as a first mode of treatment. I also suggest a gluten-free diet because gluten coats the villi in the small intestine, thereby trapping any pathogens in the infected area of the bowel. Colostrum can’t destroy the pathogens if it can’t reach them. The bowel needs to be re-seeded with probiotics and again, colostrum is needed for the good bacteria to colonize. If leaky gut was the result of parasites, an anti-parasitic cleanse is necessary, as colostrum does not destroy parasites.

Physicians with gluten-sensitive patients are particularly interested in colostrum. A new report from the Institute for Responsible Technology just came out with a report that confirms what I’ve believed for a long time. GMO foods are linked to Leaky Gut Syndrome and may also trigger or exacerbate gluten-related disorders, including celiac disease.[42] Of the nine GMO food crops grown for human consumption containing high levels of Bt-toxin, corn and corn oil are most widely consumed in the United States and Mexico. The Bt-toxin was designed to puncture holes in insects’ digestive tracts, and studies have demonstrated this in human cells as well.[43] Bt-toxin may be related to Leaky Gut Syndrome, and as a whole, GM foods may be contributing to the rise in gluten sensitivity.

 “Colostrum is the ideal solution for Leaky Gut Syndrome. Its components prevent and heal GI damage. Unless the gut is healed, the body cannot begin the process of repair” (Donald Henderson, MD, MPH, UCLA Professor of Medicine).³⁰ If you heal the gut, stop the crossover of toxins, and detoxify the body, then you’re going to see a starting point from which you can begin eliminating multiple symptoms and begin narrowing down a process and a pathway to wellness. Recommended dosing is one teaspoon colostrum mixed with water on an empty stomach thirty minutes before meals and before bedtime. Results are typically achieved within thirty days, and regular use is required to maintain benefits.

Common practice dictates that practitioners perform allergy/food sensitivity tests and recommend a food elimination program to heal leaky gut. Foods are not the cause of leaky gut. They’re the symptom of leaky gut. That is the proof that leaky gut exists, and I believe that every patient who walks through your door with a chronic disease complaint has Leaky Gut Syndrome. If you haven’t put colostrum into your practice, or you if have put colostrum in your practice before and you didn’t get results, you really need to take a look at the fact that not all colostrum on the market is equal. Not all colostrum is processed to ensure the bioactivity of the beneficial components. And if they’re not bioactive, they’re not going to provide the kind of results I’m talking about in this article.

Conclusion


Often misunderstood and nearly always undiagnosed, Leaky Gut Syndrome has become an epidemic in modern times, as evidenced by the epidemic of allergies and chronic diseases. The more public attention given to the overuse and abuse of pain medications and antibiotics is sure to drive home the message that physicians need a paradigm shift in treatment of chronically ill patients. When Hippocrates said that all disease begins in the gut, he was way ahead of his time. After two-thousand years, we are just beginning to understand and accept this premise in modern medicine. If we understand and appreciate colostrum for the true gift it is, we can utilize it for the healing and prevention of gastrointestinal distress and therefore, chronic toxicity and in doing so, we will dramatically increase quality of life and reduce unnecessary death and disability.

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[1] Foreman J. Why Women Are Living in the Discomfort Zone. The Wall Street Journal. January 31, 2014.

[2] Heinerman J. Fascinating Colostrum: An Ancient Food for Modern Times. Accessed at http://www.icnr.org/blog/13-home-page/43-fascinating-colostrum-an-ancient-food-for-modern-times on January 31, 2014.

[3] Borissenko M. Malaysia Colostrum Piglet Clinical Trial. Unpublished Research. October 2004.

[4] Playford RJ, et al. Bovine colostrum is a health food supplement which prevents NSAID induced gut damage. Gut. 1999;44:653-658.

[5] Playford RJ, et al. Co-administration of the health food supplement, bovine colostrum, reduces the acute non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced increase in intestinal permeability. Clinical Science (London). 2001 Jun;100(6):627-33.

[6] Playford RJ, et al. Colostrum and milk-derived peptide growth factors for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 200;72:5-14.

[7] Floren CH, et al. ColoPlus, a new product based on bovine colostrum, alleviates HIV-associated diarrhea. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. 2006;41(6):682-686.

[8] Keech AM. Peptide Immunotherapy – Colostrum: A Physicians Reference Guide. AKS Publishing, 2010.

[9] Tramèr MR, et al. Quantitative estimation of rare adverse events which follow a biological progression: a new model applied to chronic NSAID use. Pain. 2000 Mar; 85(1-2):169-82.

[10] Peery AF, et al. Burden of Gastrointestinal Disease in the United States: 2012 Update. Gastroenterology.  2012;143(5):1179-1187.

[11] James JT. A New, Evidence-based Estimate of Patient Harms Associated with Hospital Care. Journal of Patient Safety. 2013;9(3):122-128.

[12] Deadly Infections: How good is your hospital at preventing them? Consumer Reports. June 2011. Accessed at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/deadly-infections/index.htm on February 10, 2014.

[13] Casey JA, et al. High-density livestock operations, crop field application of manure, and risk of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in Pennsylvania. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2013 Nov 25;173(21):1980-90.

[14] Kostich MS. Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals in effluents from 50 large wastewater treatment plants in the US and implications for risk estimation. Environmental Pollution. 2014 Jan;184:354-9.

[15] Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria: PBS Frontline interview with Dr. Arjun Srinivasan. June 28, 2013.

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GMO Dumped by Europe "Shills Support GMO".

GMO: Why has this Common Food Been Dumped in Europe... Yet, is Still Rampant in the US?

May 29, 2010 | 262,917 views

Mercola

·         Spread the Word to
FA group of conventional physicians who are strongly aligned with the pharmaceutical paradigm have called themselves the “skeptics”. They also have a few journalists in their camp. Michael Spector is one of these journalists. If you have any appreciation of natural medicine you will have a very good laugh by watching his entire presentation at a recent TED conference.

If you want further entertainment then listen to my interview with Jeffery Smith in which he decimates Michael’s ignorant comments on GMO.

Jeffrey Smith, the premiere GMO expert and author of the bestseller Seeds of Deception, and Genetic Roulette, exposes the flimsy rationale, and the complete lack of evidence that tries to pass as “science” when it comes to defending genetic engineering.

Science can, and has, given us answers to the question: “Are genetically modified foods safe?”

But those answers are NOT what industry is reporting, and the reason is simple. If they were, genetically engineered crops would never be allowed to be planted, and GM foods would be banned worldwide.

Smith sheds light on how the deception is perpetrated, and counters the critics' claims that “GMOs are safe” with science-based evidence.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

There are a number of people who object to the information I’m sharing on the internet. Some have a direct vested conflict of interest that explains their behavior, but there is also a large group of people who seek to use science or the scientific method as justification that many of the principles we advocate and instruct you to apply in your life are incorrect.

One of the more prominent media proponents that try to debunk what I teach is an individual named Michael Specter.

He’s the author of a book called Denialism and is a journalist for the New York Times. He recently gave a lecture at a TED conference, criticizing those who would dare to question, among other items, the science of vaccines or genetically modified foods.

He goes so far as classifying those of us who seek to alert the public to the potential dangers inherent with vaccines and GMOs as “endangering public health.”

It is my position that actually the converse is true, and that clear, independent, scientific evidence exists to back up our claims. Those of us who are concerned about the safety of vaccines and GMOs are absolutely committed to the scientific method.

Science does work. The challenge with science that many people fail to appreciate is that it has become progressively easier for many well funded multinational corporations to manipulate and distort the entire process to make it appear as though science is applied, when in fact it’s only superficially being implemented due to massive conflict of interest.

In recent times we’ve seen researchers being exposed for creating entirely fraudulent research; studies are ghostwritten and researchers are paid to put their names on work they’ve had no part in; journalists are paid to write articles that are nothing more than thinly disguised advertising, and the list of scientific deception goes on.

All of this deceptive maneuvering gives industry the appearance of being science based, when in fact they’re oftentimes far from it.

Of course this creates confusion. How could it not?

But there is a simple, rational solution. And that is to pay attention to the source of the funding, for one, and to pay special heed to research that comes from independent sources that have no vested interest in manipulating the end results.

When you do, you’ll find that there is no shortage of scientific based evidence showing a wide variety of hazards that are currently being ignored and glossed over with, in many cases, completely nonsensical PR sound bytes.

Jeffrey Smith is clearly one of the leading experts on genetically modified foods in the world, and his not-for-profit organization ResponsibleTechnology.org has amassed an ever growing number of studies illustrating the grave dangers inherent with GMOs.

Avoiding a Problem Doesn’t Prove It’s Not There – How Industry Manipulates Scientific Results to Justify “Safety”

“These guys have gotten bad science down to a science. They are expert at figuring out ways to avoid finding the problems,” Smith says.

“When genetically modified bovine growth hormone was being tested, one disgruntled FDA employee evidently stole the documents and made them public. 

They showed that when Monsanto’s researchers wanted to prove that the [rBGH] injections did not interfere with the cow’s fertility, they secretly introduced cows to the study that were already pregnant before they were ever injected.

And when they wanted to show that the pasteurization process destroys the hormone that’s increased in the milk supply, they pasteurized the milk 120 times longer than normal. That destroyed 19 percent of the hormones.

So they doused the milk with 147 times the amount of the naturally existing hormone, and heated the milk 120 times longer than normal. Under those bizarre circumstances, they were able to destroy 90 percent of the rBGH hormone, and that’s what the FDA reported – that pasteurization destroys 90 percent of the hormone. “

Essentially, the entire scientific method was bastardized and rigged, and used as an incredibly deceptive, yet effective, mechanism to convince people that rBGH was safe.

“In fact, I talked to a former Monsanto scientist who said he was aware that colleagues had fed genetically modified corn to certain rodents and came up with problems,” Smith says. “But instead of pulling the corn off the market or withdrawing the application, they rewrote the study to hide the incidence of the problems.

He also said that three of his colleagues who were doing safety studies on Monsanto’s genetically modified bovine growth hormone stopped drinking milk after they saw the changes in the milk.”

Michael Specter, like so many others, are simply repeatedly parroting the same fabrications despite the fact that the dangers of GMOs are now well documented.

If You Believe in Science-Based Evidence, then You Must Follow Wherever it Leads 

Even the FDAs own scientists have stated that GMOs can lead to allergies, nutritional problems, the creation of toxins and new diseases and should require long term safety studies.

But they too were simply ignored.

Smith recounts a story about a South African pro-GM advocate who claimed that even the National Academy of Sciences in the US had determined that GMOs are “absolutely risk free.”

“So I called the National Academy of Sciences of the United States and I spoke to the person in charge of the biotech division,” Smith says, “And she laughed and said, “If we didn’t think there was any extra risk, why would we have released two reports on it?”

She completely dismissed his statement and said it sounded like someone from the biotech industry organization in the United States, although it was their counterpart in South Africa.

So what we have, actually, is a system of denial, distortion, and deadly dangers that are being ignored.”

What you must understand is that much of today’s scientific research is no longer performed through public funding, as it were in the pre-Reagan days, but rather by the industry itself.

This phenomenon explains why “science-based evidence” can no longer be taken at face value, but must first be vetted by looking at who paid the bill, and what sort of results might the one holding the purse strings be looking for. In the case of GMOs, the biotech industry surely is NOT looking for problems.

Fortunately for you, others are, and they’re doing their best to warn you.

Just last year the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) reviewed the available research and issued amemorandum recommending that all doctors prescribe non-GMO diets to all patients because they are causally linked in animal feeding studies to:

·         Infertility

·         Immune system problems

·         Gastrointestinal problems

·         Organ damage

·         Dysfunctional regulation of cholesterol and insulin

·         Accelerated aging

They came to this conclusion and issued this recommendation based on scientific evidence, not on individuals who are trying to deny or hide the fact that problems exist.

The AAEM is the same organization that identified the Gulf War syndrome, chemical sensitivity and food allergies, and about a dozen other environmental health threats. They are on the frontlines, and the organization is designed to look for and investigate the sources causing health problems in the United States.

These are the types of organizations you might want to listen to, as opposed to the Specter’s of the world, who offer little or no actual data to back up their opinions.

 Specter’s book, for example, provides very little of the scientific evidence he claims you should listen to, and he completely ignores some of the most importantstudies to date, which, coincidentally, show that his arguments are 100 percent incorrect.

Are GM Crops Just a Newer Version of Selective Breeding?

In order to justify the use of genetically modified foods, many will try to use the argument that we have been essentially genetically modifying our foods for thousands of years, through selective breeding of both plants and animals. In essence, they want you to believe genetic engineering is just an improved version of natural selection.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

“This is really a maddening intentional distortion,” Smith says.

“A Noble laureate said years ago that we should not mistake selective breeding with genetic engineering, because genetic engineering basically creates new organisms overnight that don’t have the benefit of the billions of years of evolution.

Even FDA scientists said in a memo that it is the opinion of the technical experts at the agency that genetic engineering is different, and leads to different risks from traditional breeding.”

Genetic engineering involves taking genes from various species of plants and animals, putting them into gene guns, and blasting millions of genes into a plate of millions of cells, and then cloning the result into a plant.

This can cause hundreds or thousands of mutations up and down the DNA chain. Genes can be switched off, switched on permanently, or change their levels of expression – at random.

“Up to 5 percent of the existing natural genes in the plant can change their levels of expression when a single new gene is introduced. In other words, there is a holistic, not well understood response, plant-wide, throughout the entire genome, where maybe hundreds or thousands of genes change their activity when a newcomer is inserted into the DNA,” Smith explains.

“So this is totally new, totally different.

On top of that, you’re throwing in antibiotic resistant marker genes that are part of the process that might yield antibiotic resistant diseases. This was a major concern by FDA scientists from the British Medical Association.

They’re throwing in viruses, viral promoters, which switch on genes at random. They could switch on genes that already exist in the plant or possibly transfer to our own gut bacteria or maybe our own cells, and switch on genes at random, permanently.

So to me that is an easy argument to overcome simply based on the science itself.”

Further Educational Material…

The angles discussed above are not the only ones Jeffrey Smith delves into in this interview, so for more, please listen to it in its entirety, or read through the transcript.

For example, there’s the assertion that GMOs are necessary for feeding the world and the key to ending hunger. Here too, critics like Michael Specter miss their mark, and Smith explains why.

Lastly, I urge you to take the steps necessary to help eradicate GMOs from the US food supply. It will not happen through government intervention. It can only be accomplished once enough people realize that what they’re eating is a public science experiment gone wild, without any checks or balances whatsoever.

The good news, however, is that you, as an ordinary citizen, have the power to incite change, by steering the market demand toward non-GMO crops and foods. Every time you choose to buy a non-GMO product over a product that contains GM ingredients, you are making a dent in this problem.

So take advantage of local sources of organic foods as often as you can. You can also avoid GM foods by:

·         Reducing or Eliminating Processed Foods. Some 75 percent of processed foods contain GM ingredients. Use the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, available for free at www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com.

·         Read produce and food labels. When looking at a product label, if any ingredients such as corn flour and meal, dextrin, starch, soy sauce, margarine, and tofu (to name a few) are listed, there's a good chance it has come from GM corn or soy, unless it bears the USDA organic seal.

·         Buy organic produce. Buying organic is currently the best way to ensure that your food has not been genetically modified.

To learn more about the health dangers of GMOs, and other tips for what you can do to help end the genetic engineering of our food supply, please visit www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.