Sunday, July 31, 2005

The Love Bean weekend

Ricky's away!

Raspberry Cocao shake

400ml Homemade Almond milk
16 raspberries
2 tbs freshly powdered cocao bean pieces (Nibs)
1.5 tbs Agave nectar
5 capsules of Maca (opened and emptied into the drink)
1/4 tsp Ginseng powder
2 tbs Coconut oil
4 drops absolute Vanilla (or use vanilla extract, but a larger quantity)
Pinch of Himalayan salt

Blend all ingredients well in a blender. Put in the freezer for at least an hour to make it a refreshing summer cold. Serves 1. Inspired by Naked Chocolate

Making Composition Powder
Powder of bayberry bark (myrica cer.) 4 ounces
Powder of ginger (zingiberis) 2 ounces
Powder of white pine bark (pinus canad.) 1 ounce
Powder of cloves (caryophylum) 1 teaspoon
Powder of cayenne pepper (capsicum) 1 teaspoon

Chest Comfort: Dr. Christopher's Herbal Composition Power: As Dr. Nowell, our instructor at the Dominion Herbal College, Let. of Vancouver, British Columbia gave in our textbook, quote: "We have made and used composition powder for over forty years. When we state we regularly mixed it in batches of sixty pounds the student will readily see that we have had at least some experience with it. As a helpful formula for colds, beginning of fevers, flu, hoarseness, sluggish circulation, colic, cramps, etc. We believe it has done more good than any other single preparation ever known to man." [HHH p.189]

I'm making it as part of a gut healing program. I'm using pine gem powder instead of the bark however.

And see the whole discourse: Michael Tierra's
Treating the Common Cold
I think his Herbal uprising powder looks even better for my gut healing goal, so next I'll make that!

Bonding with Harry Potter - the whole series!


Aspartame update (Guest Betty Martini)

Spirulina and Chlorella

Light Emerging

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Pining for La Indita

Recipe: Pining for La Indita

1/2 yellow onion
1/2 pointy, mild, red pepper
1/3 yellow sweet pepper
2 large garlic cloves
large dash of tumeric
large dash of oregano
dash of sea salt
dash of cayenne pepper
About 2 cups cooked pinto beans with cooking water
About 2 cups of cooked whole grain basmati rice
Arugula, chopped coarse
large grain sea salt to taste
olive oil to taste
nutritional yeast

Sauté the yellow onion and oregano in olive oil for a few minutes.
Add the chopped red and yellow peppers, turmeric and one chopped garlic clove. Sauté until the peppers are soft. Add the rice and beans plus cooking water from the beans until the mixture is soupy. Add the last chopped garlic clove and the cayenne and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes and allow to sit 10 minutes in the hot pan with the heat off. Pour the portions into serving bowls, cover the top with fresh chopped arugula, drizzles of olive oil to taste, nutritional yeast and a sprinkle of large grained sea salt to taste.

Eat with corn chips, tortilla or just a spoon!

A nice space



Some very nice things going on within the past few days. Wonderful dinner and company with a friend the other night. That same day 2 of my clients had great breakthroughs, and 3 kittens showed up to our studio at 2am. Next day we found out they already have a home. But they left me pondering, because the 2 males were suckling on their sister, and she was also suckling on herself!! They're about 3 months old from the looks of them.

We returned them to their home yesterday, which is right across the street, but I saw the female and one of her brothers jaunting around last night before I went to bed. Wish I could explain how cars, streets and crossing them works...

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Crumbs on the path

In this realm a bursting heart is not enough.

The explosion must make itself known to those it wishes to touch.

The explosion must move from the realm of the heart through the realm of the material and back to the receiving heart.

It's a blessing and a thrill to experience the explosion of the heart, but a skill to share it. With humans.

Or is it a skill?

It has come so easily before. What is the difference? More mud on the windshield? Filtering what comes out and what returns in? That's why it's so easy with animals? No mud.

It seemed so easy at one time. But, still I was missing something then. I doubt it's as simple as being with humans as with animals and earth.

It's a problem.

Then there are so many who have muddy windshields on the other side.

It's a multi-faceted problem. Best to work on clearing my own windshield first, then ponder the rest, me thinks.

Notes stop there, but theme continues.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Colon Plaque - Mucoid Plaque

by Dr. Richard Anderson, N.D., N.M.D

The phrase, “mucoid plaque,” is a coined term that I use to describe various conditions found throughout the body, especially in hollow organs and the alimentary canal. It is a substance that the body naturally creates under unnatural conditions, such as attack from acids, drugs, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals. I have always attempted to make it clear that the “Mucoid Plaque” found in the bowel is not equivalent to the natural healthy gastric and intestinal mucosa. The natural mucosa serves as a necessary buffer for the gastrointestinal wall and as a lubricant for intestinal motility. “Mucoid plaque” of any description is unnatural and is found only after the body has moved towards diseased states. Medical science has many words to describe each of these conditions, but to my knowledge, there are no effective terms that describe them under one category.

Therefore, out of necessity, I constructed the term “mucoid plaque”.Other authors have used other terms such as “Mucoid matter,” “mucoid material,” “mucoid,”1 and “Surface mucin.” Generally, mucoid plaque is composed of mucin.2 However, there are many other substances that may be involved with mucin, such as lymph, fecal matter, and various types of proteins, etc. Mucoid is a general term for a mucin, mucoprotein, or glycoprotein, which usually composes the largest portion of what is found in the bowel. Choice of the word “plaque” is based on Webster’s concept; a film consisting of mucus, etc. Mucins or glycoproteins are produced and secreted from salivary glands, the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine, gall bladder and pancreatic ducts.3 Mucus glycoproteins (mucins) are produced and secreted from salivary glands, the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, as well as the gall bladder and pancreatic ducts.4

The medical terms that most adequately describe mucoid plaque are mucoviscidosis, intestinal mucin, and surface mucin. The medical definition of mucoviscidosis5 describes an advanced condition that, in my opinion, adequately supports my explanations of mucoid plaque.. Intestinal mucins are highly glycosylated molecules and consist of core protein (apomucin) joined to oligosaccharides. Six biochemically distinct mucin glycoproteins have been identified. Intestinal mucin is designed to protect the intestine under extreme conditions. However, abnormal build-ups of mucin have been identified with pathogenic bacteria and bowel disease.6(Some medical authors use the term “surface mucin” to describe this defense system of mucus secretion and bicarbonate intended to protect the bowel.)7 The main function of mucus is to serve as a protective barrier from acid and enzymes, as well as ingested potentially-toxic substances (e.g., alcohol, aspirin, other drugs, sodium chloride, etc.).8 Mucin is soluble in alkaline water, and is precipitated by acids.9 In other words, acids stimulate mucus secretion when the body is unable to adequately buffer those acids with electrolytes. I have been able to show that stress and eating acid-forming foods drains the body’s electrolyte reserves. Therefore, stress and eating acid-forming foods may cause the body to lose its acid- buffering efficiency, which contributes towards the stimulation of unnatural mucus secretion.

As I said above, I have always attempted to make it clear that the “Mucoid Plaque” found in the bowel is not equivalent to the natural healthy gastric and intestinal mucosa. This natural, normal and healthy mucosa contains large volumes of alkaline buffering agents that protect the bowel wall from invasions of acids and toxins. As long as we maintain the proper electrolyte reserves and we haven’t taken anything to destroy this important protection, we then have the use of it. However, most Americans, and especially carnivorous and milk-drinking Americans, have lost this valuable pH. Not only that, but our ingestion of harmful poisons such as drugs, alcohol, sodium chloride, etc., deals consistently hard blows to our digestive protective mechanisms. However, many doctors are unaware that there are two kinds of mucus barriers in the gut. There is the normal intestinal mucosa, and the “pH-mucus barrier” that I call mucoid plaque, which overlies the normal mucosa. Figure 6.32 in West’s book reveals that when the luminal pH is acidic, the pH adjacent to the epithelial cell membrane is near neutral due to epithelial bicarbonate production and the presence of the pH-mucus layer (mucoid plaque) that overlies the gastroduodenal mucosa.10

Although most medical doctors are unaware of the concept of mucoid plaque, there are numerous comments throughout medical literature that refer to it. For an example in the book “Human Colonic Bacteria”, Edited by Glenn R. Gibson Ph.D. and George T. Macfarlane Ph.D., on page 184, the following statement was made which obviously referred to mucoid plaque: “Other bacteria such as E. Coli can also be found completely separated from luminal contents by a layer of mucin.”

As I indicated above, acids stimulate mucin secretion. Drs. Gibson and Macfarlane support this fact in the following statement. “In areas of the intestine where the morphological impact of gastritis is at its most severe, there is an increased mucin content, synthesis, and secretion.”11

One question many people ask about is just how thick can mucoid plaque accumulate? It has been shown that the thickness of mucus gel in the stomach varies from 50 to 500 (mole%)12, and in the colon from 16 to 150.13 It should be obvious that there are extremes here; up to ten times. This is very significant in terms of my theories of mucoid plaque.

Medical Terms Describing Mucoid Plaque

There are more than 45 different medical terms that describe varying aspects of the phenomenon I refer to as mucoid plaque. I have included the following list to show that “mucoid plaque,” in one form or another, does exist.

Adaptive Hypertrophy - Thickening of the walls of a hollow organ, like the urinary bladder, where there is obstruction to outflow. Yes, mucoid plaque can be anywhere in the body.

Amyloid - Any of a group of chemically diverse proteins that appear microscopically homogeneous, but are composed of linear nonbranching aggregated fibrils arranged in sheets when seen under the electron microscope. Occurs characteristically as pathologic extracellular deposits.

Amyloidosis - A disease characterized by extracellular accumulation of amyloid in various organs and tissues of the body.

Cystic papillomatous craniopharyngioma - a form of craniopharyngioma characterized by large cysts within which are fungating, irregular outgrowths of stratified squamous epithelium.

Gastric metaplasia - See metaplasia. Gastric metaplasia is formed from acids.14

Giant Hypertrophy - Of gastric mucosa, as in Menetrier’s disease.

Hyperplasia - An increase in number of cells in a tissue or organ, excluding tumor formation, whereby the bulk of the part or organ may be increased.

Hypertrophy; Hypertrophia - General increase in bulk of a part or organ, not due to tumor formation.

Intestinal Lymph; angiectasia - Intestinal lymphangiectasia - Swelling as a result of obstruction of lymphatic vessels or lymph nodes and the accumulation of large amounts of lymph in the affected regions.15 Loops of small intestine with prominent pale lymphatics apparent on serosa16 surface in a patient with Intestinal Lymphangiectasia. This disorder may be primary or secondary to blockages of the lymphatic drainage of the small bowel.

Intestinal Metaplasia - The transformation of mucosa, particularly in the stomach, into glandular mucosa resembling that of the intestines, although usually lacking villi.

Hyperplastic polyp - Of the large bowel, showing lengthening and cystic dilation of mucosal glands

Juvenile polyp - A smoothly-rounded mucosal hamartoma17 of the large bowel, which may be multiple and cause rectal bleeding

Malacoplakia - Most often found in the urinary bladder; however, it has also been described in other sites, such as intestines, brain, and skin. Gastrointestinal malacoplakia is most often found in the colon. It is usually polypoid. Endoscopically, three forms have been recognized: 1. Focal legion, 2. Ubiquitous mucosal legions, and 3. Large Mass. Associated with fermentative bacteria, particularly E. Coli.

Mucin - Intestinal mucins are highly glycosylated molecules and consist of core protein (apomucin) joined to oligosaccharides. Six biochemically distinct mucin glycoproteins have been identified. Intestinal mucin protects the intestine by three identified mechanisms. Abnormalities of mucin have been identified with pathogenic bacteria and bowel disease.18

Mucous polyp - An adenomatous polyp in which conspicuous amounts of mucin19 are formed.

Polypus20 - A general descriptive term used with reference to any mass of tissue that bulges or projects outward or upward from the normal surface level.

Squamous Metaplasia - Epidermalization: the transformation of glandular or mucosal epithelium into stratified21 squamous22 epithelium.

Surface mucous or surface mucin - cells lining the gastric surface; a glycoprotein product at the apical end of each cell is secreted and forms a mucous protective film.

Villous Adenoma - Of the large intestine; usually a solitary, sessile,23 often large tumor of colonic mucosa composed of mucinous epithelium covering delicate vascular projections; hypersection and malignant change occur frequently.

Medical Facts Supporting Mucoid Plaque Theory

It is a well-known medical fact that acids induce physiological responses.24 Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton,25 describes the various buffer systems to protect the body against acids. Textbook of Gastroenterology by Yamada and Clinical Gastroenterology by Spiro, describe the damages caused when bile becomes unnaturally acid. It has been shown by these authors that cancer of the bowel is often associated with bile acids. Mucin and mucus are natural protective liquids that are excreted by the mucous cells, globlet cells and crypts of Lieberkuhn throughout the stomach and intestines to help protect the delicate mucosal membranes from acids and toxins. Guyton explains that: “Even the slightest irritation of the mucosa directly stimulates the mucous cells to secrete copious quantities of this thick, viscid mucus. This in turn forms a gastric barrier that prevents the digestion of the gastric wall and also greatly reduces the absorption of substances by the gastric mucosa.”26

Another well known fact is that 90% of the ulcers that develop in the human body are found in the duodenum. This occurs primarily in an area of the duodenum where the Brunner’s glands are located. Normally, the Brunner’s glands secrete large amounts of mucus, which naturally protects the body from the acids. Ulcers develop only after the body has lost its ability to create alkaline mucus. My point is that acids can severely damage the gastrointestinal tract, and the normal method of defense is to create mucus.

As indicated above, various bowel diseases occur after the bile has become too acid. Bile is created by the liver and flows to the gall bladder. All the bile that flows from the liver to the gall bladder has a pH from 7.6 - 8.6.27 But after the bile leaves the gall bladder, it can become very acid, even as low as 4.5.28 Many people, in fact, most people, are rapidly moving towards disease states and one of the steps towards disease occurs when they have lost the ability to maintain alkaline bile, and acid bile develops. Under these conditions, the body is forced to secrete abnormal amounts of mucus to protect itself from the acid. This mucus is composed of glycoprotein.29

Even though I have shown through medical textbooks that mucoid plaque is a normal by-product of unnatural acid stimulation, it would mean very little if we could not demonstrate its existence by removing it from the bowels. We can show from hundreds of testimonies that the elimination of that which we call mucoid plaque is common among those who have used our cleansing program.

At least 90% of the people who use our program have improved their health, increased their energy, and eliminated a large spectrum of disease conditions. This would seem to indicate that the elimination of the substance called mucoid plaque, and the general cleansing that takes place with our cleansing program, removes a debilitating level of toxicity closely associated with loss of vitality and chronic disease. Countless written testimonies and verbal statements of people who have done the cleanse reveal strong evidence of the value and validity of this program.

Medical scientists have clearly stated that they do not have all the answers. There is a great deal of guessing, and concepts and facts are in a constant state of change. Most medical scientists avoid the word normal, because the word “normal” implies that they know what is normal and what is not. The truth is they really do not know.30 I have developed a system of cleansing the bowel that has assisted thousands of people in achieving better health. For many years, I have attempted to find out what the anatomical, physiological and chemical reasons for our success are. I believe that I have been able to successfully fill certain gaps in the field of Gastroenterology. Although some of my concepts appear to be new and challenging to the average medical doctor, most of them are not new and make a great deal of sense. I will now show how medical science supports our theories, even though they have yet to realize it Indeed, most of my research has been involved with the highest and most up-to-date medical research available.

The aforementioned doctors have indicated that a toxic bowel and/or mucoid plaque can be a precursor for bowel disease. I have pointed out that mucin is associated with mucoid plaque and disease. It has been shown that most adenocarcinomas secrete a small or moderate amount of mucin. 10 to 20% of tumors may be described as mucinous or colloid carcinomas on the basis of a more prodigious production of mucin. It has also been shown that these mucinous tumors of the bowel are associated with a poorer survival rate than nonmucinous tumors.31

With colon cancer, it has been shown that the colonic epithelium immediately adjacent to a colon cancer is thicker than normal. There is consideration that mucins affecting the mucosa was a field of premalignant tissue from which tumors arise. It is an agreed upon medical concept that mucinogenic mucosa can be a transitional state that may develop into a more diseased condition in response to adjacent tumor or other pathologic condition.32

I previously stated that bile acids can stimulate mucosal and cell proliferation and that the main reason that bile becomes too acid is related to dietary ingestion of acid-forming foods. Yamada has supported these concepts clearly, especially in relation to fats.33

With Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), mucus discharge upon defecation has been reported in approximately 50% of IBS patients. This supports my point that bowel irritation causes mucus to be secreted into the bowel as normal activity under stressful conditions. It is not uncommon for mucus to accumulate in any area of the body, such as the gall bladder, arteries, urinary bladder, bronchials, etc.

Constipation is associated with bowel problems. It is also associated with a poor diet34 _ the same acid-forming diet that creates the conditions that force the bowel to defend itself against acids and toxins, by creating the protective mucus. Constipation is common in the majority of IBS patients.35

Between page 616 and 617 of Clinical Gastroenterology, there are several color photos revealing mucoid plaque. (See plates: 22 - 29, 31, 35, 37 - 40, 46 - 48, 62 - 66, 68 - 70, etc.) The normal colon is composed of a series of folds, saccules or pouches called haustra. In a healthy colon, they would be quite visible, and blood vessels should also be easily visible. Between pages 557 and 561 of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, there are several endoscopy plates showing the inside of the colon. Note that there are no blood vessels visible and the haustra saccules are barely visible and sometimes not visible at all. This indicates exceptionally thick mucoid plaque. Plate 26.7 and 26.15 indicates the blood vessels and haustra. The other remaining pictures reveal various forms of mucoid plaque.36

Still most modern medical doctors are not familiar with the concept that mucoid plaque, as in mucin, is a potential health threat. It is a subject that most doctors have never thought of, and when it is described to them, they are usually confused. However, some gastroenterologists are aware of this condition. Abnormalities in colonic mucin glycoprotein are considered a potential subclinical marker for ulcerative colitis and possible other bowel diseases.37

I have also stated that bacteria and parasites are protected by the mucoid plaque. Drs.Gibson and Macfarlane verified that this is true. They gave an example that E. Coli can be found completely separated from luminal contents by a layer of mucin (mucoid plaque).38

Doctors of Great Success Treated the Bowel

Doctor Bernard Jensen, DC, ND, Ph.D., made the following statement: “In the 50 years I’ve spent helping people to overcome illness, disability and disease, it has become crystal clear that poor bowel management lies at the root of most people’s health problems.39 Dr. Bernard Jensen studied with many very successful doctors throughout the United States and Europe. He then built his own sanitarium and practiced with an open mind for over 50 years. His fame has traveled all over the world. He was even nominated for the Nobel Prize.

On page 23 of his book, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management, he describes mucoid plaque. “The heavy mucus coating in the colon thickens and becomes a host of putrefaction. The blood capillaries to the colon begin to pick up the toxins, poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. All tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. Here is the beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological level.” On page 27, he reveals his experience in this matter. “ One autopsy revealed a colon to be 9 inches in diameter with a passage through it no larger than a pencil. The rest was caked up layer upon layer of encrusted fecal material. This accumulation can have the consistency of truck tire rubber. It’s that hard and black. Another autopsy revealed a stagnant colon to weigh in at an incredible 40 pounds. Imagine carrying around all that morbid accumulated waste.” On page 42, Dr. Jensen talks about his old teacher Dr. John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, who “maintained that 90% of the diseases of civilization are due to improper functioning of the colon.” On page 43, Dr. Jensen explains that National College in Chicago performed over 300 autopsies. “According to the history of these persons, 285 had claimed they were not constipated and had normal movements and only 15 had admitted they were constipated. The autopsies showed the opposite to be the case, however, and only 15 were found not to have been constipated, while 285 were found to have been constipated. Some of the histories of these 285 persons stated they had had as many as 5 or 6 bowel movements daily, yet autopsies revealed that in some of them the bowel was 12 inches in diameter. The bowel walls were encrusted with material (in one case peanuts which had been lodged there for a very long time).” On page 62, Dr. Jensen explains: “As we work with eliminating the encrusted mucus lining, we must also consider nourishing the new cells below it.” On page 67 Dr. Jensen suggests: “Bowel cleansing is an essential element in any lasting healing program. The toxic waste must be removed as quickly as possible to halt the downward spiral of failing health. This is best done by 1. Removing accumulated fecal material from the bowel; 2....

After listening to several of Dr. Jensen’s patients who used his program, and after seeing what bowel cleansing did for me and the thousands of people who did my program, I learned that Dr. Jensen knew what he was talking about

Doctors who have achieved fame for their exceptional cure rates always took care of the alimentary canal. Dr. William Koch, Dr. Eugene Blass, Dr. John Kellogg of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, Sir Arbuthnot Lane (surgeon for the King of England), Dr. Bernard Jensen, and Dr. J.H. Tilden are some of the exceptional individuals who used this knowledge

In the early 1900’s, Dr. J.H. Tilden of Denver, Colorado, specialized in healing pneumonia, which was at that time the number one killer. During that time almost every doctor lost hundreds of his patients to that deadly plague. Dr. Tilden had more pneumonia cases than any other doctor and he never lost a patient. He used no drugs at all. He simply cleaned out the colon (using enemas and colonics), used water therapy, and administered natural, live foods.40 Even in those days, his success was considered miraculous because other doctors were relying on drugs and continually meeting with failure

Sir Arbuthnot Lane MS, FRCS, surgeon for the King of England, made the following statement: “There is but one disease and that is deficient drainage.”41 Dr. Lane spent many years specializing in bowel problems. He was an expert in removing sections of the bowel and stitching it back together. He taught this work to other doctors and gained an international reputation for his efficiency. During the years of this work, he began to notice a peculiar phenomenon. During the course of recovery from colonic surgery, some of his patients experienced remarkable cures of diseases that had no apparent connection with his surgery. For instance, a young boy who had had arthritis for many years was in a wheelchair at the time of surgery. Six months later, this boy had recovered entirely from arthritis. Another case involved a woman with a goiter. When a specific section of the bowel was removed in surgery, there ensued a definite remission of the goiter within six months. These and similar experiences impressed him deeply, as he saw the relationship between the toxic bowel and the functioning of various organs in the body. After much thought about this relationship, he became very interested in changing the bowel through dietetic methods and spent the last 25 years of his life teaching people how to care for the bowel through cleansing and nutrition, and not surgery. Sir Lane said, “All maladies are due to the lack of certain food principles, such as mineral salts or vitamins, or to the absence of the normal defenses of the body, such as the natural protective flora.42 When this occurs, toxic bacteria invade the lower alimentary canal. The poisons thus generated pollute the bloodstream , causing every tissue, gland, and organ of the body to gradually deteriorate and be destroyed.43Lane made the statement that arthritis could not develop in the absence of intestinal toxemia, that there is clinical and x-ray evidence of stasis44 in such patients, and that the symptoms disappear and patients recover sometimes with startling rapidity when the condition of stasis has been effectively dealt with. Sir Lane reports a connection between intestinal toxemia and “several changes in the thyroid” such as “adenomatous growths.” He also made this statement to the staff of John Hopkins Hospital and Medical College, “Gentlemen, I will never die of cancer. I am taking measures to prevent it. It is caused by poisons created in our bodies by the food we eat....

Dr. Harvey Kellogg, M.D. of the Kellogg Sanitarium said, “Of the 22,000 operations that I have personally performed, I have never found a single normal colon, and of the 100,000 that were performed under my jurisdiction, not over 6% were normal.”45 Dr. Kellogg said that he knew of many cases in which operations were prevented by cleansing and revitalizing the bowel. He maintained that 90% of the diseases of civilization are due to improper functioning of the colon

Dr. George C. Crile, head of the Crile Clinic in Cleveland and one of the world’s greatest surgeons, said: “There is no natural death. All deaths that come from so-called natural causes are merely the end point of progressive acid saturation. Many people go so far as to consider that sickness and disease are just a ‘cross’ or an element that God gave them to bear here on this earth. However, if they would take care of their body and cleanse their colon and intestines, their problems would be pretty much eliminated, and they could eliminate their ‘cross’ by proper diet, proper exercise, and, in general, proper living.”4

Many doctors had proven that the bowel was the key to health or disease and the most important part of our physical anatomy to take care of in order to achieve successful healing. The following cases were obtained from medical journals

Dr. H. J. Bartle found in a study of 50 cases of intestinal toxemia that 72% of those cases had constipation.

Dr. Satterlee found 84% of his patients had constipation when they had intestinal toxemia. This indicates that serious bowel disease is associated with having constipation

Dr. William Lintz, M.D., successfully treated 472 patients suffering from allergies by cleansing the bowel.

Dr. Allan Eustis, M.D., Professor at Tulane University of Medicine in 1912, cured 121 cases of bronchial asthma by intestinal cleansing

Dr. D. Rochester, M.D., University of Buffalo School of Medicine in 1906, made the statement that after 23 years of observation, toxemia of gastrointestinal tract origin is the underlying cause of asthma

Dr. Bassler reported that by reducing intestinal toxemia, he had 100% success eliminating cardiac arrhythmia.

Dr. Bainbridge, M.D., stated that intestinal toxemia is common among the causative factors of so-called functional heart disease

Dr. D.J. Barry stated, “There seems little doubt that substances having a deleterious action on the heart musculature and nerves are formed both in the small and large intestine, even under apparently normal circumstances.

Dr. Hovel stated that “toxemia due to intestinal sepsis is a common cause of increased blood pressure.” Dr. J.A. Stucky, M.D.: “In several hundreds of cases of diseases of the nasal accessory sinuses, middle and internal ear... I have found unmistakable and marked evidence of toxemia of intestinal origin as evidenced by excessive indican in the urine, and when the condition causing this was removed there was marked amelioration or entire relief of the disease.

Dr. C. W. Hawley, M.D., treated many cases of eye strain and disease with success once again by relieving intestinal toxemia.

Dr. Herter, M.D., in 1892, linked intestinal putrefaction to epilepsy in 31 patients. I had one doctor take the Cleanse who had epilepsy. During her cleanse she had her last seizure. Five years later she reported that she has had no more seizures and no other signs of epilepsy. Doctors should really consider the importance of this. What is really happening when we do the Cleanse? It is doing things that are really rather incredible, of which I only know a small portion

Drs. Satterlee and Eldridge reported experience with 518 cases of “mental symptoms” including “mental sluggishness, dullness, and stupidity; loss of concentration and/or memory; mental incoordination, irritability, lack of confidence, excessive and useless worry, exaggerated introspection...Their success in eliminating these symptoms by surgically relieving intestinal toxemia is truly remarkable in the light of today’s commonly-held beliefs.

Dr. J.F. Burgess, Montreal General Hospital, reports the results of studying 109 cases of eczema. He states, “On the basis of clinical observations and sensitivity tests against various amino acids and ptomaine bases, eczema is probably caused by intestinal toxemia.

It is my own opinion that all cancer, AIDS, liver disorders, kidney, brain, and heart disorders receive their toxic malformations from the intestines. Sir W.A. Lane tried to make it clear when he wrote that he was “exceedingly impressed by the sequence of cancer and intestinal stasis.” We know that changes in the breast, caused by intestinal pollution, have been described by many doctors.

Another author, Dr. Robert Gray, has described the mucoid plaque in a manner similar to Dr. Jensen and myself. “Another type of constipation is present when old, hardened feces stick to the walls of the colon and do not pass out with the regular bowel movements....And few people have any inkling as to how much old, hardened feces are chronically present with their bodies.....As moisture is absorbed from a slimy medium in the colon, the medium becomes sticky. As the medium is further dehydrated, it becomes gluey and glues a coating of itself to the walls of the colon as it passes through. As layer after layer of gluey feces piles up in the colon, they often form into a tough, rubbery black substance. Old feces may build up in pockets and they may coat the entire length of the colon and small intestines as well. They do not pass from the body with ordinary bowel movements but require special techniques to dissolve the glue that binds them in the body. Because nonmucoid material moves through the body quicker than mucoid material, the bowel tends to move two to three times per day when the intestines and colon are in non mucoid condition....”48 He also discusses parasites. “They lodge themselves in the old matter that encrusts the walls of the intestinal tract. Without the presence of stagnant material in which to embed themselves, intestinal parasites cannot maintain a foothold in the body. Remove this old, filthy, decaying mucoid matter and you will flush the parasites out as well.”49 He explains malabsorption in relation to mucoid plaque. “The accumulation of mucoid material along the walls of the small intestine can interfere with nutrient absorption even though nutritional intake may be adequate.”50

Dr. Jensen and Dr. Gray had different ideas as to how the “mucoid plaque” is formed. Both of these authors felt that it was the mucus-forming foods and highly processed foods that contributed towards the formation of mucoid plaque. I agree that they may contribute towards its composition, however, my studies indicated that excess intake of acid-forming foods forces mucin to develop because it produces levels of acid the body cannot buffer due to electrolyte deficiency.

Dr. V.E. Irons, a pioneer in colon cleansing theory and activity, and a staunch advocate against modern medicine wrote a booklet called: “The Destruction OF YOUR OWN NATURAL PROTECTIVE MECHANISM”. In this booklet he made the following statements: “I challenge the world that you couldn’t find in the USA, 1000 people who don’t have a clogged colon. Just let me get them on the Colema Board and on the 7 Day Cleansing Program both at the same time and we will show any challengers WHAT WE MEAN. We will let them see, feel and even hold in their hands exactly what has been thickening, hardening, and decaying in their colon for years, causing all types of dis-ease. The condition of the colons in this entire country are FAR WORSE than either the doctors, the AMA, the Drug houses,.....or even the Natural Health industry have any conception.....and believe in our theory that the CAUSE OF MOST CONDITIONS OF ILL HEALTH IS AUTOINTOXICA-TION and that 95% of their troubles start in the colon. We can prove that we can find hardened mucous with its foul smelling curd in the colons of 95% of the entire nation. HOW DO WE KNOW THIS? Because possibly 99% of all ages and sexes have violated two of the major Natural Laws from one to three times every day since they were 2 years old. What are the two laws? 1. The WRONG combination of foods. 2. The constant daily use of tremendous amounts of DEAD FOODS. The wrong application of both of these laws has caused the body’s natural protective mechanism to secrete mucous into the colon to protect the body from absorbing the many poisons that those counterfeit foods create. But we have simply OVERWORKED Nature’s protective mechanism to the point that the mechanism instead of protecting us from poisons now itself poisons us..... This protective mechanism was never designed to continue secreting mucous one layer on top of another layer for years with no time out or chance for its elimination. The result is that layer on top of layer is secreted until its accumulation thickens to 1/8” to 1/4” thick. Sometimes this layer or layers gets to 3/8” to 1/2” in thickness, becoming as hard and black as a piece of old hardened rubber you see on a highway from a truck tire. It cannot be cut with a knife but you can cut it with a razor blade. Usually it breaks into innumerable small pieces. But we have had specimens saved in alcohol from several inches to a few feet in length while the longest we have had was 27 ft. (In one piece). Sometimes it will come out as a pile weighing as much as 11 lbs… and continue to come out for several days to a week.....before the old hardened accumulated mucous, so tightly imbedded in the colon for months or years, comes out. It has probably been slowly emitting poisons into your blood stream, causing all types of distorted symptoms. Once this hardened mucous starts to eliminate, it will be trapped in the colander so that you can wash it and examine it. Anyone who disagrees with any of the above - REMEMBER, you CAN PROVE it to your own satisfaction by what comes from your own body for the smallest conceivable investment. There is no substitute for experience, and we challenge everyone to experience this for themselves.....You (meaning the reader and 95% of the USA) DO HAVE THIS HARDENED MUCOUS IN YOUR COLON AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT WHAT COMES OUT OF YOU.” My experience has undoubtedly verified Dr. Irons’s descriptive explanations.

Francisco Izundergui MacDonnell, MD, Ph.D., ND, PP. Gen. Adm., sent the following letter. Here is his testimony. “Dear Sirs: ... Many times when practicing autopsies on people who died from chronic illnesses, I have always found a thick layer of organized mucus-like hardened material all over from the tongue down to the stomach, small, large and recto-sigmoid colon. Usually it is more common among milk drinkers and meat eaters. If for some reason your products has the ability to detach this layer of morbus material, then a great deal of accomplishment will be achieved for these persons. This layer is composed of coagulated and racemized glyco-proteins, which really impair the GI tract function and also constitute a reservoir of bacteria and viruses that invade the lymphatic and blood stream causing a wearing down of the bodily defenses and a lot of burden on the liver detoxification function. For that reason, Gerson, Kelly and Beard enfancied always on GI tract cleansing to obtain better results with their cancer treatments. In the past we have even removed the entire colon to obtain an effective relief from auto-intoxication specially with colon polyposis and diverticulosis and chronic ulcerative colitis.....”51

Unfortunately, there has been little interest on this subject by the medical profession, and theories vary from one end of the spectrum to the other. Medical science seems to be in denial of the experiences of tens of thousands people. Medical science basically avoids admitting the mucoid theory, and yet many thousands of people who first sought help from medical science ended up finding help from the natural procedures that modern medicine resists and denies. As modern medicine denied that Candidiasis was a cause to many illnesses for several decades after the alternative practitioners announced the problem, so does modern medicine deny the bowel problems in association with many diseases.

http://www.cleanse.net/mucoid_plaque.HTM

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Complex and Hidden Brain in Gut Makes Bellyaches and Butterflies

Ever wonder why people get "butterflies" in the stomach before going on stage ? Or why an impending job interview can cause an attack of intestinal cramps ? And why antidepressants targeted for the brain cause nausea or abdominal upset in millions of people who take such drugs ?

The reason for these common experiences, scientists say, is that the body has two brains - the familiar one encased in the skull and a lesser known but vitally important one found in the human gut Like Siamese twins, the two brains are interconnected ; when one gets upset, the other does, too.

The gut's brain, known as the enteric nervous system, is located in sheaths of tissue lining the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. Considered a single entity, it is a network of neurons, neurotransmitters and proteins that zap messages between neurons, support cells like those found m the brain proper and a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember and, as the saying goes, produce gut feelings.

The brain in the gut plays a major role in human happiness and misery. But few people know it exists, said Dr. Michael Gershon, a professor of anatomy and cell biology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New-York. For years, people who had ulcers, problems swallowing or chronic abdominal pain were told that their problems were imaginary, emotional, simply all in their heads. Dr. Gershon said. They were shuttled to psychiatrists for treatment.

Doctors were right in ascribing these problems to the brain. Dr. Gershon said, but they blamed the wrong one. Many gastro-intestmal disorders like colids and irritable bowel syndrome originate from problems within the gut's brain, he said. And the current wisdom is that most ulcers are caused by a bacterium, not by hidden anger at one's mother.

Symptoms stemming from the two brains get confused. Dr. Gershon said. "Just as tlie brain can upset the gut, the gut can also upset the brain" he said. "If you were chained to the toilet with cramps, you'd be upset too."

Details of how tlie enteric nervous system mirrors the central nervous system have been emerging in recent years, said Dr. Gershon, who is considered one of a new field of medicine called neurogastroenterology.

Nearly every substance that helps run and control the brain has turned up in the gut. Dr. Gershon said. Major neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine and nitric oxide are there. Two dozen small brain proteins, called neuropepddes, are in the gut, as are major cells of the immune system. Enkephalins, one class of the body's natural opiates, are in the gut And in a finding that stumps researchers, the gut is a rich source of benzodiazepines - the family of psychoacrive chemicals that includes such ever popular drugs as Valium and Xanax.

In evolutionary terms, it makes sense that the body has two brains, said Dr. David Wingate, a professor of gastrointestinal science at the University of London and a consultant at tlie Royal London Hospital. The first nervous systems were intubular animals that stuck to rocks and waited for food to pass by. Dr. Wingate said. The limbic system is often referred to as the "reptile brain".

As life evolved, animals needed a more complex brain for finding food and sex and so developed a central nervous system. But the gut's nervous system was too important to put inside the newborn head with long connections going down to the body. Dr. Wingate said. O-ffsprmg need to eat and digest food at birth. Therefore, nature seems to have preserved the enteric nervous system as independant circuit. Inside higher animals, it is only loosely connected to the central nervous system and can mostly function alone, without insructions from topside.

This is indeed the picture seen bydevelopmental biologists. A clump of tissue called the neural crest forms early in emblyogenesis. Dr. Gershon said. One section turns into the central nervous system. Another piece migrates to become the enteric nervous system. Only later arte the two nervous systems connected via a cable called the vagus nerve.

Until relatively recently, people thought that the gut's muscles and sensory nerves were vyired directly to the brain and that the brain controlled the gut through two pathways that increased or decreased rates of activity. Dr. Wingate said. The gut was simply a tube with simples reflexes. Trouble is, no one bothered to count the nerve fibers in the gut. When they did, he said, they were surprised to find that the gut contains 100 million neurons - more that the spinal cord has. Yet the vagus nerve only sends a couple of thousand nerve fibers to the gut.

The brain sends signals to the gut by talking to a small number of "command neurons", which in turn send signals to gut intemeurons that cany messages up and down the pike. Dr. Gershon said. Both command neurons and interneurons are spread throughout two layers of gut tissue called the myenteric plexus and the subrnuscosal plexus. ("Solar plexus" is actually a boxing term that refers simply to nerves in the abdomen.) Command neurons control the pattern of activity in the gut. Dr. Gershon said. The vagus nerve only alters the volume by changing its rate of firing.

The plexuses also contain glial cells that nourish neurons, mast cells involved in immune responses, and a "blood brain barrier" that keeps harmful substances away from important neurons. Dr. Gershon said. They have sensors for sugar, protein, acidity and other chemical factors that might monitor the progress of digestion, determining how the gut mixes and propels its contents. "It's not a simple pathway", he said. "It uses complex integrated circuits not unlike those found in the brain."

The gut's brain and the head's brain act the same way when they are deprived of input from the outside world. Dr. Wingate said. During sleep, the head's brain produces 90-minute cycles of slow wave sleep punctuated by periods of rapid eye movement sleep in which dreams occur. During the night, when it has no food, the gut's brain produces 90-minute cycles of slow wave muscle contractions punctuated by short bursts of rapid muscle movements. Dr. Wingate said.

The two brains may influence each other while in this state. Dr. Wingate said. Patients with bowel problems have been shown to have abnormal REM sleep. This finding is not inconsistent with the folk wisdom that indigestion can produce nightmare.

As light is shed oA the circuitly between the two brains, researchers are beginning to understand why people act and feel the way they do. When the central brain encounters a frightening situation, it releases stress hormones that prepare the body to fight or flee. Dr. Gershon said. The stomach contains many sensory nerves that are stimulated by this chemical surge - hence the "butterflies". On the battlefield, the higher brain tells the gut brain to shut down. Dr. Gershon said. "A frightened, running animal does not stop to defecate", he said.

Fear also causes the vagus nerve to "turn up the volume" on serotonin circuits in the gut. Dr. Gershon said. Thus overstimulated, the gut goes into higher gear and diarrhea results. Similarly, people sometimes "choke" with emotion. When nerves in the oesophagus are highly stimulated, people have trouble swallowing.

Even the so-called "Maalox moment" of advertising fame can be explained by the two brains interacting, said Dr. Jackie D. Wood, chairman of the department of physiology at Ohio State University in Columbus. Stress signals from the head's brain can alter nerve function between the stomach and oesophagus, resulting in heartburn.

In cases of extreme stress. Dr. Wood said, the higher brain seems to protect the gut by sending signals to immunological mast cells in the plexus. The mast cells secrete histamine, prostaglandin and other agents that help produce inflammation, he said. "This is protective. If an animal is in danger and subject to trauma, dirty stuff in the intestines is only a few cells away from the rest of the body. By inflaming the gut, the brain is priming the gut for surveillance. If the barrier breaks, the gut is ready to do repairs". Dr. Wood said. Unfortunately, the chemicals that get released also cause diarrhea and cramping.

Such cross talk also explains many drug interactions. Dr. Gershon said. "When you make a drug to have psychic effects on the brain, it's veiy likely to have an effect on the gut that you didn't think about", he said. Conversely, drugs developped for the brain could have uses in the gut.

For example, the gut is loaded with neurotransmitter serotonin. When pressure receptors in the gut's lining are stimulated, serotonin is released and starts the reflexive motion of peristalsis. Dr. Gershon said.

Now a quarter of people taking Prozac or similar antidepressants have gastrointestmal problems like nausea, diarrhea and constipation, he said. These drugs act on serotonin, preventing its uptake by target cells so that it remains more abundant in the central nervous system.

In a study to be published soon. Dr. Gershon and his colleagues explain Prozac's side effects ont the gut. They mounted a section of guinea pig colon on a stand and put a small pellet in the "mouth" end. The isolated colon whips the pellet down to the "anal" end of the column, just as it would inside an animal. Dr. Gershon said.

When the researchers put a small amount of Prozac into the colon, the pellet "went into high gear". Dr. Gershon said. The drug doubled the speed at which the pellet passed through the colon, which would explain why some people get diarrhea. Prozac as been used in small doses to treat chronic constipation, he said.

But when researchers increased the amount of Prozac in the guinea pig colon, the pellet stopped moving. The colon froze up. Dr. Gershon said, which is why some people get constipated on the drug. And because Prozac stimulated sensory nerves, he said, it can also cause nausea.

Some antibiotics like crythromycin act on gut receptors to produce oscillations. Dr. Gershon said. People experience cramps and nausea. Drugs like morphine and heroin attach to the gut's opiate receptors, producing constipation. Indeed, both brains can be addicted to opiates.

Victims of AIzheimer's and Parkingson's diseases suffer from constipation. The nerves in their gut are as sick as the nerve cells in their brains.

Just as the central brain affects the gut, the gufs brain can talk back to the head. Dr. Gershon said. Most of the gut sensations that enter conscious awareness are negative things like pain and bloatedness. Dr. Wingate said. People do not expect to feel anything good from the gut but that does not mean such signals are absent, he said.

Hence, the intriguing question : why does the human gut produce benzodiazepine 7 The human brain contains receptors for benzodiazepine, a drug that relieves anxiety, suggesting that the body produces its own internal source of the drug, said Dr. Anthony Basile, a neurochemist in the Neuroscience Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Several years ago, he said, an Italian scientist made a startling discovery. Patients with their liver failure fall into a deep coma. The coma can be reversed, in minutes, by giving the patient a drug that blocks benzodiazepine.

When the liver falls, substances usually broken down by the liver get to the brain. Dr. Basile said. Some are bad, like ammonia and mercaptans, which are "smelly compounds that skunks spray on you", he said. But a series of compounds are also identical to benzodiazepine. "We don't know if they come from gut itself, from bacteria in the gut or from food". Dr. Basile said. But when the liver falls, the gut's benzodiazepine goes straight to the brain, knocking the patient unconscious.

The payoff for exploring gut and head brain interactions is enormous. Dr. Wood said. For example, many people are allergic to certain foods, like shellfish. This is because mast cells in the gut mysteriously become sensitized to antigens in the food. The next time the antigen shows up in the gut. Dr. Wood said ; the mast cells call up a program, releasing chemical modulators that try to eliminate the threat. The allergic person gets diarrhea and cramps, he said.

Many autoimmune diseases like Krohn's disease and ulcerative colitis may involve the gut's brain. Dr. Wood said. The consequences can be horrible, as in Chagas disease, which is caused by a parasite found in South America. Those infected develop an autoimmune response to neurons in their gut. Dr. Wood said. Their immune systems slowly destroy their own gut neurons. When enough neurons die, the intestines literally explode.

A big question remains. Can the gut's brain learn 7 Does it "think" for itself 7 Dr. Gershon tells a story about an old Army sergeant, a male nurse in charge of a group ofparaplegics. With their lower spinal cords destroyed, the patients would get impacted.

"The sergeant was anal compulsive". Dr. Gershon said. "At 10 A.M. eveiyday, the patients got enemas. Then the sergeant was rotated off the ward. His replacement decided to give enemas only after compactions occured. But at 10 the next morning, everyone on the ward had a bowel movement at the same time, without enemas". Dr. Gershon said. Had the sergeant trained those colons?

The human gut has long been seen as a repositoiy of good and bad feelings. Perhaps emotional states from the head's brain are mirrored in the gut's brain, were they are felt by those who pay attention to them.

The "brain in the gut" takes the form of two networks of neural connections in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, called the myenteric plexus and the subrnucosal plexus. The nerves are highly interconnected and have direct influence on things like the speed of digestion, the movement and secretions of the finger-like mucosa that line the intestines and the contractions of the different kinds of muscle in the gut wall. [Diagram # 1]

GUT-BRAIN HIGHWAY: A 2-WAY STREET:
The gut has a mind of its own, the enteric nervous system. Just like the larger brain in the head, researchers say, this system sends and receives impulses, records and experiences and responds to emotions. Its nerve cells are bathed and influenced by the same nerotransmitters. The gut can upset the brain just as the brain can upset the gut. [Diagram #2]

Diagram of wall of small intestine, with layers cut away to show two networks of nerves that make up enteric nervous system, or "brain in the gut". One network, called the subrnucosal plexus, is just under the mucosal lining. One, the myenteric plexus, lies between two coats of muscle. [Diagram # 3]


Sandra BLAKESLEE,

The New York Times, Januaiy 23rd, 1996.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Ode to the Critters

Ode to the black snake, the ravens, the tarantulas, the owls.
Of Numia.
Ode to the bunnies, the stick bugs, the little tail twitching birdies...
We love you.
Ode to the tipi rats, the lizard, the chipmunk that always woke me up drinking from the water pan.
You're too cute.
Ode to the Sonoran Toad.
Leap.
And to the road runner who appeared at such an uncanny moment.
Ode to Zio, Bodhi, Inky and Teah.
(Heal hips, heal!)
And an Ode for Stellina the Love bug.
We never left you.