Last month, I stressed the importance of using a good laboratory to identify pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and worms. These labs often give suggestions to eliminate parasites. But while anti-parasitic medications and herbal formulas can kill off parasites, they often leave you with another problem that gets in the way of your healing.

This condition is at the core of most chronic illnesses (any condition that lasts three months or more). If you aren’t getting well — even after getting rid of parasites — you’ve probably missed this critical step.

A teacher of mine once told me, “Nan, if there’s one thing I’d like to impress upon you, above all else, it is this: Don’t skip any steps.” Of course, his advice pertains to all health-related programs. But most anti-parasite programs overlook the importance of a critical step: dealing with inflammation.

As you may know, parasites cause inflammation. So you have to treat the inflammation as well. Of course, reducing the parasite colonies will reduce some of the inflammation. But that’s not all you need to do.

Healing inflammation from parasites

The first step in repairing your gut is to stop the irritation by killing off pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and worms. This means taking a prescription medication or herbal preparations that target specific parasites.

I tested myself for parasites last year and was shocked to find a wide variety of critters. They included tapeworm and roundworms that I probably picked up on a trip to China several years ago. Both of these parasites are found in swine feces — used as fertilizer in countries where pork is a popular food. After consulting with my doctor, who travels in Asia extensively, I decided to take a prescription antiprotozoal. I wanted to be sure that these undesirable parasites were gone.

Speak with your doctor about the pros and cons of antiprotozoal drugs. They may be your best choice as well. On the other hand, you may not need to use a strong prescription drug. There are numerous herbal formulas on the market.

Some are more effective than others. The best formulas contain herbs that are both strong enough to reduce parasites and gentle enough to take without much discomfort. After all, you don’t want to irritate your intestines unnecessarily with parasite-eradicating substances. Unfortunately, many formulators tend to use harsh, irritating herbs that may kill off parasites, but they increase inflammation as well.

The only herbal formulas I use are those designed by and sold by Uni Key Health Systems (800-888-4353), with input from Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNC. They have formulas that are specific for Candida, worms, and bacteria. I consider Ann Louise to be one of the country’s experts in parasites. She began studying the subject with world-famous parasitologists more than 15 years ago and hasn’t stopped learning what works best.

How to compound the problem

Unfortunately, dealing with the parasites and the inflammation they cause isn’t all you have to do. That’s because there’s another source of inflammation that can make recovery very difficult. That source is food. Ordinary foods like eggs, yogurt, and bread can cause inflammation in the lining of your intestines. And you need to stop any inflammation caused by foods to which you’re sensitive.

But stopping this inflammation requires different treatment than the inflammation caused by the parasites. This is why so many people who treat parasites never recover fully. They don’t deal with all of the inflammation in their gut.

Healing inflammation from foods

Many of us become sensitive to ordinary foods that we eat on a daily basis. This sensitivity can begin with inflammation caused by parasites and progress to inflammation caused by food sensitivities. You need to identify both.

The GI-02 parasite test from Diagnos-Techs is the only test I know of that tests for sensitivities to gluten (wheat, rye, barley, and spelt), dairy, soy, and eggs. Diagnos-Techs actually tests for antibodies to these foods. If any of these antibodies are present, it indicates intolerance to that food. This test is invaluable. Read last month’s article for more information and how to order this test.

If the test says you have sensitivity to gluten, don’t assume you have celiac disease. Celiac disease is a chronic, genetic condition where foods containing the gliadin fraction of gluten can’t be digested. The result is damage to the small intestines where nutrients are absorbed. If you have celiac disease, you should avoid gluten 100% for the rest of your life.

But there’s a difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Just because your test shows high antibodies to gluten, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have celiac disease. You could just be very sensitive to grains containing gluten.

You may be able to reverse a gluten sensitivity by eliminating all foods containing gluten for two to six months. Just reducing the amount of gluten you eat won’t work. Complete elimination isn’t fun or easy, but it can be done. In fact, this is exactly what I did to repair my inflamed intestines. Natural food stores are now stocking many foods that are gluten-free. Amy’s frozen foods have gluten-free meals that are tasty and readily available.

For years, I’ve heard health care practitioners say that if you’re sensitive to a food you need to avoid it completely for the rest of your life. Many people do, but not all. “Once you avoid the particular foods to which you’re sensitive, which gives your system a vacation and rest from ‘toxic’ foods, you can eat them again,” says Ann Louise. She has seen this with hundreds of clients who had parasites. “That is why people lose tons of weight during this cleansing because of the inflammatory connection of the ‘toxic foods’ — whether they are eggs, soy, wheat, or dairy.”

In my opinion, gluten is the most difficult food to eliminate. It’s hidden in so many products. For information on foods that contain gluten, read Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski, PhD, CCN. It’s one of the best books I’ve seen on digestive problems and solutions.

Most anti-parasite programs either don’t find parasites or don’t test for some of the important ones like worms. And they don’t identify food sensitivities and their role in intestinal inflammation. In other words, they skip steps.

If you’re going to get tested for parasites, and I suggest you do if you have unresolved health problems, get a test that can reveal these hidden problems — like Diagnos-Techs. And take all necessary steps to reduce or eliminate inflammation both from parasites and food sensitivities.

Gittleman, Ann Louise, MS, CNS. Guess What Came to Dinner?: Parasites and your health, Avery Publishing, 2001.

Gittleman, Ann Louise, PhD, CNS. The Gut Flush Plan, Avery Publishing, 2008.
Lipski, Elizabeth, PhD, CCN. Digestive Wellness, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Can Vitamin C Protect Your Heart? Conflicting Studies Have Different Conclusions ... What’s the Real Answer?

Scientific studies can be confusing. One concludes that vitamin C doesn’t reduce the risk of heart attacks or stroke. Another shows it’s just as protective as statins in lowering inflammation associated with heart disease. What’s going on? These conflicting results may fill the media’s need to constantly report new information. But they only add to the public’s confusion surrounding nutrients and diseases.

Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual. Many studies come to different conclusions about the same nutrient because a study is flawed, biased, or limited. That’s why it’s important to examine each study closely and not just believe the partial information that mainstream media often reports. Don’t worry if you don’t have the time, interest, or background to read and interpret these studies. I’ll continue to do this for you. And if you ever have questions about a study, please feel free to write me (see page 8 for my contact information).

For now, let’s look together at some of the conflicting reports surrounding vitamin C and heart disease to see what’s really going on.

Not long ago, an eight-year study conducted out of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that neither vitamin C nor vitamin E lowered the risk of heart attacks or stroke. This was a large study that received national attention. The problem is, the study was flawed. To begin with, all of the more than 14,000 participants were men.

Now, we know that heart disease is the number one killer of postmenopausal women. So it comes as a great surprise to find that there were no women included in this study. And we can’t conclude that the results of this all-male study would apply equally to women. Any study on heart disease and nutrients should include equal numbers of men and women.

The second problem was that the dose used in this clinical trial was low — 500 mg a day. This is less vitamin C than you’ll find in many multivitamins. It was hardly a therapeutic amount. In fact, it was the same amount found in 1½ oranges or a cup of cooked broccoli — and I haven’t heard anyone claim that a tiny glass of orange juice would protect against heart disease. In fact, some researchers believe that most people take too little antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients.

The amount of any nutrients tested in scientific studies should, at the very least, include the high amounts doctors of integrative medicine find effective. And many of them are using 10 grams of intravenous vitamin C in patients with heart disease, cancer, and other inflammatory conditions. This amount floods the tissues with this valuable nutrient.

Better information

A week after the media first published the results of this first study, a second study appeared. This one, conducted at the University of California at Berkeley contradicted the Boston study. It found that vitamin C can lower a marker for inflammation called C-reactive protein, or CRP. This particular marker predicts heart disease, diabetes, and other inflammatory diseases. We know that vitamin C is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. When it comes to heart disease, inflammation is a key risk factor.

In the study out of UC Berkeley, vitamin C not only identified a risk factor for heart disease, it actually acted as an adaptogen. It lowered CRP levels when they were high, but it didn’t affect them when they were normal or low. In fact, it worked as well as (or better than) statins in people with high levels of CRP!
Here are the figures that prove it. In several other studies, statins reduced CRP levels by 0.2 milligrams per liter. In this study, vitamin C lowered CRP levels by 0.25 milligrams per liter.

This is an important point when it comes to understanding why some studies have found vitamin C useful in heart disease while others found it didn’t work. Testing vitamin C on some people with elevated CRP levels along with others with normal or low CRP can give false information about this nutrient’s ability to predict and lower the risk for heart disease. Testing vitamin C on men gives only part of the picture, which may not apply equally to women.

Drug companies market statins

Recently, Astra Zeneca funded a study of more than 17,000 healthy men and women. This study found their statin, Crestor, reduced the risk of heart attacks by 44% in people with high levels of high sensitivity CRP.

Why should any patient at risk for heart disease look any further for an inexpensive and natural way to lower their risk of heart disease with a common vitamin when an expensive pharmaceutical will do the job? Especially if it comes with a recommendation from their doctor. I expect we’ll hear more reasons why statins are better than vitamin C — both from drug companies and from the studies they fund.

I predict there will be more studies that claim statins are the answer, rather than the problem. Before you take these medications, read everything you can about their dangers. And remain alert. Often, the negative studies are buried.

What should you do?

Take charge of your health and stop looking for the quick fix in a pill. Lifestyle changes will go much further to help you resolve your health problems than taking a pharmaceutical.

As for the subject of vitamin C and heart disease, we should all eat a diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables high in this important nutrient. These foods include kiwi, all citrus fruits, berries, and broccoli. Since most fruits and vegetables contain some vitamin C, just make sure you eat a variety of fresh produce daily.

If you know or believe you’re at an increased risk for heart disease, ask your doctor to check your CRP level. This is a simple blood test. If your CRP is high it indicates inflammation. To reduce inflammation, increase your vitamin C to 1,000-2,000 mg a day. Reduce your intake of sugar. It’s extremely pro-inflammatory. Then recheck your level after two to three months. If it hasn’t come down, your doctor may need to give you a high-dose IV of vitamin C.

Read my newsletter archives on my website for more information on reducing inflammation. I’ve written many articles on this subject. Inflammation is at the heart of most chronic illnesses — and vitamin C is one of its solutions, not its cause.

Block, G., PhD. UC Berkeley, ScienceDaily, November 14, 2008
Sesso, H.D., ScD, MPH, et al. “Vitamins E and C in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in men,” JAMA, 2008; 300 (18).

Sesso, H.D., et al. “Vitamins E and C in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in men,” JAMA, 2008.

How Bottled Water Can Make Chemotherapy Ineffective

We live in a complex world where researchers are constantly discovering chemical interactions. Certain drugs and supplements don’t combine well with other drugs and supplements. And everyday chemicals interact with everything from drugs to nutrients to other commonly used chemicals. Some of these interactions turn out to be downright harmful.

I recently discovered that a newly recognized environmental toxin found in some food packaging can block a form of cancer treatment that you — or someone you know may be getting. This could mean the difference between surviving cancer and losing the battle. The environmental toxin is bisphenol A, known as BPA. It’s a hormone disruptor found in plastic products, including baby bottles and water bottles, and in the lining of metal food and beverage cans.

It’s also found in plastic ketchup, fruit juice, and other bottles. It’s even in many of the plastic bottles that are being used daily to carry water to work, the gym, or on walks. BPA is everywhere. In fact, we already have some in our bodies.

You may have heard about BPA. It’s been in the news for a few months. But you probably didn’t know that it can interfere with chemotherapy. The problem with this chemical is that although it’s a toxin, it’s also protective — of the wrong things. It protects cancer cells from chemotherapy’s toxicity. That’s right. One toxin protects another. Instead of being able to kill cancer cells, BPA can render chemotherapy drugs useless.

A study out of the University of Cincinnati, headed by Nira Ben-Jonathan, PhD, found that BPA protects cancer cells from dying when they’ve been exposed to chemotherapy.

How does BPA do this? It acts just like estrogen by producing proteins that protect cells from toxic chemotherapy drugs. This makes perfect sense, because BPA happens to be a man-made estrogen.

As I explained in a health alert last May, BPA disrupts endocrine function. Past scientific studies have shown that estrogen is associated with chemotherapy resistance. Now we’re seeing that BPA has the same effect. (This, and other health alerts, can be found at no charge on my website. Do sign up for them today.)

Canada has already banned BPA from baby bottles. Once again, we’re lagging behind in identifying this dangerous toxin. Instead of banning BPA, we’re debating its harmfulness.

What you can do

Heat causes plastics to release BPA. This is why you should never leave a plastic water bottle in your car, especially during summer months. But it’s impossible to know whether or not any commercially bottled water was left sitting in a warm delivery truck or in the sun. So avoid all bottled water.

And baby bottles are often either heated with hot water before they’re filled to warm the juice or formula. Use glass bottles instead. There’s no way you can know whether or not your ketchup or pasteurized fruit juice was warm when it was put in their plastic containers. The same applies to all plastic food containers and tin cans. So here are my recommendations for limiting your exposure to BPA:

• If you’re getting chemotherapy, don’t buy or use any foods or drinks in plastic containers.
  
  
• Store your leftovers in glass, not plastic. Glass lasts longer, won’t get scratched, and contains no contaminants.
  
  
• Don’t eat canned foods or drink beverages from cans. Their linings contain small amounts of BPA.
  
  
• Never heat anything in your microwave in plastic bowls, dishes, or containers. Cover dishes with a paper towel, instead of plastic wrap.
  
  
• Don’t leave bottles of water in a hot car.
  
  
• Use only stainless steel water bottles, or hard plastic bottles that are marked “BPA-Free.”

Cancer and another hormone disrupter

General Mills makes Yoplait yogurt, and Yoplait has a Save (yogurt) Lids to Save Lives program. This is a marketing campaign designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and sell more yogurt. But Yoplait has not made the commitment to make their yogurt without rBGH — recombinant bovine growth hormone. And rBGH is another hormone disruptor that has been linked to breast cancer.

You can help convince General Mills to make their products without rBGH. Call and tell them you won’t buy Yoplait until they take this synthetic hormone out of the milk they use (800-248-7310). General Mills insists rBGH is safe. Breast Cancer Action — an advocacy group — and I disagree.

Read labels. Look for “BPA-free” on water bottles, and “no rBGH” on yogurt, cheeses, and other dairy products. And make sure you use glass whenever possible.

Breast Cancer Action, December 2008, (877 2-STOP-BC).

LaPensee, E.W., et al. “Bisphenol A at low nanomolar doses confers chemoresistance in estrogen receptor alpha positive and negative breast cancer cells,” Environmental Health Perspective, October 8, 2008 on-line.

NUTRITION DETECTIVE

How Important Are Calcium Supplements?

Very — if you listen to the people who sell them. After all, the sale of calcium supplements is a multi-million dollar business. However, over the years there have been studies that found that taking calcium supplements doesn’t do much to prevent osteoporosis.

Now, a new analysis of some of these studies, published in the British Medical Journal, echoes the other nay-sayers. It found that giving calcium supplements to children only resulted in slight improvements in bone density. It wasn’t enough to reduce the risk for fractures either in childhood or in later years.

This was an analysis of 19 different studies with more than 2,800 children from three to 18. The children who took calcium supplements had only 1.7% greater bone density than the children who took none. And there was absolutely no effect on the hip and spine.

This is an important finding because children absorb calcium at a greater rate than adults. If it didn’t help them, chances are it won’t help prevent fractures in you.

Instead of taking large amounts of calcium, these Australian researchers suggest taking more vitamin D and eating more fruits and vegetables. I agree. And I would add magnesium and strontium to this for strong bones.

When it comes to calcium supplements, I take a multivitamin/mineral with just 500 mg of calcium (Women’s Vitality). That’s all the calcium I need that comes in pill form. The rest of my calcium comes from the foods I eat.

I’ve talked about the problems with taking high amounts of calcium in the past. They include contributing to arthritis, muscle cramps, muscle pain, and PMS. Get most of your calcium from the foods you eat. Whole grains, nuts and seeds, and dark green leafy vegetables all contain calcium — plus needed magnesium. And of course, dairy products are high in calcium. If you eat little or no dairy, add kale to your diet. It is one of the foods highest in useable calcium.

Winzenberg, T., et al. “Effects of calcium supplementation on bone density in healthy children: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials,” British Medical Journal, September 2006.

LETTERS

Q:: You say we should take PectaSol in the a.m. and p.m. Will it interfere with the other medications or supplements I take at those times? — E.W., e-mail

A: It could. Dietary fibers, like those in pectin and alginate, have the potential to bind to drugs and could, conceivably, affect their absorption. Ideally, you should take PectaSol two hours before or after eating. But this is simply not possible for most people, including me. Nor is it necessary. Here’s what I recommend: Take PectaSol on an empty stomach and separate the doses as much as possible, like first thing in the morning and before going to bed.

If you can, take PectaSol as soon as you wake up. You can take your other supplements and medications half-an-hour later. In the evening, take your supplements and meds an hour or two after dinner, and PectaSol half-an-hour later. Based on hair analysis tests for heavy metal toxicity, separating PectaSol from meds and supplements by at least half-an-hour is sufficient for the formula to work with the least impact on the other pills.

Do the best you can, and make sure your doctor and pharmacist know everything you’re taking. Many pharmacists have databases where they can give you up-to-date drug/nutrient and drug/drug interactions.

From a Subscriber

I wanted to comment on your article on Splenda in your last newsletter. I had been feeling miserable and I did not know why. When I read the article, I realized I had every symptom listed. I immediately took all items with Splenda out of my diet. Now, a couple of weeks later, I feel much, much better. Thank you so much for the enlightening information. — Valerie Lull

Q: I have a question about your Integrative Digestive Formula (IDF). It sounds like a godsend, but I have tested sensitive to mushrooms for my severe allergies. Would this formula, which contains a mushroom blend, help with my digestion and allergy issues, or make them worse? — S.W., Seminole FL

A: The form of the medicinal mushrooms in IDF consists of a mass of thread-like mushroom mycelium that are hypoallergenic. Some companies use fruiting bodies in their formulas, which may contain mushroom spores. These spores can possibly trigger an allergic reaction.

IDF does include Maitake mushroom, which could, conceivably, cause an allergic response. But I spoke with the head researcher at the company that makes this formula and have been reassured that there is so little of it in the formula that a reaction is not likely. None have ever been reported.

Of course, everyone is different. If you want to try IDF — which could, over time, help your digestive problems — I’d suggest you take one capsule before a meal and watch closely for any adverse reaction. If you have no reaction, take a single capsule before meals twice a day. If you have even the slightest allergic reaction, you can return the unused portion for a full refund. This is true with all supplements sold through this newsletter.