Thursday, February 24, 2011

"The Power of Sugar" How it can suppress your immune function by 50%.

Worried about the Flu? Avoid Sugar!
       
With the  Flu on everyone’s mind this flu season, it is important to step back and look at the big picture. Why do we get sick with infections? 
Sure, there needs to be a pathogen present (such as a virus or bacteria) but being exposed to them is no guarantee we will get sick. 
Ultimately our immune system needs to fail in order to give way to sickness.
There are several pieces of research today which prove that our immune system can fail us following the consumption of high sugar foods. 

Consuming 100 grams of simple sugars (glucose, sucrose or fructose) including honey or orange juice can reduce the ability of your immune system to destroy pathogens. 
The effects start within 30 minutes and last for about 5 hours with roughly a 50% reduction of white blood cell action. Sanchez, Reeser, Lau, & al., 1973). 

Read that again! The effects last for about 5 hours and reduce your white blood cell action in half!

Another study confirms this by looking at what happens to immune defenses after ingesting Coca-Cola (Ringsdorf, Cheraskin, & Ramsay, 1976).
While 100 grams of sugar sounds like a lot, it is important to realize that your average bottle of supposedly healthful Naked Juice contains about 60 grams of sugar (do not forget to look at serving sizes!).
 Grab a scone with that and you are looking at another 24 grams of sugar (Nutritiondata.com). 
Or have a venti Starbucks Tazo green tea Frappuccino without the whipped cream and you are looking at 95 grams of sugar from your drink alone. (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2009)
Although the mechanism is unknown, we can speculate that sugar’s negative effect on the immune system has to do with the fact that Vitamin C appears to compete with glucose in cellular absorption (Mann, 1975). 
In other words, if we can consume foods which will NOT flood the system with glucose, Vitamin C will still be able to get into our cells and do its job. (Murray, 1998) 
These foods include those which do not contain either sugar or refined carbohydrates (which turn into glucose rapidly in the bloodstream). 
Think foods high in protein, fiber, and good fats. 
So instead of having a flavored drink from the local coffee shop with a muffin for breakfast, consider having 2 free range eggs, with a slice of organic whole grain toast and some fresh tomatoes from your garden harvest along with a cup of unsweetened herbal tea.
Consider your 3 year old preschooler having a TreeTop organic apple juice box. 
With 26 grams of sugar, you ought to question what effect that might or might not have on that little body’s resistance to germs. 
Offer some animal crackers or organic fruit leather, and you might be heading for trouble.
 Please remember, that young children seem to most often catch infections in daycare settings and examine the provided meals with this perspective.
While there are a lot of effective strategies that will help boost your immune system, I believe that first and foremost we must ensure that we provide our bodies with nutrition that will help the immune system work as it was intended.
Bibliography
Mann, G. a. (1975). The Membrane Transport of Ascorbic Acid. Ann N Y Acad Sci 258 , 243-51.
Murray, M. N. (1998). Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Page 151. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing.
Nutritiondata.com. (n.d.). Retrieved 09 14, 2009, from http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/foods-from-starbucks/9732/2
Ringsdorf, W., Cheraskin, E., & Ramsay, R. (1976). Sucrose, Neutrophil Phagocytosis, and Resistance to Disease. Dent Surv 52 , 46-48.
Sanchez, A., Reeser, J., Lau, H., & al., e. (1973). Role of Sugars in Human Neutrophilic Phagocytosis. Am J Clin Nutr 26 , 1180-4.
Starbucks Coffee Company. (2009). Nutrition by the Cup Brochure. NSP09-06223 SKU11003590 .
     
Flu season?  Could it have anything to do with it coming at the same time as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day?  How much sugar have you eaten since November?  Bake a bunch of cookies and holiday candy for Christmas?  Dive into your kid's valentine candy every year?  



Hummm......If eating sugar reduces your white blood cell action in half up to 5 hours after eating sugar, let's see: 
Breakfast: OJ, cereal, milk, maybe Starbucks on the way to work= about 100 grams of sugar
Lunch: pizza and soda or fast food meal= about 100grams of sugar
Snack: chips, soda, cookies at work=100 grams of sugar
Supper: meat, starchy veggie,bread, mashed potatoes, a little ice cream for dessert= 100+ grams of sugar
snack: chips, soda, candy from kid's party=100 grams of sugar

So- the total sugar for the day could be as much as 500 grams of sugar.  Now- did you wait 5 hours between eating all that sugar?

Bet not!  

So all day long your body is functioning at 50% of what it should be with regards with regards to your immune function.  

Then it happens.  

Your co-worker sneezes on you.  Your child comes home from school after being with 25 other snot-ridden children all day long, you go to Target and the person who used the cart before you has the flu.     

Get the picture?

Sugar effects the immune system to the point of "allowing" you to get sick.  

A little sugar goes a long way. 

About 4 grams of sugar are in 1 teaspoon.  

1 teaspoon of sugar yields to over 1 million yeast colonies.  

Huh?  

So that 400 grams of sugar you just consumed in a day not only cost you 1/2 of your immune function it also gladly supplied food to produce 125 million yeast colonies who are now having a field day boring holes in your intestines and making their way into your blood stream.  

Just in case you have not read any of this blog, yeast/fungi are the root of almost all chronic illness.

Sugar=yeast=illness

When is the next holiday?

Oh, goody....

Easter candy is just around the corner.

Perhaps those Cadbury eggs don't seem so appealing after all!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

"The Power of Sugar" What this sweet thing will do to your body!

When somebody drinks a Coke watch what happens…
  • In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
  • 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
  • 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
  • 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
  • >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
  • >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
  • >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.
So there you have it, an avalanche of destruction in a single can. Imagine drinking this day after day, week after week. Stick to water, real juice from fresh squeezed fruit, and tea without sweetener or some Stevia.

Is mold causing your chronic sinus infections or asthma?

According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic Study, nearly all chronic sinus infections (afflicting 37 million Americans) are a result of molds.
300% increase in the asthma rate over the past 20 years has been linked to molds. (according to 1999 USA Today Cover Story)

Molds (sometimes referred to as black molds, even though mold can come in a variety of colors) can cause a wide array of adverse responses in humans depending on the type and quantity that is present. However, these are not the lone factors when considering the health affects to mold exposure. Since dose and human response can be highly individualistic, the sensitivity of the person exposed is also an important consideration. For example, infants and young children, the immune-compromised, and the elderly are at an increased risk of experiencing adverse health effects related to mold exposure. 
There are many routes of exposure to molds including dermal contact, ingestion, and inhalation. The health risks associated with mold exposure include, but are not limited to: allergic reactions, irritation associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), invasive disease, mycotoxicosis.
Allergic reactions are elicited when a substance such as mold that is not harmful in itself causes an immune response in susceptible individuals. The most common symptoms of an allergic response to increased levels of mold range from runny noses, itchy-watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, and throat irritation to more severe symptoms caused by chronic conditions such as sinusitis and asthma.
Fungi produce Volatile Organic Compounds during the process of degrading substances to obtain nutrition. The VOCs are the cause of the typical “moldy/musty” commonly associated with fungal contamination indoors. Exposure to high levels of VOCs may irritate the mucous membranes and the central nervous system leading to symptoms of headaches, decreased attention span, difficulty in concentration, and dizziness. 
Invasive Disease
This type of disease is uncommon. It is an opportunistic infection caused by exposure to microorganisms that don’t normally produce disease in healthy individuals, but affects those persons with abnormally functioning immune systems.  For example, those with HIV/AIDS or those receiving immunosuppressive drugs such as transplant or chemotherapy patients.   Some common fungi that have been associated with invasive disease are Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Mucor, and Rhizopus.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

The underestimated enemy...fungus overgrowth in the body

It is very likely a largely unknown or underestimated enemy, fungus overgrowth in the human body. It may be the greatest threat because most ignore it while others deny its existence. Doctors are not required to report any fungus caused diseases or deaths.


This helps explain why there is no simple solution to Chronic Fatigue, diabetes or heart disease, cancer, Fibromyalgia, and many more diseases.
A host of some of these disorders are called a syndrome, in other words they are your fault. And where do the great scientists of our time say all these diseases come from? No one knows.
But fatigue is associated with all of them.
There appears to be not one but many failing systems also associated with these disorders. In most cases there are some common causes of the system failures. The most common cause seems to be a faulty immune system that allows Candida Overgrowth. 
If you have ever taken cortisone, birth-control pills, antibiotics or prolonged chlorine in high amounts chances are high that you have partially or totally destroyed your fungal immune system!
What is the fungal immune system? Initially in an adult it is about 4-8 lbs of friendly bacteria in the lower gut. This comprises about 85% of all organisms in the bowels. The remaining 15% is fungus. It takes this ratio to keep the fungus in check. 
Fungus is the aggressor and is much more powerful than the bacteria. 
Fungus has no anti-bodies to protect itself but it produces very deadly mycotoxins.


Remember when found, penicillin was a mold on bread? 
Scientists discovered that fungus is a natural enemy of bacteria and have used different varieties to kill off unwanted or dangerous bacteria ever since. Unknown was the danger of destroying our whole colony of friendly bacteria while increasing the load of fungus in our bodies. 
Once the fungus takes over the bowels it migrates upward until reaching the small intestine where  digestion and assimilation of all nutrients takes place. 
However, when the small intestine fills with fungus this process cannot take place. Organs and glands are deprived of its building blocks and systems begin to fail.
Hypoglycemia  Symptoms begin to show up and are usually viewed as individual diseases themselves. 


The fungus in seeking its main food of SUGAR upsets the body’s whole sugar system. The person deprived of the chaperone minerals needed to escort sugar and insulin into the cells…… becomes hypoglycemic.

They now have low cellular sugar, a perfect playground for fungus to feed. However, now the cells do not have enough sugar to burn for energy so we become weak if we do not eat often and we surely do not have enough sugar to keep us alive during the night.
The brain now signals the adrenal gland to send out adrenal hormones to keep the body functioning during the night, which it does. But the side effect is that during the night the person may get hot or they may even have night sweats!
The adrenal gland is now working 24 hours per day!
By now the person tends towards constipation or diarrhea or both due to the fungus and they either bloat or produce gas whenever they eat high glycemic carbohydrates, grains or beans. This is because these foods are the main source of fast sugars which the fungus thrives on.
Bloating is an improper fermenting process instead of a digestion process. 
Mal-absorption is the result of fungus in the small intestine.
Hypothyroid  This fermenting begins the failure of the THYROID to get its building blocks to produce it's hormones in order to regulate body temperature and important help towards the making of some neurotransmitters


Not only does this lack of thyroid hormone produce some fatigue and make the person’s hands & feet cold but it can effect the brain in several ways. One is foggy thinking. 
It seems to physically interrupt short term memory because of Candida’s alcohol by-product. 
Alcohol is documented to cause brain and nervous system damage.


Think about this for a moment:  What is produced when Budweiser combines grains with yeast? They get alcohol do they not? Well you have all the yeast in your body just waiting for you to eat some bread, corn or other grain food like pancakes or oatmeal. The alcohol by-product can make you semi-drunk and foggy minded.
Depression  The other is in the form of depression since the thyroid may be deprived of Iodine and the amino acid tyrosine because of mal-absorption. A severe case of hypo-thyroid-ism may result. Often however, upon examination the thyroid will fall into a low-end-zone of what is considered medically OK. In most cases no hormone is given and the condition continues.
And this is only the beginning.
Remember the Thyroid is one of the body’s power plants. No thyroid means low heat, low body temperature, low blood pressure and maybe a low pulse rate which all equates to low energy. The thyroid is only one broken system. There's more to come.
Individuals usually do not know that the thyroid is also involved in the production of some neuro-transmitters. Without these they may soon feel they require a drug for problems with depression.
Progesterone  Ever wonder why so many women have to use progesterone cream? It is because fungus devours it and changes it into prednisone. In fact, I have heard that drug companies farm fungus colonies, feeding them progesterone to make the drug prednisone which they then sell to consumers as a remedy for everything.

Prednisone is just one of the many powerful mycotoxins of the fungus that can kill bacteria.
This explains why most women are estrogen dominant. Not that they have a lot of estrogen but they lack progesterone due to fungus. 

These imbalances can cause the face to break out, breast to lose firmness, hair problems and the most significant…. Depression even migraines.
The main immune system of t-cells is now the only defense against fungus though they are not equipped for this big of a job throughout the whole body. This keeps the immune system so busy, other unwanted guests enter the body without much opposition by the immune system.
In fact the mycotoxins secreted by the fungus confuse the immune system and these unwanted invaders can hide in open view without an immune response.


Little known fact:  Candida suppresses the production of macrophages, one of the main components of the immune system. And when engulfed by a macrophage, fungus is able to destroy the macrophage.


Fungi secrete enzymes to digest cells then the body releases chemicals – unfortunately more tissue death. Then when the immune system arrives on the scene to clean up the damaged cells as it is supposed to do, it often gets blamed for all the death and destruction. An example is the destruction of Beta cells on the pancreas that makes a person an insulin dependant diabetic.


Think for a moment ….. Who benefits most when all the sugar is left in the blood with no way to enter the human cells. Is it the t-cells or the fungus? Which one will dine on it’s favorite food 24 hours per day because of this untimely death of the beta cells?
 
Principle: When you have an overload of a toxic mineral it means you do not have the correct form of the mineral and the body is really starved for the proper form of the mineral.
 
Acid Reflux  When proteins are eaten, the stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and its two enzymes into the stomach to begin pre-digestion. However, the fungus often will migrate still upward and move into the stomach also where this pre-digestion takes place. When this happens the hydrochloric acid is diluted and the signal for the valve at the top of the stomach to close tightly is muted so it often stays partly open.
Acid may now be able to go up towards the mouth burning the esophagus. The problem is not too much acid, it is not enough acid to close the valve due to the presence of fungus in the stomach.
Leaky Gut Syndrome  For instance, the fungus is wanting to get into the blood so it drills holes in the small intestine and makes its way into the blood stream. 
These holes allow undigested food to leak into the blood and the body cannot recognize them. 
These foods will eventually be tagged as alien and anti-bodies made to attack them. 
This is now a full-blown food allergy which is often a low-grade allergy that causes lots of problems without any major symptoms for the person to notice. 
In the end though, a person may develop joint problems like arthritis and even allergy shiners. (dark circles around the eyes)
Gallbladder, Ears  Now the fungus migrates freely into many places in the body such as the gallbladder. 
It can fill this organ causing problems with its function. 


Migrating into the ears the fungus causes ringing, doctors give it a name and treat it as a separate disease like all of the other symptoms of fungus overgrowth. If the ears are ringing the next step is to move further in and cause dizziness and loss of balance. 

In its early stages though it may just cause itchy ears.
 Sinusitis  When the fungus migrates into the sinuses things just get worse. Doctors have no remedy for this except to operate and scrap the sinuses. It only comes back in time. This disorder is miserable and adversely effects the health with post-nasal drip. Sometimes large fungal balls have to be removed from the sinuses by means of surgery.
Epstein-barr virus  Consequently, these individuals often carry the Epstein Barr virus, or another large viral colony which hides in the spinal fluid and also in the midst of Candida’s mycotoxins which confuses the immune system. Virus are notorious for pounding the body's organs. And the fungus helps to hide them from the immune system.
Other unwanted Guests  Ever wonder why some get pneumonia once a year? Others get staff infections every so often? Or why some get Strep once or twice a year? Some get frequent colds and flu?
The reason is that these infections never leave the body at all. People just have an episode and the microbe then hides in the presence of the fungus and its mycotoxins. To eliminate these totally the fungus must be controlled.
ATP problems  Long term Candida problems eventually seem to include a crippling of the ATP energy cycle. This is probably the most difficult problem to overcome.
Adrenal Gland  The end result now is an overworked, depleted and exhausted adrenal gland as it tries to maintain enough energy for the person to live another day.

When all the other energy systems are failing especially the sugar/insulin system it puts stress on the adrenal. 

Here’s how:  Not enough sugar in the cells and the body’s engines would shut off during the night but the brain signals for the adrenal to send out adrenal hormones to keep all the cells working even without sugar (its normal fuel).

Adrenal hormones generate heat as they are usually used in ‘flight’ or ‘fight’ mode of the body. This logically may cause night sweats depending on the lack of sugar in the cells on any given night.
Cancer  Fungus is always seeking sugar and as a parasite that cannot produce sugar it is also very ready to donate half of its DNA to any life-form so it can make a hybrid that can produce sugar. In nature Fungus overpowers Algae and makes such a hybrid and we call it Lichen which is found growing on rocks.
Fungus is not an air breather.
 
Heart Disease  Once the sugar/Insulin system is severely disrupted a person like a diabetic will begin to lay down plaque in the arteries 10 times faster than normal. This explains why virtually all diabetics after suffering a lot of pain and problems, dies from a heart attack!
MycotoxinsA final note about these abundant toxins that get embedded into the colon wall. They are not water soluble; they are heat stable; they are resistant to UV light.