Parasites, Dysbiosis & Leaky Gut – Part 4

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INTESTINAL PARASITES, BACTERIAL DYSBIOSIS AND LEAKY GUT

EXCERPTS FROM POWER HEALING (RANDOM HOUSE, 1998)
BY LEO GALLAND, M.D.

In addition to a nutrient dense diet, there are several specific dietary resistance factors which warrant careful attention for their ability to preserve normal intestinal integrity and should be part of any program for intestinal detoxification.

(1) FIBRE

Fibre is the term that describes remnants of plant cells that are resistant to human digestion. The usual sources are vegetables, cereals, bread, nuts, seeds and fruits. Eating a fibre deficient diet increases intestinal permeability. Although medical researchers have been recommending high fibre diets for about twenty years, and sales of metamucil and other bulk laxatives have gone up, there has been no significant increase in fibre consumption from food and the fibre intake of Americans is far below recommended levels. This is unfortunate, because the fibre found in food is far more complex than the purified powders sold in drug stores.

There are many different chemical types of fibre, but the most important distinction is between soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre dissolves in water, forming a thick gel. Fruit pectin, for example, is a highly solube fibre. Psyllium seed, the commonest source of bulk laxatives, contains fibre that is moderately solube. Wheat bran consists of relatively insoluble fibre that is most readily evident as "roughage". Although all fibre adds bulk to bowel movements, the chemical effects of the different types of fibre can be opposite.

Soluble fibre feeds the intestinal bacteria, which ferment it to produce chemicals called short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs have a number of positive effects on the body: they nourish the cells of the large intestine, stimulating healing and reducing the development of cancer. When absorbed from the intestine, they travel to the liver and decrease the liver's production of cholesterol, lowering blood cholesterol levels. Oat bran, for example, contains fibres of moderate solubility; eating oat bran can lower cholesterol levels. Within the intestinal canal, SCFAs inhibit the growth of yeasts and disease-causing bacteria. The effects of soluble fibre are not always beneficial, however. Feeding high levels of soluble fibre supplements like guar gum encourages an overgrowth of the normal intestinal bacteria which deprives the body of vitamin B12 and produces an increase in the concentration of bacterial toxins. Although low fibre diets increase gut permeability, excessive consumption of soluble fibre from supplements can also cause excessive permeability and may create changes in the intestinal milieu that actually enhance the development of stomach or bowel cancer.

Insoluble fibre does not feed bacteria well and is not readily fermented to SCFAs. Eating wheat bran, which is largely insoluble fibre, has no effect on blood cholesterol levels. Insoluble fibre inactivates intestinal toxins, however, and high intake of insoluble fibre is associated with a decreased risk of colon and breast cancer. Supplements of insoluble fibre as wheat bran or pure cellulose appear to decrease the risk of bowel cancer. Insoluble fibres also inhibit the ability of disease-causing bacteria and parasites to attach themselves to the intestinal wall. Insoluble fibre plays an important role in preventing excess intestinal permeability.

It should be obvious that humans need a mixture of soluble and insoluble fibres in the diet and that food, not supplements, is the best source. Eating high fibre foods protects against the development of the major degenerative diseases of the modern world--heart disease and cancer--increases longevity and protects against the development of parasitic infection. The best sources of mixed fibres are unrefined cereal grains (oats, brown rice, whole wheat), peas, beans and squash. Among fruits, one gets the most fibre per serving from apples and berries.

Some high fibre foods contain natural chemicals which help to maintain normal intestinal permeability by unique mechanisms. Carrots, carob, blueberries and raspberries contain complex sugars (oligosaccharides) which interfere with the binding of pathogenic bacteria to the intestinal lining. These have been used in Europe for centuries for the treatment or prevention of diarrhea. Synthetic oligosaccharides are presently being developed as drugs for treating infection. Brown rice is the source of gamma-oryzanol, a group of powerful antioxidants which have been tested extensively in Japan for their ability to heal intestinal and stomach ulcers and alleviate a variety of chronic gastrointestinal complaints. Gamma-oryzanol can be consumed in rice bran or rice bran oil or in pill form. The therapeutic dose is 100 mg three times a day.

If you become constipated when increasing dietary fibre, you may need more fluid. Drink eight glasses of liquid a day, between meals, not with meals.

(2) FRIENDLY FLORA

A large body of research over the past ninety years has demonstrated the preventive value of eating foods fermented with Lactobacilli or their cousins, Bifidobacteria. Eating these friendly bacteria prevents intestinal infection due to viruses or pathogenic bacteria and preserves intestinal permeability in the face of infection or other types of injury, can prevent antibiotic-induced diarrhea and travelers diarrhea and can lower serum cholesterol levels. Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria also show anti-cancer activity, by two mechanisms: they inhibit the growth or activity of cancer-promoting bacteria and some strains actually produce chemicals which inhibit tumor growth.

There are numerous species of Lactobacilli and many strains for each species. Some, like Lactobacillus acidophilus, are normal inhabitants of the human digestive tract. Others, like L. bulgaricus, which is a common starter for making yogurt, are not. L. bulgaricus disappears from the intestine within two weeks after yogurt consumption is stopped. Sauerkraut is sour because of L. plantarum, a beneficial organism that is normally found in the human intestine and that stays for a long time after being introduced. Commercially available fermented foods are, unfortunately, unreliable as sources of Lactobacilli, because the lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide which Lactobacilli naturally produce may kill the producers themselves if their concentration becomes excessive. A few years ago, the Annals of Internal Medicine published a study which proved what many women have known for years, that eating yogurt daily can prevent vaginal yeast infections. The researchers were lucky. The batch of yogurt they gave their patients was loaded with living Lactobacillus acidophilus. These organisms not only took up residence in the intestines of the women who ate it, but also colonized the vagina, preventing yeast infection. When the scientists attempted to perform the same experiment a year later, they found that the same brand of yogurt contained no living bacteria.

The most reliable way to supplement your diet with Lactobacilli is to make your own yogurt or sauerkraut, or to buy nutritional supplements which have been tested by an independent outside laboratory and which list the concentration of viable bacteria found on culture. Lactobacilli are killed by heat, moisture and sunlight. The making of tablets generates heat which lowers the number of viable organisms. Lactobacilli should be freeze-dried, in powder or capsules, in opaque moisture-proof containers, stored in the refrigerator. They should be consumed with meals. The strains which have been most extensively tested for their viability in the human intestine are L.acidophilus strain NCFM-2 and L.plantarum. L. acidophilus is well-suited to growing in the small intestine, where it is normally one of the dominant bacterial species. L. plantarum has growth characteristics which lead it to grow especially well in the large intestine. The daily dose should be between one billion and ten billion viable bacteria. More may cause gastrointestinal irritation.

"Nutritional yeast" has been used as a dietary supplement for generations, as a source of vitamins and minerals and for treatment of digestive complaints. After treating hundreds of yeast-allergic patients, I was very reluctant to prescribe yeast for anyone, until I discovered a preparation which the French call "Yeast Against Yeast". The yeasts which invade human tissues, causing yeast infection, are mostly members of the genus Candida. The yeast used in baking bread or brewing beer belong to the genus Saccharomyces. Yeast Against Yeast is Saccharomyces boulardii, a microbe which inhabits the surface of many different plants and which was first isolated from lichee nuts in Southeast Asia by French scientists during the 1920's. Saccharomyces boulardii has been used in Europe for decades to treat acute diarrhea and controlled trials have shown it effective in preventing or treating diarrhea brought on by antibiotics. S. boulardii appears to exert its beneficial affects by inactivating bacterial toxins and by stimulating intestinal immune responses. S. boulardii has been available in natural food stores in the United States since 1991. People who are allergic to baker's yeast may also be allergic to S. boulardii, but for most people, including women with chronic Candida infection, Yeast Against Yeast lives up to its name.

(3) SPICE

Before they were used as seasoning, culinary herbs and spices were probably used for food preservation. Many varieties have natural antimicrobial activity and can retard spoilage. They are also used to mask the flavor of spoiled food, so I suggest using them at home, where you know the food they flavor is fresh to begin with.

The world's most extensively studied spice is garlic. Its medicinal use predates recorded history. Garlic is mentioned in the earliest Vedic medical documents, written in India over five thousand years ago. During an epidemic of plague in Marseilles, in 1721, four condemned criminals were enlisted to bury the dead. None of them contracted plague. It seems that they sustained themselves by drinking a cocktail of crushed garlic in cheap wine, which came to be called vinaigre des quatre voleurs (vinegar of the four thieves). In 1858, Louis Pasteur demonstrated garlic's antibiotic activity. The herb was used by Albert Schweitzer for the treatment of amoebic dysentery at his clinic in Africa. Antimicrobial activity of garlic has been repeatedly demonstrated against many species of bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. In addition, garlic lowers cholesterol and blood pressure and may protect against cancer. The dose of garlic needed to obtain significant benefit is at least ten grams (about three small cloves) per day.

Onion, garlic's closest edible relative, has also been widely used for medicinal purposes. Although it lacks the potency of garlic, it can be consumed it much larger quantity, so that its antimicrobial benefits may be equal to those of garlic if consumed regularly.

Turmeric, a major ingredient in curry powder, is a natural antibiotic that relieves intestinal gas by lowering the numbers of gas forming bacteria, has antifungal activity and has been traditionally used for relieving inflammation. The effective dose is about one gram per day.

Ginger, which contains over four hundred chemically active ingredients, has long been used for the treatment of digestive complaints. It protects the intestinal lining against ulceration and has a wide range of actions against intestinal parasites. Cinnamon, which I recommend for sweetening the taste of ginger tea, has anti-fungal activity.

Sage and rosemary contain the essential oil, eucalyptol, which kills Candida albicans, bacteria, and worms. Oregano contains over thirty biologically active iingredients of which twelve have antibiotic, anti-viral, anti-parasitic or anti-fungal effects. As mentioned earlier, thyme has anti-parasitic activity.

Meals seasoned with these pungent, aromatic herbs, consumed regularly, help protect against intestinal infection. However, heating at 200 degrees (Fahrenheit) for twenty minutes destroys the antibacterial activity of most of these spices. They should be added to food at the end of cooking, just before being eaten.

NOTE: If high fibre diets, friendly flora, or spicy food give you diarrhea, gas or abdominal bloating, instead of improving digestive function, you may be changing your diet too rapidly, or you may have an allergy to one specific component of the regimen described here. Slow down and try again. Be methodical, making one change at a time. First, cut down on sugar and fat, then switch to whole grains, then add more vegetables. Give yourself a chance to know how each new food you try affects your body. It may take a few days. Then add nutritional supplements, one at a time, allowing yourself three or four days between each change. Experiment with different brands. For some people, one preparation of Lactobacillus will cause diarrhea, but another will not. If you still find that you cannot increase your consumption of fiber or flora without feeling worse, rather than better, you may have an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast in the small intestine which have adapted to using the fibre you are taking to expand their niche, rather than to limit their growth. Bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine is far more common than doctors suspect and most commonly results from a lack of stomach acid or from prior surgery. Yeast overgrowth usually results from taking antibiotics. Resources for dealing with these problems are listed in Appendix III.