463 Quercetin [19 March 2018]

Quercetin is a plant pigment (which give color to plants) in the flavonoid family. As a food ingredient, and as a supplement, quercetin has many benefits for our health.

An important benefit of quercetin is its antiviral properties. Animal and clinical studies have shown that quercetin inhibits many viruses, including rhino-viruses, influenza A and B, herpes simplex type 1, hepatitis B and C, and others, preventing replication and transmission. When used with antiviral drugs, quercetin increased the drugs’ effectiveness. Quercetin also lowered the risk of secondary bacterial infections (the primary cause of influenza deaths) and has shown antibacterial effects on Staph infections. There is some concern however that quercetin may reduce the effectiveness of some anti-bacterial antibiotics.

Another important benefit is quercetin’s anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine effects which reduce symptoms in allergic conditions like rhinitis and bronchial asthma. Quercetin decreases production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, thus reducing inflammation in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, quercetin is a potent antioxidant, protecting cell membranes and DNA from free radical damage, especially important for smokers. Quercetin protects the liver from toxic stress by increasing glutathione production.

Good food sources of quercetin include: onions, broccoli, green tea, berries, pomegranates, and red wine. It also occurs in some medicinal herbs: ginkgo biloba, St. John’s Wort, and especially in elderberries (which have known anti-viral properties).

Some cautions – quercetin may slow the breakdown of certain medications in the liver, effectively increasing the dose. If you are taking antibiotics or any prescription drugs, talk to your doctor or pharmacist first before taking quercetin supplements. There is also a possibility of kidney damage with very high doses of quercetin. Quercetin may affect thyroid function. For these reasons it is advised to avoid high doses for a prolonged time.

In summary, consider taking quercetin for allergies, colds and flu (prevention and treatment), arthritic pain and inflammation, and for cell protection from smoking and environmental toxins. Follow directions on the bottle.

Sources:
Mercola: Quercetin - a Far Better Flu Remedy than Tamiflu - Feb 26, 2018
Learn About Quercetin's Possible Benefits for Your Health - undated
Self-Hacked: 22 Scientifically Proven Health Benefits of Quercetin - updated January 18, 2018
WebMD: Quercetin
Quercetin and Its Anti-Allergic Immune Response, Molecules, May 2016

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

424 Managing our Microbiome [12 June 2017]

Continuing the discussion of our gut microbiome, this week we’ll look at what we can do to improve it. Justin and Erica Sonnenburg devote a chapter of their 2015 book The Good Gut to this topic. They list 7 recommendations based on recent scientific research.

1. Get off to a good start. We start off sterile in our mother’s womb and get our first “inoculation” during the birth process (another reason to avoid unnecessary C-sections). Breast milk provides human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), the optimum food for the infant’s healthy bacteria – unmatched in formula and another reason why breast is best.

2. Avoid unnecessary antibiotics. I touched on this last week. The more antibiotics kids are on early in life, the sicker they will be the rest of their life. That said, sometimes they are a necessity. My throat infection turned out to be caused by an infected tooth. I’m now on round three of antibiotics – I’ll worry about my colon bacteria later.

3. Play in the dirt. Kids that live on a farm, or have pets, or play in the (pesticide-free) garden, have a more diverse gut flora and are healthier.

4. Feed your microbes. Eat a wide variety of high fiber fruits and vegetables like whole grains, legumes and tubers. If this is a big change in your diet, you may want to introduce them gradually to avoid flatulence.

5. Limit saturated fat. Pathogens which cause inflammation (the “bad guys”) thrive on saturated animal fats while the good guys prefer plant based mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil and avocados.

6. Consume beneficial microbes. Fermented dairy foods like yogurt and kefir are great provided they are unpasteurized and unsweetened. Fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and some pickles are another source of beneficial microbes. Back in July 2015 [#326] I wrote about making your own fermented vegetables.

7. Use probiotic supplements. These contain large quantities of known beneficial varieties. We have a variety of probiotics in our store with strengths up to 100 billion. I’m using S. boulardii this week which is not affected by antibiotics [see #387, Sept 2016 ].

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

423 Pathogens and our Gut Flora [5 June 2017]

The last two weeks [#421, #422] we looked at how our gut microbiome affects our immune system and our brain, mood and memory. This week we’ll examine the interaction between pathogens and our gut flora.

Justin and Erica Sonnenburg devote a chapter of their 2015 book The Good Gut to gastroenteritis – the invasion of our gut by food borne pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms like Salmonella and C. diff.) causing inflammation of the gut and diarrhea. It’s a serious problem hospitalizing a million Americans each year.

Our gut’s reaction to pathogens is a good example of the brain-gut axis described last week. We aren’t conscious of the pathogens, but the autonomic nervous system is quickly informed and directs the digestive system to vomit the stomach contents out one end and hasten the exit of the intestinal contents out the other.

A healthy gut flora protects us from invading pathogens by out-competing them for space and food, and sometimes by producing chemicals that are toxic to them. Oral broad-spectrum antibiotics kill not only the targeted bacteria but also many of the beneficial species of gut flora, which makes us more susceptible to further infections. This is often not considered when an antibiotic prescription is made.

Last fall I developed a sore throat with tender lymph nodes in my neck. When several weeks of my usual cold remedies didn’t work I went to my doctor. He diagnosed a bacterial infection and wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic with no discussion of possible effects on my digestive system. I took the prescription for the required 7 or 8 days and it did clear the infection. When it recurred a few months later I went straight back for another prescription and was given a different antibiotic. This is standard practice to prevent pathogens from becoming resistant but it means that it killed off another group of beneficial species in my gut.

After the first round I didn’t notice any changes in my digestive system (which studies show is typical despite significant losses of numbers and diversity of the gut microbiome) but after the second I experienced cramping, gas and looser stools. I’m still working on reintroducing good bacteria. When my throat infection returned a third time, only a week or two after the second round of antibiotics, I treated it myself with topical application of essential oils and it was gone in 3 or 4 days.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

387 Boulardii – the Probiotic Yeast [19 Sept 2016]

There is one probiotic that is not a beneficial bacteria – it’s a beneficial yeast. Saccharomyces boulardii is not related to the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. Because it is a yeast and not a bacteria, boulardii has many special benefits.

First, it is not affected by antibiotics so can be used to maintain beneficial bowel flora while taking antibiotics (which affect only bacteria). It is however affected by antifungal drugs so should be taken a few hours away from such medications.

Boulardii has proven effective in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. It also helps control more serious acute or persistent diarrhea and diarrhea in children.
Boulardii has been shown helpful in the treatment, and especially prevention, of Traveler’s Diarrhea, which is caused by unfamiliar “bugs” in the water. Boulardii keeps fairly well at room temperature so makes the ideal travel probiotic. Start a week before you leave on a holiday and then take the bottle with you.

Boulardii is proving to be an important adjunct in treating Clostridium difficile (commonly known as C-diff), a common, highly contagious, and difficult to treat bacterial infection. Taking boulardii along with the antibiotic treatment significantly reduces the rate of recurrence of C. difficile infection. Boulardii produces an enzyme which breaks down C. difficile toxin A, stimulates antibody production against toxin A, and inhibits adhesion of C. diff to the intestinal walls.

Another difficult to treat infection that boulardii is proving helpful with is Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria recently found to cause peptic ulcers. Taken with the antibiotic treatment, boulardii increases the rate of recovery and also helps prevent diarrhea, a common side effect of the antibiotic treatment.

Caution – severe diarrhea is potentially serious and requires medical aid. Boulardii and other probiotics seem to work best in conjunction with the appropriate antibiotic treatment, but in mild cases may be effective on their own.

In summary, supplementing with Saccharomyces boulardii could help prevent and treat diarrhea caused by antibiotic treatment, and prove helpful along with antibiotics for serious infections like C. diff and H. pylori. Boulardii has also been used for a variety of bowel conditions involving dysbiosis like IBS, IBD, Crohn’s disease, and colitis.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

385 Drug Induced Nutrient Depletion [6 Sept 2016]

I first wrote about drug-induced nutrient depletion (DIND) seven years ago in September 2009 (#29). A recent article on the topic in ND Notes (2)2 reminded me of the importance of this topic. The article states that over a thousand commonly prescribed drugs, and many OTC drugs, can deplete us of essential nutrients.

It is estimated that DIND is responsible for up to 30% of drug side effects. Seniors are particularly at risk for DIND – they take more prescription drugs, metabolize the drugs more slowly, and have less efficient digestive systems to start with.

Drugs deplete nutrients in several different ways. Antibiotics change the microflora in the gut which can lower the production and assimilation of several vitamins like K and B12. Some medications block the production in our body of an essential nutrient, such as statins blocking coenzyme Q10. Some, like Ritalin, suppress appetite which reduces the consumption of food (and nutrients); others induce hypoglycemia which causes cravings for sugar. Diuretics increase the excretion of certain minerals like potassium, magnesium and zinc. Ant-acid drugs make the stomach too alkaline to properly digest protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Some weight-loss and cholesterol-lowering drugs bind to, and then excrete, fat in the digestive tract, taking fat soluble vitamins and folic acid with it.

Some DINDs are well known and a prescription often is accompanied with a balancing prescription, like diuretics and potassium. The depletion of CoQ10 with statins resulting in muscle pain is catching on and knowledgeable doctors will recommend supplementation with a prescription. Many others however are missed completely, and too often another drug is prescribed for the side effects of the first, compounding the problem.

There isn’t room here for a comprehensive list of DINDs. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist, get a book like the one by Pelton and LaValle I discussed in 2009, or find a good reference site on the internet. (One I found is by Dr. J. Whitaker).Then look up your drug(s) to see what nutrients you need to be replacing. Maybe those pesky side effects that make you want to flush the pills down the toilet can be easily remedied with appropriate supplementation, allowing you to remain compliant with your meds and, hopefully, healthier.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

288 Our Gut Garden [6 Oct 2014]

This week I will continue featuring a lecture by gastroenterologist Dr. Robynne Chutkan about our microbiome – particularly the bacteria which live in our digestive tract, which she calls our “gut garden”.

The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 ushered in the age of antibiotics. Infectious diseases that were often fatal before then could now be quickly and easily cured. Now, nearly 100 years later, we are threatened with losing much of that advantage through over-use of antibiotics. One estimate claimed 20 to 50% of antibiotic use was inappropriate for the condition being treated. The proliferation of antibiotic-resistant “super bugs” is a growing concern among medical researchers. A lesser-known danger is the damage to our microbiome, particularly the gut bacteria, causing an unhealthy change called dysbiosis.

Dysbiosis is being linked to many different health problems: inflammatory bowel disease like colitis and Crohn’s; diabetes and obesity; auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS and fibromyalgia; and even neurological conditions like schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. The microbiome also plays an important role in our immune system.

Babies born by C-section (27% in Canada) miss out on their first “inoculation” of beneficial bacteria from the birth canal. The benefits of vaginal birth last well beyond infancy in improved health and immunity – lower rates of asthma, allergy and other inflammation. Multiple rounds of antibiotics routinely given to children add to the problem.

Chutkan poses the question “What should we be feeding our gut garden in order to optimize our microbiome to keep us healthy?” And answers it with a quote by Michael Pollan: “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.” She also advocates judicious use of drugs – not just antibiotics but other drugs like steroids, hormones and NSAIDs which also contribute to dysbiosis. And she warns against our obsession with sanitation – we shouldn’t be afraid of a little dirt! In short “Live dirty, eat clean!”

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

278 Could Probiotics Make You Sick? [28 July 2014]

Probiotics are beneficial micro-organisms taken as a supplement for healthy digestion and many other health benefits, especially following a course of antibiotics (see my posts #78, 172, 173 & 243). But in rare situations probiotics can cause an illness called D-lactate acidosis.

Lactic acid (lactate) is produced by lactobacillus and other types of bacteria in our intestines. There are two forms of lactic acid: L-lactate and D-lactate. Certain bacteria in probiotics like L. acidophilus produce more D-lactate than others. Some people – especially those who have bowel disease or had bowel surgery (short bowel syndrome) – have an impaired ability to metabolize the D-lactate form, resulting in lactic acidosis. D-lactose intolerance is associated with carbohydrate intolerance and leaky gut syndrome.

D-lactate acidosis can also be caused by antibiotics. L Acidophilus is relatively resistant to common antibiotics so may proliferate post treatment.

D-lactic acidosis affects the central nervous system causing symptoms including:
• Weakness and fatigue
• Inability to concentrate
• Agitation, irritability, hostility
• Headache, teeth grinding, involuntary eye movement
• Slurred speech
• Impaired motor coordination, gait disturbance
• Nausea, vomiting & diarrhea

There is a lab test for blood levels of lactic acid to aid in diagnosing this condition. Ironically one treatment is antibiotics. A low carbohydrate diet also helps. Probiotics without L. acidophilus may be helpful if tolerated.

My purpose in sharing this information is not to scare anyone from using probiotics. They are beneficial for almost everyone and essential for many. But should you experience a severe reaction after taking a probiotic, don’t just assume it’s a temporary “die off” reaction from toxins released by dying harmful bacteria. You could be one of the very rare “lucky” people with impaired D-lactate metabolism that require a low carb diet and a special L. acidophilus-free probiotic.

258 Manuka Honey [10 March 2014]

Manuka honey is an example of a mono-floral honey – a honey made from a single type of flower. Manuka honey has a distinct flavor and a rich dark color, but its medicinal properties are what make this honey so special.

Manuka honey is made from the flowers of the Manuka shrub, Leptospermum scoparium, which grows in New Zealand and Australia. Leptospermum is related to the Australian Tea Tree from which Tea Tree Oil is made.

Some manuka honey, called Active Manuka Honey, has strong antibacterial and antifungal properties (in addition to the effect from hydrogen peroxide which is found in all honey). This property, unique to manuka honey, is called (surprise!) the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF). Manuka honey is graded on the basis of its antimicrobial strength using a standard which compares it to a phenol solution. For example a UMF of 10 is equivalent to a 10% phenol solution. Honey rated between 10 and 18 is ideal for therapeutic purposes.

Manuka honey can be eaten to treat esophageal, stomach, and duodenal ulcers and other internal infections. Some stubborn bacterial infections which have become resistant to antibiotics – including Staph and MRSA – have been effectively cleared up with manuka honey. Other conditions for which manuka honey has been successfully used internally include: periodontal disease; sinusitis, bronchitis & laryngitis; canker & cold sores; throat infections; heartburn & hiatal hernia; celiac disease; and colitis, IBS & Crohn’s.

Successful external uses include: animal bites; poison ivy rash; infected surgery scars; diabetic leg ulcers; bed sores; stubborn infectious wounds; acne, rashes & eczema; and burns. When used as a dressing for open wounds, manuka honey has been shown to clear and prevent infection, speed healing, and reduce scarring. It also reduces inflammation and pain.

Manuka honey from New Zealand is available in Canada. It is of course more expensive than regular honey, but think of it as a medicine, not just something to mix with peanut butter on your breakfast toast.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

Ed. Note: this is a repeat of #59 from April 2010.

243 Re-Colonizing Our Gut Flora [18 Nov 2013]

There are about 200 trillion microbe cells of over 1,000 species living in or on our body. Many of these are beneficial to us; most are harmless; and the few that are pathogenic are kept in control by healthy populations of the others. When some of the bad guys proliferate, we become sick and are usually prescribed an antibiotic to get rid of them. The problem with this is that the drug indiscriminately kills all the bacteria in the gut, including the good guys.

Michael Tennesen in an article “The Ecosystem Inside” (Discover, March 2011) described the use of antibiotics as “dropping a bomb on a microbial community”. I use the analogy of spraying your entire lawn with Roundup to kill a few weeds. Sure if the weeds are bad enough it may be justified, but then you need to reseed your lawn right away or it will grow up with solid weeds the following year. Healthy grass is the best way to control weeds.

Similarly antibiotic use often results in various digestive complaints due to the loss of beneficial bacteria, but can occasionally lead to something more serious. After an antibiotic treatment pathogens are able to repopulate the microbial desert that your gut has become and grow unchecked. Then you become really sick and antibiotics may no longer be effective. A good example is Clostridium difficile, a bacterium which causes life-threatening diarrhea.

A novel treatment that has shown great promise in dealing with C difficile is fecal transplants – implanting fecal material from a healthy donor into the patient’s gut to replenish the beneficial flora. A recently published trial in the Netherlands had a 93% success rate with fecal transplants compared to 31% for vancomycin, the usual antibiotic for this infection. Other trials are underway around the world.

But you don’t need to wait for a serious infection, or to go to the extreme of a fecal transplant, to replenish your gut flora following antibiotics. Probiotics, sold in most health food stores and pharmacies, provide beneficial bacteria of known species and strains. Probiotics now come in potencies of 50, 80 and even 100 billion, strong enough to quickly recolonize the gut and prevent serious infections.

Sources
"The Ecosystem Inside", Michael Tennesen, Discover magazine, March 2011
"Fighting Microbes with Microbes", Margaret Munro, PostMedia News, Star Phoenix, Nov 13, 2013
"Duodenal infusion of donor feces for recurrent Clostridium difficile" NEJM 16 Jan 2013

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

221 Barry Marshall story [17 June 2013]

Barry Marshall won the 2005 Nobel Prize for his discovery that ulcers were caused by the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. In his online autobiography he tells the story of his discovery and the path that led to the Nobel Prize.

One factor favoring his discovery was his general medicine training – he hadn’t been indoctrinated into the gastroenterology specialist dogma (for example that bacteria cannot live in the acidic stomach). Thus he was able to draw logical conclusions from his observations (that H. pylori occurred in all the ulcer patients and in few others). He then went about testing his theory, including infecting himself with the bacteria to see what would happen (he got very sick). By 1984 he was successfully treating ulcer patients with antibiotics and bismuth.

Naturally Marshall was anxious for his discovery to be quickly accepted so that millions of other ulcer patients could also benefit. Instead he became frustrated with the opposition he faced from the medical community. In his words: “I was met with constant criticism that my conclusions were premature and not well supported. When the work was presented, my results were disputed and disbelieved, not on the basis of science but because they simply could not be true.”

Proctor & Gamble, an American pharmaceutical company which made a bismuth drug, came to his rescue and helped Marshall patent and promote his work. Gradually his theory became more accepted and finally in 1994 it became the standard treatment for duodenal and gastric ulcers. The following year he was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Although those 10 years of opposition must have seemed like a long time to Marshall, he was really very fortunate to have such a revolutionary idea accepted so quickly. I wonder how many other health discoveries are being ignored (or worse) because “they simply could not be true” or because there is too much money being made with the status quo.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner. See

059 Manuka Honey [19 April 2010]

Manuka honey is an example of a mono-floral honey – a honey made from a single type of flower. Manuka honey has a distinct flavor and a rich dark color, but its medicinal properties are what make this honey so special.

Manuka honey is made from the flowers of the Manuka shrub, Leptospermum scoparium, which grows in New Zealand and southeast Australia. Leptospermum is related to the Australian Tea Tree from which Tea Tree Oil is made.

Some manuka honey, called Active Manuka Honey, has strong antibacterial and antifungal properties (in addition to the effect from hydrogen peroxide which is found in all honey). This property, unique to manuka honey, is called (surprise!) the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF). Manuka honey is graded on the basis of its antimicrobial strength using a standard which compares its antimicrobial strength to a phenol solution. For example a UMF of 10 is equivalent to a 10% phenol solution. Honey rated between 10 and 18 is ideal for therapeutic purposes.

Manuka honey is eaten to treat stomach ulcers and other internal infections. Some stubborn bacterial infections which have become resistant to antibiotics – including Staph and MRSA – have been effectively cleared up with manuka honey.

When used as a dressing for open wounds, manuka honey has been shown to clear and prevent infection, speed healing, and reduce scarring. It also has anti-inflammatory property and reduces pain. It is often effective on deep stubborn hard-to-heal wounds when conventional methods have failed.

Some of the conditions for which manuka honey has been successfully used internally include: periodontal disease; sinusitis, bronchitis & laryngitis; canker & cold sores; throat infections; heartburn & hiatal hernia; esophagus, stomach, & duodenal ulcers; celiac disease; and colitis, IBS & Crohn’s.

Successful external uses include: animal bites; infected surgery scars; poison ivy rash; diabetic leg ulcers; bed sores; stubborn infectious wounds; acne, rashes & eczema; and burns.

Manuka honey from New Zealand is available in Canada. It is of course more expensive than regular honey, but think of it as a medicine, not just something to mix with peanut butter on your breakfast toast.

This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.