Folate of Folic Acid: What's in a Name?

Folic acid: A yellowish-orange compound, a member of the vitamin-B complex, occurring in green plants, fresh fruit, liver and yeast and used medicinally to treat pernicious anemias.

Folate:  Folic acid.

Another name is vitamin B9. There are several other names of various forms of this important vitamin. None but folate is the natural form. My dictionary doesn’t discriminate between the two.

As a nutritional therapist I know the importance of this vitamin. We need it, along with B6, B12 and a few minerals, for the crucial methylation process, something our bodies do thousands of times every second. We must have it to synthesize and repair DNA. Rapid cell division and growth require folate, especially during pregnancy. Without it we cannot manufacture red blood cells.

Indeed, the government has even mandated the addition of folic acid to breads and cereals, in an effort to prevent neural tube defects in babies. You’ll find it in almost all prenatal and other multivitamins.

So, you may ask, what’s the big deal? We’re all used to calling it folic acid. Why even use the term folate? Indeed, even my computer’s grammar checker knows the term folic acid, but frowns, with a squiggly red underline at the term folate.  Is there a difference? If so, does it really matter?

Yes, it matters. Folate and folic acid are not the same thing. The body uses them differently. Indeed, a number of studies show that the manufactured form, folic acid, causes havoc in the body, while natural folate is protective.

Folic Acid vs. Folate and Cancer

In an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers discovered that women who took multivitamins containing folic acid for ten years were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those who didn’t.

Another study shows that people taking folic acid for more than three years increased their risk of having a colorectal adenoma, a cancer precursor, by 35%.

A six-year Norwegian study found that people who took folic acid along with other vitamins were 43% more likely to die from cancer than those who did not supplement with this artificial form of the vitamin. In short, research shows that the manufactured folic acid feeds cancer.

On the other hand, people not taking folic acid, but getting folate from food, have less cancer, dependent on the level of folate they consume.

Folic Acid and the Immune System

In light of mandated folic acid supplementation of flour and cereals, a frightening fact has emerged: Manufactured folic acid supplementation increases the risk of childhood asthma by 26%. With asthmatic children on the rise, this is important to be aware of.

On the other hand, a study done at Johns Hopkins included 8,000 people and found that those with the highest levels of natural folate had fewer allergies and less asthma, as shown by lower IgE antibodies. Those with the lowest levels of folate had a 40% greater risk of wheezing than those with the highest levels.

Folate Shortage and Heart Disease

When folate is deficient, people often accumulate homocystiene, contributing to heart disease. Adding lots of leafy vegetables, yeast, liver and fruits to the diet can help replenish body supplies. Supplements should contain folate in its natural form rather than manufactured folic acid. When folic acid is supplemented instead, it can lead to cancer.

Folate and Pregnancy

Obviously, sufficient folate is crucial to a successful pregnancy and a healthy infant. Since most prenatal vitamins include manufactured folic acid, most people, unaware of the research, feel their needs for this crucial vitamin are covered. It’s important to encourage pregnant women to get lots of natural folate from veggies, beans and other food sources. Not only will this help protect their embryo from neural tube defects and future asthma, it will help protect women from future cancers. These natural foods also carry lots of other nutrients, all of which contribute to healthy infants and mothers. Childhood cancers are on the upswing, and many of them could also be avoided with better prenatal nutrition.

What’s going on?

We really don’t know. One big unknown is what happens to excess folic acid when it reaches the bloodstream. There are limits to how much folic acid the intestines can change into the useable form of folate. Any excess goes into the circulation in a form that is alien to the body. Scientists haven’t figured this one out yet.

One thing we do know is that the body stores up to four months’ worth of folate, so a dietary shortage won’t manifest immediately when it isn’t consumed regularly. That assumes, of course, that the body stores are sufficient. However, when these body stores have been used up, the results can be devastating, including neural tube defects in developing embryos, resulting in spina bifida. Symptoms can include various anemias, including pernicious and macrocytic; diarrhea; weakness and shortness of breath; mental confusion and memory difficulties; peripheral neuropathy, with numbness and pain, especially in the feet and hands; depression; mouth or peptic ulcers; or swollen tongue; headaches; behavioral problems, and heart palpitations.

Elderly people who exhibit confusion and other signs suggesting dementia should be tested for folate and B12 deficiencies, since the two vitamins work together. Often they are missing intrinsic factor, which is normally produced by the stomach, and may need injections of B12 in order to absorb folate. Supplementing with methylated forms of both B12 and folate may be another solution.

Now that you know the difference in folate and folic acid, you understand the risks and benefits of eating the right foods and supplementing only with natural folate. Please spread the word by passing this blog link along to anybody you think may be interested or may benefit from what you've just learned.

This article was recently published in the Nutritional Therapist, the publication of the Nutritional Therapy Association. For more information, check Wikipedia.com and DrFuhrman.com.

Is Wheat Belly making you...er...a little heavier than you'd like?

I've never reviewed a book on this blog before, but this one is important, so here goes...

You eat fairly well, by the standards of most Americans. But, no matter how much weight you lose, or how carefully you follow a good dietary plan, or how much you exercise, you cannot get rid of that pesky bulge out front:  the one that makes people wonder if perhaps you are six or so months pregnant.  Most likely, you are a victim of Wheat Belly!

In his book, published this year by Rodale Press, Dr. William Davis coined the term Wheat Belly to describe the all-too-familiar sight of the bulge that frequently goes by another name, but is usually not caused by beer at all.

Davis describes the much hybridized wheat of today as scarcely related to the wheat people began eating 10,000 years ago. That wild grass, called Einkorn, changed just a little through natural hybridization, over thousands of years. But in the last 50 years it has been hybridized and changed so dramatically that its’ genome is scarcely recognizable from that of its’ ancient ancestor. What began as a four foot tall grass with 14 genes now has been dwarfed, its’ stalks made sturdier, and its’ production beefed up to the point where it has over 40 genes, many of them never before encountered by humans. Today’s wheat has far more gluten than its ancestors, giving rise to almost ubiquitous gluten intolerance and celiac disease. It even has proteins not found in any of its’ parents, including gluten structures unlike any ever seen in food before.

According to Dr Davis, this new wheat, which was never tested for safety or dietary compatibility, is at the root of most diabetes, arthritis, and the ubiquitous fattening of Western, especially American, populations. He goes on to say, “Small changes in wheat protein structure can spell the difference between a devastating immune response to wheat protein versus no immune response at all.” Translated, that means a lot more people are allergic or sensitive to today's wheat.

Today, approximately half of all calories consumed by most Americans come from carbohydrates, and 20% of those calories come from wheat. Ten thousand years ago nobody ate the kinds of wheat found today, and little of what they ate came from any form of wild grass, or Einkorn wheat. Our bodies’ requirements haven’t changed, so this is a most unnatural situation, causing a cascade of unfortunate biochemical events. These events adversely affect every organ in the body, causing breakdown, aging and degradation.

Davis has taken hundreds of patients off wheat and many have lost huge amounts of weight without any other dietary changes. Research shows that the newer wheat varieties cause cravings through peptides, called exorphins, that travel to the same brain receptors as morphine. These exorphins are seriously addicting, stimulating people to eat more wheat every couple of hours, even when they don’t feel hungry. In fact, they keep them from knowing when they are satisfied, so they consume more food overall. Research shows that people who stop eating wheat subsequently cut out close to 400 calories daily, simply because they no longer feel the urge to feed the wheat addiction.

Many people have gluten intolerance in one form or another, but few ever find out the cause of their problems. Even those who don’t test positive for gluten intolerance or wheat allergies often find symptoms improve when they stop eating wheat in any form.

People with gut symptoms should always be tested for gliaden antibodies. Even without testing, it is a good idea to emphasize the importance of getting off all wheat. But test before removing the offender from the diet, so the test will be accurate. Often relief from the pain of small intestinal villi being ravaged by gluten will come quickly with wheat elimination. Yet, interestingly, people suffering from celiac disease often crave the very wheat that is destroying their gut. Other tell-tale symptoms are blood sugars in the diabetic range and wide mood swings following wheat consumption. Not all gluten intolerants have gut symptoms, but every organ is being affected as long as they continue eating gluten.

Wheat promotes cancers, especially those of the intestinal tract. A 30-year Swedish study of 12,000 celiac patients found 30% more gastrointestinal cancers, including small intestine, liver, bile duct, pancreas, throat, and esophagus, with up to double the cancer mortality of those without celiac disease.

Yet, more often than not, celiac remains undiagnosed. Often it doesn’t carry gut symptoms at all. Yet those with undiagnosed celiac who remain on wheat and other gluten-containing grains, have a 77-fold increase in lymphoma and a 22-fold increase in cancers of the mouth, throat and esophagus.

The first thing to do if you have acid reflux is to stop eating wheat. This is often all that is needed to solve the problem. I had that experience, and help came within just a day or two of removing wheat from my diet.

Dr. Davis strongly advocates taking all diabetics and pre-diabetics off wheat, because two slices of bread spike blood sugar faster than any other food tested, including straight sugar. This is true for organic whole wheat as well as for refined white bread. After the dramatic blood sugar rise, of course, blood sugar plummets, stimulating the craving for more wheat. Once off wheat, all markers improve and normalize, including not only blood sugar, but high blood pressure, inflammation, glycation, dangerous small LDL, and triglycerides.

Diabetics age faster in every organ, developing poor circulation, atherosclerosis, vision loss, peripheral neuropathy, cataracts, and dementia earlier than the non-diabetic population. This is because they produce Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). These AGEs are cellular debris that muck up the works, and they are directly caused by high blood sugar. Diabetics are two to five times as likely to suffer heart disease and attacks, and up to 25% of diabetics will develop kidney failure or malfunction 11 years after diagnosis. Diabetics have up to 60% more AGEs than non-diabetics. Since high blood sugar often comes from wheat consumption, you can safely say that wheat causes aging!

The formula for developing osteoarthritis, and possibly even rhumatoid arthritis includes eating lots of wheat. This causes leptin levels in the blood to soar, and this mirrors leptin levels in fluids that lubricate joints. Increased leptin levels cause inflammation, which then causes wearing of joint cartilage. All this leptin comes from the wheat bellies you see all around you. A fat belly is a leptin factory!

Americans are notoriously acidic and wheat is one of the greatest acidifiers in their diets. A study at the University of Toronto showed that increased gluten intake causes a 63% increase in urinary calcium loss, a result of blood trying to maintain its crucial pH by pulling calcium from the bones. Because most Americans and Canadians are chronically acidic, 25-year-olds now are frequently found to have bone loss. This acidity also contributes to the initiation and growth of cancer.

The brain isn’t any safer from the ravages of wheat than any other organ. A fancy name for the problem is gluten encephalopathy, and it expresses as migraine headaches and stroke-like symptoms such as loss of control of an arm or leg, visual difficulties or even difficulty speaking. 

Gluten sensitivity can cause seizures, which often occur in teenagers. This type of seizure, which occurs in the temporal lobe, just beneath the ears, causes such strange phenomena as hallucinations of smell and taste, or feelings of overwhelming fear without reason.

If all this isn’t enough to put you off wheat, listen to how it contributes to heart disease, our number one killer. Briefly, heart disease and stroke are caused by oxidation, glycation, inflammation, and high triglycerides, along with dangerous small LDL particles. These are all a result of a diet too high in carbohydrates, especially those from wheat.

In a nutshell – or more appropriately, a wheat berry – you now know a bit about the dangers of today’s forms of wheat. To understand the full picture, Wheat Belly is a well-researched good read, and Dr. William Davis is thorough, experienced, and even quite funny at times.

Twelve

Friends, the more I learn, the more I realize what a deep mess our medical system is in. Large pharmaceutical companies, frequently referred to as Big Pharma, exert far too much influence on Americans today, much to our detriment. When I read the following article in an alternative newsletter I receive, I thought all of you would benefit by reading it. If it doesn't interest you, just take a pass!


The following information is reprinted with permission from Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health & Healing newsletter copyright Healthy Directions, LLC. To subscribe, visit www.drwhitaker.com.


Dear Reader,


"The most entrenched conflict of interest in medicine is a disinclination to reverse a previous opinion."


This quote, which appeared on the cover of a recent issue of The Lancet, arguably the world's premier medical journal, is excerpted from an article by Drs. John S. Yudkin, Bernd Richter, and Edwin A.M. Gale entitled "Intensified glucose control in type 2 diabetes -- whose agenda?"


These three diabetes researchers criticize the blanket recommendation of aggressive use of oral drugs and insulin to keep blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible in patients with type 2 diabetes. They report that the four major clinical trials evaluating this approach, which involved 27,000 patients, clearly demonstrate that "tight" glucose control has no effect on stroke, blindness, kidney failure, or death from cardiovascular disease or other causes. They also note that intensified therapy is linked with weight gain, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and impairments in quality of life "equivalent to a diagnosis of angina."


If this sounds familiar, it's what I've been telling Health & Healing readers for 20 years. I often feel like Lily Tomlin, who once said, "No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up." It's gratifying to be vindicated in a respectable medical journal, yet I seriously doubt it will have any effect on the way doctors treat their patients with diabetes. After all, that would require them to "reverse a previous opinion."


The authors of this article place much of the blame on the "synergy" and financial ties between the physician organizations that set treatment guidelines and Big Pharma. They state, "The rising prevalence of diabetes...provide[s] fertile areas for the drug industry."


This is just one "fertile area" for the pharmaceutical companies in their insatiable quest to hook you. Another is the increasing prevalence of drug ads that bombard you every time you turn on your TV or open a magazine. With tactics like these, it's no wonder we've become a "Pharmaceutical Nation."


Pharmaceutical Nation


Slick, provocative ads for prescription drugs are as common as sales pitches for automobiles. A smiling, healthy middle-aged man throws a Frisbee to a jubilant dog on a beach to extol the virtues of an arthritis drug. A depressed, anxious woman miraculously becomes the happy center of attention of her family and friends, thanks to an antidepressant.


Some ads are designed to terrify. Diagrams showing how blood clots can form in the heart, travel to the brain, and cause debilitating strokes urge you to find out if you are at risk by calling for a free book -- courtesy, naturally, of a drug company. Very concerned, perhaps frightened, you make the call.


Big Pharma spends $5 billion a year on direct-to-consumer advertising -- twice as much as they devote to researching and developing new drugs. And why not? It obviously works. Profit margins in this industry are obscenely high. But the fallout from all this brainwashing is another story. 


A Word From Our Sponsor


It may be hard to remember when pharmaceutical companies didn't plug their wares on TV, but before 1997, this practice was severely limited. That was the year the drug industry, which had been lusting after direct-to-consumer advertising for years, convinced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that advertising drugs through broadcast media would be a valuable, educational public service.


The first pharmaceutical to capitalize on this promising new strategy was Claritin. In 1999, $137 million was spent peddling this allergy drug -- more than the advertising budgets of Budweiser or Coca-Cola! (Does anyone remember Claritin's "blue skies" campaign?) Physician visits to discuss allergies increased from about 13.5 million to 18 million that year -- and Claritin sales grew from $1.4 billion in 1997 to $2.6 billion in 2000.


As it turns out, the drug didn't perform much better than placebos! As John Abramson, MD, points out in his book Overdosed America, the manufacturer's studies showed that Claritin was only 11 percent more effective at relieving allergy symptoms than sugar pills. The minimum effective dose was 40 mg, yet they opted to go with a far less potent 10 mg product, even though it didn't work, so they could make their "claim to fame" that Claritin didn't cause drowsiness. This was a con job that even Bernie Madoff could have been proud of!


Other "success stories" from the early years include Glucophage, Lipitor, Viagra, Celebrex, and Prilosec -- some of history's highest-grossing pharmaceuticals. Today, we are inundated with provocative ads that paint prescription drugs as the answer to all our problems. Of course, advertisers are required to mention side effects, but they make sure that what sticks with the average viewer is the pain-free romp on the beach or the miraculous mood boost, not the heightened risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.


The Dark Side of Drug Ads


It might surprise you to realize that only the United States and New Zealand allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers. There are good reasons for this near-worldwide restriction.


First, this commercial activity obviously drives up health care costs. These advertisements always promote expensive, newer, patented drugs -- never the generics that do exactly the same thing at a fraction of the cost. They also create increased overall demand for drugs, even when they're not needed. Between 1999 -- about the time direct-to-consumer advertising really took off -- and 2009, the number of prescriptions dispensed in the United States went from 2.8 billion to 3.9 billion, for an average of 12.1 retail prescriptions for every man, woman, and child in America. That's a 39 percent increase during a decade in which our population only grew by 9 percent. In essence, our government has given Big Pharma a license to harm us and get paid big bucks to do it.


Second, it destroys the doctor-patient relationship. Each ad has the ubiquitous tagline, "Ask your doctor if this medication is right for you," which translates to "Go get this drug from your doctor." Physicians often feel pressured by patients to prescribe advertised brand name drugs, when generics or no medications at all would be more appropriate. By "suggesting" the need for specific drugs, Big Pharma has essentially adopted the role of a doctor -- with a gigantic conflict of interest.


Third, it harms patients. Every pharmaceutical has adverse effects, but the newer, heavily advertised drugs have the skimpiest safety records and, thus, the greatest potential for harm. Real-life, prolonged use almost always reveals risks and dangers that cannot be teased out in short-term clinical trials -- they can only be realized after they've damaged or killed tens of thousands of patients.


Vioxx, a COX-2 inhibitor and cousin of Celebrex, is a case in point. Senior FDA scientist David Graham, testifying before a US congressional committee, stated that this drug caused 88,000 to 138,000 heart attacks, strokes, and premature deaths from 1999 until 2004, when it was finally pulled from the market. He equated this to "500 to 900 aircraft dropping from the sky...2-4 aircraft every week, week in and week out, for the past five years." All this due to a pill people took for knee pain...and our congressional leaders knew about it!


A Very Dangerous Industry...


In addition to the preponderance of pharmaceutical ads, I'm also struck by by the increasing number of frightening commercials by law firms offering to represent people who have been damaged by prescription medications -- including the some types of meds that are being advertised! Lawsuits are pending for drug-related birth defects, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and deaths caused by antidepressants, painkillers, cholesterol-lowering statins, diet drugs, contraceptives, and many more.


Pharmaceuticals are the most dangerous consumer products in modern society. Approximately 4.5 million visits to physicians' offices and emergency rooms every year are directly linked to adverse effects of prescription meds. And an April 2011 report by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality revealed that in 2008, 1.9 million patients in US hospitals (nearly five percent of all hospitalizations) had "medication-related adverse outcomes." We're not talking about illicit drugs or intentional misuse. These are "side effects of prescribed drugs that were taken as directed, unintentional overdosing by the patient, and medication errors such as incorrect prescribing and dosing."


To put this into perspective, every day nearly 13,000 people have adverse drug reactions severe enough to merit a trip to their doctor or to an emergency room. And 5,400 hospitalized patients are injured by medications that are supposed to help them. The hospital statistics are particularly alarming, as they represent a 52 percent increase over 2004. These institutions are the central focus of modern conventional medicine. If they get it so terribly wrong, clearly the whole system needs to be revamped.


And a Leading Cause of Death


A landmark study published several years ago revealed that there were 106,000 fatal prescription medication adverse reactions in US hospitals per year. As alarming as this statistic is, the actual number of drug-related deaths is far greater. First, this study only counted in-hospital fatalities. And second, such adverse events are grossly underreported. For instance, if a patient dies of a heart attack while taking an oral diabetes medication -- which dramatically increases this risk -- that drug is never listed as the cause of death. Avandia triggered 83,000 cardiovascular events and an untold number of fatalities before its withdrawal from the market. Think they were codified as "death from Avandia"? Not a chance. The truth is, if such adverse side effects were routinely taken into account, prescription drugs would be our leading case of death!


So, why does nobody seem to care? We are incensed by the carnage of war and natural disasters but totally insensitive to the deaths and suffering caused by prescription drugs. Just imagine the outcry if peanut butter, shampoo, or any other consumer item you see advertised in magazines or on TV killed hundreds of thousands of people. The first thing you would do is stop using the product. It's absolutely insane that Big Pharma pockets piles of money while causing so much death and destruction, all the while claiming that their drugs are precisely what you need to get healthy.


Don't "Ask Your Doctor"


Folks, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to resist the temptation to "ask your doctor" about drugs you see on TV or in magazines. As I hope I've made clear, the potential risks of prescription medications are far greater than the "benefits" these multi-million-dollar ad campaigns would have you believe.


It's not as if you don't have alternatives. For more than 30 years, we've been using natural therapies at my clinic to successfully treat tens of thousands of patients with a wide variety of health concerns. On occasion, we do use prescription drugs, but they are almost always inexpensive, non-advertised generics with long-term safety records. Not surprisingly, no drug representative has set foot in my office in nearly three decades. We both know it would be a waste of time. 


Recommendations:


* Do your best to ignore the slick drug ads.


* If your physician prescribes a new medication, lobby for non-drug alternatives. If that's not an option, ask for an older generic drug and insist on starting at the lowest dose possible. Assume that any new symptoms you develop are related to the medication and point them out to your doctor immediately.


* To learn more about the drug-free therapies offered at Whitaker Wellness Institute, call 800-488-1500.


* To find a physician in your area who has a similar approach to medicine, visit acam.org.


* An excellent book on the overuse of pharmaceuticals and the incessant greed of Big Pharma is Overdosed America by John Abrahamson, MD. It's available in bookstores, online, or by calling 800-810-6655.


References


Abrahamson J. Overdosed America. New York: Harper Collins; 2004.


Charatan F. US prescription drug sales boosted by advertising. BMJ 2000 Sept 30;321(7264):783


Gagnon MA, et al. The cost of pushing pills: a new estimate of pharmaceutical promotion expenditures in the United States. PLoS Med. 2008 Jan 3;5(1):el.


Lucado J, et al. Medication-related adverse outcomes in US hospitals and emergency departments, 2008. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb109.jsp


Lundy P. Prescription drug trends. Kaiser Family Foundation. May 2010. www.kff.org/rxdrugs/upload/3057-08.pdf


Sakar U, et al/ Adverse drug events in US adult ambulatory medical care. Health Services Research Online, 2011.

Eleven

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It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Like all of you, I’ve been busy. We took a long trip to escape a bit of winter, but got back in time for record cold and snow at the end of February, followed by rain, rain, and more rain ever since. So much for escaping winter!

Last fall I was tested and found positive for MTHFR. Since returning home I’ve been learning more about that, and find it’s a subject that affects quite a few of us – some estimate as many as 40% of Americans and even more Canadians have this problem. MTHFR is an acronym for MethylTetraHydroFolate Reductase Polymorphism. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Hold on, because I’m going to simplify what I’ve learned. Indeed, without a background in biochemistry, most of us wouldn’t understand much of the information on the subject. That’s because, relatively speaking, the information is new and few doctors and fewer people who are not in any medical field know anything about it. Those who are familiar with this problem roll those huge words around all the time. The rest of us need a little help.

We can thank the Human Genome Project for what is known about MTHFR. This is a defective gene causing a missing enzyme that makes it difficult or impossible to methylate folate, a B vitamin found in leafy greens and other foods. This in turn makes it difficult or impossible to clear heavy metals and other toxins through the liver. Our livers are amazing organs that perform over 500 different functions. One of the liver’s most important tasks is detoxifying all sorts of things through two different pathways, or phases. In the case of MTHFR, phase 2 detoxification doesn’t work so well. Thus, toxins like mercury from dental fillings and vaccinations, alcohol, breakdown products of metabolism, lead, and other nasties tend to build up rather than be broken down and sent packing. After years of this build-up, our bodies are ripe for some ailment. And that ailment could be something your doctor may not yet know how to help you with most effectively.

MTHFR Results

According to Mark Hyman, MD, methylation is one of the body’s most essential biochemical functions, greatly affecting the working of almost all organ systems. Methylation is continuous, happening billions of times each second. One of its most important functions is repairing damaged DNA. Because methylation is so important, methy cycle abnormalities are possibly THE root cause of most of the serious diseases that plague us today. Problems commonly associated with MTHFR include, but are not limited to:

·         Infertility in men, causing low sperm count

·         Infertility in women

·         Miscarriage

·         Preeclampsia

·         Birth defects, including Down’s Syndrome and neural tube defects such as spina bifida

·         Autism – 98 % of autistic children tested positive for MTHFR

·         Allergies

·         Depression

·         Anxiety

·         Schizophrenia

·         Diabetes

·         Peripheral neuropathy

·         IBS

·         Viral infections

·         Mononucleosis

·         Parkinson’s

·         Migraine, especially the aura type

·         Susceptibility to addictions

·         Heart disease

·         Fibromyalgia

·         Autoimmune diseases of all sorts

·         Blood clots

·         Stroke

·         Arteriosclerosis

·         Osteoporosis

·         Short term memory problems

·         Dementia

·         Alzheimer’s

·         Cancer, especially breast, colon and pancreatic. This likely explains why I developed breast cancer.

Heavy metal accumulation

That’s quite a list, isn’t it? But wait, there’s more! Over time, as heavy metals are retained in the body, the burden becomes so great it causes its own set of symptoms:

·         Shyness and social difficulties or withdrawal

·         OCD

·         Bipolar disorder

·         Schizophrenia

·         Aggression

·         Tantrums

·         Poor concentration

·         Premature graying

·         Hair loss

·         Liver and kidney problems

·         Colon and pancreatic cancer

I’ve researched and gathered information from a number of doctors’ and researchers’ websites, so there is some overlap here.

Is there anything good associated with MTHFR? Oddly enough, it is often associated with genius. And one website said that in some cases it helps prevent cancer. I’m not sure how they figure it both causes and prevents cancer.

Variants

There are over 50 variants of this genetic defect, but currently there are tests only for two of them. I’m sure more tests will be forthcoming. One variant is C677T, the other A1298C. You have to inherit one gene from each parent. There are six variations possible from these two variants. Those with either two C677T or two A1298C are more prone to depression, addiction and environmental damage because lead, mercury and pesticides do not clear well. People with the severest symptoms are those who inherit one of each type. This combination shows increases in strokes, heart disease and blood clots as well.

How to find out…

There are tests your doctor can order for MTHFR, including:

·         MTHFR is the initial test for the gene defect.

·         HbA1C is an estimate of glucose intolerance. If it is in the 5.5-8 range it may be more difficult to dose the methyl B12 and it should be given daily.

·         Complete blood count, which can show if you have a type of anemia indicated by large red blood cells, with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) greater than 95 which can signal methylation difficulties.

·         Homocysteine. Many doctors now order this as a measure of inflammation and heart disease. A measurement of less than 13 is considered normal, but Dr Hyman says the ideal level is probably between six and eight.

·         Serum or urinary methylmalonic acid. This test for B12 insufficiency is important. However, it can be elevated even with normal B12 or homocysteine levels.

·         Specific urinary amino and organic acids. This is another way of testing for metabolic disorders of vitamins B6, B12 and folate. It may indicate something not found by the previous tests. This is important because the three B vitamins are all essential to the methylation process.

The good news…

Should you find you are positive for MTHFR, the good news is that you can do a lot to help yourself better methylate folate and B12. Most of the following involve diet and supplements, and, in some cases, a prescription for a stronger methylated form of folate than you can buy over the counter.

• It’s important to eat a nutrient-dense diet and maximize digestion and absorption. Keep in mind that everything you put into your mouth either supports health or helps tear it down, and opt for support every time you can.
•  Eat lots of leafy greens. Be sure to eat at least four to five servings of veggies every day, and make a big part of those spinach, mustard, turnip greens, collard greens, beet greens, Swiss chard, bok choi, escarole, and watercress. All those leaves are packed with folate, nature’s own B vitamin, which is much healthier for your body than synthetic folic acid*. You’ll also find folate in eggs, broccoli, oranges and orange juice, peas and beans.
• Since the other B vitamins are very important to methylation, eat rich sources of the B complex every day, including sunflower seeds, unsweetened whole milk yogurt with live cultures if you tolerate milk, wheat germ if you’re not allergic to wheat, nutritional yeast, walnuts, asparagus, whole grains, liver and almonds.
• We all need protein, but most of us think we need more than we do. If you eat animal protein, keep amounts small and use it more as an ingredient than as the main event. Most adults need only about 45-50 grams daily. A piece of meat, fish or fowl the size of a deck of cards – a single deck - has about 15 grams. Two eggs have about 12 grams.
• Eat your food fresh and much of it raw. Cooking, canning, freezing, indeed any processing depletes nutrients. Eat local when possible. The longer veggies travel the more nutrition they lose.
•  We have huge amounts of bacteria in our digestive tract. Called gut flora, these little critters need to be in a healthy balance. That subject would take an article of its own, but you can help these important little critters by taking probiotics, eating raw fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, unsweetened yogurt, kombucha and kifer, and staying away from sugar and refined grains.
• Great health requires good digestion, but most of us don’t make enough hydrochloric acid (HCl) after age 40, despite TV ads for acid blocking medicines to the contrary. So take HCl supplements. Call me, or another Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, if you need instructions for how to find your correct dose.
•  If you have MTHFR you need a protocol of supplements that help your body do the methylating job required to detox heavy metals. I’ll address that protocol later in this article.
•  Avoid sugar like the plague it causes! While you’re doing that, avoid trans fats from shortening, margarine and processed foods. Avoid supermarket vegetable oils. Use only expeller pressed or cold pressed oils – mostly extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, hempseed and flax oils. Never heat hemp or flax oils. Heat damages their fragile omega 3 fats that most of us get far too little of. Never heat any fats and oils too hot, as this turns them into trans fats, which are extremely harmful to your body.
• Avoid all processed and refined foods, especially things made with white flour and sugar.
•  Avoid caffeine. Wean yourself off coffee by diluting the grounds with decaf, a bit more every few days, until you’re caffeine-free without the headaches of sudden withdrawal. Caffeine depletes B vitamins.
• Alcohol also depletes B vitamins, so if you drink, keep it down to only three glasses of wine or beer weekly.
• Smoking depletes B6, so, if you haven’t stopped by now, perhaps this will supply added incentive.
• Avoid medications that interfere with folate methylation, including methotrexate, used for cancer treatment; cholesterol-lowering drugs; anti-inflammatory drugs like sulfasalazine; biguanide drugs like buformin, phenformin, or metformin used for diabetes; birth control pills; diuretics, and some anti-seizure drugs.

Folate or Folic Acid?

*Before we get into the protocol for enhancing methylation, let’s talk a bit about the difference in folate and folic acid. Most of us are used to the term folic acid. Indeed, even my computer’s grammar checker knows that one, but it frowns, with a squiggly red underline, on the word folate. Yet folate is the natural form of B vitamin which is intrinsic, along with help from B12, B6 and a few minerals, to the methylation process. Folic acid, on the other hand, is the man-made or faux form, which doesn’t work the same way at all. Dr Fuhrman published an important article on the differences in how these two nutrients work in the body. I learned the information shared below from his website.

Dr Fuhrman gives facts and figures showing how very differently they each affect our bodies. Here’s a real zinger: In an article published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers collected data on womens’ folic acid intake from multivitamins over a 10 year period. They found that women who took multivitamins containing folic acid were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those who did not.

He reports that in another study people taking folic acid for more than three years increased their risk of having a colorectal adenoma by 35%!

Folic acid, which is now in almost all prenatal vitamins, was found to increase the risk of childhood asthma by 26%! At another site I learned that a Johns Hopkins research study of more than 8,000 people found those with higher levels of folate had fewer IgE antibodies, showing they had fewer allergies and less asthma. Those with the lowest folate levels had a 40% greater risk of wheezing than people with the highest levels.

In a six-year Norwegian study, it was learned that those taking folic acid along with other B vitamins were 43% more likely to die from cancer than those who did NOT supplement with this artificial form of the vitamin.

Look out, folks! Folic acid, not the natural folate, is in almost all multivitamins and prenatal vitamins. Yet folic acid is chemically very different from folate. The body uses it differently. There are limits to how much folic acid the intestines can change into a more useable form of folate, and the excess, unmodified folic acid goes into the circulation in unmodified, alien form. And, though scientists don’t even know what this excess folic acid circulating in our bodies does, it is mandated to be added to flour and vitamin products! It’s possible, even likely, that an even larger cancer epidemic is developing because of this.

Instead of encouraging pregnant women to get lots of natural folate from veggies and beans, they are all taking folic acid, which is putting them at risk of breast cancer down the road. Not only this, but there are many other nutrients found in green veggies that these women aren’t getting, and therefore their fetuses aren’t getting, because they likely feel the vitamin supplements cover all the bases. Childhood cancers are on the upswing, yet many of these cancers could be avoided with better prenatal nutrition.

On the other hand, people NOT taking folic acid, but getting folate from food, have less cancer, based on the level of folate they consume. The more they folate they eat, the less cancer they have. Thus, the natural form is protective, while the artificial form promotes cancer.

Dr Fuhrman’s site has a chart showing how much folate is in a 100 calorie serving of many foods. Unfortunately, this chart has limitations, because it doesn’t tell you how big a serving holds 100 calories. Any idea how many spinach leaves it takes to add up to that? I suppose there is another chart somewhere that does, but it would be a tedious conversion.

And the protocol?

Dr. Neil Rawlins, who, along with everybody in his family, is positive for MTHFR, posted a simple protocol on his website. It consists of specific amounts of high dose methylated folate. Methylated B12, NAC, or N Acetyl Cysteine, full spectrum minerals, vitamins B6, C, E, zinc, omega 3 sources, milk thistle or silymarin herb, and glutathione, along with Epsom salts baths to help the body absorb magnesium and sulfate, both important in the methylation process. For specifics, go to www.rawlins.org/mthfr/mthfr.html. To hear Dr. Rawlins give an informative talk on the subject, go to www.renewashoe.com/medical/.

Sources

www.rarediseases.info.nih.gov

www.mothering.com

www.NaturalNews.com

www.hopkinschildrens.org/Fol

www.medicineworks.com/user

www.DrFuhrman.com

www.renewashoe.com/medical/

Ten

Cancer likes making a comeback, but nobody wants a curtain call from cancer. So keep this in mind as you read the following:

After tasting it, and especially after pricing it, I fought taking it regularly, but Dr Weeks convinced me to take it for a month because it does so many things to prevent the return of cancer. So just what is this mysterious IT?

Called Haelan 951, it is a fermented soy* drink which helps because it contains all five on the National Cancer Institute's 1991 discovery list of foods that have anti-cancer properties. These are isoflavones, protease inhibitors, saponins, phytosterols, and phytic acid compounds. (See Journal of the National Cancer Institute April 17, 1991)

     The stuff, especially the finish, tastes truly nasty, but it doesn't linger on the palate, so I swig down four ounces every morning and evening, rinse my mouth, and take a miniscule bite of a raw vegan brownie, all to obtain the following bennies:

     1. Cancer cells live on and on instead of living a natural life and dying. The process of natural cell death is called apoptosis, and Haelan 951 helps restore this normal process to cancer cells and stem cells that are not yet designated to be the cells of one organ or tissue or another, and can, instead, become cancer cells.

     2.  It helps repair DNA that has been damaged. This damaged DNA is the first step toward cancer formation, so repairing the damage is crucial.

     3.  It reactivates P-53, the tumor suppressor gene. This seems to be especially active in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

     4.  Cancer cells grow by creating a blood supply of their own. This process is called angiogenesis, and Haelan 951 stops angiogenesis without damaging factors needed by your heart, brain and other vital organs, as chemotherapy drugs can.

     5.  This drink reduces exosomes, which are particles that inhibit your body's immune defense against  cancer.

     6.  Haelan 951 increases another gene which kills cancer cells by allowing apoptosis. This is called BAX, and the drink increases it by 500% compared with Doxorubicin, a chemo drug.

     7.  Also compared with Doxorubicin, used for breast cancer, Haelan 951 decreases BCL2, the gene which allows cancer cells to thrive by evading apoptosis.

All I can say is, I hope it works as Dr Weeks tells me, and fast, because I don't want to use it any longer than I absolutely must. But if it does these things, it should help in the mop-up of any stray cancer cells that could still be floating around in my body.

At my last visit to Dr Weeks for IPT, Walter Wainwright, the scientist who researched and developed Haelan 951, and president of the Haelan Research Foundation, talked with Dave and me for an hour or more about the positive benefits of this product. He explained something I'd never read anything about or heard anyone else discuss. It is the fact that stem cells, which are undifferentiated and have the potential to become any kind of tissue the body requires, can also be turned into cancer cells. But chemotherapy, which can kill cancer cells, does nothing to turn these stem cells back into normal cells. That's where his product comes in, turning potential cancer cells back into normally functioning cells that the body can use as needed, and which live out a normal cell life, then die.

If you're scientifically minded and want to learn more, The Townsend Letter (www.townsendletter.com) published an article in its August/September 2010 issue, #325/26, by Wainwright, explaining in greater detail, using with lots of graphs and charts, and citing many, many research papers supporting the components of this non-prescription product.

As Thanksgiving Day is drawing to a close, I am especially thankful for that clean PET scan, showing no cancer activity, and for the yukky-tasting, but possibly life-saving Haelan 951.


*Soy, generally is not a good food. It has many factors that are toxic, and it cannot be considered a health food, despite all the hullabaloo to the contrary in the media. However, when soy is fermented, those toxins are eliminated, and its good properties come to the fore. The only fermented soy foods I know of, besides the Haelan 951 discussed above, are soy sauce (nama shoyu is raw soy sauce), tempeh, miso and natto. I understand that natto, eaten in Japan, is an acquired taste, and I suspect you have to acquire that taste at an early age!





        

Nine

A Day to Remember: A Day to Celebrate

Did you ever have a day when you didn't even realize you were standing under a black cloud until the sun came out? Today was such a day for me.

I returned from An Oasis of Healing three weeks ago, not really knowing if the cancer that sent me there had completely resolved or not. It was too soon for a PET scan, which would give the answer. Two weeks went by before I could have the scan. Then, after having it last week, I had to wait until today for the results. During that time I didn't think about it too much, because I knew that fretting and worrying wouldn't change the result, but would cause me unneeded anxiety. Today I finally got the answer, and the result was fabulous! NO SIGN OF CANCER ANYWHERE!

Thank you, God, for answering all those prayers from friends, fellow patients, relatives, and myself. Thank you, all of you, for taking a few moments to add me to your prayers, distant Reiki, and various other forms of good vibes. Thank you, dear friends, for coming to my home and giving me Reiki. That includes Dodie, who came often, Fran, Helen, Susan, and Jordan. If anybody else came (and I keep thinking someone did), please chalk it up to brain fog on my part. I'll probably remember in the middle of the night and feel very stupid!

A special thanks to Sheri Bade, a woman I've never met or even talked with, though I did try several times, who lent me her condo for my Phoenix stay of seven weeks. And thanks to Fran for setting that up for me.

The entire staff of An Oasis of Healing gets a huge thank you. Everyone there puts heart and soul into helping all the patients, becoming our friends and families during our time there.

I appreciate Dr. Lodi's dedication to each patient, and to taking his Hippocratic oath of "First, do no harm." very seriously. He stands out from the crowd of doctors who treat cancer because he is willing to help patients with therapies that work by aiming small doses of toxic drugs at the cancer, not spreading large doses of them throughout the body. Because of this, I sailed through the treatment with few side effects. Yes, I did lose most of my hair. OK, anybody else would have shaved off the little remaining, but I wanted to keep my head as warm as possible at night! But I didn't suffer from nausea or loss of appetite, or malnutrition. Indeed, I was far better nourished with each morning's smoothie than most Americans are with a whole day's worth of what they mistakenly think of as food!

The nurses - Michelle, Courtney, Susan, and Tommie (and oh, yes, the pregnant one who worked Fridays and Saturdays - sorry my name-recall-ability has gone blank on me!) worked so very hard, paying close attention to each of us and our needs and conditions, keeping up with everybody, noting changes small and large, administering treatments with kindness and caring.

In the kitchen, Colleen and her helping elf daily created tasty raw vegan meals with variety and originality, then taught us all many of the tricks of doing the same at home.

The supporting therapists all played most important roles, helping us release toxins, both physiological and psychological. They, too, came to be dear friends and helpers along the road to wellness. A special thanks to all of you who contributed your love, kindness and expertise to helping all of us heal.

And behind the scenes, in the offices, everybody's assistance made the journey run smoothly. I appreciate all of you and your contributions to this red-letter day!

All the other patients became dear friends who shared each others' ups and downs, joys, fears, and sorrows. I appreciate each one of you, for all are precious and unique and all are facing the frightening and often difficult task of eliminating cancer from their bodies.

Tomorrow I have a follow-up appointment by phone with Dr Brad Weeks on Whidbey Island, here in Washington, who did one IPT treatment last week, and who ordered the PET scan. I'll find out how best to continue following up, since we know that cancer may not show up on a scan, but can still be in the body in microscopic bits, waiting for the opportunity to reassert itself. He will help me keep that from happening.

One of the most important things Dr. Lodi teaches is how to stop making cancer. So I'll continue with my plant-based diet of mostly raw veggies and a few fruits, small amounts of nuts and seeds, as a way of keeping my body free of cancer in the future.

And I'll continue feeling grateful for all the wonderful people who contributed to this triumph of a healthy body over one with a very scary ailment.

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey of healing. I'll be back from time to time, and in the future I plan to write about others who have healed their bodies of cancer using alternative therapies. The world needs to know!

Eight

Saying goodbye to Phoenix? Easy! The thermometer stood at 115 the day I stepped off that Southwest jet, and yesterday, September 3, driving away from Mesa, the car thermometer read 118! Yikes! I can't begin to fathom why anybody would ever make a home in this brown, sere landscape. Yet some claim to love it.

I do get tired of our short, dark, cold, and often wet Northwest winter days, but they seldom trap me indoors. Even the famous rain seldom falls all day without letup. Linda and I walk practically every day, only letting the cold or snow stop us for a few days here and there.

If rain is predicted for home, my poor nostrils will welcome air with a little moisture in it. My eyes eagerly seek visions of green trees, blue water, and the loving faces of family and friends.

Still, when I reflect on my time here, it has been mostly positive. I'm very grateful to have had this rare opportunity to learn how to deal with cancer in a less destructive, more natural way, to see the dedication of the staff at Oasis, to meet courageous people who are fighting for their lives, often after receiving cancer treatment at home, then being told there was no hope.

All our stories continue, with progress and sometimes setbacks. I've met some of the kindest, most patient and dedicated people who have come to help their loved ones, whether friend or family, in their struggles for life. All have adhered to the policy of speaking only kind, positive words in the clinic, always seeking the highest good for everyone.

We've become foxhole buddies, forging friendships quickly with people whose paths we would never have crossed anywhere else. The various therapists, the chef and her helpers, the nurses and office staff, the doctors, all have grown to feel like family over these last seven weeks. For all of this I am most grateful and filled with love and hope. Leaving the clinic? That was not as easy. Knowing I'll probably never see these people again, praying for all to grow strong and well, to gain new insight and new health from their experiences here, to go home to forge new lives, using their new knowledge: all that is filled with conflicting emotions.

As Haifa said once, "God has a plan, and it is good. It is all good."

And now, back to the seemingly impossible task of cramming everything back into the suitcases which brought me here with so little. How did I acquire so much stuff? Bundles of Chinese herbs from the acupuncturist, a few clothes from that trip to Chico's, the cute sandals I had to have, bottles and packets of supplements, a humidifier to make the night air breathable, and more. Where did it all come from? And how will we ever get it all home?