A new study has found that Vitamin D can counter the effects of Crohn’s disease.  Researchers found that Vitamin D acts directly on the beta defensin 2 gene, which encodes an antimicrobial peptide, and the NOD2 gene that alerts cells to the presence of invading microbes.

Both beta defensin and NOD2 have been linked to Crohn’s disease. If NOD2 is deficient or defective, it cannot combat invaders in the intestinal tract.

Sources:   Eurekalert January 27, 2010

 Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Science has known for some time of the importance of vitamin D in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. I posted a study on this ten years ago.

In my view it is reprehensible and irresponsible not to measure the levels of vitamin D in patients with this disease. You need to measure the vitamin D level in your blood, as it is virtually impossible to simply know whether or not it is in the therapeutic levels of 55 to 65 ng/ml.

If you or someone you know has this disease, please beg them to get their vitamin D level monitored. Most adults need at least 5000 units per day, but some may actually require up to 50,000 units per day. There is just no way of knowing without measuring.

Also there is NO benefit, and likely some harm if you take too much. So simply popping loads of vitamin D pills is not the way to optimize your vitamin D. The only time you don’t need to measure your vitamin D levels is when you have nearly daily access to high quality sunshine.

Crohn’s Disease is an Immune System Disorder

Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition that causes inflammation of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Any area of your digestive tract can be affected, from your mouth to your anus, but Crohn’s most commonly affects the lower part of your small intestine known as the ileum. Swelling from the inflammation can be painful and often results in diarrhea.

Crohn’s is found in men and women in equal numbers and seems to have a genetic component. About 20 percent of Crohn’s sufferers also have a relative - usually a parent or sibling — with some form of inflammatory bowel disease.

The cause of Crohn’s is thought to be impairment in the way your immune system handles intestinal bacteria. This improper immune system response leads to an inflammatory condition that can result in an autoimmune disorder.

If you have an autoimmune disorder, it means your immune system is attacking and destroying healthy body tissue.

Vitamin D is the Miracle Nutrient for Your Immune System

One of the reasons that vitamin D may work is that it helps your body produce over 200 anti microbial peptides that help fight all sorts of infections. There are many experts that believe inflammatory bowl disease has an infectious trigger.

From a recent Oregon State University press release:

A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that it has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and is shared only by primates, including humans - but no other known animal species.

The fact that this vitamin-D mediated immune response has been retained through millions of years of evolutionary selection, and is still found in species ranging from squirrel monkeys to baboons and humans, suggests that it must be critical to their survival, researchers say.

Even though the “cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide” has several different biological activities in addition to killing pathogens, it’s not clear which one, or combination of them, makes vitamin D so essential to its regulation.

The research also provides further evidence of the biological importance of adequate levels of vitamin D in humans and other primates, even as some studies and experts suggest that more than 50 percent of the children and adults in the U.S. are deficient in “the sunshine vitamin.”

“The existence and importance of this part of our immune response makes it clear that humans and other primates need to maintain sufficient levels of vitamin D,” said Adrian Gombart, an associate professor of biochemistry and a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

In simple terms, if you’re vitamin D deficient, your immune system will not activate to do its job. And since vitamin D also modulates (balances) your immune response, it prevents an overreaction in the form of inflammation, which can lead to autoimmune disorders like Crohn’s disease.

How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?

As I said previously, the only way to determine the correct oral dose of vitamin D is to have your blood tested.

I recommend using Lab Corp in the U.S. If you get it done by Quest, you’ll need to divide your result by 1.3 to get the number that actually correlates with all the research.

Getting the correct test is the first step in this process, as there are TWO vitamin D tests currently being offered: 1,25(OH)D, and 25(OH)D.

The correct test your doctor needs to order is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the better marker of overall D status. This is the marker that is most strongly associated with overall health.

Next, the “normal” 25-hydroxyvitamin D lab range is between 20-56 ng/ml. As you can see in the chart below, this conventional range is really a sign of deficiency, and is too broad to be ideal.

In fact, your vitamin D level should never be below 32 ng/ml, and any levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious deficiency states, increasing your risk of as many as 16 different cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, just to name a few.

The OPTIMAL value that you’re looking for is 55-65 ng/ml.

This range applies for everyone; children, adolescents, adults and seniors.

These ranges are based on healthy people in tropical or subtropical parts of the world, where they are receiving healthy sun exposures. It seems more than reasonable to assume that these values are in fact reflective of an optimal human requirement.

Keeping your level in this range, and even erring toward the higher numbers in this range, is going to give you the most protective benefit. And the way you maintain your levels within this range is by getting tested regularly — say two to four times a year in the beginning, and adjusting your vitamin D intake accordingly.

Vitamind.Mercola.com: New Resource for all the Latest Vitamin D News

Vitamin D, the powerful “sunshine” nutrient, is known for its many wonderful benefits including protection from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases.

Because it is so vital to your health, I’ve added a special section to my website dedicated exclusively to keeping my readers updated on all the late-breaking vitamin D news.

Vitamind.Mercola.com provides you with important vitamin D resources you can’t easily find on the web, such as articles, tips and an online forum that will help you avoid vitamin D deficiency and lead a healthier life.

I encourage you to bookmark this link and visit it often to stay on top of all the latest research and guidance on optimizing and maintaining your vitamin D levels.

Related Links:

  Vitamin D Doubles Colon Cancer Survival Rates

  The Sunshine Vitamin Repairs Your Skin and Boosts Your Immune System

  New Model for Cancer — Dynamite!

GM foods won’t solve the food crisis

A 2008 World Bank report concluded that increased biofuel production (crops grown for fuel rather than food) is the major cause of the increase in food prices.  GM giant Monsanto has been at the heart of the lobbying for biofuels — while profiting enormously from the resulting food crisis and using it as a PR opportunity to promote GM foods!

GM crops do not increase yield potential

Despite the promises, GM has not increased the yield potential of any commercialized crops. In fact, studies show that the most widely grown GM crop, GM soy, has suffered reduced yields.

GM crops increase pesticide use

U.S. government data shows that in the U.S., GM crops have produced an overall increase, not decrease, in pesticide use compared to conventional crops.

There are better ways to feed the world

A major UN/World Bank-sponsored report compiled by 400 scientists and endorsed by 58 countries concluded that GM crops have little to offer global agriculture and the challenges of of poverty, hunger, and climate change, because better alternatives are available.

Other farm technologies are more successful

Integrated Pest Management and other innovative low-input or organic methods of controlling pests and boosting yields have proven highly effective, particularly in the developing world.

GM foods have not been shown to be safe to eat

Genetic modification is a crude and imprecise way of incorporating foreign genetic material into crops, with unpredictable consequences. The resulting GM foods have undergone little rigorous and no long-term safety testing, but animal feeding tests have shown worrying health effects.

Stealth GMOs in animal feed — without consumers’ consent

Meat, eggs and dairy products from animals raised on the millions of tons of GM feed imported into Europe do not have to be labeled. Some studies show that if GM crops are fed to animals, GM material can appear in the resulting products, and that the animals’ health can be affected.

GM crops are a long-term economic disaster for farmers

A 2009 report showed that GM seed prices in America have increased dramatically, cutting average farm incomes for U.S. farmers growing GM crops.

GM and non-GM cannot co-exist

GM contamination of conventional and organic food is increasing. An unapproved GM rice that was grown for only one year in field trials was found to have extensively contaminated the U.S. rice supply and seed stocks. In Canada, the organic oilseed rape industry has been destroyed by contamination from GM rape. In Spain, a study found that GM maize “has caused a drastic reduction in organic cultivations of this grain and is making their coexistence practically impossible”.

You can’t trust GM companies

The big biotech firms pushing their GM foods have a terrible history of toxic contamination and public deception. GM is attractive to them because it gives them patents that allow monopoly control over the world’s food supply. They have taken to harassing and intimidating farmers for the “crime” of saving patented seed or “stealing” patented genes — even if those genes got into the farmer’s fields through accidental contamination by wind or insects.
Sources:

  GM Watch February 2010

Guest Comment by Jeffrey M. Smith

1. Eating genetically modified (GM) foods may cause disease

GMOs may be the greatest health disaster in the American diet. Within 9 years of their introduction in 1996, multiple chronic illnesses jumped from 7 percent to 13 percent of the population,^[1] food allergies doubled in less time, and many other ailments have been on the rise.

Millions may already be suffering health problems caused by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their diet. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has urged doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients, and cites animal studies that show how GMOs cause disorders such as vital organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system problems, accelerated aging, infertility, and dysfunctional regulation of insulin and cholesterol.

2. GMOs might cause infertility or hurt newborns

When GM soy flour was added to the diets of female rats, most of their babies died within three weeks-compared to only a 10 percent death rate among mothers fed natural soy.^[2] The GM-fed offspring were smaller, and later had problems getting pregnant.^[3]

When male rats were fed GM soy, their testicles changed from the normal pink color to dark blue.^[4] Mice testicles also showed changes, including damaged young sperm cells.^[5]

The DNA in mice embryos functioned differently when their parents ate GM soy.^[6] And an Austrian government study reported that mice fed GM corn had fewer and smaller babies.^[7]

About two dozen US farmers say that thousands of their pigs became sterile after consuming certain GM corn varieties. Some had false pregnancies, others gave birth to bags of water.

Cows and bulls also became infertile when fed the same corn.^[8] Investigators in the state of Haryana, India, report that most buffalo that ate GM cottonseed had reproductive complications such as premature deliveries, abortions, infertility, and prolapsed uteruses. Many calves died.^[9]

3. GM corn contains a toxic pesticide in every bite

Some GM varieties produce poison-their DNA creates an insect killing “Bt-toxin” in every cell. Monsanto and others claim that the toxin is safe for humans and mammals because the gene that produces it comes from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis.

Farmers have long used these natural bacteria as a pesticidal spray. But when the spray was widely dispersed to fight gypsy moths in Washington and Vancouver, about 500 people reported allergic and flu-like symptoms.^[10]

Genetic engineers insert the bacteria’s toxin-creating gene into corn and cotton plants, which produce a more toxic poison. It’s thousands of times more concentrated than the spray and cannot be washed off.

Now, thousands of Indian farm laborers who are exposed to Monsanto’s Bt cotton plants are suffering from the same symptoms as those in the Pacific Northwest.^[11]

In addition, thousands of sheep, goats, and buffalo have died after grazing on Bt cotton plants.^[12] Countless other livestock have suffered reproductive disorders, skin disruptions, and upper respiratory ailments.

In one small feeding study, all the sheep that consumed Bt plants died within a month. Those that ate natural plants remained healthy.^[13]

Bt corn is also linked to animal deaths in Germany^[14] and The Philippines,^[15] and according to an Italian government study, evokes serious immune responses in mice.^[16] Even Monsanto’s 90-day rat feeding studies with Bt corn showed vital organ damage and signs of toxicity.^[17]

4. GMOs might cause allergies

Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50 percent.^[18] There are many reasons why people may be more reactive to GMOs.

• GM soy, corn, and papaya fail the allergy screening protocol recommended by the World Health Organization; their GM proteins have properties of known allergens.^[19]
• The widespread collateral damage resulting from the process of creating GMOs can introduce new allergens or elevate existing ones. GM corn contains a new unintended allergen^[20] and GM soy has up to seven times more of the soy allergen trypsin inhibitor.^[21]
• Preliminary allergy tests confirm that some people have skin prick reactions to GM soy, but not to a wild natural variety.^[22]
• Consuming GMOs may also provoke allergies to other foods.
• Mice not only reacted to Bt-toxin^[23] and an experimental GM pea,^[24] they then started reacting to other foods that previously had no impact.
• GM soy drastically reduces digestive enzymes in mice.^[25] If your digestive ability is also impaired, you could become allergic to many types of food.

5. GMOs have higher residues of poisonous herbicide

The primary reason crops are engineered is to allow them to drink poison. They’re called herbicide tolerant, and are inserted with bacterial genes that allow them to survive otherwise deadly doses of toxic herbicide.

Biotech companies sell the seed and herbicide as a package. Monsanto sells Roundup Ready crops and Roundup herbicide. Bayer CropScience sells Liberty Link crops and Liberty herbicide.

Between 1996 and 2008, US farmers sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicide on these poison drinking GMOs.^[26]

Because weeds are becoming resistant to the overused herbicide, farmers are spraying considerably more each year. The last 2 years of the 13-year study alone accounted for 46 percent of the increased herbicide use.

6. GM genes can convert your intestinal bacteria into living factories that continuously produce pesticides or other harmful products

The ONLY published GMO human feeding study (that’s right, there’s only one) confirmed that genes transfer from GM soybeans into the DNA of bacteria living inside our small intestines and continue to function.^[27]

Human subjects that ate Roundup Ready soybeans ended up with “Roundup Ready gut bacteria”-unkillable with Roundup. If the pesticide-producing Bt gene in corn chips were also to transfer, it could turn your intestinal flora into living pesticide factories-possibly for the long term.

7. GMOs are approved without adequate safety studies

In 1992, the Food and Drug Administration claimed they had no information showing that GM foods were substantially different from conventionally grown foods. Therefore absolutely no safety studies were required.

But secret internal memos made public by a lawsuit show that the actual consensus among FDA scientists was that GMOs can create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects, including allergies, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They urged long-term safety studies.

Sadly, the FDA official in charge of policy ignored the warnings. He was Michael Taylor, Monsanto’s former attorney and later their vice president.

Because of him, the same biotech companies who have been found guilty of hiding toxic effects of their chemical products are now in charge of determining whether their GM foods are safe. A close look at their so-called GMO safety studies shows how they rig research to avoid problems. They’ve got bad science down to a science.

Tragically, Michael Taylor, who may be responsible for more food-related illness and death in human history, is now back at the FDA as the US Food Safety Czar.

8. GMOs cause irreversible genetic pollution

GMOs cross pollinate and spread into the environment. A total recall is impossible.

The self-propagating genetic pollution already released will outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste.

9. GMOs work against feeding a hungry world

The most authoritative evaluation of agriculture, the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development,^[28] determined that the current GMOs have nothing to offer the goals of reducing hunger and poverty, improving nutrition, health and rural livelihoods, and facilitating social and environmental sustainability.

The report was a three-year collaborative effort with 900 participants and 110 countries, and was co-sponsored by all the majors, e.g. the World Bank, FAO, UNESCO, WHO. In reality, GMOs reduce yield,^[29] increase farmers’ dependence on multinationals, reduce biodiversity, increase herbicide use, and take money away from more successful and appropriate methods.

In developing nations, GMOs can be catastrophic.

In India, for example, Monsanto convinced hundreds of thousands of farmers to take out high interest loans to pay for expensive GM cotton seeds and associated chemicals. Inconsistent yields left desperate farmers unable to even pay back their loans. The UK Daily Mail estimates that an astounding 125,000 indebted GM cotton farmers committed suicide.^[30]

10. By avoiding GMOs, you help create a tipping point to drive them out of our food supply

Because GMOs give no consumer benefits, if even a small percentage of us start rejecting brands that contain them, GM ingredients will become a marketing liability. Food companies will kick them out.

The tipping point can come quickly.

In Europe, for example, within 10 weeks of a high profile GMO safety scandal that hit the papers in 1999, virtually every major food company committed to stop using GM foods. In the US, a consumer rebellion against genetically modified bovine growth hormone used on dairy cows has also reached a tipping point. Drugged milk and/or yogurt has been rejected by Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Dannon, Yoplait, and about 60 of the top 100 dairies so far.

The Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to achieve a tipping point against GMOs in the US. The number of non-GMO shoppers needed is probably just 5 percent of the population.

They key is to educate consumers about the documented health dangers and provide a Non-GMO Shopping Guide, to make avoiding GMOs much easier. Thus, by choosing healthier non-GMO brands, and telling others about GMOs so they can do the same, we can quickly reclaim a non-GMO food supply.

Visit the Campaign’s website for GMO educational materials to read, watch, listen to, and pass onto others.

Take Action Against GM Alfalfa Now … We Need Your Help!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is, for the first time, conducting an analysis known as an environmental impact statement (EIS) on a GM crop. This crop is Monsanto’s genetically engineered Roundup Ready alfalfa, and we need your help to voice your opinion and help keep this plant from getting approved.

In 2006, the Center for Food Safety sued the USDA for illegally approving GM alfalfa. Federal courts agreed and banned GM alfalfa until the USDA could provide an EIS — which they did in December 2009.

There is now a comment period open to the public, but it ends on March 3, 2010 — so time is running out.

The USDA’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement admits that if GM alfalfa is approved:

• GM contamination of non-GM and organic alfalfa crops will occur
• GM contamination will economically impact small and family farmers
• Foreign export markets will be at risk due to rejection of GM-contaminated products
• Farmers will be forced to use more toxic herbicides to remove old stands of alfalfa

Yet, the USDA has brushed off these concerns as insignificant, and intends to approve GM alfalfa anyway. They even went so far as to say in the EIS that consumers don’t care if their organic food is GM contaminated and neither do organic farmers!

This case is not only important for the future of GM alfalfa … the final decision on this case could have broad implications for the future of all GM crops.

So please call your Congressional Representatives today and ask them to urge Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack to deny approval of Monsanto’s GM alfalfa.

To do so, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senator/Representative’s office. You can find the name of your Senator/Representative here.

When you speak with the agriculture staff person (or leave a message), be sure to let them know that you DO NOT support the deregulation of GM alfalfa. You can also mention these reasons, which were compiled by the Center for Food Safety, as to why:

• GM contamination of non-GM and organic crops would be inevitable
• You won’t buy products that are GM-contaminated
• Alfalfa is a major food source for livestock and GM alfalfa would destroy the integrity of organic dairy products
• You support the rights of farmers to grow the crops of their choice, and GM contamination makes that impossible
• GM crops increase pesticide use, harming human health and the environment
• Ask your Representative and Senators to contact Secretary Vilsack and urge him to deny USDA approval of Monsanto’s GM alfalfa

You can also submit your comments online here, and the True Food Network has compiled a sample email that you can use for inspiration. 

Again, the deadline for public comment is March 3, so please let your opinion be heard. Tell your Representative and Senators that the USDA is wrong — you DO care if your organic food is contaminated with GM crops, and you do NOT support the approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered Roundup Ready alfalfa.

About the Author

International bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith is the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of GMOs. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the subject. His second, Genetic Roulette, documents the health dangers of GMOs and why current assessments are not competent to protect consumers.

He is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, which runs the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America, and lives with his wife in Iowa-surrounded by genetically modified corn and soybeans.

References:

[2] Irina Ermakova, “Genetically modified soy leads to the decrease of weight and high mortality of rat pups of the first generation. Preliminary studies,” Ecosinform 1 (2006): 4-9.

[3] Irina Ermakova, “Experimental Evidence of GMO Hazards,” Presentation at Scientists for a GM Free Europe, EU Parliament, Brussels, June 12, 2007

[4] Irina Ermakova, “Experimental Evidence of GMO Hazards,” Presentation at Scientists for a GM Free Europe, EU Parliament, Brussels, June 12, 2007

[5] L. Vecchio et al, “Ultrastructural Analysis of Testes from Mice Fed on Genetically Modified Soybean,” European Journal of Histochemistry 48, no. 4 (Oct-Dec 2004):449-454.

[6] Oliveri et al., “Temporary Depression of Transcription in Mouse Pre-implantion Embryos from Mice Fed on Genetically Modified Soybean,” 48th Symposium of the Society for Histochemistry, Lake Maggiore (Italy), September 7-10, 2006.

[7] Alberta Velimirov and Claudia Binter, “Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice,” Forschungsberichte der Sektion IV, Band 3/2008

[8] Jerry Rosman, personal communication, 2006

[9] Personal communication with investigative team, and transcript of videotaped interviews

[10] Washington State Department of Health, “Report of health surveillance activities: Asian gypsy moth control program,” (Olympia, WA: Washington State Dept. of Health, 1993); see also M. Green, et al., “Public health implications of the microbial pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis: An epidemiological study, Oregon, 1985-86,” Amer. J. Public Health 80, no. 7(1990): 848-852.

[11] Ashish Gupta et. al., “Impact of Bt Cotton on Farmers’ Health (in Barwani and Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh),” Investigation Report, Oct-Dec 2005; see also numerous articles, such as Sunday Indian, October, 26, 2008

[12] See for example, “Mortality in Sheep Flocks after Grazing on Bt Cotton Fields-Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh” Report of the Preliminary Assessment, April 2006

[13] DDS researchers, personal communication and site visit

[14] “Cows Ate GM Maize & Died,” ISIS Press Release, January 13, 2004

[15] Mae-Wan Ho, “GM Ban Long Overdue, Dozens Ill & Five Deaths in the Philippines,” ISIS Press Release, June 2, 2006

[16] Alberto Finamore, et al, “Intestinal and Peripheral Immune Response to MON810 Maize Ingestion in Weaning and Old Mice,” J. Agric. Food Chem., 2008, 56 (23), pp 11533-11539, November 14, 2008

[17] Stéphane Foucart, “Controversy Surrounds a GMO,” Le Monde, 14 December 2004; referencing, John M. Burns, “13-Week Dietary Subchronic Comparison Study with MON 863 Corn in Rats Preceded by a 1-Week Baseline Food Consumption Determination with PMI Certified Rodent Diet #5002,” December 17, 2002 ; and de Vendômois JS, Roullier F, Cellier D, Séralini GE. A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health. Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5:706-726.

[18] Yearly food sensitivity assessment of York Laboratory, as reported in Mark Townsend, “Why soya is a hidden destroyer,” Daily Express, March 12, 1999.

[19] Gendel, “The use of amino acid sequence alignments to assess potential allergenicity of proteins used in genetically modified foods,” Advances in Food and Nutrition Research 42 (1998), 45-62

[20] See L Zolla, et al, “Proteomics as a complementary tool for identifying unintended side effects occurring in transgenic maize seeds as a result of genetic modifications,” J Proteome Res. 2008 May;7(5):1850-61 ; Hye-Yung Yum, Soo-Young Lee, Kyung-Eun Lee, Myung-Hyun Sohn, Kyu-Earn Kim, “Genetically Modified and Wild Soybeans: An immunologic comparison,” Allergy and Asthma Proceedings 26, no. 3 (May-June 2005): 210-216(7).

[21] A. Pusztai and S. Bardocz, “GMO in animal nutrition: potential benefits and risks,” Chapter 17, Biology of Nutrition in Growing Animals, R. Mosenthin, J. Zentek and T. Zebrowska (Eds.) Elsevier, October 2005

[22] Hye-Yung Yum, Soo-Young Lee, Kyung-Eun Lee, Myung-Hyun Sohn, Kyu-Earn Kim, “Genetically Modified and Wild Soybeans: An immunologic comparison,” Allergy and Asthma Proceedings 26, no. 3 (May-June 2005): 210-216(7).

[23] Vazquez et al, “Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac protoxin is a potent systemic and mucosal adjuvant,” Scandanavian Journal of Immunology 49 (1999): 578-584. See also Vazquez-Padron et al., 147 (2000b).

[24] V. E. Prescott, et al, “Transgenic Expression of Bean r-Amylase Inhibitor in Peas Results in Altered Structure and Immunogenicity,” Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry (2005): 53.

[25] Malatesta, et al, “Ultrastructural Analysis of Pancreatic Acinar Cells from Mice Fed on Genetically modified Soybean,” J Anat. 2002 November; 201(5): 409-415; see also M. Malatesta, M. Biggiogera, E. Manuali, M. B. L. Rocchi, B. Baldelli, G. Gazzanelli, “Fine Structural Analyses of Pancreatic Acinar Cell Nuclei from Mice Fed on GM Soybean,” Eur J Histochem 47 (2003): 385-388.

[26] Charles Benbrook, “Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years,” November 2009, The Organic Center

[27] Netherwood et al, “Assessing the survival of transgenic plant DNA in the human gastrointestinal tract,” Nature Biotechnology 22 (2004): 2.

[28] http://www.agassessment.org/

[29] Doug Gurian-Sherman, Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops, Union of Concerned Scientists April 2009 

[30] Andrew Malone, Daily Mail, Nov. 3, 2008

I am contacting you to thank you for publishing your newsletters. A friend of mine forwarded one of your newsletters to me when she learned I was having difficulty managing my rosacea. The symptoms have been typical, I suspect, and very uncomfortable with red flaky skin around my nose and chin. I have had this problem for years. None of the medicines that my doctors have given me in the past have worked and in some cases, made matters worse.

At my friend’s suggestion, I read your newsletter that discussed rosacea and its connection to low stomach acidity. I am not normally a pill taker, as it were, and prefer to maintain my excellent health through balanced diet, exercise and lifestyle. However, I was so frustrated that I was willing to try anything which I felt would be safe and effective.

After some research, I started a daily regiment of betaine hydrochloride with pepsin pills taken with a protein meal 3x per day. That was about three weeks ago and my skin is already much improved…I am hoping that my skin stays looking this good and am thrilled that for the first time in about 10 years to see my healthy pretty pink skin.

I wish more doctors were educated in identifying the cause rather than treating the symptom. It seems to be the standard method of practice in American health care.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom.

Kindest regards,

-A.B., via e-mail

Dr. Wright: Thank you for sharing your experience with rosacea and the use of betaine hydrochloride.

It’s sad that information about the very common connection between acne rosacea and low stomach acid has been lost. In 1948, an article about rosacea in a major medical journal stated that “every dermatologist knows” about this connection. In 2009, hardly any dermatologists know about it!

It’s also important to note that Japanese researchers have reported that up to 2/3 of individuals with rosacea are actually infected with Helicobacter pylori bacteria, a common cause of low stomach acid, and also a cause of stomach and duodenal ulcers. A blood test for antibodies to Helicobacter can tell you if you’ve been exposed. If you have, there are several natural remedies.

Thanks again for writing!

Ever have your eyelids twitch? Anything from a few twitches here and there to that annoying, “won’t stop twitching all the time” routine? Even if it did seem to go on endlessly, chances are you didn’t see the doctor about it and assumed that it was nothing serious. After all, the twitching probably went away on its own sooner.

But even though they may have gone away, those twitches were trying to tell you something. By twitching, your eyelids were sending you a signal that they needed potassium. And if your eyelids need potassium, it’s very likely that other parts of your body need it too.

Perhaps you haven’t been getting as many fruits and vegetables-the best dietary sources of potassium-as your individual body needs. If so, it’s time to make a permanent adjustment in that area, so (if nothing else) your eyelids won’t twitch at you with that “secret signal” again.

But while you’re getting that diet improvement underway, there’s a simple switch you can make-starting today-that will eliminate those eyelid twitches and give your body the potassium it needs even faster than fruits and vegetables alone.

Go to your local natural food store, or even the supermarket, and look for 100% potassium chloride salt (not sodium chloride). It’s usually sold in 3-ounce “twist-lid” shakers. Once you get home, switch out your “regular” salt with the potassium chloride salt and sprinkle as much of it on your food as your taste buds can tolerate. (One note of caution: Be sure to taste as you go! Some people find that potassium chloride salt is “stronger” or more pungent than regular sodium chloride salt.)

And don’t worry-it’s nearly impossible to overdose on potassium chloride salt when you’re simply sprinkling it on food or using it in cooking (it will make the food inedible well before you could reach a potentially harmful dose).

If you prefer not to use it in your food, you can dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of potassium chloride salt in water or another liquid and swallow that once a day. But don’t take any more than that without checking with a physician skilled and knowledgeable in nutritional and natural medicine!

After your eyelid twitches are gone, you may want to consider switching your salt once again, this time to the heart-healthy salt I told you about in the December 2009 issue of Nutrition & Healing. This salt has been credited with reducing the death rate from cardiovascular disease in Finland by 75 percent. And according to research reports, despite significant increases in obesity and cigarette smoking, adult life expectancy has actually increased by to six to eight years during that time, too.

This heart-healthy salt does contain some sodium chloride, but the rest is potassium chloride and magnesium chloride, with tiny traces of selenium, iodide and other minerals. Right now, it’s available through the Tahoma Clinic Dispensary, and through Ayush Herbs, www.ayushherbs.com.

http://wrightnewsletter.com/2010/02/01/february-2010-nah-newsletter/

(NaturalNews) I’ve been a fan of Tooth Soap for years. This is the product that replaces the usual toothpaste products with far more natural, gentle teeth-washing ingredients. That’s why, along with Dental Miracle (www.DentalMiracle.com), it has remained among my top-recommended products for oral health. (Many other products are mentioned below…)

Because let’s face it: You don’t actually need to “scrub” your teeth with sand, chemical preservatives and sweeteners. Most toothpaste products are truly a joke — they’re loaded with synthetic chemicals that simply can’t be considered safe for human consumption by any reasonable person. Cleaning your teeth only requires a type of soap, some water and some brushing action. You don’t need dyes, sweeteners, sand and other nonsense ingredients.
Did I say sand? Yep: Most conventional toothpastes are made with “silicates” which is just another fancy word for sand. If you want to brush away your tooth enamel, scrub them with sand! But if you want to protect your teeth, then brush them with soap and water.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to brush your teeth with regular household soaps. They’re often loaded with fragrance chemicals that would taste awful. That’s why Tooth Soap was created: It’s formulated specifically for brushing your teeth, and it contains NO sweeteners, NO sand (silicates), NO fluoride, NO dyes, NO chemical stabilizers and absolutely none of the other chemicals often found in tooth-brushing products.

The ingredients of Tooth Soap are pure and simple:

• Specially formulated soap made from saponified coconut, palm, extra virgin olive oils

• Pure essential oil

That’s it! (Plus, it’s certified Kosher by Star-K.)

Tooth Soap, you see, really is soap for your teeth. This isn’t a paste. It’s not a gel. It’s actually available in two forms: Liquid and Shreds. And it comes in Peppermint, Cinnamon, Spearmint and Ginger.

Right now we have the following on sale at the NaturalNews Store:

• Peppermint liquid and peppermint shreds
• Spearmint liquid and spearmint shreds

The deeply-discounted price is good while current supplies last:

http://store.naturalnews.com/index….

Why I like Tooth Soap shreds

When it comes to Tooth Soap, I’ve used both the liquids and the shreds. They’re both good products, but here’s why I prefer the shreds:

The liquid is a bit difficult to keep on your tooth brush. As a liquid soap, it drips off easily. It’s also not recommended for travel because a broken bottle causes all your liquid Tooth Soap to be lost.

The shreds, on the other hand, are small waxy bits of solid Tooth Soap that dissolve into soap when you slightly chew on them and start brushing. So you put one in your mouth, chew on it a couple of times, then start brushing with a wet toothbrush. It immediately starts foaming up, generating an astounding volume of cleansing soap right in your mouth. It’s super easy to use, and it really works! (I love these shreds. They’re also perfect for traveling…)

Tooth Soap is also remarkably affordable! Way cheaper than most toothpaste products. One bottle of Tooth Soap shreds will last two people up to 3 months because you only need to use one shred per brushing. If you figure that’s roughly 90 brushings multiplied by two people, it’s 180 brushings in one container of Tooth Soap shreds. And thanks to the 40% off special we have going on right now, the price of this bottle is only $15.57 instead of the retail price of $25.95.

Dividing the sale price into 180 brushings means you’re spending approximately 8.7 cents per brushing for what may be the most truly natural tooth cleansing product in the world!

That’s competitive with products made with synthetic chemicals that fill your mouth with molecules that simply don’t belong there!

Get yours here while supplies last:
http://store.naturalnews.com/index….

Avoid the horrors of chemical toothpaste products

Do you want to know what’s in Colgate Whitening Oxygen Bubbles Brisk Mint Toothpaste? (I almost can’t stop laughing just from reading the name…)

• Sodium Monofluorophosphate
• Hydrated Silica
• Propylene Glycol
• Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate
• Sodium Bicarbonate
• Sodium Saccharin
• Pentasodium Triphosphate
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Carrageenan
• Artificial flavor
• Sodium Hydroxide
• Calcium Peroxide

Sodium Hydroxide is lye, by the way. Yep: Drain cleaner. Maybe that’s why conventional toothpaste tubes come with a poison control center warning printed on the side…

Amazingly, many parents still push these chemical toothpaste products onto their own children! “Brush your teeth,” they’re told. “It’s good for you!” Meanwhile, an alarmingly large number of children actually EAT this stuff because the flavors fool their tongues into thinking it’s good for them…

Other brands of tooth products

Don’t even get me started on Tom’s of Maine. That brand is owned by Colgate-Palmolive, one of the largest corporations selling consumer products made with synthetic chemicals. (Burt’s Bees, by the way, is now owned by Clorox, too. Just because a brand “sounds” small and personal doesn’t mean it really is…)

Tom’s of Maine may have had humble beginnings when it was created many years ago, but since selling out to Colgate-Palmolive, it has lost touch with its original vision and philosophy, in my view.

Weleda is a brand of toothpaste that I know and trust. This is one of the rare GOOD brands of tooth cleaning products, and their products are truly natural. They have a very nice calendula toothpaste, for example, that I highly recommend. This is what I was using before I discovered Tooth Soap shreds.

I’ve already mentioned Dental Miracle (www.DentalMiracle.com). This is a fantastic dental powder product that you add to other toothpastes (or Tooth Soap) during brushing. It’s made of extremely beneficial herbal ingredients to protect and promote gum health.

Another great dental product I recommend is called Perigum (www.Peri-Gum.com). This is a liquid tincture made with very hot with cayenne pepper. It promotes gum tissue circulation and rapid healing. You simply drip this product into your mouth before brushing with whatever other brushing product you’re using.

These products, combined with Tooth Soap or Weleda toothpaste, make for a very healthy, chemical-free mouth! These are the products I use, and I haven’t had a cavity for so many years that I forgot what it’s like to even get one… (of course, I don’t eat cake and cookies all day long, and I don’t chug sugary soft drinks either).

In any case, we’ve now got Tooth Soap for a very limited time (a limited inventory, actually) on sale at the NaturalNews Store for you at 40% off. Enjoy the benefits of this revolutionary dental product! These “shreds” will literally change the way you brush your teeth — for life!

http://store.naturalnews.com/index….

http://www.naturalnews.com/028289_Tooth_Soap_toothpaste.html

(NaturalNews) In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lyme disease is treated as toxic fire. These fire toxins are treated with extreme heat clearing herbs. From the western point of view, fire toxins include aggressive entities such as bacterial and viral infections but are not limited to them. They can be amoebic parasites and even just toxins of chemical nature or metal particles. Likewise, from a western point of view, the heat clearing herbs have been proven to have a very effective anti-viral and antibacterial action as well as a “cleansing of the blood” effect on other small particles.

Below is a TCM protocol for Lyme Disease grouped into three parts:Clearing The Toxic Fire (Killing The Bacterium)

Based on the best of TCM protocols, here is a “clear toxic heat” formula for use as an anti-toxin or “fire quenching agent.” These amazing herbs have been successfully used against fire toxins such as malaria, pneumonia, diphtheria, septic angina, typhoid fever and others.

The 6 herbs used in this formula to clear toxic heat are 5:1 extracts of:
Chuan xin lian - Andrographis paniculate (a very effective anti-toxin heat clearing herb with anti-spirochetal action in particular)
Huang Lian - Coptis chinensis (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Jin Yin Hua - Flos Lonicerae japonicae (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Da Qing Ye - Folium Isatidis (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Ban Zhi Lian - Scutellaria barbata; Herba (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Tu Fu Ling - Smilax glabra; Rhizoma (Anti-spirochetal action)

As part of this protocol it is also important to take 2 grams twice daily of Hu Zhang powder (Natural resveratrol from Knotweed in 5:1 extract). It is positive against Leptospirosis, Treponema denticola (spirochetes in oral flora), Bartonella (Buhner) and many gram neg and gram pos bacteria.

Continually Removing The Toxins From The Joints:

Xu Duan (ChineseTeasel Root) taken with a “Clear Toxic Heat” formula will help drive the spirochetes from the joints into the blood stream (where it can be killed by the heat clearing herbs). Xu Duan Teasel in tincture form is the best way your body can absorb it.

Maximizing Your Immune System With a Strong Defense:

There must also be an effective formula for the immune system that is suitable for long term use. Reishi mushroom and Chinese Astragalus 5:1 (Called Strong Defense) are perfect.

Together all these herbs become the building blocks of a true hard working lyme disease protocol that, although formulated from ancient herbs, becomes “cutting edge” in fighting this toxic fire we call Lyme Disease.

Sources: This protocol is based entirely on author’s research and knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

About the author

Christopher Gussa founded Plant Cures Inc. which handcrafts over 150 Serious Herbal Medicine Products for Specific Disorders all created through clinical application. Their products are for Serious Disease and also Powerful Tonic Health. Please visit Plant Cures at WWW.PLANTCURES.COM or call them at 1-800 979 2027
Christopher Gussa is a formulator of Natural Medicine. He is also a TCM practitioner and Certified Master / Clinical Herbalist for 30 years. He is certified in both Western Herbal Therapy and Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Chris Gussa: “Plant Cures is currently working with over 9,000 medicinal plants to bring about healing through the true science of combining the whole energies of whole plants. A plants energy is from its whole part. (flowers, fruit, leaves, stems, roots etc) While the “science” of seeing some of the isolated molecular constituents in food and herbs can be interesting at times, there is no “one magic ingredient” in any plant. (You would think it would be science trying to tell you this type of logic, instead of me) But no! They would rather play this childish game of trying to find the “Pot of gold” in a plant so they can synthesize it and dazzle the FDA with a “New Drug” that will most likely cause the usual death and destruction!
Here is a link to musicial message called “Pharmaceutical Drug Guys” Let’s Give Big Pharma The Boot!
http://plantcures.com/PharmaGuys.mp3

Dr. Wright: When knee pain occurs in children between the ages of 10 and 15, it’s not typically arthritis. Instead, it’s usually a condition called Osgood Schlatter’s disease, which is characterized by a tender swelling an inch or two below the kneecap, right over the front and top of the tibial bone. Most pediatricians will tell you that there’s nothing to do except take aspirin and wait for it to go away. But that can take a year or more, and in the meantime, the child has to sit on the sidelines and watch his classmates play at recess.

But there’s a better solution: 250 micrograms of selenium and 400 IU of vitamin E as mixed tocopherols will usually get rid of the pain in just four to six weeks. I’m not sure why most pediatricians haven’t heard of this simple technique, but I’ve been writing about it since 1979.

Of course, as always, it’s best to confer with a physician skilled in nutritional and natural medicine before starting yourself or anyone in your family on a new supplement regimen.

Dr. Wright: While I can’t say for sure without examining your hands (and you should consider having this done by a physician skilled in natural medicine), a Texas physician named John Ellis discovered years ago that many conditions involving the hands can be alleviated with vitamin B6.

The first thing to do is look for “Ellis signs” in your hands. Try holding your hands upright, keeping the joints joining your palms and fingers perfectly straight. Now try and bending the middle and end joints so that your fingertips touch your palms. If you can’t do it, it’s a positive “Ellis sign,” which could indicate a need for extra vitamin B6.

You may want to consider taking 100 milligrams of vitamin B6 three times daily for up to six months, or until all the puffiness and the “Ellis sign” is gone, and your hands are more flexible. And, if you’re interested, you can try to find an old copy of Dr. Ellis’ book The Doctor Who Looked at Hands at the library or on the Internet.

Yet soon their symptoms vanished and five years later all blood tests came up negative. They were cured.

And all they really did was take some vitamins and cut a few foods from their diet…

Eliminating all grains except rice and corn. You see, these lupus sufferers all shared a sensitivity to gluten, a protein contained in wheat, rye, barley, spelt and oats, but notin corn or rice.

Prostate enlargement (benign prostatic hypertrophy or BPH) sometimes seems an inevitable hazard of male aging. A small minority of men notice symptoms of hesitancy (taking longer than usual to urinate), one or more trips to the bathroom at night, and diminished force of the urine stream as early as in their 40s. Many more develop these symptoms in their 50s, and the numbers only increase with age. Its unusual to encounter a man in his 70s or 80s who’s had no symptoms of prostate enlargement at all.

Zinc, essential fatty acids (including alpha linolenic acid), and saw palmetto are all helpful in reducing or eliminating symptoms of BPH. There’s just no need at all to take a patent medication such as finasteride (Proscar) or its patent medication competitors!

But even natural substances can be overdone and possibly increase your risk of prostate cancer so its important to understand the benefits and risks.

From ALA to zinc: natural treatments that work

In 1941, the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research published a small study of 19 men who had all the symptoms of BPH. Each participant in the study had a prostate examination confirming an enlarged but not cancerous prostate gland. Each man then took six capsules of an essential fatty acid complex (10 milligrams linoleic acid, 10 milligrams alpha-linolenic acid or ALA, and 10 milligrams arachadonic acid per capsule) daily.

After three days at six capsules daily, the quantity was reduced to four capsules daily for several weeks, then maintenance quantities of two capsules daily. All 19 men had reduction in prostate size as determined by physical examination, and the majority had all other symptoms of BPH reduced or eliminated as well.1

In 1974, Dr. Bush, head of the division of urology at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, presented another study of BPH treatment in a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association. Curiously enough, he also worked with 19 men with BPH, this time confirmed not only with a physical examination, but also with X-rays and other means that were high-tech in 1974.

These 19 men took 50 milligrams of zinc (from zinc sulfate) three times daily for two months, then 50 to 100 milligrams daily for another two to three months. Fourteen of 19 had shrinkage of the prostate gland as shown by the same examination techniques.2

In his presentation, Dr. Bush also observed that 105 of 150 men with chronic prostatitis not caused by bacterial infection were cured with this same zinc treatment. In 1976, another group also reported that zinc treatment reduced the size of enlarged prostate glands.3

Since 1974, whenever I work with a man with BPH, I advise him to take one tablespoonful of flaxseed oil daily (along with 400 IU vitamin E), and 50 milligrams zinc (from sulfate) twice daily (later modified to 30 milligrams zinc from picolinate two to three times daily). After three to four months, symp-toms are almost always improved and the prostate is usually smaller. I then recommend reducing the zinc (from zinc picolinate) to 60 milligrams every other day or 30 milligrams of zinc (from picolinate) daily, along with one to two teaspoons of flaxseed oil daily (and vitamin E). Men who eat enough unroasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds (for essential fatty acids and zinc) and oysters (mostly for the zinc) can sometimes cut the supplements back further or even eliminate them for weeks to months at a time.

Saw palmetto is not my first choice

As natural medicine became ever more popular in the last quarter of the 20th century, more and more herbal products were introduced among them a breakthrough herbal treatment for BPH: saw palmetto. Saw palmetto quickly became available in nearly all natural food stores, and almost immediately became a bestseller, as it is quite effective for reducing sometimes dramatically the symptoms of BPH.

But even though saw palmetto was usually effective for the symptoms of BPH, I continued to recommend using zinc and essential fatty acids first for at least three to four months, followed by saw palmetto only if zinc and essential fatty acids together weren’t effective in that time.

My reasoning, admittedly theoretical (no money for controlled studies was or is available), is that zinc and essential fatty acids are essential to life and health, and saw palmetto isn’t. Most Americans live entire lifetimes without even one microgram of saw palmetto, but no one can live long without zinc or essential fatty acids! So even though saw palmetto isn’t thought to be harmful (more about this below), its best to use zinc and essential fatty acids for BPH first.

If a mans prostate function improves with more zinc, then his retina and hearing apparatus (both of which normally contain more zinc than the prostate) will very likely benefit from some of that supplemental zinc, too even if those areas aren’t yet symptomatic. Similarly, if a mans prostate function is improved with additional essential fatty acids, then likely his cardiovascular health will be improved as well as Nutrition & Healing readers know, in just the last few years many research studies have shown that essential fatty acids significantly reduce risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Again, if after three to four months zinc and essential fatty acids aren’t effective, saw palmetto can always be tried next.

Everything in moderation

But in the last few years, evidence has been accumulating that like many other individual nutrients both zinc and essential fatty acids can be overdone and that excessive quantities may increase a mans risk of prostate cancer. The same risk hasn’t been reported for excess quantities of saw palmetto yet. However, my observations of the effects of saw palmetto in laboratory tests of steroid metabolism appear to also make increased cancer risk a possible effect of excessive saw palmetto use.

That’s because zinc, essential fatty acids, and saw palmetto all share a common mechanism of action with finasteride, a patented space alien molecule frequently prescribed for symptoms of BPH. This mechanism of action is inhibition of a testosterone-metabolizing enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase. As might be expected, the patent medication is a much more potent inhibitor of this enzyme than the natural substances.

The 5-alpha reductase enzyme metabolizes testosterone into di-hydrotestosterone (DHT), which is a much more potent testosterone, but also has been termed a bad testosterone since it causes more cellular disorganization. Cellular disorganization increases the risk of cancer.

For many men, finasteride reduces the symptoms of BPH. The well-known (to many physicians, at least) Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial4 demonstrated that finasteride also lowers prostate cancer riskbut at the price of spurring more aggressive cancer when it does occur. In this trial, 18,882 men with normal prostate exams and PSA below 3.0 (normal) took either finasteride or placebo for seven years.

At the end of that time, 18.4 percent of the men in the finasteride group and 24.4 percent in the placebo group had developed prostate cancer; the reduction of cancer occurrence (24.8 percent) was statistically significant. But 37 percent of the cancers occurring in the finasteride group were more aggressive types (translation: more likely to kill you) versus 22.3 percent more aggressive cancers in the placebo group.

This shows us that inhibiting 5-alpha reductase may not be entirely a good idea. Since alpha linolenic acid, zinc, and saw palmetto all inhibit 5-alpha reductase, could they also have this downside? This appears to be the case if the quantities used are too high.

Evidence for increased cancer risk

Evidence has been accumulating for over a decade that higher levels of a major essential fatty acid found in flaxseed oil, alpha linolenic acidmuch smaller quantities of ALA are found in canola and soy oils may be associated with higher prostate cancer risk.

A large case-control study from Uruguay found that men in the highest quartile of ALA intake had almost four times the risk of prostate cancer compared with those in the bottom quartile of intake.5 In a recent dietary case-control study,6 217 Spanish men with prostate cancer were matched with 217 hospitalized men (with non-cancer diagnoses) and 217 healthy controls.

The prostate cancer patients were three times more likely to be in the upper quartile of ALA intake. (Other findings from this study: Animal fat intake was positively correlated with increased prostate cancer risk, while vitamin C intake was correlated with decreased prostate cancer risk).

Although the preponderance of the evidence (so far) indicates caution about higher quantities of ALA-containing oils being associated with higher prostate cancer risk, a smaller amount of evidence is contradictory. One review article noted that five research studies were positive (including the two noted above), but one was negative. It also pointed out that one study using actual prostate cancer cells showed that ALA promoted their growth,7 while another showed growth suppression.8

Zinc also reduces 5-alpha reductase activity, and excess zinc may also be associated with increased cancer risk. A research group at the National Institutes of Health9 reported data from a study of 46,974 U.S. men participating in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. They wrote: Supplemental zinc intake at doses of up to 100 mg/day was not associated with prostate cancer risk. By contrast, men who took more than 100 mg/day of supplemental zinc had an increased risk of prostate cancer.

So far, there aren’t any research reports that implicate excessively high doses of saw palmetto as possibly increasing risk of prostate cancer. But in doing very careful laboratory follow-up of men taking both bio-identical hormones and saw palmetto, I and other Tahoma Clinic physicians have observed too many instances of definite over-inhibition of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme by saw palmetto supplementation. In these cases, the men involved have reduced their saw palmetto intake and the laboratory signs of 5-alpha reductase over-inhibition have gone away.

So what do I do?

If you’re a man starting to have symptoms of BPH or already taking zinc, and/or alpha linolenic acid-containing flaxseed oil, and/or saw palmetto to control BPH, the infor-mation above does not mean you should stop taking these substances.

Correct quantities are good for you, but correct quantities can vary from person to person. For example: Ive seen just one man whose metabolism was so sensitive to saw palmetto (as shown on his lab test by severe 5-alpha reductase inhibition) that he had to quit it entirely before the test result normalized. But zinc supplementation didnt have the same effect on his lab test, and helped his BPH symptoms, so he used that instead.

Very few men are that sensitive to the effects of saw palmetto, but laboratory testing has led me to recommend reduction, although not elimination, of saw palmetto supplementation for a significant minority of the men I work with.

But over-inhibition of 5-alpha reductase doesn’t have symptoms, and waiting to see whether youve possibly increased your risk of a more aggressive type of prostate cancer isn’t a good idea, either. Check with a physician who knows how to monitor testosterone metabolism with appropriate laboratory testing! Whether 5-alpha reductase is over-inhibited isnt the only question that needs to be answered; you also need to know whether the enzyme aromatase is turning too much of your testosterone (or DHEA) into excessive (for a man) estrogen, which may be equally if not more hazardous to your prostate.

Find a physician who uses the 24-hour urinary steroid analysis to monitor steroid hormone metabolism. At present, neither saliva testing nor blood testing has the breadth (total number of steroid metabolites) to follow these and other aspects of testosterone metabolism. The test follows estrogen metabolism much more completely, too, and allows your physician to keep both testosterone and estrogens as safe for you as is presently possible. JVW

Why does 5-alpha reductase over-inhibition possibly increase cancer risk?

In 2004, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine gave us a possible explanation.10 These researchers pointed out that while di-hydrotestosterone (DHT) is indeed potentially hazardous, the very next step in this metabolic pathway of testosterone metabolism transforms DHT into 3-beta androstanediol, a molecule that causes cellular re-organization, an anti-cancer action.

They point out that inhibiting 5-alpha reductase inevitably reduces the amount of 3-beta androstanediol. They wrote that the balance between DHT and 3-beta androstanediol may be a more important factor in increasing a mans risk of prostate cancer, and whether any cancer that does occur is more or less aggressive.

At this point, this explanation is not proven by actual experiment. But I think these researchers are likely to be proven right, as their observations could also explain why excess alpha-linolenic acid and excess zinc appear to increase prostate cancer risk and why excess saw palmetto might also do soas all of these natural substances inhibit 5-alpha reductase, and high doses can over-inhibit 5-alpha reductase.