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Throw Away Your Probiotics!

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Posted 4/12/2013 8:00 AM (GMT 0)
Its not that probiotics are bad, but according to Dr. Mercola, fermented foods may be far better. Here is a fascinating article from Dr. Mercola in which he teaches on the value of fermented foods. This could be revolutionary for lyme patients in my opinion. Utilizing only a very small amount of fermented foods on a daily basis could save you a lot of money, and it could actually repopulate your intestinal flora with a lot more than your probiotic ever could. Please do read the article and listen to the interview. It is definitely worthwhile listening to. The doctor talks about things such as allergies and autoimmunity. Frankly I feel that the explanation given here makes a lot more sense than the conventional explanation of these issues. Dr. Mercola interviews Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. I recommend that you read the text portion first, and then listen to the audio.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/05/12/dr-campbell-mcbride-on-gaps.aspx

Dr. Mercola claims that you must be careful and start out slow because using a lot of fermented foods can actually cause a massive herxheimer reaction!

Don
Posted 4/12/2013 11:40 AM (GMT 0)
Question about this though. I'm confused. I though if you had a candida problem you weren't supposed to eat fermented foods. Any ideas on this?

I love this article though. I wonder....I eat with my antibiotics so it probably isn't a good idea to have and fermented food then. I guess I could have it with/before I eat my lunch and a small snack before I go to bed too.

Post Edited (opugirl) : 4/12/2013 5:57:15 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/12/2013 12:01 PM (GMT 0)
Great article, Thank you Don.
Posted 4/12/2013 12:06 PM (GMT 0)
Opugirl,

Fermented foods made with yeast (beer, etc.) are what is bad when one is trying to deal with Candida.

Fermented foods made with probiotic organisms (acidophilus, etc.) are good when one is trying to deal with Candida.

Now that said, if the cultured food has a load of sugar in it, that will out-weigh the benefits of the "friendlies" in the cultured food...

Making your own home-made sourkraut or kefir with a sugar-free recipe, for example, is excellent.
Posted 4/12/2013 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
Razzle already gets it!
Posted 4/12/2013 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
Where would kombucha fit in this? I believe there's some residual sugar. And isn't it a two-part process of fermentation?... The sugar converts to yeast and then the yeast to probiotic?... I love kombucha but gave it up because I thought it was bad for candida.
Posted 4/12/2013 8:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hopefully everyone is reading the article and listening to the videos. It is also really worthwhile to read the reader's comments at the end of the article. There are even a few MD's that have made some good comments.

I really really feel that many of our members need this information, and need to act on it. Many of their problems (symptoms) would disappear if they heal their gut and repopulate with good bacteria. The source of their autoimmunity is found in their gut. Of course there will still be other issues with this illness, but they are fighting an uphill battle with the gut and autoimmune issues.

There are quite a few knowledgeable people that made comments after the article. Here is one of the better comments that I liked:

by ccnaturally

"A couple more points about autoimmune symptoms and conditions. The knowledgeable Environmental doctors who deal with all sorts of autoimmune conditions say that, even though there are many symptoms (and each symptom is given a new disease name), there is really only one autoimmune condition. Depending on weaknesses in the body and certain pre-genetic conditions, this will determine where our own antibodies will attack. Healing the gut is the foundation for all autoimmune symptoms, and really is a fundamental principle in Aryurvedic Medicine.

The last point is that, as the toxic load increases, and the immune sysytem releases autoantibodies to inflame the invaders or toxic cells so that the white blood cells can come in and use this inflammation as markers to destroy the invaders, cellular communication can break down if there has been a chronic condition where autoantibodies are being released 24/7. When this happens there is no longer a recognition of what is foreign and what is part of the healthy self. This is really the definition of autoimmunity. This is when severe autoimmune inflammation happens, and we give the name to all these different conditions. In addition to the protocol of Dr. Campbell-McBride, this is where aloe vera and glyconutrition can come in very handy, as they help to enhance cellular communication."

Don
Posted 4/12/2013 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
Are there abx that are less harsh on your stomach or less likely to kill gut flora?

Post Edited (opugirl) : 4/12/2013 3:45:22 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/12/2013 9:44 PM (GMT 0)
Is kombucha good or bad? I have been using this recently.
Posted 4/12/2013 9:57 PM (GMT 0)
opugirl- I have to admit that I do not know the answer to your question. I think that the logical answer is that since ABX differ, that some would be less harmful to gut bacteria, but i don't know which ones. In general, natural ABX (such as Buhner herbs and Samento) are said to be a lot less harmful to gut flora.

shadow69- While I am very excited about this concept, I am ignorant about a lot of the specifics. I would encourage you to read all of the reader comments after the article. You may find your answer there.

Dr. Mercola is to be applauded for promoting this concept. He has been promoting probiotics as a "must have" for good health for years. He also makes a lot of money from selling them. Now all of a sudden he is promoting fermented foods as being far superior. He will lose a lot of probiotic sales because of his personal integrity. I have purchased probiotics from him- spending about $100/month for the last several years. I vow that I will never purchase another probiotic again, and my family will be healthier by doing so!

Don
Posted 4/13/2013 3:26 AM (GMT 0)
shadow69,

I now know the answer to your question. Caroline Barringer was also interviewed by Dr. Mercola. According to her Kombucha is a "fermented tea beverage". It is a natural chelator and aids in digestion. She says that it is delicious.

Ms. Barringer claims that these natural chelators are "the best chelators on the planet".

It really is worthwhile to listen to all of the interviews in this series.

Don
Posted 4/13/2013 4:19 AM (GMT 0)
great article...

Anyone have some suggestions for some yummy fermented foods that we could have? My mother and father make their own kefir and mix it with blueberries or whatever, and I can't even handle the smell!
Posted 4/13/2013 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
You are a wealth of knowledge Don. Thanks for all you do to help us heal. I had recently looked at a cookbook in the bookstore that was a guide to fermenting foods but then chose another resources instead. There were several there so you could browse online I'm sure. Also, check out this website on fermenting:

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/fermented-food-recipes/

There are even recipes at the site. I plan to make sauerkraut soon. I made it years ago but then canned it. For those who aren't aware, when we heat food to kill the stuff that can make us sick, we also kill all the good probiotics. Fermenting is a way to preserve food by building up the good probiotics to chase away those that might make us sick. I think you're right Don, this makes a lot of sense given what I'm noticing and intuiting about finding a balance in order to stay healthy with lyme and co-infections.

I'm on it....

Concernedmom
Posted 4/13/2013 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
I just found water keifer and I love it! I bought a start off of amazon and now I use it to make all kinds of juice/ keifer. My favorite is homemade grape juice and keifer let it ferment for 48 hrs and it tastes like sparkling grape juice. The keifer does feed off sugar and I know that isn't the best but I started with trace minerals and organic brown sugar and now that it is growing I use coconut sugar and minerals or natural sugar from juice. For example beet, carrot, apple has enough sugar to ferment the keifer. Also my 3 year old will drink it and it is dairy free! :-)
Posted 4/14/2013 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
I recently started water kefir and love it too.  But I was wondering how the sugars will affect the candida I also am trying to fight.  When I drink it I get a herx type of reaction but am I also feeding the candida or will the keifer water eventually take over the candida??  Thanks
Posted 4/14/2013 2:06 AM (GMT 0)
Indeed. I am stuggling with this question myself oliverbenny. I'll let you know. I recently started eating one serving of grains per day so we will see...
Posted 4/14/2013 2:08 AM (GMT 0)
opugirl - are you drinking the water too or just eating the grains? What do the grains taste like? Do you just eat them plain? What is considered 1 serving? Thanks
Posted 4/14/2013 2:10 AM (GMT 0)
Oh, I'm sorry I meant I'm just re introducing eating grains again b/c I've had a yeast problem so I've been avoiding almost all carbs. I do take kefir though. Not a lot but I drink probably a total of 6 oz a day. They say to start off small with any probiotic though and work your way up. I would guess its user discretion.
Posted 4/14/2013 3:50 AM (GMT 0)
I have been watching some videos on how to ferment food. I am planning to make my own fermented vegetables tomorrow afternoon. Here are links to 2 videos that show how to do it. It seems simple enough.

http://www.culturedvegetables.net/Vegetable-Culture-Starter-011.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i77hU3zR-fQ

Don
Posted 4/14/2013 12:19 PM (GMT 0)
Just to inform everyone. I was being very strict on diet no dairy no carbs etc. I started drinking kefir two days ago which I had done before and even had a tortilla yesterday. I read a lot onilne about some people always having oral thrush but without a true yeast problem. They said don't drink/eat really hot food as it scars the tongue and makes it easier for yeast to grow.

Anyway this AM almost all of my oral thrush is gone. I'm going to continue with the low carb diet, the Azo tabs and coconut oil and kefir but hip hip hooray!

Hopefully it will be completely gone tomorrow. I'll keep everyone updated.
Posted 4/14/2013 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
I'm really not sure about the sugars and yeast. But, I can tell you I was having miserable stomach spasms the kind that normal people would go to the Er for and as long as I drink the keifer no spasms! So I'm pretty excited about it! I have heard that fermenting salsa is a good way to go the person that suggested it used body ecology vegetable starter. I haven't used anything but the water keifer and I'm considering making coconut yogurt. If anyone comes up with good recipies will you share?
Posted 4/25/2013 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
WWJC20,

I am glad to see that the Mercola article influenced someone to take action. You will save money over the long run, and be even healthier for it.

My wife purchased a jar of fermented non-pasteurized sauerkraut. I used some of its juice as a "starter culture" even though it is not required to do so. She purchased a case (12 quart jars) of wide mouth mason jars. She also purchased 2 heads of red cabbage for our first experimental round. I found that a head of cabbage is a little more than can be used for 1 jar.

I discovered that I filled the jars too full. As it ferments it expands in the jar. Every time that I "burped" the jars, a lot of fluid came out of the jar. I will only fill the jars to within about 1.5 inches from the top next time. At the end of 4 days it seemed that the cabbage was adequately fermented.

I really love the taste of the sauerkraut. Fortunately my family loves it as well. I think that we are on to something! I am already planning to ferment other things. I tend to have stomach issues and heartburn. I have been eating this stuff for a week now, and my GI tract feels great- no heartburn any more!

Is there anybody else that has started to ferment their own food? If not, I encourage you to do so. It is easy to do, and you will save money from not having to buy probiotics.

Don
Posted 4/26/2013 7:56 AM (GMT 0)
I got fermented sauerkraut with garlic from a local health food store near here. It is pretty interesting. Haven't eaten enough to say the results but it seems to help so far. It is pretty strong too and says on the bottle a good source of probiotics. It's actually this company - http://www.realpickles.com/products_garlickraut.html

It seems to taste pretty good with some foods like eggs and brocoli for example.

This section is interesting too-

http://www.realpickles.com/health.html

"Lactic Acid (the primary by-product of the fermentation) supports the growth of essential intestinal flora, normalizes acid levels in the stomach, helps the body to assimilate proteins and iron, and stimulates cell metabolism."

"Natural fermentation breaks down phytates, which block mineral absorption. One study found significantly better absorption of iron by humans from a mix of lactic acid fermented vegetables as compared to the same mix of fresh vegetables."

"A 2002 study showed that sauerkraut fermentation produces isothiocyanates, a class of compounds which, in previous studies, appeared to prevent cancer growth in animals."
Posted 4/27/2013 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
Xelaetaks- thanks for the interesting info!

Its important to remember that while fermented foods are healthy, some of the benefits are nullified if the food product is then pasteurized.

Don
Posted 4/27/2013 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
See Don?  Now you inspired me to make my own fermented foods..  I don't have stomach problems but being the curious person I am, I want to start making it and seeing how it comes out!  I watched the youtube video which were really helpful....

Thanks Don!!

Denise

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