Intestinal Health and Your Immune System -- Commonalities for Flu/Colds, Cancer, Colitis ?!

Mardy's note: This was originally a blog which had over 400 reads over two years in 2009/10. I have updated the body of the information again on 11/25/12 as it is still a wonderful resource for education, so it is current in terms of who gave the presentation and how to find them. The seminar I attended was during the time that these providers rented space, as I did the first year of Lumigrate, at the IMC of Western Colorado. They also separated out to their own spaces but I encourage you to seek out Christopher and Audrey as they are wonderful resources and authentically 'up and down with' integrative medicine concepts! I hope it shows in my coverage of this presentation! 

I just read an article in the August 17th, 2009 Time Magazine last night about influenza (those that know me know to tease me about my choice of bedtime reading). I also had attended a presentation locally that was very eye opening for me. and I wanted to present the information here. 

Per Christopher Lepisto, ND in his great co-presentation with Audrey Barrett, MSAOM LAc (acupuncture and Oriental medicine), there is quite a lot of lymph system within the gut, something called 'secretory IgA' which has super immune effects.  It activates the immune system. 

There is a normal 'flora' in the intestines, which stays in balance.  That would be bacteria, yeast, etc.  This naturally stays in check in humans, but with modern life, -- chemicals, foods we eat, and particularly antibiotics -- this balance can get out of whack.  

A lot of what we can be doing to keep our immune system up to par is to be eating and drinking as best we can and supplementing the benefical bacteria, such as probiotic products.  I really liked his analogy about wolves and rabbits in nature: if you kill the wolves, the rabbits overpopulate.  Which is what happens if 'antibiotics' ("against bacteria") are taken -- the 'critters' like candida yeast can overpopulate.  Populations groups having good balance of digestive flora due to their diet can have virtually no cancer and overall less disease!

The intestines do a lot for us.  They protect our bodies from chemicals, toxins, undigested food, immune complexes such as food allergies, and virus/bacteria.  Interestingly, Dr. Oz has said that the tissue of the intestine is very similar to the tissue of the brain and you can see quite a parallel between what is going on in the gut and in brain function. I have actually heard that for years other places, but I was pleased to see that Dr. Oz was 'onto that' too. 

One of the most common intestinal problems is irritable bowel syndrome, or 'IBS'.  The typical age of onset for IBS is in the 20s.  IBS is a common complaint with people who have the chronic medical condition known as 'fibromyalgia' (FM) which many of Lumigrate's readers have been diagnosed with. Many people are 'on the continuum to have FM and don't realize it, as it is a very confusing and difficult condition for doctors to understand and diagnosed properly.  It is even more difficult for them to 'solve'/treat because the causes for it vary from person to person and that simply doesn't 'fit' the typical model of medicine practiced in allopathic/Western medicine.  

IBS can be brought on by low fiber, food allergies, alcohol, drugs (properly prescribed or illegal), hormones such as birth control pills, or other non-biologically idental hormones), personality, stress and childhood trauma. (Search on childhood trauma here at Lumigrate and you will see I have provided an article about the connection of trauma in childhood to increased incidence of autoimmune disease in adulthood, but it contributes to ALL chronic illnesses, it's just autoimmune is the least obvious, I thought, so I started there.) 

Diverticulitis is another intestinal condition where the intestine material pouches out and gets inflamed.  The risk factors for diverticulitis are: consuming saturated and oxydated fats, and chronic constipation. This can be a very serious condition when it exacerbates, so it is of benefit to people who have it to figure out the underlying reasons why so they reduce or eliminate their risk of exacerbations. And 'modern medicine' sometimes has to be the 'saving grace' with surgery or antibiotics, then it is important to restore the gut and keep the Catch 22 from happening. 

Inflammatory bowel diseases are autoimmune conditions which causes actual holes to form in the intestines.  Interestingly the risk factors for this are tobacco and caffeine, sugar and high fructose corn syrup (because ingesting sugar depresses the immune system for up to 8 hours) AND ... you'll never guess this one .... childhood second hand and third hand smoke! 

(Third hand is what accumulates on the walls.  My mother was a smoker and it amazed me that years after she died there was still residue when you cleaned objects or walls in the house. The heavy metals challenge testing I did at age 44 or so showed high levels of cadmium, which I have been told by Dr Spurlock, our fibromyalgia expert MD on Lumigrate, comes from cigarette papers (or those used to roll joints, something to be aware of for those who are fans of smoking things you roll by hand or someone rolls for you using a machine). 

Different intestinal conditions respond differently to forms of fiber, so it is always recommended you start slowly when adding a fiber supplement such as psyllium.  A small percentage of people are allergic to psyllium and must use other forms of fiber, but generally psyllium works well for people and can be purchased very inexpensively from health food stores: Natural Grocers/Vitamin Cottage is one source and a company Lumigrate has recommended since day #1 at Lumigrate as they have an online ordering/shipping anywhere in the US.  

Be sure to look at the ingredients list and be sure you're getting plain psyllium and not colorings, flavorings and other types of toxins -- kind of defeats some of the purpose of having your intestines and colon processing things efficiently and getting 'ushered along' if the product you take has toxins added to it, such as many conventional 'name brand' ones do.  

As always, I like to give the highlights and then send you on to resources while we develop these materials into something available to you here in more detail.  The guidelines Dr. Lepisto provided for health nutrition are:

• Eat a plant-based diet; meat in reasonable amounts and lean. 
• Chose health-promoting fats (and we need to do an entry just on that it appears from the interest in it).  Nuts, seeds, ollive oil and organic butter, avoiding hydrogenated (trans-) and refined fats and oils.  For cooking: butter, coconut, peanut and safflower oil are best and keeping the heat medium-high or lower. 
• Get adequate protein from lean sources and plants, such as dairy, legumes, nuts and seeds.  Chose whole grains, fruits and vegetables which include fiber.  Minimum fiber intake should be 30 grams. 
• Sweeteners: Some can affect the balance of yeast and others don't: agave, brown rice syrup, rice nectar, raw honey, stevia, pure maple syrup or xylitol are fine. 
• Processed foods, sugar and other refined carbohydrates, caffeine and alcohol should be taken moderately. 
• Buying organic whenever possible reduces expusre to pesticides, herbacides, hormones and antibiotics and is likely grown in soils that are more nutrient-rich. 
• Wash fruits and vegetables using appropriate solutions to remove residues, and eliminate artificial coloring, preservatives and food additives. These can be purchased already mixed or made from common household products.  (Search on 'home made vegetable wash')
• Use sea salt or another high quality salt (good ones will have a pink or grey color) as they are balanced with potassium. 
• Drink adequate water -- half your body weight per day in ounces (if you weight 150, drink 75 oz). Water should be free of chemicals. Search here at Lumigrate for more about 'safe water', this is an extremely important item and there is much to what kinds of filters or waters to use which depends on what type of water comes to your home's 'tap'.  
• Identify and eliminate food allergies (refer to our food allergies info for more information; the 10 most commonly consumed foods/liquids (such as milk) in the US are the ones people are most often allergic to.
• Modify your dietary choices to meet YOUR needs.
• Fiber: very important to note that the intestines are susceptible to reabsorbing toxins, so the longer something stays in the intestines without 'moving along and out', the more absorption of toxins can happen.  This is a very important concept.  Psyllium can absorb toxins and has little 'brushes' that actually work to stimulate the intestine cells.   
• Supplementing Probiotics: Generally, taking 1-5 billion/day for maintenance is recommended.  After antibiotics are stopped, sometimes doses of 120 billion/day are recommended.  People with chronic medical conditions typically need higher, something around 24 billion/day.  There is quite a lot to do with quality of probiotics and there are even some on the market now that are designed to make it past the stomach acids to the intestines before desolving, or are forms that can withstand the stomach acid.  I was amazed when I was at Walgreens looking at their selection -- they have a lot of very progressive stuff nowdays!  I was at the grocery store this weekend and looked and they only had one brand, but it was one that is manufactured to withstand stomach acid and has many billions of probiotics which are hopefully working on my immune system right now ... 'tis the season for return to school around here! I really like to see these products on the shelves where the majority of people can see and purchase them.  Health care reform in the US is going to be one person at a time, one step at a time, ultimately.  (And that's why we are here at Lumigrate, YOU are one of them!) 

Please look here at Lumigrate for information we present about other things related to the immune system -- influenza, cancer, colds .... with 'functional medicine', we look at the underlying causes of illness and the treatment/correction of the underlying  problem, not simply treating the topical/obvious 'symptom', though sometimes that also has to be addressed simultaneously or initially.  It appears to me that if something is 'out of whack' it simply can manifest in a variety of different ways people.  

Therefore, in a family system, if a person and those around them were to all help each other find those underlying, common problems, they ALL increase their likelihood of being 'well' and out of harms way of the variety of things they might otherwise have a familial tendency to develop.  For example, my body might not go into more fibromyalgia and 'neuro-type stuff' and my friend who has a lot of cancer in her family might not have a re-occurrence of cancer.  We might ALL stay healthy during flu season, have no problem with cold viruses, and enjoy the winter season!  (Related to colds and flu, be sure to check out our information on vitamin D3 also.)

And if you're wondering about some guidance regarding products, remember that we attempt to have resources you'll at least 'start out looking at to get ideas' and then go from there.  Currently, the 'Products' tab gives products at the 'trustly ol' Amazon.com' which are available also at Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers and many other retailers.  We also worked our way into the hearts of the co-presidents of ITC Pharmacy which is a natural wellness pharmacy that ships throughout the United States and has such volume with these types of products that their prices are outstanding. And President Allan Jolly is a stickler for quality so you're guaranteed to be purchasing the best that he is aware of.  (www.itcpharmacy.com)

Naturally, there are many good brands and lots of good places to obtain them, so we're only offering select ones that have been 'tried and true and now we offer them to you'.  As always do your homework and make a good choice about your products and vendors.  We want to streamline your process so you can be "weller" easier and sooner!   And yes, I know weller is not a word but, shouldn't it be?

Live and learn. Learn and Live Better! ~~Mardy