Artificial Sweeteners May Be To Blame For Inflammatory Bowel Disease

August 2nd, 2011

Natural News

By: Anthony Gucciardi

The cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, has been toted as ‘unknown’ by mainstream medical establishments for years. Emerging in the past century and spiking in the 1950′s, IBD is responsible for the suffering of countless individuals worldwide. A letter published in the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases may have the answer to the cause of IBD, and particularly the explosion of IBD in the 1950′s. The artificial sweetener saccharin as well as sucralose (Splenda) may be the hidden culprit behind the development of IBD.

Dr. Xiaofa Qin, the author of the letter, details in his writings that a series of findings originally led him to suspect saccharin as the main cause of IBD. The problem? Canada, despite limiting saccharin use more than most Western countries, was still experiencing high rates of IBD. Despite this problematic fact, Dr. Qin kept up his research. What he found was quite startling not only to citizens of Canada and health officials, but also to the world. Sucralose, also labeled as Splenda in many products, was the answer. According to Dr. Qin’s research, there was evidence that sucralose could lead to IBD through the very same mechanism as saccharine.

The relationship between these artificial sweeteners and IBD continues to grow, with other countries approving the usage of them before significant outbreaks of IBD. Australia approved sucralose for use in 1993, and in 1994 a study by Hanigan and Radford-Smith found an increase of IBD in north Bisbane. Similarly, the European Union approved the use of sucralose in 2004. A series of studies by Perminow et al found that the instances of pediatric IBD in southeastern Norway were as low as 4.7 during 1990-1993, and they rose as high as 10.6 during 2005-2007.

Artificial sweeteners have crept into products worldwide, and many of them go incognito under a number of different names. Aspartame, for example, has developed such a bad reputation for its links to tumor development and obesity that the manufacturer has attempted to re-brand it as ‘AminoSweet’ to deceive consumers. Regardless of the seemingly-natural names, artificial sweeteners are synthetic and toxic to the human body. The research is clear: inflammatory bowel disease rates could possibly be halted, or at least significantly lowered, if artificial sweeteners were banned from the market.

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Probiotic Could Treat Crohn’s, Colitis and Colon Cancer

February 9th, 2011

Natural News

By: S.L. Baker

Some of the most miserable and painful chronic diseases known to humankind involve inflammation in the bowel. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are two of these relapsing conditions. They affect more than a million people in the United States and cause weight loss, diarrhea, sometimes excruciating abdominal pain and cramping and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Mainstream medicine treats these ills, which involve ongoing tissue inflammation that alters the functioning of the intestine, with a host of immune suppressive drugs including steroids. Unfortunately, these Big Pharma side-effect laden solutions are not totally effective and patients relapse.

But now there’s new hope on the horizon for a drug-free, totally safe treatment could even turn out to be a cure: a probiotic.

Probiotics are live microorganisms (in most cases, bacteria) that are much like the beneficial microorganisms found in the healthy human gut. Also known as “friendly bacteria” or “good bacteria”, foods like yogurt and kefir contain probiotics. They can be taken as supplements, too.

Northwestern Medicine researchers have genetically tweaked a version of a common probiotic found in yogurt and cheese and a new animal study shows it is an effective treatment for inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. What’s more, the scientists think the probiotic may be useful in treating colon cancer, another disease triggered by inflammation, as well.

The Northwestern team deleted a gene in the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus and fed this version of the probiotic to mice with two different models of colitis. After about 2 weeks of treatment, the new probiotic strain had virtually eliminated colon inflammation in the animals. Moreover, it halted progression of the disease by 95 percent. The results of the study were just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This opens brand new avenues to treat various autoimmune diseases of the gut, including inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer, all which can be triggered by imbalanced inflammatory immune responses,” said Mansour Mohamadzadeh, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead investigator of the study, in a statement to the media. He also is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

In the study, the modified Lactobacillus acidophilus was found to calm over stimulated immune cells in the gut by mobilizing messenger immune cells, called dendritic cells. These dendritic cells then enhanced the production of other functional immune cells, known as regulatory T-cells. The result? A healthy new balance was achieved in the intestine and systemic inflammation was soothed away.

“They essentially calm everything down and restore it to normal,” Dr. Mohamadzadeh explained. The next step will be a trial testing the new form of Lactobacillus acidophilus in humans. Dr. Mohamadzadeh and his colleagues at the Lurie Cancer Center are also researching the new Lactobacillus acidophilus as a possible treatment for colon cancer.

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Broccoli Extracts Prevent Stomach Disorders

December 2nd, 2010

Natural News

By: David Gutierrez

Extracts from broccoli and plantain may help boost the stomach’s defenses against infection, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool in collaboration with Scottish and Swedish researchers, and published in the journal Gut.

The researchers hope that their findings will prove helpful to people suffering from a form of inflammatory bowel disease known as Crohn’s disease.

“With Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, [a] genetic predisposition teams up with failed tolerance, and you’re left with chronic recurrent bowel inflammation,” write James Dowd and Diane Stafford in their book The Vitamin D Cure.

“Your immune system can’t handle the bacteria in your intestines, so the bowel lining becomes a battleground where the immune system is constantly attacking bacteria that attach to it,” they write. “It’s like you have an infected rash inside your gut.”

Researchers examined the effect of fibers from broccoli and plantain on the M-cells that line the human gut. The cells were obtained both from laboratory cultures and from surgical tissue samples. They found that while the plant fibers helped keep harmful bacteria moving through the bowel, a common stabilizer found in processed foods caused them to stay in the gut longer, increasing the risk of infection.

Crohn’s disease is particularly common in countries where people eat lots of processed foods and low amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.

“We have known for some time the general health benefits of eating plantain and broccoli, which are both high in vitamins and minerals, but until now we have not understood how they can boost the body’s natural defenses against infection common in Crohn’s patients,” researcher Barry Campbell said. “Our work suggests that it might be important for patients with this condition to eat healthily and limit their intake of processed foods.”

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Landmark Case Could Allow Injured Persons to Sue Vaccine Makers

October 13th, 2010

Natural News

By: Ethan A. Huff

Vaccines are implicated in causing all sorts of health damage, from neurological disorders like autism and Alzheimer’s disease to intestinal problems like ulcerative colitis and Chron’s disease — and everything in between. And a vaccine injury case currently before the Supreme Court could be the landmark decision that once again allows those injured by vaccines to sue vaccine manufacturers for damages, a course of action that has been barred since 1986 because of special federal protections enacted to immunize vaccine manufacturers against having to abide by the rule of law.

Nearly 25 years ago, the U.S. Congress passed the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which exempts vaccine manufacturers from being liable for damages caused by their vaccines. The Act established an entirely new “legal” system to deal specifically with vaccine injury cases, handling each one in a special “vaccine court” that essentially just dismisses most cases as unwarranted.

The Act is entirely unconstitutional as no company or entity can legally be exempted from due process within the real legal system, but it was enacted anyway and has served as a shelter for vaccine companies to hide behind in order to avoid costly litigation. And since the medical industry as a whole continues to deny a link between vaccines and autism, for instance, the “vaccine courts” can just automatically go along with the notion and arbitrarily reject all autism-related vaccine cases as unsubstantiated.

But all that could change, depending on how the Supreme Court handles a case currently before it involving a young lady whose parents say she became permanently injured by a diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) vaccine called Tri-Immunol that she received when she was a child. The Bruesewitz’s say that Wyeth, the manufacturer of the DTP vaccine, knew about a safer version of the vaccine, but continued to sell the dangerous one anyway. Now their daughter Hannah requires costly, specialized care for the rest of her life.

The case was first rejected in “vaccine court” when just a month before the case was to be heard, the court removed all the reported severe injuries from the list of compensatory items. After then taking the case to civil courts, the Bruesewitz’s were told that the case was automatically invalid because of the federal Vaccine Act. So now the case sits before the Supreme Court where, if determined in the Bruesewitz’s favor, will set a new precedent whereby vaccine manufacturers will no longer be able to avert the rule of law.

The illegitimacy of ‘vaccine court’
Much like the phony Internal Revenue Service (IRS) “tax courts”, “vaccine courts” have no justifiable basis anywhere in the law. They serve as nothing more than a way for drug companies to avoid having to bear responsibility for the harm caused by their vaccines. Any other person or company must go through the standard legal process, but the federal Vaccine Act literally grants special legal immunity to vaccine makers that nobody else receives.

There are a few cases where “vaccine courts” have ruled in favor of plaintiffs, but such cases are likely just a ploy to trick the public into thinking such courts are legitimate and lawful. Most cases are rejected by “vaccine court” and, even though plaintiffs can then take the case to civil courts, the process has been made very difficult because of the federal Vaccine Act.

Even though $154 million was paid in 2010 for “vaccine court” cases, that amount is a mere fraction of the overall profits vaccine companies rake in every year. And truth be told, vaccine manufacturers do not even pay such settlements.

Vaccine companies don’t even injury settlements, the public does!
Of the few cases that are actually ruled in favor of injured plaintiffs in “vaccine courts”, not a single one of them is paid for by the vaccine manufacturers that cause the harm. A special excise tax is collected when vaccines are sold to the public, which is later used as settlement compensation. This means that insurance companies and ultimately the public end up paying for vaccine settlements while the vaccine manufacturers get off scot-free!

So not only are vaccine manufacturers essentially exempted from the real legal system, but the mock legal system set up in their favor actually guards them from having to pay a single cent for damages caused by their products.

It’s time to end the vaccine racket
Proponents of special legal protection for vaccine manufacturers say that it is necessary to protect them from “undue” litigation. But that is precisely what the real court system is for in the first place: to evaluate cases and determine whether or not a defendant is liable for damages. Setting up special “vaccine courts” that bypass due process is tyranny in the name of medicine, and it is simply unacceptable.

Because of “vaccine courts”, the idea that vaccines are in any way related to causing autism has been dismissed all across the board, even though numerous studies and research data continue to suggest a connection. And in the case of Hannah Bruesewitz, the system permits gross negligence on the part of vaccine manufacturers to go unpunished, unless of course the Supreme Court decides to do the right thing.

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Eating Animal Protein Raises Risk of IBD

October 11th, 2010

Natural News

By: David Gutierrez

A diet high in protein increases women’s risk of the cluster of conditions known collectively as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study conducted by researchers from the Center Hospitalier Universitaire de Bicetre in Paris an published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

IBD is characterized by severe inflammation of the digestive tract, and includes conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

“Our results may help better understand the role of diet in IBD risk,” the researchers wrote. “If confirmed, they can lead to protective strategies, especially in families at risk of IBD, and possibly to advice for preventing relapse.”

The researchers followed more than 67,000 women between the ages of 40 and 65 for an average of 10 years, during which time 77 participants developed IBD. The researchers then analyzed all participants’ dietary patterns for a potential link with the disease.

They found that women who consumed the highest amount of protein had were more three times as likely to developing IBD as other women. When the researchers further analyzed this risk by protein type, they found that animal flesh, including fish, was responsible for the greatest risk increase. Although the study was not designed to explain this association, the researchers hypothesized that meat consumption may produce toxic “end products” that can damage the digestive tract, such as ammonia or hydrogen sulfide. Another possibility is that a diet high in protein may alter the natural balance of beneficial bacteria in the colon.

Prior studies have linked an increased risk of IBD to high consumption of certain fats and sugars, but the current study is the first to make a link to meat consumption. Another recent study found that a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids was associated with a higher risk of the disease, while a diet high in omega-3s was associated with a lower risk.

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Olive Oil Can Prevent Ulcerative Colitis

May 19, 2010

Natural News

By S. L. Baker

Ulcerative colitis is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that brings untold pain and misery to about 120,000 people of all ages in the UK and over a million in the US. It produces inflammation and sores in the lining of the rectum and colon that bleed, produce pus and cause frequent diarrhea. This is a serious disease that often causes hospitalization. In fact, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), 25 to 40 percent of people suffering from ulcerative colitis eventually have their colons removed because of massive bleeding, severe illness, rupture of the colon, or risk of cancer.

Powerful side effect-laden drugs like steroids are used to dampen down symptoms but there’s no cure. However, scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered there could be a way to stop ulcerative colitis from developing in the first place. The preventative treatment is simple, healthy, inexpensive and easy to find — olive oil.

UEA researchers announced this news recently at the Digestive Disease Week conference held in New Orleans. Their findings revealed that people with a diet rich in oleic acid are far less likely to develop ulcerative colitis. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fatty acid found in abundance in olive oil. It is also a component of peanut oil, grapeseed oil and butter.

The research team, led by Dr. Andrew Hart of UEA’s School of Medicine, studied over 25,000 people between the ages of 40 and 65 who lived in Norfolk, in the UK. The research participants were part of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Diet and Cancer) study between 1993 and 1997. None of these EPIC participants were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the beginning of the study. They all kept detailed food diaries which were later studied by nutritionists who analyzed exactly what nutrients and fatty acids the study participants were consuming.

By 2004, 22 of the research subjects had developed ulcerative colitis. When the researchers compared the diets of these people to those who did not develop the disease, they found the study participants with the highest intake of oleic acid had a 90 per cent lower risk of developing ulcerative colitis.

“Oleic acid seems to help prevent the development of ulcerative colitis by blocking chemicals in the bowel that aggravate the inflammation found in this illness,” Dr. Hart said in a statement to the media.”We estimate that around half of the cases of ulcerative colitis could be prevented if larger amounts of oleic acid were consumed. Two-to-three tablespoons of olive oil per day would have a protective effect.”

Additional studies are underway in several countries to further document the potential of oleic acid to prevent colitis, the UEA researchers stated. In addition, they noted that oleic acid should also be assessed in the future as a possible treatment for those already suffering from the disease.

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Control Body Fat and Diabetes with Chlorella

January 25, 2010

Natural News

By David Gutierrez

A superfood known as chlorella has caught on like wildfire in the United Kingdom, and studies continue to emerge linking the algae to improvement in symptoms of people with everything from diabetes and high blood pressure to digestive or immune problems.

Chlorella is a single-celled algae that naturally occurs in freshwater rivers and ponds in East Asia, tinting those bodies of water green. It is gathered from these natural sources, dried, crushed into a powder, and then packed into tablet form for sale as a dietary supplement. It has twice the protein density of spinach, 38 times that of soy beans and 55 times that of rice, providing nine essential amino acids along with a number of vitamins and minerals.

The algae has shown effectiveness at improving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome — a collection of symptoms linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including high fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and central obesity. Studies have found chlorella supplements to reduce blood pressure in 50 percent of hypertension patients, as well as significantly reduce body fat, blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

“It seems that chlorella turns on the genes that control the way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body,” said researcher Randall Merchant of Virginia Commonwealth University. “This research shows that chlorella could in theory help correct the problems of metabolic syndrome. It is not a magic bullet, but taking it is one other preventive thing you can do, like exercise or watching your diet.”

Other studies have shown that chlorella encourages the growth of “good bacteria,” absorbs toxins from the intestines, improves digestion, and eases the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia. Chlorella supporters claim that it also increases energy levels and fights depression.

After studies showed that chlorella boosts the immune system, preventing secondary infections in people with brain tumors, some British doctors have started using it to complement cancer treatments.

Because chlorella is high in vitamin K1, it can interfere with the effects of blood thinning medications.

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