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| The Truth about antibiotics; article by Dr. Holland & Doug Kaufmann | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 24 2007, 06:33 PM (120 Views) | |
| AloeGal | Aug 24 2007, 06:33 PM Post #1 |
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This is from Kaufmann and Holland's Maximum Fertility Healthy Pregnancy book. I was searching for info for a friend yesterday. I saw this and had to post!! (buy this book, it's very good! www.knowthecause.com ) The Truth About Antibiotics (pg. 29) Most antibiotics are actually mycotoxins. Penicillin counts as perhaps the most famous example. A scientist named Alexander Fleming discovered the chemical in 1928, when plates of bacteria cultures he was growing were accidentally contaminated by the fungus that produces penicillin. Fleming later determined that the fungal cells in question originated in a rotten orange one floor above his lab, and that the airborne microbes floated in through a window he'd left open. The microscopic fungi multiplied into colonies on the scientist's culture plates. To be able to compete with the bacteria he was trying to grow, they produced penicillin. Because penicillin kills several species of bacteria, including the bacteria in Fleming's experiment, a moat-like gap appeared around each of the fungus colonies, acting as a buffer zone of sorts. Several years passed before penicillin was isolated and then mass-produced. Refinements and laboratory-induced mutations have led to the enhanced versions of penicillin producing molds we have today. Current strains used in commercial, pharmaceutical settings are 10,000 times as efficient as Fleming's original, laboratory sample. (19) Antibiotics gave medicines a huge boost. For the first time, doctors could actually cure what has been deadly, bacterial infections. That said, scientists such as Dr. John Pitt remain skeptical as to their true value. "It is ironic that this humbled fungus, hailed as a benefactor of mankind, " Dr. Pitt writes, "may by its very success prove to be a deciding factor in the decline of the present civilization." (21) Norman F. Conant, lead author of a book entitled the Manual of Clinical Mycology, also warns about the side effects of antibiotic use. "Fungus infections," he writes, "are relatively, if not actually more frequent in occurrence since the introduction of penicillin and other potent antibiotics for the control of acute bacterial diseases." (20) With the rise in the numbers of cases of cancer and autoimmune diseases, and the all-to-common and ever-increasing use of antibiotics since the 1950s, you have to wonder if we aren't making a mistake. After all, a number of scientists have thoroughly documented the link between mycotoxins and cancer. As well, several side effects associated with antibiotics and other drugs derived from fungi actually mimic the signs and symptoms of autioimmune dysfunction. In some cases, you could even say that the adverse reactions to antibiotic use qualify as "mycotoxicoses." Mycotoxiciosis, the singular form of the word, is defined as an identifiable illness caused by a fungally produced poison. Beyond antibiotics Other drugs derived from fungi include cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs made by Aspergillus terreus and other molds. (22) Fungi are also used to produce Cephalosporin antibiotics, antifungals such as griseofulvin and nystatin, chemotherapeutics (adriamycin, dactinomycin, etc.), and immune-suppressing drugs such as cyclosporin. With the low cost involved in maintaining and culturing them. balanced against their enormous yeild of expensive drugs, fungi are the most profitable organisms in the world. At the same time, as a class they count as the most destructive -- an estimated 80 percent of annual crop losses worldwide involve either fungal contamination, or outright destruction wreaked by fungi. Other fungal toxins Because it is a fermentation by-product of a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae, alcohol counts as a mycotoxin in all of its many forms. A number of beers and wines are also made with the help of other fungi, including Aspergillus species. (24) These fungi in turn make their own mycotoxins that can contaminate the final batch of wine or beer. On top of that, grains unfit for use as breakfast cereals or pastas -- deemed so in part because of their excessive mycotoxin content -- are often used instead for making alcoholic beverages. (25) The upshot is that alcoholism is one of the more prevalent forms of mycotoxicosis. In both the short and long run, alcohol can cause mental impairments and aberrations, scarring of and fatty deposits in the liver, and more that 50 different types of cancer. (23) Ironically, the mycotoxin’s protective effects, as indicated by recent studies, have come to overshadow the damage it causes over the long run. Practically speaking, however, even if a glass of wine a day brings short-term benefits with it, if it kills you in the long run, the original “benefits” are hardly worth it. Aspergillus niger produces citric acid very efficiently, an ability that commercial food producers put to use -- to the tune of more than 350 kilotons a year. The majority of this citric acid -- again, a mycotoxin -- is used as a preservative in products such as soft drinks. It is perhaps no coincidence that calcium loss through urination has been linked to the caffeine and acids that sodas contain. (26) The loss can lead to osteoporosis. Speaking of osteoporosis, other mycotoxins besides citric acid can interfere with normal calcium function in the body. CPA -- cyclopiazonic acid -- counts among them. chickens who eat grains contaminated with this chemical produce fragile, thin-shelled eggs because the acid has bound up the calcium needed to form normal eggs. (27) CPA is made by Aspergillus flavus and can be found in cheese (particularly in camembert), peanuts, and millet, among other products. Since the fructose syrup used as sweeteners in soft drinks comes mainly from corn -- the grain most commonly infested by Aspergillus flavus -- sugar sweetened sodas represent one of the major routes by which Americans may be ingesting CPA. This development might explain the recent osteoporosis epidemic. Zearalenone is an estrogen-like mycotoxin made by the Fusarium species of mold. High grain contamination rates by this toxin have been reported in Canada, the U.S. and northern Europe. ( 28 ) The paper containing this information also estimates the daily intake of zearalenone by Canadians at 1.2 micrograms per person. This relatively low dose increases for people who eat more corn products. The effects of low-dose exposures to these toxins over a period of many years -- the rimary concern of many scientists in the field of mycotoxicology -- have yet to be determined. Zearalenone has mostly been studied in farm animals. Its effects range from infertility, swelling and enlargement of female genitalia and mammary glands, problems with ovulation, menstrual irregularities, fetal miscarriage, and feminization of male animals, with pigs being affected the most. In addition, some scientists suspect zearalenone as a cause of premature puberty in girls and of cervical cancer in women. (29) Tremorgen mycotoxins such as penitrem A are made by Aspergillus, Penicillium and other mold species. These toxins can cause tremors, headaches, fever and dementia in animals and humans. Other neurotoxic mycotoxins include vomitoxin and the T-2 mycotoxin. Both are made by the Fusarium species, and both can cause nerve damage, anorexia (feed refuasl in aminals), vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and a weakened immune system. (30) Vomitoxin typically contaminates grains that have been infested with Fusarium molds. (31) Mycotoxins such as vomitoxin and T-2 are much more dangerous when inhaled than when eaten in contaminated food. (32) This makes them of primary concern in enclosed, mold-infested places such as grain silos, office buildings and homes. Together with vomitoxin, Aspergillus-and-Penicillium-produced ochratoxin A has also been connected with various forms of kidney damage. Even in “naturally occurring levels,” both mycotoxins can damage the kidneys of humans and animals. (33) Inadequate Limits The FDA has set limits for allowable levels of aflatoxin in finished foods intended for human or livestock consumption. Milk and grain products destined for the table cannot exceed 0.5 parts per billion (ppb) and 20 ppb, respectively. If we assume that most farmers produce milk and grow grains that contain close to allowable limits, then Americans ingest between 0.15 and 0.5 mg of aflatoxin -- the most carcinogenic substance know to science -- on a daily basis. Livestock feed is allowed to contain up to 300bbp of aflatoxin. Again assuming that most farmers use feed that contains close to this allowed, even if only a small percentage of the mycotoxin makes it from animals’ intestines into their tissues, and from there onto our tables and into our stomachs, 300 ppb is very like an unacceptable level of contamination. The FDA screens crops for only aflatoxin, even though Food and Drug Administration samples have proved that other toxins contaminate American-grown grains. (35) Although screening programs in the United States have been set for one or two other toxins, compliance programs have yet to be executed. Some countries screen for as many as eight of the most common mycotoxins on a regular basis. That said, as of 2002 on the international level, only 77 countries had reported that they regulate mycotoxins in foods and feeds. Thirteen countries reported no regulations whatsoever. 19. Moore-Landecker., Fundamentals of the Fungi, 4th ed. Prentics-Hall, Inc. New Jersey. 1996 20. Conant, et al. Manual of Clinical Mycology. 2nd ed. WB Saunders Co. Philadelphia, 1954, 21. Pitt, J. The Genus Penicillium, Academic Press, 1979. 22. Physicians’ Desk Reference. 48th ed Medical Economics Data Production Company. Montvale, NJ. 1994. 23. Costantini, A.V., et al. Prevention of Breast Cancer: Hope at Last. Fungalbionics Series- The fungal/mycotoxin etiology of human disease. Johann Friedrich Oberlin Verlag. Germany. 1998. http:members.aol.com/jfloverlag/fungalbionics/. 24. Moore-Landecker., Fundamentals of the Fungi, 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, Inc. New Jersey. 1996 25. CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) 2003. 26. Heaney, RP and Rafferty, K: Carbonated beverages and urinary clacuim excretion. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . 2001:74. 27. CAST 2003. 28. Krska, R. Mycotoxins of growing interest: Zearalenone. Third Joint FAO/WHO/UNEP International Conference on Mycotoxins. Tunis, Tunisia, 3-6 March. 1999) 29. CAST 2003; Peraica, M., et al. Toxic effects of mycotoxins in humans. Bulletin of World Health Organization. Sept 1, 1999. 30. CAST 2003. 31. Ibid. 32. Perica, M. WHO. 1999. 33. CAST 2003. |
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Blessings, AloeGal You never know why you're alive until you know what you would die for....I would die for You. ~ Mercy Me | |
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