(NaturalNews) Meat allergies may be much more common than previously thought and may even induce potentially fatal anaphylaxis in some people, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Virginia and presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in New Orleans.
The researchers tested three groups of people across the U.S. Southeast with a history of recurrent anaphylaxis without known cause for an immune reaction to alpha-gal, a kind of sugar found in mammal meat.
Although most allergic reactions are caused by proteins, scientists recently discovered that alpha-gal is responsible for anaphylactic reactions to cetuximab, a cancer drug. Further studies revealed that people who experience immune responses to alpha-gal also develop allergic symptoms within three to six hours of eating mammalian meat.
Alpha-gal is not found in the flesh of bird or fish.
The researchers found that between 20 and 50 percent of participants tested positive for allergy to alpha-gal. Overall, 25 of 60 participants (42 percent) showed signs of meat allergy.
Although doctors have known of meat allergies for some time, they have previously presumed them to be uncommon. The new study suggests that as many as half of all unexplained food allergies may be attributed to meat, however.
"This would make me personally think about including these foods in my differential diagnosis," said Michael Pistiner of Children's Hospital Boston, who was not involved in the study.
Meat allergies may be harder to detect than other food allergies because it takes the body three to six hours to produce a reaction to alpha-gal. They also tend to develop in adults rather than children, in contrast to most food allergies.
Although the study only looked at patients suffering the most severe reactions, co-author Scott. P. Commins noted that alpha-gal allergies probably occur in a wide variety of severities, just like other allergies.
Sources for this story include: http://www.businessweek.com/lifesty... http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/74/3... http://www.medpagetoday.com/Meeting....
Showing posts with label probiotics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label probiotics. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Heal yourself in 15 days - You are what you absorb (part three)
(NaturalNews) This article continues part three of the 15-part article series called Heal Yourself in 15 Days. In part two, we explored your innate healing potential and saw how powerful your self-healing abilities really are (http://www.naturalnews.com/028060_s...). Here in part three, we look at a powerful principle of nutrition: You aren't what you eat; you are what you ABSORB.
Many people suffer from poor digestion. In fact, you might say that most people aren't able to absorb the nutrients they swallow, so they remain in a state of nutritional starvation even though they're taking supplements that would otherwise be quite helpful.
These people tend to scratch their heads, wondering why all the nutrients they're swallowing aren't having the positive effects they had hoped for. The answer to this conundrum is found in enhancing the absorption of those nutrients.
It's easy to test this by swallowing a teaspoon (or so) of vinegar with your meal and asking yourself whether it feels better or worse. For a surprisingly large percentage of people, the extra vinegar halts the pain they might normally feel after such a meal. This is a strong indication that they lack proper stomach acid production and could benefit from stronger acid. Vinegar is acidic, you see. Not as acidic as stomach acid, but far more acidic than most foods or beverages.
Consumers have been persuaded by drug advertising to swallow over-the-counter antacid tablets -- products that are actually very alkaline and therefore lower the acidity (i.e. raise the pH) of the liquids in your stomach.
What most people don't realize is that minerals require an acidic digestive environment to be properly digested and absorbed. If you lack proper stomach acid, you won't be able to properly absorb minerals even if you swallow them! And this can lead to mineral deficiencies that promote the development of diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, arthritis and even heart problems (among other things).
So how do you encourage the production of healthy stomach acid? In my experience, drinking fresh vegetable juices each day -- especially celery and cabbage juices -- greatly boosts stomach health, ultimately supporting healthy stomach acid production.
Heating foods (cooking them) destroys all digestive enzymes. This is one reason why cooked foods steal life away from people while raw, living foods impart life. Living foods usually come with their own digestive enzymes, aiding your digestive processes in breaking down and absorbing nutrients.
Dead foods -- which include anything pasteurized -- stress your liver, pancreas and gallbladder by requiring these organs to produce extra digestive enzymes that are missing from the foods themselves. Because many people suffer from poor digestive organ function, they have difficulties absorbing the nutrients they've swallowed.
They are, in essence, nutrient transformers that operate inside your body, producing nutrients needed for your health. That's why people who take antibiotics often suffer serious digestive side effects in the days that follow: They've wiped out all the friendly intestinal bacteria that were providing essential nutrients!
It's easy to remedy this imbalance: Take probiotic supplements on a regular basis. This will feed your digestive tract the friendly bacteria you need.
And don't fall for the marketing sham of eating yogurt, thinking it's loaded with probiotics. Virtually all store-bought yogurt is pasteurized, and pasteurization kills the friendly bacteria. This makes most "probiotic yogurt" products nothing more than a dishonest marketing gimmick.
By the way, if you want healthy intestinal flora, it's also important to reduce your consumption of dietary sugars. When you consume more sugars, you alter the bacterial population in your gut, causing a shift toward bacteria that feed on sugars. As you alter your diet to exclude refined sugars, the population of bacteria in your gut follows suit, shifting towards a non-sugar bacterial population.
For those looking for more specific scientific references, simply use Google.com or Google Scholar to search for the topics described here. You'll even find many of them right here on NaturalNews if you use the search box at the top of this page.
(I'm often amazed when some people demand references for things that can be easily found with a simple Google search. The classic use of article references dates back to the era of library card catalogs when finding information was a laborious task. But today, not even 20 years later, finding information is virtually effortless on the 'net. If you want to find information about how eating sugars alters the bacteria in your gut, for example, just search Google for "eating sugars alters the bacteria in your gut".
When I run that search on Google, I get over 70,000 page results...
Coming up next: This "Heal Yourself in 15 Days" article series continues tomorrow, when you'll learn how to change your health by changing your blood...
Many people suffer from poor digestion. In fact, you might say that most people aren't able to absorb the nutrients they swallow, so they remain in a state of nutritional starvation even though they're taking supplements that would otherwise be quite helpful.
These people tend to scratch their heads, wondering why all the nutrients they're swallowing aren't having the positive effects they had hoped for. The answer to this conundrum is found in enhancing the absorption of those nutrients.
Strong stomach acid is good for you
Pharmaceutical pill pushers have convinced many people that stomach acid is bad for your health. By promoting diseases like "acid reflux" or GERD, they misinform consumers into believing that heartburn and stomach pain are caused by too much stomach acid. But the truth is that in most (but not all) cases people actually suffer from weak stomach acid and they need stronger stomach acid to properly digest foods.It's easy to test this by swallowing a teaspoon (or so) of vinegar with your meal and asking yourself whether it feels better or worse. For a surprisingly large percentage of people, the extra vinegar halts the pain they might normally feel after such a meal. This is a strong indication that they lack proper stomach acid production and could benefit from stronger acid. Vinegar is acidic, you see. Not as acidic as stomach acid, but far more acidic than most foods or beverages.
Consumers have been persuaded by drug advertising to swallow over-the-counter antacid tablets -- products that are actually very alkaline and therefore lower the acidity (i.e. raise the pH) of the liquids in your stomach.
What most people don't realize is that minerals require an acidic digestive environment to be properly digested and absorbed. If you lack proper stomach acid, you won't be able to properly absorb minerals even if you swallow them! And this can lead to mineral deficiencies that promote the development of diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, arthritis and even heart problems (among other things).
So how do you encourage the production of healthy stomach acid? In my experience, drinking fresh vegetable juices each day -- especially celery and cabbage juices -- greatly boosts stomach health, ultimately supporting healthy stomach acid production.
Digestive enzymes from living foods
Digestion is a complex process. It requires biochemical and physical processes to break down ingested substances into their nutritional components. This process is significantly aided by digestive enzymes which exist naturally in living foods (fresh, raw vegetable and fruit juices, for example).Heating foods (cooking them) destroys all digestive enzymes. This is one reason why cooked foods steal life away from people while raw, living foods impart life. Living foods usually come with their own digestive enzymes, aiding your digestive processes in breaking down and absorbing nutrients.
Dead foods -- which include anything pasteurized -- stress your liver, pancreas and gallbladder by requiring these organs to produce extra digestive enzymes that are missing from the foods themselves. Because many people suffer from poor digestive organ function, they have difficulties absorbing the nutrients they've swallowed.
Probiotics
Many people suffer from serious intestinal flora imbalances. Western medicine, for the most part, remains astonishingly ignorant about the importance of intestinal flora to overall health, but those who study more holistic medicine understand the important role that these "inner bacteria" play in your health: The bacteria in your gut actually digest and transform nutrients you eat into other nutrients.They are, in essence, nutrient transformers that operate inside your body, producing nutrients needed for your health. That's why people who take antibiotics often suffer serious digestive side effects in the days that follow: They've wiped out all the friendly intestinal bacteria that were providing essential nutrients!
It's easy to remedy this imbalance: Take probiotic supplements on a regular basis. This will feed your digestive tract the friendly bacteria you need.
And don't fall for the marketing sham of eating yogurt, thinking it's loaded with probiotics. Virtually all store-bought yogurt is pasteurized, and pasteurization kills the friendly bacteria. This makes most "probiotic yogurt" products nothing more than a dishonest marketing gimmick.
By the way, if you want healthy intestinal flora, it's also important to reduce your consumption of dietary sugars. When you consume more sugars, you alter the bacterial population in your gut, causing a shift toward bacteria that feed on sugars. As you alter your diet to exclude refined sugars, the population of bacteria in your gut follows suit, shifting towards a non-sugar bacterial population.
References
Everything I've said here is supported by quotations on the website www.NaturalPedia.com where I've assembled over one million unique web pages covering tens of thousands of natural health topics.For those looking for more specific scientific references, simply use Google.com or Google Scholar to search for the topics described here. You'll even find many of them right here on NaturalNews if you use the search box at the top of this page.
(I'm often amazed when some people demand references for things that can be easily found with a simple Google search. The classic use of article references dates back to the era of library card catalogs when finding information was a laborious task. But today, not even 20 years later, finding information is virtually effortless on the 'net. If you want to find information about how eating sugars alters the bacteria in your gut, for example, just search Google for "eating sugars alters the bacteria in your gut".
When I run that search on Google, I get over 70,000 page results...
Coming up next: This "Heal Yourself in 15 Days" article series continues tomorrow, when you'll learn how to change your health by changing your blood...
Friday, December 4, 2009
Scientists create protein to help probiotics work more effectively
(NaturalNews) Researchers from the Institute of Food Research (IFR), part of the Institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Council, have materialized a protein that works with probiotic bacteria to help bind them to the gastrointestinal tract. This breakthrough research will help to further the viability of probiotics and to pinpoint the most beneficial strains for use in the body.
Dr. Nathalie Juge, a researcher from IFR, stated that in order for probiotics to be properly assimilated, they need to be effectively bound to the cells lining the intestinal walls. In order to help accomplish this, her research team derived a protein from the probiotic strain Lactobacillus reuteri, a lactic acid bacterium found naturally in the gastrointestinal tract. The proteins bind themselves to the mucus membrane and assist it by serving as additional catch points for bacterium to reside.
The mucous membranes found naturally in the body's largest immune system organ, the gut, help protect its lining and renew its cells by serving as a native fixation point for bacteria. Prior to the study, it was generally unknown what element was utilized by the mucous to make bacteria stick to it. Research published by IFR and the University of East Anglia in a Journal of Biological Chemistry paper revealed that specialized binding proteins are responsible for this important work.
Vital components of maintaining a healthy immune system, these proteins serve as catalysts for the metabolization of probiotic bacteria. They serve as human immunoglobulin protein receptors as well, indicating their crucial role in maintaining overall immune health.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...
Dr. Nathalie Juge, a researcher from IFR, stated that in order for probiotics to be properly assimilated, they need to be effectively bound to the cells lining the intestinal walls. In order to help accomplish this, her research team derived a protein from the probiotic strain Lactobacillus reuteri, a lactic acid bacterium found naturally in the gastrointestinal tract. The proteins bind themselves to the mucus membrane and assist it by serving as additional catch points for bacterium to reside.
The mucous membranes found naturally in the body's largest immune system organ, the gut, help protect its lining and renew its cells by serving as a native fixation point for bacteria. Prior to the study, it was generally unknown what element was utilized by the mucous to make bacteria stick to it. Research published by IFR and the University of East Anglia in a Journal of Biological Chemistry paper revealed that specialized binding proteins are responsible for this important work.
Vital components of maintaining a healthy immune system, these proteins serve as catalysts for the metabolization of probiotic bacteria. They serve as human immunoglobulin protein receptors as well, indicating their crucial role in maintaining overall immune health.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
