Anti-Candida Albicans Agents - Ways to Increase Magnesium Absorption
Further in this page, I have identified a large number of health conditions that prevent or reduce the absorption of magnesium from the diet. One of the most frequent, I am convinced, is overgrowth of Candida Albicans in the digestive tract, intestines. Therefore, in the following few sections I cover various antifungal agents, more or less in the order that I uncovered them. These are the anti-Candida Albicans agents that are discussed in the following sections. You will notice that I did not discuss the OTC and prescriptions antifungals, simply due to my general aversion to drugs. If you want to learn about them, see your physician, but none of them work longer than a week before the Candida morphs to a resistant strain, just like for coconut oil and garlic.
* Coconut oil Helpful and safe, but works only for a week.
* Garlic Helpful and safe, but works only for a week.
* Iodine Very helpful but may not be safe - thyroid issues
* Kefir Helpful and safe, and should be taken every day as our main source of calcium (greatly helps with magneisum wasting perhaps due to high content of inulin).
* Indole-3-Carbinol) Helpful and extremely safe, and is my main anti-fungal, anti-cancer agent and anti magnesium wasting agent. It also seems to greatly reduce diarrhea and improve bowel function particularly with use of high-dose magnesium.
* Mercola's Complete Probiotic plus biotin Whoa! This is the cat's meow! Finally some real efficacy! This is what I like the best. Read the link and see why.
Coconut Oil: Cure For Everything?
Is coconut oil the cure for everything? Another natural anti-yeast treatment is plain old ordinary coconut oil. This natural substance has been known for many centuries to prevent yeast infections in women in Pacific islands. Finally, the oils in coconut oil have been tested against Candida yeast. Both capric and lauric acid found in coconut oil in very large amounts, were totally, absolutely, completely lethal to Candida yeast. Bergsson and Thormar writing in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy wrote: "The susceptibility of Candida albicans to several fatty acids and their 1-monoglycerides was tested with a short inactivation time, and ultra-thin sections were studied by transmission electron microscopy after treatment with capric acid (found in coconut oil). The results show that capric acid, a 10-carbon saturated fatty acid, causes the fastest and most effective killing of all three strains of C. albicans tested, leaving the cytoplasm disorganized and shrunken because of a disrupted or disintegrated plasma membrane. Lauric acid (also found in coconut oil), a 12-carbon saturated fatty acid, was the most active at lower concentrations and after a longer incubation time. Read the full article here and the 1.03 mb PDF version here. It is interesting that people who eat a lot of coconuts live in areas where yeast and fungi are extremely plentiful, yet they are rarely troubled by infections. Only in more temperate climates where processed vegetable oils are the main source of dietary fat are yeast infections, skin fungus, acne, and other skin infections big problems. Much more research needs to be done on the effectiveness of coconut oil in curing Candida, but for now the evidence suggests a good quality Virgin Coconut Oil is one of the best weapons in killing Candida. Much information is on the internet concerning the use of coconut oil to treat yeast infections. It is also an excellent topical anti-yeast agent for treating vaginal yeast infections. Read why coconut oil is one of the most health promoting foods on Earth here. Bruce Fife reporting in his book: "The overall health of both groups of Pacific Islanders was extremely good compared to Western standards. There were no signs of kidney disease or hypothyroidism that might influence fat levels. There was no hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol). All inhabitants were lean and healthy despite a very high saturated-fat diet from coconut oil. In fact, the populations as a whole had ideal weight-to-height ratios as compared to the Body Mass Index figures used by nutritionists. Digestive problems are rare. Constipation is uncommon. They average two or more bowel movements a day. Atherosclerosis, heart disease, colitis, colon cancer, hemorrhoids, ulcers, diverticulosis, and appendicitis are conditions with which they are generally unfamiliar." Enough said? Try 3 to 4 tablespoons per day. It will not make you fat, and best of all it is non-toxic, very much unlike many prescription antifungals. But, start out with a low dose until you find out what your side effects from the break down of yeast affects you. You may say, "Yuck, coconut oil is a saturated fat!" Yes, but it is one very healthy food, and this is another highly important food that we have been conned into believing is bad for us by the American Soybean Association, Center for Science in the Public Interest and others interested in promoting their own products without regard for our health (a trade war). Search for more information about this issue here. Read how coconut oil is the healthiest oil on Earth.
Safety! Just beyond the breakers! Is coconut oil the cure for many heart problems? YES! Why? Well, the biochemistry is interesting and fairly simple. Candida yeast breakdown products include acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde, (also a break down product of alcohol, and is found in ripe fruit, cigarette smoke and coffee) has been found to concentrate in the heart where it adversely affects heart cells, and has significant effects on cardiac contractility and function. Acetaldehyde can cause fibrosis and enlargement of individual heart cells. Also, Candidiasis (yeast overgrowth in the colon and mucous membranes) is well known to cause magnesium malabsorption, thus causing depression, heart trouble and colon cancer. Put these observations together, and presto, coconut oil looks like it is a cure for depression, cardiac arrhythmias, myocarditis, endocarditis and lone atrial fibrillations (LAF). I suspect all the other problems mentioned above not found in the Pacific Islanders are also largely preventable by daily use of coconut oil and not drinking alcohol, coffee, smoking, or eating ripe fruit. How many psychiatrists and cardiologists want you to know this? I suspect there are a few. However, as I previously mentioned, a low to zero carbohydrate diet is also required and the combination does produce temporary side effects. Systemic yeast die-off is so intense by orally taking a tablespoon of coconut oil morning and night, that most people have adverse reactions (Herxheimer effect) to the die-off products, worsening symptoms for a few days to a week. I liken this paradox being stranded in a boat seeing land, but finding one first must pass through the dangerous breakers, just off the coast. See what Dr. Mercola has to say about the fungal etiology of inflammatory bowel disease here. Clearly, anything that causes bowel problems will impair magnesium absorption.
Intestinal candida suprainfection. Do you have a yeast infection? Do you have: athlete's foot? jock itch, thrush, recurrent cystitis or other vaginal infections, endometriosis, fungal infections of the nails or skin, problems from exposure to chemical fumes, perfumes, tobacco smoke etc., food allergies, abdominal bloating, diarrhoea or constipation, pre-menstrual syndrome. depression, fatigue, lethargy, poor memory, food cravings, muscular aches, tingling, numbness, burning, unaccountable aches, swelling in joints, erratic vision, spots before the eyes, floaters?, tachycardia, impotence or lack of sexual desire, symptoms usually worse on damp days, persistent drowsiness / tired all the time, lack of co-ordination, headaches / migraines, Mood swings, loss of balance, rashes, mucus in stools, belching and /or flatulence, bad breath, dry mouth or throat, nasal itch and/or congestion, nervous irritability, prostatitis, tightness in chest, ear sensitivity or fluid in ears, heartburn and indigestion, cardiac arrhythmias, HIV/AIDS. I ask again, do you have a yeast problem? I have read that over eighty percent of us do, primarily because we have taken antibiotics and consume a high carbohydrate and sugar diet. Find out using this questionnaire from the Yeast Connection site. Learn more about the benefits of coconut oil and why it is good for you here.
Is it possible that the majority of diseases that we think of as being magnesium deficiency diseases are really manifestations of Candida suprainfections? If yes, could antifungals be the preventative or cure for a very large number of divergent chronic diseases? I think so. Walter Last also seems to think so in his new on-line book, 66 Natural Ways to Cure Diseases. See his section on Candida yeast as the cause of many widely different diseases and conditions including lack of energy, digestive disturbances, arthritic joint pains, skin diseases, menstrual problems, emotional instability, cancer and depression, including suicidal depression. Killing the Candida yeast is not enough, one must also replace the intestinal microflora as discussed here with kefir. I think that principal biological pathways in which Candida causes many diseases is through impaired magnesium metabolism and by diets that promote Candida yeast overgrowth. More on the fungusamongus problem at the FungusFocus web site. Look at the prostatitis page and you will notice that fungus-induced illness (prostatitis) has many symptoms identical to magnesium deficiency. In fact, the symptoms of Candida yeast overgrowth are essentially the same as magnesium deficiency. Candida allergy strongly depresses the body's ability to absorb magnesium, probably by inducing a leaky gut. Dr. Leo Galland observed this in 1985, although his emphasis was on latent tetany with normal serum calcium (low intracellular magnesium).
On the other hand, go to your physician and ask him if you have a Candida infection and unless you have a mushroom growing out of your nose, he/she is very likely to tell you that yeast infections nearly always occur in immunosuppressant people, and they do not occur in you. Ask him if you might be magnesium deficient, and he will likely tell you that no one is magnesium deficient except for drunks. Why the adverse opinions? Well, if your doctor prescribed magnesium or coconut oil every time you visited, why go? I think that it makes vastly more financial sense to dissuade us from looking for root causes of illnesses than to treat simple underlying problems with natural products. Does the idea that "Candida infection" is bogus have support on the Internet? Yes, some. There are a few sites that proclaim "Candidiasis hypersensitivity" to be bogus, but the main antagonist seems to be the QuackWatch site. The QuackWatch site is pretty clear that systemic yeast infection is bogus. Is it? I don't know, but if you find benefit from large doses of coconut oil in treating the bewildering variety of Candida-related illnesses, I imagine that you will suspect that the QuackWatch guy, Stephen Barrett, M.D., needs watching! I do know this much. Five years ago, I complained of a severe yeast infection, and after seeing many physicians, and after being treated with many antifungals and antibiotics in the intervening years, I continued to have the problem until I used coconut oil. Steven Barrett is entitled to his opinion, but this is free country and we can disagree in good faith. Who is Steven Barrett? He is reported to be a non-practicing psychiatrist in Allentown, Pennsylvania, working out of his basement, who is laughed at in this page. Why wouldn't he be practicing? Did he get busted by the state, like my previous psychiatrist (who is now taking magnesium) for self-prescribing psychiatric drugs?
What does George think about the disease causing potential of Candida yeast? I think Barrett is correct. Candida can not reach all these places to cause these other diseases, but its breakdown product, acetaldehyde, can and does. Acetaldehyde is an irritant, a toxin, a reproductive toxin, a mutagen and a carcinogen. It is a dangerous industrial chemical. It is also flammable, and five times more dangerous than the well known embalming fluid formaldehyde, of which it is a chemical relative. How do people detoxify this harmful chemical? Molybdenum is said to be vital in detoxifying acetaldehyde. In The Candida/Aldehyde detox pathway and the Molybdenum Connection, about 300 micrograms of the dietary supplement molybdenum, along with the B-vitamin pantethine (the active part of pantothenic acid), taken three times a day has been recommended to help people detoxify this truly harmful chemical. Alternatively, molybdenum is found in foods, with potatoes having about 600 micrograms per 100 grams. If potatoes are no longer eaten due to their high glycemic index, one might need a supplemental source for this vital nutrient. On the other hand, the Linus Pauling Institute reports that no healthy person has ever been reported to be deficient of this nutrient, although excesses are toxic .
How about HIV/AIDS? Candida yeast is found in nearly all of these patients. Would coconut oil and garlic help treat HIV/AIDS? Dr Mercola thinks so because these oils are also antiviral to a number of viruses including HIV, measles, herpes simplex (HSV-1), vesicular stomatitis virus, visna virus and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Dr. Mercola points out that lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which has the additional beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body. Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid-coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, cytomegalovirus, influenza, and various pathogenic bacteria, including listeria monocytogenes and helicobacter pylori, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia. Some studies are being conducted to see if lowering the yeast load in HIV can prevent the disease from becoming AIDS, with some success. Some studies have also shown some antimicrobial effects of the free lauric acid. Do you feel like we have been deprived of the truth for long enough? Do you think implementation of Codex will prohibit the sale of coconut oil too? Seems like it should if the main purpose of Codex is to protect pharmaceutical company income.
Want to know what that white stuff in your mouth is? Could it be candida? Dentists often find candida yeast infections in peoples' mouths. Here is a slide show about oral candida, which is likely to present more than you want to know. When your dentist chides you about not taking care of your gums by brushing better, he should be recommending antifungal treatments.
Warning! Too much magnesium has been known to cause diarrhea for at least 100 years. Each magnesium ion will attract about 800 molecules of water, which is usually believed to be the cause of the diarrhea. However, too much magnesium exponentially stimulates the growth of Candida yeast cells in vitro, which was preventable by added calcium. Consequently, large doses of magnesium without calcium may stimulate intestinal Candida overgrowth in the human. Consequently, magnesium should be taken using several antifungal agents, and especially garlic with coconut oil. Also, Indole-3-Carbinol will greatly help in detoxifying the intestines and inducing immunity to Candida, thus reducing diarrhea and reducing magnesium wasting. These antifungals will also amplify the absorption of magnesium and greatly accelerate recovery but may increase toxicity of magnesium due to increased absorption. Consequently, when magnesium (without calcium) and antifungals are being used therapeutically, potential for overdose should be considered.
Garlic: The Cure for Everything Else!
Garlic: The Cure for Everything Else The medical literature shows that garlic has important anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal effects. I am experimenting in the spring and summer of 2004 with a heaping teaspoon of bottled, commercially prepared minced or ground garlic 4 times a day to add a second potent antifungal agent to my program to kill intestinal Candida yeast and other nasty critters in my intestinal tract. Fresh garlic extract has a greater efficacy than garlic powder extract. The antifungal effect of garlic lasts about one hour in the blood, but does not appear in urine. No physician is willing to tell me that I have a Candida yeast infection in my intestines, even though every time they prescribe an antifungal, I clearly feel better. You want to make a physician laugh? Tell him that garlic makes you feel better! They tend to hold their nose and giggle like crazy! So what! So far, garlic is helping quite a bit. It rapidly allowed me to reduce my magnesium intake by 75%, with no evidence of recurrence of any magnesium deficiency symptom. Currently, I only require 250 mg of magnesium supplements per day. My solid, 100 percent, totally convinced, no-questions-asked gut-feeling is that garlic in these large amounts contributed more to my feeling of true health and well being than anything else that I have ever tried outside of magnesium. Why? Because it really does the things claimed for it in terms of cleaning out the intestinal tract, improving digestion and allowing nutrients, and especially magnesium, to be properly absorbed.
I thank my easily irritated friend Denise from Glendale, Arizona for her persistence on garlic. Even if she did get irritated at me for not wanting to try garlic, I thank her repeatedly and with great humility. Denise fussed at me relentlessly to get me to try garlic. I had never before in my life eaten garlic, except as an accidental ingredient in some restaurant foods. Have garlic in the house? You gotta be nuts! Not us! Bad breath! Think about the consequences of having bad breath from eating garlic and compare the outcome with the absence of health from having an ineffective, fungally-infected digestive tract. The need-more-taurine-for-digestion issue pales in comparison to the need for garlic. There should be an RDA for garlic. If I had to set one it would be 12 to 16 cloves per day as commercially prepared minced or ground garlic, but then again some people react to garlic poorly. In fact, when I tried to eat a clove of fresh raw garlic (fresh enough that it could have grown a new garlic plant if I had planted it in soil), I was met with the most amazing mouth pain. Fresh, raw garlic will cause mouth pain akin to eating a very hot chili pepper. Eating fresh or raw garlic is fine only if it is minced and added to food. I could not chew on a fresh garlic clove like one could chew on a fresh onion or a fresh carrot, but could if I minced the same clove and immediately added it to food. In the later case, I could not taste garlic at all. Eating fresh garlic hurts! What about odor-free garlic? No. As far as I can tell most (if not all) commercial processes damage the ability of garlic to provide us with the effects we need. All those widely advertised brands, Kwai, Kyolic, Garlinase, Garlique, and others, simply don't provide much benefit. This is because garlic pills are missing the key ingredient (allicin) only found in fresh-crushed garlic cloves. It is possible to extract allicin, but such products have not yet been commercialized. Regardless, garlic is the subject of extensive research. It is allicin that kills germs (bacteria - including anthrax -, viruses, fungi, amoeba). Allicin is the primary anti-cancer agent in garlic. Allicin also lowers blood pressure, control blood sugar levels, even controls weight gain. Each of these physiologic benefits probably occurs by improving magnesium absorption. A fresh crushed clove of garlic will provide from 4-12 milligrams of allicin. Unfortunately, allicin is also the odorant in garlic. I used really large amounts of bottled, minced and crushed garlic to get beneficial effects (probably without any allicin due to manufacturing and aging - which leaves open the exact cause of garlic's benefit), but much less fresh raw garlic is needed to get the same effect. Now that I have been taking garlic for a little over a month, my wife does not fuss at me for bad breath, but she won't follow behind me, because I have this little garlic cloud that follows me.
Too much magnesium has been found to cause diarrhea for at least 100 years. Each magnesium ion will attract about 800 molecules of water, which is usually believed to be the cause of the diarrhea. However, too much magnesium exponentially stimulates the growth of Candida yeast cells in vitro, which was preventable by added calcium. Consequently, very large doses of magnesium without calcium might stimulate intestinal Candida overgrowth in the human, but such remains theoretical. Regardless, I think that therapeutic doses of magnesium should always be taken using several antifungal agents (because they can become resistant to individual antifungals), and especially garlic with coconut oil. These antifungals will also amplify the absorption of magnesium and greatly accelerate recovery but might increase toxicity of magnesium due to increased magnesium absorption. Consequently, when therapeutic doses of magnesium (without calcium) and antifungals are being used therapeutically, potential for magnesium overdose should be considered.
Iodine: The Candida Killer!
Perhaps the world's cheapest, most traditional, and best anti Candida agent is the simplest. It is iodine. Yes, I am describing the same iodine found in "tincture of iodine" that your mother used to treat your cuts and scratches when you were a child. Because Big Pharma drug companies have re-educated us to believe that the fancy new (expensive) antibiotics are better and safer than (dirt cheap) iodine, we have lost sight of the one truly miraculous and completely natural antiviral, antibiotic and antifungal agent. Nothing is likely to beat iodine in this regard. However, Big Pharma marketing has taught us that we shouldn't tolerate the deep, long lasting stain that iodine causes when applied to our skin. Yes, iodine will stain your skin, but when used properly that stain can be of enormous value to you in your battle against Candida. Scientists say that if you apply a several-inch round stain of iodine to your skin, say to your belly, that if it disappears within 24-hours, you are iodine deficient. Well, I tried that and my iodine stain always disappeared within 6 to 12 hours, and I am clearly not iodine deficient. Marketing has also taught us that iodine in excess is dangerous, that it can mess up our thyroid. Physicians, especially surgeons, for many years world-wide disinfected multiple square-foot size areas of skin with iodine prior to major surgery, sometimes resulting in toxic overdoses of iodine. Excess iodine can also damage our thyroid function causing either reversible hypothyroidism or reversible hyperthyroidism. However, the benefits of proper use of small amounts of iodine are so enormous that iodine must never be neglected or discarded or disrespected, or we will pay dearly! And we are paying that price.
How does one use iodine to battle Candida? If the Candida infection is intestinal, then we must treat the intestines either through the oral route or topically. That iodine is anti Candida is clear from this report. What I found works extremely well for me is to take 3 mg Prolamine Iodine tablets from Standard Processes with each meal and at bedtime for about 3 weeks, but never for longer than that. (Note: look for "Prolamine Iodine" in their Alphabetical List.) I repeat! Never take 3 mg iodine tablets for longer than 3 weeks because that dosage for longer than 3 weeks can interfere with thyroid function. I could not find this product when I first started to research iodine, so I added a few drops of Strong Tincture of Iodine 7% to a full glass of water and that worked well too. Iodine can never be swallowed straight (it is poisonous straight) and it must always be highly diluted. The taste of a single drop will provide clear evidence of that! From what we have read about Candida Albicans becoming resistant to various antifungals after a single week of treatment, one could hypothesize that such would also be true for iodine. Thus, there would be no need to treat for more than a week. However, in this article, are the words "All Candida Albicans strains tested showed similar susceptibility to the medicaments tested." This suggests to me that Candida Albicans is totally responsive to iodine, and that even if mutations occur, such is irrelevant to efficacy of iodine. However, in me after 3 weeks of 12 mg of iodine per day, I noticed that my body temperature has fallen a full degree, suggesting mild hypothyroidism. Worse, as one might expect from this figure concerning hypothyroidism and low magnesium, I notice a strange low level depression and malaise that just lingers and smolders, not evident to other people, but clearly evident to me. Time to get off of iodine and continue in the search for a perfect anti-fungal.
Recently, I became curious about a strangely colored large toenail. What was that strange coloring of the nail? It looked just like the sickening toenails on the Lamisil advertisements. The infected toenail looked different but did not hurt or feel different. Three-quarters of it was detached from the skin but not loose. They have a really sick advertisement on TV for Lamisil, the new toenail antifungal. The graphics at this site looked like my big toe. So, old George here being too curious to be smart and buy Lamisil, I used iodine to treat my toe and it soaked under my toenail and exactly showed the area no longer stuck to the toe with a dark brown iodine stain. Iodine is enormously antifungal. I repeated the toenail treatment for about a week each evening. My wife is really grossed out by my toenail and I can effectively ward her off now by taking off my sock and sticking my toe up in the air. She runs away. Ha Ha! It is so much fun
I have a blackened toe from the iodine, but she warns me of a "blackened eye" if I am not good! Ha Ha, me? Be good? What about my arrhythmias? They have been greatly reduced since I treated my toe with iodine. This tells me that at least some benign cardiac arrhythmias are caused by fungal infections, or the breakdown products of the fungus. Cardiology simplified. There goes another unnecessary pharmaceutical (Lamisil) down the drain. After a year of iodine treatment, my big toenail looked 100% normal. There was no evidence that the toenail had ever been infected.
How about using iodine to treat other fungal infections? How about oral thrush? Well, scientists treating AIDS patients in Kenya, disappointed at the lack of efficacy and expense of antifungals (Contrimazole, Amphotericin B and Nyastatin) have turned to dirt-cheap two percent Povidine Iodine mouth washes (Betadine iodine) with astonishing success. Read the abstract here. All they did was gargle with it. How often is not stated, but it appears that they gargled for about 30 seconds whenever they noticed a return of mouth odor. Iodine is clearly their antifungal of choice, easily surpassing the efficacy of these expensive "FDA proven" anti-fungals. Here is a goggle.com link for "betadine gargle". Nearly all of these products warn "DO NOT SWALLOW". Too much iodine is toxic, so be careful. Here is a google search for "betadine" and "oral thrush". Bite the dust Nyastatin!
Obviously, after waiting a few months from stopping anti-candida treatment with iodine, one can return to use of iodine, perhaps as a 3 mg tablet / day as an irregularly-taken food supplement. Please note that the RDA for iodine is 0.150 mg/day (150 micrograms/day), although I personally believe that higher doses of iodine can be very beneficial to some but not all people. No one knows why some people can not tolerate large (therapeutic) amounts of iodine, but I believe that it is because they are too magnesium deficient to handle it. I am daily reminded that the Okinawans who live to be 120 years old eat much kelp, which is high in iodine (10 to 20 mg iodine per day) and taurine, and they also get very large amounts of magnesium from their foods. Another effective anti-Candida treatment is to apply tincture of iodine to the skin so that it can be absorbed from the skin and not the intestines in an equivalent dosage. I calculated each drop of Humco Strong 7% Tincture of Iodine to release 1 mg of iodine when applied to the skin using its special applicator. I am amazed at how fast 10 drops of iodine disappears into my skin (about 6 hours), while it seems to stay for several days on other people's skin. I am not certain that the "24-hour" test is valid. I think that if there were no other treatment available for Candida infection, iodine would be a fully acceptable choice, if the thyroid remains unaffected. Since there are other treatments that should be tried first (unless one is truly desperate), and because one can overdose on iodine, I mention it last. Obviously, if Candida infection is topical, perhaps genital, iodine might be used directly to treat the infection, but some experimenting with strength would be necessary. Bright red groin area rashes are usually Candida Albicans infections, and they should be aggressively treated with topical iodine in my opinion. Tincture of iodine is too strong for application to genitalia without stinging and possibly burning, and one must dilute it with water, perhaps in a 1 to 10 or 100 ratio. The only use of iodine (Lugol's solution) to treat genital Candida that I found in the literature was in mares. Be careful! Repeated application may be necessary. A final thought. Have you noticed that use of antibiotics causes Candida suprainfections? Have we made progress? Big Pharma thinks so. Check google for "iodine" and "candida". Eckerd's Drug stores in the United States carry Povidone iodine as a topical anti-fungal.
Ionic zinc is also antifungal, and dietary supplements of zinc can also be helpful in treating candida infections. According to this article, it works synergistically with iodine. How much zinc? You won't believe my theories without substantial evidence, consequently I will refer you to my theoretical article on treating extremely dangerous disorders (smallpox and brown recluse spider bites) with extremely large amounts of zinc here. OK. Forget that, just don't take more zinc than will make you nauseous or more than one milligram per pound of body weight a day (2.2 mg/kg) for more than a month.
Kefir: The Candida Crusher
Previously I have discussed agents that "kill" Candida to prevent magnesium wasting. Is that sufficient? I say no, it is not. Think of a pleasant green pasture with lots of horses, cows, pigs, goats and sheep happily foraging (analogous to the healthy intestinal tract with its myriads of symbiotically living bacteria and fungi). Next, consider the pasture becoming overgrown with weeds. What happens to these lovely critters? They don't do as well, and dependent upon the weed (toxic or non-toxic) their lives will be impacted, and in some cases prematurely terminated. Think of Candida Albicans as being a toxic weed. What do you do? Is it sufficient to kill the weeds? Is it sufficient to just kill the Candida Albicans? In both cases the answer is no. Why? They both come back later, and may even come back with a vengeance. Farmers know this all to well. What does a good farmer do? He will first stop fertilizing the weeds. This is exactly analogous to stopping the consumption of carbohydrates like sugar, colas, pastries, doughnuts and so forth. The next step for the farmer is to try to kill the weeds, by tilling the soil (the analogy here is surgery) and applying selective herbicides. Clearly we do not want surgery! There are many antifungal agents and I have previously described them. OK. Is it sufficient to stop feeding Candida and then kill the remaining Candida with fungicidals? NO! There is a third step, and in the case of both the pasture and our intestines, it is to re-seed. The farmer will plant whatever grass or crop seeds he wants, and we must repopulate our intestines with fungi and bacteria that will prevent the regrowth of Candida Albicans. Only by use of these three steps do we have a chance of defeating these aggressors. Also, it is absolutely insufficient to simply "eat yogurt" for its acidophilus lactobacillus content. These little bacteria just get eaten by any remaining Candida Albicans. Yummy!
What must be done to assure victory over Candida Albicans is to use Kefir after killing Candida Albicans with antifungals, not while killing them, because the good guys in Kefir can easily be killed by antifungals, defeating the purpose of Kefir. I had never heard of Kefir until May of 2004, but after a few weeks of drinking Kefir, I became very willing to offer glowing praise for this old Turkish "feel good" product. Kefir is rich in gut friendly bacteria and yeasts. The friendly yeasts in Kefir repopulate the intestinal tract, replacing the dangerous Candida Albicans, allowing vastly improved digestion, terminating magnesium wasting and and improving intestinal health.
According to Dr. Mercola, "While both Kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products, they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that already are present. Kefir actually colonizes the intestinal tract -- a feat that yogurt cannot match. Additionally, Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt: Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species. It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside -- forming a virtual SWAT team that house-clean and strengthen the intestines. Consequently, the body also becomes vastly more efficient in resisting pathogens like E. Coli and intestinal parasites. Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. The curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, so it's also easier to digest, making it an ideal food for babies, the elderly, and anyone with digestive disorders, and especially magnesium wasting.
Kefir is also rich in lactic acid and calcium. Although we must use Kefir to win the war against Candida Albicans, each 8 oz of the Lifeway brand kefir milk product that I used, contained 300 mg of calcium, which certainly has the potential for increasing depression and injuring us as discussed here. I used about 3 oz with each meal for the first 4 days. I strongly believe that we should not consume so much that it will injure us from excessive amounts of calcium. I suggest a long-term dosage not to exceed 6 to 9 oz per day, and perhaps even less when Candida overgrowth symptoms can be kept under control. Lifeway Kefir also contains inulin (not misspelled), which greatly increases absorption of magnesium, and to a lesser extent, calcium. As we advance our knowledge of Kefir and our skill in using Kefir, we can use Kefir "Starter kits" from Dr. Mercola, and perhaps by making our own Kefir drinks, we can use milk that is lower in calcium.
For the Candida sufferer, following these three steps will very likely solve the Candida problem, as surely as victory over the weedy pasture. Without following these three steps, no real victory will occur.
For the person with genital or skin Candida Albicans issues, frequent and regular daily topical (both internal and external) Kefir application is a vastly more effective and safer Candida albicans treatment than any prescription or OTC drug. Take a teaspoon or two of Kefir to the bathroom with you and ... If you let it sit on the counter top for a day or two, both its viscosity and efficacy increase.
Also, sacchararomyces boulardii has long been used to treat diarrhea in Europe and is now becoming common in the United States. It is drawing attention in HIV/AIDS as a means to stop diarrhea from over use of antibiotics. Sacchararomyces boulardii is an anti Candida Albicans fungus that will repopulate the intestines and greatly improve digestion and absorption of magnesium. It can support gut function under many adverse conditions, including food allergies, parasites, Crohn's disease, Candida, Salmonella, travelers diarrhea, HIV diarrhea and Pseudomonas. Clinical studies also demonstrate the protective effect of S. boulardii in intestinal infections, including Clostridium difficile and cholera. The protective effect of S. boulardii involves several types of activity in the epithelial tissue of the digestive tract, including inactivation of bacterial toxins, stimulation of intestinal immune response, and release of polyamines. The best known brands are Jarrow and Allergy Research. They are available at the best health food stores, but may not be widely available except over the Internet.
Indole-3-carbinol
Perhaps the greatest and best kept health secret of all time is Indole-3-Carbinol. This is my next to favorite anti-candida (and anti-cancer) agent, which makes it wonderful in stopping magnesium wasting. It is NOT an anti-candida agent like OTC antifungals, prescription antifungals, coconut oil or garlic. It does not repopulate the intestinal tract like Kefir does in its action. Indole-3-Carbinol greatly improve the function of the intestinal immune system, thus making us temporarily immune to Candida Albicans. For those of us that are hypersensitive to Candida Albicans, increasing our immunity to Candida is absolutely and indisputably vital, and is the only way to go! Indole-3-Carbinol is effective in intestinal toxemia, especially for detoxifying the bowels and vastly improving bowel function. In fact, oncologist recommend Indole-3-Carbinol to their colon cancer patients, ostensibly to "improve the odor of their feces", but another very important effect is to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) of colon cancer cells.. One can now find indole-3-Carbinol tablets with up to 300 mg Indole-3-Carbinol per capsule at most health food stores in the United States and elsewhere. I am taking one 200 mg capsule of indole-3-Carbinol with each meal and at bedtime now that I have found it to be available locally from various manufacturers. It is also available over the Internet. See this google search.
Indole-3-Carbinol helps directly protect against free radicals and indirectly to stimulate the body to help protect it against free radicals - the highly unstable oxygen molecules that damage cell matter, including DNA. Indole-3-Carbinol stimulates the body's own defense system for neutralizing harmful substances. Although many agents, like vitamin-C have this function, Indole-3-Carbinol does it in a readily observable manner. No need for statistics here! Agents such as indole-3-Carbinol and sulforaphene are also found in Spanish and Russian black radishes. These two substances stimulate two of the body's most powerful detoxification mechanisms - the cytochrome P450 and the Phase II enzyme systems - the body's biochemical pathways for converting toxins into harmless or easily excretable substances. If you click on these two links, you will be taken to over four hundred medical journal articles espousing the value of these two ingredients in protecting against intestinal breast and uterine cancer, but nothing on their role as antifungal agents. This makes me ask if Candida Albicans intestinal overgrowth is a prelude to colon cancer? I don't know, but there is nothing that I have found that is more effective in controlling sensitivity to candida albicans than indole-3-Carbinol. It works in conjunction with the liver in the body's natural efforts to detoxify. It is claimed to mobilize and help detoxify heavy metals.
How on earth did I come up with the idea of Indole-3-Carbinol? Or even more mysterious, how about "Spanish Black Radish" for candida albicans? I didn't. I walked into People's Pharmacy on South Lamar in Austin, Texas and complained to the pharmacist/CCN on duty, Laura, and she said in one sentence: "Spanish Black Radish - 3 tablets, 4 times a day". I looked at her and thought, "Well, if that isn't the dumbest idea...", but I went along with her since I was "up the creek without a paddle". I took the little Standard Process Inc. bottle of Spanish Black Radish home, and well the rest is history. It worked perfectly from the first day I used it. How did I know that it "worked"? My most irritating health issue has been benign cardiac arrhythmias called pre atrial contractions (PACs), and they are caused by a weird combination of low taurine and candida albicans. (Later, upon analyses, I found that the active ingredient in Spanish Black Radish is Indole-3-Carbinol.)
As discussed elsewhere in this essay, taurine in very high doses (3 grams, 4 times a day) would work for a while, but the fungal growth would max out in a week and wow! A real mess occurs and massive amounts of iodine (dangerous) were the only way to kill off the Candida. But, when Spanish Black Radish was also used with moderately high doses of taurine, my arrhythmias were better controlled than by any other agent. I may mention other treatments for my cardiac arrhythmia problem elsewhere in this 126 page report, but nothing works better for me than Indole-3-Carbinol as of August of 2005. Are the other antifungals still necessary? I suspect that they are to some degree, and daily garlic and Kefir remain extremely important. We must greatly reduce our intake of "fuel" for candida albicans. Fuel? Yes, the primary role of candida albicans is to help digest carbohydrates like sugar.
If you are interested in cardiac arrhythmias, then my article "Taurine Role in Cardiology and Cardiac Arrhythmias" featuring the fabulous 1974 medical journal article "Taurine and Electrical Activity of the Heart" by Chazov et. al is the place for you. The Chazov article is the only article in the medical literature - that I could find - to scientifically discuss the role of taurine in controlling and preventing certain cardiac arrhythmias. To my way of thinking, to ignore taurine and taurine deficiencies in cardiology is medical malpractice, and must be stopped.
Mercola's Complete Probiotic plus Biotin
I found this treatment on the Mercola site in early 2008. I really didn't believe it at first, thinking it was just commercial hype. Here is the link to his product. BUY IT AND LIVE WELL!!!!!
Be certain that your volume is turned on and that you listen to Dr. Mercola. This may be the most important health care product ever marketed. I suppose that everyone, or nearly everyone knows that lactobacius acidophilus found in yogurt and pills is good for our digestion. Well, that is dead wrong in my opinion, and for some of us it could mean the difference between life and death. Quoting Dr. Mercola's page, "Recently, Bacillus coagulans strain was found to produce the beneficial lactic acid that improves probiotic shelf life and survival issues in your stomach. This is different from the very popular Lactobacillus acidophilus strain which has major issues with shelf life, and does no good at all. Unlike other lactobacilli, Lactobacillus sporogenes (Bacillus coagulans) exists as a spore and is wrapped in a protective coat. Spores exist like plant seeds - they can stay alive for years. And when conditions exist for optimal growth, they open up and become a new plant in our intestines. Taken orally, the spores' protective coat helps them survive the rigors of stomach acid. The spores get activated due to the low pH, mechanical churning of the stomach, and water in the gastric environment. As the spores absorb water, they swell and move faster, propelling them into the small intestine. Once in the small intestine, they germinate, proliferate and multiply rapidly into viable bacilli to persist in their beneficial life activities. In the intestinal tract, they continue their metabolic activities, producing lactic acid to assist in digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals. In turn, the lactic acid levels on the inner surface of the intestinal tract maintain a micro-ecological balance in the GI tract. As I'm convinced these spores will make it to the small intestine where they do you the most good, this process of spore formation makes Complete Probiotics my top probiotic choice."
If you want to read some of the medical literature on this see this PubMed search.
If you want to do a google search for Bacillus coagulans, click this link.
Here is another product that I like, Lactospore(R).
How much of the Complete Probiotic a day? I take a serving (two of the Mercola capsules) with each meal and at bedtime and my poop don't stink no more!
What about biotin? Biotin prevents non-harmful yeast from becoming harmful and invasive. Biotin is the weapon in our hand. Biotin taken in the amount of at least 3 Milligram daily will cut the transformation cycle from the yeast to the fungus form. In normal health, (a low sugar diet), a primary source of Biotin is the healthy bacteria in the intestinal tract. Because these are often compromised by a Candida Albicans overgrowth, candida sufferers are particularly prone to a Biotin deficiency. From "Candida, The Symptoms, The Causes, The Cure" by Dr. Luc DeShepper "in order....to avoid the spreading to the bloodstream, and thus giving the opportunity for the yeast cells to invade almost all of the organs, the interruption of the vicious cycle by supplementation of at least 5 milligrams of biotin daily is a must and a priority." Biotin is so cheap and readily available, I take 5 mg with each meal and bedtime. Yes, I feel better! If I keep feeling better, I may never die! This link is a google search for biotin and candida Albicans.
Killer Sugars
No carbohydrates are good carbohydrates. Regardless of the ability of antifungals and probiotics and biotin to increase digestion and help absorb magnesium by control of Candida yeast, excessive amounts of carbohydrates, sugar and specifically dextrose (glucose), interfere with magnesium metabolism to a grave extent, and feed Candida yeast often preventing recovery. Abnormally high urinary losses of magnesium can also be caused by a number of kidney conditions discussed here. Perhaps the easiest and most important to deal with issue is excessive glucose (sugar), which flushes magnesium from cells and into the urine. High glucose sugars also greatly promote Candida yeast infections of the intestines (and the vagina), death of beneficial intestinal bacteria, and malabsorption of nutrients (such as magnesium). There may be no greater health problem facing the West than improper magnesium / glucose ratios. We love candy, sugar, sweet drinks and rich carbohydrate products. They are the same heavily commercialized products that make us fat, cause heart attacks, hypertension, strokes, diabetes, impair our immunity and cause many other diseases, all treatable by expensive medicines and medical specialists to the delight of the pharmaceutical drug pushers and physicians who will not tell you the truth. We can now add depression, and mood disorders to the list. High carbohydrate consumption causes intracellular magnesium deficiency and high intracellular calcium, the exact intracellular conditions causing depression. High carbohydrate consumption (doesn't matter if it's starches or sugars including high fructose corn syrup - which is being use to replace sugar to avoid the Atkins flack) results in high insulin levels throughout the day, and interferes with sleep at night and obviously greatly increases obesity. This report [Barbagallo, Renick 1994] shows that high blood glucose levels cause the flushing of different minerals from cells, among which is magnesium. Calcium, on the other hand, is not affected. These effects have also been seen by Delva et al. in 2002. Delva showed that only the man made dextrose molecule, the D-dextrose caused problems, while the natural form L-Dextrose, did not cause the problem. This is reminiscent of the problem with man-made D-glutamates. Guerrero-Romero and Rodriguez-Moran reported low serum magnesium in diabetes in 2002. Barbagallo reported altered cellular magnesium responsiveness to hyperglycemia in hypertensive subjects in 2001, finding: For all subjects, ionized magnesium responses to hyperglycemia were closely related to basal ionized magnesium levels with the higher the ionized magnesium, the greater the response (n=26, r=0.620, P<0.001). Thus, (1) erythrocytes from hypertensive vis-a-vis normotensive subjects are resistant to the ionic effects of extracellular hyperglycemia on ionized magnesium levels, and (2) cellular ionic responses to glucose depend on the basal ionized magnesium environment. Altogether, these data support a role for altered extracellular glucose levels in regulating cellular magnesium metabolism and also suggest the importance of ionic factors in determining cellular responsiveness to non hormonal as well as hormonal signals. These problems may result from inadequate insulin, and resultant loss of magnesium though kidneys. This paper shows that insulin is required inside the kidneys to prevent magnesium wasting. If nearly all of your insulin is being used to handle glucose in your blood, and there is little left over for use by the kidneys, frank magnesium wasting occurs, followed shortly by depression, anxiety and various states of hyper emotionality discussed here. Consequently, conserving insulin by dietary means (low glucose consumption) can prevent depression. There are many other causes of renal magnesium wasting, mostly drug and disease related. Increasing levels of magnesium were found to cause a marked depression of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion at fixed calcium levels, particularly at levels which bracketed the concentration of ultra filtrable magnesium found in normal rat plasma (1.3 meq/l), i.e., increasing magnesium from 0.6 to 1.2 meq/l depressed insulin secretion, and increasing magnesium from 1.2 to 2.4 meq/l resulted in a further depression.
Glucose lowering of magnesium (but not calcium) poses problems because calcium is the antagonist of magnesium. This means that resultant higher calcium levels will further lower magnesium levels throughout the body. After eating a high-carbohydrate diet for years, magnesium deficiency and high calcium is often inevitable, perhaps from inadequate insulin. This relationship will not show up in blood magnesium tests, because 99% of magnesium is stored inside the cells, intracellularly, while much calcium is found external to cells. Only the Exatest or red blood cell magnesium (not whole blood or serum) tests will tell you the truth about your intracellular magnesium / calcium ratios. If intracellular magnesium is low and calcium is high, there is little doubt that high glucose / high calcium / low magnesium is the main cause of depression. The reduced intracellular magnesium alters the way cells open the door for glucose. The low-magnesium and high-calcium ratio causes the insulin-key to not fit in cellular-locks. Also, the intracellular magnesium and calcium content of the pancreas cells change. This makes the pancreas overshoot insulin. The next time you eat carbohydrates, the same events occur and it gets worse and worse. Eventually the pancreatic cells stop making insulin and frank diabetes results, requiring insulin shots. Consequently, the high incidence of diabetes occurring in depression and vise versa is explained.
Further, type-2 diabetes is caused by magnesium deficiency, and can be cured even in the very elderly with magnesium in dosages like are used to treat depression. See this case report of an 86-year old woman, deeply depressed, cured of her diabetes using magnesium. See this Google.com search for "magnesium" and "diabetes" for the latest news.
from Natural Health Magazine December, 2002 A diabetic's diet (avoiding foods with a high glycemic index) may be recommended for most people, but the main dietary culprit for those of us with borderline diabetes is simply to eliminate all candy, sugar, wheat breads, potatoes, beans and especially high dextrose content sweet products from our diets, getting us back to a diet more suitable to our paleolithic digestive system. Very briefly, we really, really need to get back to a paleolithic diet. Here is a google.com search for "diet" AND "diabetics". Here are some recommended books concerning getting back to natural diets. Here is some on hypoglycemia and magnesium relationships. Here are over 200 links on google.com, wherein Dr. Mildred Seelig MD (a world-class magnesium expert) warns of the Western catastrophe of too much sugar and too little magnesium. In Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH and Andrea Rosanoff, PhD's new book (The Magnesium Factor), there is a 3 page list of alternate names for "sugar", requiring careful reading of labels on processed foods. I prefer to avoid all processed foods, simply because sugar is in nearly everything processed by man. Diabetes increases myocardial (heart) calcium 400 times normal causing severe problems including many heart attacks through calcification of heart tissues. Eating regularly when not hungry can create a state of hyperinsulin secretion. Insulin increases appetite because it signals the need to transport sugar from the blood into the cells. The only known "remedy" for hyperinsulin secreters is hard exercise (60 minutes at 65% maximum heart rate capacity at least 4 times weekly). Seems like snacking on comfort foods would be helpful in depression and who of us can resist a chocolate bar when we feel bad. But snacking, particularly on high glycemic index foods like chocolate and other candies will always cause insulin to elevate, which will lower intracellular magnesium levels and worsen depression. Remember chocolate and candies are not natural foods but are processed foods.
On the other hand, there are some instances wherein a food has a low GI value but a high "insulin index" value. This applies to dairy foods and to some highly palatable energy-dense "indulgence foods" such as jelly beans, Mars bars and yogurt. Some foods (such as meat, fish, and eggs) that contain no carbohydrate, just protein and fat (and essentially have a GI value of zero), still stimulate significant rises in blood insulin. At the present time, scientists don't know how to interpret this type of response (low glycemia, high insulinemia) for long-term health. It may be a good outcome because the rise in insulin has contributed to the low level of glycemia. On the other hand, I think it may be not-so-good, because the increased demand for insulin contributes to beta-cell "exhaustion" and the development of type 2 diabetes. Until studies are carried out to answer these types of questions, the glycemic index remains a proven tool for predicting the effects of food on health. Perhaps all that is needed to "safety" foods like these is additive magnesium. Clearly, carbohydrates require much more magnesium for their proper utilization than other foods.
Here is a list of common foods by glycemic index thanks to the Integrative Healthcare web site. The index implies an equal weight of foods. A larger file of 1200 foods is available. This file is taken from the University of Sydney Glycemic Index web site, which seems to be the most authoritative source available.
GLYCEMIC INDEXES OF COMMON FOODS
Breads & Grains
waffle - 76
doughnut - 76
bagel - 72
wheat bread, white - 70
bread, whole wheat - 69
cornmeal - 68
bran muffin - 60
rice, white - 56
rice, instant - 91
rice, brown - 55
bulgur - 48
spaghetti, white - 41
whole wheat - 37
wheat kernels - 41
barley - 25
Cereals
Rice Krispies - 82
Grape Nuts Flakes - 80
corn Flakes - 77
Cheerios - 74
shredded wheat - 69
Grape Nuts 67
Life - 66
oatmeal - 61
All Bran - 42
Fruits
watermelon - 72
pineapple - 66
raisins - 64
banana - 53
grapes - 52
orange - 43
pear - 36
apple - 36
Starchy Vegetables
potatoes, baked - 83
potatoes, instant - 83
potatoes, mashed - 73
sweet potatoes - 54
green peas - 48
Legumes
baked beans - 48
chick peas - 33
butter beans - 31
lentils - 29
kidney beans - 27
soy beans - 18
Dairy
ice cream - 61
yogurt, sweetened - 33
milk, full fat - 27
milk, skim - 32
Snacks
rice cakes - 82
jelly beans - 80
graham crackers - 74
corn chips - 73
life savers - 70
angel food cake - 67
wheat crackers - 67
popcorn - 55
oatmeal cookies - 55
potato chips - 54
chocolate - 49
banana cake - 47
peanuts - 14
Sugars
glucose - 100
corn syrup - 100
honey - 73
sucrose - 65
lactose - 46
fructose - 23
Beverages
soft drinks - 68
orange juice - 57
apple juice - 41
Foods listed from highest to lowest glycemic index within category. Glycemic index was calculated using glucose as the reference with GI of 100. Modified from Foster-Powell and Brand Miller (1995).
Concerning me, I used to get cardiac palpitations (up to one each 10 beats) from certain "high glycemic index" foods. I found that eating chocolate, candy, eggs or potatoes in large amounts started palpations within an hour, and avoiding these foods prevented them or lessened them. Meat, peanuts and fish had no effect. As an experiment, I used a few "pinches" of magnesium sulfate crystals (with an equal amount of fructose for flavor) dissolved and held in the mouth over a half-hour to stop these palpitations very rapidly, but they continued unabated if not treated with magnesium, probably due to my long-term habit of using sodium bicarbonate as a mouth wash to decrease oral acidity as I previously mentioned. Palpitations in me seemed to be a sensitive indicator of my immediate cardiac magnesium status, which, in-turn, seemed to be highly dependent upon my sodium intake. Magnesium ingested in this manner probably is picked up by the lymphatic and venous systems surrounding the oral cavity area and is transported directly to the heart - much like nitroglycerin or sodium bicarbonate when used as a mouth wash. Magnesium supplementation is well known to terminate palpitations which are accompanied by mitral valve prolapse. In this same article, they showed that 54% of patients with emotional symptoms (anxiety and depression) had these symptoms resolve using magnesium. The literature does support the concept of imbalances between calcium and magnesium as causal for many episodes of cardiac palpitations and most more serious and deadly heart conditions. In my case, my cardiac magnesium status was adversely affected by my long-term use of powdered sodium bicarbonate while brushing teeth to de-acidify my mouth in the interest of preventing caries. As soon as I stopped using pure baking soda, my cardiac problems stopped.
Perhaps Majid Ali, MD in his wonderful article entitled "Lions, Hypoglycemia, Insulin Roller Coasters, Heart Attacks" from his book What Do Lions Know about Stress says it best in his 5 faces of sugar-insulin dysregulation thesis. He writes of his conversation with his God-like-in-wisdom friend Choura, "Sugar is the primary villain in human metabolism. Excess sugar in food stresses human energy systems in many ways and causes the dysregulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Sugar-insulin dysregulation has five faces," says Choura. "What are those faces?" Ali asked. Choura replies, "First, sugar creates sudden surges in blood glucose levels - a condition called hyperglycemia. Second, sudden hyperglycemia triggers the rapid release of large amounts of insulin from the pancreas - a condition called hyperinsulinemia. Third, the insulin response to high blood sugar overshoots its mark and drives the blood sugar level below the normal range - a state of low blood sugar called hypoglycemia. The fourth face of glucose-insulin dysregulation is the insensitivity of insulin receptors at cell membranes (peripheral insulin resistance). The fifth face of glucose-insulin dysregulation is too much adrenaline -a state you may call adrenergic hypervigilance. When an insulin surge drives sugar below the desirable range, the adrenal glands kick in and dispense blasts of adrenaline to counter the insulin. Adrenaline is one of the most -if not the most -potent oxidant in the human body. The oxidative fires lit by adrenaline overdrive the heart causing arrhythmias, tighten arteries producing high blood pressure, rev up nerve-muscle conduction sites causing stiff muscles, jitters and sweating. And that sugar-insulin-adrenergic dysregulation is what the stress specialists call the 'STRESS RESPONSE'." I am breathless in the face of this wisdom-of-the-ages. I can't help but realize, here we are again; right back at the stress response that we know drives down magnesium levels and causes our depression. We now also see that sugar drives intracellular levels of magnesium down, which independently causes depression - counter to what we intuitively believe. What are we to do about our love affair with sweets? Are we doomed to a life without sweets to avoid depression, heart attacks and most of the other illnesses that plague Western society?
Many people have a sweet tooth, brought on by the opiate-like activity of sweet carbohydrates. Yes we are talking about addiction. Complete elimination of sweetness from our diet is not desirable or practical. Fortunately there is a very sweet food, fructose (not high fructose corn syrup), that is extremely low on the glycemic index. Fructose (GI 20) is a natural sugar, a monosaccharide and the mirror image of glucose. Fructose has exactly the same amount of energy, 4 kcal/gram as sugar or dextrose but it is up to twice as sweet as sugar therefore much less is required for sweetness. Fructose, fruit sugar, is the natural sweetener found in all fruits. Orally ingested fructose travels to the liver and can be used there without the need for much insulin. Fructose is converted to glucose in the liver and contributes to an increase in blood glucose, rather than being stored as glycogen. Unlike sucrose and glucose which cause quick changes to the blood glucose levels and disrupt the metabolic control of a per