The Answer (Chap. 5-8)

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THE ANSWER- to “Why is the Plane of Our Nation’s Health in a Death Spiral?”

By Dogtor J.
©2001 DogtorJ.com

5.0 MEDICAL EVIDENCE……………………………..….……8
5.1 How Gluten and Casein Harm the Intestine………….8
5.2 Malabsorption and Maldigestion……………….……….9
5.3 Casomorphins and Gliadorphins……………….……….9
5.3.1 Autism and ADHD……………………………….…..…..10
5.3.2 Caffeine dependency…………………………………….11
5.3.3 Food addiction…………………………………..…….…..11
5.4 Low-carb Diets- The True Benefit…………….………..11

5.5 Lactose Intolerance- The Real Story…………………..12

5.6 Osteoporosis- A Natural Perspective………..……….12

6.0 THE IMMUNE SYSTEM-Good with the Bad………..14
6.1 How Perfect It Is………………………………….…………..14
6.2 How Imperfect Our Judgment Is…………………………14

6.2.1 The worst example………………………………….…….15
6.2.2 Similar mistakes………………………………..………….16

7.0 CONCLUSIONS THROUGH ILLUSTRATIONS…….15
7.1 The Definition of Pestilence……………………………….15
7.2 The Origin of Inhalant Allergies…………………………..16
7.3 The Three Phases of Our Immunity’s Life……..………17

8.0 THE WORST OF THE WORST- A Veterinary Tale….17

Go to Chapters 9-11 of “The Answer”…

MEDICAL EVIDENCE

The pathophysiology of intestinal damage from these dietary antigens is well described in both medical and consumer literature. It should be no surprise that the main problem is brought about by incomplete digestion. Because man invited these problem nutrients as described above, then it should easy to understand that we are not naturally equipped with the enzymes to tend to these new foods. This maldigestion results in the incomplete breakdown of these foods resulting in a number major digestive dilemmas, including abnormal protein components and polypeptide chains being available in the small intestine.

One of the most serious effects of this incomplete digestion is actually the simplest to understand. As previously mentioned, the gluten from wheat and the casein from cow milk are used by industry in the production of adhesives, some of which are actually water proof. If one were to put gluten or casein in the Internet search engine of their computer, they would find numerous sites concerning the adhesive properties of these two dietary proteins. The concern should then be raised as to what this glue does once it is applied to the intestinal tract, particularly the first stretch of the small intestine known as the duodenum. In review, it is this J-shaped portion of the intestinal tract that is responsible for the absorption of most vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, B complex, and vitamin C. It doesn’t take much of an imagination to see where this road is leading.

The reader is asked to imagine their stomach after the consumption of two or three slices of pizza. This is one of my favorite examples…a wheat plate covered with cheese…loaded with both forms of glue. The stomach spends a good amount of time working on this meal. In fact, both wheat and dairy cause the stomach to empty much more slowly than normal foods, forcing it to spend extra time attempting to digest these two foods. The dairy proponents want to use this side effect of dairy to their (and our) advantage to induce premature fullness and resultant weight loss. They suggest that overweight individuals each a portion of dairy before meals to reduce appetite…and it works. Why? Because the dairy products go directly to the brain and shut off the hunger center and also slow the stomach and intestinal motility to induce a sense of fullness. Why would they do that? Because your body is telling you…no, screaming at you…that it doesn’t want these foods in it. Stop eating this stuff is what your brain is saying.

But, it is too late. The pizza is already in the system and has to be dealt with one way or another. So, the “glue” slowly oozes out of the stomach and into the duodenum. It then comes in contact with the delicate, finger-like projections in the intestine known as villi. These villi increase the effective absorption area of the gut tremendously and are essential in proper digestion. They are an incredibly efficient system as long as they are unharmed. They get damaged through a number of mechanisms, including viral and parasitic infections. In our illustration, however, they simply get covered with glue. Does this really happen? Yes, it does. Evidence can be found in daily medical recommendations such as taking certain drugs on an empty stomach or avoiding dairy products with others. We are also advised to stay on clear fluids for viral infections such as intestinal flu. Clear fluids means no milk, basically.

However, the problems have just begun once the coating has been applied. In the best case scenario, which happens to everyone every time we eat these foods, other nutrients such as vitamins and minerals have a much harder time being absorbed by the duodenum. The calcium in the dairy products will have a very hard time making its way into the bloodstream if the villi are effectively masked with this adhesive. This is actually part of the medical explanation for how dairy products contribute to osteoporosis rather than combat it. It is an epidemiological fact that the countries that drink the most milk have the highest rates of osteoporosis. The casein (“glue”) in the milk actually blocks the absorption of the calcium in the milk. It is that simple. Once the reader understands phase two, a better understanding of this is acquired.

What is phase two? As mentioned, at best these foods have a coating action that reduces absorption. At worst, our immune system mounts an assault on this foreign material coating the villi. This is when things get serious. In celiac disease and casein intolerance, this is exactly what happens. The adherence of this protein rich substance in combination with the immune response to its presence leads to significant damage to those villi. This is what is known as villous atrophy. Once this atrophy occurs, a vicious cycle is set into motion. The incomplete break down of gluten and casein, which yielded the adhesive, also produces other protein fractions that the body’s defenses don’t recognize and antibodies are formed to those proteins. The immune response does further damage to the gut wall and the pathology of celiac disease is created. The villous atrophy is what characterizes this condition when biopsies are taken by the attending gastroenterologist.

Once again, in celiac disease, gluten is the culprit. Gluten is comprised of two components, glutelins and prolamines, the latter being the most troublesome protein portion. Gliadin is the real problem among the prolamines and it is gliadin that is found in most of the immune complexes of the major diseases we will cover. It is antibodies to gliadin that are the principal diagnostic aid in celiac disease. At 69%, gliadin makes up the majority of the prolamine portion of wheat.

The immune response to gluten and casein is insidious yet devastating. Villous atrophy of the duodenum and jejunum results from a complex of immune responses directed at gliadin and alpha casein primarily. The resultant increase in gut permeability allows unnatural polypeptides to enter the blood stream in an abnormal fashion, entering the infant both prematurely and in biological forms that were unintended. These various polypeptides have both direct and indirect effects that are harmful in a myriad of ways.

Some polypeptides appear to be purely antigenic and elicit an immune response. These are at the root of what we refer to as allergies to wheat and milk. These are mediated by the typical IgE antibodies, which are directed at proteins considered to be foreign by the immune system. The results are the usual allergic reactions associated with food and inhalant allergies that are IgE antibody and mast cell mediated. Hives, nasal congestion, bronchoconstriction, gastrointestinal disturbances, and the like are the symptoms. The other more subtle response is the formation of IgA, IgG, and IgM antibodies. These antibodies are the primary players in the generation of immune-mediated food intolerances such as those to casein and gluten.

In the past, medical texts have stated that the pathological effect of immune-mediated disorders is better understood than the formation of the autoantibodies themselves. The mechanism underlying the generation of antibodies that ultimately attack the host tissue is typically described as not well understood but those same antibodies are often used as diagnostic aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of the immune-related conditions. However, once food intolerance is better understood, a plausible explanation for origin of these mysterious elements becomes apparent.

The damage to the duodenum and jejunum leads to a number of significant problems. Villous damage results in a malabsorption syndrome reducing the absorption of many vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. These include calcium, vitamin C, iron, iodine, B complex, fat-soluble vitamins including K, and trace minerals such as zinc and manganese. Now, I will not bore the reader with all of the conditions that could result from these deficiencies but one can imagine the ramifications of such a problem. The most common nutritional deficiency in the world is iron deficiency. The biggest nutritional fear among the aging in this country is osteoporosis. The most common endocrine (hormone-related) condition in people and dogs is hypothyroidism. Now, what is the link between these three conditions? All of the principle nutrients involved…iron, calcium, and iodine…are absorbed by the duodenum. How well can a duodenum coated with “glue” or one that has undergone true villous atrophy absorb these vital nutrients? And these are just three of many. When one truly understands the role of vitamins and minerals in our day to day…no, second by second…lives, then the medical problems we face become less of a mystery. Mental and physical retardation, bleeding tendencies, thyroid abnormalities, immune deficiencies, vision problems, skeletal abnormalities, and the like are all possibilities, especially when chronicity is introduced as a factor.

The main diagnostic challenge has been the subclinical nature of these conditions. Physicians have been trained to look for the obvious clinical signs of gastrointestinal disturbances, which are woefully absent in the vast majority of cases. Only 25% or less of celiac sufferers are actually having chronic diarrhea, the hallmark of classic malabsorption syndromes. This is the crux of the diagnostic dilemma. Most celiacs are covert victims of this horribly under-diagnosed condition. Once that is understood, and then the world of possibilities becomes open for viewing.

The second aspect of this small bowel disaster is what is commonly referred to as the leaky gut syndrome. The lack of complete digestion coupled with the loss of normal villi allows dietary proteins and antigens to enter the system in forms and numbers that would not normally occur. This is the malabsorption syndromes evil sibling. Proteins that are antigenic elicit the appropriate immune response, resulting in food allergies while other dietary polypeptides enter in unusual conformations that have their own detrimental effects.

The subsequent clinical findings are then easily understood. It is not uncommon for celiacs to have multiple food allergies. I have interviewed victims of ten, fifteen, even twenty different food allergies. How these develop is now very clear and my advice to the afflicted is to learn about celiac disease as well as the other forms of food intolerance. As will be covered, dairy, soy, and other food items are capable of similar harm. The food allergies themselves cause a myriad of annoying symptoms, but these are just the tip of the iceberg.

One of the most devastating yet fascinating aspects of the leaky gut is found in the creation and absorption of the unique proteins that severely affect the development of the central nervous system. These are the casomorphins and gliadorphins. As their name implies, these morphine-like compounds are derivatives of casein and gliadin, resulting from the incomplete digestion of their parent foods. As previously described, the combination of maldigestion and malabsorption leads to the entry of these odd polypeptides that have a complex effect on the brain, particularly that of a developing individual.

The first effect is that of the predictable restraints such compounds would have on cognitive function. This is in fact what happens in autism, for example. The casomorphins and gliadorphins have the effect of heroin or morphine, sedating the victim and leading to the odd, repetitive, oftentimes self-injurious behavior observed in this horrible condition. This syndrome is well described by recent research and should be arrested with removal of the offending food sources. The problem with this expectation lies in the hidden sources of these dietary precursors. Dairy and cereal grain proteins are now in the vast majority of foods given to children and their restriction seems nearly impossible without absolutely heroic efforts. However, these Herculean trials have been met by many a mother with astounding results. Those parents of children with autism, ADHD, bipolar disease, and various learning disabilities that have implemented this concept are reaping the benefits of their labor. Their testimonies are plentiful on the Internet. Diagnosis of these conditions may be as simple as a urinalysis in the future, as these compounds are excreted and detectable in urine of the affected individual.

Although these sedating compounds have been clearly linked to serious conditions such as autism, they have everyday implications in virtually all of our lives. They are at the root of an extremely common problem called caffeine dependency. Have you ever wondered why we must consume three cups of coffee with breakfast, two or three glasses of iced tea or cola with lunch, and more of the same with dinner? The clear answer is that we need it to function. Why is that? The simple answer is that the food is putting us to sleep. Many people are under the misconception that it is normal to get sleepy after eating. Now, I would have to admit there is a physiologic basis for rest after a meal, but this phenomenon has been greatly exaggerated. I can clearly track the progression of my profound fatigue following meals, beginning in my mid-30s.

My wife was beginning to think I was a narcoleptic. I would come home late most days and eat dinner around 7:00 or 8:00. I would then sit down to watch my favorite 9:00 PM show, like NYPD Blue. Keep in mind that I waited all week for this show. My wife was not the only one who had reason for concern when literally I passed out 15-20 minutes into the show. I would wake up a couple of hours later and wander off to bed in a fog. The casomorphins and gliadorphins had hit their stride.

I began sharing this story with clients in the exam room and the food-related drug addicts started crawling out the woodwork. What surprised me a little was the wide age range at which this symptom began. I somehow figured that my age of onset of about 35 would be the earliest, with the majority coming on board well after that time. Although many of my food intolerant clients were over 50, the numbers of affected clients between 20 and 30 would shock me. I would later learn of the rising incidence of many of the immune-mediated diseases in this age group.

One of the most outstanding examples of post-meal sleepiness was a 34-year old woman. I was covering food-related symptoms with her when I described my fatigue following eating wheat or milk products. Her head went into her hands as I described the scenario. I had clearly struck a nerve. She said, I have something to tell you. I asked her what was on her mind, as she was clearly hesitant in continuing with her information. After a near retraction, she said, Ok, Ill tell you. I have rear-ended four people in the last six months or so. After controlling myself, I asked her why and how that pertained to the subject. She told me that she got so sleepy at times that she dozed off at the wheel. I could see the lights coming on in her house as she recounted the accidents. She said, with an awakening, that it was always in the afternoon, after lunch, and three of the times occurred in the drive-through of the bank. She became so groggy that her foot would slip off the brake pedal and she would roll into the next car. The fourth happened at a red light.

When I asked her about her lunch menu, it became very clear to both of us where the problem originated. Her favorite lunch was pasta, and she said I can hardly get half way through a serving without looking for a bed. The other lunch fare was the usual sandwiches and fast food. Her favorite snack was cheese. What a classic situation. When she then described her irritable bowel, chronic fatigue, shoulder pain, difficulty with sleep, and possible fibromyalgia, I had her pegged.

The next malady associated with these narcotic polypeptides affects all age groups. It is called food addiction. As in illicit drug use, the individual becomes addicted to these morphine-like proteins. This leads to a vicious cycle of cravings and consumption that results in a conglomerate of conditions. Obesity, eating disorders, depression, and their sequels are natural consequences. It is no coincidence that that foods most often volunteered and incriminated in food addictions are dairy and carbohydrates, cheese being the prime example. I have had more clients offer cheese as their down fall then any other food item. I had a client who was nearly 300 pounds who stated that if she did not get some cheese within a few hours of a large meal, she felt that she would die. Her demeanor upon this confession spoke volumes. The casomorphins were alive and well in this individual.

The carbohydrates have their own addicts. To arrive at this destination one can take many paths. Just as in dairy, the cereal grain-based carbohydrates have a drug, but in their case it is the gliadorphin. The actions are similar and no less compelling. Desserts are no longer an option in most opinions, nor are bread with meals and convenience foods like hamburgers and pizza. These have become staples in their own right and their exclusion is unthinkable. Once on this path, the victim cannot find the way home, falling into the same potholes as the milk addict.

However, there has been a champion of sorts for the carb addict in the form of an enlightened doctor. His sugar-busters diet has helped countless of these wayward beings by educating them in the errors of their ways. Although, from my perspective, he is doing the right thing for the wrong reason, the results are potentially the same. By outlawing sugar, the diet effectively eliminates the wheat-based foods that are the true culprits. The exclusion of the sugar found in cookies, cakes, doughnuts- all of the treats and desserts we have come to know and love- effectively takes a huge source of gluten and its derivatives out of the equation. Is this the real reason why these converts feel better? Is the removal of the gliadorphins the real explanation as to why they experience improvements in their energy, concentration, and even sleep patterns? Sugar certainly has its own faults but the emphasis on its contribution to the pathogenesis of mental and physical health has been overstated. It is like yeast, in that regard. Aren’t those that are told to eliminate yeast really meant to avoid the foods containing the yeast?

One of the problems I have observed is that many our medical doctors don’t understand these “nutritional” aspects of medicine and thereby don’t relate to the true value of such diets. A case in point being a client of mine who is a well-known judge who suffers from type I diabetes. I was explaining the need for eliminating cereal grains and dairy from the diet of his Doberman, when he volunteered to me that he had initiated Dr. Adkins’ diet in an attempt to lower his cholesterol. He had read about the health benefits of this low-carbohydrate diet and had decided to give it a try. Within a couple of months, he was feeling better and went in for routine lab work. His doctor asked him what he had done because his cholesterol and triglyceride levels had returned to normal. My client told him about the diet and the doctors response was Whatever, judge. Whatever works for you, Id keep doing it cause it seems to be working.

When my client told me this story, I got both angry and depressed. My client had just taken one of the most important steps he could take toward wellness and his doctor didn’t have a clue as to the vital nature of what he had done. It seemed odd that his veterinarian could explain why his cholesterol and triglycerides had plummeted and he felt so much better on this diet, yet his doctor simply blew it off. I reinforced the diet for my client, educated him as to the woes of cereal grains as well as dairy products in him and his dog, and sent him on his way with a handout loaded with Internet sites to help him understand just what he had done to improve the quality of his life.

The sad fact is that both dairy and glutenous cereal grains are a problem in most of the susceptible individuals. One food group may be more of an issue than the other, but usually it is both. Now, the educated can see why. Neither category is completely digestible, yet they comprise the bulk of our diet. The average American consumes 40% of the daily calories in the form of dairy products. Wheat alone makes up another 20%. A grand total of 60% of our calories are comprised of those foods that are unnatural and damaging. The spiral really starts to take shape here.

When I explain the origins of wheat and how man turned this benign grain into a toxic entity, people see the err of our ways and seem to accept the bad news with a half-hearted resolution to check into it and cut back on the amounts consumed. Most of my clients have been primed for this concept by a popular diet that restricts carbohydrates. That will be covered later. But, when you mention dairy, the atmosphere becomes cold as ice and the defenses go up. But drinking milk is so natural and does a body good and all that they would say in their defense. But being the ruthless prosecutor that I am, I would respond Natural? What is natural about drinking milk other than the fact that we have been doing it all of our lives?

The fact is that man is the only species that drinks milk after they are weaned. Many of my clients have volunteered that fact once the subject was broached. But that is only part of the story. We are certainly the only species to drink the milk of another animal. To compound matters, look at the animal we chose to nurse: a huge beast that never moves. He is one of the most lethargic of earths mammals. The fact is that the composition of their milk fits their nursing period and their weight at adulthood. The universal truth is that all mammals nurse their young until they triple their birth weight. This ranges from three weeks in the guinea pig to three years in the elephant. Every other mammal is pretty much somewhere in between.

This concept helps to explain the condition of lactose intolerance. In the animal kingdom, mammals become universally lactose intolerant. They no longer drink milk in the post-weaning period so they don’t require the enzyme to digest it. But that’s only part of the story when applied to humans. Most people in my exam room are shocked to hear that most human beings are lactose intolerant. Nearly 100% of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian nations are lactose intolerant. When was the last time you ate a Chinese buffet and saw any dairy on display? I would ask to illustrate the point. But the Asians are in good company. Practically all Hispanics, Native Americans, and Black Americans are lactose intolerant. Only the white Anglo-Saxon, Northern Germanic mutt is better at digesting this milk sugar. This group is about 60-75% lactose intolerant, except for a few rogue populations in Europe.

Dr. Frank Oski explained it best. He was the Chief of Pediatrics and Chief of Medicine at John Hopkins University at the pinnacle of his career. During this time, he saw the evils of dairy protein and wrote the book Don’t Drink Your Milk, which was published in 1986. In this book before its time, he calls those that are lactose tolerant mutants. He explains the natural phenomenon of lactose intolerance as one that occurs in all mammals. Those uncommon populations that tolerate milk somehow developed the ability to produce lactase beyond the customary weaning time and have passed that ability on down through the years. The other explanation for the discrepancy among races is that the white Americans ancestors have been drinking milk for a much longer time than Native, Hispanic, and Black Americans and have thereby had the greatest chance to adapt. By adaptation, we would mean natural selection, like that which occurred in wheat. Those who were most intolerant of milk died or were unable to reproduce long ago, leaving the more tolerant to populate the earth. Both explanations are valid and are probably correct. The fact is that we are amazingly adaptable, but that doesn’t make the unnatural foods any better for us.

Once on the subject of lactose intolerance, I explain to my clients that lactose is just an indicator, not really the principle culprit in milk-related disorders. Lactose is a sugar that causes some problems, but the serious problems are linked to the dairy proteins. I tell them to think of lactose as the periscope that tells you that there is a nuclear submarine under the surface about to blow you away. This is good, accurate visual. The prime example is type I diabetes. Remember those lactose intolerance figures? That 40% increase in diabetes over the last ten years has hit those populations- the Hispanics, Native American Indian, and Black American the hardest. Why is that? It is not the lactose, of course, but the fact that they are the most intolerant of the proteins as well. Lactose is just the indicator.

So, anyone can now see the folly in the use of lactose-free milks or digestive aids in order to keep consuming cow milk. Can’t you? Unfortunately, many don’t. I use a veterinary analogy here to illustrate the point. There are manufacturers of antifreeze for your car’s radiator that put a bittering agent in their product to help discourage pets from drinking this deadly poison. Without the bitter taste, dogs and cats will drink the ethylene glycol compound because of its inherent sweet, sugary taste. Now think of lactose as that bitter agent, put into milk to warn you off of this potentially harmful food source. If we extract the lactose, then we can drink the milk, sometimes to death. We will cover in detail other similar substances in milk that should be ample warning.

It should be evident that the only dairy we need is mother’s milk. “But what about my calcium?” is the universal response. Dr. Oski to the rescue again. Get it where all the other mammals get theirs from- the vegetation they eat. I can hear my son now saying, “Tell them about the elephants, Dad.” I have a great poster in my exam room with nearly all the mammals on it, from lemurs to giraffes. I usually turn to picture at this point in the lecture, and say “See that elephant over there? He nursed until he tripled his birth weight, until about 3 years old. At that point, he was still knee high to his mother and look what he becomes. He has bones bigger around than my body and where does he get his calcium? From the dead grass on the Serengeti. Have you seen what these guys eat on the Animal Planet?” Point well made I would like to think.

But, the idea that we must have dairy to survive is deeply ingrained in our culture. Most of my clients react strongly to the idea that milk products could be eliminated without harm. The ad campaigns and medical misinformation have literally brainwashed us into this dairy-dependent state. The startling thing is that there is every reason at this point to believe that milk consumption contributes significantly to osteoporosis rather than prevents it. What? my clients would exclaim at this point, as if I were a true heretic. The fact is there is a phenomenal amount of epidemiological and medical evidence that this is exactly the case. All one has to do is study the incidence of osteoporosis worldwide and the truth leaps out of the statistics. The countries that drink the least amount of milk have the least amount of osteoporosis. The United States has the highest level of osteoporosis. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 28 million Americans are at major risk to developing this condition, 80% of which are women. Eight million women and two million men actually have osteoporosis, with millions more suffering from low bone density. One in eight men and a staggering one in two women over age 50 will suffer from an osteoporosis-related fracture. In stark contrast, the countries with the least milk consumption, like Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam have never heard of a hip fracture in their 100 year old people. How is that possible?

There are two basic medical explanations for these findings. The first relates to the damage that casein does to the villi of the duodenum and jejunum, as previously described. Remembering that calcium is one of the main minerals that are malabsorbed in both wheat and milk intolerance, it is easy to follow that as more milk is consumed, more damage is done and less calcium is absorbed. This is so simple it makes me crazy! Now if that is not enough, then we can turn to a physiologic explanation involving calcium movement in and out of bone. If a person managed to get extra much calcium into their blood stream via supplementation with vitamin D3, then the body must deal it with in order to keep the blood level of calcium at its normal (and critical) level. This is accomplished by storing it in bones. What most lay people don’t understand is that many of the cells of our body have a limited life span or a limited number of times that these cells can perform a given function. In the case of the osteoclasts and osteoblasts of bone, the latter is the case. These two cells are responsible for the transport of calcium in and out of bone. After their limited number of functional repetitions, they die. So, it follows that if these cells are asked to perform their function too often or too many times, the bones will actually weaken. This is, in fact, what happens. Too much calcium actually weakens your bones. Go back to that elephant in the Serengeti.

Better yet, go back the dinosaurs! Think of this. The largest and most long-lived creatures on the planet, both in the distant past and the present, are herbivores. The brontosaurus and their reptile kin never drank milk, developing purely from the plants that they ate. Although environmental conditions were clearly different in those times, the size of these “thunder lizards” was enormous and their skeletal systems required unusual amounts of calcium. How in the world did they do it without dairy products? I guess we’ve now beaten that point into a fossil.

The fact is that we need much less calcium than we think and we can get that calcium from other sources as adults. While we are infants, that source should come from mother and only mother.

But, when it comes to nursing, humans make three big mistakes. First, we don’t drink our mother’s milk exclusively in most cases. Mother’s milk is the perfect food and provides the optimal nutrition for our young at the rate it requires and for the time allotted for the nursing period. To not encourage our mothers to breast feed is an unnatural and potentially serious case of shortsightedness. Secondly, we adulterate our infant’s diet with cow milk and soy proteins both out of convenience and ignorance. The infant’s digestive tract is an immature and delicate system. The immune system is also in it’s infancy but will react violently to substances that offend it. Anyone with a colicky baby can attest to that fact. Not only do overt signs occur when the baby’s immunity is challenged, but groundwork is laid for upcoming challenges. Researchers now feel that it is this early exposure to cow milk protein that dramatically increases your risk to diabetes. Finally, as stated, we continue to drink milk well beyond the designated weaning period. In most cases, we drink milk right up until we die, some sooner than later. The spiral is gaining momentum.

These basic proteins that make up 60% of our diets are unnatural and partially indigestible and result in intestinal damage, immune responses, and multifaceted mental and physical disease processes. These processes only get more complex as you follow the paper trail left behind these felons.

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM- Taking the Good with the Bad

At the center of this medical galaxy is the immune system. Actions and reactions by this component make or break our day. From simple allergies to life-threatening immune-mediated disorders like lupus, we are at the mercy of this dictatorial ruler. Or are we? When did it become our adversary rather than our friend? When did we start to view this life-saving ally as the enemy? It has become a misconception rooted in the ignorance of this troublemakers motivation.

The fact is that our body never does anything wrong without a good reason. This was the first universal axiom I discovered on this path to enlightenment. We may not like or approve of the action it is taking, but that is frequently due to a misunderstanding of why it is behaving that way. Routine symptoms of pain, gastrointestinal disturbances, fever, weakness, and malaise all have their purpose. Many are aimed at preventing us from continuing to do what it was that brought on the reaction by the immune system. Nasal congestion, bronchoconstriction, vomiting, and diarrhea all serve to limit further exposure to the offending substances. As the victims, we may not enjoy these symptoms, but like a parental disciplinarian would say, It is for your own good. Only humans are smart enough to think they know better and thereby rebel against their benevolent leader.

This realization (more like a review of what we all know) led me to my favorite example and illustrates this axiom. When a child spikes a fever from a viral infection, nearly everyone reaches for the fever reducer. We seem to have been trained that this is the appropriate measure. Fevers are bad appears to be the common misconception. Of course, fevers are the normal and appropriate response to a virus. The virus entered our body because it likes a body temperature that is less than 98.6 F. Humans have this body temperature for a reason. It is normally protective against the usual viral infections that we face. The virus usually enters our body when we are running a little subnormal temperature. This, of course, is the reason for the cold and flu season. When outside temperatures are low, the relative temperature of our nasal cavity is lower than usual. This affords the virus a foothold, especially if the victim is not as healthy as they could be. But why are there summer colds? Two words: Air conditioning. Viruses love an air-conditioned nasal passage as much as we do. Our obsession with comfort comes back to bite us again.

Once in the nasal passage, the immune system goes into action, and after an appropriate incubation period (virus replication), the fever begins. This creates an unfavorable environment for the virus, remembering that it likes 98.6 F or less. Then the nasal congestion ensues along with the cough, headache, body aches, and other symptoms, all in an attempt to protect the victim.

The only problem with this process is that man is too intelligent and intolerable of the consequences of the immune response. He rushes in to undo everything the body has attempted to do to protect itself. By artificially reducing the fever, we have invited the virus to come into our body and stay for a longer time than would normally occur. I fear that, in some cases, that the ultimate result is that the virus is ours for life. This lifelong relationship is certainly true of a number of viruses, including Epstein Barr (mononucleosis) and varicella virus (chicken pox and Shingles). Would others like leukemia virus, AIDS, and Ebola have been more temporary guests if we were letting our body handle them without interference?

When it comes to allergies, we don’t perform any better. Many people are victims of another great misconception here. Many allergy sufferers live with the impression that they have an abnormal immune system. This is completely false. Their immune system is doing exactly what it was designed to do- remove offending allergy proteins. It performs its task normally and admirably, unless we step in. Symptomatic care, aimed at improving our comfort, reverses everything the body does to limit our exposure to allergens. By using nasal decongestants, we might as well line these allergens up and snort them through a straw. By using antihistamines, we block the release of the substance that will create the allergen limiting swelling, once again encouraging the offending substance to enter.

If we stop for a moment to ask why our body is doing these things, we understand the potential ramifications of our actions. Our immune system reacts to these proteins because it doesn’t want them in the body. These allergens are foreign to us and will do harm once inside. This harm has been greatly underestimated and forms the basis for the pathogenesis of the serious diseases and conditions that plague man and animals.

CONCLUSIONS THROUGH ILLUSTRATIONS

The question on everyone’s mind should be “Why, in this era of technical and medical advancements, are we suffering from all of these pestilences?” I use that word very intentionally, but one must understand it’s working definition here. The Biblical definition of pestilence is disease without a cure. I use this term because it so aptly describes virtually all of the immune-mediated diseases (diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, et al), epidemic viral infections (Ebola, AIDS, and possibly “Mad Cow”), and the biggest concern among the living, cancer. These are all-to-common conditions that have no cure, not even a workable explanation for their origin…until now.

The entry-level course has been passed. The introduction of food as an inciting element has been covered. We then graduate to the next grade and study the immune response to these antigens more closely. The allergic reaction is clear, with IgE working hard to protect us from further harm. It was after I accepted this action of the immune system as normal that the second axiom appeared. I realized that the false impression my clients were under was their immune system was abnormal in some way and there was a gene that would some day be extracted to ease their seasonal allergies. I said, “Man, I hope not. There is nothing wrong with your immune system. It’s doing its job and doing it to perfection. Your body doesn’t want these allergens in it for a reason.” The remaining question was “Why do seasonal allergies form?”

The answer was an epiphany: Because the immune system is already completely preoccupied and needs to protect the body from further invasion. I described it to my clients as going into safe mode. The food allergies and intolerances were already taxing the system beyond reason. The accompanying nutritional deficiencies were also starting to add up. Deficiencies in ascorbic acid and its friends were starting to take their toll. Once again, I described it too my clients as being overworked and underpaid. They all agreed that no one likes this combination.

I found that I was not alone in my belief that seasonal allergies only come secondary to the food problems. The axiom had already been proposed. I just gave it more validity by arriving at it independently. This idea had its roots in my own experience and came to fruition when my allergy symptoms nearly disappeared after elimination gluten. They diminished further when I dropped dairy. I had been a seasonal allergy sufferer since childhood; with crescendos occurring once I had been in a region of the country long enough. Decrescendos occurred when I left that region and relocated. From Mobile to Boston to Charleston to Los Angeles and back to Mobile, my allergies were like a yo-yo. I was as ignorant to the role of food as the next guy. But, the enlightenment led to the next theorem.

If the symptoms that I had been experiencing all of my life were not solely due to inhalants, what was their part exactly? The answer made sense, especially in when I applied it to my patients and myself. The axiom is best demonstrated by using my exam room illustration. I would start by explaining that our immune system has an allergy threshold. Once that threshold is exceeded, allergy symptoms occur. This just makes sense from a design standpoint. If that weren’t true, we would be allergic all the time (or not at all, if we were normal). The question was in the make up of that allergy threshold. What forms the base of allergens from which the immune system works? I explained it to my clients this way. Imagine a glass of water that is three quarters full. If you add too much ice, the water spills over. This is what happens in allergies. You have a base of allergens that your immune system deals with without spilling over: when more are added, the allergy symptoms begin, spilling over as nasal congestion and itchy eyes.

Conventionally, we have focused on the inhalant allergens much more than food. We have envisioned that the water in the glass was mostly inhalant allergens, with a sudden increase in exposure to pollens, grasses, and the like bringing on signs. Once again, I am not alone in my belief that we have had this wrong all along. I decided that the food was the water and inhalant allergens were the ice. The food allergens made up the base for the immune systems threshold and it was the inhalants that kept making us symptomatic on occasion. This would prove to make sense from every angle.

This idea tied up a number of loose ends. This explained why there was such a variation in the age of onset of allergies. They could start at three months in the dog or as late as twelve years. My clients would puzzle at their doctors diagnosis of first-time allergies at age sixty or seventy. How could that be, Dr. Baker? they would ask. My previous response would mimic those of my human counterparts. I would explain that the immune system just behaves that way sometimes. We just don’t understand it that well I would parrot back. What a great answer. I am almost too embarrassed to admit it, in retrospect.

What I should have said was Because your underlying problem is one of food allergy, and once that is bad enough, you start to react to inhalants. The age at which this happens is determined by how bad your food intolerances and allergies are. If you have serious food issues, then you will develop the inhalant signs as a child, even as an infant. If your food problems are mild, then these symptoms will occur much later, if ever. The malabsorption and maldigestion syndromes come into play at some point, accelerating the process and worsening the complications. Once again, the food-before-inhalants theorem explained the unexplainable. But what about those complications?

Those patterns I mentioned at the onset were about to become vital. It was clear that my patients who had obvious allergies were the worst of the breeds. The German Shepherd, Cocker Spaniel, Beagle, English Bulldog, Shih Tzu, Dachshund, Rottweiler, and Labrador Retriever stood out like sore thumbs. There were a number of others misfits that met the criteria, like the Doberman and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, but the main troublemakers were obvious. All of these guys were the most allergic, most immune-challenged, most medically ill, and most predictable in their cause of death. This realization led to the next axiom.

Our overt medical lives can usually be divided into three phases: allergies, immune-mediated diseases, and ultimate immune-failure. Overt in this case refers to our symptoms and complaints. Immune failure usually results in secondary infections, the resurfacing of latent viruses, or even worse… the onset of cancer. Cancer very succinctly put is the failure of our immune system to do its job. I explain to clients daily that we have cells in our body attempting to form tumors at any given moment. Certainly, there are factors at work like radiation, carcinogens, and viral agents that are constantly challenging the integrity of the system, but as long as it remains healthy, the cancer is avoided. However, once our ally is totally overworked or underpaid, cancer raises its ugly head and becomes a force with which to reckon.

THE WORST OF THE WORST- A Veterinary Tale

In retrospect, we should see our serious medical problems coming from way off in the distance. The German shepherd illustrates the point to perfection. From the time he is six weeks old, he is typically raised on a high protein puppy food. Puppy chows are primarily made by adding the cereal grains, wheat and barley, to a base diet to boost the metabolizable energy and protein. Many diets also contain whey protein to meet the protein requirement. At once, we notice that he is typically a very lean puppy throughout his first year. Many breeders have been quoted as saying that they don’t mature until two or three years. Compared to most, this is not the norm. The signs of maldigestion and malabsorption are clearly beginning. Some actually suffer from an idiopathic juvenile pancreatic atrophy. This represents nature’s first attempt at natural selection, weakening the afflicted individual so as to facilitate its removal from the gene pool.

Then the juvenile bone diseases develop, starting with an idiopathic immune-mediated inflammation of the bone known as eosinophilic panosteitis. As a result, he has a shifting leg lameness that can intermittent until he is about a year and a half old. (The Bassett Hound is not so lucky. He can experience bouts of this through the first five years of his life.) If skin allergies have not already occurred, then this bone syndrome is the first sign of immune-mediated disease to surface.

The next maladies include hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia (ununited anconeal processes), and osteochondritis dessicans of the shoulder or stifle. We have researched and argued the significance of genetics in these conditions, but like the models created for any idiopathic condition, they don’t pan out. Those that should be afflicted aren’t while those of good stock are affected. These conditions are the next sign of malabsorption. Inadequate levels of the essential nutrients for the formation of collagen-based structures are bound to be the cause. Vitamin C, calcium, and the rest are not reaching their target tissues. The pattern of the most allergic being the most afflicted usually holds and the ears and skin start to be problem areas. We also note that this once happy-go-lucky, even hyperactive, puppy is starting to become shy or, at worst, overtly aggressive. We discuss the personality change that often occurs at puberty with the owner. The casomorphins and gliadomorphins are building up and taking hold.

The logical progression into allergies occurs with regularity. The chronic ear infections and skin allergies begin and are often distinctly seasonal at first except in the worst of individuals. Those non-seasonal pets are readily labeled food allergic by the observant veterinarian and placed on hypoallergenic foods or food allergy tested. Little did we know that these pets on controlled diets would end up being some of the healthiest after all. We make a note on the chart that a muzzle was needed for the last visit after we narrowly escaped a bite attempt while looking in the ears. Those pets bolt right into phase two of life: the immune-mediated diseases.

Our German Shepherd is now about two or three when its hair starts coming out in clumps and the owner brings it in for a vaccine. The desensitized owner hasn’t really seen the progression of the pets decline as clearly as we do. We notice it as soon as they walk in the door. This pet is a mess, we say to ourselves. Even the most basically trained veterinarian immediately puts German Shepherd and hypothyroidism together. A blood test confirms it and thyroid medication is begun. Once again, we throw this pet back into the gene pool to swim with the others, not thinking that nature had just made another attempt to keep this pet from breeding. As in people, hypothyroidism is a leading cause of infertility. Something about natural selection keeps haunting us.

The patient’s hair is growing back but his attitude in the exam room is intolerable when he comes in for his first seizure. This occurs between the ages of six months and six years and is typically due to idiopathic epilepsy. A full blood panel is run and usually comes back normal except for a low-grade anemia and some mild liver function test elevations. We write the anemia and elevated SGPT off to the hypothyroidism and start the pet on Phenobarbital. Little did we know that the anemia was probably due to a subclinical iron deficiency and the liver enzyme leakage was due to mild hepatitis that was either immune mediated or nutritional in origin. We would find out later what really was causing the seizures. This answer would be surprisingly simple.

We get a call that our dog has bitten some one and we have to quarantine him. This presents some real logistical problems but the law is the law. We notice on the way back to his “cell” that he has a crusty area on the top of his nose and around the corners of his mouth. We fear the worst and check all of the mucocutaneous junctions and find he has pemphigus, the immune-mediated skin manifestation of lupus. We start this pet on prednisone knowing that we just poured gas on his attitude fire. The immune diseases are progressing.

This hapless soul is just starting to straighten out on the diminishing doses of corticosteroids when the owner reports that his pet is dragging it’s back toes when it walks, especially when fatigued. Once again, a first year graduate knows that this breed is prone to a degenerative spinal cord condition. In fact, they named it after this breed: German Shepherd myelopathy. For all intents and purposes, it is multiple sclerosis. We remember reading somewhere that the medical profession once hypothesized that MS came from the canine distemper virus. If they only knew how close they were to being right.

To further embellish this story, we find an abdominal mass while attempting to help this patient stand on solid ground. It is a large, mid-abdominal mass and slips easily through the fingers, suggesting that there is a peritoneal effusion present. When we check the gums (through the muzzle) we notice that the dog is quite pale. We put two and two together and suggest to the owner that it is likely to have a splenic hemangiosarcoma, a malignant tumor of the spleen and a very common cause of death in German Shepherds. We radiograph the thorax and find the snowstorm of hemagiosarcoma so an exploratory is not even an option…this time. The final phase was entered into swiftly and humanely. Cancer had stepped in to keep this pet from dying a slow, paralyzing death from the myelopathy or a miserably nauseating death from the renal failure associated with the lupus. Finally, nature took it out of our inept hands and put him where he should have been at six months of age. Nature may seem cruel at times, but like our view of the immune system, it only appears so because we don’t fully understand it.

This historical exercise was fictitious from only one standpoint. These conditions don’t usually all occur in one pet. But, ask any veterinarian about German Shepherds, and you will get a slightly watered down version of this epic tale. Only the number of conditions will be changed, not the order. We are now ready for admission into graduate school to learn how this all comes about.

Go to Chapters 9-11 of “The Answer”…