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A very wide range of the toxic substances produced in a toxic
bowel is sent on to the liver, which is the body’s primary
detoxification site. A healthy liver neutralizes these toxins,
then either recycles them for use in the body, or excretes
them. However, an unhealthy liver—one that has been compromised
due to illness, improper diet, or drug and/or alcohol abuse,
for example, cannot effectively process harmful toxins. Take
ammonia, for example.
During the digestion of proteins, a number of harmful bacteria,
including Clostridia, Eubacteria, and Peptostreptococci, produce
toxic ammonia in the gastrointestinal tract. It is the result
of a perfectly normal process. A healthy liver detoxifies
the ammonia by turning it into urea, which is passed out of
the body in the urine. However, if your liver is not working
properly, the ammonia remains unprocessed and can enter the
bloodstream and invade the central nervous system, causing
many dangerous symptoms. Even your brain can be affected.
In advanced cases of cirrhosis of the liver, for example,
a mild mental aberration may progress to coma and, ultimately,
death. Increased levels of ammonia in the blood are characteristic
of liver failure.
Medical treatment of liver disease generally begins by limiting
the amount of dietary protein, which adds to ammonia production.
The amino acids found in meat produce more ammonia during
breakdown than the proteins in milk. Bowel cleansing through
the use of laxatives, purgatives, enemas, and colonic irrigation
is recommended to remove any putrefying residue.
While antibiotics are routinely prescribed to kill ammonia-producing
bacteria for a toxic bowel and toxic liver, unfortunately,
they will also kill off many of the friendly bacteria. This
depletion of friendly bacteria inevitably will leave the field
wide open to even more problems in the gastrointestinal tract,
such as the proliferation of the aggressive C. candida yeast
microorganism. Fortunately, Probiotics provide a better alternative.
In their 1983 book, Bifidobacteria and Their Role, Drs. J.L.
Rasic and J.A. Kurmann explain the use of a bifidogenic diet.
This type of diet includes foods and substances that support
the action of bifidobacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.
One such substance is lactulose, which is helpful in treating
patients with advanced liver disease by preventing the absorption
of ammonia from the colon.
When lactulose reaches the intestines, it is welcomed by
the friendly bacteria as a good food source. Through fermentation,
the bacteria turn lactulose into lactic and acetic acids,
which help increase the size of the bacterial colonies. This
has the natural effect of reducing the pH level of the large
intestine, making it far more acidic. When a high level of
acidity is present, the ammonia remains in its ionized form.
In this form, it is not passed on to the liver or diffused
into general circulation through the blood. This reduces the
toxic load on the liver and reduces ammonia levels throughout
the body, including the brain.
Lactulose not only helps reestablish healthy bowel flora
by increasing their numbers, it also helps in reducing the
territories of undesirable Enterobacteria, Clostridia, and
Staphylococci. One study reported by Dr. Rasic involved twelve
patients with cirrhosis of the liver. The average level of
the subjects’ friendly bacteria was approximately 1 million
per gram of feces, while the potentially harmful E. coli were
highly active at a population level of 100 billion per gram.
After these patients had been given lactulose, levels of lactobacteria
rose to between 10 and 100 million per gram while the E. coli
populations decreased dramatically.
To help bring an overloaded, dysfunctional liver back to
normal, in addition to lactulose, Dr. Rasic also suggests
adding new colonies of bifidobacteria through direct supplementation.
One study described by Drs. Rasic and Kurmann, involved thirty-three
patients with various degrees of cirrhosis of the liver. At
the start of the study, the patients were given 10 grams of
a reconstituted bifidus milk product that contained live bifidobacteria
three times daily for three years. The dose was gradually
increased to 100 grams, three times daily. The study showed
a general improvement in the health of these patients, which
was confirmed by a decrease in ammonia and free phenol levels,
an increase in acidity, and a dramatic increase in bifidobacteria.
In 1968, Dr. D. Muting and colleagues reported their research
on the subject of friendly bacteria and the liver in a paper
entitled, "The Effect of Bacterium Bifidum on Intestinal
Bacterial Flora and Toxic Protein Metabolites in Chronic Liver
Disease," published in the American Journal of Proctology.
The researchers conducted a trial involving twenty patients
suffering from serious liver disease. These patients, who
had no dietary restrictions, were given bifidus milk each
day. Within seven to ten days, levels of blood ammonia, serum
phenol, and other toxins dropped to normal levels.
Dr. Muting points out the advantages of using bifidus milk
over lactulose due to their respective protein levels. Lactulose
is a carbohydrate derived from milk sugar, but bifidus milk
offers around 30% to
40% percent protein, which is a distinct advantage, especially
for severely ill patients.
Although it has been shown that large and healthy colonies
of bifidobacteria have the ability to flush harmful ammonia,
phenols, and amines from the intestinal tract very quickly,
I am not suggesting that serious liver dysfunction is something
you can or should treat yourself. More and more health care
professionals are becoming aware that direct supplementation
of viable friendly bacteria is indicated when the liver and/or
gastrointestinal tract are impaired. Discuss this need with
your doctor.
When choosing a Bifidobacterium bifidum supplement,
be sure that the product comes from a dairy-based formula
that contains billions of microorganisms per gram and also
retains the bacteria’s important growing medium—the
supernatant. It is this supernatant that contains large amounts
of lactulose. Be sure the watchwords "supernatant"
and "dairy-based" appear on the label to be assured
of a quality product.
Your first priority in self-care health care is tending to
the friendly bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. Not
only do they protect you against the serious consequences
of a toxic bowel, they also prevent the kind of secondary
involvement that leads to the development of a toxic liver.
RECOMMENDED PROBIOTIC REGIMEN
For this particular condition, dairy-based Probiotic powders
are preferred.
Take 1 capsule L. acidophilus (or 1/2 teaspoon powder), plus 3 B. bifidum capsules (or 2 teaspoons powder), and 1/2 teaspoon L. bulgaricus
powder mixed in 6 to 8 ounces unchilled filtered water, three
times daily.
Instead of the above regimen, take 2 combination capsules
that contain all three super strains in an oil-matrix carrier,
two to three times daily.
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