Men’s Health

Ladies, I realize that there are more of you on this list than there are men, and while the first page or two of this issue is directed at men, I’d like you to read it also. The reason for that is that you might know (or be married to) a man with these problems and because, in general, men pay much less attention to medical/health issues than do women, you might have to kick them in the butt once in awhile to get them away from their beer and football games (TV). And, ladies, you are being affected by whatever health issues the man in your life might have.

Prostate Problems

Men have something women don’t have. It’s called a prostate gland (yes, ladies, and you have ovaries, which men don’t have, but that’s another newsletter). The prostate gland is a solid, chestnut-shaped organ surrounding the first part of the urethra (tube that carries the urine and semen). The prostate gland lies just under the bladder and in front of the rectum. It consists of two main zones: the inner zone, which produces secretions to keep the lining of the male urethra moist, and the outer zone, which produces seminal fluids to facilitate the passage of semen to its destination. The “urethra” is a two-stemmed duct leading from the bladder to the prostate gland then out through the penis.

When we guys get to be about 45 or 50 years old, doctors tell us that our prostates swell from normal aging. Personally, I think the cause is a lifetime of eating mycotoxin-laced foods, but we also know modern doctors have little or no knowledge in that area, so they believe this happens to all men. So, about this time, the nice doctor will also decide you need a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test. Beware…

PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer is Tricky

A major new study finds that: “While still a valuable screening tool for prostate cancer, the PSA test should not be used to provide clear-cut guidance for treating the disease. The existing guidelines for PSA tests are inadequate. For example, biopsies done for a PSA reading of 4.1 detected only 20.5% of cancer cases, and mistakenly diagnosed cancer in 6.2% of men.” – Journal of the American Medical Association, July 6, 2005

Let’s analyze that statement. If they miss 80% (it detected only 20), then is this really valuable at all? And I note that they are calling this a disease when it is only a symptom. And it said that 6% of the men tested had cancer when they did not? And I question the whole PSA issue, given that women, tested during pregnancy, show a PSA of about 8.0 – but women don’t have a prostate, so how can this test be called “prostate-specific”? And is this prostate thing really even cancer?

“The PSA chemically is a 33-kDa serine protease, which was found to be produced by Ascomycete (sac) group of fungi.” – A.V. Costatini, MD, The Fungalbionic Series – Prostate Cancer, 1998-1999

Gee, guys, that tells me that an enlarged prostate is caused by fungi. Guess what else causes these PSA tests to show high numbers? Beer! If you drink a lot of beer, you’re going to have an elevated PSA. Why? Beer is full of yeast! Put yeast in your stomach and your intestines will put it in your blood (see the anatomy stuff in issues 2-5). Once it is in your blood, it will circulate to all organs in your body. Ascomycete fungi creates a sac-type fungal colony that looks exactly like a cancerous growth of that gland. Gentlemen, you have a yeast infection (and the doctors swear that only women can get yeast infections, and even then, suggest it only happens in the vagina. Bull! It is system wide.). You’re going to give it to your sexual partner and she’s going to give it right back to you, back and forth endlessly. Sooner or later, your doctor will insist you have prostate cancer and cut that puppy right out of you and there will be no more sex forever.

“The antifungal drug Nizoral has demonstrated its ability to actually decrease levels of PSA” – D. Mann, Antifungal Agent Lowers PSA Levels, May 1, 1997, p.6, Medical Tribune

Now you know this, but the scary part is that your doctor still has no idea!

“Fungal disease can affect the reproductive organs, bladder, kidneys, and skin of the male GU (genital-urinary) tract.” – Fungal Diseases in Genital-Urinary Medicine, Kibbler’s Principles and Practices of Clinical Mycology, 1996

Gee, I seem to find so many quotes from “reputable sources” about how much we are affected by fungi, yet our doctors still pooh-pooh this. Why is that? Well, look at this quote.

“Removing friendly bacteria from the intestine increases the incidence of kidney stones.” – K. Bassalia, Wis Botanical, 1913

We’ll cover kidney stones in depth in a later issue, but I wanted to use this to point out that fungi (the cause of kidney stones) was known to the medical community back in 1913! What happened?

Well, here we need to discuss a general principle of any area of modern science: When any issue’s proponents die, the issue dies with them. A new generation is then free to make up their own answers (or radically modify the previous theories) without the old timers telling them they are wrong. There is no doctor who is still in practice today who was trained during the time when it was well-known that fungus was a major issue in human physiology (pre-1940s). When they went away, all lab tests into that area were stopped because there were no sponsors. Oddly enough, this coincided exactly with the new miracle drugs: antibiotics. “This stuff will cure anything,” proclaimed the new generation of doctors, so obviously they did not have to study that antique BS that the old country hicks knew was the real cause of human illnesses.

Now, how do you combat yeasts and molds (fungi)? How do you overcome the loss of the good bacteria that keep your immune system in balance? Antifungal foods and probiotics. But, again I caution, there are a lot of people and companies out there claiming their products/foods are probiotic. Do your homework! It is not a probiotic if the bacteria are not live cultures!

Here’s a shorter rant: Gout.

Gout is so rarely talked about today because the pharmaceutical companies would rather call it some other disease name. The main symptom of Gout is severe pain, more often in the hand, foot, or base of the big toe, but sometimes in the knee or elbow. Within a few hours, the affected joint can swell, get tender, and the pain so great, that the slightest touch is unbearable. The skin around the joint can also get inflamed and a fever is common. Also, lump formations, called tophi, can occur under the skin around the affected area. Gout most often affect males after puberty but women get it usually only after menopause. Women, therefore, are less likely to be affected than men.

Gout is characterized by high levels of uric acid (which is a fungal metabolite). When you have too much uric acid for the kidney to excrete it, the blood becomes super saturated and needle-like crystals of mineral salts form (calcium – more on this in the kidney stone issue). When these crystals are caught and form within joints, it can cause severe pain and inflammation. Some environmental conditions can contribute to gout, such as over use of alcohol (which is why gout used to be called “the beer drinker’s disease”), consumption of purine foods, and stress (Ah, but what causes stress? More in a future issue.).

Gout is one of the most painful types of arthritis. Gout attacks can be controlled or prevented by lifestyle changes, the use of certain medications, and avoiding foods like mussels, some types of fish (fish oil contains many fatty acids that vary with the species of fish), fried foods, peas, coffee, sugar, white flour, some dried fruits, soft drinks, and all alcoholic beverages.

Again, folks, this is a fungus thing, which you can take care of via diet (if your condition is not so serious as to require medicinal treatments).

Phase II Food List

Here’s a list of foods that are good for you. Some are antifungal; others are neutral (i.e., they don’t add to the problem).

Vegetables

Alfalfa sprouts, Chinese artichokes, asparagus, bamboo sprouts, banana peppers, Bavarian endive (escarole, chicory escarole), bean sprouts, beets, beet greens, bell peppers (sweet green and red), Brussels sprouts, cabbages (bok choy, broccoli, cabbage kraut, cauliflower, celery cabbage, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, head cabbage [green, red], kale, kohlrabi, savoy), capers (without vinegar), cardoon, carrots, chayte, celery, celeriac (celery roots, knob celery), dandelion greens, dulse, eggplant, fennel (finoccio), garden cress, garlic, kelp (seaweed), Lamb’s Quarters, leeks, lettuces (butterhead, bib, Boston, celtuce [stem], iceberg [crisp head], loose-leaf, Lamb’s, matchless, Oakleaf [green bronze], Prizehead, salad bowl, red leaf chicory, argula, Romaine [Cos]), rougette, rutabaga, onion, okra, parsnip, pumpkin, sea kale, shallots, spinach, squashes {acorn, alligator, banana, Boston marrow, bush, buttercup, butternut, Caserta, cheese, cocozelle, Connecticut field, cushaw, Delicious, Golden Nugget, Hubbard varieties, mammoth, Mirliton, pumpkin, Quaker pie, Queensland, straightneck, Table Queen, Turbin Virginian, whitebush scallop, zucchini). Swiss chard, tomatillo, tomatoes (all kinds). Turnip greens, upland cress, water cress, Whitloff chicory (Belgian or French endive), and yucca. Some other miscellaneous stuff: agar-agar, aloe vera, carrageen (Irish moss), pepino (melon pear), and rhubarb.

Meats

Beef*1 (including bologna, liver, sausage; milk product: plain yogurt), bison (usually called buffalo), goat (including kid; milk and cheese), lamb, pork (including ham, sausage, bacon, etc.), poultry (chicken and chicken eggs, dove, duck and duck eggs, goose and goose eggs, guinea hen, pea fowl, pheasant, prairie chicken, quail, turkey and turkey eggs), seafood (octopus, scallop, snail, squid, and crustaceans: cray fish, Dungeness crab, lobster, shrimp [prawns], snow crab), fresh water fish (beluga, carp, catfish, caviar [roe], crapapie [crappie], pickerel, salmon, smelt, sturgeon, trout [all species], perch, whitefish, yellow bass), salt water fish (albacore tuna, anchovy, bluefish, cod [scrod], flounder, haddock, halibut, Mahi-Mahi, ocean catfish, red snapper, sea bass, sea herring, swordfish, tuna), veal, and venison (deer). The following are not recommended for frequent consumption due to the processing and fermentation. Processing can include starch, fillers, and sugar: bologna, frankfurters, sausage, and salami.

* Note 1: For all meats that have been grown under short-time-to-market conditions, and to some extent, even range herds, you must consider that they have been grain fed (mycotoxins galore – animal grains are those which were deemed unfit for human consumption), pumped full of hormones for rapid growth, and antibiotics (by government edict). Traces of those things will remain in the meat you buy. However, most of those bad things settle in the fats, so whatever meats you buy from the store (i.e., you did not grow them yourselves and control their feed to natural grasses), assume they are in this condition. Therefore, when you cook them, it would be wisest to cut off and throw away all the fat.

Herbs and Spices

Allspice, althea (Marsh Mallow) root (tea), angelica, anise, apple mint, balm, basil, bergamot, boneset (tea), burnet (cucumber flavor), caraway, cardamom, cassia, celery seed, chamomile (tea), chervil, chicory (in tea), chive, cilantro/coriander, clove, comfrey (tea), cumin, dittany, dry mustard, East Indian arrowroot, fenugreek, ginger, ginseng (tea), hibiscus/Roselle (tea), horehound, horseradish, lavender, lemon balm (Melissa), licorice, lovage, mace, marjoram, menthol, mint, nutmeg, oregano, paprica/paprika {alternative spellings, depending on where you live}, parsley, peppercorns (black, white), peppermint, pimento, rosemary, saffron, sage, savory, sorrel (dock), spearmint, tarragon, thyme, turmeric. In the miscellaneous category: sea salt.

Yes, folks, there are other foods that are good for you. For example, Pau d’Arco is an antifungal, but it is not something you are likely to use in your daily diet. I have not included any specialty herbs, used specifically for healing, but only normal culinary herbs and spices. The list of every single possible herb would take many volumes.