Newsletter 17

A Doctor’s Introduction to Nutrition and Fungus

by Roby Mitchell, PhD, MD

You are, potentially, the best doctor you could ever have.

My background is in traditional medicine. I graduated with honors from Texas Tech School of Medicine. Subsequently, I started a practice as an emergency room physician. The emergency room is the epitome of acute care medicine, so I saw lots of patients suffering from symptoms of diseases that had not been adequately addressed for years. Many fell under the category of vascular disease, which includes “heart attack” and stroke. These problems develop after years of investing in lifestyle choices that clog up the arteries of the heart and brain.

What made me begin to question the way I practiced medicine was the number of young people, 45 to 60, that came in to the emergency room with these problems. It is traumatic to go out into the waiting room and tell a family that their loved one is dead, but it is heart-rending when it is a relatively young mother and her children who have just lost their husband, father, and breadwinner.

Reading the medical literature of the time also engendered some discomfort, as it was reporting that upwards of 80% of these tragic events were completely preventable by implementing some relatively simple lifestyle changes. I was telling that young mother and her children that “we did all that we could so,” but obviously that was not the case.

During my medical school training, I was chosen to participate in a student exchange program between Texas Tech and Jinan University in Canton, China. There I studied Chinese traditional medicine, which included the use of foods, herbal medicines, and acupuncture to treat disease. Their philosophy focused on getting the whole body system back into balance and allowing the body’s intelligence to do the healing. The physician was only an assistant or facilitator. I was starting to wonder if this was not a more appropriate way to reestablish health.

Coincidental with these ruminations was the release of a study done by Dr. Dean Ornish. He had proven that you could open up clogged arteries by implementing a regime of exercise, stress reduction, and healthful eating. This could save millions in health care costs each year and prevent patients from undergoing the risks and trauma of surgical procedures.

Seeing more and more MDs start to adopt this philosophy, I started a little sideline practice that focused on teaching patients lifestyle changes instead of always relying on medications. Once the word got out that there was an MD in Amarillo, Texas, who focused on natural healing, my phone began ringing off the wall. I found myself spending more and more time in this type of practice, even though I also continued my ER practice. This led to my doing a self-study course on nutrition and its link to disease. I learned how nutrients from plant sources were being used to prevent and treat many illnesses.

During my investigations, I ran across a product called Juice Plus that was being touted as being the alternative to juicing. I had never taken supplements in the past, but I knew that I was not getting the recommended amount of raw fruits and vegetables in my diet. I was so impressed after having this product analyzed that I started taking it. Within two to three weeks, I felt increased energy, improved quality of sleep, improved regularity, and my recovery time after workouts decreased (I participate in triathlons). I had similarly impressive results with my mom, dad, and other family members. It wasn’t long before I, who had been staunchly anti-vitamin/ mineral supplements, was being asked to speak across the United States, Canada, and Europe on the benefits of these whole food capsules that replaced juicing several pounds of organic fruits and organic vegetables.

One of the places I was asked to speak was on a little-known health talk show hosted by Doug Kaufmann. Doug and I became fast friends as we shared similar convictions about the role of individual responsibility in health care and the benefits of nutritional supplements in preventing and treating diseases. I also found Doug to share a similar skepticism and integrity.

Fortunately for me, Doug became not only a friend, but also a mentor. I’m relatively new at practicing the type of medicine that Doug has been espousing and training other medical professional in for over 20 years. So far, the most important lesson he has taught me is the association of a wide variety of clinical syndromes with systemic (all over the body) candidiasis, commonly known as yeast.

This has been a much-maligned diagnosis in the past because it has eluded laboratory verification. However, because of the scientific verification Doug presented to me, as well as the trust I had developed in his clinical expertise, I started treating patients who fit the yeast profile. A combination of prescriptive antifungals, a diet devoid of refined sugars and yeasts, immune system enhancement via supplements, and the replacement of “good” intestinal bacteria genuinely helped these patients.

The results have been nothing short of miraculous for many patients. Many had suffered for years with symptoms of chronic fatigue, PMS, depression, irritable bowel, obesity, attention deficit disorder, asthma, intestinal cystitis, bladder incontinence, prostatitis, psoriasis, MS, and fibromyalgia. They dramatically improved if they followed the treatment protocol.

I can’t thank Doug enough for teaching me about this life-changing therapy. My patients would thank him, too, if they knew that he was responsible for teaching me. However, in order to maintain my status as a near-deity, I’ve decided to keep that a secret!

What the Experts Say about Fungal Diseases

by Doug Kaufmann

There is certainly no shortage of scientific literature about fungal symptoms and diseases. And the twentieth century holds nothing as far as knowledge of the many diseases caused by fungus. Just open a bible and go directly to Leviticus 14:34-35. This problem of fungus causing health problems is not new.

As far as twentieth century fungal experts, consider Dr. Lida Mattman, a professor emeritus at Wayne State University. In her excellent book, Stealth Pathogens, Dr. Mattman asks, “Are fungi in the blood smears overlooked because they are confused with blood cells?” She answers a resounding, “Yes!” From that one statement alone, just imagine how many blood conditions are misdiagnosed because machines or laboratory technologists just can’t differentiate between spores and cells.

Another bold statement is made on the same page. This one by Dr. M.G. Rinaldi, who says, “Given the right immunocompromised host, virtually any fungus can kill a human being.”

David Holland, MD, has a book in his office called Clinical Mycology by C.C. Kibbler. (Mycology is the study of fungus.) In this book, published in 1995, 18 prominent physicians from large research universities like Duke, the University of Texas, and Stanford expound on the serious health threats that fungi pose. Here are some of the chapters in Clinical Mycology: Fungal Disease of the Bone and Joint; Fugal Diseases of the Cardiovascular System; Mycosis (fungi) causing mass lesions of the Central Nervous System; Fungal Diseases in Dermatology; Fungal Infections in the Ear, Nose, and Throat; Fungal Infections of the Respiratory Tract; and even Fungal Diseases in Ophthalmology. Wouldn’t you think every doctor in the world would understand that these micro-organisms might cause disease? Why don’t they? I’m glad you asked!

Most doctors believe that fungus only infects immunocompromised (lower immunity) patients. If this were true, San Joaquin Valley Fever, caused by breathing the fungus Coccidioides immitus, could not possibly have killed young, healthy military men. What about the ABC episode of Primetime aired April 9, 1997, dealing with infants who are sick and dying from fungal exposure in their homes? Or are women who suffer from vaginal yeast infections immunocompromised? In each of these instances, the integrity of the immune system was only challenged after fungal exposure – not before. So, who is immunocompromised? Are the air we breathe and the water we drink compromising our immune systems? How about he medicines that most Americans take? Since antibiotics are mycotoxins (fungal poisons), perhaps we can now define compromised immunity as applying to anyone who has ever taken an antibiotic. That is certainly a lot of people, but while you ponder that potential statistic, the following may put it in perspective for you.

In 1963, Dr, Harold T, Hyamn published in The Complete Home Medical Encyclopedia that approximately one-half of the population of the United States had, at one time or another, suffered from a fungal disorder that had been “unrecognized.” Now, my next question for you is: has medical science really progressed since1963? Or are 125,000,000 Americans still suffering from “unrecognized” fungal disorders?