What About Our Four-Legged Friends?

by Le Anne Amber

In this newsletter, we’ve been concentrating mostly on human illnesses and their relation to diet and fungus, but what about our furry kids? Do they have the same problems? You bet they do!

Animals can have the same health problems that people do, but they don’t live as many years as we do, so either it doesn’t progress as far, or it’s chalked up to “old age” and they’re euthanized. I’m sorry to say I’ve had this happen more times than I like to remember, but I didn’t know any better then and now I do. It’s never too late to change your ways... or should that be, you can teach an old dog new tricks!

The first step in getting your animals healthy is to check the labels on their foods. If the first ingredient is “ground yellow corn,” get rid of it. I know that’s easier said than done, but there are a few dry foods out there that have meat as the main ingredient, and I’m not referring to Iam’s! To be fair, I haven’t found any Science Diet dog food to check the label on, so it might be okay, but I doubt it. Rich and I spent a very long time one day reading the labels on every bag of dog food in Sam’s Club and we only found one brand that didn’t have corn as the main ingredient. It’s called Exceed. They make a lamb and rice version and a chicken and rice version. There is some corn gluten meal and some ground corn and wheat, but they’re far enough down on the ingredients list that I don’t think it’s enough to worry too much about. Besides, if you want a dry food, there has to be some kind of grain in it or it wouldn’t be a dry food. Just try not to get one like Iam’s or Purina that has corn as the first ingredient.

The problem with a corn-based pet food is that the corn used is the stuff that’s too nasty for human consumption, so they get all the moldy grains in their foods. Exceed brand uses Vitamin E tocopherols as their preservative, and since Vitamin E is antifungal, it should offset the small amount of grain in that brand of food. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

Iam’s does make a cat food that has only a very small amount of corn gluten in it, so that’s what we’ve been feeding our cats, along with grain-free canned food. Many of the canned cat foods have wheat or soy in them, so read those labels, too. We had to search pretty hard to find varieties that contained no grains at all. Eventually, I want to convert them over completely to canned food, but it’s hard for them to switch. They like the canned food, but they still want to crunch their kibbles on occasion.

Once you can get the grains out of their diet, they should be okay, providing they don’t have any existing health problems. If they do, then they should get antifungals and probiotics, too. It’s hard to determine what kind of antifungals a cat can metabolize, and because they are so sensitive to just about everything, it’s kind of risky to try something just because it works on us. One thing that comes to mind, that I think would be perfectly fine for cats, is broccoli. I would suggest putting a few florets in a blender with a spoonful of yogurt and blending till smooth. I highly doubt a cat would eat this concoction of his own accord, but if you have a cat that really needs it, use an oral syringe a couple of times a day and make him eat some. A good antifungal for dogs seems to be carrots. Our dogs love them! I just shred a couple large carrots and divide it up in their bowls. They always want more! We give them probiotics three times a week, too, to build their beneficial bacteria back up to where it should be. Even if your pets haven’t been on several courses of antibiotics in their lives, they’ve probably been eating mycotoxin-laden corn (dry food) since they were weaned. The damage caused by that will just accumulate. I’ve already lost one dog and two cats to “cancer,” which I now believe wasn’t cancer at all. Both those animals had recurring infections that were treated with antibiotics over the years, not to mention all the “ground yellow corn” they ate every day. Another dog had a “stroke” (?) and had to be put down. Was it simply an overload of neurotoxins? Looking back, I think maybe it was.

Anyway, there’s no reason our furry little friends can’t live happy, healthy lives well into their 20s if we take good care of them and eliminate the poisons from their diet. First off, if you absolutely must give your pets an antibiotic, please follow it up with a probiotic so that the yeast organisms don’t get a foothold in their systems. If it’s a dog, he can follow the same regimen that you do, even to taking the same natural antifungals and probiotics. If they weigh less than 60 pounds, reduce all dosages by half. Otherwise, they can take an adult dose of whatever you do.

Any of you with elderly animals will be pleasantly surprised to find that they can run and play like they did when they were youngsters. Those arthritis symptoms will disappear. And for those of you with purebred dogs, you’ll notice that they don’t get those fibrous lumps any more. I’m working on Shogie right now to see if I can get his existing ones to go away, but since I’ve had him on antifungals and probiotics, he hasn’t developed any new ones. A woman I know who breeds Labrador Retrievers has over a hundred dogs of all ages at her kennel, and not even the 15-year-old dogs have any of those lumps. Every purebred dog I’ve ever had has developed these lumps around the age of 7 or 8 years. Because they don’t have “hybrid vigor,”*1 purebreds are more likely to succumb to mycotoxin and fungal damage, although some mutts can get them, too. It seems to be the most common ailment of dogs when they get older, besides arthritis and “cancer.” All three of those – fibrous lumps, arthritis and cancer – can be caused by mycotoxins. Get it out of their diet and see how happy your critters are.

Note 1: “Hybrid Vigor” is a phrase used to mean that mutts have a better immune system than purebred dogs, simply because humans have bred those purebreds mostly for appearance, not stamina or longevity. The few purebreds that are bred for endurance, and most all mutts, especially alley dogs/wild dogs, don’t have the poor immune system because it becomes a matter of natural selection – survival of the fittest. Again, what Nature hath made survives; what man hath made will die.

One other note of caution, though. Even after you get your dog or cat on a good, non-grain-based food, keep a close watch for any odd happenings. I know of a guy who has fed his 6-year-old Akita nothing but the best for her whole life, and a few weeks ago, she suddenly came down with a bad case of hip dysplasia. The vet told him that was normal for a large dog her age. He disagreed and started her on a diet of cooked brown rice, vegetables, and meat, and within a week she was “cured”! Apparently, he had gotten a bad batch of that “expensive” dog food. It can happen. The point is, be observant, and don’t just assume something. Test for bad food by changing the diet, just like you would for yourself. If indeed you have a bad batch, take it back to the store, or throw it out and buy another bag.

Some ideas for other animals besides cats and dogs:

Birds: Instead of trying to attract wild birds to your yard by hanging out corn cobs or peanut butter, try seeds, especially sunflower seeds. For the smaller birds, maybe you could put out shelled sunflower seeds. Fruit is another good idea, although you have to check it every day or two and replace it. Most people would wonder why you should worry about wild birds, but hey, they bring lots of beauty and music to your day, don’t they? Why not feed them healthy food too?

Horses: Number One Rule: Don’t feed them grain. There are alternatives that are much better for them and don’t cost any more. I’m using a pellet-feed made from alfalfa and beet pulp right now and it costs the same as the grain mix I had been getting previously. If your horse has a mycotoxin problem like mine does, you can give grated or shredded carrots as an antifungal every day mixed with some powdered probiotics, which really aren’t that expensive. I only give mine a rounded teaspoon a day, based on her weight, so a $35.00 bottle will last 60 days. That’s only $17.50 a month. Not too bad a price for good health, in my opinion.

Chickens: Do not feed them corn! They will eat whatever you eat, but avoid citrus peels, onions and garlic (it will flavor their eggs). Also, do not feed them soy because the phytic acid in soy reduces assimilation of calcium and eggs will come out with fragile thin shells. They can live quite happily on nothing but bugs and green grass. Toss your vegetable peelings (not potato peels!) to them every evening. Let them run free in the yard if possible once in a while. They’ll do a bang-up job of keeping the grasshopper population down. You’ll end up with happier, healthier chickens and much better-tasting eggs.

Pigs: Same as chickens: don’t feed them corn to “fatten them up.” Pigs will eat basically anything you eat, so feed them your leftovers. They will also eat dog food (don’t give them the corn-based dog food just to get rid of it though) and the pelleted alfalfa-beet pulp feed for horses I mentioned above. They absolutely love milk! It is completely untrue that pigs who eat “slop” (leftovers) smell bad or have bad-tasting meat. If you have a vegetable garden, give them all your extras. They’ll eat all of it. The healthier and more varied their diet is, the better the meat will taste. And this way it won’t be full of mycotoxins either.

Cattle: It goes without saying that cattle should eat grass. Just grass. Or dried hay. Never corn or grain of any kind. If you use that animal for meat and it’s been grain-fed, it has mycotoxins. If you use it for milk, the milk has mycotoxins too. (The milk you buy at the grocery store is supposedly treated to remove the mycotoxins and antibiotics, but I don’t know how that’s possible given that the pasteurizing process isn’t hot enough to destabilize mycotoxins. One more reason to have your own milk cow so you can control the whole process!)

I need to add a brief note to Lannie’s article here. Humans, being the only known animal capable of philosophical thought and dealing with intangibles (in spite of any Disney movies you might have seen), are also the only animal susceptible to the Placebo Effect. What? That’s where I can give you a sugar pill (or any other thing composed of inert ingredients) and tell you it is a wonder drug and you will still get better after taking it. This is because you are convinced that it will work, so you psychologically initiate a body correction without the need of a real drug. This does not work on any other animal! So, use your dog to find out if nutritional supplements really work. The four-legged family members here have no preconceived notions about the efficacy of any pill we give them; it either works or it doesn’t.

 A Picture is Worth…

There has to be more than one way to get the message across, and perhaps way too much text (we are a verbose lot, are we not?) is not the most effective. I have noticed that many people far prefer a simple picture, so while watching this morning’s Know the Cause! show, I was doodling on a piece of scrap paper.

So here we have the good and faithful knight, Sir Bifidum, attempting to defend the Castle Intestina from the invading hoard of mycotoxins (whether in the form of an antibiotic or a fungal metabolite makes no difference). These bad guys are intent on assaulting his position, taking over, and destroying the castle walls so they can enter the inner keep and obtain access to the very life of your kingdom.

Luckily, before Sir Bifidum fell prey to the onslaught, he got out a message to your CPU Tower, requesting backup units be sent to the 9-1-1 call.

(ignore the backside image – my scanner is way too sensitive)

The cavalry comes racing to the rescue with crack troops from the medically-secret Antifungal SWAT (doctor disavow all knowledge of such troops) units and replacement Probiotic troops led by Sir Bifidum’s family, as well as Sir Acidophilus and Sir Bulgaricus and their relatives. The antifungal team overwhelmed the invaders, who had assumed the positions on the wall normally occupied by the good troops. Once the invaders were vanquished, the replacement bacterial squad resumed control. They then requested the CPU Tower send regular reinforcements and replacement troops so they could assist in the reestablishment of routine Immune patrols to begin repair on the damaged walls.

OK, kiddies, that was the same story we told before. Was it more acceptable this way? You get sick, you take antifungals to kill the bad guys and then replace the dead good bacteria and you get well. Simple enough? If that doesn’t work, you have my permission J to go see a real doctor, who, hopefully, won’t kill you with nasty medicines.

More on Garlic

The medicinal use of garlic can be traced to ancient Egypt with written records from 1550 BCE. Animal studies have suggested that allicin, the principal active ingredient in garlic, functions metabolically like a weak HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. Sterol synthesis and the liver enzymes. Crushing the garlic clove or bulb releases the enzyme allinase, converting inactive allicin to the biologically active allicin. Human studies on normolipidemic subjects showed allicin’s ability to decrease the susceptibility of apolipoprotein B- containing lipoproteins to oxidation, reducing free radicals, which in oxidation of LDL, participate in plaque formation in atherosclerosis. Garlic has also been proven to decrease fibrinogen and fibrinopeptide A levels, increase the fibrinolytic activity and reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure. A significant decrease in serum cholesterol was achieved within one month of treatment with 900 mg/day of LI-114 garlic powder tablets (equivalent to about 2.7g grass fresh garlic). A 12% reduction in cholesterol levels from baseline over 120 days was shown to be produced, while HDL (the good stuff) levels rose, but not to a statistically significant degree. There was no significant effect on serum triglycerides. Patients’ weight remained reasonably controlled and no other drugs were used. Tolerance of the preparation was uniformly excellent with no reports of adverse effects or odor.

Source: http://www.garlic.mistral.co.uk/hyperlip.htm

Confused About Soy?

A few of you have asked why we say not to eat soy products when all the ads on TV say that it is good for you, with some even claiming it has been approved by the FDA as having a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) rating. We’ll start with a hard blow to the soy industry by busting that myth: Soy and soy products have never been given a GRAS rating by the FDA! Here are a few other things you might want to know.

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting, and long slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s need for B₁₂.
• Soy foods increase the body’s need for vitamin D.
• Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid (MSG), a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum, which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

Quotes You Might Want to Read

I have been sneaking behind the lines again (not hacking – just snooping until the wee hours of the morning) and have dug out a ton of clinical research papers from Cornell, Harvard, MIT, etc., as well as government archives, and I now have an armory of documents on mycology. Some of those sites require you to sign in and I had to declare Prof_Fuzzy to be a Medical Researcher (that’s is what I’m doing, right?). I might indeed have to get a PhD in Biochemistry just to understand all of the gobbledygook written in there, but I have selected a few of the more bold and interesting for your reading pleasure.

The authors studied 100 patients who had been exposed to toxic molds in their homes. The predominant molds identified were Alternaria, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Stachybotrys, Curvularia, Basidiomycetes, Myxomycetes, smuts, Epicoccus, Fusarium, Bipolaris, and Rhizopus. … The findings of trichothecene toxin and breakdown products in the urine, serum antibodies to molds, and positive intradermal skin tests confirmed mycotoxin exposure. … Objective neuropsychological evaluations of 46 of the patients who exhibited symptoms of neurological impairment showed typical abnormalities in short-term memory, executive function/judgment, concentration, and hand/eye coordination. (Rea WJ, Didriksen N, Simon TR, Pan Y, Fenyves EJ, Griffiths B., Effects of toxic exposure to molds and mycotoxins in building-related illnesses. Environmental Health Center-Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75231-4262, USA)

“In this study, neuropsychological data and symptom reports from 31 individuals exposed to toxic mold were examined. Most participants were found to have reduced cognitive functioning in multiple domains, with memory and executive functions the most commonly affected areas. Rates of dysfunction were significantly greater than chance on more than half of the tests.” (Gordon WA, Cantor JB, Johanning E, Charatz HJ, Ashman TA, Breeze JL, Haddad L, Abramowitz S., Cognitive impairment associated with toxigenic fungal exposure: a replication and extension of previous findings. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY, NY 10029, USA)

“The authors conclude that exposure to mixed molds and their associated mycotoxins in water-damaged buildings leads to multiple health problems involving the CNS and the immune system, in addition to pulmonary effects and allergies. Mold exposure also initiates inflammatory processes. The authors propose the term “mixed mold mycotoxicosis” for the multi-system illness observed in these patients. (Gray MR, Thrasher JD, Crago R, Madison RA, Arnold L, Campbell AW, Vojdani A., Mixed mold mycotoxicosis: immunological changes in humans following exposure in water-damaged buildings. Progressive Healthcare Group, Benson, Arizona, USA)

“The authors conclude that the antibodies studied are specific to mold antigens and mycotoxins, and therefore could be useful in epidemiological and other studies of humans exposed to molds and mycotoxins.” (Vojdani A, Thrasher JD, Madison RA, Gray MR, Heuser G, Campbell AW., Antibodies to molds and satratoxin in individuals exposed in water-damaged buildings. Immuno-sciences Lab, Inc., Beverly Hills, California, USA)

“It is ironic that this humbled fungus (Penicillium), hailed as a benefactor of mankind, may by its very success, prove to be a deciding factor in the decline of the present civilization.” (Dr. John Pitt, The Genus Penicillium, Academic Press, 1979)

“Mycotoxins in the food we eat represent the number one worry we face as a human race.” (Bray, G., et al, Mycotoxins, Cancer and Health, Pennington Center Nutritional Series, LSU Press)

“Mycotoxins are genotoxic carcinogens*2 and exposure begins in utero,*3 and in mothers’ milk, continuing throughout life; these conditions favor the occurrence of disease.” (Murphy, et al, American Cancer Society, Textbook of Clinical Oncology, 2nd Ed., 1995)

Note 2: “genotoxic carcinogen” means that they create cancer by altering your genes.

Note 3: “in utero,” for those few of you who don’t know, means the baby is still “in the uterus.”

“Stachybotrys (a black mold) has been proven to alter DNA and, destroying the myelin sheath, causing permanent neurological damage.” (Luther, OK News, July 2005)

“Exposure to a moldy environment can cause a wide variety of medical problems, including asthma, allergies, and topical dermatitis (skin allergies)” – National Institutes of Health

Now tell me, folks, did you really think we were just making up all this stuff? Have you any doubt, now, after reading what these doctors and scientists are finding that we aren’t pulling your chain? So if all those folks quoted above know this, why are my own referral doctors so darn ignorant? Yeah, you know the answer to than one… follow the money trail.